Ruth Heidrich, Ph.D

Prevent, Reverse & Cure E.D.: Ten Steps to Total Sexual Fitness

Ruth Heidrich — Sat, 28 Jul 2018 03:17:43 +0000

Is ED due to just getting old?
How ED also affects women!
Why you can’t blame stress for your ED!
How to become a better lover in 30 days!

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Vegan Diet and Fibroids

admin — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 01:03:43 +0000

Dear Dr. Ruth,

Are there any studies showing reduction or elimination of fibroids using vegan diets? I have several large fibroids and have had 3 miscarriages in the past 1.5 years. I am willing to try a vegan diet if it will help me in any way. The problem is that I am not very disciplined to stick to it. Any guidance will be helpful.

Mary
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Dear Mary,

I’ve never had to do a search on studies of the effect of vegan diets on fibroids, but here is what we know. Women who eat animal products, including dairy, have much higher estrogen levels. High estrogen levels stimulate reproductive tissue which, of course, includes the uterus and is what causes fibroids. If continuing on with your history of fibroids and miscarriages is not enough to motivate you to change your diet, maybe this will help. Eating a low-fat vegan diet significantly lowers your risk of uterine and breast cancer, heart disease (which kills many more women than cancer), stroke, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, arthritis, osteoporosis, dementia, and more. It also is a much more humane diet in that the cruelty involved in raising animals for food is horrible and disgusting. Lastly, there are the environmental costs of fouling our nest, the planet, from which we may never recover.

So, aren’t you glad you asked? (:>) Please, Mary, do it and you’ll find yourself healthier and feel so fantastic you’ll do what I did, ask, “Why didn’t I do this years ago?” For help on recipes, order my ebook, CHEF. It’ll help keep you disciplined!

Ruth E. Heidrich, Ph.D., Ironman Triathlete
www.RuthHeidrich.com
Author of A Race For Life, CHEF, Senior Fitness, & Lifelong Running

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Mastectomies (Cont.)

admin — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 16:31:38 +0000

(For reference, here is the original Mastectomies post with Dr. Ruth’s reply.)

Dear Dr Ruth,
Hello! I thank you so much for the inspiration I have gleaned from your shining example. I appreciate your personal account of mastectomy and reconstruction. Although I had no other choice, submitting to the knife was the hardest thing I have ever done. But the tumor was large with two smaller satellites and the breast was extremely small. I am doing really well and feeling great after a simple mastectomy (which means NO lymph node removal per Dr. McDougall) Nov. 25th. Thank you so so much for educating me about natural progesterone cream which I chose over radiation, chemotherapy or hormone therapy. Always vigilant with diet, exercise and attitude, I ask myself: “What would Dr. Ruth do?”

J.Y.

(For reference, here is the original Mastectomies post with Dr. Ruth’s reply.)

The post Mastectomies (Cont.) first appeared on Ruth Heidrich, Ph.D.

Thanksgiving Thank You

admin — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 20:18:09 +0000

Dear Dr Ruth,
We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in Europe (I am writing from Luxembourg, though originally am from Lithuania), but the idea of this holiday (the giving of thanks part) is truly beautiful. And we all should have as many beautiful things in our lives as we can fit in. So I thought: I will celebrate it by writing you a thank-you letter. I imagine you receive a lot of thank you letters, perhaps they’ve become a constant feature, like the roar of the ocean. And I can only hope that this letter – yet another wave crashing – would manage to bring a sparkle to so much used phrase – thank you – and would be a nice message to receive during this holiday.
It is strange how one thing leads to another and before you know it, your whole life is so different from what it was just a year ago that you can hardly imagine that it’s still you. That’s the best way to describe my year so far. I know that the changes that took place were made by me, but you have been a huge inspiration while doing those changes. I am truly thankful for all the work you do in promoting veganism and running. Especially because it must get tedious at times to constantly repeat same things over and over again. And yet you still manage to sound fresh and enthusiastic! Somehow your words don’t wear off! And that is appreciated a lot!
First time I have heard your story was in Forks over Knives documentary. And then by accident I came across your vsh presentation in U-tube and that opened another treasure trove of videos from the Vegetarian Society of Hawaii. I am so very grateful to Bill Harris, Karl Seff, Lorraine Sakaguchi and many others who work behind the scenes and make it possible for everybody to see the videos. It helped me a lot to better understand various health issues and know that my decision to go vegan was the right and only way to proceed with my life. It is very useful to have a reliable source of information because there is still a lot of misinformation around. For example, recently a friend of mine talked to a president of a Luxembourg vegetarian society who was adamant that you don’t need to take B12 vitamins if you eat organic produce! I also took a Nutrition class on Coursera from Vanderbilt University (https://www.coursera.org/course/lifenutr) and the lecturer, when discussing veganism, talked about combining rice with beans to get a complete protein! I could not believe it.
I am also thankful you are such a passionate sports advocate. It really helped me get back into sports. You can hear a thousand times from doctors or various studies that sports are good for you and it does nothing. But when you see somebody leading by example in such an awesome way, you can’t wait to follow them! Until 16, I played table tennis professionally and after falling and injuring my knees one too many times I became convinced that sports are not all that healthy. And for the next 17 years I did absolutely nothing in terms of exercise (I guess the fact that I managed to look fit without doing any exercise did not help the cause). And now I am slowly getting reacquainted with my running shoes and retraining my legs to run again. And every morning when the tape recorder in my head starts playing the excuse song: “Should I put those running shoes on and go tackle the 100 stairs going up the hill nearby to where I live when it’s so cold and dark outside”, I think: “What would Ruth Heidrich do?” And there is only one answer to that: she would just run and eat some kale afterwards.
Best wishes, Eugenija Stankeviciute

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Mastectomies

admin — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 23:21:31 +0000

Dear Dr Ruth,
There I was lying awake in bed last night mulling over this issue of losing my breast and fearing horribly painful surgeries. Then I found your message in my Inbox! Perfect timing. I am so touched by your help! I really appreciate your wealth of knowledge and experience, especially with regard to breast implants. My surgeon insists on doing a mastectomy and refuses a lumpectomy unless I agree to radiation, which I will not. What does matter is what I put in my mouth! So I continue to follow your advice and eat my greens – lots of greens! By the way, after my husband read “A Race for Life”, he kindly referred to you as “his girlfriend” and asked me to prepare your yummy recipes.
Thanks again from the bottom of my heart! We love you and wish you the best of the best,
J.Y.
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Dear J.Y.,
If I had it to do over again, I would have had far less surgery than I did. Back then, however, I was so scared, and, not knowing if diet would work, agreed to the most radical surgery — bilateral modified radical mastectomies.

I now know how powerful a low-fat vegan diet is! I do understand, however, what a predicament you face. All I can do is encourage you to keep asking questions, try not to be intimidated by mainstream surgeons and oncologists (sadly, they STILL aren’t taught what some of us know), and remember, YOU are the boss! You can tell the surgeon what you want and if he/she is not willing, then find one who is!

I’ve had to have my implants replaced twice so far, so I’m on my third set. They not only have a “shelf life” but contracture is a very real and common problem. I’ve had it twice and worry about when they have to be replaced again. Also, as you age, subcutaneous fat tends to disappear along with your skin thinning, so the cosmetic effect is impaired, making the implants far more visible. If that doesn’t bother you, then maybe a less than perfect reconstruction wouldn’t bother you, either. I was way too concerned about the cosmetic effect then and now focus on the more important issues such as general health. Pain isn’t the main factor as it can usually be controlled with drugs, except for tattooing unless done by an MD who can prescribe drugs. I had the skin for the areola taken from the inside of my thigh, and it has always been the same color as the rest of the skin as I never bothered with tattooing. All you see is the circular scar, barely!

So, if you can avoid a mastectomy, I’d strongly recommend it. So, good luck and whatever you do, I think it’ll be the right decision for you!

Ruth E. Heidrich, Ph.D., Ironman Triathlete
www.RuthHeidrich.com
Author of A Race For Life, CHEF, Senior Fitness, & Lifelong Running

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