Forks Over Knives & Other Worries

Last night, I watched the documentary Forks Over Knives. It makes you think a lot about your diet. In fact, it makes you worry about your diet.

The thesis of the film is that a plant-based diet without meat and dairy is what is going to prevent you from going under the knife in later years. Your nutrition can trump disease - your fork over the knife or scalpel.

I loved the quote in one of the film's interstitials:

"One quarter of what you eat keeps you alive. The other three quarters keeps your doctor alive." - a hieroglyph found on an ancient Egyptian tomb

I think the underlying premise of the film is spot on. Diet is the determining factor in your overall health. I don't think that you have to go meat and dairy free as the two main doctors in the film suggest. Their numerous studies show significant success with patients who radically altered their diets, adopted a plant-based philosophy and reversed conditions like hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol. They didn't eat any meat or dairy.

I finished the film with a few questions. They don't address the fact that patients changed their diets radically. They gave up highly-processed and fast foods. I think that was a huge determinant in their medical reversals. They also don't talk about fish as a health option. There were holes, but the film left me sleepless about my kids and my family. I would recommend watching it.

That's a picture of my oldest's lunch. Fresh challah with nut butter and berries. The berries were from the brand Driscoll's. I got a coupon from LiveWell Colorado for $5 off a Driscoll product. It was useful considering a small container of organic raspberries right now is $5.99. They were good, but not as juicy as they would be if it were more close to their season. Aidan loves them though so it was worth it.

Aidan's lunch wasn't bad, and wasn't great. I have been thinking I have to get my kids eating more greens. Dirk and I have to eat more of them, too. Fork over knife ...

We also went to the Boulder County Farmer's Market today. Patrick will be there with his produce in two weeks. The market was abundant with vendors which is great considering this is still so early season. We also drove by a few of the actual farms that sell at the market. There were hoop houses the size of our own home.

Worried that we needed more seedlings to compete with demand, we added more seeds under the grow lights, and all the boys started turning over soil in our garden plots to get ready for the first outdoor planting.

Onions were added to a few of the raised beds. The boys are so focused when they plant.

All of this food worrying is making us hungry. We stocked up on fresh salsa, seasoned nuts and lettuce at the market. We're all looking forward to dinner.