When I first dived into the raw diet a year ago, I was struck by how expensive it was to eat this healthy.  My friend, Cassie, who always inspires me to eat as cleanly as she does (partly because her skin is so clear and radiates) said that it doesn’t have to be so pricey.  Below, she shares her tips on eating cleanly without going broke!

Not only am I a thrifty shopper, but I’m also a lazy chef.  Ironically, I’m in culinary school at the Natural Gourmet Institute to really develop some skills in the kitchen (to be shared with S Filers, of course!).  In the meantime, I rarely spend more than $50 per week on (mostly organic) groceries to feed me, my boyfriend, and the dog.  (The dog is a newer addition and she has fairly expensive taste, always hogging the sea veggies and my favorite greens!)  How do I manage to keep my wallet so full and stay so satisfied on a diet of primarily raw and vegan organic goods?  It has taken me time to learn my surroundings — the best shops/coops, learning to eat seasonally, bopping by the farmers market, and the biggest money saver of all will be starting at the end of June: my CSA.  (Check out www.localharvest.org/csa/ to find your local CSA, and HURRY because if your neighbors are smart, they’ll be filling all the available spots.)

What’s so great about all of this is not just that I can now spare some cash for my favorite charities (www.woodstockfas.org) but I am really minimizing my carbon footprint by eating local fruits and veggies… and well, less of much else.  As we know, processed foods and animal products are REALLY harmful to the environment.

One last tip: if you live near the East Village in NYC, shop at the 4th street COOP.  It’s a tiny hole in the wall with ALL organic produce, the BEST AND CHEAPEST sea veggies, grains, legumes, nuts, etc.  I do not think I’d be able to make as many veggie juices as I do without the prices here.  If you live elsewhere, search for your own little gem.  Of course, I do indulge in juices from juice bars pretty often (hey, I said I was lazy!) and have found some seriously good deals!  One new fav spot is called Terri.  Its on 64 W 23rd st near 6th ave.  Ready??!  Norwalk Organic Green juices for $6.50!  Can’t beat that!  Most other places are now charging $10 for these goodies.  Good luck shoppers!

Happy Weekend!

Cassie Karopkin

Note: Cassie has a wealth of valuable information and tips.  Self-described as a former “junk-food” vegetarian, she now embodies a health, radiance and happiness that we would all love to have.  She is a member of our very new (and still developing!) online forum.  You may reach her at The S File’s online forum.  Her member name is “cassveg.”

My husband wrote the following for BeamGreen during the summer of 2009.

Encouragement comes when you least expect it.

One morning, recently, I was waiting in line at my usual sidewalk coffee vendor when a homeless man came up to me and said, “You have really healthy skin! You need a little more vitamin D, but you look really healthy…  Want to buy me a cup of coffee?”

Background

Three months prior, I did not look as healthy. One day, I developed a major headache and my assistant said I looked pale. I attributed this to the stress of my current project but then my tongue stopped working, my right eye starting drooping, and my headache became unbearable.  I would soon learn that I was experiencing a “spontaneous carotid artery dissection” with aneurisms.  Essentially, the major artery bringing blood to my brain had ruptured where it enters my skull.  Needless to say it was a serious event that was not only severely painful (for weeks) but life threatening.

This was about the third “spontaneous” health event that I had experienced in the past 3 years.  Each one of these events was met with some panic and confusion from lots of doctors, and most surprisingly, no suggestion that these had anything to do with lifestyle or diet (I had a typical American “healthy diet”), and no changes were thought necessary, to my wife’s disappointment.  Each was supposedly a random and unrelated event.

This was always welcome news to me –- each time I got lots of tests, sometimes a little surgery, spent some time in the hospital, then would go home with little change of diet or lifestyle suggested by doctors.  However, after the last event (the carotid artery dissection), my wife decided to do her own research and came across some interesting discoveries.  The results of her research on nutrition all of sudden made a lot of sense to me. I opened my eyes and mind to the idea that perhaps much of what we have been taught about health, nutrition, and toxins around us is incomplete and misguided.  Doctors are very smart and have developed effective drugs and procedures for fixing bodies, but for the most part, have little training in nutrition, and it just makes sense that nutrition is vitally linked to health.  With this open mind and my wife’s inspiration and guidance, I started an exploration into nutrition and health and quickly starting changing my diet.  Although this is an ongoing exploration, based on initial research, the raw diet with lots of fresh juice made the most sense so I quickly starting changing my diet to minimize animal products and cooked food, and concentrate on whole foods and raw vegetables and fruits, seeds, and nuts.

Juice

It started with the juice.  One morning about four months ago, inspired by a BeamGreen event, my wife ordered a few fresh juices from Liquiteria in the East Village.  I liked them.  With guidance from my wife, I learned about all the benefits of fresh “living” juice: it maximizes nutrients, enzymes, and other good stuff that builds strong bodies at a cellular level (straight vegetables and fruits are great too, but the juice has the most impact per calorie (best bang for the buck)).  Lots of the good stuff is killed off when juice is commercially processed and bought in the store, so fresh juice is important (and cold pressed is ideal). Juice also flushes out toxins.   I started drinking 4 to 5 juices per day and felt great.  I ate food too but I started to prefer higher quality foods, mostly raw and less quantity.  The nutrients and cleansing was having a dramatic effect, so I kept it up.  I was buying so much juice from Liquiteria and the juice bar in Equinox, I felt like I was paying their rent.  My wife then bought our first juicer, a Breville, and we started making our own juice daily (in addition to buying juice).  Based on my wife’s research, this was a good, more affordable juicer (the Norwalk cold press juicer is the Rolls Royce, but seems it has limited appeal due to its price and more lengthy process).  My favorite juice was the kitchen sink recipe (basically everything I could think of in one juice including apples, pears, carrots, beets, spinach, kale, cucumber, celery, ginger).  I also experimented with dandelion (not so tasty), horseradish (even less tasty), sweet potatoes, and other things.

The Norwalk Juicer

From the start of my juicing interest, I heard that homemade juices from conventional juicers, although far better than store-bought juice, destroyed some of the living enzymes and nutrients due to the heat in the process.  Cold press juicing was the best way to preserve the good stuff and was also much tastier.  It also has a much higher yield (more juice from the same fruits and veggies).  I heard that the yield is about 50% more than that from conventional juicers and that seems about right.

The drawback to the Norwalk is that it is expensive and more labor intensive, so almost no juice retailers or home users use them.  Liquiteria is one of the few places we could find that use it.  We have friends that live on the Upper West Side that got turned onto Liquiteria, and have explored every juicing store on the Upper West Side trying to find something similar and could not… so they go to Liquiteria weekly to stock up  or even have it delivered via car service.

After about 3 months of juicing, I decided it was time to get serious, and we bought the Norwalk juicer and installed it in our weekend house in the Hamptons.  It cost more than the first 4 cars I ever owned (all together) and is a real commitment of time.  However, for the past 4 weeks, a Saturday morning ritual has been born: shopping at the farmers market and then going home and working the Norwalk juicer.  It has become a Saturday morning social event.  What better way to hang out with friends than chopping, washing, peeling, shredding, pressing and bottling fresh fruit and veggie juice.  And then for the rest of the weekend experiment making different fresh juices.

4 Month Results:

My weight is down to about 187 lbs (down from 225lbs at my peak).  My cholesterol is down to about 109 (down from a peak of 225).  I feel much more relaxed and healthy; and I get compliments on my complexion from homeless people.  I have been spreading the word wherever I can and I am happy to see that many people are open, reacting positively and many have started on their own nutritional journeys.  I used to get a friendly teasing for bringing a green or orange juice to my weekly project meeting; now at any given meeting, there might be 3 or 4 green or orange juices on the table from others.

I went back for a CAT scan recently to check on my carotid artery and after reviewing my results, my neurosurgeon had the report I fully expected.  He looked very pleased and said I was healing and faster than normal – keep doing whatever I was doing.  As he heard about my change in diet, he said he should probably do it too.

Related Content:

• As Mom and Wife, Why I’ve been Exploring A Holistic Approach to Health…
• The Raw Diet
• Juicing
• The Raw Diet: One Year Later…
• Grocery List of Staples
• Reflections on My Most Significant Health Changes in 2009

The CDC estimates that right now BPA is in the bodies of 93 percent of Americans, with higher levels in teens than in adults, and higher levels in children than in teens.

Why Should You Care About BPA?

A growing body of scientific research has linked the weak estrogenic compound bisphenol-A (BPA) to a variety of health problems, such as infertility, prostate cancer, and breast cancer.  BPA is the main building block of polycarbonate plastic, a hard plastic widely used to make kitchen utensils, food storage containers, travel mugs, and water bottles.  BPA is also a main component of the epoxy linings found in metal food and beverage cans.  The problem: Polycarbonate plastics can leach BPA into our food and beverages.

What Can You Do To Protect Yourself From BPA?

In addition to reducing BPA exposure through your consumer purchases (such as plastics and canned foods), you can block its damages through the foods you eat!  Researchers at Duke University found that they could completely block BPA damage, even in the face of significant exposure, by giving pregnant animals extra folate (found mostly in green leafy vegetables – foliage – such as spinach) or extra genistein (found mostly in legumes such as soy).  The amount of genistein given was comparable to what we would get in our diets if we ate soy foods regularly.

Click on What If You Already Used BPA? BPA Protection: Spinach and Soy by Dr. Green to read more.

My calendar year 2009 was eventful. During the first half of this year, my seemingly healthy husband was under intensive care for a few days in the hospital for a spontaneous carotid artery dissection; I experienced two miscarriages; I resigned from my hard-earned career to be more available for our family; and we completed our first Manhattan nursery school application process. The last half of our year has been blessed with my husband embracing radical health changes and, therefore, being healthier than ever; us loving our daughter’s nursery school; and me delivering a healthy beautiful daughter at the end of 2009.

MAJOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CHANGES IN 2009

Although I have always been healthy and informed about the latest in health trends, my perspective on health and diet changed dramatically last year. In case any of it inspires someone else to make a healthy change, I’m sharing our most significant changes below.

1. Minimize consumption of animal protein, including dairy (we’ve replaced dairy with almond and hemp milks). Instead, we maximize consumption of:
   1. fresh vegetables and fruit (drinking cold-pressed vegetable / fruit juices has become a significant staple of our daily diet);
   2. raw nuts and seeds;
   3. sprouted whole grains, whenever possible; and,
   4. local seasonal whole foods.
2. Minimize consumption of seafood, given the increased contaminants in water
3. Minimize consumption of processed foods (including processed soy products)
4. Avoid food and beverages in plastic and canned containers, which includes take out and deliveries. Instead, eat more homemade meals and use glass and stainless steel containers.
5. Use grapeseed oil instead of olive oil when cooking (it has a higher smoke point, approximately 420 °F (216 °C), so it can be safely used to cook at high temperatures)
6. Use agave nectar (and 100% pure maple syrup, though less frequently) in replacement of other sugars
7. Avoid microwave popcorn (I ate a lot of this during my first pregnancy)
8. Read labels extra carefully to look for simple, wholesome ingredients and to avoid high fructose corn syrup
9. Use more non-toxic personal care products and cleaning products
10. Buy non-toxic mattresses, especially for the children

Please note that we generally minimize and maximize certain things but we never do anything 100%. Radical dietary changes are not sustainable and life is short, so, if we’re really craving something , then we indulge in it. Any healthy change — no matter how seemingly small — is still progress!

Take a look at our Grocery List of Staples and Grocery List of Indulgences to view which specific products we like.

CATALYSTS FOR HEALTH CHANGES

The books, products and services that have had the most positive, significant impact on my family and I are the following:

• The China Study (book). Written by a highly credible author, this book presents the results of thousands of scientific findings that conclusively link consumption of animal protein to a wide-range of diseases.
• Disease-Proof Your Child (book). Alarmed by what I learned in The China Study, I was seeking an informed opinion on how to feed my young children. Written by a medical doctor who is informed by the content discussed in The China Study, this book provided me with the guidance and reassurance that I was seeking.
• The Raw Food Detox Diet (book). From a young age (mostly due to my father), I have viewed food as fuel / nourishment for my body. This book elaborates on this idea in much more detail and provided me with a number of new things to think about, including for how long certain foods stay (or, rot in) my body, which foods help cleanse and empower the body, and more.
• Eating (DVD). I found this documentary to be a convincing and enlightening perspective on the American diet.
• Liquiteria (local juice store in Manhattan). From my experience, Liquiteria provides the best cold-pressed juices I’ve yet tried. Its juices introduced me to how delicious vegetable / fruit juices can be, which is a much more convenient way to consume a lot of vegetables and fruit. The store delivers and for Manhattan friends who live outside the delivery radius, they send car service to pickup the juices!
• Breville and Norwalk Juicers (juicers). I started with the Breville juicer, which was a more economical and convenient way to juice at home. After getting hooked on juices, my husband purchased the Norwalk juicer, which does (as I had heard) make superior-tasting juices (and, reportedly, has superior nutrition). The bottled juices at Liquiteria are made with Norwalk juicers.

All of the above are the direct and indirect results of one encounter: that with BeamGreen.com, a community aimed at educating people to develop superior health and wellness. The first event that I heard about was focused on detoxing one’s body for pregnancy. Sounded like an interesting concept so I attended. The main speaker was Natalia Rose, a celebrity nutritionist and author of a number of books, including The Raw Food Detox Diet. This event and this book began my shifting paradigm through which I view health and nutrition. All the events were filmed and are available at this link: BeamGreen.

DURING PREGNANCY

After becoming pregnant, I had a very hard time drinking the vegetable and fruit juices (they made me want to vomit) and craved many things that I considered to be the unhealthiest of things — processed foods, dairy, meat and sweets with high fructose corn syrup (evil!). The books and products that helped me during this time period are below:

• Clean Plates NYC (book). Manhattan restaurant guide to restaurants using organic and/or local and seasonal ingredients. This was really helpful whenever I was craving a cheeseburger or steak.
• Skinny Bitch: Bun in the Oven (book). This book provided compelling reminders of why I should stick to my new set of views on nutrition, especially for the best welfare of my baby.
• Living Harvest Ice Cream (dairy-free “ice cream” made of Hemp milk). This has been very satisfying whenever I crave ice cream.
• Green & Black’s Organic Almond Milk Chocolate. Although dark chocolate is much better for you — maybe even healthy for you, since my most recent pregnancy, I’ve been having this almond milk chocolate almost daily. On too many days, I’ll eat an entire bar!
• BabyCakes cookbook (delicious vegan recipes for baked goods). After spending quite a bit of money on buying BabyCakes vegan chocolate chip cookies at some nearby retailers, I decided to buy the recipe book so that I could have them made at home. The cookies are delicious! No one seems to be able to eat less than four at a time.
• (delicious vegan recipes; we often times make the soups). I was introduced to this cookbook on the Oprah show and immediately purchased the cook book after hearing Oprah’s rave reviews about the food. We have the soups often, which are delicious, filling, and unbelievably vegan!

During my pregnancy, even though I craved things that I didn’t normally enjoy, I generally indulged in my unhealthy cravings and didn’t force myself to drink the cold-pressed vegetable juices that I loved before becoming pregnant. What’s interesting, however, is that as soon as I delivered my second daughter, I craved those cold-pressed vegetable / fruit juices as well as salads, and have been craving them ever since the delivery.

Spending a lot on healthy organic produce?  Read these great tips from Oprah’s website on how best to freeze certain foods:

Bread

• Freeze whole rather than sliced; reducing the exposed surface area will prevent the bread from drying out. Best used within one month.

Vegetables

• Blanch vegetables like broccoli and spinach in boiling water. Then freeze in plastic bags. Blanching stops enzyme reactions and preserves flavor, color, and texture.

Beans

• Cover cooked beans or grains with a layer of water or oil to make an airtight seal. Make sure the container lid is tight, or moisture will move into the cold, dry air, creating freezer burn.

Coffee

• Freeze coffee, wine, or tea in ice cube trays, then pop out and store in freezer bags. Drop wine cubes directly into sauces; coffee and tea cubes go in iced drinks.

Nuts

• Most nuts, including walnuts and almonds, contain unsaturated oils that can go rancid after a few weeks. Freezer bags make a safe home for up to six months

Fruit Puree

• Turn fruits that are about to go bad into an applesauce-like puree, then freeze in zippered bags. Thaw and mix into smoothies, or stir into oatmeal for a sweet nutrient boost.

Soup

• Divide soup into single-serve containers. Before you snap on the lids, place a sheet of plastic wrap directly on top of the liquid, so it lightly clings to the surface. This will keep the soup airtight and frost-free. Cool down in the fridge first to prevent ice crystals.

Leftovers

• A few general rules of thumb for last night’s dinner: Soups and casseroles are best within two months; fish and chicken last about three months; meat, two to three months; fruits and vegetables, up to a year.

Tofu

• Frozen tofu becomes more chewy and spongy, making it ideal for stir-fries because it soaks up sauces. Drain, slice, and wrap in plastic, or simply stick the whole container straight in the freezer.

Meat / Fish

• To avoid freezer burn, vacuum-seal your food-filled freezer bag by placing it in a large pot of water. Submerge all but the top of the bag, squeeze out the air, and close the bag. The water acts as a natural vacuum, forcing air out the top.

Rice

• Storing pantry basics like rice in your icebox could save you money. That’s because freezers work more efficiently when they’re full—solids stay cold longer than gases.

Ten More Foods That Freeze Surprisingly Well

1. Avocado puree (for sauces)
2. Whole lemons
3. Egg whites/yolks (break eggs and freeze whites and yolks separately)
4. Leftovers (that you’ve already frozen and thawed)
5. Pancakes
6. Berries
7. Plain cooked pasta
8. Butter
9. Pesto (store with a layer of oil on top)
10. Bacon

The Sigg company just recently admitted that its pre-August 2008 bottles have contained BPA, but demonstrated no leaching of BPA. It’s infuriating that the company would mislead health-conscious consumers about its products for the sake of sales. As I learn more about industries in general (specifically, I’ve recently been learning more about the animal and dairy industries), I’m appalled at how often the public is misled — with sometimes serious health consequences at stake — all for the sake of profits! But more on meat and dairy later…

You can contact SIGG USA for a replacement bottle with a new EcoCare liner at liners@mysigg.com, or call them at (203) 321-1220. I emailed the company asking for a full refund, but instead got an offer to replace my pre-August 2008 Sigg bottles with the newer ones that do not have BPA. I would have to pay for shipping the bottles back.

If you would like to exchange your Sigg bottles for stainless steel ones, Baying Hound Howls has an offer to consider. Your pre-August 2008 Sigg bottles would get you a 40% discount on stainless steel bottles. I also just read on Ecorazzi that major retailers (including Whole Foods) will provide the newer (reportedly BPA-free) Sigg bottles in exchange for your pre-August 2008 ones. This would save you the cost of mailing them to the Sigg company and would save you time in quickly getting a replacement.

Click on Inhabitots for the original article that informed me about this. You can also click on Sigg Announcement for the letter written by its CEO regarding this topic. The Sigg Announcement letter is not as upsetting as the Inhabitots article, but, Sigg has just lost my trust.

Related Articles:

10 Reasons to Buy Stainless Steel

The SIGG BPA Confession: You aren’t going to like it any more than we do

Viewing the comprehensive and impressive milk ads helped me understand why I had grown up thinking that I should drink more milk, why the perception of milk was so disconnected from the scientific studies that I’ve been reading about lately. See below…

“The dairy industry…is particularly powerful in this country. Founded in 1915, the well-organized, well-funded National Dairy Council has been promoting milk for almost a hundred years. In 1995, two major milk industry groups put a new face on their old establishment, renaming it Dairy Management, Inc. The purpose of this new group was “to do one thing: increase demand for U.S.-produced dairy products,” to cite their Web Site. They had a 2003 marketing budget of more than $165 million to do it. In comparison, the National Watermelon Promotion Board has a budget of $1.6 million.”

– The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell (2006), page 291

While looking for images for my post on Dairy, I was impressed by the Got Milk? campaign. Given all that I’ve learned about how harmful milk is, viewing the milk ads helped me understand why I never thought to question whether milk was good for me. Below is a relatively small sample of the endorsements…

Superheroes…

TV Heroes…

Movie Characters…

Supermodels…

Athletes…

Musicians…

Other Celebrities…

Related Content:

• To read about what I have recently learned about dairy, click on: Got Milk? You’ll Live Better Without It!

My Personal Experience

Personally, I never drank too much milk. My mother used to encourage me to drink more of it and I also tried to force myself to consume more dairy since we both had been informed to think it was good for our bones and would help us grow taller and stronger. And with enviable celebrities endorsing milk, what impressionable young girl wouldn’t want to drink more of it?

Although I had the intention to consume more, I just never could. I didn’t feel well after drinking milk, and often times could not finish a glass of it.

My daughter, who is my first child, is about 2 years old as I write this. Given the common American practice of feeding infants and children lots of dairy, I provided my daughter with a mainly dairy-based diet as she weaned off of breast milk, believing that it was good for her.

She was exclusively on breast milk until she was about 10 months old. From about 10 months to 12 months old, she had a mix of breast milk and formula (cow’s milk). From 12 months to 18 months old, she was drinking mostly cow’s milk as well as eating cheese and yogurt. During this period, at least half of her diet was based on cow’s milk.

“Americans consume more cow’s milk and its products per person than most populations in the world. So Americans should have wonderfully strong bones, right? Unfortunately not. A recent study showed that American women aged fifty and older have one of the highest rates of hip fractures in the world. The only countries with higher rates are in Europe and in the south Pacific (Australia and New Zealand) where they consume even more milk than the United States.”

– The China Study (2006) by Dr. Campbell; page 204

So far, we have been lucky with my daughter’s health.  She seemed to be exceptionally healthy during her first 12 months. Even though she was exposed to lots of different children almost every day and was in the cold often (she loved being outside in the winter), she got sick maybe twice (and, when she did, it consisted of a day’s worth of minor sniffles), she had a very healthy complexion, and she never had any issues like eczema, acid reflux, or anything else. However, within a couple of months after her first year, she started to catch more colds — was either stuffed up or had a runny nose (was mucus-y), her complexion changed (looking less healthy), and the rims of her eyes also became a tinge of purple.  Something felt wrong… and the main change was that she was consuming a lot more dairy.

Sufficient Bodies of Scientific Studies Show a Strong Correlation Between Dairy Consumption and A Wide Range of Illnesses

Concerned about the changes in my daughter, I started to read more about dairy and nutrition in general. Of the numerous books that I have read, the one that has been particularly convincing in its argument against dairy (and, more broadly, animal protein) is The China Study, a book written by a highly credible professor of nutrition at Cornell University.

“The China Study describes a monumental survey of diet and death rates from cancer in more than 2,400 Chinese counties and the equally monumental efforts to explore its significance and implications for nutrition and health. Dr. Campbell and his son, Thomas, have written a lovely, provocative and important book that deserves widespread attention.”

– Frank Rhodes, PhD

President (1978 – 1995) Emeritus, Cornell University

“The China Study is the account of a ground-breaking research study that provides the answers long sought by physicians, scientists and health-conscious readers.  Based on painstaking investigations over many years, it unearths surprising answers to the most important nutritional questions of our time: What really causes cancer? How can we extend our lives? What will turn around the obesity epidemic? The China Study quickly and easily dispenses with fad diets, relying on solid and convincing evidence.  Clearly and beautifully written by one of the world’s most respected nutrition authorities, The China Study represents a major turning point in our understanding of health.”

– Neal Barnard, M.D., President

Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine

“All concerned with the obesity epidemic, their own health, and the staggering environmental and social impacts of the Western diet will find wise and practical solutions in Dr. Campbell’s The China Study.”

– Robert Goodland, Lead Advisor on the Environment

The World Bank Group (1978 – 2001)

Examining the link between diet and nutrition, the largest study ever conducted on human beings as well as hundreds of other studies consistently show that dairy can cause heart disease; diabetes; obesity; osteoporosis; kidney stones; cataracts; macular degeration; multiple sclerosis; Alzheimer’s; and breast, prostate, colon and rectal cancer!

If I knew then what I know now, I never would have given her cow’s milk, yogurt, and all the cheese that she ate (she loves cheese!)!

“Cheese consumption during childhood is a major concern because it takes ten pounds of milk to make one pound of cheese. Besides the bovine growth hormone given to cows, their milk contains estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, prolactin, and other natural cow hormones. Cheese not only is richer in saturated fat, but is a more concentrated source of these hormones. These milk hormones can exert effects on humans. The more you drink or eat dairy, the more hormones you get, and cheese consumption magnifies the negative aspects of cow’s milk. Whether it is the hormonal exposure, the high levels of saturated fat, or the growth-promoting effects, any way you look at it, the vastly successful advertising campaign waged on Americans has given milk and cheese an unearned health food status. Science suggests otherwise, and slower growth and a later maturation are favorable to longer life.”

– Disease-Proof Your Child (2005) by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, M.D.; page 87

But, Don’t We Need Milk For Strong Bones?

Click on Osteopororsis.  You may be surprised by what the studies reveal.

Okay, I’ll Avoid Dairy. But, Is It Really Safe For My Toddler To Avoid It?
Once convinced that I should minimize consumption of dairy (and animal protein), I was still uncertain about not providing my daughter with animal protein, including dairy. The messages in The China Study seemed radically different from all other messages about healthy diets for children, including advice from my pediatrician. I sought opinions from pediatricians who were also familiar with The China Study. I didn’t necessarily seek for agreement with the recommendations of The China Study but I did seek familiarity with the scientific studies and its more than 8,000 statistically significant findings. I found one book: Disease-Proof Your Child by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, a family physician. (Click on Dr. Joel Fuhrman to read more about his credentials.)

“The American Academy of Pediatrics supports the introduction of whole cow’s milk after one year of age. I do not.  Gastroesophageal reflux, iron deficiency, and calcium and sodium excess may be created by feeding cow’s milk to our infants and toddlers…. in addition, the continued intake of DHA from breast feeding is important.”

– Disease-Proof Your Child (2005) by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, M.D.; page 114

Concluding Thoughts

Intellectually, I’m on board with eliminating dairy!  In practice, we still have a bit of dairy.  My coffee is just not the same without my organic Half & Half.  We have pizza with cheese…  However, we have cut down significantly.

The YouTube video below is one that I would have reacted negatively towards prior to becoming a mom.  I probably wouldn’t have even watched the whole +3 minutes of it.  However, after reading what I have about dairy, and, especially, after becoming a mom, the video does affect me.  It helps me in minimizing dairy.

Related Content:

• Dairy
• Osteoporosis
• Need Help Minimizing Dairy?  This Is Meant To Help
• The China Study by Dr. Campbell
• Disease-Proof Your Child by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, M.D.
• Children: Avoid Milk, Cheese and Wheat
• How to Eat?
• Dairy: Why the HUGE Misunderstanding?

Until earlier in 2009, my husband and I were regular meat-eating and cheese-consuming Americans. In fact, one of our favorite dinners was wine and cheese over a bottle (or two) of wine.

We also were not particularly sensitive to the environment nor to animal cruelty.  For a number of reasons, our views on consuming animal protein changed drastically this year.  One notable catalyst of this change is the DVD, Eating, which was given to us by a friend.

The DVD, Eating, presented a concise and convincing argument about the hazards of animal protein.  The impact of our consumption of animal protein was assessed and presented from three main angles: health (with input from leading medical doctors / scientists), environmental, and animal cruelty.

“Clearly, the modern American diet is inadequate, and in spite of most Americans taking nutritional supplements, the percentage of our population dying from the diseases of poor nutrition has not changed significantly in the last thirty years.iseases related to our diet.”

– Disease-Proof Your Child (2005) by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, M.D.; pages 4 – 5

Eating is an important film for everyone to watch, for it contains information that everyone should consider.  It could help make a significant impact in some people’s chronic health issues.

For a clip, you may click below.

Check out my Grocery List of Staples. I’ve tried to make it as easy as possible to implement healthy changes. Specific recipes and meal ideas will come later as I learn more!

Influenced by what we’re learning about the raw diet, we’ve been really enjoying the changes we’ve made so far. I feel great energy, enjoy the meals / snacks, get to eat whenever I want, and feel more hydrated and satiated than ever!

Even the Obamas are carving out time to get down to healthy basics…

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