I've had wonderful support thus far on my diet. People are writing in with supportive words, food suggestions and humorous jabs at my rather ridiculous experiment. It's also encouraging to see that 75-100 people are reading my blog each day. I'm flattered and surprised. Thanks for your interest. I'll do my best to keep it lively.
There has also been a developing theme to the feedback: a misunderstanding of what this diet is and it's various limitations. For example, my sister texted me last week to suggest a delicious snack for me: "Dark chocolate covered cranberries and raw almonds! Yum!" But I can't have that stuff due to the sugar in the dried cranberries (they frequently have added sugar) and in the chocolate. I also had a good friend call who was playfully concerned: "You goin' vegan on me now?" I paused before responding to consider her question, then disagreed with her that it was a vegan diet. Then after a few minutes of discussion, I changed my mind and agreed that it was, in fact, vegan. But I was wrong. This is not a vegan diet.
So I dedicate this blog to clearing-up the confusion about the Forks Over Knives nutritional program.
There has also been a developing theme to the feedback: a misunderstanding of what this diet is and it's various limitations. For example, my sister texted me last week to suggest a delicious snack for me: "Dark chocolate covered cranberries and raw almonds! Yum!" But I can't have that stuff due to the sugar in the dried cranberries (they frequently have added sugar) and in the chocolate. I also had a good friend call who was playfully concerned: "You goin' vegan on me now?" I paused before responding to consider her question, then disagreed with her that it was a vegan diet. Then after a few minutes of discussion, I changed my mind and agreed that it was, in fact, vegan. But I was wrong. This is not a vegan diet.
So I dedicate this blog to clearing-up the confusion about the Forks Over Knives nutritional program.
The term most often used to describe the Forks Over Knives way of eating is "plant based whole foods." The first time I heard that (in the documentary) I actually thought they meant "Whole Foods"...like I needed to shop there cause all their stuff was approved for their program. My, I've come a long way. What they could say in place of "whole foods" is "minimally processed." The developers of this program believe that food from plants and minimally processed foods give us all we need to live a healthy life. So, what does minimally processed mean? I think this is best defined by giving some examples.
1. WHEAT: the more your process it, the greater its nutrients are stripped and replaced with other processed ingredients. This is why the diet limits you only to items that contain whole wheat flour. But, you have to be careful. If your like me, you may have picked-up a box of pasta that says it's made with whole wheat...which is better for you than enriched white flour...but, there are other ingredients added to that whole wheat pasta which make it considerably processed despite its whole wheat claim. Check this out for yourself the next time you are getting spaghetti. The label will say "Made With Whole Wheat" but the ingredients will list much more than just whole wheat. This is why it took me three grocery stores before I could find pasta that had only one ingredient: 100% durum whole wheat. Thank goodness its texture and taste was really good.
2. OILS: Overall, the diet does not support using oils at all. As stated directly from the Forks Over Knives How-To Companion book, "...most oils do come from plants, but they have been stripped of most of the nutritional properties they once had. And although some nutritionists recommend olive oil, why cook with the most concentrated form of fat on the planet when you can choose from many other liquids?" Thus, when oil is absolutely necessary---and this does NOT include for frying, salad dressings or in any products you may buy that contain oil---somewhere in my reading I saw using safflower oil, grapeseed oil or walnut oil are the best options.
Honey bees. Animal or insect?
3. SUGARS: Again, the regular white kind is really, really, processed. Stripped of anything good for you. Due to this, the diet wants you to avoid this and replace it, when necessary and sparingly, with substitutes like agave nectar and pure maple syrup. What I have found interesting is that none of their approved recipes allow for the use of honey. With all the arguments that support the use of local raw honey (like it can help with allergy symptoms) and the fact it's a one-ingredient product, I was shocked with its absense amongst the recipes. I mentioned this to the employees at the LIFEbar in Rainbow Blossom who gave me their thoughts on it. They said that there are some who consider honey bees animals and, therefore, honey is off-limits because it's an animal product. Personally, regardless of whether this is allowed or not, I find this argument way too extreme for my taste. Hell...this whole diet is, but I draw the line at honey. For cryin' out loud.
These are just a few of the heavy-hitters to be aware of. Others include salt, preservatives and additives. Basically, they want you to eat things that are as true to their natural state as possible. So picture yourself going through a grocery store trying to avoid items with sugar, virtually any kind-of oil, only specific kinds of wheat, no salt, etc. THEN, you have to be aware of "ingredient splitting." According to the authors of the Forks Over Knives How To Companion book, "ingredient splitting" is a common practice used by food manufacturers to "make it seem as if certain foods are included in lesser quantities than they really are." For example, I may not see "sugar" in the list of ingredients, but it may say cane sugar, corn syrup, beet sugar, or fructose. All these are processed sugars that the diet discourages. Another example is dairy. I can't have that either. Perhaps "milk" won't be on the label, but it the following words all are considered dairy ingredients: casein, whey, albumen, caseinate, sodium caseinate, rennet, or rennin.
All of the other foods that are considered off-limits on this diet are similar to vegan restrictions: don't eat anything that has a face or a mother. This means I am not eating any type of meat, fish, seafood, dairy or egg product. If you've been perplexed as to why I am having trouble at the grocery and why cooking at home is so frustrating, I think you've probably got a better understanding now. I have to watch-out for all this stuff in my food!!!
The big difference between this diet and a vegan one is the allowance for non-animal, processed foods (such as sugar, oil, wheat, salt, etc.) within a vegan diet. What I'd give to drizzle some olive oil over veggies, sprinkle them with salt and roast them in the oven. A vegan could totally do this, but not me.
The big difference between this diet and a vegan one is the allowance for non-animal, processed foods (such as sugar, oil, wheat, salt, etc.) within a vegan diet. What I'd give to drizzle some olive oil over veggies, sprinkle them with salt and roast them in the oven. A vegan could totally do this, but not me.
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