Webcasts to Send Your Parents (or at Least Mine)
Dr. Neal Barnard of PCRM tells stories of how now his family, from Fargo, I believe, where they grew up eating meat and corn or meat and peas for every dinner, are now vegans. Obviously he’s doing something right in his conversion of omnivores.
Well, now you can bring him into your living room to talk about food and health via webcasts on the PCRM site. Now, I’m warning you that "fantastic production value" aren’t words that will fly from your lips when you press play. However, I watched the segment on Type 1 Diabetes (that’s what Violet has) as well as All About the Glycemic Index (which everyone should know about) and What Have You Got to Lose (about diet and weight loss). Though all of the shows already archived relate to diabetes in one way or another, they all have valuable information about nutrition and health, and they all emphasize that a vegan diet is a given–upfront.
I’ve been profoundly unsuccessful in my attempts to educate several family members who are obese and, well, unhealthy. One is technically considered morbidly obese and has a doctor who keeps telling him that he’s perfectly healthy because he doesn’t currently have detectable cancer, he hasn’t had a stroke or heart attack, and he isn’t diabetic. It’s as if the absence of a detectable illness equals health.
Some of my family members, if asked, would say they care about animals and don’t want to hurt them. But that in no way is going to interfere with their next kielbasa.
And the planet? Well, it’ll be around long after everyone in my family dies, and we’re not all entirely convinced that this stuff about global warming isn’t just fear-mongering in an attempt to control the masses.
So all I’ve got, really, is the fact that there’s just no way–no way–that these relatives feel great, sleep well, move well, and are pleased with their weight. In fact, each time I speak with one, the conversation inevitably turns to how they want to lose X pounds by some random date. I of course ask if they want help with that, and they say their doctor says they just have to cut back on the alcohol and the "sweets" and walk around the block once a day, or something equally aggressive and promising.
I’ve got my work cut out for me.
But maybe Dr. Barnard will be the one to make a difference. After all, there’s no book to buy, there’s nothing to read, and you can eat a bowl of popcorn while you sit and watch and listen. It’s a low-output endeavor.
What shocks me is that I have family members in their 70s who are obese and don’t have much evidence that they should be altering the way they eat (and drink), simply, as they say, because they’re "still alive." It’s funny, and it’s meant to be when they say it, but obviously there’s nothing comical about it, and frankly I’d love to spend a couple of minutes with their doctors, whom I think are acting irresponsibly.
Several family members do speak with me about weight loss, and then say they don’t want to talk about the way I eat, as that’s what I’ve chosen and it’s good for me, but they don’t have the same beliefs as I do. But the webcasts aren’t about my beliefs, they’re about nutrition and health. And of course there’s the promise of weight loss, which unfortunately is the only reason they’ll be watched (if they are at all).
Whatever it takes, I guess . . .
Mary – I try to live by the CHIP (Coronary Health Improvement Project) diet. CHIP is a non-profit organization. The optimum CHIP diet is 100% vegan and the course includes learning about the cruelty involved in the animal based food industry. CHIP at the very least advises people to severely restrict their consumption of meat (animal flesh), eggs and dairy products. The feeling of improved health and well-being starts within a week of adopting the diet and lifestyle. The weight loss also starts quickly, markedly noticeable at the 30 and 60-day marks. The CHIP program has nothing to sell you other than a few very inexpensive guides.
As far as I know, the course is taught either by 16 evening programs or concentrated weekend seminars.
http://chipusa.org/
http://adventistchip.com/
Thanks, Terry. I'll look into it. I'm glad it works for you!
Well, I can tell you that veganism does not equal weight loss. I did experience a slight dip (i.e. temporary loss of a few pounds) when I finally went from lacto-vegetarian to vegan, but years later I am still as fat as ever. If veganism were a magical diet that actually made obese people thin, a heck of a lot more people would be vegan by now. So if your only evidence that your relatives are unhealthy is that they are fat, I am not convinced. They may have other problems you didn't go into, but I can't tell from your post.
Point taken, meerkat. I happen to know what my family members eat and drink, and I didn't make that clear. They don't eat fresh fruits and veggies, they eat a lot of baked goods and fried food (I think that's where the veggies come in-with batter), processed food (including "meats") and they drink too much alcohol (I'm not talking about a daily glass of red wine with dinner, here). And they're sedentary. And, perhaps most important, they WANT to lose weight.
I don't believe that being vegan=weight loss, but I do recommend a well-planned vegan diet with lots of raw stuff and keeping it all relatively low fat. I gained 4 pounds a while back just by eating too much avocado and coconut. Really. And the raw food people kept telling me I must have been doing something else, because that's impossible. So I stop eating avocado and coconut for a couple of weeks and lose the 4 pounds. Another time this year, I gained a couple of pounds because I was drinking too much wine (that daily glass of wine I was referred to earlier, and not even red). Stopped drinking, lost the weight. But that's me, and I get that.
My point for this post wasn't really to recommend veganism so much the webcasts (such as they are), starring Dr. Neal, Susan Levin (RD) and Jill (Health Counselor, I think? And not sure what that is, by the way). I want my family to get the info from people who are experts in health and nutrition. Sorry if I didn't make that clear.
I do know (from personal experience) that it's harder to lose weight as you get older. However, I can't imagine, knowing what they eat, that if they followed the advice of the webcasts (big IF, I know), they wouldn't at least feel better and drop some weight (perhaps after some initial, almost cleanse-like misery from eliminating certain foods). But I could be wrong . . . Stranger things have happened.
I have an acquaintance who has desperately been trying to lose weight for years (on the Atkins-For-Life diet)….. Not only have they gained weight but now have a series of added health issues: asthma, allergies, high cholesterol and chronic constipation…..
To different degrees everyone in my social circle is "struggling" to lose weight. On the flip side, I happily went from a "plump" vegetarian to a "thin" vegan in 8 months. Now, I realize everyone's body type is different – But comparing myself with a dozen people on a Standard American Diet, and my pre-vegan high fat-dairy eating habits -I'm inclined to say that if one continues to consume animal products they will continue to "fight" their weight.
Oh and by the way, my Atkins-diet friend? His physicians are at a loss – anti-biotics have ceased their effectiveness.
Thanks for clarifying. I don't want to sound argumentative, but I want to take this opportunity to mention some common misconceptions that relate to this discussion. Eating better is all good, but it won't cure fat genes. Dropping weight that you have gained recently through a change in diet is different from an obese person becoming a permanently thin person. Studies show that it is extremely difficult to make a thin person into a fat person and they will revert easily, and the opposite is true as well. I don't eat that much fat either, as a vegan, but low-fat can be taken to extremes and become unhealthy.
If your relatives are eating badly and they adopt a better diet, I wouldn't be surprised if they lost maybe 15 pounds and kept it off, but this won't mean they stop wanting to lose weight, because society tells us that fat people are disgusting and don't deserve pleasure in life, and if 15 pounds is enough for you to stop hating your body, you are already not fat.
I hear you, meerkat.
These are people who from family photos and memory were all thin until their mid 30s-early 40s. I'm in my 40s now so the next handful of years should be very interesting as a test of the genetic theory! Maybe we all just have a genetic predisposition to gain a bunch of weight at this age. Still, their eating habits have much to be desired, and I guess that because I feel so great I want everyone else to feel great, too.
About Fat Genes and Veganism
I am not a super-skinny vegan, but that is because I do eat avocado, and cookies and margarine and saute in olive oil and all that good tasting vegan stuff.
There are a small number of people who have a genetic code where it is nearly impossible for them to lose body fat. These people also tend to accumulate fat on the outside of the body right under the skin. They can be healthier at higher weights for this reason.
There are a small number of people who have lean genetics and don't put on much body fat no matter what. When these people do gain fat, it tends to be under the muscle wall, inside the body where it does maximum damage. So these people will have high cholesterol and clogged arteries at lower weights than others.
The vast majority of us fall in the middle. Periodic famines shaped our ancestors to store fat for future use. We gain fat both inside and outside the muscle wall. Our bodies are good at hanging onto fat, but we can lose it. But we also evolved to be nomads, farmers, gathering foragers. So we evolved to spend nearly every waking hour engaged in physical activity and still hang onto fat. No wonder we gain with our very good diets and sedentary life styles.
Ideally, I would eat a beautiful green salad every single day and ideally I would be a dog walker for a living, running and hiking all day long. Then I'd be a skinny vegan. Time and money are in short supply, so I took a better paying job where I sit at a computer. I eat convenience foods (microwave vegan burritos) instead of huge salads. I pick up vegan cookies. I bake for my friends, like vegan birthday cake.
Those are the reasons I weigh more than I should.
Even so, without losing weight, veganism is healthier because it doesn't clog up your arteries or put extra strain on your kidneys.
I am not for people starving themselves to be thin, and deprivation can trigger the body to store even more fat. But the fat gene is too oversimplified to explain our current trends in weight and health.