Category Archives for Health
Why Go Vegan?
After the recent WHO declaration that red and processed meats cause cancer, people say to me: “Humans have been eating meat for thousands of years. So why can’t I have a burger once in awhile?” Well, other than that being an ‘appeal to tradition’ fallacy, I’m not that interested in what humans have done in the past. I’m interested in what is the healthiest diet for humans while minimizing the impact to animals and environment. And the diet that covers all three happens to be a 100% plant-based diet (vegan).
Okinawans live very long lives. They eat 96% plants and 4% animal products. “So hey Will, why are you oblivious to or ignoring this fact and why are you against eating animals? You know like say 5% of your diet.”
Well there are few reasons. In this video below by Dr. Greger there are people who live even longer than Okinawans. The Adventist vegetarians in California eat 100% plant-based. So going that final few yards to 100% seems to be worth it not just for health and other reasons as well.
Our biology doesn’t seem suited to eating animals. We have more amylase enzyme for digesting starches, weaker stomach acid for digesting flesh, longer intestines and more. The fact that we get so sick from eating animals makes perfect sense to me. Instinctively we don’t look at animals as prey that we want to hunt down and eat with our bare hands. Instead we go to the supermarket and get a shrink-wrapped product, take it home and cover it with barbecue sauce (from plants by the way). See this chart I recently posted: http://www.werone.co/images/05_Humans_Are_Frugivores_750.jpg
With 7+ billion people (and growing), eating even this smaller percentage of animals that would still be billions of animals (land and sea) every year being killed. Most land animals live horrible lives in confinement and then are killed after a few short months. Many sea animals are swept up in the nets and are pulled out of the water to suffocate. I’m happy knowing animals don’t have to suffer for my dinner plate.
Raising even this many animals requires insane amount of forests to be clearcut (for grass fed), water usage, waste and methane production. Lots of other animals are killed as they are seen as ‘competition’ eg. wolves, bears, coyotes, etc. More facts about animal agriculture can be found at www.cowspiracy.com/facts
On a practical note, it’s hard for most people to practice moderation. If you’re only going to eat a few percent of your daily calories from animals why not go 100%? I love the food I eat now and have no desire whatsoever to eat animals. I’m not depriving myself of anything. I think it’s easier to go 100% than say 95% as you keep all your unhealthy habits from being removed for good and it’s easy to let this expand to 10% and more.
I find it really interesting that when people find out that something is this unhealthy (like the red/processed meat causes cancer finding) to eat they just want to cut back, as opposed to say cutting our cigarettes and avoiding asbestos. Would those people let their kids have a few cigarettes and day and only spend a couple hours in an asbestos-laden school building? But for some reason it’s okay to do this with cancer-causing foods (not to mention heart disease and diabetes inducing as well). Those addictions and habits are strong!
So believe me when I say that I’ve given this a tremendous amount of thought on many levels. It all seems so clear and logical to me. I hope one day you will all agree with me.
New Brunswick Man Gets Lean and Healthy By Eating Potatoes
Will Kriski, resident of Sackville, New Brunswick was tired of being overweight and having high blood pressure and high cholesterol as he hit his 40s. So after researching online and watching documentaries like Forks Over Knives and Engine 2 Diet on Netflix, he found a little known starch-based diet that allows you to eat a lot tasty, filling potatoes while losing weight and getting healthy!
Before Pic
Before Pic
Will discovered the problem is not with healthy carbohydrates (carbs) like potatoes that everyone fears these days, but it’s with all the added stuff like sour cream, bacon, butter and oils that are high in fat along with the unhealthy saturated fats and cholesterol. These products can pack on the pounds, raise blood pressure, raise cholesterol and cause all sorts of other health issues like diabetes and even cancer. It turns out that complex carbohydrates like potatoes are packed with nutrients and are extremely healthy but they’ve received a bad rap over the years as people shun healthy carbs for unhealthy fats and protein.
So Will started eating lots of PEI and New Brunswick potatoes in the form of baked fries and gravy or ketchup, mashed potatoes and gravy, scalloped potatoes, potato salad – all modified to be plant-based and low fat. Over a period of months he slowly and steadily lots over 35 pounds, and lowered his cholesterol and blood pressure so that he is now considered ‘heart attack proof’ (112 mg/dL or 2.89 mmol/L)
Before/After Transformation
The amazing thing is that potatoes are super cheap as well. So you save lots of money on your grocery bill while eating lots of tasty, filling comfort foods like mashed potatoes, pasta, pizza, tacos, shepherd’s pie and so on.
Changing one’s diet can be daunting for some. But by making some small changes we can eat the same types of foods we are used to, just with some changes. Will still eats mashed potatoes, fries, burgers, pasta, pizza, tacos, burritos, and desserts, he just tweaks them to be much healthier. And since the food is much lower in calories he can eat a large volume of tasty food while still losing weight and gaining health.
After having such amazing success Will now spends his time spreading the message to as many others as he can. With health care costs in New Brunswick and elsewhere reaching unsustainable levels it’s time we start to educate people as to what they should be eating on a daily basis. Instead we opt for expensive unnecessary medications and surgery when most of the common, expensive problems are caused by diet.
Will says we need to set up seminars and programs in New Brunswick to teach people how to eat better. If you would like to work with Will to spread the word in New Brunswick please contact him.
30 lb Weight Loss! Plant-Based Lifestyle
Down 30 lbs as of July 1, 2013. I discuss the results and show a graph here.
Easy Meals to Make You Thin and Healthy
Chef AJ explains calorie density and discusses some recipes and her book Unprocessed. This is such a critically important topic I will keep doing posts about calorie density, eating lower calorie dense foods first and the need for starches for satiation.
Plant-Based Diet – Weight Loss Results Update
Items mentioned in the video:
The Starch Solution
Omron Body Fat Monitor
Stamina Power Tower
These are my results so far. I’m super happy and trying to inspire you to try this plant-based lifestyle!
How to Lower Your Blood Pressure With Food
I’ve had amazing results switching to a starch-based diet. Watch this video below and for the science please see this link by Dr. McDougall and blood pressure.