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.
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