Plant Based diets........heart attack proof......sanjay gupta

[npmommie]

I toyed with vegan diets in the past. but last week Sanjay Gupta had a special on called "the last heart attack"

I missed it, but he interviewed President Clinton who now eats a plant based diet.........and it led me to reading up on the doctor whom Clinton based his new diet on

Caldwell Esselstyn. ( from the Cleveland Clinic)

I have some books on diet, heart disease, and the links between the two.

but the compelling evidence to follow a plant based diet is so strong I am really going for it.

so I watched a documentary called Chow Down ( its free on Hulu), I requested Dr. Esselstyns book from the library.

and I dusted off my Dr. Joel Furhman books. and all my vegan cookbooks


I am thinking follow plant based as close to 100% as I can, but if its only 90% it will still have health benefits right?


so has anyone see the Dr. Gupta special on CNN? It is now on the cnn site, in Dr.Gupta's page. It is also repeating this Saturday.
I watched it last night.

so my goal is plant based WHOLE foods. in the past when I tried veganism I relied on the processed crap. boca burgers, etc etc

no more processed food. this will be only whole foods.


there is another film about Dr. Esselstyn and his research and work called

Forks over Knives

I have not seen that one yet. anyone heard of it or seen it?

 

[FireDancer]

Vegan, vegetarian, and an omnivore diet can be healthy. Which is best for you depends partly on your metabolic type IMO.

There are people who argue that vegan is the healthiest diet and other who argue that our bodies are made to eat meat also. I think a lot of it depends on your particular body.

I think that stating any diet will stop all future heart attacks (or any particular medical problem) is an over simplification. Diet is one part of health and no matter how good your diet is you still have to deal with genetics and fitness.

I think someone who eats a good diet (be it began, vegetarian, or omnivore), gets enough exercise, and has a good family history will generally have better health than anyone who does/has just one of the three. You can't do anything about your family history but if you eat a healthy diet and get enough exercise you can minimize the chance of having lifestyle based problems later on.

To answer your question about 90% having health benefits, I think it does. Moving away from processed foods is a good thing to do and if that move is to only vegetables or to vegetables and lean meats and fish you are moving to a more healthy diet. Combined with an increase in physical activity the move is going to move you closer to health and away from illness.

All my opinion. I'm not a doctor but fitness and nutrition are two things I follow closely and read a lot about.

 

[sparklynails23]

There's no way I would eat enough protein on a Vegan diet and probably not on a vegetarian diet, either. Cheese and milk aren't plant based, anyway, so there goes that. Good luck, though. See the tofu. Eat the tofu. Be the tofu.

Saying "heart attack proof" is just tempting fate, too. I hope Sanjay doesn't go screaming it all over the place.

 

[Acklander]

"Forks over knives" just came out on netflix streaming today. I can't wait to watch it and will try to get to it tonight. While I'm not vegan, I'd like to work my way towards that. Currently I'm too in love with fish and still eat eggs (though I'm trying to limit them and have swapped to just the egg whites)

 

[npmommie]

There's no way I would eat enough protein on a Vegan diet and probably not on a vegetarian diet, either. Cheese and milk aren't plant based, anyway, so there goes that. Good luck, though. See the tofu. Eat the tofu. Be the tofu.

Saying "heart attack proof" is just tempting fate, too. I hope Sanjay doesn't go screaming it all over the place.

sanjay is putting it out there.
he read the actual research and is convinced.
it is pretty compelling when you read about it.
I hate Tofu btw.
LOL
getting off dairy will be hard

 

[npmommie]

"Forks over knives" just came out on netflix streaming today. I can't wait to watch it and will try to get to it tonight. While I'm not vegan, I'd like to work my way towards that. Currently I'm too in love with fish and still eat eggs (though I'm trying to limit them and have swapped to just the egg whites)

thanks! I will watch it later too.
I put a request in for the book at the library.

Firedancer, I agree that a whole foods diet is healthiest, even if it contains small amounts of animal flesh.

I eat fish on occasion, and will continue to do so.
I have to focus on more veggies and fruits and staying whole foods.

the way they describe genetics and diet is your family history ( genetics) is the gun, but the diet is the trigger.
IF you don't pull the trigger the cardiac event won't happen.
over simplified yes, but makes some sense.

 

[DisneyCher]

Sanjay Gupta kind strikes me as a bit of an attention hound, and he just rubs me the wrong way.

Good luck to you going vegan! I know it can't be easy. I personally believe we humans are meant to be omnivores, based on our teeth and the micronutrients we need, but I also strive to eat more whole foods, particular plenty of vegetables and fruit, and lean meats. It takes more time to prepare some meals, but snacks are usually as simple as washing of an apple or some grapes, or maybe spreading a bit of all natural peanut butter on celery, which is really no more difficult than opening a sack of chips or spraying Easy Cheese on a stack of Ritz.

I am not "at risk" for heart disease, and I have no family history of heart problems, I just want to be in as good health as I can be, especially now that I have my DS.

 

[NY Disney fan]

What the heck am I supposed to do a at BBQ?

 

[Acklander]

I think the vegan diet, as it relates to heart attacks, is the same as not smoking as it relates to lung cancer.

I once saw a photo of an old lady lighting a cigarette off the candle that spelled out 100 on her birthday cake. Obviously she doesn't have the cancer gene. I also once read an article about a teenager who developed mouth cancer after chewing tobacco for about 18 months. He had a pretty aggressive cancer gene and the reality is, even if he didn't chew tobacco he probably would have developed some type of cancer eventually. You can always find extremes on either end but by choosing to smoke/chew tobacco your drastically increasing the odds of your dying from cancer.

I think it's the same way with diet. By eating a vegan diet you're drastically decreasing the odds of dying from a heart attack, and the closer to eating clean the better your odds. I consider my eating the occasional fish/ egg whites to be in line with the occasional social smoker who has 1 cigarette a month. Vs the 2 pack a day smoker.

 

[Acklander]

What the heck am I supposed to do a at BBQ?

Veggie kabobs on the grill and a veggie burger

 

[furb & dez]

What the heck am I supposed to do a at BBQ?

Comedy answer: Suffer!

 

[VBsHustla]

I am a big believer in Dr. Esselstyn, and I was SO glad Sanjay Gupta did this special. Even though I'm in my early 20s with no family risk of heart disease, I've eaten this way for years and truly cannot recommend it more strongly.

 

[bumbershoot]

I'm always mystified by the *tooth* argument for meat-eating. I've never met a human with teeth that look like they could help take down an animal, kill it take off its outer protection, and just gnaw away. Well, I guess if we're designed to be scavengers, maybe...



Having been vegetarian since I was 20, I obviously approve of being vegetarian. Vegan is too hard for me, too addicted to lattes and cheese and ice cream (and rice milk makes my throat itch and while I like tofu depending on what it's "in", soy milk is grosser than cow's milk IMO). I've come to terms with it that I will likely not ever be vegan.

In the meantime, my friend/chiropractor is doing some sort of "primitive" diet where he eats as close to caveman food as possible. And he has found research that the fat IN foods isn't what makes the fat inside the blood vessels....

And when I was in college for my exercise science degree, we read the actual studies on low fat, low calorie, etc diets, and how they work, and the level of fat used in those diets where it actually worked was FAR lower than ANY typical meat-eater is EVER going to go in their diet. The studies showed xyz, then "they" realized that the American public wouldn't do it, so they watered down the recommendations, so that...nothing at all could change, because the recommendations were so much higher than was actually done in the studies.



It's all over the place!

 

[akhenaten]

What the heck am I supposed to do a at BBQ?

Drool....

 

[powellrj]

DH and I went through the CHIPS Program a few years ago.

http://www.chiphealth.com/

I have to say it was really hard and we only lasted 2 weeks. We followed a modified version of the program that I kind of made up. At the end we did the blood work and the weigh in and DH and I had both lost the most weight and had the biggest change in blood work. I admire people that can do it, we just couldn't make that much of a change.

We did make many other changes after taking the classes and have stayed with them for more than 4 years. I just went and had my blood work checked and had great numbers, so this is working for us.

Like I said, I admire people who can do it, but I just found it too hard.

 

[npmommie]

watched Forks Over Knives today. It was good.
Does anyone have Dr. Esselstyn's book?
his wife looks like she prepares great food. assuming she is cooking it, LOL

 

[cornflake]

Having been vegetarian since I was 20, I obviously approve of being vegetarian. Vegan is too hard for me, too addicted to lattes and cheese and ice cream (and rice milk makes my throat itch and while I like tofu depending on what it's "in", soy milk is grosser than cow's milk IMO). I've come to terms with it that I will likely not ever be vegan.

Have you tried almond milk?

I'm in the same boat as you, admire vegans but the cheese.... however, I've never liked milk, it's always grossed me out and don't like soy milk or tofu, but almond milk rocks!

OP - Go cold turkey, it's easier. And that processed fake meat crap is gross. There are tons of awesome vegan recipies. Just please don't tell people you're a vegan, as you said you plan to continue eating fish.

 

[quasar4legs]

I think you have to ensure you are eating a healthy vegan diet. Vegan does not automatically mean you are getting good nutrition.

One of the best things that I have done is to see a Dietitian a couple of times a year who ensures that I am getting all the required nutrients etc.
Getting enough protein is very easy if you plan properly but it is certainly the thing that seems to worry non-vegans the most

Good luck and you might enjoy the Post punk kitchen forum for vegans.

 

[npmommie]

Have you tried almond milk?

I'm in the same boat as you, admire vegans but the cheese.... however, I've never liked milk, it's always grossed me out and don't like soy milk or tofu, but almond milk rocks!

OP - Go cold turkey, it's easier. And that processed fake meat crap is gross. There are tons of awesome vegan recipies. Just please don't tell people you're a vegan, as you said you plan to continue eating fish.

LOL, I would never say I am vegan only for the fact that my feet still love my leather Dansko clogs
I probably only eat fish 1-2 times a YEAR. not that much really. but on occasion it does happen.
The last time I ate seafood was about 4 months ago.
the processed stuff is crap. I am totally off that. haven't had it in awhile.

I also love almond milk. hate hate hate soy milk. the dairy I will miss the most is my half and half coffee creamer.
but there are some decent subs for that. I bought one coconut one, forget the brand, at the health food store.
and the silk soy creamer is actually good.

 

[npmommie]

I think you have to ensure you are eating a healthy vegan diet. Vegan does not automatically mean you are getting good nutrition.

One of the best things that I have done is to see a Dietitian a couple of times a year who ensures that I am getting all the required nutrients etc.
Getting enough protein is very easy if you plan properly but it is certainly the thing that seems to worry non-vegans the most

Good luck and you might enjoy the Post punk kitchen forum for vegans.

I love the post punk kitchen site. I have 2 of her cookbooks, vegan with a vengeance and vegan cupcakes take over the world
both awesome.
never thought a vegan cupcake could taste so yummy