So this past weekend I was VERY surprised by my husband! He came to me and said he watched the documentary "Forks over Knives" and was ready to switch to a plant-based diet. I was like, "really???" I didn't even question him much, I agreed right away to it! This was the moment I had been waiting for, for a LONG time!
I've always been the one interested in nutrition and eating as healthy and organically as I po$$ibly could, but because of us not being on the same page about the subject, I always ended up eating things I wouldn't necessarily choose to. He was the kind of guy that didn't really give much thought to food, and always said food was food, and people starving in other parts of the world wouldn't care if it's organic or not, so we shouldn't either! We should just be grateful to have food on our table! And his mantra in life has always been "moderation," which I agree is a great one, but given our current messed up food culture, even if we eat in moderation of just the wrong types of food, we will still be harming our bodies and not living to the extent that our bodies were designed to live!
I believe what got through to him this time (because we've watched many documentaries on food in the past), was the fact that it was focused on medicine and scientific research. Also, he just began his residency in family medicine this year, and preventive health care and public health are his passion and main areas of interest. He's been overwhelmed by the amount of people he treats that are "eating themselves into sickness;" and that's the main focus of this documentary!
The film proposes a very extreme diet, but as they say in the film, one may call having your chest cut open in order to have a coronary artery bypass surgery a little extreme as well! Thus, the "Forks over Knives" title...in case you didn't get it! I was appalled to read that in the US one person is killed by heart disease EVERY MINUTE! A totally preventable disease! And that 24 million Americans suffer from diabetes, with 2/3 of adults being either overweight or obese and obesity in children doubling over the past 30 years!
Something is very wrong with our way of eating, we all know it, but change can be very hard when we are being bombarded daily with marketing, ads and food aisles filled with processed and unhealthy foods that are making us sick!
Yikes...I really went on and on about this! hehehe
Anyway...the point is not to preach to the world about this, but talk about our journey!!! So the Doctors and Scientists in the film advocate eliminating or minimize all animal-based products as well as processed/refined foods, including refined sugars,flour and oils such as olive oil. I'll use future posts to explain in more detail the "why" these products are better off eliminated or minimally consumed, so I don't take too much of your time here today.
Okay...we WON'T eliminate completely and become vegan any time soon! BUT, we will minimize their consumption A LOT!
Animal based foods have been the center of our (hubby and I) diet for as long as we can remember! Well, now that I come to think of it, I actually did became a vegetarian for a few years in college but stopped right before we got married. But dairy has always been strong in both of our diets! In fact, milk, cheese and meat have been consumed daily, multiple times a day if not at every meal by us since we've gotten married. So instead of being the center, animal products will now be the "garnish" of our meal! Like the sprinkles on top of a cupcake! And that way, when we do sprinkle that animal-based product, we'll be able to afford the best quality one, that has been grown safely, organically, without added hormones, without damaging our ecosystem and with respect to the life of the animal.
Forks over Knives, the plant-based way to heath (book)
The olive oil part I'm not sold on it! In the film it does not go into detail about why we should not consume it, except that it is refined/processed; but in their book that includes 125 recipes it talks a bit more, explaining that when processed much of the benefits are removed--so you are better off eating the olives and cooking with other liquids. But we can't ignore the many research that has shown the benefits of olive oil when consumed properly-in its raw form and moderately! Not to mention the flavor it adds to a meal :)
To me, the most challenging aspect of this lifestyle change is the "exercise" aspect! Because good health does not come by simply changing your diet, but also by moving your buttocks! And that I tend to NOT do! So hopefully hubby and I will be able to incorporate that as well.
Come, join us too, as we embark into this journey of eating ourselves into good health! Let's choose forks over knives! :)
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