I know this was mentioned before here in the Vegans/Vegetarians forums and I wanted to maybe start this thread for all things pertaining to the book that Dr. Garth Davis authored, Proteinaholic. So far I'm on chapter 6 of it and I'm just amazed with how sound it is and all the studies that are out there to support why we don't need such a high amount of protein, and why it's a culprit of obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc.... There's just so much to talk about if anyone wants to get into discussion. Now, this thread IS NOT going to be for debate. I do not want anyone coming on here advocating high protein and what they "know" and debating with any of us who are or evolving into plant based, vegans or vegetarians. I want to share the things I've learned from the book and if anyone wants to challenge those, READ THE BOOK FIRST, and then you can come and talk about it. If you don't or haven't read the book, feel free to read the things that will be posted...and do your own homework to find these facts/truths out for yourself. I literally don't have time to do a protein ping pong match...so don't start one. You will be ignored.

Okay, with that said and out of the way, the first thing I want to mention is that Dr. Davis actually dispels the myths about protein and why our bodies don't need so much. It is not an opinionated book, it's a science/fact book. It makes TOTAL sense. He is quite comical too. The parts where he plays out his doctor/patient dialogues hit me the most...because I can relate to how I was educated about protein being what we all need. I had the same mentalities as he did regarding it, but after I started watching documentaries on plant based diets for the past couple of years, I've slowly become open to all the health benefits of eating plant based. But now, even though I knew plant based is great for the health, I didn't know that the protein component was/is what was causing so many problems in my health, my husband's, etc. Now, I've got science and truth to understand the premise of protein. The history of why, what Dr Davis talks about, we western society pick apart whole foods and live based off of macronutrients. Now, it just boggles me why we do that. The other thing that rings true and is nice knowing, is that he is a bariatric surgeon too. He knows what he's coaching/telling his patients. He knows that he was not a nutritionist, didn't know a single thing, but the one hour of nutrition studies in his school days, but he took the time to dive into history, studies, reports, etc to bring light to why western society is so unhealthy, and most of it is based on animal protein.

Wow.

Read the book!

11 hours ago, fruitandveggies said:

And PS, the Field Roast brand of hot dogs are the best!!

I had to get up and see what I bought....LightLife SmartDogs... I'll see if I can find the Field Roast brand at the Natural Grocers as well. I think I'll need to try different brands and hopefully get my kids hooked on one of them. They love hotdogs.

22 minutes ago, Newme17 said:

I had to get up and see what I bought....LightLife SmartDogs... I'll see if I can find the Field Roast brand at the Natural Grocers as well. I think I'll need to try different brands and hopefully get my kids hooked on one of them. They love hotdogs.

I need to try them also. Thus far I haven't found a veggie dog that I really like. I have found several veggie burgers that were tasty though.

So I finished listening to "How Not to Die".

It was overall very good. Some of it got repetitive at times because he breaks each illness or disease down by chapter. Many of the foods that work to protect you from one cancer work for another also. The biggest take home message I got is that there are so many good reasons to eat whole plants, grains, nuts and seeds, and no good reasons to eat animal products.

The author talks about sometimes eating less than perfect and believes if you are eating 80-90% WFPB that you are doing great. He has a Daily Dozen app for your phone if you want to track your consumption of the 12 foods he recommends. Well for us WLS patients there is no way we could consume all of the portions he thinks would be good on a daily basis. However, I am using it to see my weekly trends to make sure I am hitting something in all of his categories at least once or twice a week.

8 hours ago, Apple1 said:

The biggest take home message I got is that there are so many good reasons to eat whole plants, grains, nuts and seeds, and no good reasons to eat animal products.

I do believe it! Just seeing the health transformations of people on the documentaries switching to a WFPB is motivating to follow. There is so much evidence proving plants heal. It's amazing. I think I'll order the book this weekend.

10 hours ago, Newme17 said:

I had to get up and see what I bought....LightLife SmartDogs... I'll see if I can find the Field Roast brand at the Natural Grocers as well. I think I'll need to try different brands and hopefully get my kids hooked on one of them. They love hotdogs.

10 hours ago, Apple1 said:

I need to try them also. Thus far I haven't found a veggie dog that I really like. I have found several veggie burgers that were tasty though.

I don't really like any other brand than Field Roast. They all have that weird, old school fake meat flavor. Field Roast also makes amazing sausages and deli slices which I buy weekly. Also really amazing cheese slices! Really, all their stuff is the best!

10 hours ago, Apple1 said:

So I finished listening to "How Not to Die".

It was overall very good. Some of it got repetitive at times because he breaks each illness or disease down by chapter. Many of the foods that work to protect you from one cancer work for another also. The biggest take home message I got is that there are so many good reasons to eat whole plants, grains, nuts and seeds, and no good reasons to eat animal products.

The author talks about sometimes eating less than perfect and believes if you are eating 80-90% WFPB that you are doing great. He has a Daily Dozen app for your phone if you want to track your consumption of the 12 foods he recommends. Well for us WLS patients there is no way we could consume all of the portions he thinks would be good on a daily basis. However, I am using it to see my weekly trends to make sure I am hitting something in all of his categories at least once or twice a week.

Yep, he just said on his live Q&A yesterday that "a heart healthy diet is a liver healthy diet is a gut healthy diet, etc" (paraphrasing, haha). I appreciate that he did go into each illness though since he covers all the science shown for each ailment as opposed to lumping it all together. I think that often people lumping science together is where we get some of the major misinformation we have out there, nutrition is very nuanced and detail is important.

I love the daily dozen app too! I definitely don't make the list every day, but it helps guide my choices.

Makes me feel good to know my insides are all good and getting healthier too. When I was younger it would have been for vanity...so glad I grew up.

I don't count but it's refreshing to see that the app is just a checklist and super easy and simple too. I think I'll try it out!

Edited September 2, 20178 yr by Newme17

10 hours ago, Newme17 said:

Makes me feel good to know my insides are all good and getting healthier too. When I was younger it would have been for vanity...so glad I grew up.

I don't count but it's refreshing to see that the app is just a checklist and super easy and simple too. I think I'll try it out!

Yes, lol ? I thought of you when I first saw the app. I said this is something even @Newme17 might like. just check the boxes, no calories or exact weighted portions to track? I like it. I think this will be my go to app to help remind me to eat something from each group.

Check out this recipe:

http://www.picklesnhoney.com/2015/01/19/chickpea-scramble-red-cabbage-brown-rice-bowls/

it look so yummy

2 minutes ago, Apple1 said:

Check out this recipe:

http://www.picklesnhoney.com/2015/01/19/chickpea-scramble-red-cabbage-brown-rice-bowls/

it look so yummy

I have all these ingredients!!! YAY!!!! Saving the recipe. Thanks for the share!

On 25.8.2017 at 3:11 PM, Apple1 said:

I don't understand why more people are not eating a whole foods plant based diet.

People don't want to give up dairy and meat.

39 minutes ago, summerset said:

People don't want to give up dairy and meat.

Absolutely! And I'll give my hypothesis as to WHY they don't want to give them up.

Mostly it stems from "how they were raised". I have the fortune to live with several other adults in my home, and learn about their eating habits as children and now. And however each of them ate as children has always been their "default". Sure, they can go on a "diet" and change their eating habits temporarily. But as soon as they stop paying attention, their diet invariably reverts back.

The vast majority of us relied on animal products throughout our lives.. so to make the change is as difficult as changing religions (and Vegans tend to take on a religious-type zealousness in their enthusiasm).

Devout Vegans will do things like purge the green beans they just ate when they find out there was butter on them. Stuff like that isn't appealing to the broader American public.

Much like baseball and apple pie, milk and meat are part of our national identity (Ok, for US citizens, anyway). All those football players wearing their milk mustaches, etc.

Personally, I really like the idea of moving in the whole, plant based diet direction.

Here is my ideal plan:

Like I mentioned before, the Okinawans ate an average of 4 servings a week of animal products. If we eat 4 times a day... 3 meals and a snack.. (not sure how often the Okinawans ate)... then that equals 1 out of 7 meals having animal products (15%). 85% whole food, plant based diet seems to be a really good, moderate approach.

Animal products DO offer nutrients not readily available in plant-foods (at least in the concentrated amounts that bariatric folk need).

And, the concept of WHOLE food kinda screams that protein shakes (even plant-based ones) aren't technically part of that diet either. Ripping the 8g of protein out of 120g of plant foods can't be a process for the faint of heart. (I don't know how they do this, I just figure it's probably pretty ugly).

Anyway.. all of it is fascinating food-for-thought...

2 hours ago, Berry78 said:

The vast majority of us relied on animal products throughout our lives.. so to make the change is as difficult as changing religions (and Vegans tend to take on a religious-type zealousness in their enthusiasm).

Devout Vegans will do things like purge the green Beans they just ate when they find out there was butter on them. Stuff like that isn't appealing to the broader American public.

This is why I like the WFPB diet because it isn't veganism at all. Not that I don't care about how animals are treated, but that isn't the main reason I am doing this. My focus is health and what my diet can do to improve it along with daily exercise.

I tend to to agree with the 80-90% approach and that is why I am not worried about the small amount of dairy that I am still eating. I am more focused on including healthy foods into my daily diet and avoiding animal meats except in rare instances. I will probably need to supplement B12, but I will let my blood work dictate that.

I think much of the enthusiasm you see from people that do change their diet is from how good they feel. It is truly amazing and when they get rid of chronic diseases they want to shout from the roof tops about it.

2 hours ago, Berry78 said:

Mostly it stems from "how they were raised"

Absolutely. I was raised in a meat and potato Home. My dad was always a fitness/nutrition addict, it seemed. Mom had to always have a meat, starch, and veggie for our meals. It was ingrained in me about having to have meat and dairy all the time. It was the "healthy" food, as long as it wasn't fried. So many others are still going based off of how they were raised and our ridiculous western media and fibbed (or incomplete data) of research. So many aren't open to change too, people just don't like it...out of their safety and security zones. Well, I thank God Almighty in heaven that I have always been an open kind of gal, I love change (for the better) and if it's for my health, even better!

Edited September 3, 20178 yr by Newme17

49 minutes ago, Newme17 said:

Mom had to always have a meat, starch, and veggie for our meals. It was ingrained in me about having to have meat and dairy all the time. It was the "healthy" food, as long as it wasn't fried

This was my upbringing exactly. My mom like to use cream of mushroom soup to season everything. I think that is why I hate mushrooms now..lol..