healthdiscoveryjourney

The documentary Forks Over Knives is a life changing hour and a half! If you are on a statin, taking meds for hypertension, have any sort of heart disease, have Type 2 diabetes, have cancer, or want to prevent cancer, then I cannot recommend this movie enough.

Coincidentally, our friend Kelly Browning, Executive Vice President of the American Institute of Cancer Research (AICR), actually knows Dr. Colin Campbell and AICR funded his China study featured in the movie. I’ve provided a link to the AICR website where they offer lots of tips and information on diet and its effect on cancer – they have been researching this topic for years.

You can rent Forks Over Knives from Netflix or go to the website to read about it and order it (link below).

Thoughts About Food

I have a friend who has ovarian cancer. During her chemo, I took her some meals, and one of the meals was grilled flank steak (veggies, salad, bread, too). Her doctors are telling her that the meat is good for her – gives her good protein energy during chemo! In watching Forks Over Knives, I’ve learned that’s one of the worst things she can eat. Also, Dr. Sherry Rogers (Is Your Cardiologist Killing You?) says she has seen many people who have been extremely ill with heart disease or cancer recover completely when they go on a 100% macrobiotic diet (includes no meat). Something to think about!

Cutler watched the movie with me and we are convinced! Enough to never have another steak or cheese pizza? No. I guess we can say that because we are not currently fighting cancer or have debilitating heart disease. However, meat and dairy will definitely be smaller portions on our plate and we are taking the first steps toward a whole foods, plant-centered diet (juicing, smoothies, smaller portions of meat and cheese, etc.). The AICR recommends a “plate” of food that is 2/3 veggie, 1/3 animal based products – we’re going to shoot for that at the minimum. In fact, I have started searching the web for food ideas and found a great “vegetarian starter” website (see below). I’ve also provided a link to Dr. Fuhrman’s Eat to Live website and book. A friend told me about him and he is a great resource, too. If our daughter Devon is reading this, she is amazed!

I am okay with cutting back on animal-based products, but I just can’t bring myself to cut it out completely – Cutler definitely doesn’t want to. For instance, the other day I made twice-baked potatoes for a dinner party. I put in a big glob of silken tofu to help mash the potatoes. The flavor/smell just wasn’t that great. Fortunately, I had planned on putting in regular sour cream and a bit of 1% milk, too, and it covered up the flavor. I also added green onions and smaller amounts of shredded cheddar cheese and cut up bacon, and with little potatoes, the servings weren’t huge. So, one way to look at it is that I did cut down on the normal amount of dairy I would have used but I didn’t eliminate it completely. And we don’t have twice-baked potatoes that often, so I want them to be yummy when I do.

Another example of change is at breakfast. I grew up on milk and cereal and have still eaten it as an adult. Right now, I have successfully cut that out and I’m eating oatmeal or whole grain toast with jam (no butter!) or making a green smoothie!! It’s satisfying. I’ve even made whole grain buckwheat pancakes on the weekend.

P.S. There was no discussion of libations in Forks Over Knives and I’m not asking! Haha!

“Flexitarianism”

I am onboard with going more whole foods and plant-based to help extend my life and keep me free from disease. And after just a couple weeks, I’ve already lost a few pounds. But life is for living and enjoying things and good food is one of them. I could be in an accident and then I would never have had another steak or salmon or burger & fries or baked brie – that would be a bummer. So maybe the occasional steak will be the size of a half a deck of cards, butter will be eaten more sparingly, cheese and crackers will be for special occasions, etc. I can do that. I saw the term “flexitarian” the other day and I like it!

I have 100% of control of what I eat when I’m at home. I’m not going to freak out if I’m at somebody’s house and they are serving foods incompatible with my diet lifestyle – I’m going to eat what they serve (I can control the serving size) and I’m going to enjoy it. I always appreciate a dinner invitation! At restaurants these days, they seem to offer something for everyone so that’s easy, too.

The closing line in Forks Over Knives is that you want to “eat to live, not live to eat.” I think if you want to make some changes in your diet and adopt that as your motto, you will be successful! Who knows? You could be a closet vegetarian and not know it!

http://www.forksoverknives.com/about/synopsis/
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/2007/pdf/vegetarian_starter_kit.pdf
http://www.aicr.org/reduce-your-cancer-risk/diet/
http://www.drfuhrman.com/default.aspx