Disclaimer: I plan on doing my best to relay the information I gathered from the lectures I attended. My posts do no intend to give nutritional or medical advice to anyone. Furthermore, if there are factual inaccuracies, please let me know, and I will attempt to correct them. You should do your own research and draw your own conclusions.
The whole reason I wanted to attend Vegetarian Summerfest was for the lectures. I was so excited to learn. And I did. I learned a lot. The first thing I learned was that it should be called Vegan Summerfest. I believe the majority in attendance were vegans. The second thing I learned was that the majority of people I came in contact with, were vegans for the animals, not their own health. Now, I think that's fantastic. I don't condone animal cruelty, factory farming or agri-business. I had cows and chickens growing up and lived very close to farm country. My father was from Tennessee and was a farmer and a cowboy. I do now and have always believed that you can and should treat [your] animals with respect and love. I believe the relationship between animals and humans can be a mutually beneficial one. Let's take organic dairy cows for example. I think that they probably live pretty good lives. They roam the countryside grazing and meander back twice daily for their milkings. I know for a fact milking does not hurt them and they probably have a nice little hay filled stall in which to sleep every night or they can sleep under the stars. I have also recently learned that most organic farmers do everything possible to keep their animals healthy without the use of antibiotics. But if the animal is not getting better what do you do? I learned lots about dairy from Tina's recent barnstorming tour.
I also know for a fact that we are the only species to drink another's milk. I personally think milk is gross, I don't drink it very often. And rarely from a glass on its own. I do, however, have a love of cheese and Greek yogurt I realize that is contradictory. I've recently cut down my cheese consumption. I am aware that cheese is not a health food. I eat mostly goat cheese now, which is a little better I hope. Now, beef cows. Meat kind of grosses me out anymore, so I don't eat it. Same goes with chicken & pork. That's about all I have to say about that really.
I believe that the best way to obtain your dairy & eggs is from a small local farm. They treat their animals with kindness and respect. I realize not everyone has this resource, but its becoming more and more of option for everyone and that makes me happy.
This blog has the word Wellness in it for a reason. My main objective is to keep my family healthy and if I can stick it to the agri-business man along the way-all the better. If I have to choose between the animals and my family, I think you know my choice. More on that sentence in another post.
Anyway, the first lecture I attended was by Brenda Davis, a Registered Dietition from Canada. She is a vegan. I really enjoyed her talk. The topic was "Exploding Nutrition Myths". She also spoke at the Plenary which wrapped up the weekend. Here are some highlights I took away:
Amino Acids, Proteins & Fats
~All plant foods contain all 9 indispensable amino acids
~To ensure sufficient nutrients including protein, eat a wide variety of plant foods
~Fish don't make EPA & DHA, they get it from micro-algae which is now being cultivated
~80% of all fish in restaurants is highly contaminated
~I think we all know that the fish stocks are being rapidly depleted and the end of edible sea animals is near
Lack of B12
~B12 is produced by bacteria, like dirty plants & unclean water
~If B12 is efficiently recycled, our body stores can last for 2-3 years; internal production is rarely sufficient; the recommended amount is 25-100 mcg. (micrograms) per day
~Seaweed contains active & inactive B12 and appears to convert when seaweed is dried
~Red Nutritional yeast vegetarian support formula contains B12
~e. coli comes from animals alone
Calcium not from dairy
~Kale is a great source for calcium, vit. C, vit. K, folate, magnesium, potassium, boron, phytochemicals & antioxidants
~The percentage of calcium absorption from foods: 40%-broccoli, kale, turnip & mustard greens/30%-tofu with calcium, milk
Soy, dangerous or amazing
~Soy intake decreases lifetime breast cancer risk; women who ate the most unprocessed soy had the lowest recurrence and mortality rates
~Soy isolates are not good for you, choose minimally processed soy, like edamame and traditionally fermented soy foods
~it takes 1/20th of the resources to feed a vegan vs. the standard American diet eater
~the health 'standards' are more about politics than health
Lastly, There are no good foods/no bad foods
I think we all know that's a lie. Everything in moderation. I do believe that to a point, but this really stood out to me:
When the majority of what you eat 'in moderation' is bad, it will still kill you.
