I wanted to pass along some facts from the Farms 2 Forks event I recently attended. I thought these tidbits were eye-opening and if you follow me on Twitter (@happyherbivore) you might have caught these live!
-Erectile dysfunction is the first sign of heart disease.
-In 20 years, we went from not having 1 state with 20% obesity to not having 1 state that's not 20% obese.
-One third of children born today will have diabetes and obesity if we don't make a change.
-Crisco consumption is up 77%.
-Don't think about food as a component because all foods have carbs, protein, and fat.
-Minimum exercise recommendation is 150 minutes a week: 30 min x 5 days (or 50 mins x 3 days).
-"Moderation is a myth. "Moderation" will kill you" - Dr. Esselstyn
-"The body knows how to heal with micronutrients in plant foods. It doesn't know how to deal with pills" -Dr. Esselstyn
-"There is a cure for heart disease. It's called plants. Heart disease is completely avoidable." - Dr. Esselstyn
-"Oil, fish, fowl, meat, dairy, & caffeinated coffee all damage the endothelial cells as soon as you eat it." - Dr. Esselstyn
-There are 101 different kinds of legumes. Who says plant-based is limited?
-Health care is self care.
-Genes load the gun but diet pulls the trigger.
-Animal proteins (i.e. those in meat and dairy) feed cancer.
-"Don't read the package, read the nutrition label." - Jeff Novick
-"Plants are the original source of fats. You don't even need concentrated sources like nuts. All plants, even lettuce, has fat." - Jeff Novick
-Label reading: only 20% of calories should come from fat.
-Sodium content should be less or equal to calories, no more. So if it's 100 calories no more than 100mg sodium.
-Never believe anything on the front of a package EVER.
-If a form of sugar is in the first 3 ingredients, skip it.
-Carbs aren't the problem, overly processed food with no nutrients are the problem. Eat lots of carbs but only whole grains.
-Pay attention to serving size and how many servings are in the whole package. Start with 1 serving.
-Supplements are worthless, eat real food. (This was a common comment among speakers at the farm. Basically they're saying get the nutrients you need from eating the plants themselves, not capsules.