Purposeful Living

Instead of a book, Amy asked if we could watch two documentaries that were important to her. I wrote about the watching the first documentary, here, in Part 3. On the second Saturday of May Amy and I ordered in food and watched and discussed the 2nd documentary Forks Over Knives.  I got Chinese food from the mall which, unfortunately, wasn’t all that great.  Amy picked up some salmon, asparagus, rice pilaf & greens for herself from Granite City.   

My thoughts on the film are below, but most important are my thoughts on my relationship with Amy and why we watched this film together. 

Putting myself in Amy’s shoes with her cancer history, this film would give me a lot of hope and confidence that I was on the right path regarding diet.  There were stories in the film, but mostly this documentary provided lots of research and data to back up its dietary claims.   

As I mentioned in Part 3 of this series, I am proud of Amy for the research she has done in identifying the most healthy diet for her in her fight against cancer recurrence.   This film presents some pretty compelling evidence in support of a plant-based diet.

I enjoyed watching and discussing the film with Amy. 

Forks Over Knives is a 2011 documentary which examines the claim that most degenerative disease can be prevented, controlled, or even reversed by rejecting the traditional American diet of animal-based and processed foods and embracing a primarily plant-based diet. 

The casein study done with rats was fascinating. Dr. Colin Campbell wrote The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted And the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss, And Long-term Health, in which they studies the affects of casein on rats.  Casein is a milk protein that turned cancer on and off in rats.  Rats on a 20% casein diet developed cancer almost immediately.  Rats on a 5% casein diet did not develop cancer.  Rats that did develop cancer saw it reverse in many cases when put on a 5% casein diet.

Reviewing dietary guidelines from the FDA over the past sixty years it is remarkable how much poor guidance it has given. 

The healthiest countries in the world do not consume a western based diet.  Instead these countries consume primarily plant-based foods like fruits, vegetables, and legumes. 

Processed foods are calorie-dense (which makes them taste good), but lack healthy nutrients which prevent us from feeling full.  Hence we keep eating and eating well beyond what we need.  This is a partial cause of rampant obesity in America.

Processed foods release the same chemicals in our bodies and brains as drugs do.  In a sense, as a country we are addicted processed foods.  This is one reason why it is so hard for people to change their diet and eat more healthy. 

The 20-year “China Study” found 9000 direct correlations between diet and disease. 

I am betting most people would not enjoy this documentary very much.  It was pretty dry and lacked personality or warmth.

But I really enjoyed it.  I am a facts and figures guy.  I am less interested in your opinion and more interested in the evidence backing your opinion.

And this film is chalk full of interesting and compelling evidence backing up the health benefits of plant-based foods.

Overall, I agreed with most of the claims of the film. 

Priority #4 – Social Health – Immediate Family-Spouse(Social & Emotional Health)

Sunday, February 26

Invest in the social and emotional helath of my wife and strengthen my marraige by reading and discussing two books with Amy in 2012.  The first book must be a mutually agreed up marriage book.  The second book may be any book of Amy’s choice.  Specific goals include:

Partially Completed

Instead of a book, Amy asked if we could watch 2 documentaries that were important to her.  On the first Saturday of May Amy and I ordered in some super yummy Indian food and watched the documentary Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead on Netflix. 

Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead is a documentary about Joe Cross who overcame obesity and a variety of serious chronic illnesses by going on a primarily plant-based diet.

My thoughts on the film are below, but most important are my thoughts on my relationship with Amy and why we watched this film together.

Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead is not a film I would have chosen to watch on my own.  I watched it because it was important to Amy.  I watched it because what is important to her is important to me.

While I watched this film I really tried to view it through Amy’s eyes.  She is a breast cancer survivor and is fighting to prevent recurrence.

In addition to traditional medicine, Amy has chosen to fight recurrence through a radical change to her diet.  She has embraced a “plant-based” diet and was at least partially inspired by this film.

Overall, I am incredibly proud of how Amy has approached her fight against cancer.  The decisions she has made related to diet I support and agree with 100%.

I don’t know if her cancer will return, but I know she is doing everything possible to prevent that from happening.  For nearly two years she has faithfully maintained a diet consisting of the most healthy foods a person can possibly eat. 

It is inspirational to me and I’m super proud of her.

She wants to see her girls grow up.  She wants to be a good mom and eventually a good grandma.  She wants to deepen her relationship with me and invest in the lives of others.

And I need her.  I would be lost without her.

The film promotes eating foods rich in micronutrients.  Fruits, vegetables, nuts, and beans are all rich in micronutrients.

The typical American diet has less than 10% of our calories coming from nutrient rich foods.  The other 90% of our calories come from nutrient deficient foods.

The closer food is to its natural state the more rich it is in nutrients.

The major problem with processed food is that the micronutrients have been processed right out of them.

Dr. Fuhrman is highlighted in this documentary.  He developed his own food pyramid called the Nutrient Dense Food Pyramid.  

I have never heard of Dr. Fuhrman before, nor have I heard about his alternative food pyramid.  I am very interested in learning more about his background in nutrition and will spend some time on his website over the next couple of weeks.

There are a million different diets.  A trip to the bookstore or an internet search will reveal hundreds if not thousands of experts in nutrition all claiming that their diet is the best.

But I have never thought food was all that complicated.  Back in college I read a book written by vegetarians and decided that eating fruits and vegetables was the way to go.

Why?

It seemed common sense to me that an orange would be more healthy than a hamburger.  It seeemed common sense to me that a carrot would be more healthy than a ho-ho.

Over the past year Amy has pushed my thinking further by personally embracing a plant-based diet – a diet which consists of eating foods which come from plants as close to their natural state as possible.  These foods are rich in disease fighting micronutrients.

Before I go any further, I want to make it clear that I am far from a healthy eater.  I like my junk food.  I like my McDonalds.  I like my diet pop.  While I believe fruits and vegetables are the way to go, I don’t personally eat a lot of fruit and veggies.

But I am fully aware a day will come when I will need to make a permanent change and embrace healthy eating habits.  And when that day comes I will choose a plant-based diet.

The challenge to any diet, however, is finding healthy foods you actually like to eat.  I like to eat.  I want to enjoy my food.

Lucky for me Amy has been traveling this plant-based foods journey for a while now and has developed some great recipes.  She has already hooked me up with all kinds of healthy, but tasty, foods. When I am ready to fully walk that path, I will be more than set!

Maybe when I turn 50?