Need more recipes? I just discovered the most amazing website, dedicated to whole foods recipes:
http://www.edenfoods.com/recipes/
Best part is that it's FREE, yes! and you can browse recipes by diet type (hundreds of vegan AND low fat recipes) and sort by cooking time, calories, protein, fat content, ect. Amazing, amazing. So check it out and be prepared to be blown away by all of the fun possibilities!
Next thing, as you may have gathered I'm a huge fan of Dr. McDougall. I admire him for the work he does in educating the public about dietary excellence through plant-based nutrition. He's been putting up a fight with a medical establishment for years, and one of his latest causes is passing a bill about doctors being required to let their patients know, heart patients, specifically, that there are better, more effective (cheaper and less drastic!) options other than surgery or drugs, like nutritional therapy. Dr. McDougall chronicles his latest adventure in his current newsletter, it's an inspiring story one that shows that one and many people can and do make a difference.
Lastly, this is kind of a random thought. Of late, I have come across some info about a diet that actually encourages the intake of saturated fat and cholesterol, as long as it come from organically fed animals. This is actually the premise for Sally Fallon's book, Nourishing Traditions, of which I addressed a little of what I think of her particular movement in the Q & A post. I have not read her book, but I have read some articles written by her and am somewhat familiar with her teachings. She advocates a diet of unprocessed foods, emphasizing raw dairy, butter, range-free eggs, and organic flesh foods. Not getting enough good saturated fat in our diet can be detrimental to your health, she claims (I think it's actually quite the opposite as we see here in the good ol' U.S.). Saturated fat is just as artery clogging when it's organic than when it comes from a factory-farmed cow. She also claims there are only certain vitamins you can get from animals, like vitamin A. Anyway, you get the picture of what type of diet she's advocating. If you want to know more about what she teaches, read her book (although this not me recommending it, just simply giving her a fair chance here).
Lest you think I'm being unfair to the lady, let me say she's right on when it comes to the fact that we need to step far away from refined and overly-processed, genetically modified foods, especially refined sugars and flours. But where I COMPLETELY disagree with her is the part where she blames these foods on heart disease, osteoporosis, and the gamut of lifestyle diseases, rather than on animal foods, which she says we need to eat more of (in particular, the organic, grass fed, stuff). Where's the science to back this up? I'd like to see the heart disease patients who are put on the diet she advocates who are able to not only stop, but reverse the heart disease or obese individuals who are able to not only come down to a healthy weight, but maintain it eating the way she prescribes. There are hundreds of peer-reviewed documented, published studies done by nutrition scientists, doctors, and other professionals that not only suggest but SHOW that a plant-based diet can stop and actually reverse these diseases. This is not just one or even a couple of people's opinion. Pictures of arteries and heart valves, before and after, of heart disease patients who have implemented a low-fat plant-based diet that clearly show not only improvements, but reversals. Not only that, have you seen any videos or pictures of people with clogged arteries or hearts valves? They are covered, I mean covered in fat. Fat is fat, and your body doesn't say, oh don't allow this fat to coat the artery because it's organic animal fat. And I guarantee you that fat coating the arteries didn't come from brocolli and potatoes. So Sally, I'm with you, let's all steer clear of the high-fructose corn syrup, but as for the animal foods, I think we'd be better off steering pretty much clear of those too...
One last random thought. The people who advocate a plant-based diet, or at least the ones that I'm familiar with, Dr. McDougall, Dr. Furhman, Dr. Ornish, Dr. Campbell, Dr. Esselstyn, all practice what they preach. Or you can assume they do. Look at their appearance...they are all trim and healthy, vibrant looking, even Dr. Campbell who is nearly 80 years old now. So if you don't believe the science, at least the people who advocate it are in good health, and not only that, look good. Something to think about.
Maybe this is shallow of me, but I find it hard to listen to someone who is not lean and healthy, vibrant & energetic, and who is spouting all sorts of weakly documented nutrition advice, which I find in the case of Fallon and others. What's that saying? "Your actions are speaking so loudly I cannot hear what you say." Might it be modified to fit better here to say: "Your physical appearance is speaking so loudly I cannot hear what you say." I suppose this is why many of us find it hard to follow our doctor's advice to eat better, exercise, and lose a few pounds, when they themselves aren't the picture of health.
I'm on the fence with this one. I own both Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Price (which I totally recommend reading-incredible-plus I'd like to read your review on it! :) and Nourishing Traditions-as well as other WAPF type books. On the other hand, I started out more on the veggie slant of things so I own lots of different types of veg*n books, too.
ReplyDeleteI do think there is a BIG difference between eating vegetable oils and eating butter. Butter seems much more attractive to eat than a bottle of oil does. lol There is also a big difference between raw, 100% grass fed butter and factory farmed butter. The difference in coloring and vitamins is astounding.
I'm still on the fence trying to decide if NO fat is better than SOME fat in the form of raw, grass fed butter for the vitamins A, D, K and fatty acids. And because I've known of many people heal on these diets as well as the vegetarian ones.
From a nutrient and health perspective though, IF one is going to include animal products in their diets, it only makes sense to eat the superior grass-fed products. The problem is availability and price though.
For me the ideal diet would be pretty much 99% vegan diet, plus a tiny, tiny amound of cod liver oil, butter, and maybe an egg here or there.
I don't know how I'd balance that though. I'm such an all-or-nothing girl. Which sometimes means nothing. lol. or just getting my veg. juice or green smoothie in. Sorry I wrote too much. I'm going to check out the recipe link you posted!
Paul Pitchford (Healing With Whole Foods) makes a pretty compelling case for animal foods: when you're body is in a state of deficiency, ie. you need to gain weight and have been malnourished, which for most people is not the case. We have been malnourished, but do not need to gain weight, in fact, we need to lose. I'm not gonna lie to you, of course animal products have nutrients in them, nutrients that we can use. But all of those nutrients can be found just as easily in plant foods and overall, the "whole" package is much better for your body. One of the agruments from these folks is that butter is the best source of vitamin A, we can't absorb plant vitamin A, so eat lot's of butter. Hmmm...I've known of no one with a vitamin A deficiency, and there's much more of a connection between the saturated fat in butter and things like heart disease, obesity, high cholesterol.
ReplyDeleteSince I don't use butter or vegetable oil, I don't see a need for either, but understand we all of have deeply entrenched eating habits that are difficult to change. And butter tends to be a big one for a lot of people. Like ice cream, it's a comfort food.
As far as fat goes there are people on both sides of the fence who are for and against. Although there's plenty of solid evidence against added fat (in the form of oils, butter, animal fat foods, ect.). I take the personal experience stance as main reason for my decision on this one--from my personal experience of not adding any extra fat to my diet (I get more than enough through whole foods) I feel better than ever. So I don't care what one person says for or against--I know how I feel and I feel great. My skin, hair, and nails are healthy and strong. I don't see a reason to change.
Ann, sounds like you're working things out, and you'll find what is best for you. Keep it up.
The research that supports a plant-based diet, including The China Study, is pretty compelling. I have seen no research, as you point out, that supports the health benefits of animal fats. The Blue Zones, by Dan Buettner, is a very interesting book that chronicles the lifestyles of four long-lived populations, the Okinawans, the Sardinians, the Seventh Day Adventists, and a population in Costa Rica shows that these populations, with a higher percentage of long-lived elders,have mostly a plant-based diet. They also consume relatively few calories and have low body weights. They do eat small amounts of animal foods, but the bulk of their diet is plant-based.
ReplyDeleteHoward, good point. If animal foods are present in the diet, they ought to play a very small role, as found in these special populations who have found some secrets to longevity.
ReplyDeleteCertainly there is very little, if any, strong evidence to suggest that an animal based diet is health promoting. Usually the people in this group cite one or two obscure studies. As is the case with Fallon, she cites the work of Dr. Weston A. Price (a dentist from the earlier part of the century) who went around the world to find a diet that would help build strong teeth...Not exactly a well-rounded premise for suggesting a specific diet.
I have been reading an interesting book, which I plan on reviewing on my blog titled SuperFoods RX by Stephen Pratt, M.D. His list of super high nutrition foods include all our favorites, beans, broccoli, nuts/seeds, spinach, etc. but also he adds turkey breast (skinless), eggs, and fresh water salmon. These animal foods have nutrients he considers very beneficial, but no where does he mention saturated fat.
ReplyDeleteEvery authoritative source I have reviewed advocates either a 100% plant-based diet or a plant-based diet plus 5-10% of calories from animal foods, if you choose. But, the animal foods should be low in saturated fats, ala the ones Dr. Pratt mentions.
I still think you would like the original Price book, it's really not all about meat and dairy. His research is undeniable--the people who use his research are the ones that go off on their tangents.
ReplyDeleteWhat it undeniably taught me is that our modern processed foods are what bring disease. Which is obvious, but people need to see the proof of the pictures and dental arches that he shows. It's just fascinating. You can't help but analyse everybody's dental arches after reading it. :)
I do appreciate your staunch resolve. I'm learning from it, and I've been on this health nut journey for 10 years now! My problem is being too open minded and wanting to know and try everything for myself. I think I've read and experimented with just about every nutrition style by now--I'm ready to become more narrow minded toward one plan, making it my own as well though. Like I said in an earlier post, I had excellent results when I first started down this mostly plant based diet, however I've never given the starch-based absolutely no overt fat diet a fair try, even though I've read McDougall years ago.
Most recently though, I read and tried out Doug Graham's 80/10/10 raw vegan diet, and while it opened my mind to the no overt fats concept, I don't find the fruit-based diet sustainable for long term. Thus, the looking into McDougall again. :) You're blog has really helped and I think I'm going to give it a go! I'm really drawn to Esselstyn and his recipes look much better.
So, thanks Janae!
Howard: If you do eat animal foods I suppose those foods that Dr. Price suggests are the way to go. I still think they are unnecessary, but certainly better in some ways than the other animal foods.
ReplyDeleteAnn: The McDougall diet is the one I have come to the conclusion is best, not just for me but for everyone. I emphasize raw, fresh foods, but believe starches should make up most of our calories since vegetables are extremely low calorie (100 calories per pound) and fruits are pretty low in calories, not realistic to do a Doug Graham diet for most people where it's lowfat but most of your calories come from fruit. I'm with you--I've tried the diet but it's not long term and to be honest, I can only take so much fruit before I start feeling sick and don't want to look at another piece of it. The McDougall/Esselstyn diet is something that ANYONE, nearly anywhere can do. No special foods, or supplements. Just a starch or two will do with the addition of vegetables. Fruits & beans are added bonuses and should be eaten, but you can live without these if there was nothing else around. Point is, I think it makes the most sense, not only that is pretty practical in terms of actually doing it. Check out Dr. Esselstyn's book--it has a ton of EXCELLENT recipes.