Interest in plant-based eating is surging in the US. As more people lean towards meat-free lifestyles that promote both human and planetary health, two new studies link vegetarian and mostly-vegetarian diets to some unexpected outcomes.
“The typical standard American diet couldn’t be better designed to kill people: it’s about 10% whole plant foods which means potatoes for many people, 30% animal products, and 60% processed foods.” Oh, and soft drinks. Lots of soft drinks.
Speaking at the first annual Plant-Based World Expo, Dr. Joel Fuhrman described the complex web between addiction to empty calories, drug and alcohol abuse, and long-term chronic disease.
EAT-Lancet Commission’s Food in the Anthropocene, a report compiled by a committee of 37 independent scientists headed by Harvard’s Walter Willet, lays out a blueprint for an optimal plant-based, largely meat-free diet, and for food production systems that would ensure sustainable fulfillment of this diet on the widest possible scale.
“We know the answer, and it is not that complicated. To be healthy, eat high volumes of vegetables. The answer to disease is vegetables. But people don’t want to hear, ‘Eat vegetables.’ They want pills to overcome the diseases caused by our dysregulated appetites,” said Joel Fuhrman, MD, at the first annual Plant-Based World Expo in New York City earlier this summer.
At a time when meat has never been cheaper, the food industry has discovered “plant-based” living. US sales of plant-based meat and dairy alternatives topped $4.5 billion this year. But today’s vegan offerings are very different from the kale salads and tofu sausages of yesteryear.
Ask anyone—patient or practitioner—to describe hospital food, and you’ll invariably get words like awful, horrible, or disgusting. That’s because for decades, hospital systems have viewed food as a line item, not as an intrinsic aspect of healing. But all across the country, that’s starting to change as hospital administrators realize the positive impact that good food can have, and the public clamors for healthier meal service options.
Worldwide, there are 2,000-plus species of cultivated and wild edible mushrooms. All provide solid nutrition—even the seemingly vacuous white button variety. Some produce medicinal compounds. Whether in the kitchen or the clinic, mushrooms are the subject of rising popular interest these days.
Big Food companies have spent billions of dollars manipulating nutrition science and food policy for their own gain, especially to the detriment of poor, less educated consumers. And it’s affecting the nation’s health.
On March 6, New York Times subscribers came upon a full-page open letter—in print and online– from the popular snack food company Clif Bar, challenging competing brand, KIND, to live up to its name and go completely organic. Was this an earnest plea for corporate responsibility or a shrewd marketing ploy? Either way, the ensuing “bar fight” underscores both the massive size of the “healthy” snack market, and the rapid growth of consumer demand for healthy and eco-friendly foods.
A small independent company based in Ohio launched a feeding tube formula called Liquid Hope, comprised entirely of organic whole foods like chickpeas, sprouted quinoa, almond butter, turmeric, kale, sweet potato, and other high-energy, anti-inflammatory ingredients. Unlike most conventional enteral nutrition formulas, Liquid Hope is free from sugar, corn syrup, omega-6 laden oils, and dairy ingredients. It is making a profound difference in the lives of many patients.
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