Plant-Based Nutrition

Weight. It matters. A lot. Although I’m obviously not a weight-loss guy, as I prepped for Energy 101 I realized that we needed to talk about Optimizing our weight. Enter, this class—which could more accurately be called Optimal METABOLISM 101. Fact is, if our weight is off, our METABOLISM is off. Specifically, our insulin levels (which disrupts another hormone called leptin that regulates our appetite). In this class, we take a quick look at why it’s so hard to Optimize our weight and how to make it easy (or at least a lot easier!).

Rip Esselstyn is a great guy. A former professional triathlete turned firefighter who transformed the health of his fire station with a plant-based diet, he shares his passion for life and nutrition in this great book. In the Note, we take a quick peek at the Engine II diet, challenge some crazy myths about food and learn how to deal with the root causes of many of our health issues.

This book is REALLY REALLY good. In fact, I’m gonna say that if you take the time to read only *one* book on nutrition, read this one. Integrating scientific research plus his experience treating over 10,000 patients with common sense and fun, Dr. Joel Fuhrman has created a super-readable book with a challenging, yet approachable nutrition program that can completely change your life. Big Ideas we explore in the Note include the importance of really committing, what nutritional density is all about and other goodness.

Caldwell Esselstyn is a former Olympic gold medalist and one of the world’s leading medical doctors specializing in heart disease. He’s successfully prevented and REVERSED heart disease with his plant-based diet and in this great book shows us how and why his approach works. If you or someone you love suffers from heart disease, this book is a *must read*!! In the Note, we’ll explore some Big Ideas on how to rock it.

Joel Fuhrman, M.D. is a nutritional science rock star. As one of the world’s leading medical doctors, he is leading the charge in helping us understand how nutrition impacts our well-being. Super Immunity is PACKED with goodness and, as the sub-title points out, provides us with “The Essential Nutrition Guide for Boosting Your Body’s Defenses to Live Longer, Stronger, and Disease Free.” In this Note, we’ll get our wisdom on as we check our Dr. Fuhrman’s food pyramid, learn about the power of cruciferous veggies (seriously amazing), get our GOMBBS on as we unleash our healing potential!

If you or someone you love is suffering from diabetes, this book is a MUST READ. Seriously. If you have diabetes, Dr. Neal Barnard and his team have developed a simple, effective, scientifically-tested program to help you take charge of your life and get your health back. In fact, Dr. Barnard’s program has proven to be THREE TIMES more effective than the American Diabetes Association’s approach to type 2 diabetes. (THREE TIMES!!) In this Note, we’ll take a quick peek at a few Big Ideas from this great book.

J. Michael Zenn’s The Self Health Revolution is a great little book written in a super down-to-earth and funny style by a guy who describes himself as just “an ordinary guy who discovered an extraordinary secret” that he now feels compelled to share with the average, ordinary people everywhere. In this Note, we’ll see that we are what we eat (your butt doesn’t lie!), learn why we should eat like a poor person and how to stomp our ANTs as we get our self health on!

RAVE = No Refined Foods + NoAnimal Products + NoVegetable Oils + NoExceptions +Exercise. According to Mike Anderson, it’s what all the leading Doctors who can reverse disease recommend for their patients. In this Note, we’ll explore some Big Ideas on how plants do a body good while milk does a body bad, the best approach to osteoporosis, why antacids are a joke how to best fertilize cancer (hint: just eat a lot of meat ;).

Energy, Nutrition, Modern Classic Michael Pollan is the author of a number of New York Times best-selling books on nutrition. In 2010, Time magazine named him one of the one hundred most influential people in the world. If you’re looking for a SUPER compact, witty look at the primary rules on how to eat well, this is it. It’s a fun, witty, concise guide to eating well featuring 64 food rules structured around Pollan’s seven words of wisdom: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. Big Ideas we explore include the 2 Facts of nutrition everyone can agree on, Rule #1, why low-fat made us fat, and the final rule (#64).

Michael Pollan is one of the world’s leading thinkers on nutrition. Time magazine voted him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. He’s also a Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley. One of the things I most love about him and his work is that, as a journalist, he takes a much wider, more objective view of the nutritional landscape—which can often be dominated by (and muddled by) individuals with *very* strong, dogmatic, inflexible ideologies. Big Ideas we explore: Nutritionism (vs. food), the big experiment (that failed), the Aborigine in all of us, the 5 fundamental transformations of industrializing food and Lucky Charms, Cocoa Puff and Trix cereals as health foods as per the American Heart Association. (<— Can you believe that? Crazy. And true.)

Brendan Brazier is a former professional Ironman triathlete who lived on nothing but plant-based foods—no meat, no dairy… just plants. In the Note, we'll explore some Big Ideas on how to optimize our diets and experience more vitality in our lives as we quit leaking energy, go for high net-gain foods and rock the alkalinity!