"Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful."
―Thich Nhat Hanh
Celebrating
(one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit health plans)
"Physicians should consider recommending a plant-based diet to all their patients, especially those with high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or obesity.
"Physicians should advocate that it is time to get away from terms like vegan and vegetarian and start talking about eating healthy, whole, plant-based foods...
"Physicians should be informed about these concepts so they can teach them to staff and patients.
"The future of health care will involve an evolution toward a paradigm where the prevention and treatment of disease is centered, not on a pill or surgical procedure, but on another serving of fruits and vegetables.
"Further research is needed to find ways to make plant-based diets the new normal for our patients and employees. We cannot cure chronic diseases, but we may be able to prevent and control them by changing how we eat. With education and monitoring for adherence, we can improve health outcomes. Patterns of families and other colleagues who may be reluctant to support the efforts of individuals who are trying to change are a challenge to be overcome.
"We should invite our colleagues, patients, and their families to a shared decision-making process with the goal of adopting a plant-based diet and a regular exercise program. We should invite health care teams to complete a course on healthy eating and active living. We should encourage staff to be knowledgeable about plant-based nutrition. Finally, we should encourage performance-driven measurable outcomes..."
♥
What are you celebrating?
Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition
Nine months ago...I began waiting for the stork to deliver this bundle of joy.
What happens when you eat an apple? The answer is vastly more complex than you imagine.
Every apple contains thousands of antioxidants whose names, beyond a few like vitamin C, are unfamiliar to us, and each of these powerful chemicals has the potential to play an important role in supporting our health. They impact thousands upon thousands of metabolic reactions inside the human body. But calculating the specific influence of each of these chemicals isn’t nearly sufficient to explain the effect of the apple as a whole. Because almost every chemical can affect every other chemical, there is an almost infinite number of possible biological consequences.
And that’s just from an apple.
Nutritional science, long stuck in a reductionist mindset, is at the cusp of a revolution. The traditional “gold standard” of nutrition research has been to study one chemical at a time in an attempt to determine its particular impact on the human body. These sorts of studies are helpful to food companies trying to prove there is a chemical in milk or pre-packaged dinners that is “good” for us, but they provide little insight into the complexity of what actually happens in our bodies or how those chemicals contribute to our health.
In The China Study, T. Colin Campbell (alongside his son, Thomas M. Campbell) revolutionized the way we think about our food with the evidence that a whole food, plant-based diet is the healthiest way to eat. Now, in Whole, he explains the science behind that evidence, the ways our current scientific paradigm ignores the fascinating complexity of the human body, and why, if we have such overwhelming evidence that everything we think we know about nutrition is wrong, our eating habits haven’t changed.
Whole is an eye-opening, paradigm-changing journey through cutting-edge thinking on nutrition, a scientific tour de force with powerful implications for our health and for our world.
Every apple contains thousands of antioxidants whose names, beyond a few like vitamin C, are unfamiliar to us, and each of these powerful chemicals has the potential to play an important role in supporting our health. They impact thousands upon thousands of metabolic reactions inside the human body. But calculating the specific influence of each of these chemicals isn’t nearly sufficient to explain the effect of the apple as a whole. Because almost every chemical can affect every other chemical, there is an almost infinite number of possible biological consequences.
And that’s just from an apple.
Nutritional science, long stuck in a reductionist mindset, is at the cusp of a revolution. The traditional “gold standard” of nutrition research has been to study one chemical at a time in an attempt to determine its particular impact on the human body. These sorts of studies are helpful to food companies trying to prove there is a chemical in milk or pre-packaged dinners that is “good” for us, but they provide little insight into the complexity of what actually happens in our bodies or how those chemicals contribute to our health.
In The China Study, T. Colin Campbell (alongside his son, Thomas M. Campbell) revolutionized the way we think about our food with the evidence that a whole food, plant-based diet is the healthiest way to eat. Now, in Whole, he explains the science behind that evidence, the ways our current scientific paradigm ignores the fascinating complexity of the human body, and why, if we have such overwhelming evidence that everything we think we know about nutrition is wrong, our eating habits haven’t changed.
Whole is an eye-opening, paradigm-changing journey through cutting-edge thinking on nutrition, a scientific tour de force with powerful implications for our health and for our world.
What's making you sigh with happiness?
Flax Snack
When I first started eating fresh ground flax seeds, I didn't like them (at all). I wanted them to go away, especially since I didn't know how to camouflage their taste.
and suffered through just tossing them on my food, for about a week. I let myself say things like, "This is so unfair."
Then I began craving them. Now I have to remind myself to only eat the daily recommended amount. Isn't it amazing what our body begins to do when we allow it to? Life is good.
What makes your life good?
The China Study Cookbook
The China Study Cookbook just arrived in the mail. Leanne Campbell, PhD (daughter of Dr. T. Colin Campbell), is the author. Her son, Steven Campbell Disla, snapped the photographs. What a meaningful family project...supporting countless others with their whole health!
The introduction, My Journey Toward a Plant-Based Diet, includes a deeply appreciated nutrition science summary which is easy for any eye to absorb. Leanne shares her own independent thinking and experiences as well, including the tender details that changed everything for her.
The Nutritional Value page is my favorite quick reference in the book, where plant food is placed into eight categories—seven types of plant parts plus mushrooms. Leanne notes the sound reason why nutrient compositions are not included with the recipes (try to guess...).
There are vital, simple pages on planning (for ease), on preserving the nutrients, transitioning, exchanges/substitutions, and chef tools. Oh...and did I mention there are over 120 plant-based whole food recipes in this cookbook? My taste buds are already clamoring for the following...
+ Fruit Crepes
+ Pumpkin Pancakes
+ Cucumber Dill Dip
+ Green Garden Mayonnaise
+ Delicious Eggless Sandwiches
+ Portobello Thyme Sandwiches
+ Fabulous Sweet Potato Enchiladas
+ No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars
What are you clamoring for?
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