After weeks of wracking my brains out, reading, researching, trying to make head or tails out of what’s going on with so many people being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, I am convinced of several things. I will refrain from saying anything more about the test and Big Pharma, because I think I have already expressed my feeling on that. (Ya think??) I will say that I revisited The China Study, specifically the chapter on this disease, and am reminded of one of the many reasons I chose a plant-based diet. In study after study, from continent to continent, culture to culture, those who develop diabetes are those who consume the most animal protein. While I will not bore you with all the details of the many studies, “all the findings support the idea that both across and within populations, high-fiber, whole, plant-based foods protect against diabetes, and high-fat, high-protein, animal-based foods promote diabetes.“ Western medicine is prescribing a diet that neglects these findings, (for several different reasons) and we are being made to feel that we are doing all we can and still “failing” at our efforts.
While radically changing our diets is incredibly impractical and often rather undesirable, how practical or desirable is it to have a lifelong condition such as diabetes? The big bonus is the same “diet” that can prevent diabetes can prevent so many other dread diseases. I am a firm believer that The China Study should be required reading for EVERYONE. No, we don’t always want to know, as ignorance can be bliss…but illness definitely is NOT and knowledge is power.
And never, ever underestimate the power of exercise. What a beautiful thing to lunch yesterday with almost 100 of our students. The SilverSneakers program has done so much to improve the quality of life of senior citizens…and me!
I have a confession to make to those of you that seem to think I am always on my game, always peaceful and always happy. I get angry…really angry…but only about very few things. I get angry and frustrated when we are deceived, when we are told half-stories and most of all when greed wins over integrity. This morning I am frustrated by the fact that we watch the BL contestants eat Subway every week, but a source very close to one of the past contestants was told that Jillian used to make them spit out their Subway after the product placement commercials. Sure, a lean turkey breast on a whole wheat sub with veggies COULD work on a weight loss diet, but for people working so hard to shed the pounds, they are probably NOT getting there by eating much Subway or any other fast food, unless they are Jared and who knows what he really ate to lose weight? And what’s up with Paula Dean? You team up with BIG PHARMA, write a book, appear on talk show and expect that America is going to buy into you, when for 3 years you kept your diabetes a secret from the viewers and kept cooking that crazy ass, fat drenched food? Greed and deception on the part of Ms. Dean and the pharmaceutical company she has made public she has teamed up with. The whole key to this diabetes thing is lifestyle changes BEFORE it becomes a disease (right, Shelli?). And how dare the meat industry, who is reporting less beef sales, assume and tell us that is because beef is too expensive for people to buy. How about the fact that in 2012 we know that red meat should only be consumed in small amounts (if at all) in order to prevent ALL the diseases that we fight so hard not to get. Shame on you beef industry. And shame on the dairy industry for telling us only half-stories about milk. Sure, it has its benefits…it contains a good amount of protein and calcium, but study after study finds that we when obtain our calcium from dairy products, it is not readily absorbed, but also causes our bones to leak calcium…probably at a higher rate than what we will absorb. It makes sense, too, as we are a society who raises our babies on cow’s milk and yet we apparently have a big problem with osteoporosis, so there is a clear disconnect! And while cheese can be a source of calcium, same thing…and there is ONE ingredient in cheese that I truly believe, if we knew it were there, we wouldn’t eat. Casein is this product and I don’t know about you but anything that is used in paint, glue, plastics and fiber is not one I want to ingest. It is such a big deal item in the world of body building because it binds our muscles, just as it binds glue. No wonder cheese makes us constipated. And what about the increased cancer risks from dairy and meat?!?! You have a right to know this information and make your own choices. Google it! We can get all the calcium we need, without the casein! If you want to give up one animal item, make it cheese! When we get our calcium from leafy green vegetables, while the content is not as high, it is fully absorbed and causes no leakage from the bones. Hmmmm. And speaking of bone density, yesterday’s news reported woman are probably getting tested too much. Personally, I have resisted a bone density test because (and I know a lot of people will think I am neglectful but my gynocologist agrees with me) firstly, I am confident that I do everything possible to keep mine strong, having brought female strength training to the gym back in the days when men were looking at us like we had 2 heads, or too much testosterone, or something…Additionally, there is no way I would take a pill if a machine suggested my density isn’t up to “par.” What is “par” anyway? “Par,” for most tests that determine a “disease” that can be “fought” with medications seems to change to benefit, once again, Big Pharma. Which brings me to one of my latest frustrations which is this enormous increase in people that are being labeled pre-diabetic. I am doing a lot of research and truly cannot find out why the C1A test has taken over where the glucose tolerance test ended. In my findings we have once again changed numbers and I can’t help but think this is another deception to help get more people on meds. What I have found is that the C1A numbers for ALL mammals is the same, except they have lowered it for humans. Another one of those things that make me go hmmmmmm. And with last week’s news reporting that woman that are on certain statins have twice the odds of getting type 2 diabetes, I would much rather just worry about getting a disease from life, than getting a disease from a medication that is supposed to prevent another disease!?
The number one question people ask a vegan is “What do you eat?” Many are surprised to learn there is a lot more for us to eat than lettuce and tofu. The past few VFT nights have been birthday celebrations, all 3 of us obviously Capricorns and all 3 of us vegans, as well. For my birthday, we went out for sushi. Lots of great choices for vegans there, from gorgeous veggie roll boats, to my favorite sushi indulgence, vegetable udon (noodles). The ginger salad that everyone (vegans and non) loves (we swear it has crack or something in the dressing) and the 
