Changes In The Perception Of Plant Based Eating And How They’ve Helped You – By Author Brenda Davis

uh thank you so much and thank you steve i just um in awe of the amount of work that steve does to put on the this event which is just absolutely phenomenal i’m so honored to be here and i i now live in in calgary alberta which is a western part of canada and i have to say i need to update my my little bio for steve because i’ve written two books since that time kick diabetes essentials and the kick diabetes cookbook and i’m actually working on a 12th with a pediatrician right now called nourish and it’ll be out probably in the fall so uh today what i’m going to be talking about is getting it right meeting nutritional needs on a plant-based diet and i’ll just provide a brief outline we’ll actually touch on three specific questions the first are plant-based diets especially vegetarian and vegan diets actually safe and adequate number two how can we ensure sufficient nutrients so we’ll look at protein iron b12 omega-3 fatty acids calcium and iodine and the final question is we’ll address are there benefits beyond ourselves to eating plant-based so the first question are plant-based diets safe and adequate this man that you see here his name is dr mervin harding and he was one of the original pioneers of vegetarian nutrition research and i was at a conference it must have been in the 1990s when he said this and i thought it was quite profound attitudes towards vegetarian diets have progressed from ridicule and skepticism to condescending tolerance to gradual and sometimes grudging acceptance and finally to acclaim i can remember 40 years ago when i was in university we learned two things about vegetarian and vegan diets number one we learned that vegetarian diets are risky and not appropriate for those under 20 years of age or for pregnant and lactating women and number two we learned that vegan diets are downright dangerous for everyone that was 40 years ago attitudes started to change in the 80s people became skeptical like dr harding said they thought well it may be okay to be vegetarian if you’re super careful but be ultra cautious with vegan diets and at the time i was working in canada as a public health nutritionist the four food groups just like the basic four in the states were the foundation of nutrition education programs and i can tell you thankfully things have changed the academy of nutrition and dietetics position statement in 2016 is the following appropriately planned vegetarian including vegan diets are healthful nutritionally adequate and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases now listen to this these diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle including pregnancy lactation infancy childhood adolescence older adulthood and for athletes and this is the number one evidence-based resource in the world this is used by physicians and dietitians and hospitals all over the planet so this you can rely on and i i showed you canada’s food guide from several years ago in a previous slide well this is canada’s food guide today we have come a long way you can see half the plate fruit and vegetables a quarter of the plate is a whole grains and the other quarter is protein-rich foods and they’ve got a little bit of dairy and a little bit of animal products but they also these are all just options they also have lots of legumes and tofu and and nuts and seeds and so forth there is not a distinct dairy group anymore it’s not considered one of the essential four and this was a long time in the making and i’m i’m very proud of canada for taking the turn that they did but what you notice is things are changing