Blog - Laura Novak

Food

2/12/2012

I think about it all the time. I've written about it a fair amount. And since I got nothin' else to write about right now, I thought I'd share this video. Nothing entirely new, but it's well done. I've been studying videos of Yale University Online and have some others I'd like to post. But for now allow me to report that when I put the pomegranate seeds in my Kashi, it does not turn the Almond milk pink. Just sayin'.

mistah charley, ph.d. link

2/12/2012 11:16:33 pm

Waiting at the library for me to check out is the DVD "Forks Over Knives." The text below is quoted from Amazon.

Lee Fulkerson's illuminating documentary serves as a natural successor to Food, Inc. in taking a critical look at the consequences of Western dietary habits. While some might view the lower-budget Forks over Knives as a long-form commercial for veganism, Fulkerson's evidence supporting the benefits of a plant-based diet is too compelling to dismiss (and he never claims that a small piece of cheese ever killed anyone). The filmmaker builds his case around the work of two doctors who grew up on farms where cow's milk was considered "nature's perfect food," as Dr. T. Colin Campbell puts it, and went into different fields of medicine, but their research led them to the same conclusion. For 20 years, Cornell University nutritional biochemist Campbell focused on China, where degenerative disease rates skyrocketed with the increased consumption of meat and dairy. By contrast, Japan and Kenya, where the fare is leaner, have experienced far fewer incidences of such illnesses. As a surgeon, Cleveland Clinic's Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, an Olympic Gold Medalist for rowing, also witnessed the results of a dependence on animal-based and processed foods: heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some forms of cancer. When his patients eliminated these items, they experienced significant improvement. Several appear on screen, along with Dr. Neal Barnard, Junshi Chen (collaborator on Campbell's China Study)--even mixed martial artist Mac Danzig. An opening title cautions that the film should not serve as a substitute for medical advice, but it certainly provides helpful information for anyone concerned about their health. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Product Description

What has happened to us? Despite the most advanced medical technology in the world, we are sicker than ever by nearly every measure.

Two out of every three of us are overweight. Cases of diabetes are exploding, especially amongst our younger population. About half of us are taking at least one prescription drug. Major medical operations have become routine, helping to drive health care costs to astronomical levels. Heart disease, cancer and stroke are the country's three leading causes of death, even though billions are spent each year to "battle" these very conditions. Millions suffer from a host of other degenerative diseases.

Could it be there's a single solution to all of these problems? A solution so comprehensive but so utterly straightforward, that it's mind-boggling that more of us haven't taken it seriously?

FORKS OVER KNIVES examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the so-called "diseases of affluence" that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods. The major storyline in the film traces the personal journeys of a pair of pioneering yet under-appreciated researchers, Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn.

Dr. Campbell, a nutritional scientist at Cornell University, was concerned in the late 1960's with producing "high quality" animal protein to bring to the poor and malnourished areas of the third world. While in the Philippines, he made a life-changing discovery: the country's wealthier children, who were consuming relatively high amounts of animal-based foods, were much more likely to get liver cancer. Dr. Esselstyn, a top surgeon and head of the Breast Cancer Task Force at the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic, found that many of the diseases he routinely treated were virtually unknown in parts of the world where animal-based foods were rarely consumed.

These discoveries inspired Campbell and Esselstyn, who didn't know each other yet, to conduct several groundbreaking studies. One of them took place in China and is still among the most comprehensive health-related investigations ever undertaken. Their research led them to a startling conclusion: degenerative diseases like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and even several forms of cancer, could almost always be prevented - and in many cases reversed - by adopting a whole foods, plant-based diet. Despite the profound implications of their findings, their work has remained relatively unknown to the public. The filmmakers travel with Drs. Campbell and Esselstyn on their separate but similar paths, from their childhood farms where they both produced "nature's perfect food"; to China and Cleveland, where they explored ideas that challenged the established thinking and shook their own core beliefs.

The idea of food as medicine is put to the test. Throughout the film, cameras follow "reality patients" who have chronic conditions from heart disease to diabetes. Doctors teach these patients how to adopt a whole foods plant-based diet as the primary approach to treat their ailments - while the challenges and triumphs of their journeys are revealed.

FORKS OVER KNIVES utilizes state of the art 3-D graphics an

Ottoline

2/13/2012 12:58:42 am

Has anyone reading here ever changed to vegan? How long until one feels a difference? Does anyone recommend ONE how-to book? (I don't want to make it complicated.) I recently did a 4-mo work assignment, 8 hrs/day, and I fell into the habit of eating only one apple for lunch. I felt so amazingly better. I am almost a convert; at least I am ready to give it a shot.

Laura Novak

2/13/2012 01:06:16 am

MC, thank you SO much for this. I am going to check it out. And Ottline I agree: simpler is better. MC, do you recommend a book about vegan diet?

I've thought of it, and while I eat really well, I've tried to make other inroads into eating even better without going full on vegan.

I too am almost a convert, Ottoline. So you didn't need to mix a little protein with the apple? A slice of cheese or anything? See, that's what I do.

mistah charley, ph.d. link

2/13/2012 01:44:06 am

Spouse and self are in the process of transitioning to a vegan or approximately vegan diet - we've been at it about three weeks and already feel somewhat better.

As for the ONE book - try one of these

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition

Forks Over Knives: The Plant-Based Way to Health (the book)

The McDougall Quick and Easy Cookbook

Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure by Caldwell B. Esselstyn

The Spectrum: A Scientifically Proven Program to Feel Better, Live Longer, Lose Weight, and Gain Health by Dean Ornish MD

As to how avoid protein deficiency - all the authors I've been reading say - NOT a problem - remember that great big strong animals like horses, hippopotami, and heffalumps get that way eating only plants. Humans - like other mammals - need species-specific milk in their infancy - but contrary to the Big Lie of Big Dairy, you DO outgrow your need for milk. At quite a young age.

Starter Kits for saving the planet by eating plants link

2/13/2012 03:09:00 am

These are free downloadable booklets - health rationale plus recipes - #2 puts more emphasis on the suffering of the food animals

Vegetarian Starter Kit
www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/vsk.pdf

Vegetarian Starter Kit
www.mercyforanimals.org/VSK.pdf

Healthy Eating for Life
www.cancerproject.org/resources/pdfs/HealthyEatingforLife.pdf

Peggy

2/13/2012 03:24:12 am

I have gotten into natural health in the last few years. This is an awesome DVD. If you have netflix, they have many other DVD's like this one. Two worth watching is "Fat,Sick and Nearly Dead" and also "The Beautiful Truth" Also some good websites around.,

FrostyAK

2/13/2012 03:49:46 am

Along with WHAT we eat, Americans have the problem of HOW MUCH we eat. When all of the wrong foods are supersized, the population will become obese. Obesity is the root of much of the disease this country is mired under. And Big Pharma couldn't be happier.

I know someone who has been a vegetarian for many years. Outwardly she seems healthy and is thin, but IMO looks years older than she is.

Man is an omnivore. As with most things, moderation is the key to food. If we are to eat a good for us balanced diet, much research is required to define that diet.

I get a free daily newsletter from http://www.mercola.com/
and have found it extremely informative. Coincidentally I don't buy his products, but take some of the advice.

Laura Novak

2/13/2012 04:11:53 am

Thanks for that Frosty. I just signed up! I have a friend who has sent me one or two of his articles and they made complete sense to me. One was about sunscreen and I have my own thoughts on that. I agree with him!

And thank you all for the links. I am going to check them out right after I eat my Trader Joe's bean soup for lunch!

milkhaeanna@honey toasted pecans link

2/23/2012 08:15:04 pm

Nice video. Just what I need to motivate me to continue with the vegan diet I started a few months back.

anti snoring devices pro link

5/21/2013 05:01:09 pm

The video was really interesting and I kept on watching it for couple of times. The author has taken a critical look at the consequences of Western dietary habits. Throughout the film, cameras follow reality patients who have chronic conditions from heart disease to diabetes. Thanks for the info. Regards

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