Are meat and dairy the devil? You decide.

[Patty Smyth]

Just saw an interesting documentary called Forks Over Knives. Pretty much tells us meat and dairy are the cause for all major diseases. It has some pretty compelling arguments. DH and I are slowly eliminating meat from our diet, actually DH already has, and dairy was never a factor because we never drank milk or consumed many dairy products.

Certaily something to consider, although not for everyone. I do know people who have done this and eliminated their need for meds. and DH is also off his diabetes meds now after following this type of lifestyle change.

Do you think you could live without meat and dairy products?

Do you think that "big business" is behind the push for mass consumption of these products along with processed foods.

Meat and dairy farmers are highly subsidized by the government, should they be, if as this movie claims it's killing us?

For those of us that coupon, we must ask ourselves why there are no coupons for fruits and veggies. I know that my couponing has almost become non-existent in the last year since we cut out as many processed foods as possible.

All very interesting questions to ponder over.


Here are a few clips from the movie.

[Patty Smyth]

[Patty Smyth]

Seems I can only post one video clip per post.

[Natalka]

Thanks for the clips; the movie sounds so interesting. I also did some reading about Dr. Barnard.

I don't believe it's meat and dairy which are the culprits, but rather the processed and refined foods - excessive use of salt, etc. Also, of course, how we prepare our food is very important. It's all balance, and takes work and effort to feed ourselves and our families properly.

[Patty Smyth]

Larry bought Barnards book, he finds it very helpful.

[Patty Smyth]

Thanks for the clips; the movie sounds so interesting. I also did some reading about Dr. Barnard.

I don't believe it's meat and dairy which are the culprits, but rather the processed and refined foods - excessive use of salt, etc. Also, of course, how we prepare our food is very important. It's all balance, and takes work and effort to feed ourselves and our families properly.

The movie is quite interesting but obviously not for everyone. I have an aunt who I believe has never seen a vegetable in her life and she is 89 . There are always studies that can prove or disprove anything. We just have to take in what we can and figure out what's best for us.

[Patty Smyth]

My son actually asked of he could take the movie to school and show it in class. I am waiting for a reply from his science teacher.

[kazm-l]

Interesting stuff - I'm a veggie - have been for more years than i care to think about,lol- but do serve meat (most of it from the farm) to my peeps. They have no issue with eating veggie - even vegan from time to time, though i never tell them when!- but don't think they are quite ready to give up on meat. However, following DHs health issues , we did change to different meats - Bison for example, which is better nutrionally than beef.In fact, they ended up preferring it to the beef.
We rarely eat processed products - ok so i may have picked up Pizza yesterday- but usually i make it all from scratch.. lets face it,.the salt content on virtually everything processed is shockingly high!!
However, i'm not sure i could give up cheese permanently. I use a "light" version which i guess is better than nothing and although i can go for days without it....i would be very sad to see it go forever.
I'd love to see a few coupons for fresh products too - i'm not that fussy, a little bit off some fruit, a carrot even some onions would be great.

If anyone is interested in Sodium Free books/recipes - i can recommend Dick Logue. He has a some recipes online and a bunch of books. Not all recipes worked well for me, but most did. I have an Asian Dressing from his books i use ALL THE TIME instead of Soy sauce(Have you seen the salt content on that!) and the bread i make salt free is softer than the stuff i made in the good ol'days - go figure!



Did i answer the question....or wander off track again....oops!

[kazm-l]

Oh and anyone with high blood pressure should check out the DASH diet...its a way to lower your blood pressure without meds.
Just saying - i mean, how many times have you heard " You are what you eat"....I certainly think there is something to it.

Thats it!!

[Patty Smyth]

Some coupons for fresh produce once and a while would be really great. Although having to buy the "crap" to get the fresh produce as some coupons have stated as of late are just sneaky marketing in my opinion.

DH has been doing the no meat or dairy strictly for 3 weeks now and as we speak he is ordering sprout seeds online . I don't mind the no meat but I have had some cheese and a little yogurt on my falafel

I think for me it was harder to give up cofffee about 3 months ago than the meat to be honest.

[2010ontest]

For me everything go with alot of variety!!! Meat and dairy are ok and good for me if they are included in a variety of kind of food. So there are not the devil... But we didn't have meat at every meal, same for cheese.

Variety for me is not about the process food but the basic food one. The kind of cereal and grains, the cultivar of fruits and veggies, the maner you process it yourself. Dry bean are good and give you some nutriments... the same dry bean changing for sprouting give you something else... In my head, you need a little bit of everything to have a good balance... And mostly of your food need to be the unprocess one. After that, in my head we could move on the other step with organic basic stuff. Local stuff is kind of trivial in the good season if you want more vitamin and nutriments from those foods, so I try to be "in season" as much as possible.

Maybe this is why I started to learn long time ago how to preserve a maximum of my in season local stuff in maximum of different way... between freezing, sprouting, fermented stuff, homecanning and having stuff for the long time storage in winter (in a "cold" room), I still think the best is to have variety and diversity of way to preserve stuff, use stuff and rotate it in the year.



And I'm with you Patty, I would like to see more coupon for fresh fruit and veggies but without "crap" to buy with like pudding or snack bar.

[kazm-l]

I have considered sprouting my own stuff but have a funny feeling the kids would just think i am even weirder than they originally thought,lol
But hey, summer is just around the corner so maybe i could get away with it...mmmmm something to think about!!
And yum to the falafel

I did a KISSAS vegan diet at the beginning of the year - ok so she changed it to KISS to make it less offensive i suppose - personally i preferred the thought of Kissass,lol
Anyway - it stood for Keep It Simple Soups And Salads (or maybe it was SIMPLY) - Anyways, it was my first time with no dairy at all and although i only started for a day - as i wasn't convinced i could even do that (and lets be honest, i wasn't even sure WHY i would want to,lol) - i did it for well over a month, lost weight and really did enjoy it. But the reality for me is that cheese is a very good friend as is yogurt but as soon as the weather decides its set to keep warm then i'm going to give it another go and see what happens!

I'd really be interested to know how DHs sprouting goes...

[CouponasaurusRex]

Just saw an interesting documentary called Forks Over Knives. Pretty much tells us meat and dairy are the cause for all major diseases. It has some pretty compelling arguments. DH and I are slowly eliminating meat from our diet, actually DH already has, and dairy was never a factor because we never drank milk or consumed many dairy products.

Certaily something to consider, although not for everyone. I do know people who have done this and eliminated their need for meds. and DH is also off his diabetes meds now after following this type of lifestyle change.

Do you think you could live without meat and dairy products?

Do you think that "big business" is behind the push for mass consumption of these products along with processed foods.

Meat and dairy farmers are highly subsidized by the government, should they be, if as this movie claims it's killing us?

For those of us that coupon, we must ask ourselves why there are no coupons for fruits and veggies. I know that my couponing has almost become non-existent in the last year since we cut out as many processed foods as possible.

All very interesting questions to ponder over.


Here are a few clips from the movie.

My parents thought I was crazy for deciding I wanted to become a vegetarian at 12 yrs old. Then they watched forks over knives, and decided to give it a try. My dad had recently found out that he had type 2 diabetes and had also been on blood pressure pills for years, and my Mom was very overweight. They have been vegetarian for about 8 months now and everyone has noticed a HUGE difference. My dad is off his blood pressure pills as they are no longer needed, and his diabetes nurse said his blood reads have been completely normal for over 5 months now. They said they sleep better, breathe better and have way more energy. There is absolutely something to it. They did not change anything else about their lifestyles, just cut out meat



Oh yeah, and my Mom lost 68 pounds and counting.

[kashkoush]

am with eating everything in moderation, red meat once a week and am talking about extralean , white meat 3 days and 3 days legumes.
daily exercise is as imp as healthy food, at least 30 min a day.
lots of greens no processed food is the key to healthy life.

[marstec]

Honestly, there would be a revolt in my family if I only cooked vegetarian. My husband grew up on the farm...seven children, six of whom were boys...before my husband, I never saw anyone eat so fast in my life...until I met one of his brothers.

Rather than cut out meat, I'm trying to incorporate more fruits and vegetables in our daily diet...I always offer a salad with the meal but it is often rejected by the children. I agree with growing your own produce if possible and looking at local sources rather than those shipped from far away. I never was a fan of processed food, tend to make a lot from scratch...

I am more a "live to eat" as opposed to "eat to live" kind of person...if I had to survive on nothing but salads and pressed tofu, I would not want to live to be 100! I think balance is the key - fad diets are ineffective, and completely depriving yourself of certain foods can lead to cravings and feelings of guilt if you ever "fall off the wagon".