"Forks Over Knives" Update

I’ve had mixed feeling since I’ve finished reading and watching, “Forks Over Knives.” The book gave me motivation to turn to a strict plant based diet, the documentary definitely helped too. The personal stories are what really interested me, it’s inspiring to hear about sick people who got healthy and reversed their diseases by following the “Forks Over Knives” diet plan. For those of you who didn’t know, forks over knives refers to diet being fork and medicine as knife, food over medicine which I’m totally into! However (dun dun dun)... after I did some research and came across many health blogs and science forums on vegetarianism/raw food diets I became very skeptical of the information supplied by “Forks Over Knives.” I have always read up on how wonderful a vegetarian diet can be for ones health, from a healthy way to lose weight, prevent diabetes/cancer/impotence, can increase energy levels, and even reverse degenerative diseases (case in point), but scientific research I found says otherwise. I should take into account that either “Forks Over Knives” could or could not be completely biased, may or may not have their own agenda but so could the findings that do not support vegetarian/vegan lifestyles. It’s been hard to separate fact from fiction. I’ve become even more concerned in the last couple weeks because of a health scare I had. My physician asked me if I was a vegetarian and when I said yes, he advised me to stop! I’ve been very good about substitutions and trying to get the right nutrition but for my own personal well-being this might not be the best choice (or so my doctor believes). I will take his advice into consideration but this doesn’t mean I’m going to stop without further investigation.

To start simply, the book offers some recipes and ways to transition to the plant based diet. I personally was not impressed with the recipes given mainly because I have made most of them before or variations of them on my own. For the most part many were Southwestern/Tex-Mex/Mexican style recipes. 

For example:

-Super bean burrito- onion, bell peppers, carrots, kale, refried beans, black beans, corn, cilantro, lime, quinoa, whole wheat soft tortilla shells.

-Fresh tostada salad- romaine, roasted corn, black beans, cumin, chili powder, plum tomatoes, cilantro, cabbage, avocados, feta or if desired.

Mexicali burritos- shredded lettuce, tomato, salsa, avocado, whole wheat soft tortilla shells. 

-Mexican style bean and rice casserole, orange black bean taquitos, southwestern twice baked potatoes, vegetable white bean hash.

 Sometimes it can be hard for someone who is transitioning to vegetarianism because it can seem like there isn’t a lot of variation, and always a lot of beans (for protein of course). It is so important to get a variety of foods in your diet on a daily basis, vegetarian or not, you need to get sufficient quantities of nutrients, such as; calcium, iodine, iron, omega-3 fatty acids, protein, vitamin B-12, vitamin D, and zinc. 

A health blog I came across called, “Raw Food SOS: Troubleshooting on the Raw Food Diet,” provided a lot of insightful and scientific information that argued against “Forks Over Knives.” From a very long post I highlighted some points this blogger made, mostly criticizing the "scientific" findings: 

"After outlining cholesterol’s important biological functions, the movie states:

‘—But when we consume dietary cholesterol, which is only found in animal foods like meat, eggs, and dairy products, it tends to stay in the bloodstream. This so-called plaque is what collects on the inside of our blood vessels and is the major cause of coronary artery disease.’   ...For starters, cholesterol from animal foods does not have some magical ability to set up permanent camp in your bloodstream and turn into plaque, just by sheer virtue of its animal-foodness. This was a common line of thought decades ago, but as research progressed, we figured out that the body is actually pretty awesome at regulating cholesterol production in response to what we ingest from food. As this paper from 2009 explains, the supposed link between dietary and serum cholesterol stems from studies that had fundamental design flaws, failed to separate the effects of cholesterol different types of fat intake, or were performed on animals that are obligate herbivores (hey there, rabbits!). The doctors in “Forks Over Knives,” it seems, are among the few stragglers who still believe dietary cholesterol is harmful."

"Most people (about 70% of the population) are “hypo-responders” when it comes to cholesterol intake—meaning the cholesterol they eat from food has a negligible effect on the total cholesterol in their blood. A smaller slice of the population (“hyper-responders”) see a greater rise in blood cholesterol after eating high-cholesterol foods, but the change is because both LDL and HDL increase proportionally, preserving the cholesterol ratio and leaving heart disease risk the same as what it was before. (As more evidence, a similar study (PDF) found no change in LDL/HDL ratio in either they hypo-responders or hyper-responders, even when feeding folks an extra 640 mg of cholesterol per day.)."

"...but here is the most interesting, diets high in animal protein (ketogenic diets) but LOW in carbohydrates also greatly reduce or eliminate the need for diabetes meds, cholesterol and High blood pressure, etc but yet those two diets are diametrically opposed and the numbers for successful treatment ranges into the thousands–how can that be? If both are right then something that is not being examined is the key."

This blog provided so much information against "Forks Over Knives" that it was overwhelming. After reading the book and then reading various blogs supporting or attacking the book I am even more confused, hah! As of right now I'm still on the search, trying to find the healthiest and best lifestyle choices via food for myself. I'm not trying to tell anyone who might be reading this what they should do or what I think is best for them, but provide any information I find important and relevant that can be used to make your own decisions as well.