Fan Girl

There are people who get excited about meeting their favorite athlete. Waiting in line for an autograph, looking for opportunities to see them play, excited to chat with them for even a minute.  For others, it’s singers, movie stars, or other entertainers. For me? It’s an 81 year old nutritional scientist! A man who changed my life — and probably saved it in the process.

As you all know, I switched to a whole food plant based diet almost 3 years ago. This switch was after reading “The China Study” by T. Colin Campbell and learning about the connection of animal protein to cancer, heart disease, diabetes, auto-immune disorders, and a plethora of other chronic illnesses. I had the pleasure of hearing him speak in February 2014 and, at the time, I was excited to have him autograph my copy of “The China Study”. I had made the trip to California specifically because HE was on the agenda.

Fast forward to November 2015 and I was so excited to have the opportunity to hear Dr. Campbell speak again… in, of all places, Scranton, Pennsylvania! Just a 20 minute drive this time!  My thanks to my co-worker, Patty, for bringing this speaking engagement to my attention. And here I am getting my second autograph, this time of his book, “Whole”.

 

 

 

 

 

I am super impressed with the University of Scranton and their exercise science program, who arranged the presentation. Even more impressive was the fact that one particular professor required her students to read “The China Study”. It’s encouraging to hear that people are becoming more open to the role that nutrition plays in our health.

While much of what Dr. Campbell spoke about was not new to me, having read both books, it was great to have the information reinforced and refreshed. Plus I took my husband and son to the event, and so their education continued, as well. Dr. Campbell explained the science behind how animal protein impacts both the initiation stage of cancer and the promotion stage. It’s a double whammy whereby animal protein allows more bad cells to initiate and then suppresses the body’s ability to clean them up.

I urge you, if you have chronic health issues, to watch Forks Over Knives and to read The China Study. It will change how you look at food forever.

*****

Speaking of food, I’m overdue for some recipes!

Meatless Loaf – I swore I posted this link previously, but I can’t find it anywhere. So if this is a duplicate, I apologize.  I will be making this meatless loaf for Thanksgiving. It is SO good that my son insisted we “add it to the list”.  I’ve made it twice; the only modification being that I used tomato paste and tomato sauce for the top, instead of ketchup. This truly has the texture of traditional meatloaf and was delicious!

Vegan Pumpkin Apple Muffins – I was trying to find a healthy breakfast option for Ethan before school. He had been eating Toaster Strudel for breakfast and I couldn’t handle the guilt of feeding him this processed crap. (I know you are wondering how this came to be in the first place!  But he likes sweet and we need quick, so it just sort of happened.) Anyway, I was on the hunt for a healthy recipe and found this one. I make a batch on Sundays and they last me the week.  The recipe makes exactly 12, and he eats two each morning. My alterations: I use 3 organic gala apples (3 because they are a bit smaller), and I completely eliminated the oil. It wasn’t missed at all.

Buffalo Falafel – If you aren’t familiar with Thug Kitchen, prepare yourself for the language. It’s pretty funny, but crass, so consider yourself forewarned! Patty shared this with me at work and I knew I would have to make it. Ethan and I love falafel, and the whole family enjoys a little spice.  I guess the last paragraph should have prepared me: “You can serve these spicy bastards in pita bread, on top of a salad, or howeverthef*** you want. I recommend some celery sticks to cool your ass down. Or f*** it. Go hard. Breathe fire. Frighten the villagers.” These suckers were stinkin’ hot!!!  I served them in pitas with lettuce, tomato, and celery. Ethan and I each ate 2 pita halves, each drinking 3 glasses of water. David, who is accustomed to hot, decided to frighten the villagers big time by adding extra sauce to his.  I thought I would have to take him to the hospital! 🙂  Perhaps it was because I used Tabasco instead of “cayenne based hot sauce”, or maybe they are just THIS hot, but next time, I’ll go easy on the sauce.

IMDb: Fan Girl (2015)