My Thoughts: Plant-Based Eating

About two years ago, I discovered the concept of "plant-based" eating. I was first introduced to this while watching Forks Over Knives, an incredible documentary focusing on The China Study (the most comprehensive nutrition study that's ever been done) and the life-changing benefits of a plant-based diet. When I heard about this concept of eating a plant-based diet, a lightbulb went off in my head. While exploring the world of vegetarianism, I quickly discovered how easy it was to be an unhealthy vegetarian. Lots of foods are vegetarian, as well as vegan, but eating cheese, milk, baked goods, fried foods, etc. which are all vegetarian but aren't necessarily healthy. One of the main reasons I first thought about going vegan was to take a step up from being vegetarian, I wanted something different and while exploring the vegan community, I found the plant-based diet concept. Although eating plant-based and vegan go hand in hand, I prefer the idea of eating "plant-based" instead of just vegan. Like vegetarianism, you can definitely be an unhealthy vegan. Especially now, that veganism is becoming more trendy lots of bakeries and restaurants are making gourmet vegan food. While consuming no animal products has been shown to be the most beneficial to our health, you may not get the full benefits of being vegan but still consuming a high fat, high salt, high processed diet.



So what is plant-based?
Eating a plant-based diet basically means that you eat foods that come from the earth. All fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and legumes would all fit in a plant-based diet. These foods are a great base to so many recipes, and dishes. There are so many variations with spices, flavors, combinations, etc. to make a plant-based diet work for your palate and your lifestyle. There is really no way that you can get bored or tired of eating this way because there are hundreds of different types of foods that are grown on this wonderful earth.


The word "vegan" intimidates a lot of people, it definitely has a stigma and I've definitely experienced that personally. Beginning a plant-based lifestyle is more simple, and easier for people to understand. All you have to do it eat plants, things that grow from the earth. The more you focus your diet around plant-based recipes and foods, the easier it becomes to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Cutting out all meat, dairy, and eggs is very overwhelming and can seem too difficult so often times people don't even try. But incorporating more plants will help to slowly eliminate these foods, and it will seem easier and not as overwhelming. Even if you make your diet 80% plant-based, that is an awesome start, and it will be easier over time to change that to 100%.

The first time I met Dr. Campbell
when he spoke at Appalachian 

Second time meeting Dr. Campbell
and his wife after the PlantPure Nation
screening

Now onto the real reason I wanted to talk about all this...Dr. T. Colin Campbell, who I talk about way too much, and am completely obsessed with. His work, has changed my life along with hundreds of other people. He was the one that through scientific research discovered the benefits of eating a plant-based diet. He documented his findings in his book The China Study and it was also addressed in the documentary Forks Over Knives. Anyone that is wanting to adopt a healthier lifestyle should definitely either read the book, or watch the documentary which both show the science behind plant-based eating.

Meeting Nelson Campbell
after the PlantPure Nation
screening

After seeing the lack of implementing the amazing discoveries of plant-based eating Nelson Campbell (Dr. Campbell's son) wanted to take this concept to law and try to use plant-based eating to improve the health status of Kentucky. In their new documentary PlantPure Nation it shows their journey of taking this to concept to court, and trying to spread the message of the power of plants. After getting denied by the state of Kentucky, Nelson Campbell and Dr. Campbell decided that they would prove its effectiveness by assigning a 10-day plant based diet on a group of people from a small town in North Carolina. They gave them a lesson on plant-based eating, and also prepared their food for them to eat. In just TEN DAYS of eating plant-based, the blood work of the people in the group came back almost completely normal. Cholesterol levels, LDL levels, triglyceride levels all were extremely high to begin with, and in just ten days were lowered through eating plants. Wow, the power of plants is almost unbelievable! Why is this not more well known, and used throughout the health care field? Well this documentary explains why the government doesn't want to use this way of healing, and dare I say curing people. A lot of it has to do with big food companies, and mostly money/politics. Hopefully this documentary will create some waves in the health and food industry, it's about time some changes be made!

PlantPure Nation is coming to theaters on July 4th, and will without a doubt change your way of thinking about eating healthily, and putting your own health in your hands. I was able to go to a screening of this film last month. The Campbell family is touring all over America promoting this film and the concept of plant-based eating. Their first screening was in Chapel Hill, NC and I was thankfully able to go see it and also meet the Campbells. It was so amazing getting to not only watch the film, but hear Nelson and Dr. Campbell personally talk about the making of the movie and their drive for getting the plant-based message out to America. I can't wait to go see this film again in July!

For more information on eating plant-based, it's benefits, or the PlantPure Nation documentary check out these links:
http://plantpurenation.com
http://www.plantbasedcooking.com
Buy The China Study
PlantPure Nation Cookbook
http://www.forksoverknives.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V95CCw-TPA&spfreload=10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAkEYcmCCCk&list=LLUbOjQ7pGveWCCfSAN7Rc_Q&index=15

National Nutrition Month: Bite Into A Healthy Lifestyle

March is such a great month, not only because Spring is starting to emerge, and there is a glimpse of hope that the snow is going to melt once and for all, but also March is National Nutrition Month (although in my mind, every month is National Nutrition Month). Every March, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics promotes, informs, and emphasizes nutrition. Each year they have a different theme, this year's NNM theme is "Bite Into A Healthy Lifestyle." Last year, their theme was "The Taste of Eating Right" and I actually blogged about that when I was first getting my blog started. Check that post out here: http://cookinglittle.blogspot.com/2014/03/enjoy-taste-of-eating-right-national.html !
So what does "Bite Into A Healthy Lifestyle" mean to me? I definitely can relate to this theme, especially since going vegan last Spring. I've wanted to talk about the difference I've found between "dieting" and "living" for quite a while, so the fact that this is the theme for this year's National Nutrition Month worked out perfectly!

When I first started looking into veganism, I saw it portrayed as a lifestyle, not a diet. I strongly dislike the word "diet" because I think it's a very negative word, and is used to describe something short term, something that isn't meant to last forever. It isn't used in a way that describes why you eat how you eat, who/what is impacted by what you eat, or even in a passionate way, to me that is called a "lifestyle." Becoming vegan made me realize that veganism isn't a diet, it's truly a way of life. It's how someone lives, vegans choose what they eat rather than following a certain set of rules even if they don't want to. It's not that I can't eat cheese or milk based ice cream, it's that I choose not to. This is why I like to refer to veganism as a "lifestyle" rather than a "diet."

I think when you make healthy eating a lifestyle, and put passion in it going back to old habits and foods is much more difficult. When you make eating purposeful and have a true meaning behind it, it becomes a part of your life and something that becomes personal. Your diet (or as I like to call it, your lifestyle) should be personal, fit your life, and represent what's important to you.


Finding veganism was about a four year process for me. It slowly became not just the food I ate, but it is now a reflection of myself and a representation of the type of nutrition I promote and believe in. When becoming vegetarian back in high school, I did it just to test my self-discipline and see if I could do it. Slowly, I began to fall in love with how I was eating and what I was eating and it began to become a huge part of my life. I began to cook more, eat less processed foods, research nutrition, and ultimately it helped me decide I wanted to study nutrition in college. I made this a lifestyle, not just a diet, I put passion in the way I was eating and also living. After lots of my own research and experiences, I decided to go vegan in the Spring of 2014. This was a huge step for me, and I quickly saw how it effected my lifestyle. Becoming vegan, for me, helped me to revamp the way I live as well as my thoughts and feelings on the food I choose to eat.

Soon after becoming vegan I found that I felt a lot happier, and became passionate about protecting the animals that are being abused every day just for human consumption and pleasure. This is how veganism became a lifestyle for me, although this doesn't have to be true for everyone, it was for me. I found that once I eliminated animal products, my body was filled with positive energy. I genuinely felt like my body was no longer filled with negative, pain, fear, and hatred but instead love and happiness. As "hippy dippy" as that sounds, it is so true. I almost immediately began to feel better, in my mind, body, and soul. I soon saw that the way I was eating in the past was full of hatred and abuse, seeing and feeling how veganism was full of love and peace helped me stay with this lifestyle. I found a passion to protect, love, and care for all animals; not just cats and dogs, but cows, pigs, chickens, horses, birds, fish every animal deserves love and respect. So that's how veganism became more than a diet for me, but a lifestyle.

Making the food you eat a lifestyle, and changing your diet from just a diet to a way of life will help you put passion into your own health and maintain it. Diets are usually difficult for people to maintain because they are viewed as rules, regulations, limitations, elimination, and are thought to only last for a little while before returning to however you were eating before. A lifestyle is formed to fit you, it is made to last for a long time and become a part of you. This should be how people eat, and live, not through short-term diet plans that don't actually provide you with a change in anything other than the foods you are putting in (or not putting in) your mouth. Changing your lifestyle is way more effective than just your diet. Making the food you eat, and your personal health goals a lifestyle can potentially last the rest of your life rather than just a few months.

When someone tells me they are thinking about going vegetarian or vegan, I always ask them why, this helps them create a motive and passion to remain on this type of living. I think this is how everyone should begin a healthy lifestyle, with a specific motivation that they can keep looking to that will help them remain positive and passionate. The foods you eat should fit you, your goals and your passions. Taking a "bite into a health lifestyle" is an effective way to live out your "diet" and make it part of your entire life. Let's stop dieting to eat healthier, and instead start living a healthy lifestyle!