Plant Forward

Hello Santa Barbara (+ beyond)!

Life is starting to shift over here and it’s been some time since I posted on The Vine. I wanted to take a moment to reintroduce this friendly neighborhood plant-based enthusiast. :)

My name is Beth Skidmore, MSACN. This summer I completed a Masters Degree in Applied Clinical Nutrition ( with honors! I am a little bit proud :) ). With graduation, I’m now officially launching into a career centered around nutrition as a Whole Food Plant-Based Nutritionist. I won’t be immediately launching a practice - I have some goals and projects in the works, and I am super excited to keep you up to date as my new path starts to take shape.

For those of you who I haven’t met yet personally, I spent the first fifteen years of my career as a nonprofit and fundraising professional, helping to build community around shared missions and raise over $30 million for organizations I care about. Eleven of these years (and the vast majority of those funds-raised), I spent at the Santa Barbara Bowl (my happy place) as the development director for their foundation and part of a hard-working team that raised funds for the renovation and restoration capital campaign. If you’re local, you know how magical it is. :) And if you’re familiar with the organization, you can imagine what an incredible opportunity I had to grow and learn with some of the most committed leaders in our community.

Now, after three-years of studying and more than eight years of everyday real-life learning, I’m excited to be entering a new space where I’ll be combining my developed nutrition knowledge, my nonprofit background, and my experience raising a plant-based family as I officially launch into the growing field of evidence-based, plant-based nutrition (yes, it’s a field, yes, it’s grounded in research, and yes, it’s growing!).

While I’m on a heartfelt mission to share the science and every-day application of whole food, plant-centered eating, at the core of my drive is that I know others want what I’ve been wanting and working towards for my family - the very best chance at a long, happy, healthy life. I did not used to think that what I ate was such a large driver in my health. Now I know it is. I thought when we first experimented with a plant-based diet that it was temporary. Now it’s a purposeful life-long commitment I’ve made with my family.

Change is hard. Particularly when you have littles. When you’re used to making chicken everything, fish, or meat every night for dinner, and when you’re used to adding dairy-based cheese and butter to pretty much everything, it’s hard to imagine a plant-based life or taking foods that feel like a side to the main course. I know how hard eating more (or all) plants can seem because I made the transition to a plant-based life during one of the most challenging times in my own life - we made the shift in-line with the birth of my first child, so not just was our lifestyle was new, but motherhood was new, and being a working mother was new. But we did it, and I know it’s possible because we did it and we surely were not likely candidates for eating all plants. We shaped a new life where we put our health first and prevention became paramount and it was powerful, life-changing, exciting - the benefits outweighed the discomfort and work it took.

My goal here actually isn’t to convince you to go plant-based (as obvious as that may seem;)) but to help you understand how the foods we eat impact our bodies so that we can all make more informed decisions about the foods we eat and marry those with our health goals for our families. To whatever extent you incorporate plants into your life, I’m here to help you with ideas, resources, and support.

I hope when you spend time on Plant Based Santa Barbara or my pretty active @plantbasedsantabarbara Instagram account (and currently fairly inactive Facebook account ;) - @plantbasedsantabarbara), that you come to find that eating more plants (or all plants) feels less challenging and more fun and accessible. I hope it expands your view on how food interacts with our bodies and impacts how we live. I’m excited to bring more of the science to my work in addition to sharing my experience. We all deserve to understand the basics of nutrition science so that we can make the most informed decisions for our families. I hope you find my spaces to be opportunities to add to the conversation, ask questions, challenge some long-held thoughts on nutrition, and full of tools and inspiration for eating more plants with your families. And stay tuned - I’ll keep you up to date on what’s to come! I’m just getting started.

Lifestyle work is hard. But it’s so worthwhile. If you have ideas, questions, needs, etc., please reach out! I’ve paused a bit on my site while I’ve been finishing up school, but I’ll be picking back up on building content, the calendar, and more. I love making this the community resource I wish I always had and I’d love to hear from you on how I can make it even more applicable for your life and what would be helpful for you on your plant-forward journey.

Let’s keep the conversation going. Let’s keep moving together, plant-forward.

Wishing you health + happiness for you and your families!

Beth Skidmore, MSACN
Whole Food Plant-Based Nutritionist
Nutrition Educator
Public Health Advocate
+ Your Friendly Neighborhood Plant-Based Enthusiast :)

Top 10 Reasons to Eat More Plants: #7 It's Incredibly Freeing

You heard me right. Eating more plants can be incredibly freeing! Most people think of it as super limiting. Let me explain.

I used to think that eating plant-based was limiting too. Restricting even. But the moment I made a commitment to eating plant-based, it became a personal philosophy, and everything changed. Here’s my main reasons for feeling it’s a freeing way of life now. 

1)   It became an opportunity, not a restriction. Developing a plant-centered philosophy is actually super handy for staying focused on my health. It helps me prioritize myself and feeling good. And not just every other week and sometimes on Friday. Every day. When my family first started test driving a plant-based diet, I thought it was seriously difficult in public situations. It felt like it took a lot of extra effort and it felt unsettling. Like I stuck out like a sore thumb. Like I was always extra work. Like I could make a more mainstream choice but wouldn’t. Not couldn’t. I felt like others saw it as being weird and difficult. I don’t know why I cared, or if they did, but I think it was a part of being hyper aware that making vegan choices were typically viewed as being, well, weird and difficult. If there were treats in the break area at work or in social situations I had to ask about all the ingredients so I often just avoided it altogether to avoid the extra effort or seeming like an imposition by grilling the gifter of said treats with my list of vegan questions. 

This was when we were experimenting with a vegan diet. I had one foot in and one foot out. We were plant-curious but it didn’t seem like a long-term decision. But, when we made the decision, when I saw what an incredible benefit it had for my husband and started to experience super exciting changes myself, it became our new PHILOSPHY. A health and lifestyle philosophy. A commitment to myself and my family. And everything changed.

Eating plant-based then became an opportunity. As my learning and experience grew, and my commitment grew, I knew it was a good decision and it kept me from making unhealthy choices that I knew I’d later feel bad about. Not feel badly in terms of feeling guilty – rather, I came to know my body wouldn’t feel good. I knew at this point that plant-foods were making me feel so much better and it became so helpful to have made a personal commitment. If there were stacks of candy and baked goods in the break area at work or at social events, I knew that there were likely ingredients that wouldn’t serve me well because, well, most baked goods and social party foods aren’t plant-based and are filled with at least eggs, dairy, oils, and other animal based foods. It became easy to say “no thank you, bummer, it’s not plant-based - but thank you so much for sharing these! So thoughtful!” and make plans before or after to treat myself with plant-foods. I’m all for progress not perfection, but I have to say, when plant based eating went from intention to commitment, for me it made a huge difference. When it’s a philosophy, sure you can make exceptions, but it’s an opportunity to focus on what you know to be best for you and not worry about missing out. 

2)   It’s a relief not to eat animals. It’s a super big relief. It’s so freeing. I never felt right about it. I just tried not to think about it. Finding out that plant foods – and eating entirely plant-based – is actually the healthiest way to eat - Mind blown. Weight lifted. Animals live. Phew.

3)   Knowledge is freeing. The more plants I ate, the more I wanted to learn about the benefits of eating more plants. I became armed with tons of knowledge and knowledge is crazy freeing. It’s freeing to know that I have a great amount of control over my health and that it’s not all genetics leading me into fates of disease and chronic conditions. Learning about plant-based eating and nutrition quickly became a leap frog of growing resources at my fingertips. My experience matched what I was learning and the more I learned the more I could enjoy and appreciate my new plant-centered life. It made me want to keep learning more. Pre-plant-based-me loved research and news clips that reinforced my bad habits. Now, I love the research that reinforces my good habits and seek it out. 

All this researching and exploring led me to develop a whole team of doctors, health specialists, authors, organizations, and bloggers who became my go-to resources, who were on team me. I became adept at learning how to research and identify those who I trust. I learned how to read the research and how to look for bias and reductionist methods (methods that just examine the effect of single nutrients rather than examining the whole diet). I started taking classes. Signed up for way too many newsletters. I learned to listen to my body. And now I’m months away from graduating with a Masters in Nutrition. Something I NEVER saw coming but I’ve gone from just doing what I’d always done and only knowing what was right in front of me (primarily in the media or hearsay) to being able to read, research, ask questions, listen to my growing base of knowledge and intuition, and make my own decisions. DAMN freeing. 

4)   It’s incredibly freeing and empowering to know that my daily food choices are also choices that benefit the health of the planet and access to healthy foods around the globe. Eating more plants is not just a good choice for me personally. #8 and #9 in my Top 10 Reasons to Eat More Plants series will focus on these two areas, so I won’t go into much detail here, but I love knowing that we can make daily choices that benefit our global community. We are that powerful.

Developing a plant-based philosophy isn’t a restriction, it’s a way of life now and an opportunity to give myself the best chance at a happy, healthy life. Might I still get sick with an undesirable disease or condition? Sure. But hopefully I’ve kicked the can much, much farther down the road and I am confident that I am dramatically reducing my risk.

We’re all doing the best we can with the information we have. Developing a plant-centered way of life, and all the learning that has come with it, has given me a profound new commitment to myself and it has been the most enriching and freeing decision I’ve made. You can do it too. :)

Where to start? Build your toolkit of information on plant-based living. Explore my website! I share tons of resources that have helped me. A great first step is to check out my Nutrition Toolkit and see if there’s a book that resonates with you to dive into. I’ve never relied on just one source - these are all sources that I’ve grown to value. It’s good to start somewhere and see what you think. And check out the Recipe Toolkit too to see if there’s a recipe book that catches your eye. Most of these chefs also have websites, so you can google them and test recipes before you buy. Pick one and test it out. Expand from there.

Knowledge is freeing. Eating more plants can be freeing and an opportunity. You’re in the driver’s seat. Build your philosophy. Adjust as you learn more. Discuss. Experiment. Grow.

You’ve got this.

Top 10 Reasons to Eat More Plants: #5 Our Food Choices Aren't So Personal

I know we are supposed to say that our food choices are personal.  I have very often said this myself, especially in the first few years of eating plant-based. Anytime I sensed discomfort from others or felt it building up in myself when I discussed our family's lifestyle, I'd often follow with, "But what we eat is SO personal!" just to make us all feel more at ease. So here's the thing... When I think about how deeply I must have felt, as pre-plant-based-me, to believe that thousands of animals needed to die over the course of my lifetime in order for me to live - or how deeply I now feel to leave animals off my plate while living in an omnivore's world - definitely, to an extent food choices are very personal and attached to a deeply held belief. But for this post, I want to take a moment to share why I've come to think this "food choices are personal" business is only true to an extent and how important it is that we stop seeing our food choices as entirely personal. Because that's not the whole story.

“The primary reason diseases tend to run in families may be that diets tend to run in families.”

— Dr. Michael Greger, Nutritionfacts.org

Imagine your daily life for a second and think how often food is a part of your social fabric. You're a parent, a son or daughter, a grandparent, a friend, a boss, a colleague, a business owner, a volunteer, a member of a community organization, a coworker. You have patients or clients. You prepare meals for others. You dine with others. You plan your office parties or snacks. You give thank you gifts of food. You're a host. You have people who love you, who depend on you, who you may someday depend on for your own care and who your quality of life (and how long you are on this earth) truly matters. The choices we make include others, even when they seem personal. They may influence or impact others. We are so interconnected. We have the ability to make choices that improve or weaken the quality of our own lives but I think this also includes the lives of those around us. And so I'm just not sure how we can keep saying it's personal. 

I can imagine pre-plant-based-me reading through my website, and sort of skipping through parts, numbing out how this really relates to me. I'd likely feel like, yes, all of these things matter, but I have to eat animal foods to live - it's about protein, and there's a food chain, and our families and communities have taught us this since we were born basically. It's what we've always done. 

What I wish I'd known earlier...

Here's what I wish pre-plant-based me would have known. My husband has a chronic condition that I now suspect may have been avoided had we always been eating plant-based. It's a really hard pill to swallow to think that my way of life (and serious cheese habit) could have been a factor in nudging him towards a less healthy lifestyle and a chronic condition. But I think that's likely true. And I know for a fact it was light years easier for him when I went fully plant-based too. Caring more about what I eat improves my overall health and wellness and sets a new stage for my whole family. Our eating habits are now based around longevity, not based around an unfounded notion that we may all fade into the earth if we don't eat enough animal protein. Pre-plant-based me didn't have all the information and hadn't realized how intensely my lifestyle was also impacting my husband's (or could be limiting my own) - which is one of the very deeply-felt reasons why I now live plant-based.

I can remember a few things pretty distinctly about the moment when I realized that plant-based eating was now going to be a way of life for me. 1) The shocking realization that I might not have ever explored plant-based eating without someone caring enough to plant a seed and without chronic disease leading us there, 2) One of my biggest worries was socially how eating vegan would all play out, and 3) A need to completely understand plant-based living, especially in consideration of my kids - but how would I know who to trust/where to find resources?? 

Someone had to plant the seed. I had to be ready to hear it. And I had to find resources that matched up with what I was experiencing and offered me the right kind of information to give me the confidence to know I was making the best decision for my whole family. 

Making healthy choices together...

What we eat does matter. Food matters. Our health matters - and not just to us but to our loved ones. If  you aren't familiar with the work of Blue Zones, you should check it out. Here's the Blue Zones' mission, "Inspired by the world’s longest-lived cultures, we help people live longer, better lives by improving their environment." Dan Buettner and his team talk extensively about the benefit of plant-based eating and about how they've found our environments can either nudge us into healthier, happier lifestyles, or be a road block to health and longevity. Let's do more than nudge each other. Let's make it damn easy. As Santa Barbarans, we pride ourselves on living in a healthy community. Still, I think we can do better. Yes, let's build better hospitals and better clinics and specialty centers. But let's do more about prevention so that we can try to avoid getting there in the first place. We can't do it alone. We need each other to do better together. 

“The most meaningful piece of advice is to tell patients to make friends with people who eat a plant-based diet. Healthy behaviors are contagious.”

— Dan Buettner, The Blue Zones

We need to bring more plant-foods in to our homes. We need restaurants to make delicious mushroom dishes instead of the newest take on pork belly. We need kids menus with actual healthy veggie options so our kids learn young, even when they're out, to care about what they eat (and they're way more likely to try new foods out to eat, at school, or at a friend's house - at least that's our experience). We need community events to focus on healthy options to make plant-based eating more normal and to support the common mission of enhancing our communities' lives. We need our go to resources for food and nutrition to help us learn about the risks of eating animal foods, not just the perceived benefits. Because it's likely that 15 of the top diseases and conditions that lead to death and disability in the U.S. can be prevented, arrested, or reversed by diet. That's powerful. We need to help each other feel more comfortable making healthy choices by making them together. 

Getting started...

I share a number of resources within this site to help you learn more from those that I've come to count on and trust. I've never just trusted one voice, and wouldn't expect you to. You've got to do the reading and the research and determine who you trust and look at their background and the background of the research they rely on and make sure it's unbiased. Marketing dollars are driving a lot of the information we're getting. But the unbiased research and information is out there. 

Please consider this site and this post a love letter to you and your loved ones and my community. Perhaps this is your seed planted. :) Check out the Blue Zones and the resources I share to learn more about the science and practice of plant-based nutrition to discuss with your families, friends, and health care team (in my first post Start Anywhere, throughout  THE VINE, and in the TOOLKIT to start). And start to notice how your food choices may make you feel and impact your health and those around you. Start to imagine how can you help nudge others towards healthier and healthier choices. Because they matter and you matter.

If you feel the pull of your environment making it more difficult for you to make healthier decisions, you can do something about it. Think longevity, rather than taste to taste, meal to meal. It may be uncomfortable at first. But it can be exciting too! My husband did the research and took a chance, and our whole family is healthier because of it. Be the one to start make the healthier choices. Don't assume your kids can't grow to love beans + tofu. They're easier and cheaper (or just as cheap) as chicken + hot dogs and you can season them just as you would any meat - and they are deeeelish! Choose a veggie dish eating out with friends (or at least don't razz someone else for choosing it). Stock up your office snack zone with fruits and vegetables and plant-based treats. Do you run a restaurant or snack bar with a kids menu? Add more veggie options and maybe reconsider the chicken nuggets, burgers, hot dogs, cheese quesadillas, dairy based mac n cheese, and please please rethink how the french fries are prepared. (Bake 'em or air fry them please! Phew, I've been needing to get that off my chest. Even plant-based kids need healthier options.) When you're out, make a habit of asking about ways to eat more plant-based at your favorite places. Try a plant-based cookbook or meal plan or rotate in a new fruit or veggie every week while rotating out an animal food. Read the research. Start anywhere.

It matters how we live. Chronic disease doesn't have to be inevitable. If I've learned anything from all of my years spent researching and learning about the plant-based life, I've learned that. Make healthier choices for you because you matter to yourself. And to your kids. And to your parents, and your friends. We want each other to have long healthy lives. And we all worry about being a burden to others as we get older. Let's make it damn easy to live healthier, longer lives, not shorter more challenging ones. Our food choices aren't so personal, after all.

Easy Peasy Tip: Give (Non-Dairy) Cheese a Chance

Easy Peasy Tips are simple actions you can take to make small shifts towards more plant-centered eating that lead to big health gains over time. When you’re making changes, it may take a few times to get your taste buds shifted to new flavors, but once you’ve rounded the bend, it’s easy peasy to enjoy!

If you're like pre-plant-based-me, you really don't want anyone trash-talking cheese. Your love for cheese runs deep and giving it up pretty much seems like a dietary non-negotiable. This transition took a bit more education before I was ready to jump in to the wonderful world of non-dairy cheeses. But learning more about the health challenges dairy-based cheese can bring and experiencing the very real benefits of this seemingly undesirable transition - as well as experiencing how easy it actually was to transition out! - is super helpful in understanding how this can be one of the best foods to chase out of your diet to help you feel great and better support your long term health. 

This Easy Peasy Tip is about taking a bit of time to learn about the health implications of cheese. There are a lot of qualities to consider including casein, hormones, fat, sodium, and the addictive nature of this often favorite food. A lot of marketing money also drives the promotion of cheese products making it even more difficult to imagine a life without cheese as we've come to know it. I wanted to highlight this as an Easy Peasy topic because there a couple of quick, easy opportunities right now to learn more. Neal Barnard, MD, FACC of the Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine is one of the best resources on this topic. He recently published a book titled, "The Cheese Trap" (a great resource, find it in the TOOLKIT!). But if you prefer the "cliff notes" version, there are two timely opportunities to learn more online. A recent Physician's Committee's Exam Room podcast features Dr. Barnard discussing the addictive qualities, health considerations, and institutional driving forces around cheese. Additionally, Forks Over Knives is hosting a free online webinar featuring Dr. Barnard titled "Cheese: How Breaking a Surprising Addiction Can Revolutionize Your Health" on February 22nd at 4:00 pm Pacific. I love hearing Dr. Barnard talk about nutrition. He's got all of the science on "food as medicine" at his fingertips and speaks to it in such a straight-forward, relatable manner. I always walk away feeling like I have a whole lot of rich, practical, evidence-based information to lean on and am better prepared for taking next steps.

Click here to go to PCRM's The Exam Room Podcast:
The Cheese Trap
(Image: PCRM)

Click here to register for Forks Over Knives Presents Neal Barnard MD online webinar on February 22, 2018 at 4:00 PM Pacific
(Image: Forks Over Knives)

While this is a longer-than-usual Easy Peasy post, I want to make sure to include a few easy cheesy ideas to get you started. Make a goal to try one this week! 

• Alternative Cheeses: Check out some alternative cheeses at your local store. Daiya is easy to find at almost any mainstream grocery store (and a Little Earthling favorite in our house!) and stores like Whole Foods and Lazy Acres have an awesome variety of vegan cheeses including Kite Hill and Miyoko's. Field Roast's Chao makes a great cheese too as do Follow Your Heart, Heidi Ho, Punk Rawk Labs and Treeline. Trader Joe's has their own vegan version too! You can get a local brand Cultured Culture at Ah Juice on Haley Street - pretty cool! (Plant-based note: Kite Hill, Miyoko's, Punk Rawk Labs, and Treeline all have oil-free cheeses but be sure to double check the labels, each flavor can be different.)

• Nooch: Nutritional Yeast is a fun topper for pasta, salads, veggies, and popcorn to give it a cheesy twist. Ground up with nuts is extra yummy.

• Recipe Resources: There are some awesome cheesy recipes resources. Check out my recent post "Top 10 Reasons to Eat More Plants: You'll Still Enjoy What You Eat (Seriously!)" for a sampling of plant-based and vegan recipe websites, many of whom have various vegan cheese based recipes. Additionally, there are a couple of books in the TOOLKIT that are all about making vegan cheese! Check out This Cheese is Nuts by Julie Piatt and Artisan Cheeses by Miyoko Schinner and Dreena Burton has some great cheese recipes in the back of Dr. Barnard's The Cheese Trap! So much fun to be had making cheese and cheesy recipes at home!

• Avocados: Also, be sure to check out my Easy Peasy Tip on Avocados for using this magical fruit as a cheese sub in so many recipes!

So consider letting the baby cows drink their mama's milk, check out Dr. Barnard's resources, and open your mind to some healthier alternatives. Give (non-dairy) cheese a chance! :)

Top 10 Reasons to Eat More Plants - #2 Beans are Cheaper than Meat

A pretty solid misconception about plant-based eating is that it’s super expensive. Sure, it can be if perhaps you load up on specialty products and pricier “super foods” and only shop at health food stores. But when you reflect on what your cart currently looks like at the grocery store with the cost of keeping stocked on meat, poultry, fish, dairy, and eggs, eating plant-based can actually oftentimes pretty solidly save you money.

Eating plant-based has never seemed to be the source of an unusually high grocery bill for me. Admittedly though, it’s been several years since I included animal-based products in my shopping list and my family has grown since going plant-based. I did a bit of consumer sleuthing at a local Trader Joe’s and Vons to see how switching from animal-based to plant-based proteins really compares, particularly at more mainstream stores.

Here’s what I found, friends:

Trader Joe's at Milpas Canned Beans Display

• Animal Proteins:  $1.99 - $16.99/lb (approximately)
  Vons meats (from non-organic, value-pack chicken all the way up to grass-fed beef and seafood) in general seemed to range between $1.99/lb to around $16.99 lb. At Trader Joe’s, their animal-based variety ranged from $3.49/lb - $14.99/lb. Specialty animal proteins like organic or antibiotic free started at around $3.49/lb at both stores.

• Plant Based Proteins:  $0.82 - $11.98/lb (approximately)
  On the other hand, canned beans at Trader Joe’s ranged from $.79 to $.99 for 15.5 oz cans (depending on whether the beans were organic). If you want to compare exact pound for pound, this is approximately $.82 to $1.02 per pound. Vons’ beans varied between $.99 for a 15.5 oz can for non-organic, club special pricing, and up to $1.99 for same size but organic. And these amounts could even go down if you choose to buy dried beans and soak them yourself. Tofu ranged from $1.49 - $1.99 for just under one pound and tempeh came to $3.98 for a total of one pound (two packs). If you want to compare more “meaty” alternatives, vegan Italian sausages were both $3.98/lb whether Tofurky or the Trader Joe’s brand (although sold in slightly smaller quantities). Vons carried a Tofurky Kielbasa vegan sausage that was slightly higher at $5.14/lb (also sold in slightly smaller quantities) and the Beyond Meat “The Beyond Burger” Plant-Based Burger Patties were the priciest at $11.98/lb (sold in 8 oz packages).

Infographic by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

Cost of a plant-based diet can seem like a deterrent before you go for it, but it really depends on what your habits are now and what choices you make. In general, though, switching to bean based proteins should save you money. So great! This handy-dandy chart from the Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine also takes a look at the difference between eating beans versus beef and goes a step further to demonstrate how nutritionally they compare.

Just to reiterate, this is purely my own consumer research, on this given day in time, but the healthiest plant-based proteins, those that I eat most regularly – beans, tofu, and tempeh - are all on the lower end of the pricing (but not quality!) scale and generally cheaper than most of the animal-based proteins. You can absolutely keep your grocery bill stable or see it lower eating more plant-based. Putting beans in your enchiladas or mushed into a homemade burger, scrambling your tofu or tossing it in your stir fry, roasting your chickpeas, grilling up some tempeh for your sandwich, or making your bacon from tempeh all bring health benefits and can also keep your pocket book happy. So load up on protein from plants!

And while the meat to bean transition is the primary focus here, it's important to keep in mind that protein is in soooo many plant foods! It's everywhere! If you're eating a calorically appropriate diet with a variety of plant-based foods, protein should not be an issue. And make your protein choices work harder for you. Rather than thinking about how your protein can get you protein, think about how your protein can also get you fiber and a host of other vitamins and nutrients. By increasing the efficiency and nutrient density of your food choices through plant-based proteins, you benefit from a range of health (and cost saving!) perks and don't have to worry about things you don't need like added cholesterol. I love this article by Plant-Based Dietician Julieanna Heaver that outlines why you need not fret about protein on a plant-based diet with ideas for thinking more broadly about protein sources, like broccoli, oats, pasta, brown rice, and more:

5 Reasons You Can Stop Pursuing Protein and Start Focusing on Food 
by Julieanna Heaver

---

HEALTHY YOU FACT: 

DID YOU KNOW THAT YOUR BODY PRODUCES ALL THE CHOLESTEROL YOU NEED? YOU ACTUALLY DON'T NEED DIETARY CHOLESTEROL FROM ANIMAL-BASED PROTEINS IN YOUR DIET, WHICH CAN SEND YOUR CHOLESTEROL LEVELS INTO OVERDRIVE.
 
KEEP YOUR PROTEIN WHOLE FOOD, 
PLANT-BASED FOR HEALTHIER FATS WITHOUT THE DIETARY CHOLESTEROL!

---

Hungry for more grocery tips? Keep an eye out for an upcoming post with a few more ideas for mindful grocery shopping to help keep your wallet happy while transitioning to more plant-centered eating!

Top 10 Reasons to Eat More Plants - #1 Plants Have Your Back

No one can guarantee us perfect health, and let’s face it, the nutrition news out there makes it increasingly confusing to guide our own habits towards our best intentioned health goals. But if there’s one thing we can be sure of, plants have our back.

Fiber. Antioxidants. Energy. Protein (YES PROTEIN!:)). Vital Nutrients. Healthy Fats. Plant foods tilt the balance away from chronic disease and conditions and towards optimal health. It seems like nearly every chronic and debilitating disease becomes more and more common with each passing year – including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's, and autoimmune diseases. And at the same time, the American diet has become more and more centered around animal products, as both the main course and the cherry on top (cheese, right?).

The two documentaries shared in the BASICS page – Forks Over Knives and What the Health – are must sees, in my humble opinion. Both of these movies introduce how research shows plants have our backs. “Food as medicine” is still not the medical mainstream (*see the end of the post for more on this) but the evidence and energy behind focusing on dietary shifts towards plant-based foods is growing and these documentaries will start to show you why. Yes, you can go online and find all sorts of opinions to dispute the message of these movies (but it’s important to understand where these disputing arguments resources come from – just as it is important to understand the sources behind information presented in each movie - What the Health actually lists theirs out in detail on their website). So before you dig in to the internet, it’s worth taking some time to listen to these pointed messages about how complicated our health and food systems have become and they both offer a healthy dose of optimism on how to fix it.

Forks Over Knives was one of my own early resources in getting to understand plant-based eating and What the Health felt like the bookend on much of what I’ve learned and experienced these past several years. Check them out if you like and see what you think. Free on Netflix (yay!) but they can also be rented through the links below for each film.

Forks Over Knives - The Trailer

The feature film Forks Over Knives examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting animal-based and processed foods. http://www.forksoverknives.com/

Here's a link to the full description - Forks Over Knives - following is a great intro from the Forks Over Knives peeps on the basis of the movie:

 "Two out of every three of us are overweight. Cases of diabetes are exploding, especially amongst our younger population. About half of us are taking at least one prescription drug. Major medical operations have become routine, helping to drive health care costs to astronomical levels. Heart disease, cancer and stroke are the country’s three leading causes of death, even though billions are spent each year to 'battle' these very conditions. Millions suffer from a host of other degenerative diseases.

Could it be there’s a single solution to all of these problems? A solution so comprehensive, but so straightforward, that it’s mind-boggling that more of us haven’t taken it seriously?

Forks Over Knives examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods. The major storyline in the film traces the personal journeys of a pair of pioneering yet under-appreciated researchers, Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn...."

As you'll see, both Dr. Campbell and Dr. Esselstyn give detailed accounts of how they became convinced and passionate about plant-based nutrition by sharing each of their personal and professional journeys. Dr. Campbell's work began in the research realm, in the field and in the lab, as he saw convincing associations between animal-based proteins and increasing (and carcinogenic) activity in promoting disease, while Dr. Esselstyn's interest started in practice, which then led to research when, as a surgeon, he wanted to move past treatment and help the next person avoid unhealthy fates by focusing on prevention. Both the Esselstyns and the Campbells have many members of their families who are now advocating at all corners of the U.S. for plant-based nutrition, and it's inspiring to see how these families walk the walk and work to take concepts around plant-based eating and health more mainstream. 

What the Health - The Trailer

The health film health organizations don't want you to see. What the Health is the groundbreaking follow-up film from the creators of the award-winning documentary Cowspiracy. The film exposes the collusion and corruption in government and big business that is costing us trillions of healthcare dollars, and keeping us sick. www.whatthehealthfilm.com

Here is a link that will take you to the full background page - What the Health - and following I'll once again let the film pros tell you best about the premise to the film. Here's the synopsis from the What the Health team from their website: 

"What the Health is the groundbreaking follow-up film from the creators of the award winning documentary Cowspiracy. The film follows intrepid filmmaker Kip Andersen as he uncovers the secret to preventing and even reversing chronic diseases – and investigates why the nation’s leading health organizations don’t want us to know about it. With heart disease and cancer the leading causes of death in America, and diabetes at an all-time high, the film reveals possibly the largest health cover-up of our time. With the help of medical doctors, researchers, and consumer advocates, What the Health exposes the collusion and corruption in government and big business that is costing us trillions of healthcare dollars, and keeping us sick.

Join Kip as he tracks down the leading and most trusted American health nonprofits to find out why these groups are staying silent, despite a growing body of evidence. Audiences will be shocked to learn the insidious roles played by pharmaceutical companies, agribusiness, and processed animal food companies in the nation’s health, especially in the most vulnerable communities, and will cheer at the transformation and recovery of those who took their lives into their own hands.

What The Health is a surprising, and at times hilarious, investigative documentary that will be an eye-opener for everyone concerned about our nation’s health and how big business influences it."

It's complicated, right? What the Health explores many complex issues around nutrition and healthcare. These films have big messages that aren't always easy to digest right away. But their messages can add interesting perspectives to your own exploration and are detailed intros to concepts around plant-based nutrition. If you're hungry for more information, check out the resources on the BASICS page of this site as well as the books linked in the TOOLKIT – and of course we’ll keep exploring here on THE VINE! 

*Before we sign off on this post, one more note on something that may be on your mind as you read and explore these films. If plant-based nutrition is all that and a bag of (baked, oil-free) chips, really, why haven't you heard about the benefits of plant-based eating from your doctor? Well, that's a good question - we hope you are! And maybe you have! But if you haven't, these films discuss this topic and here are a couple of resources that explore this inquiry further, should you be interested.

• How Much Nutrition Education Do Doctors Get? by Michael Greger M.D./Nutritionfacts.org
• Why Don't More Doctors Practice Prevention? by Michael Greger M.D./Nutritionfacts.org

Just because your doctor isn't discussing plant-based nutrition with you, doesn't mean you shouldn't or couldn't discuss this with your doctor. And by no means am I sharing these to challenge trusting the nutrition guidance of your doctor - quite the opposite! They may not have experience with plant-based eating or it may not be on their radar, so if you're curious about working with your doctor to try nutritional interventions, doing your own research and bringing it with you is a great first step to see how it can compliment your current lifestyle or treatment plans. Getting more doctors talking about plant-based nutrition with their patients is super important, in my book. 

Now that you have some resources to help you learn more about how plants have you're back, ready for Reason #2? Comin' to you soon. But first we'll have a few tips and cooking resources for plant-based and vegan feasting for the holidays in my next post.

Start Anywhere

Welcome to Plant Based Santa Barbara! I’ve created this site to be a community-based resource for loving and living plant-based foods. As you will see, if you visit my ABOUT page, plant-based living has been a super personal and powerful transition for me, and one that did not happen overnight.

Since being on this new plant-based journey, there is a lot that’s surprised me. I’ve learned that plant-based nutrition is about taking your very best shot at a long-healthy life. There are no guarantees in life, but plant-based living is about controlling what you can control - what you eat - and allowing food to guide your health, rather than relying on a "safety net" that your genes have already entirely pre-determined your future and medicine will fix anything that ails you.

Eating more fruits and veggies isn't extreme. Reducing or eliminating animal-based foods isn't extreme. Chronic disease is extreme. Being at the mercy of medicine is extreme. Getting to the point of surgical interventions would be extreme. Right? Shifting (however big or small) to plant-based eating is about prevention and nourishment. Not dieting. And actually, in general on Plant Based Santa Barbara, I’m going to do my best to pull the word "diet" out of "plant-based diet," just so what we’re talking about is not confused with a fad diet. Because plant-based nutrition should not be confused with a fad diet.

The scientific and anecdotal evidence for the benefits of plant-based eating is rapidly growing as are the risks of eating high animal protein diets. If you're at all interested in exploring vegan or whole food plant-based eating, from a health perspective, there is a lot that will likely surprise you too.  I encourage you to review and reflect on the resources I’m sharing on this site as a reference point to spark your own research and discussions with your healthcare provider and family, or to add to your own personal exploration. Before making dietary changes, especially if you have a health concern or condition, it is important to consult with your doctor first. But you can bring your own research and questions when working with your health care team and you are your own best health advocate.

It’s equally important to plan your approach to get a range of nutrients. Not every plant-based food is a healthy one (think potato chips and French fries, for example – but baked, steamed, or air-fried potatoes, yes please!). Our bodies thrive best when we eat the rainbow of plant-based foods (not just a few favorites). Start anywhere! One entirely plant-based meal a day or a week, Meatless Mondays, or start by cycling out certain animal-based foods one at a time and replacing them colorful plant-foods. Take steps that work best for you. 

To help you think about where you might choose to start, I thought I’d take this opportunity to highlight some of the resources I’ve shared on THE BASICS page under THE ROOTS and tell you a bit about their authors. Scouring the endless sea of nutrition articles and resources (and product marketing) can make understanding what’s truly a healthy lifestyle a daunting and confusing endeavor…. Locally, particularly early on in my journey, I didn’t find a lot in the way of plant-based resources so my guides have been primarily been from outside of our community. The tides, however, are turning my friends! More resources are popping up locally and I can’t wait to highlight and share these with you too. But a great first step of action in getting to know plant-based nutrition theory is getting to know the basics and building your resource library from there, so here we go :)... Following are some really great quick, go-to resources now online that can give you a well-rounded introduction if you want to know the basics but aren’t quite ready to pick up a book yet.

• The Power Plate by the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) & PCRM’s Vegetarian Starter Kit

The Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is like the north star of plant-based nutrition. PCRM’s community includes some of the most knowledgeable and committed promoting preventative, nutrition-based medicine and they fiercely advocate for new, better models in research that eliminate the exploitation of animals. I’ve seen PCRM President Dr. Neal Barnard speak on their mission, and he presents this powerful cyclical connection between how the animal-based foods we eat can make us sick… which makes us more dependent on medical intervention and research… increasing our “reliance” on animal-based studies to solve these pressing and complex health issues (and why these types of studies aren’t always likely the most applicable to human health)… and how the more we objectify animals for our benefit, the more this continues to feed into the mentality that eating animals is ok and necessary, which coutninues to build our likelihood for developing a host of chronic diseases. So, you get the idea, it's sort of this cyclical trap. By changing the way we eat, we could potentially save ourselves and save the animals unnecessary harm. The two articles posted above and in THE BASICS are really comprehensive ways to help you frame how to approach a whole food, plant-based diet.

• T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies' Whole Food Plant-Based Diet Guide

The China Study by T. Colin Campbell PhD and Thomas Campbell MD was the first book I referenced for understanding chronic disease and nutrition, and once I saw how important this lifestyle change would be, I signed up for a three-part course through T. Colin Campbell’s Center for Nutrition Studies and eCornell to make sure I understood this perspective inside and out. I think I spent the entire three months with my eyes stretched in shock. And what I learned underscored what I was experiencing. The Center for Nutrition Studies website gives the full story on T. Colin Campbell’s research on nutrition from his background growing up on a dairy farm, to his early research that spurred him to dig deeper into connections he saw between animal-based protein and the stimulation of cancer growth, and his full realm of research that demonstrates the very strong association between what we eat and many chronic diseases (click here and here for background on the study and Dr. Campbell, respectively). The China Study itself is a really important read, but these resources on the Center’s website will give you a quick-read guide to get you going on how to get started eating more plant-based.

• Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About a Whole Food Plant-Based Diet & Your Daily Whole Food Plant Based Guide by Dr. Rosane Oliveira/UC Davis Integrative Medicine

UC Davis’s Integrative Medicine department is committed to promoting a whole-person approach to medicine and specifically focusing on plant-based nutrition which they “believe is the number one way to successfully prevent, halt or reverse serious health conditions such as obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.” Dr. Rosane Olivera, the founder of the department, has a great public-centered blog with easy-peasy recipes to enjoy plant-based foods.

• Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics - "Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Vegetarian Diets"

The “world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals,” the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, recently published a position paper on the benefits of vegetarian, including vegan, diets. (Happy dance!!) Following is their position statement, but check out the full article in the link above for their full position.

“It is the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics that appropriately planned vegetarian, including vegan, diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. These diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, adolescence, older adulthood, and for athletes. Plant-based diets are more environmentally sustainable than diets rich in animal products because they use fewer natural resources and are associated with much less environmental damage.”

• VIDEO: Preventing & Treating the Most Dreaded Diseases with Diet by Michael Greger M.D. FACLM, NutritionFacts.org

And last, but most very certainly not least, is NutritionFacts.org under the leadership of Michael Greger MD FACLM. NutritionFacts.org has an endless supply of nutrition based videos where Dr. Greger and his team dig through the lastest in research to find WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH SAY! His site is nothing short of awesome and his video, “Preventing & Treating the Most Dreaded Diseases with Diet” demonstrates how research shows that many of the most common chronic, deadly diseases could be prevented and treated with diet. Amazing. It’s a great intro to the science behind plant-based nutrition and Dr. Greger’s got his own style (and book! “How not to Die”) that helps you easily guide through some complicated topics. (And if you appreciated this video, here’s one of Dr. Greger's earlier videos along similar lines that you may find interesting too, Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death)

Interested in a place to start but need more of a roadmap? Try a 21-day challenge! PCRM and UC Davis both have 21-Day programs that can help get you rolling.

• PCRM's 21 Day Vegan Kickstart

• UC Davis Integrative Medicine 21-Day Challenge

I can’t thank you enough for your interest in Plant-Based Santa Barbara and for starting here, on our first VINE post! To keep it up, come back anytime or sign up for our VINE e-newsletter. If you want to dig deeper into reading, please check out TOOLKIT for a compilation of books of various perspectives on plant-based nutrition and eating. The first books I read in transitioning to a plant-based diet were The China Study by T. Colin Campbell PhD and Thomas Campbell MD, The Veganist by Kathy Freston, and a host of resources from the PCRM. Each of these were eye popping and heart hugging information trips on why and how eating plant-based can be an intensely important decision for the future of your health, your family’s health, and the planet. But the library of options is huge now, and TOOLKIT can help you explore these and other books that may be of interest to you.

To further kick off the blog, I’ll be starting a series of “Top 10 Reasons to Eat More Plants” interwoven with posts on local eats and treats, local shopping, cooking ideas, local plant-based resources, eating with your Little Earthlings, health topics, impact topics, and more. Want to know more about the documentaries shared in THE BASICS? More to come on Forks Over Knives and What the Health in my next post kicking off “Top 10 Reasons to Eat More Plants - #1 Because Plants Have Your Back!”

With gratitude,

Beth