Smoothie Evolution
The number one killer in the world is a heart attack, followed by cancer, followed by stroke. Yet, the truth is that about 75-85% of strokes and heart attacks are preventable. And about 65% of all cancers are preventable. However, those are still the three leading causes of death.
So the problem is that even though each of these can usually be prevented, they remain the number one, number two, and number three biggest killers. And the problem gets worse as the plot thickens, because most of the current medical focus in preventing heart attacks is on what factor? Cholesterol levels. However, we now know that 40% to 50% of those who die from strokes and heart attacks have normal, or nearly normal, cholesterol levels. Oops! We are obviously missing something here.
The fact is that if you go to the best physicians and they use the normal cholesterol tests, a stress test, a physical exam, all the blood work that they routinely do (minus an expanded lipid profile), and then tell you where you are at, they are going to be wrong, 63% of the time.
Dr. Ed Fila, a dentist, helped coach his daughter’s soccer team. During a soccer practice, a soccer ball hit him in the chest, causing an unusual amount of pain. Although the initial soreness finally subsided, a residual ache just would not go away. He went to see his physician, who ran a series to tests to rule out a heart attack. “You haven’t had a heart attack” the doctor said. “Your cholesterol is a bit high, but nothing to worry about.” However, when the pain persisted, Dr. Fila sought a second opinion from a cardiologist who also ran several tests and reassured him, “You have nothing wrong. You’re in great shape.” But the residual chest pain still told him that there must be something wrong.
Some time later, Dr. Fila shared his misgivings with a friend, Brigham Young University professor Steven Aldana, and author of The Culprit and The Cure. Dr. Aldana told him, “If you really want the straight facts you might want to get a special kind of ultrasound of the neck artery, called an IMT (intima media thickness).” This test examines the thickness of the walls of the carotid arteries (neck arteries). He then referred Dr. Fila to a research cardiologist in southern California. The cardiologist did the ultrasound on Dr. Fila and informed him that the arteries on his left side were clear. However, on the right side the test revealed “a little plaque.” With those words, Dr. Fila shot up off the table and got within 6 inches of his face and exclaimed “What does this mean–a little plaque?!” “Well” he said “It means you are at risk for a stroke.” “How can that be?” asked Dr. Fila. “I’ve been told I’m in great shape. Now you are telling me I’m at risk for a stroke!!??” The doctor confirmed that indeed that was the case.
The Cardiologist also gave him a foot high level of research articles, and a careful read revealed that, in fact, the Cardiologist was right. Dr. Fila did have some serious issues that needed to be addressed. As a result, the next 14 years of his life became dedicated to devising more effective ways to reliably identify risk for cardio-vascular diseases, and then to take this information and technology out to the research labs and into doctors’ offices where it could do some good. As part of this effort, he and his team developed a more effective IMT ultrasound software for scanning carotid (neck) arteries, got it approved by the FDA and then used it to scan more than 3,000 physicians throughout the United States and Europe. This technology is now being used throughout the world with tens of thousands of patients in order to increase the accuracy of cardiovascular assessments.
Dr. Fila’s research also led him to another important conclusion: a key factor in prevention of stroke, heart attack, cancer and other illnesses is a diet rich in vegetables. And just as important as having the vegetables is having a wide variety of vegetables–at least 10 different vegetables a day! This finding changed Dr. Fila’s life. He committed to getting not only a variety, but the “right” variety. He did extensive research on the health benefits of different vegetables and found a combination that delivers nutrients specific to different aspects of health. After many efforts to eat that variety every day, he found that it was not doable the way he was trying. He didn’t have time to prepare the vegetables every day and some of them he just didn’t like to eat.
After much trial and error, he create a smoothie (Dr. Fila’s Ultimate Green Smoothie) that gave him the variety and did it in a way that was somewhat palatable (at least to him). We found that many people didn’t agree regarding the taste, so we worked with the Food Science department of a major university to develop a fresh, natural, preservative-free version of the smoothie that most people agree tastes good!