The following
program presents principles
00:00:01.98\00:00:03.95
designed to promote
good health and is not
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intended to take the
place of personalized
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professional care.
The opinions and ideas
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expressed are those
of the speaker. Viewers
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are encouraged to
draw their own conclusions
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about the information presented.
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Hello and welcome to
Health For A Lifetime.
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I'm your host Don
Mackintosh and we are
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glad that you joined us
today for this important
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program. Joining
us today is Dr. Gary
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Fraser, he is a
researcher and practicing
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cardiologist also
boarded in internal
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medicine. Dr. Fraser,
we are glad that you are
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with us today. Please be here.
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And you have been,
you know, involved in both
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the clinical arena and
also research, that's unusual.
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Yes, I enjoyed both very much.
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And so you, you
know, this gives you the
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context I mean you
have got stories to go
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along with what you
see in terms of your
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research
sometimes. Yes, I guess what
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happened was that I
very quickly got the
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idea in my first
two years of clinical
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practice that many
times we were shutting
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the door after the
horse has bolted, so to speak
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and it was much better
to be on the preventive
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end of things that
one possibly could.
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And so you did I
think MPH and epidemiology,
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and preventive, wrote
a test book I think for
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preventive
cardiology. Yes, an MPH and then
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a PHD and yes I have a
text book that was used
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many of the
medical schools around the
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United States
actually. So, you know you were
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involved in the
Adventist Health Study and
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I want to just
mention that at the beginning
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you know there was, there
was one that was done back
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what year was
the first one done?
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It's actually been
two previous studies, the
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very first one we
called the motility study,
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which was way back
in 1960 through it about
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1965 then AHS 1,
Adventist Health Study
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1 started in 1974
went through about 1988.
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Now we are starting
Adventist Health Study
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2, which began about
2001 and still ongoing.
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Okay, so you
know anybody who has
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interest in being
involved and you know
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right now you are
in the stages of really
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recruiting people I
don't know what the stage
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will be when this
program is aired, but
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there is always
something ongoing in
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research and many
times the best way is to,
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is to check you know at
adventisthealthstudy.org
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to spell right out,
adventisthealthstudy.org
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or you can contact
your local conference. I
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know that they are
pretty in touch and
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through the channels
and this is vital research
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because being the
information that comes
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out today about
Adventist is really
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based on
yesterday's research right?
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Oh! Absolutely and we
really need your help. If
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you are an Adventist
over the age of 30 years
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and live in the
United States or Canada, we
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need another 20
thousand to sign up for
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our study. We already
got 86,000, which is a
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big deal and we are
so pleased for that. We
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wanna hit that 100
thousand mark and little more.
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Right and you
don't mind if more people
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call in their lives
that would be a great
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blessing. So what is
the relationship between
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diet and other
health factors and you know
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longevity or health.
What did we find out in
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this early Adventist studies.
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Well of course there
is no magic bullet and I
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think it might be the
first thing that I would
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like to point out is
that, it's what we call very
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multifactorial. There
is the whole way that you
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live your life that
seems to be important for
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health, is not gonna
be one factor would be
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very nice and so
simple if we could say there
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was. If you did this
you are healthy and if you
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didn't you are not
unfortunately life is
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much more complicated
in that, but basically we
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found that aside
from smoking and physical
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activity the diet
also had a great deal to do
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with your risk of
heart disease and cancer
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indeed how long you lived.
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So, multifactorial
though you can just
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sprinkle some oat
bran on the top of life and
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salt, but all the
whole Adventist lifestyle
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package seems to be
what's beneficial to people.
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Absolutely in
fact even we talk about
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psychosocial
factors, social support even
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religiosity itself.
The way that we review life
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and perhaps even have
concepts of religion and
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how we practice it
seems to be important
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as well, which
is something which I
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guess people until
about 10 years ago really
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didn't take much notice of.
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And I wanna talk about
that little bit more, we
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will comeback to
that, but let's go through
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some of the what
would you consider the major
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killers in, you
know, western countries. I
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mean America is one,
this of course viewed
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around the world,
but we seem to export all
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our problems
everywhere else effectively
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through whatever
marketing strategy, but what are
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the top killers and
then talk about those and
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then what are we
finding with Adventist
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and I think there is
different groups I mean
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one thing I was looking
at in your book, in your
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book is you know the
vegetarian versus lacto,
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over vegetarians versus
the others. So, let's just
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go through some of
these diseases and then
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you know see what
you have been finding, I
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guess number one
would be heart disease.
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Yes that's the big
killer of course and what we
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found their was
quite interesting that the
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Adventist had only
about over half the risk
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of heart attack
as the non-Adventist
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neighbors this was
in California actually,
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where Adventist
Health Study 1 was conducted
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and more over it
seemed to depend little
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bit on the age. For
younger people and by
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that I mean in their 40s
and 50s, I'm little older
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than that now. The
risk is actually about one-
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third in the Adventists.
As you go into 70, 80,
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85 within the
Adventist advantage seem to be
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somewhat decrease, but
so it was a big deal. In
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another words,
premature motility from
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heart disease
was much, much less
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amongst the Adventist.
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And you just
documented that, but
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any reasons as to why?
Well, we explore little
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bit further and we
past Adventists into those
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that were vegetarians
and those that were not,
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we separated them
into different groups then
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we looked at all kinds
of other dietary habits
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and one of the
great advantages of the
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Adventist population
for research like this
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interestingly is that I
have a very wide variety
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of dietary habits. If
everybody ate in same way, we
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couldn't do this for
search because it's a
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study of comparisons
and the reason that we
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keep getting funded
by the federal government
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to do it is that it
was got a population that's
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unique because
of the wide variety
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of habits. So we have the
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vegetarians and non-
vegetarians. We found
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that the vegetarians
had only about two-thirds
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the risk of heart
attack as compared to the non-
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vegetarians, so there
is a big advantage there.
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Then we look at
other dietary items and we
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discovered the not
consumption was a very
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important per take the
fact of the heart attack,
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which was a great
surprise initially because
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many people
thought that nuts being
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a fatty food were
actually risky and
00:07:40.90\00:07:43.17
dietitians for years
had advised the heart
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patients not to go
very cautiously with nuts,
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but in fact the
fats on the nuts which
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monounsaturated
largely with one that is
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polyunsaturated are
protective fats and we
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found that the
Adventists, who ate
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nuts at least five times
a week as compared to those
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Adventists, who ate
nuts less than once a week,
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the first group had
only half the risk of heart
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attacks. This was very
unlikely to be due to chance.
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We split the
population in different ways,
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old people, young
people, woman, man,
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vegetarians, non-
vegetarians and looked
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at nut consumption
into those groups and that
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was a very, very
consistent finding and since
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being duplicated by
number of other groups
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actually non- Adventist groups.
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So, when you do this
kind of researching you
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discover something like
this that flies in the face
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of what everybody
has been teaching or what
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some people teaching is
it hard for them to change?
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It takes about 10
years for a new idea. I had a
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wonderful book, I've
studied got it actually
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called the diffusion
of innovations and that
00:08:44.29\00:08:47.88
really looked at this
and it takes indeed about 10
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years to change the
minds of the profession
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and then threw to the
public and that's about
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what it took for the
nuts. The nut industry
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of course got very
excited early on and we
00:08:58.75\00:09:01.81
had some good times
with them. But, when I
00:09:01.84\00:09:05.83
first publish this
stator back in 1992 there was
00:09:05.86\00:09:08.79
an editorial that
went along with it that was
00:09:08.82\00:09:11.46
hardly skeptical,
but since then big study
00:09:11.49\00:09:13.99
groups from Hawaii,
the nurses health study,
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and number of other
groups have come out
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with the same
findings and so that's the way
00:09:17.62\00:09:19.66
the science works.
It's interesting, so you
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know it's sometimes to
be cutting edges to take
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a few cuts on the
way, but you keep, you keep
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going on now, you
know, looking at heart
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disease you talked
about the vegetarian
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versus the non-
vegetarian, but did they
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split that
vegetarian group into lacto over
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versus vegan or
anything like that and
00:09:36.53\00:09:38.81
did they have any
findings there. We did
00:09:38.84\00:09:41.57
do a little bit of
that the problem we have
00:09:41.60\00:09:44.05
amongst the Adventist
is that to answer their
00:09:44.08\00:09:48.08
particular question
is that only about 3
00:09:48.11\00:09:50.04
percent of that old
study group vegan or vegan
00:09:50.07\00:09:53.77
we mean people
that have no animal
00:09:53.80\00:09:56.06
products at all, no
dairy, no eggs for instance,
00:09:56.09\00:09:59.60
umm! umm! And so we
had rather small number
00:09:59.63\00:10:02.53
to address the
question to the extent that we
00:10:02.56\00:10:05.30
could address it, it
appear that the vegans
00:10:05.33\00:10:08.58
did not or maybe had
a very slight advantage
00:10:08.61\00:10:11.24
for heart disease,
although it could have
00:10:11.27\00:10:12.96
been due to chance
the numbers were small. It
00:10:12.99\00:10:15.91
appeared they had no
advantage for cancer for
00:10:15.94\00:10:18.42
instance, but again
the numbers were small.
00:10:18.45\00:10:20.38
They might even had
a slight disadvantage
00:10:20.41\00:10:22.72
there, so we are
waiting actually with great
00:10:22.75\00:10:25.10
interest for a new
study, where we hope to have
00:10:25.13\00:10:27.84
a 100 thousand
people in total and perhaps
00:10:27.87\00:10:29.94
about 5000 vegans
that we should ought to be
00:10:29.97\00:10:32.13
address the
question, so much better.
00:10:32.16\00:10:33.67
Let's move on
anything else about
00:10:33.70\00:10:35.37
heart disease we need to hear.
00:10:35.40\00:10:36.49
One of the factor
that again is being well
00:10:36.52\00:10:40.15
established in
other studies now is that
00:10:40.18\00:10:42.56
whole grains seem to
be protective, whole grain
00:10:42.59\00:10:45.04
bread or whole grain
cereals in general as
00:10:45.07\00:10:48.32
compared to processed
refined grind products.
00:10:48.35\00:10:52.90
The something about
the whole grains, we
00:10:52.93\00:10:55.69
have perhaps similar
ideas what that might
00:10:55.72\00:10:57.00
be that seems to be
protective against heart attack.
00:10:57.03\00:11:00.09
Well let's move to
now what's the number one
00:11:00.12\00:11:02.18
killer for people
above 85 I understand and
00:11:02.21\00:11:05.10
that's cancer.
Yes, that's correct of
00:11:05.13\00:11:09.39
course cancer is very,
very prominent amongst young
00:11:09.42\00:11:12.83
people too depending on
what kind of cancer it might
00:11:12.86\00:11:16.12
be that's the first
point to make. The cancer is
00:11:16.15\00:11:18.90
not one disease in
fact that's a multitude of
00:11:18.93\00:11:22.50
diseases. A cancer of
the breast as compared
00:11:22.53\00:11:25.10
to cancer of the
ovaries as compared to cancer
00:11:25.13\00:11:27.36
of the large bowel for
instance the colon, they
00:11:30.39\00:11:31.36
are all different
disorders. They have some
00:11:31.37\00:11:32.34
commonalty, but one
of the challenges that we
00:11:32.35\00:11:34.47
face as researchers is
that they all have slightly
00:11:34.50\00:11:37.23
different causal
factors and so we have to study
00:11:37.26\00:11:39.73
it more separately,
umm! umm! So again we
00:11:39.76\00:11:44.05
found that of
course smoking is bad for
00:11:44.08\00:11:46.34
many cancers. Alcohol
is bad for some cancers.
00:11:46.37\00:11:49.65
Physical activity it
appears is protective
00:11:49.68\00:11:53.31
against cancer of
the breast and maybe
00:11:53.34\00:11:55.30
cancer of the colon
as well. But, aside from
00:11:55.33\00:11:57.96
that there are number of
different dietary factors
00:11:57.99\00:12:00.78
and here where the
cutting edge of research
00:12:00.81\00:12:03.18
actually. There is
not always total agreement
00:12:03.21\00:12:06.82
between the different
study groups and so one
00:12:06.85\00:12:09.96
needs to I think take
this information and say
00:12:09.99\00:12:13.94
this is probably true
but, so much of it is in fact
00:12:13.97\00:12:18.09
still waiting
confirmation. So, there
00:12:18.12\00:12:22.77
are lot of foods
that I can talk about that
00:12:22.80\00:12:25.89
appeared to be protective
for different cancers,
00:12:25.92\00:12:28.21
but take the
information in that vain.
00:12:28.24\00:12:32.02
Well let's, what
appears to be protective then
00:12:32.05\00:12:35.17
just kind a edge or bachelor.
00:12:35.20\00:12:36.79
Right, one of the most
striking effects I think
00:12:36.82\00:12:42.00
is the effect of meat
consumption on risk of
00:12:42.03\00:12:44.75
colon cancer. If
you look at the non-
00:12:44.78\00:12:48.31
vegetarian Adventists
compare to the vegetarian
00:12:48.34\00:12:50.50
Adventists. The
non- vegetarians have
00:12:50.53\00:12:52.42
about an 80%
increase risk of colon cancer.
00:12:52.45\00:12:56.49
Now the non-vegetarians
also had an increase
00:12:56.52\00:13:00.99
risk of bladder
cancer and possibly prostate
00:13:01.02\00:13:05.35
cancer and also
ovarian cancer. So, the
00:13:05.38\00:13:09.30
non-vegetarians
didn't do as well for.
00:13:09.33\00:13:11.69
What about breast
cancer? Interestingly breast
00:13:11.72\00:13:14.29
cancer somewhat
distressingly for us
00:13:14.32\00:13:16.94
because it's such a
common cancer in such
00:13:16.97\00:13:19.18
a nasty cancer many
ways, we found very,
00:13:19.21\00:13:24.57
very few dietary
relationships with breast
00:13:24.60\00:13:26.94
cancer. However, there
is one factor also that
00:13:26.97\00:13:32.28
does relate to diet that
are probably should mention
00:13:32.31\00:13:34.59
at this point
because lot of people don't
00:13:34.62\00:13:36.54
know about it.
Okay. People, who are
00:13:36.57\00:13:38.52
overweight not only
have a high risk of heart
00:13:38.55\00:13:41.28
attack and blood
pressure and so forth,
00:13:41.31\00:13:43.67
they have a high
risk of many, many common
00:13:43.70\00:13:45.89
cancers. And we
understand some of the
00:13:45.92\00:13:49.29
reasons for that, but
we can talk about if you
00:13:49.32\00:13:51.37
wish, which are,
people who are overweight tend
00:13:51.40\00:13:54.70
to have high levels
of blood insulin and the
00:13:54.73\00:13:57.42
PSA of insulin
stimulates the growth of cells
00:13:57.45\00:14:00.35
and helps promote
cancer cells grow quicker.
00:14:00.38\00:14:03.28
For some of the
cancers also they are estrogen
00:14:03.31\00:14:07.47
dependent, I see,
like breast cancer and may
00:14:07.50\00:14:11.15
be some other cancers
as well and after menopause
00:14:11.18\00:14:14.07
it's s actually
the subcutaneous fat in
00:14:14.10\00:14:16.33
woman the fat under
the skin seeing the women's
00:14:16.36\00:14:18.72
ovaries no longer
producing much estrogen,
00:14:18.75\00:14:20.78
the subcutaneous
fat has the chemistries
00:14:20.81\00:14:23.11
to produce estrogen.
So, if you got lot of
00:14:23.14\00:14:24.73
subcutaneous fat
or overweight, you are
00:14:24.76\00:14:27.22
producing lot of
estrogen and that seems to be
00:14:27.25\00:14:28.79
a bad factor in terms
of increasing the risk
00:14:28.82\00:14:31.95
of breast cancer particularly.
00:14:31.98\00:14:33.24
We are talking with
Dr. Gary Fraser he is the
00:14:33.27\00:14:36.18
principal lead
researcher for the
00:14:36.21\00:14:38.74
Adventist Health
Study. We need more people
00:14:38.77\00:14:40.74
to be involved in the
Adventist Health Study
00:14:40.77\00:14:42.35
and there is always
research going on, if
00:14:42.38\00:14:45.15
you would like to see
how you can be involve
00:14:45.18\00:14:46.96
right now. If you
go on the internet at
00:14:46.99\00:14:49.13
adventisthealthstudy.
org. That's
00:14:49.16\00:14:53.04
adventisthealthstudy.org
and you can learn how
00:14:53.07\00:14:56.15
you could be
involved. Join us when we
00:14:56.18\00:14:57.68
comeback and continue
this interesting discussion.
00:14:57.71\00:14:59.77
Have you found
yourself wishing that
00:14:59.80\00:15:03.30
you could shed a few
pounds, have you been
00:15:03.33\00:15:05.24
on a diet for most of
your life, but not found
00:15:05.27\00:15:07.65
anything that will
really keep the weight off, if
00:15:07.68\00:15:10.62
you have answered
yes to any of these
00:15:10.65\00:15:12.27
questions then we have
a solution for you that
00:15:12.30\00:15:14.85
works. Dr. Hans Diehl
and Dr. Aileen Ludington
00:15:14.88\00:15:18.23
have written a
marvelous booklet called
00:15:18.26\00:15:20.37
Reversing
Obesity Naturally and we
00:15:20.40\00:15:23.20
would like to send it
to you free of charge.
00:15:23.23\00:15:25.02
Here's a
medically sound approach,
00:15:25.05\00:15:27.29
successfully used
by thousands, who were
00:15:27.32\00:15:29.68
able to eat more and
lose weight permanently
00:15:29.71\00:15:32.06
without feeling guilty
or hungry through lifestyle
00:15:32.09\00:15:35.16
medicine. Dr. Diehl
and Dr. Ludington have
00:15:35.19\00:15:38.13
been featured on 3ABN
and in this booklet they
00:15:38.16\00:15:41.15
present a
sensible approach to eating
00:15:41.18\00:15:43.02
nutrition and
lifestyle changes that can help
00:15:43.05\00:15:45.71
you prevent heart
disease, diabetes and even
00:15:45.74\00:15:47.98
cancer. Call or write
today for your free copy
00:15:48.01\00:15:50.92
of Reversing Obesity
Natural and you could
00:15:50.95\00:15:53.54
be on your way to
a healthier, happier
00:15:53.57\00:15:55.32
you, it's
absolutely free of charge,
00:15:55.35\00:15:57.93
so call or write
today. Welcome back, we are
00:15:57.96\00:16:03.36
talking with Dr. Gary
Fraser. We are talking
00:16:03.39\00:16:05.20
about the Adventist
Health Study and if you
00:16:05.23\00:16:07.94
would like more
information about that
00:16:07.97\00:16:09.20
study or how you
can be involved, which
00:16:09.23\00:16:10.97
were always looking for
people to be involved go to
00:16:11.00\00:16:13.82
adventisthealthstudy.org
and doctor we want as
00:16:13.85\00:16:18.13
many people involved
as possible is gonna be
00:16:18.16\00:16:21.13
more helpful to
those that are looking at
00:16:21.16\00:16:24.83
Adventists for
whatever edge they might have
00:16:24.86\00:16:26.65
and more helpful to
the church itself I mean in
00:16:26.68\00:16:29.10
knowing how to you
know progress. So, we
00:16:29.13\00:16:33.75
were talking in the
fist half here about some of
00:16:33.78\00:16:36.98
the benefits that
can come from having a
00:16:37.01\00:16:40.18
vegetarian lifestyle.
We looked at heart disease,
00:16:40.21\00:16:42.56
we looked a little bit
of cancer and we look at
00:16:42.59\00:16:44.49
the relationship
between cancer and meat
00:16:44.52\00:16:46.42
consumption, the vegetarian
versus a non-vegetarian,
00:16:46.45\00:16:49.44
but there is other
dietary factors that you were
00:16:49.47\00:16:51.49
starting to elude to.
Yes fruits in the diet
00:16:51.52\00:16:56.52
seems to be
protective against number of
00:16:56.55\00:16:58.57
cancers and this is not
on the outwork, it's the
00:16:58.60\00:17:01.89
work of many people
around the world. For
00:17:01.92\00:17:04.39
instance, people who
eat more fruit perhaps
00:17:04.42\00:17:07.31
two to three times a
day seem to have a lesser
00:17:07.34\00:17:10.31
risk of lung cancer.
And that's even aside
00:17:10.34\00:17:13.86
factoring out the
very powerful factor of
00:17:13.89\00:17:17.41
cigarette smoking
of course, but over and
00:17:17.44\00:17:19.27
above that fruit
consumption seems to be
00:17:19.30\00:17:21.36
important. People
who eat more fruit have
00:17:21.39\00:17:23.71
a low risk of ovary
cancer, they also have
00:17:23.74\00:17:26.80
apparently a low risk
and outdated at least of
00:17:26.83\00:17:29.43
pancreatic cancer and
probably prostate cancer.
00:17:29.46\00:17:32.75
So, fruit seems to
be one factor that's
00:17:32.78\00:17:35.66
important for reducing
the risk of cancer. For
00:17:35.69\00:17:39.50
colon cancer, we also
found that eating beans,
00:17:39.53\00:17:42.23
beans reduce the risk of cancer.
00:17:42.26\00:17:45.49
Any kind of beans? We
didn't distinguish, it
00:17:45.52\00:17:48.14
may be the some are
more important then the
00:17:48.17\00:17:49.83
other we couldn't, we
couldn't tell right now
00:17:49.86\00:17:51.90
research thus far.
And interestingly it was
00:17:51.93\00:17:56.00
particularly amongst
the meat eaters that beans
00:17:56.03\00:17:58.97
seem to give some
important protection.
00:17:59.00\00:18:02.10
Another bean that of
course is very topical
00:18:02.13\00:18:05.11
these days is soybeans,
the soy products and we
00:18:05.14\00:18:10.15
perhaps should discuss
that in more detail, but
00:18:10.18\00:18:12.64
there is a lot of
advice out there for Americans
00:18:12.67\00:18:15.99
to eat more soy
products. And yet interestingly
00:18:16.02\00:18:18.82
the evidence to support
that is still somewhat in
00:18:18.85\00:18:21.98
secure. We did find
that the Adventist, who
00:18:22.01\00:18:26.38
drank soy milk, okay,
once or twice a day had
00:18:26.41\00:18:29.54
lower risk of prostate
cancer. So, that's one of
00:18:29.57\00:18:33.15
the factor that we
need to and again the some
00:18:33.18\00:18:36.12
evidence that soy may
reduce the risk of breast
00:18:36.15\00:18:39.31
cancer. Another food
that seemed to be protective
00:18:39.34\00:18:43.17
against number of
cancers was tomatoes.
00:18:43.20\00:18:45.15
Tomatoes.
Interestingly, yes and we
00:18:45.18\00:18:47.95
found that the
Adventists who ate more
00:18:47.98\00:18:50.45
tomatoes had lower
risk of prostate cancer
00:18:50.48\00:18:54.21
and other studies
have also found something
00:18:54.24\00:18:57.81
similar. And we also
found that they had only
00:18:57.84\00:19:01.15
about one-third
the risk of developing
00:19:01.18\00:19:03.40
ovary cancer if they
ate tomatoes regularly as
00:19:03.43\00:19:07.45
compared to those
who didn't eat tomatoes,
00:19:07.48\00:19:09.50
which is
interesting. So, I have some soy
00:19:09.53\00:19:12.37
milk right here at
the break we can have
00:19:12.40\00:19:14.89
some and I don't have
any tomatoes, but those
00:19:14.92\00:19:17.89
are very protective
and again you know you are
00:19:17.92\00:19:19.91
saying one-half, one-
third, so they are you
00:19:19.94\00:19:22.86
know that other
half and that other two-
00:19:22.89\00:19:24.63
thirds they
ultimately do get these diseases
00:19:24.66\00:19:28.84
even the Adventist
population sometimes if they
00:19:28.87\00:19:31.15
are even doing everything right?
00:19:31.18\00:19:32.15
Yes, now of course we
have been talking about
00:19:32.17\00:19:35.21
one factor at the
time, but if you put together
00:19:35.24\00:19:38.35
two or three these
things that they seems
00:19:38.38\00:19:41.37
to be kind of
multiplicative in other
00:19:41.40\00:19:43.13
words of one factor
reduces it risk by half,
00:19:43.16\00:19:46.41
another factor reduces
risk by half, if you do
00:19:46.44\00:19:49.46
both of these things
you reduce the risk by three
00:19:49.49\00:19:52.35
quarter, so you wanna got one
00:19:52.38\00:19:53.52
got one quarter of
the risk that remains.
00:19:53.55\00:19:55.15
So, if you get a person
that's doing all of these
00:19:55.59\00:19:57.99
things together pretty
rare people actually even
00:19:58.02\00:20:00.84
amongst Adventists
then the risk really becomes
00:20:00.87\00:20:03.16
quite small.
Perhaps about one-tenth also
00:20:03.19\00:20:06.26
nevertheless the point
you make is quite right.
00:20:06.78\00:20:08.55
We will have to die of
something none of us live
00:20:09.23\00:20:11.32
forever and what happens
is that the Adventist die
00:20:11.35\00:20:16.01
pretty much all of the
same kinds of things is a
00:20:16.41\00:20:19.71
non-Adventist
neighbors do but it's
00:20:19.74\00:20:22.35
differed by 6 to 12
years. So, that's the life
00:20:22.38\00:20:26.18
expectancy difference is
6 to 12 years depending on
00:20:26.21\00:20:28.92
how many that have
with you put into practice.
00:20:29.99\00:20:32.12
That's correct. And
is it related to the
00:20:32.15\00:20:34.57
number of habits
you put in practice?
00:20:34.60\00:20:36.31
Yes it is and we
explore that and it seems like
00:20:36.34\00:20:39.95
what we looked at five,
four, five different habits
00:20:40.88\00:20:43.82
some of which are
other ones I have mentioned
00:20:44.57\00:20:46.28
already and each of them
seem to give two to three
00:20:46.31\00:20:49.42
years, so you are at
the more output who come to
00:20:49.45\00:20:52.37
about 10 years. Is
that right, now you
00:20:52.40\00:20:55.97
know you are a Seventh-Day
Adventist Christian as
00:20:56.00\00:20:58.77
well as a researcher
and you know some people
00:20:58.80\00:21:00.63
look at health things
that Seventh-Day Adventist
00:21:00.66\00:21:03.14
the advantage quote and
quote that they have and
00:21:03.17\00:21:05.44
they say well you might
be cooking the books and
00:21:05.47\00:21:07.54
so that makes your
job as a researcher very
00:21:07.57\00:21:09.58
important so you can
just dot all the teas and you
00:21:09.61\00:21:13.60
know dot the teas, cross
the teas and dot the eyes
00:21:13.63\00:21:17.60
and you really have to
do very careful research
00:21:18.01\00:21:20.53
because of the naysayers
and thank you by the way
00:21:20.56\00:21:24.26
for doing that. We are
already thankful for the
00:21:24.29\00:21:27.57
research that you are
doing in the Adventist
00:21:27.60\00:21:29.71
Health Study. But,
I wanna look at that
00:21:29.74\00:21:32.33
relationship you know I'm
a, I'm a pastor, I'm also a
00:21:32.36\00:21:36.00
fourth generation
Adventist, I had one
00:21:36.03\00:21:37.94
group of my family
that decided that well you
00:21:37.97\00:21:41.88
know Ellen White and
the health message was
00:21:41.91\00:21:43.85
something they didn't
want, but they wanted the
00:21:43.88\00:21:45.80
Sabbath they and they
held onto that and then
00:21:45.83\00:21:49.26
I had another group
that actually adopted those
00:21:49.29\00:21:52.05
health things many of
these health things on the
00:21:52.08\00:21:53.89
basis of things that
Ellen White had written or
00:21:53.92\00:21:56.61
principals and I can see
the difference, I mean the
00:21:56.64\00:21:59.64
things you are talking
about in my family then
00:21:59.67\00:22:02.04
I have to have a study,
but I many of them died of
00:22:02.07\00:22:04.51
colon cancer that one
on the one side versus the
00:22:04.54\00:22:07.39
other and it's just like
kind of a little case is that
00:22:07.42\00:22:09.76
what are you saying, but
I wanna talk to you about
00:22:09.79\00:22:11.98
about the
religiosity or religion and its
00:22:12.69\00:22:16.11
relationship to health,
what did you find in the
00:22:16.14\00:22:18.41
first Adventist
health study, what are your
00:22:18.44\00:22:21.93
thoughts on that, and
what might be something
00:22:21.96\00:22:23.99
coming up on the second study.
00:22:24.02\00:22:25.22
Well going, just stepping
back for a moment to the
00:22:26.58\00:22:29.90
Christian of
whether a diet is reliable.
00:22:29.93\00:22:32.58
We have always had a
group of advices of the
00:22:33.39\00:22:37.78
best scientists in
the country they come and
00:22:37.81\00:22:40.13
meet us every
year. People from Hawaii,
00:22:40.16\00:22:43.13
University of Hawaii
and Stanford and so forth
00:22:43.16\00:22:45.64
that's being in
place for about 20 years.
00:22:45.93\00:22:48.01
So, we have some
oversight, which is good thing.
00:22:48.26\00:22:50.97
Secondly when you
publish materials in the
00:22:51.94\00:22:54.87
medical literature
these days, it goes for a very
00:22:54.90\00:22:58.23
careful period of your
scrutiny, so there is a lot
00:22:58.26\00:23:01.56
of shakes and
unbalances in the system.
00:23:01.59\00:23:03.11
As far as religiosity
in health, we in the first
00:23:03.74\00:23:08.35
study which is the only
one we have analyzed yet
00:23:08.38\00:23:10.86
in the Adventist health study 1.
00:23:12.45\00:23:13.90
We only had a question
about how often that did
00:23:14.16\00:23:17.16
you attend church,
will you attend the prayer
00:23:17.19\00:23:21.00
meetings, whether you
took church off, so some
00:23:21.03\00:23:23.71
very simple kind
of ideas like this.
00:23:23.74\00:23:27.10
Were people that attend
prayer meeting healthier
00:23:27.13\00:23:29.44
then those who
just attended church.
00:23:29.47\00:23:30.70
Interestingly not and
there is a question of the
00:23:32.06\00:23:34.82
chicken and egg to
it. Why were people
00:23:34.85\00:23:36.96
attending prayer
meeting, okay, perhaps they were
00:23:36.99\00:23:39.03
not in very good shape to
start with so was a kind of
00:23:39.06\00:23:42.28
difficult question
to ask. Right, okay.
00:23:42.31\00:23:44.40
But, just looking at
church attendance per se, we
00:23:44.43\00:23:48.60
found along with
results of many other religious
00:23:48.63\00:23:51.82
communities in fact.
There is quite literature
00:23:51.85\00:23:53.96
out there that the
people who attend church
00:23:53.99\00:23:56.59
regularly whatever they
faith tend to have about
00:23:56.62\00:24:00.88
again that magic
one-third figure reduction in
00:24:00.91\00:24:03.89
mortality and that's
men, that's women and across
00:24:03.92\00:24:07.90
the different, number
of different age groups and
00:24:07.93\00:24:11.22
so the Christian is
what's going on here.
00:24:11.25\00:24:13.23
Now you know in the
Adventist church, I think
00:24:14.40\00:24:16.38
probably the doctrine
is most related to health
00:24:16.41\00:24:19.07
would be the sanctuary
doctor and the bodies of
00:24:19.10\00:24:21.83
temple and what
not. What have you
00:24:21.86\00:24:25.02
discovered or what
are you attempting to
00:24:25.05\00:24:27.57
discover with the
new studies that look at
00:24:27.60\00:24:30.83
religiosity and health.
We've, we've got a great
00:24:30.86\00:24:34.58
opportunity we just
received federal funding
00:24:34.61\00:24:37.09
to look at those
very questions that you
00:24:37.12\00:24:38.78
mention and to look
at in a way that we call
00:24:38.81\00:24:41.47
prospectively, which very
few other studies have done.
00:24:41.50\00:24:44.37
In other words, we
ask a lot of questions
00:24:45.19\00:24:48.62
about why people
practice their religion and
00:24:48.65\00:24:51.78
also their attitudes
towards their religion and
00:24:51.81\00:24:54.70
then follow them up for
a number of years and then
00:24:54.73\00:24:58.44
find who develops
heart disease, who does not,
00:24:58.47\00:25:01.67
who dies from whatever
cause, who does not and
00:25:01.70\00:25:05.90
see if we can relate that
to the attitudes and their
00:25:05.93\00:25:08.84
practice of religion at
the beginning of the study
00:25:08.87\00:25:11.28
was a very
powerful way actually to
00:25:11.59\00:25:13.34
look at the question.
So, we will be finding
00:25:13.37\00:25:16.39
some very unique dieter
in this new study that we
00:25:16.42\00:25:19.60
have just got funded.
Yeah, you told me that
00:25:19.63\00:25:21.37
you even gonna look at
particular beliefs they
00:25:21.40\00:25:23.43
might have in other
words how they responded to
00:25:23.46\00:25:25.51
certain doctrines of
the church, which one they
00:25:25.54\00:25:27.44
say yeah I believe that
or which one I say I don't
00:25:27.47\00:25:30.11
believe that, that
would be a fascinating
00:25:30.14\00:25:32.43
thing to look at.
Yes, although we don't
00:25:32.46\00:25:35.63
want to make this a
really Seventh-Day Adventist
00:25:35.66\00:25:39.22
range of study. Will
they will be studying
00:25:39.25\00:25:40.80
Adventists, but it
turns out that you know the
00:25:40.83\00:25:43.64
Adventists are really
not so different from many
00:25:43.67\00:25:46.83
other protestant
groups and we can look at some
00:25:46.86\00:25:49.83
fairly general concepts.
I mean how could religion
00:25:49.86\00:25:54.01
of fate or health it's
probably just not sitting
00:25:54.04\00:25:57.57
in the prayer, you
know, sometimes the heart of
00:25:57.60\00:25:59.60
the pure the greater the
benefit. But, it's probably
00:25:59.63\00:26:01.30
not that, it's could be
due to the fact that amongst
00:26:01.33\00:26:05.72
Adventists
particularly those who attend
00:26:05.75\00:26:08.17
regularly are more
likely to live their lives more
00:26:08.20\00:26:11.81
healthfully. But it's
probably more than that
00:26:11.84\00:26:13.80
because we are already
been able to factor that
00:26:13.83\00:26:15.54
out and that seems
like there is something over
00:26:15.57\00:26:17.11
and above that. It could
be social support that they
00:26:17.14\00:26:21.00
get, being part of a
close net religious group you
00:26:21.03\00:26:24.21
get lot of support and
everybody knows there is
00:26:24.24\00:26:26.22
lot of research it
shows, that's important
00:26:26.25\00:26:27.96
for total mortality.
Could be something to do
00:26:27.99\00:26:31.20
with prayer and the
comfort that you get from
00:26:31.23\00:26:33.62
that and the assurance
that you get from that.
00:26:33.65\00:26:35.66
On the other hand,
there are some people who
00:26:37.63\00:26:40.25
practice their religion
with the feeling by have
00:26:40.28\00:26:43.36
to do it and if they
don't do it, they are gonna be
00:26:43.39\00:26:46.45
loss, and so
they can be Christians
00:26:46.48\00:26:48.61
of guilt that they come
up and so not everything
00:26:48.64\00:26:50.89
about religion may
necessarily be positive.
00:26:50.92\00:26:53.11
It's probably like
everything else complex,
00:26:53.66\00:26:55.40
but we really want to
dig into all of these things.
00:26:55.43\00:26:57.59
So, you know you talk
with me little bit you and
00:26:58.54\00:27:01.70
I that being a part of
the Seventh-Day Adventist
00:27:01.73\00:27:04.73
subculture has a
relationship with perhaps
00:27:04.76\00:27:08.65
falling back into bad habits.
00:27:08.68\00:27:10.21
Yes, I think there is a
real genius of tying the idea of
00:27:11.60\00:27:15.12
health and health
practices to a religion
00:27:15.15\00:27:17.35
because that becomes
then part of the real
00:27:17.77\00:27:20.91
inherent values in your
life. It's very clear that the
00:27:21.89\00:27:26.25
Adventist faith helps
people in the practice by
00:27:26.28\00:27:31.11
cultural things that
are transmitted down through
00:27:32.13\00:27:34.09
the generations and also
an expectation that people
00:27:34.12\00:27:36.75
will live in this way, so
overall it has been a very
00:27:36.78\00:27:38.98
positive influence and
as a Adventist we were able
00:27:39.01\00:27:42.09
to be counterculture
almost successfully and
00:27:42.12\00:27:45.84
beneficially for
more than 150 years.
00:27:45.87\00:27:48.43
Well thank you
so much for joining
00:27:49.93\00:27:51.55
us today Dr.
Fraser. My pleasure.
00:27:51.58\00:27:53.48
And thank you for joining
00:27:54.15\00:27:55.12
us on Health For A Lifetime.
00:27:55.13\00:27:56.87