Learning Opportunities

I’ve learned a lot about nutrition and the food industry over the past several weeks.  Up until now I’ve shared more about my own experiences during this vegan journey, but I want to take some time to share with you some of the nutritional information I’ve learned.  If you are interested in learning more about a plant-based diet, I will have listed at the end of this blog some documentaries and books to look into.  For now, I want to focus on just a couple of these resources – Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman and The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell.

Dr. Fuhrman specializes in plant-based nutrition as a source of treatment for his patients.  He believes that eating a plant-based diet not only improves health, but can even reverse chronic diseases and illnesses such as allergies, asthma, autoimmune disease, depression, diabetes (type 2) and even heart disease.  Dr. Campbell likewise promotes a plant-based diet and his research has proven the connection between animal proteins (both meat and dairy) and various health conditions, more specifically cardiovascular disease and cancer.

First, let’s step back and take a look at the state of our nation’s health.  According to Dr. Fuhrman, “In spite of the more than $110 million consumers spend every day on diets and ‘reducing’ programs (more than $40 billion per year), Americans are the most obese people in history… A whopping 34 percent of all Americans are obese, and the problem is getting worse, not better” (Eat to Live, introduction).  If a person’s body is made up of more than one-third fat, they are considered to be obese.  Unfortunately now this is becoming more and more prominent in children as well as adults.  In addition, one-third of the American population has or will have heart disease in their lifetime.  Many of us even suffer from more than one health issue at the same time.  “By any number of measures, America’s health is failing.  We spend far more, per capita, on health care than any other society in the world, and yet two thirds of Americans are overweight, and over 15 million Americans have diabetes, a number that has been rising rapidly… Half of Americans have a health problem that requires taking a prescription drug every week, and over 100 million Americans have high cholesterol” (The China Study, introduction).

With so much being spent in this country on health care, how is it that the problem is getting worse rather than better?  The heart of the problem lies in our diet.  Dr. Fuhrman and other doctors who share in this belief point out that our current diet involves eating foods high in calories but low in nutrition.  We are eating highly processed foods that lack the nutrients our bodies need so our bodies continually think we need more in order to get those nutrients, but instead of meeting that nutritional need we continue to eat those same foods rich in fats, sugar and empty calories.  So we are essentially over-eating and starving ourselves at the same time and the result is a plethora of deficiencies and medical conditions.

The plant-based nutrition that Dr. Fuhrman implements with his patients is best proven through Dr. Campbell’s findings.  There is a great deal of research and evidence to be discovered through “The China Study”, but there are a few key points that should be made known.  Protein is vital to our diet, yes.  We’ve been taught that meat and dairy are our primary sources of protein, however protein can be found in a number of plants, including wheat and soy.  In fact, contrary to popular belief, people can live on the protein solely provided through plants.  In Dr. Campbell’s study it was learned that “casein, which makes up 87% of cow’s milk protein, promoted all stages of the cancer process” whereas proteins from plants did not.  “What made this project especially remarkable is that, among the many associations that are relevant to diet and disease, so many pointed to the same finding: people who ate the most animal-based foods got the most chronic disease.  Even relatively small intakes of animal-based food were associated with adverse effects.  People who ate the most plant-based foods were the healthiest and tended to avoid chronic disease.” (The China Study, introduction)

What’s even more impressive through Dr. Campbell’s research is that by lowering the animal-protein and increasing plant-protein, cancer growth not only stopped, but actually reversed.  Through Dr. Fuhrman’s treatment, many of his patients were able to lessen or even go off their various medications entirely, essentially being cured of their conditions.  It seems too good to be true.  Could the answer to so many of our nation’s health problems be as simple as changing how we eat?  The answer is yes.  Unfortunately, you won’t hear this from much of the health-care world.  Money drives so much of what the public is told.

Just think about it for a moment.  What would happen to the pharmaceutical companies if doctors quit prescribing medications to their patients and promoted plant-based, whole food diets instead?  What would happen to the hospitals and urgent care centers if eating healthier prevented many of the conditions that served as their primary sources of income?  Let’s take it a step further… what would happen to the food industry that pushes so many processed foods and profits so much from these cheaply made products if we were told that our health would improve drastically if we stopped buying and eating those foods?  “The distinctions between government, industry, science and medicine have become blurred.  The distinctions between making a profit and promoting health have become blurred.  The problems with the system do not come in the form of Hollywood-style corruption.  The problems are much more subtle, and yet much more dangerous.  The result is massive amounts of misinformation, for which average American consumers pay twice.  They provide the tax money to do the research, and then they provide the money for their health care to treat their largely preventable diseases” (The China Study, introduction).

We could delve even deeper into the food industry aspect of this, but that’s a whole other can of worms.  However this snapshot of the issue helps us understand why more people don’t know that many of our common illnesses can be much more simply and accurately treated by changing the way we eat.  “Eating to live does not require any deprivation.  In fact, you do not have to give up any foods completely.  However, as you consume larger and larger portions of health-supporting, high-nutrient foods, your appetite for low-nutrient foods decreases and you gradually lose your addiction to them.  You will be able to make a complete commitment to this diet style for the rest of your life” (Eat to Live, introduction).

Whether you do or do not have medical conditions, eating a plant-based diet has been proven to improve overall quality of life.  Higher energy levels, better sleep, clearer skin, mental clarity, improved focus and even increased emotional wellbeing (such as more positive attitude, less irritability, etc.) are all potential, even probable side-effects of making the change to a plant-based diet.  I have seen this in my own experience already, as well as in my brother and sister through their lifestyle changes.

If you don’t believe me, check out some of these resources, and I challenge you to give it a try for yourself, even just for one month, and then share your experience with me! I’m no pro, but I’m excited about the changes I’ve seen already in my life and would love to be a source of support for you as well :)

Books:

Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman

The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell

Engine 2 Diet by Rip Esselstyn

Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr.

Videos (available on Netflix and/or Hulu):

Forks over Knives

Hungry for Change

Vegucated

Fed Up

Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead

Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead 2

Food, INC.

GMO OMG