Dr. Dean Ornish is a champion of preventative medicine, and a huge proponent of plant-based lifestyle change. His books are fascinating, and he does a pretty cool TED talk below (and looks stoned in his screen shot face).
Last week, the New York Times published his op-ed column reflecting on new recommendations that cholesterol no longer be a restricted nutrient. This constant back-and-forth over the merits of protein and animal products in our daily lives used to frustrate me–it felt like there was nothing firm in the world of nutrition. Dr. Ornish takes this “new” conclusions on animal protein, carbohydrates, sugars, and fats and puts into the larger context of Plant Life.
I love distilling ideas into memorable sayings, and his thoughts basically boil down into two (click here to read for yolkself)
1) Don’t miss the forest for the trees: New evidence suggest that cholesterol may not be as directly linked to disease as previously thought, but it doesn’t change the fact that the foods that have lots of cholesterol still create lots of disease. This probably occurs because they come with other molecules in addition to cholesterol that start our bodies down poor pathways.
2) Don’t step over a dollar to pick up a dime: Cha-ching! My dad taught me that one a while back. In this case, people exploring a healthy diet of plants often get so focused on losing the “joys” of eating disease-causing foods that they fail to appreciate the over-whelming joys and health of living a plant-based lifestyle. To keep a dime’s worth of pleasure or comfort, we give up a dollar’s worth of health benefits and the ability to get more out of living. Put in other terms, is that steak worth more than another day of good health spent with friends, children, partners, or spouses?
However you live your Plant Life, I highly recommend keeping these thoughts in mind as you come across cutting edge news about healthy lifestyle and healthy eating!