Science and experience favor plant-based meals
15 May 2021 – Prevention is the theme of the Food Revolution Summit, a podcast and an upcoming training event. However, that word has different connotations.
“Prevention in med schools means detection,” said John Robbins, co-host at the free summit.
That’s because doctors learn how to prescribe medicine to counteract detected damage to the body. They don’t actually deal with the causes.
“I don’t think any medication could ever come close [in effectiveness] to what a plant-based diet does,” dietitian Brenda Davis said.
Physician Milton Mills added that our dental make up, stomach acid and act of chewing all match that of herbivores(plant-eating animals).
Mills, Davis and 25 others at the summit – doctors, dietitians, life coaches, activists environmentalists and testifying patients – argued that consistently eating plant-based meals could actually prevent or reverse diseases, pollution and abuses. They claimed that replacing animal-based foods with plant-based ones eliminated many causes of our deteriorating bodies. For example, plant fiber helps to prevent or eliminate unhealthy animal cholestrol.
How to make the switch from animal- to plant-based meals can be overwhelming for some of us. Decades ago Frances Lappe’s Diet for a Small Planet provided a complicated way — combining amino acids from different plants in every meal. Others told us to just continuously vary our vegetables so that we wouldn’t miss some nutrients.
Recently, five doctors at the summit provided middle ground for directions. For the most part, they overlap. William Li’s 5 x 5 x 5 plan focuses first on five natural defense systems in our bodies – angiogenesis(forming our blood cells), regeneration, microbiome(healthy bacteria), DNA protection and immunity; then, he lists foods that influence each system. Each day we must select one food apiece for each system and eat it sometime during the day(at breakfast, snack, lunch, dinner and dessert.)
The next day we can select a different five. Li suggests checking the lists the night before and selecting the five foods for the next day. More information is provided in his Eat to Beat Disease. His lists appeal to both vegetarians and non-vegetarians.
The other four doctors provided briefer instructions. Joel Fuhrman and Will Bulsiewicz offered acronyms to assure good plant coverage. Fuhrman’s G-BOMBS stands for greens, beans, fresh onions, cooked mushrooms, berries and seeds; information is available in any of his books.
Bulsiewicz’s F-GOALS, fruits and fermented, grains and greens, omega 3 super seeds, aromatics, legumes and sulfurophanes(found in cruciferous vegetables). More information is provided in any of Furhrman’s books or Bulsiewicz’s Fiber Fueled.
Dean and Ayesha Sherzai, who direct a brain health program, call their best food friends the Neuro 9 – greens, grains, seeds, beans, berries, nuts, crucifers(crunchy vegetables), tea/coffee and herbs/spices. More information is available in any of their books.
Dietitian Nicole Dandrea-Russert, who daily provided recipes and cooking tips during the summit, suggested adding three colors to make the dish more appealing and nutritional. Activists, testifiers and life coaches offered specific plant-based information for children, food deserts and obese people.
Since the summit, cosmetologist Melanie Day has acknowledged that you are what you eat also applies to hair health; her interview on Nutritionist Deepa’s podcast is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMZAHKe7ozE .
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine will hold its next Food for Life instructor training from October 12 through December 17; registration for the nutrition education and cooking classes ends August 23 at www.pcrm.org/good-nutrition/plant-based-diets/ffl/become-an-instructor?ceid=2138442 .
Have any of the summit doctors’ shortcuts appealed to you as a way to balance your vegetarian meals? What about the recipes offered by the Food Revolution? What about Melanie Day’s tips for healthy hair care?
Are you interested in becoming a licensed Food for Life instructor?