b. educated
During COVID and Safer at Home, I took the opportunity to utilize my newly found free time to further educate myself on a Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB) diet. Through the generosity of the Food for Health Foundation, I obtained my T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate through eCornell’s online education platform. The entire program was six weeks and featured research from The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health, a book by T. Colin Campbell and his son, Thomas M. Campbell II. The course also included guest lecturers from various backgrounds relating to diet and health.
A little bit about my journey to a WFPB lifestyle
A couple of years ago, my husband decided to go vegan for ethical reasons. If you know my husband, you know he has been gifted an outstanding metabolism (I know ladies, it’s totally unfair). Of course, my biggest concern was his protein intake (keep reading as this is a common misconception in regards to how much protein our bodies really need). I noticed he was eating predominantly highly processed foods containing unhealthy amounts of additives and preservatives (hello meat substitutes). With my background in personal training, I was more concerned about what he was putting into his body from a nutrition stand point.
I quickly realized that vegan doesn’t mean healthy.
So began my research on eating a healthy vegan diet, and I started being aware of this WFPB term. So what exactly does this mean? Eating minimally processed, whole, unrefined, plant-based foods. Because I’m the one doing most of the cooking and meal prep in our household, I quickly adopted this approach to eating. Honestly, who has time to cook multiple meals for different dietary preferences?! I’m happy to cook vegan meals, but they must be healthy. The more I learned, the more I became convinced that this was the lifestyle for us. Notice I say lifestyle and not diet - more on that later. By eliminating animal products, highly processed foods, excess sodium, oils and sugars, we are both reaping the benefits, and passing it along: better for the environment, no living being is suffering for our enjoyment and we are greatly improving our overall health.
Are you aware that you hold the key to your own health?
I’m not trying to discount our medical professionals, but roughly 25% of medical schools even require a nutrition course. Our health care system is not what it says - it is actually a disease management system. Trillions of dollars are spent every year on treatments and pills for chronic ailments that can often times be better managed, prevented or even reversed by lifestyle choices alone. By consuming a predominantly WFPB diet coupled with daily exercise and movement, you can lower the risk of certain cancers, prevent and even reverse heart disease and diabetes, maintain a healthy weight- the list goes on!
So, what changes have I noticed adopting a WFPB lifestyle? I have more energy, I’m not as sore and recover faster from workouts, my skin is more clear, my hair is softer and silkier, I lost about 5 pounds (not that I was trying to lose any weight), but it was simply inflammation from the Standard American Diet (SAD-ironic acronym, huh?) . I reduced my sodium intake years ago, and I’m not a big sweets person, so reducing sodium and sugars was easy. The biggest thing I don’t miss is feeling sick after eating a big meal full of fat, cholesterol and oils. I have come to understand the saying “eat to live, not live to eat”. This entire transition has been very freeing, as I used to be obsessed with calories and my daily macros. Once I shifted to a WFPB lifestyle, I began to listen to my body. I eat if I’m hungry and since I’m consuming nutrient dense food as opposed to junk, I eat until I’m satisfied. I honestly cringe when I hear people talk about having to “go on a diet”. You should be able to find a nutritional balance which allows you to live the healthy life you enjoy and sustain your dietary preferences.
Speaking of macros, I’ll leave you with this fabulous tidbit: carbs are your friends. Seriously! Don’t be scared of them or think you can only eat them at certain times of the day. But I’m not talking about refined carbohydrates. I’m referring to healthy, whole, complex carbs, as these are your main source of energy. And for those of you who think my husband and I must be malnourished, remember that our bodies only need about 8-10% of calories from protein per day, and protein is everywhere! The China Study dives into this further, but excess protein, and especially animal protein, increases risk of various chronic diseases and cancers.