Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Chocolate is a whole-food, right?

Last night hubby and I decided to take a night off from shop-talk after putting the kids to bed and actually watch some TV. Except, we don't really have TV since I scaled down the cable to virtually nothing, so we thank goodness for Netflix! I like to watch romantic comedies, he likes to watch shark programs. We both agree on Monty Python and the occasional food and/or wine documentary. We agreed on Forks Over Knives, a documentary on the whole-food movement and the research behind it.

As a self-proclaimed carnivore, this movie has me reeling. The studies done by the two featured doctors, separately, world-wide and over the course of decades clearly shows that people with diets high in animal products and processed foods have a much higher occurrence of cancer and heart-disease. They also show that the rates drastically reduce when those same people switch to a whole food, plant based diet. That is, fruits and vegetables as nature intended and whole grains like rice.

Is an animal based diet killing us?
 Like any good farm girl, I have always believed in an animal-based, protein dense diet for myself and my family. We try to be healthy and stick to unprocessed food as much as possible, while still enjoying a sweet treat now and again. I make my pancakes from scratch, my pasta often too. We eat plenty of fruits, we need more veggies, especially the kids. But lots of meat and dairy. Lots as in 5 times a week for meat and 7 for dairy, including cheese and yogurt.

Suddenly, I feel an urgent need to reassess and potentially overhaul our diet. Will my husband and children go along? Do I have time for such a thing? Of course they will. My kids are smart cookies (no pun intended) who care about what they put into their bodies. Of course, I have the time to put the health of my family first. I doubt we'll ever become vegan, but we can certainly slim down on animal and increase the vegetable.


Have you seen this movie? What are your thoughts on the science behind it? What do you feed your family? What's the healthiest thing your kids love to eat?

6 comments:

  1. I haven't seen the movie simply because I'm afraid I'll never eat anything I like again if I do! ::snort::

    The last couple of years I have on again off again tried clean eating and such. I'm just not terribly good at sticking with it. I recently started working out again and lost 13 pounds so far. Maybe I need to change my eating habits again...maybe I should watch the movie and that will motivate me!

    Thanks for stopping by and participating in my recent review/giveaway!

    http://www.brewingdaily.blogspot.com

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  2. Thanks Katie! I love your blog. I couldn't find your GFC link or I'd be a follower! Now that I'm on my home computer I'll go back and subscribe to your feed. Thanks for visiting!

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  3. Thanks for your comments. I hope to find my stride again soon.

    I've not seen this movie yet, but maybe I'll give it a go.

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  4. Great review. It is a great movie, really makes you think. I recently watched Got the facts on milk. The move itself is kinda bad but the information and message is great. Milk and dairy is not so good for you! Good for you for taking your health in your own hands. :)

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  5. Your making me feel guilty I just ate Paula Dean Monster cookies today LOL
    But I do try to eat healthy as much as possible my favorite healthy food is a spinach salad. I hate cooked spinach but in a salad I think it's pretty good :)

    -Cograts I've just feautured you -http://www.mompreneurmogul.com/2011/12/domestic-goddess-mommy-our-new-ff.html

    Thank you for being a part of the Mompreneur Mogul community and if you'd like to share your feature just click the cross looking thing at the bottom of the post it should open all your social media- I appreciate you!

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  6. I have been watching a lot of food docs lately, like Food Inc., etc. The information really is scary. We try to eat as healthy as possible, too, though we do still enjoy cookies, etc. The hardest part of going vegan/vegetarian for me would be convincing my husband. I think we've been a little desensitized considering we both grew up in the Midwest. It's a tough call, but watching docs like this really get the wheels turning. I found you on Good Girl Gone Green. Great blog! Thanks!

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Go on, tell me what you think!