Foods For Long Life

I spent three decades working in high tech, the last decade as a Silicon Valley CEO so I am acutely aware of how an invention can change people’s lives forever. For example, the internet paved the way for ecommerce which allows many of us to do much of our shopping without ever leaving our homes. Wireless technology allows us to stay in constant communication with our friends or business associates and is driving the once omnipresent “phone booth” to become an unfamiliar prop in old movies. Inventions in biotech have produced a myriad of new drugs that attempt to “control” many of the illnesses we face today. We all await the next “big thing.” But could this next “big thing” be something so simple that it has been in front of our eyes since the beginning of time?

One of the biggest challenge in this country today is our declining health. And as new, innovative technologies and drugs emerge, the 2007 Census Bureau shows the United States ranking 42nd in longevity when compared to other countries in the world. With the billions of dollars spent in the U.S. on healthcare, Andorra, a small country of 72 thousand people in the Pyrenees mountains, enjoys the longest lifespan of 83.4 years while a child born in the U.S. in 2004 will live an average of only 77.9 years.
This should be no surprise as the obesity rate or those with a Body Mass Index greater than 30, has now hit 34%. The number of overweight people, or those with a Body Mass Index between 25 and 30, is 32.7%. With two thirds of Americans overweight, we clearly have an issue with the food Americans are eating.

As we struggle to improve how we treat the illnesses that we have come to expect in our lives, such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and arthritis, to name a few, we hear too little about how to prevent these degenerative disorders in the first place. It turns out to be simple. Prevention and even the cure to all of these diseases is possible. It’s the next “big thing”. It’s food. Good, fresh, unprocessed, plant-based, organic food. Food that will heal the body, warm the soul and extend your life.

There’s a quiet revolution happening throughout the world right now by people who have discovered this secret to health and well being. They are meeting across the country in pot-lucks, food cooperatives, vegetable garden clubs and health food restaurants or they are found in their homes happily juicing, sprouting and creating delicious meals made from fresh, unprocessed foods.

Health and nutrition has always been my life passion and nutritional gourmet cooking has been my hobby for many years. I would take the most wonderful recipes and figure out a way to make them healthy. For years I have been spending nights and weekends pursuing my doctorate in holistic nutrition in order to learn even more about healthy eating. In 2007, I received my PhD and to follow my passion for nutrition and health, I left the high tech industry to continue my nutrition research. In April, 2008, my husband and I moved from Silicon Valley and bought a house and a few acres of land in Sebastopol, California where we can grow our own organic food and create more healthy recipes to share with you.

FoodsForLongLife.com is a blog dedicated to sharing information on things everyone can do to improve their health and the health of their family. I will show you how to create affordable, healthy, home cooked meals while sharing helpful, easy-to-understand, nutritional information. My goal is to provide information to the world on improving their health and achieving longevity by the simple task of eating.

Dr. Joanne L. Mumola Williams