Here’s a link to a video clip of CNN’s Wolf Blitzer interviewing President Clinton about his recent weight loss due to his plant-based diet.
Clinton says:
I went on essentially a plant-based diet. I live on beans, legumes, vegetables, fruit. I drink a protein supplement every morning—no dairy—I drink almond milk mixed in with fruit and a protein powder so I get the protein for the day when I start the day up. And it changed my whole metabolism and I lost 24 pounds and I got back to basically what I weighed in high school.
He made this drastic dietary change to loose a few pounds but also to improve his cardiovascular health. He mentions heart health pioneer Dean Ormnish and others:
This movement has been led by a doctor named Caldwell Esselstyn
at the Cleveland Clinic, Dean Ornish
who you know out in California, the doctors Campbell (father and son) who wrote The China Study
, and a handful of others. But we now have 25 years of evidence and I thought that, well, since I needed to lose a little weight for Chelsea’s wedding, I’ll become part of this experiment. I’ll see if I can be one of those that can have a self-clearing mechanism—we’ll see…
I consider myself an omnivore, but I do believe that reducing the amount of animal products in our diets is a big step in the right direction as far as cardiovascular health and weight loss or weight maintenance goes. While a vegan diet may not be for everyone making small changes in one meal a day or even one meal a week can have a big impact.
How could you and your family experiment with this? Could you do meatless Mondays? Start your day off with a protein based smoothie? Experiment with different grains like quinoa?
I am always looking for healthy recipes by the way so send me your best quick and easy (and yummy) plant-based recipes and I will gladly post them!
*Here’s a follow up clip to the CNN Clinton/ Wolf Blitzer Interview above. Wolf seems VERY upset at the thought of never getting another glass of milk but seriously… This is great! If you have even a mild interest in how making small changes to your diet can improve your health, your mental state, your outlook on life. here you go…
Here are my favorite quotes:
Dr. Esselsteyn: “The body has a remarkable capability to heal itself”.
Dr. Ornish says “There is a spectrum of choices” regarding our diet. And that the very restrictive diet Clinton is doing is one option out of many that you and your family could choose to improve your health. He suggests you “start by making moderate changes”.
According to Ornish: “What you include on your diet is as important as what you exclude“.
Yay! What can you do this week to make a small change that improves your diet? Could you add more fruit to your breakfast? Add a salad to lunch and/ or dinner, or make your salad your main meal? Start with a mix of greens and some chopped peppers or a handful of chopped nuts, throw in some grilled fish or chicken, maybe sliced fresh fruit? Here in Portland figs are in season now as well as stone fruits like peaches. I’ve been making fruit salads with a little bit of mint and they are yummy!
Ok let me know what dietary changes you plan to make this week…