Step 1: Educate Yourself! Read books, especially The China Study by T. Colin Campbell and then start looking at specific plans.  I gravitated toward Dr. Fuhrman’s plan even after reading Dr. McDougall’s plan, Dr. Esselstyn’s plan and several others.  I also revisited the ethical side to veganism, as I was an ethical vegetarian for several years before becoming vegan.  I had no idea the cruelty suffered by dairy cows and chickens for egg production.   Forks Over Knives, Food, Inc.,  Processed People are three very impactful documentaries that everyone should watch, I mean EVERYONE!

Step 2: Find YOUR REASON! It really helps to have a reason in writing.  Read my blog post titled “Want to go Veg?”

Step 3: Make a PLAN with deadlines!  Decide what things you can eliminate right away.   I advise my clients to start with dairy products and red meat and then work down to wild caught fish being the last animal food you eat.

Step 4: Find Support! Join the local Vegetarian Resource Group in your community!  Or search on Meetup.com to see if there is a Nutritarian Meetup in your area.  The best thing you can do is surround yourself with others who are eating like you, especially if your friends and family are not supportive of your decision.  I also recommend subscribing to Dr. Fuhrman’s online forum if you need specific recommendations for your health situation.  You can ask questions to Dr. Fuhrman and his staff and they will respond promptly.

Step 5: Plan Your Meals!  It sounds simple, but if you don’t make time to plan what you are going to eat on a weekly basis, it is easy to slip back into the old habits.  I make my meal plans every Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning and then I shop on Sunday.  I have many meal plans that I have saved that I like to reuse.  So save your meal plans when you have a good week!  You may also want to subscribe to Vegetarian Times for recipes and popular blogs like Fat Free Vegan.

Step 6: Seek Out Restaurants in your area and before you travel anywhere.  Vegan options are available around the world.

Step 7: Keep a Food Journal!  Keep a journal of what you are eating.  It is so helpful in the beginning to make sure you are gettting enough fruits and vegetables every day.  My daily target is 1 pound of fresh vegetables, 1 pound of cooked vegetables, 4 fruits and 1 to 4 ounces of nuts and seeds.  Green smoothies and salads help me meet that target

If you need additional help, give me a call!

I have been following this way of eating for the past 6 years and I agree with Dr. Fuhrman on his position with animal foods in the diet.

From the newest edition of his book “Eat to Live” he states:

“There were primitive populations who ate high-meat diets and there were primitive people who at plant-predominate diets. Humans were desperate for calories, so they at whatever they could get their hands on. The two questions we have to look at are these: How long did they live on that diet? What diet for humans gives them the best protection against disease and the greatest chance for longevity in modern times?

…A comprehensive overview and a sensible interpretation of the scientific evidence support the conclusion that we can increase human longevity and prevent disease if we make specific food choices. We still retain our primate physiology- a physiolgy that depends on high vegetarian consumption- which is relevant to explain our ability to thrive on a plant-predominate diet.

Dr. Katharine Milton, at the University of California of Berkeley, is among the few nutritional anthropologists in the world who has worked with and studied cultures and primitive peoples not influenced by modern technology. She has concluded that the diet of both primitive people and wild primates is largele plant-based. The main difference between primitive diets and our own is their consumption of nutrient-dense wild plants and the lack of acces to low-nutrient, high-fat foods such as cheese and oil, as well as refined grains.

We have a unique opportunity in human history, we have fresh produce being flow into our food stores from all over the planet. We can take advantage of this abundant variety of fresh vegetation to eat a diet with more phytochemical density and diversity than ever before. We have the opportunity to make decisions about what we eat that were not available to our prehistoric ancestors. Fortunately, we have knowledge that they lacked, and we can use this knowledge to live longer than ever before.”

Dr. Fuhrman goes on to say

“A diet heavily burdened with animal products places a toxic stress on the detoxification systems of the body. As with stopping caffeine, cigarettes, and heroin, many observe withdrawal symptoms for a short period, usually including fatigue, weakness, headaches, or loose stools. In 95% of these cases, these symptoms resolve within two weeks.

It is more common that the temporary adjustment period lasts less than a week, during which you might feel fatigue, have headaches or gas, or experience other mild symptoms as your body withdraws from your prior toxic habits.  Don’t buy the fallacy that you “need more protein”.”

If you have tried a vegan diet and for whatever reason decided not to stay with it, I’d love to have a discussion about it in the comments section below! 

This is an excellent speech given by Collen Patrick-Goudreau at the San Francisco VegFest this past October.  Some of the highlights include the following points:

-For people who think they don’t eat a lot of animal foods- the truth is you don’t know how much of any food you are eating until you stop.

-We don’t crave animal flesh, we are not obligate carnivores. If we were we would hunt and kill animals with our bare hands and eat them raw.

-We crave fat and protein which we can very easily get from avocado, nuts, seeds, olives, lentils and beans.

-Your palate changes over time.  The more often you eat a given plant food or beverage, the more you enjoy it.

-For those who say they don’t have time to chop vegetables and cook- if you have time to drive to a restaurant and wait for food to be prepared for you and then drive back home, you have time to chop vegetables and cook!

-As a Vegan we should not be concerned with making others uncomfortable by letting them know our truth.  Raise the bar and have expectations that people will change.

-Being Vegan is about living life with integrity, compassion, joy and meaning.

-The mindset of believing that animals are here for us to control and exploit can be traced back thousands of years ago.  We can change our mindset

Watch the entire video!

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My first training was with Wellcoaches.  I highly recommend this program to anyone who wants to coach individuals or groups from a Wellness and Whole Health perspective.   The focus is on telephonic coaching, which is perfect for the coach who wants to work from home and have minimal travel.  The training gives you a very in depth understanding about “change psychology” which is imperative for any coach to understand.  There are many tools that I gained from this program to help me help my clients to clearly define their goals and stay realistic about what they were willing to do on a weekly basis toward reaching their goals.

My second certification is in Plant Based Nutrition through eCornell and the T. Colin Campbell Foundation.  The program is an innovative online certificate program set up as a series of three courses designed to help you understand the role of diet in healing and managing disease. It expands upon the ground-breaking book, The China Study, and each course provides approximately six hours of learning based lectures and research of Dr. T. Colin Campbell, Professor Emeritus at Cornell University in Nutritional Biochemistry, and a variety of other experts in the field of lifestyle medicine.  If you are interested in becoming certified in Plant Based Nutrition, go to the eCornell website for more information.

I have been asked if Wellness Coaching is a lucrative job. I will tell you that it takes time, in fact several years to gain enough clients to make it part time.  So if you are thinking about quitting your full time job or have recently graduated from college and think that this is what you want to do for a living, I suggest that you make it a “side job” until you are confident you can keep up a steady enough clientele that will support your lifestyle.

I do this work VERY PART TIME, and I am only willing to take on one to two clients at a time.  I also teach nutrition classes at the Florida School for Holistic Living, homeschool my kids, prepare healthy food, take care of many household duties, and take care of myself with exercise (running, dancing and strength training) and stress relief (meditation).   Eventually I would like to work 20 hours/per week, when both of my kids are middle school age and then maybe increase my time as they reach high school.

I love what I do, I cannot see myself doing anything else!  It is rewarding to be in those “aha” moments with a client who suddenly sees something about their habits in a new light and because of that decides to make a change that will better their health.  It is also wonderful to talk to them months later and find out that they have continued to make changes toward health improvement.

Got a question about what I do that isn’t answered here?  Ask in the comments section below!

10 Strategies for Preventing Prostate Cancer

1. Eat lots of cruciferous vegetables. Cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, kale, bok choy, arugula, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage, radish to name a few) contain phytochemicals that stimulates the body to detoxify carcinogens. Men who consumed three or more half-cup servings of cruciferous vegetables per week were 41 percent less likely to develop prostate cancer.¹

2. Reduce consumption of animal protein.It is widely recognized that a high consumption of animal protein has been linked to a greater risk of prostate cancer.² Greater consumption of meat, poultry and fish is associated with higher blood level of IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor-1), which is positively correlated with an increased risk of prostate cancer.³ For prostate health, limit or avoid animal products to less than two servings per week. Plant protein, however is protective – legumes, and specifically minimally processed soy products, are associated with decreased risk of prostate cancer.⁴

3. Eat lots of tomatoes. A study of over 40,000 men revealed that those who consumed the most tomato-based foods (including cooked tomatoes and tomato sauce) reduced their total risk of prostate cancer by 35 percent and their risk of advanced prostate cancer by 50 percent.⁵ Lycopene, which is abundant especially in cooked tomato products is believed to be primarily responsible for this benefit. Tomatoes are extremely nutrient dense, containing lycopene as well as a variety of other protective phytochemicals.

4. Eat plenty of Allium and yellow/orange vegetables. Allium vegetables – onions, garlic, leeks, shallots, scallions, and chives – have organosulfur compounds with anti-cancer effects, and are associated with reduced prostate cancer risk.⁶ Consumption of orange vegetables including carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, winter squash and corn was also found to be inversely related to prostate cancer.⁷

5. Confirm adequate vitamin D levels with a blood test. Accumulating research shows that insufficient vitamin D levels are associated with an increased risk of several cancers, including prostate cancer.⁸ While sun exposure is one of the best sources of vitamin D, it is unlikely to get adequate vitamin D from a sun exposure, throughout life, without increasing risk of skin cancer. The safest way to obtain vitamin D is through supplements.

6. Do not rely on PSA screening as a method of “early detection” to prevent prostate cancer. About 70% of men with elevated PSA do not actually have cancer, and many scientists believe that PSA screening does not reduce prostate cancer-related deaths.⁹ In fact, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the American College of Preventive Medicine and the American Cancer Society do not recommend routine PSA screening.¹⁰

7. Avoid supplemental folic acid.  Folic acid is the synthetic form of folate, one of the B vitamins. Similar to breast cancer, folic acid supplementation has been associated with increased risk of prostate cancer, whereas food folate is associated with decreased risk.¹² Get natural folate from green vegetables and beans instead of synthetic folic acid from supplements.

8. Avoid dairy consumption. There is substantial evidence indicating that men who avoid dairy products are at a lower risk for prostate cancer. One study that spanned 41 countries reported a strong correlation between per capita milk consumption and prostate cancer deaths.¹³

9. Exercise at least 3 hours a week. Exercise, particularly endurance-type exercise such as walking, running, cycling and swimming, are effective forms of disease protection. In one study, men who reported vigorous activity for at least three hours per week had a 61% lower risk of prostate cancer-specific death. Not only does exercise prevent prostate cancer, but it can also slow the progression of cancer.¹⁴

10. Supplement with zinc. In one study of 525 men with prostate cancer, those who consumed the most zinc (15.7 mg daily) were shown to have 74% reduction in risk of death as compared to men who consumed less than 12.8 mg zinc daily.¹⁶ The power of zinc lies in its ability to cause prostate cancer cell death. It is important to note that zinc from plant foods is not always efficiently absorbed by the body.¹⁵ To ensure adequate zinc levels, (and B12, D and iodine) I recommend supplementation with a multivitamin and mineral supplement that does NOT contain folic acid.

References

¹Kirsh V, Ulrike P, Mayne S, et al. Prospective Study of Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Risk of Prostate Cancer. J Nat Cancer Inst 2007 Aug 1;99(15):1200-9.
²Wolk A. Diet, lifestyle and risk of prostate cancer. Acta Oncol 2004; 44(3):277-81.
³Key TJ. Diet, insulin-like growth factor-1 and cancer risk. Proc Nutr Soc 2011 May 3:1-4.
⁴Kolonel L, Hankin J Whittemore AS, et al: Vegetables, Fruits, Legumes and Prostate Cancer: A Multiethnic Case-Control Study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2000; 9:795.
Hwang YW, Kim SY, Jee SH, et al. Soy food consumption and risk of prostate cancer: a meta-analysis of observational studies. Nutr Cancer. 2009;61(5):598-606.
⁵Giovannucci E: A review of epidemiologic studies of tomatoes, lycopene and prostate cancer. Exp Biol Med (Maywood) 2002.227(10):852-9.
⁶Galeone C, Pelucchi C, Levi F, et al. Onion and garlic use and human cancer. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006 Nov;84(5):1027-32.
Hsing AW, Chokkalingam AP, Gao YT, et al. Allium vegetables and risk of prostate cancer: a population-based study. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2002 Nov 6;94(21):1648-51.
⁷Kolonel L, Hankin J et al: Vegetables, Fruits, Legumes and Prostate Cancer: A Multiethnic Case-Control Study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2000; 9:795.
⁸Holick MF, Chen TC. Vitamin D deficiency: a worldwide problem with health consequences. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Apr;87(4):1080S-6S.
⁹Esserman, L., Y. Shieh, and I. Thompson. Rethinking Screening for Breast Cancer and Prostate Cancer. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2009. 302(15): p. 1685-1692.
Coldman, A.J., N. Phillips, and T.A. Pickles: Trends in prostate cancer incidence and mortality: an analysis of mortality change by screening intensity. CMAJ, 2003. 168(1): p. 31-5.
Andriole, G.L., et al.: Mortality results from a randomized prostate-cancer screening trial. N Engl J Med, 2009. 360(13): p. 1310-9.
¹⁰Ablin, R.J: The Great Prostate Mistake, in New York Times. 2010. p. 27. Available from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/opinion/10Ablin.html?_r=2
¹²Figueiredo JC, Grau MV, Haile RW, et al. Folic acid and risk of prostate cancer: results from a randomized clinical trial. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2009 Mar 18;101(6):432-5. ¹³Grant WB. An ecologic study of dietary links to prostate cancer. Altern Med Rev. 1999 Jun;4(3):162-9.
¹⁴Kenfield SA, Stampfer MJ, Giovannucci E, Chan JM. Physical activity and survival after prostate cancer diagnosis in the health professionals follow-up study. J Clin Oncol. 2011 Feb 20;29(6):726-32.
Giovannucci E, Liu Y, Platz EA, Stampfer MJ, Willett WC. Risk factors for prostate cancer incidence and progression in the health professionals follow-up study. Int J Cancer. 2007 Oct 1;121(7):1571-8.
¹⁵de Bortoli MC, Cozzolino SM. Zinc and selenium nutritional status in vegetarians. Biol Trace Elem Res. 2009 Mar;127(3):228-33.

This past week I was at a party and was introduced to a mom who when she heard I was vegan made the comment “Oh, yeah, I tried the vegan thing but there’s just so much hummus and pita I can eat”.    I did not know where to start with this comment and then the conversation got changed quickly…but what I was thinking later was, “Seriously? What were your reasons for wanting to go vegan? How long did you try eating vegan and did you only eat Pita and Hummus?”

This is not the first time I’ve heard about how a person found eating vegan or vegetarian to be challenging.   I suppose it can be difficult to make changes if your reason for going veg is not strong.  I’m guessing that a lot of people are trying it because Oprah did it for a week or because their neighbor or friend did it and lost weight, etc.

There are far more meaningful reasons to go veg!  Find your reason or reasons, write it down and then make a plan to make gradual changes that will help you to stick with it for more than a week or a month.

Are you doing it for your health?

• Eating a plant based diet low in animal foods decreases your risk for all degenerative diseases including cancer.  We are constantly hearing news about how plant foods are protective…when did you hear that animal foods were protective against degenerative disease?

Are you doing it for the animals?

• Love dogs and cats but still eat cows, pigs and fish?  Reading Melanie Joy’s book “Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs and Wear Cows” will help you to understand that farm animals are no different from domesticated animals.  If you have a love for animals, your reason may one that supports animal compassion.
• Approximately 10 billion animals are slaughtered every year so that humans can eat them
• In the US, “food animals” are not adequately protected from inhumane treatment

Are you doing it for the environment?

• Are you an eco-savvy person who has found all the ways to “go green” at home but not yet addressed eating habits?  Going vegan, vegetarian or even plant based is the biggest contribution you can make to going green…so stop worrying about changing out light bulbs and start focusing on your shopping list!
• Did you know over 50% of forest worldwide have been cleared to raise or feed livestock?
• A recent study by the University of Chicago revealed that a vegetarian diet is the most energy-efficient (VegForLife.org)
• Livestock rearing produces more greenhouse gasses than all forms of transportation combined

Once you have figured out a reason for going Veg that resonates most with you, figure out the obstacles or excuses that are keeping you from being successful with a vegan, vegetarian or plant based diet.  What is your plan to move through those obstacles?  I promise you there is a solution!  Need help with it?  Post in the comments section below or give me a call for a free 30 minute consultation!

The Wellness Forum offers educational programs designed to assist individuals in changing their health outcomes through improved diet and lifestyle habits, mainly Plant Based Nutrition. 

Starting in March, they will be offering Wellness 101 via conference calls. The series will be taught in eight one-hour sessions and we will start a new series every few weeks.  Dr. Popper will be teaching many of these sessions, along with other Wellness Forum staff.  

The calls are live and interactive and open to all current members, even if you already took 101 through a facilitator, a corporation, or other means. The next series is scheduled to start Wednesday March 23 at 8:00 p.m. EDT and run for 8 consecutive weeks:

Wednesdays March 23, 30, April 6, 13, 20, 27, May 4, 11

For questions or to register, call the office at 614-841-7700.  Please let them know that Gretchen Goel referred you!

You know what they say when it comes to what to eat, “everything in moderation.” Whether it is chocolate, wine, red meat, dessert, etc. Nothing is bad, in and of itself, as long as we just don’t consume too much of it. But, how do we define “too much” and how do we know if we have surpassed this?

Let’s start at the beginning.

Our current concept of “everything in moderation” comes from ancient Greece, where at the temple of Apollo at Delphi there was the inscription, “Meden Agan” or “Nothing in Excess.” From this, we got the concept of doing something “in moderation” which means, not doing it excessively. Therefore, someone who moderates their food consumption may choose to eat food from all food groups, but will limit their intake of those foods that may cause deleterious effects to harmless levels.

So, how are we doing in this area?

The items we know that are causing harm to Americans right now are the excess consumption of added sugars, refined grains, sodium, fat, and saturated fat.

So, how much does the average American consume of these?

Added Sugars – 242% over the recommended upper limit.
Refined Grains – 200% over the recommended upper limit.
Sodium – 229% over the recommended upper limit.
Saturated fats – 158% over the recommended upper limit.
Solid fats – 281% over the recommended upper limit.

Therefore, these are 5 items we can no longer consume “in moderation” as their current level of consumption is far beyond the level we know to cause harm. The only solution is a dramatic reduction in the amounts we consume of these items. Then, and only then, perhaps we can again, consume these things in moderation.

However, there is also a flip side to the saying “everything in moderation.” There are items that we know are very beneficial, that we should be consuming a certain amount of in order to gain their benefit. These are fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fiber.

So, how much does the average American consume of these?

Fruits – only 42% of the recommended minimum intake.
Vegetables – only 59% of the recommended minimum intake.
Whole Grains – only 15% of the recommended minimum intake.
Fiber – only 40% of the recommended minimum intake.
Therefore, these are also items we can no longer consume in moderation as their current level of consumption is far below the level we know to be beneficial. The only solution is a dramatic increase in the amounts we consume of these items. Then, and only then, perhaps we can again, consume these things in moderation.

I have posted recent graphs from the USDA that show these points.

http://tinyurl.com/2d2g9ut
http://tinyurl.com/2bqr97j

In addition, over 2/3′s of Americans are currently overweight and over 1/3 are obese. We did not get this way by consuming “all things in moderation.” We got this way by consuming many things, and many of the wrong things, in excess. Great excess. And, the USDA figures in the above graph, bears this out as since 1970, the average American consumes 30% more calories with most of these calories coming from added sugars, solid fats, saturated fats and refined grains.

Even the saying from the American Dietetic Association, “All foods fit,” has been taken out of context. The original saying is not “all foods fit,” but, “All foods can fit into a healthful diet ‘if’ consumed in moderation with appropriate portion size and combined with regular physical activity.”
As we see, Americans’ are not consuming foods in moderation nor are we engaged in regular activity as over 70% of Americans do not even meet the minimum recommendations for activity/exercise. This is why the current concepts of”everything in moderation” and “all foods fit” for the average American today is a myth.

Moderation is no longer an option in regard to calories, or in regard to the foods we know can be harmful, or in regard to the foods we know to be beneficial. We are so far from what constitutes healthy in America, that we have much work to do to get back to where we could once again discuss moderation. Rationalizing the over consumption of harmful foods, or the minimal consumption of beneficial foods, with a saying that does not apply to our situation, will not help us.

We have to at least double the intake of fruits, vegetables and fiber just to reach the minimum recommendations. In addition, we have to cut our consumption of added sugars, fat, sat fat and sodium in at least half just to get down to the upper level of the recommended limits.

Moderation will not help accomplish this.

We need a dramatic shift in our understanding of our current situation and the solution we take.