I like reading about health and wellness because it’s sorta my thang, so I thought I’d share with you some book reviews, starting with Proteinaholic: How Our Obsession with Meat is Killing Us and What We Can Do About It, by Dr. Gath Davis. I’ll start with a little review and then share the key things that stuck with me from the book.
The most interesting thing about this book is that it’s written by a weight loss surgeon. He explains that he wrote this book because after years of counselling his patients to avoid carbs and eat more protein, even advising them to avoid fruit for fear of the sugar and carbs, he realized that he himself was extremely unhealthy and his patients kept coming back, even after having gastric bypass surgery. Unfortunately, the low carb high protein diet he prescribed and followed didn’t even work for him… he was denied a life insurance policy at the age of 35 because of his high cholesterol and blood pressure. He set out to research this on his own and discovered incredible evidence supporting a whole foods plant based diet as the absolute best diet for health and longevity.
The book can be a little research heavy at times but I consider this a good thing! It seems that whenever anyone brings up a plant based diet there’s an immediate attack about how that diet must be somehow dangerous and lacking protein. This book really demonstrates how misguided that belief is and how North America’s insane focus on protein has done nothing but make us more sick and have more heart disease than ever before.
What stuck with me?
- It’s not protein itself that provides our bodies with the fuel for things like cell structure and muscle growth, it’s the amino acids we consume, which our bodies recycle and synthesize to create the amino acids we may be lacking at that time. He gave the example of some endurance athletes who eat basically only fruit and yet are exceptional athletes, full of muscle. Fruit itself doesn’t have much protein but it has a lot of amino acids which our bodies use to make protein when and where necessary. Basically, he says, if we are getting enough calories, we are getting enough protein. And in North America, you can be pretty sure you’re getting enough calories!
- He only touched on mental health briefly but agrees (with me!) that the link between diet and mental health is an area that needs more research and attention. He believes that mental illness is linked to diet and has found studies showing that diets high in animal protein are linked to poor concentration, worse moods, and increased rates of dementia. Vitamin D, vitamin B2, B6, and folic acid are all required to process protein, so if you have an excess amount of protein, your body can become deficient in these key nutrients for avoiding depression.
- Another concern for people when they hear about eating less meat and animal products is about where to get calcium. Proteinaholic points out several studies that show that people who eat high amounts of protein actually get rid of higher amounts of calcium through their urine. Excess protein is causing the calcium to be taken from our bones and muscles which can lead to bone diseases, like osteoporosis.
- He actually suggest Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to help people eat better! I love this! In psychology and social work we use CBT to help clients with things like anxiety, depression, and phobias. It works to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviours. Essentially it’s the idea that if we can understand the way our thoughts control our behaviour, we can change our unhealthy thoughts and thereby change our feelings and behaviours. This book suggests using this to improve your health. Telling yourself over and over that you hate kale and love meat is going to continue that pattern, but you can use CBT to retrain your thoughts about foods you should be eating. You can even convince yourself that you love exercising!
- Dr. Davis really stresses the importance of getting healthy NOW. He says that heart disease and heart attacks are hitting people at younger and younger ages. Autopsies have even shown kids as young as twelve with the beginning stages of heart disease. We need to ask ourselves; if we know that heart disease is the number one killer of North Americans, why isn’t it shocking us into action now? What are we waiting for?
Overall, I loved this book. I found it very motivating for taking control of my health now. Because, after all, it is up to each of us to take control of our own health. We have to stop blaming our parents, our friends, our husbands, our kids, family parties….etc. We have to take responsibility for what we put into our mouths, plain and simple. For someone like me who isn’t completely motivated to eat less meat for the sake of saving the animals, it’s interesting to learn about the science, research, and profound health benefits behind a plant based diet.
If you want a quick hour long podcast about this, check out The Food Heals Podcast, episode 36: Protein is not the answer, it’s the problem. Dr. Davis is the guest for this episode and talks about the main points of his book. Check it out!! Seriously!
