Our new flatmate recently showed us a documentary called "Forks Over Knives" talking about the world wide studies by a few top nutritionists. Their research proves many wives tales that red meat is bad for you and explains how dairy can be put in the same "harmful" category. They promote a "Plant Based Diet" and urge everyone to eat "Whole Foods" while avoiding anything processed.
The movie does a great job in busting some classic myths our parents told us:
- Drinking Milk is the only way to get your Calcium
- Your diet will be void of Protein if you don't eat Meat
- Juice is good even with High Fructose Corn Syrup
Frankly, most of the thoughts above are byproducts of very successful add campaigns which have now been dispelled by modern research. Even further, there is so much financing that goes to legislators from big food industry that health standards don't change.
One of the main points that I took away was derived from an extreme episode where well-off children in Philippines whose diet was high in Beef & Dairy were dying of Liver Cancer compared to the poverty struck lower class. Dr Colin Campbell flew out to perform a case study and his findings were shocking. The building blocks in their diets, referred to as Casein Protein, was causing the Cancer Growth. When his hypothesis was tested on rats he confirmed his findings; when given 20% Casein Protein, Cancer Growth was exponential compared to only 5%.
Additionally, when the experiment was replicated using Plant Based Proteins there was no Cancer Growth at all regardless of the amount. Fish & Poultry are also Casein Free.
- THP Fit Tip #12: Limit Beef & Dairy to under 5% of your diet
The documentary continues to talk about the benefits of a "Plant Based Diet" including many heartfelt testimonials of overweight and over-perscriptioned patients making the change.
- Lowered Cholesterol
- Reduced Exposure to many Cancers
- Elimination of Type 2 Diabetes in most patients
- Reduction in Heart & Cardiovascular Disease
Hence the title "Forks Over Knives" encouraging everyone to eat healthy in order to avoid operations. Patients exposed or recovering from coronary bypass surgery who changed their diet showed incredible improvements in the amount of plague buildup in their arteries. The elimination of Casein Protein from their diet was proven to repair the inner lining of arteries subsequently preventing clogs.
I normally try to not press my opinions on others but strongly encourage everyone to watch the film, do research and formulate their own opinion. It honestly has changed my diet; not to the extreme as some but I try to avoid Beef & Dairy. We went to brunch yesterday and ordered Fish Fajitas, amazing!! I substituted Cheese & Sour Cream for Guacamole, Rice & Beans.
So Grow a Garden & Stay Healthy!!
