It's almost the weekend thank goodness. Caisley has been a monster lately and I'm really needing some Dad intervention because this little babe that's cooking has me drained.
I wanted to fill you in a little on some things that we've been up to lately.
Ben and I recently watched the Netflix documentary produced by Joaquin Phoenix called What the Health. Our minds were literally blown. Like everything we thought we knew got turned upside-down and flipped around. I'm telling you, you need to watch it. I watched it for the sole purpose of seeing the ties between the food and pharmaceutical industries and these organizations that are supposed to give us good information like The American Diabetes Association & The American Heart Association. Well, all the corruption was there (shocker) but what I didn't expect was to come out of it wanting to go full-blown vegan.
Remember when I did that for like a day living in California? (peer-pressure much?)
Well, turns out I'm selfish and saving the animals wasn't enough of a priority for me. However, saving my own body? That's some serious motivation. I won't get into all the details because this post would be way way way too long, but go watch the documentary. For real. It's even on YouTube. That's actually how we watched it. Laying in bed at 10:30pm on a week night thinking "Oh, I'll just start this and then finish it tomorrow." That's not how it works. You get sucked in and then it will basically consume your thoughts for the next... I don't know... forever?
Anyway, here are some main take away points that I thought were totally interesting.
- ONE SERVING OF PROCESSED MEAT PER DAY INCREASED RISK OF DEVELOPING DIABETES BY 51%. HOWEVER THE AMERICAN DIABETES ASSOCIATION FEATURES RECIPES FOR RED & PROCESSED MEATS ON THE MENU SECTION OF THEIR WEBSITE
- WITHIN MINUTES OF EATING DEAD MEAT BACTERIA TOXINS, THE BODY GETS A BURST OF INFLAMMATION, STIFFENING OR PARALYZING THE ARTERIES
- MEN WITH A HIGH PROSTATE CANCER PROGNOSTIC RISK AND A HIGH POULTRY INTAKE HAD A 4-FOLD INCREASED RISK OF RECURRENCE OR PROGRESSION
- EATING 1 EGG PER DAY IS JUST AS BAD AS SMOKING 5 CIGARETTES PER DAY FOR LIFE EXPECTANCY
- USDA ADMITTED THAT EGGS CANNOT LEGALLY BE LABELED: NUTRITIOUS, LOW FAT, PART OF A BALANCED DIET, LOW CALORIE, HEALTHFUL, HEALTHY, GOOD FOR YOU, OR SAFE
- 93% OF DIOXIN (KNOWN HORMONE DISRUPTOR AND CARCINOGEN) EXPOSURE COMES FROM EATING ANIMAL PRODUCTS
- THERE IS A STRONG LINK BETWEEN DAIRY FOODS AND AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES
- MILK DOES NOT BUILD STRONG BONES & COUNTRIES WITH THE HIGHEST RATES OF DAIRY CONSUMPTION HAVE THE HIGHEST RATES OF OSTEOPOROSIS
- FOR WOMEN WHO HAVE HAD BREAST CANCER, JUST ONE SERVING OF WHOLE DAIRY A DAY CAN INCREASE THEIR CHANCE OF DYING FROM THE DISEASE 49%, AND DYING FROM ANY DISEASE 64%
- THE SUSAN G. KOMEN BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION ACCEPTS DONATIONS FROM YOPLAIT AND ALLOWS THEM TO MARKET PINK RIBBONS ON THEIR CONTAINERS)
- CASEIN PROTEIN, THE MAIN PROTEIN IN DAIRY PRODUCTS, ESPECIALLY IN CHEESE, CREATES CASOMORPHINS. CASOMORPHIN MAY PLAY A ROLE IN SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME (SIDS) AND AUTISM
- DEAD HOGS ARE PROCESSED INTO FEED AND FED BACK TO THE HOGS
- RAISING ANIMALS FOR FOOD IS THE LEADING CAUSE OF RAINFOREST DESTRUCTION, SPECIES EXTINCTION, OCEAN DEAD ZONES AND FRESH WATER CONSUMPTION
- STUDIES REFERENCING THE LINK BETWEEN EXPOSURE TO DAIRY AT A YOUNG AGE AND TYPE 1 DIABETES AS COW MILK PROTEIN CAUSES ANTIBODIES IN THE BLOODSTREAM THAT ATTACK THE PANCREAS
- ALL PROTEIN IS INITIALLY MADE BY PLANTS.
- MOST AMERICANS GET ABOUT TWICE THE PROTEIN THEY NEED AND LESS THAN HALF THE FIBER THEY NEED
- HUMAN MILK, THE IDEAL FOOD, HAS THE LOWEST PROTEIN CONTENT OF ANY OTHER SPECIES
- THE LARGEST, STRONGEST TERRESTRIAL ANIMALS ON THE PLANET ARE ALL HERBIVORES
- DOCTORS ARE NOT TAUGHT ABOUT THE POWER OF FOOD IN MEDICAL SCHOOL
So yeah.
Ben & I really felt driven to at least attempt a plant-based diet for two weeks and see how we feel.
Some of the transformations at the end of the documentary were totally insane. I was shocked at the difference just two weeks on a plant-based diet made for some of those people.
We're both really looking forward to the impact this could have on our health and think it will be something that we embrace for the rest of our lives. That doesn't necessarily mean we'll always stay strictly vegan because I don't like the idea of not being "allowed" to do things. And who knows what life holds but for now, this is where we're at and we're both (honestly I think Ben is even more so) excited about it!
Here's a few plant-based recipes I'm looking forward to trying!
You can follow along on my Plant-Based Pinterest board to see more vegan recipe inspo!
I'll make sure to keep you updated as we venture into this new territory. I'm not setting any goals or restricting myself in any way. I'm going to eat what I want to eat when I want to eat it. For now, that just means I'm really not feeling meat & dairy.
We're so close to the weekend! Go learn something and share it back here with me, yeah?!
Talk soon!
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