Forks Over Knives Review | Race Read Relish

As promised, I?m finally getting around to posting my full review of the Forks Over Knives book and movie!? Please remember that these are just my opinions, I?m not a dietician or nutritionist, I?m not a card carrying vegan, and you?ll probably see me eat a Blizzard some day ?we most definitely had pizza for dinner last night!

I heard about FOK earlier this year, when they had a limited screening in Denver.? C and I of course missed it, since we heard about it after the screening, as is usually the case with us.? I have been stalking the website waiting for the DVD to come out and finally, just a few weeks before the DVD was released, realized there was a book.? I quickly downloaded it to my Nook and finished it in one night.

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I will say that there were some parts of the book I skimmed over, as they were a little more heady in the science department than I prefer ? and the book is at least 1/2 if not more dedicated to vegan recipes.? One thing I really found interesting, was that at no point do the authors or doctors interviewed for the book say that they?re telling people to have a ?vegan? or even ?vegetarian diet.?? Really, they?re just saying to eat a whole-food plant based diet.? We hear about eating whole foods all the time in the blog world, but FOK takes it even a step farther, by saying that things such as olive and vegetable oils don?t necessarily fall into the ?whole food? category, as they?ve been highly processed to reach their oil state.

The movie hits on the key scientific points of the book, but is a little easier to follow ? and you don?t have to read the book to appreciate the movie.? The movie follows the two main doctors, Dr. Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, and looks back on their early careers on different sides of the country -both eventually coming to the same conclusion that meat and dairy are not an essential part of a diet, and even that the exclusion of meat and dairy could lead to better health and longer lives.

The movie draws lots of parallels between the traditional Western diet and the diet of Asian countries ? specifically China, as one of the doctors was involved in The China Study.

I?ll let you watch the movie, or read the book, for all the nitty gritty details, but C and I were intrigued by all the information provided in the movie comparing the risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and even erectile dysfunction (fun fact ? one of the people interviewed for the film is a urologist, who says ED is one of the first signs of a heart/circulation issue in men!!) in people who ate 20% of their calories from animal proteins vs. 5%. ?The results were outstanding. ?There were interviews in the movie of people who started eating the whole food plant based diet when they were told they had months left to live, and 20 years later are healthier and happier than ever.

We went into the movie expecting to learn some new facts, and maybe feel a little bit compelled to make a change. ?After the movie, we looked at each other and knew that a change was in our future. ?There is a history of cancer in my family (prostate, ovarian, uterine, lung, colon and cervical to name just my closest family members) and I had my first cancer ?scare? when I was 22 years old. ?After reading the book and watching the movie, and taking into account all we?ve learned from health class, documentaries like Food Inc, etc, it seems really clear to me that while you can?t 100% prevent cancer/illness, you should do everything you can to prevent it (again, just an opinion ? I know some people think the exact opposite). ?So, C and I have been working on phasing out meat and dairy (just dairy for me since I?ve been on the veg train for about 6 months) in our diet. ?We are not planning to go 100% vegan, and I don?t think that was the point of the film. ?It was really just pointing out if you do something 95% of the time, how much healthier you could be as opposed to doing something 80% of the time.

So, we?re not going vegan. ?But, what are we going to do?

• Cut way back on eating out, this is easy, since we?re trying to cut out a good amount of dairy and once you?ve cut out meat AND dairy, your choices are slim.
• Cut way, way back on cheese . We are a cheese family and would have cheesy eggs for breakfast, cheese on a sandwich or salad for lunch, and then?Parmesan?on our dinners. ?It?s not like we were eating terrible food ? but we were piling on unnecessary amounts of dairy, just because.
• Swap cow?s milk for almond, coconut or soy. ?This week, we?re trying the Original Silk Brand Almond Milk. ?Not too sweet, and tastes great with cereal!
• More veg/fruit. ?This is another easy change, once you cut out meat and dairy ? fruit and veg are what?s left! ?We?ve been both having green smoothies for breakfast and lots of veg in our lunches and dinners.
• Moderation. ?Most importantly, we are going to practice moderation. ?Last night, C burnt dinner, so, we didn?t panic- we ordered a pizza. ?2 slices of cheese pizza once in a while is A-Ok with us.
• Not entirely related, but I?m working on my coffee in take. ?I gave up coffee for a few months last year and have fallen back into ?needing? a few cups a day and making a lot of Starbucks trips. ?I had my first PSL (with soy milk) yesterday, and today I had the ?give me caffeine headache? but had hot tea instead. ?I?m thinking 1-2x/week, instead of every.single.day needing to chug a lug on the caffeine. I?m sure my IBS will thank me as well!

What you won?t see us doing ? saying we ?can?t? eat something because it has meat (ok, I am still choosing not to eat meat 100% of the time) dairy or oil; skipping out on fun things because they?re not whole foods based (hello ? blizzard!); or obsessing over can vs. can?t have. ?We want this to be a lifestyle change on the road to a long and happy/healthy life together, not a ?diet!? ?Speaking of diet ? we need to work on ways for C not to shrivel up, he loses weight like no one?s business and I?m trying to think of calorie rich non meat/dairy items to stuff him full of. ?Any ideas? Clearly, dough balls are on the list!

Have you read/seen FOK? ?How about Food Inc or Supersize Me? ?I?d love to hear your thoughts on these documentaries!

Also, what are your thoughts on the link between food and health and longevity of life? ?(Whoa ? deep question day on RRR!)

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Source: http://racereadrelish.com/2011/09/forks-over-knives-review/

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