Email Newsletter
October 2004
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In October, 2003, we changed the menus for our students to emphasize plant-based foods, such as fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes. Our reason for this change was to improve the health of our students and to make it easier for some students to lose unwanted weight.
Heart disease is the major cause of death in the United States (52% of deaths) and the leading cause of death for individuals between 35 and 44 who are in the care of the Massachusetts Department of Retardation. Nutritional scientists now tell us that the beginnings of heart disease are found in all children and adolescents who eat the typical American diet. To find out whether our change in menus did in fact improve the health of our students, we compared the students' total cholesterol (the key risk factor associated with heart disease) before and after the menu change. This was the total number of students who had been in our program for at least eight weeks after the menu change, and for whom we were able to obtain cholesterol data both before and after the menu change. Below are two charts which show the distribution of the students' total cholesterol values before and after the menu change.
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As can be seen from the charts above, there was a clear shift toward lower cholesterol levels after the change in diet. The average (mean) total cholesterol value before the diet change was 166, and the average (mean) total cholesterol after the diet change was 145. This amounts to a decrease of 21 points (13%), a decrease that is highly significant statistically (p<.001). If you are one of our parents, and would like to know the individual results of your own child, please contact our Student Services department. This change in the average total cholesterol for the entire group of 158 students is shown in the following chart.
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Of particular importance is the number of students whose total cholesterol is 150 or below. In figures 1 and 2, a red vertical line shows where the 150 level is. All cholesterol values to the left of that line are at 150 or below. The Framingham Heart Study showed that persons with total cholesterols of 150 and below tend to not suffer heart attacks or strokes. Prior to our change in student menus, 56 of the 158 students (35%) had total cholesterols in the safe range. After the change, 92 (58%) were in the safe range as shown below:
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Recently we started a food tasting each afternoon at 4:30 PM. At these tastings, we sample food planned for that day's evening meal as well as other dishes that our new chef, Deborah Harrison, or that our new Food Preparation Supervisor, Jodi Thompson, has prepared or arranged for us to try out for possible insertion into our menus. Typically, the tasting is also attended by 2-3 students, the members of the food preparation staff, Dr. Israel, Assistant Executive Directors Glenda Crookes and Rob Duquette, and other senior staff members. We encourage the students who attend this food tasting to taste the foods and give us their reactions to them. We also invite the students to give us comments, suggestions and/or complaints about any other aspect of our program as well.
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| Our nutrition project has benefited from consulting visits from a number of prominent nutritional experts. A few of our most recent consulting visits are illustrated below. On August 10th Mike Anderson (see photo below) visited JRC. Mr. Anderson is the author of the book The RAVE Diet and Lifestyle and of the film, Eating. This film summarizes the basic findings of modern nutritional science in a motivating and interesting manner that anyone can understand. We show this film to all of our students and staff members. See www.ravediet.com. If you would like a copy of Mr. Anderson's book (which includes his film), please contact us. |
| On August 3rd Neal Pinckney, Ph.D. (see photo below) visited JRC. In 1993, four cardiologists insisted that he have an immediate heart bypass operation to stay alive. It was, they said, a "matter of life and death" to have the operation the first thing the next morning. Dr. Pinckney declined the surgery, read up on heart disease reversal and then reversed his own heart disease by adopting the same type of dietary changes that we have made at JRC plus daily aerobic exercise. He then started support groups in Hawaii that have enabled over 750 people to reduce their risk of heart attack and 52 of them to avoid heart bypass operations. His book, the Healthy Heart Handbook sold out four printings. See www.kumu.org. |
| On October 22nd Caldwell Esselstyn, M.D. and his wife Ann (see below) visited JRC. Dr. Esselstyn is Preventive Cardiology Consultant to the Department of General Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio. Since 1985 Dr. Esselstyn has conducted the longest running study which proves that heart disease can be arrested or reversed by a low-fat, plant-based diet. See www.heartattackproof.com. He has served as our chief consultant on our nutritional changes. We have been following his recommendations because if a diet is good enough to reverse heart disease, it is also good enough to prevent it from starting in the first place, and to reverse even any beginnings of heart disease that may have started in our students. |
| Ann Esselstyn has designed a number of excellent recipes that adhere to the nutritious eating rules that Dr. Essestyn has suggested. We are using several of her recipes in our student menus. If you would like a copy of her recipes, please contact us. When she visited JRC, she gave a "Show and Tell" presentation in which she showed us how to read the labels of packaged foods and how to select the most nutritious foods. |
| Each time we have a visit from a consultant on nutrition, we invite all of our staff members to join us for a lunch in our Whimsy room prior to the talk by the consultant. The lunch served on these occasions follows the same nutritional principles we use with our students. |
| If you would like more information about our unique nutrition initiative, please visit our web site at www.judgerc.org/wellness.html.
To contact a member of our Admissions Department, please email Julie at j.gomes@judgerc.org.
Judge Rotenberg Educational Center
240 Turnpike Street
Canton, MA 02021
Phone: (781) 828-2202 Fax: (781) 828-2804
www.judgerc.org
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