Did you know there is no longer a Food Pyramid?

Last weekend my husband and I watched the documentary Forks over Knives and I have to tell you it seriously changed my perspective on what we put in our body. The documentary was packed with a ton of scientific information, too much to go into in this blog (I would recommend watching it if you are interested, it's on Netflix) but the overall gist is that eating a whole-food plant-based diet can prevent or reverse disease. In the documentary, one of the largest studies conducted was called the China Study, which showed that eliminating meat and dairy from your diet and eating a more plant-based diet could prevent and sometimes reverse heart disease and several forms of cancer.  One thing discussed in the documentary was that the food pyramid has been replaced by a MyPlate program promoting more fruits and vegetables. Created to resemble your dining plate, it is divided into four differently sized sections:

• Grains—approximately 30%
• Vegetables—approximately 30%
• Fruits—approximately 20%
• Protein—approximately 20%

I thought I was fairly educated on nutrition, being an athlete my whole life, but I was not aware of this change and all the research that shows that more fruits and vegetables are not only good for us but are absolutely necessary for our health. The statistic that the leading cause of death in the US is unhealthy eating and physical inactivity in the form of heart disease and cancer is startling. But the information that most of it can be prevented by eating healthier was new to me. What? I thought cancer and heart disease were genetic? apparently not... Even more surprising to me was that the recommended fruits and vegetables, which was the 5-a-Day campaign, has now changed to a new program called Fruits &Veggies - More Matter which the USDA recommends 7- 13 servings a day of fruits and veggies. Don't know about you, but with our busy life I don't think that is going to happen.  That is why I am so glad that I add to my diet with Juice Plus (disclaimer: in case you didn't know I am a distributor so I do have a bias) which gives me 17 fruits, vegetables and grains in a whole food supplement with a food label, not a multivitamin.  This makes me feel better about getting those servings.

Being a meat-eating Texas family, I don't think eliminating meat from our family is completely possible, though the documentary was convincing, I am for sure reducing it greatly. I am also going to be buying almond milk instead of regular milk for our family. When I tell people this they say, well don't you need to eat meat for protein and drink milk for calcium, and the answer is No. Watch the documentary and it can answer it much better than me! Most people don't make a change in lifestyle until they have a health event in their life, or in the life of someone they love, but knowing the research, why wouldn't you make the change now?