I’m wont to devour just about any vegan nutrition book I can get my hands on. It’s not just because I want to eat a healthy vegan diet, but also because I love to see data from all the newest studies that have been done and to learn about nutritional concepts that may be beyond the content in any other “go vegan!” book.
Even better than reading books is listening to the experts speak. I can still remember attending a presentation at the now-defunct NCOR (National Conference on Organized Resistance) by Michael Greger, M.D., the face behind those handy and succinct nutrition videos at NutritionFacts.org, and being fully engrossed in his every word. I wanted to hear more, more from him and other esteemed vegans in the health world.

I haven’t had many in-person opportunities, though the rise of online conferences like Veganpalooza are great to take advantage of. We have a huge Vegetarian Festival every summer here where I would have a chance to meet brilliant vegan minds, but the whopping price tag has kept me from attending so far. The speaker list (including the official gourmet vegan chef for the week) reads like a who’s who in the vegan world. One day, I’ll find a way to attend, and it will be awesome! I’ve heard nothing but good things from attendees, and I’ve heard many of the speakers before in online conferences. If you have the money to spare, I would definitely check it out.

George Eisman talks at events around the U.S. including the Vegetarian Summerfest in Johnstown. I met a friend of his last fall, and she said that because of my enthusiasm for vegan nutrition I’d really enjoy speaking with him sometime. When our local Meetup group announced a handful of his speaking engagements around the city that were free, I jumped at the chance to attend one.

My dad has been more and more interested in eating plant-based in the past few years, and I thought he’d greatly benefit from joining me at this talk. He was really excited to do so, too, and found much of the information extremely useful.

The talk was centered around eating for cancer prevention, but Eisman touched on other subjects especially when an unrelated topic came up during Q and A. He did a fantastic job at presenting complex scientific processes in an accessible manner, and even for someone like me who is no newbie to nutritional concepts, the talk brought up new facts and perspectives to ponder. I feel that as someone who would love to educate people about nutrition in the future, I have much to learn from his teaching style. I’m definitely going to let yesterday’s events marinate in my mind for awhile and take all that I can from it.

Here’s a summary of some important points that he touched on:
The beautiful design of a vegan diet. Whether you want to eat for the earth, the animals, and/or your health, a vegan diet is best for all of them!

Dairy is a no-no. The negative environmental impact of the dairy industry is large. The dairy industry is every bit as cruel as the meat industry, if not more so. Consumption of dairy will increase your risk for cancer and heart disease.

Goat vs cow dairy. Many people think that goat’s milk/cheese is healthier than that from cows, but goat’s milk has higher amounts of growth hormone than cow’s milk. Growth hormone encourages all cell growth, including the nasty cancerous ones!

What people should eat: Eat lots of leafy greens, brightly-colored fruits and vegetables, and unprocessed, whole plant foods. Organic and local are major bonuses.

Vegan deficiency. He dispelled the common myth that b12 deficiency is only a concern for vegans (and how it is becoming a problem largely because of the sterile environment we live in) and of course addressed the ever-annoying question, “But, where do you get your protein?!!”. He also expressed his thoughts about building muscle on a vegan diet. He referenced Robert Cheeke’s book Vegan Bodybuilding and Fitness, and explained that because an athlete is going to increase their calorie intake when they’re training, the protein intake will naturally increase too. In most cases, protein powders are not necessary.

The link between animal protein consumption and increased cancer risk. He described the process the body goes through as it breaks down protein, and discussed how too much protein, especially animal protein, can be hard on the kidneys and can, in the long term, cause significant calcium loss in the bones.

Osteoporosis vs Osteomalacia. Osteoporosis is from the bones weakening from the inside out due to bodily stresses like too much animal protein, being sedentary, caffeine, and smoking cigarettes (really anything that promotes an acidic environment in your body). Osteomalacia is the result of the bones softening due to calcium deficiency (also inadequate levels of phosphorus and vitamin d). This drives home the point that increasing calcium intake from milk or supplements is not an effective preventative measure against osteoporosis!

Full-fat animal milk vs. low-fat and fat-free animal milk. Pick your poison. If you want to increase your risk for cancer, drink fat-free animal milk (higher in protein), if you want to increase your risk of heart-related diseases, drink full-fat animal milk. If you want to lower your risk of both diseases, drink plant milks!

Oats vs wheat. Oats, unlike wheat, have both soluble and insoluble fiber. This is one of the reasons that oats are a better choice.

Fiber needs to be chunky to do its job. I could be wrong, but I don’t believe that he means to advocate the alarmist “green smoothies are bad for you” hype of last year, but only say that blending and grinding should not be relied upon as a sole source of fiber intake. Babies don’t need fiber (it’s not in breast milk) which one reason that pureeing food well for them is good for their digestion.

Are raw vegan diets healthy? Raw vegan diets can be very healthy as long as you don’t eat too many nuts/seeds and dried fruits. He mentioned that he likes the 80/10/10 diet and that he’s pleased that Dr. Graham is not rigid about excluding cooked carbs. (I like this inclusive approach, too. I mean, if your choice is to eat a bag of raw almonds or a plate of quinoa and steamed vegetables, the quinoa and veggies is a much more sound nutritional choice.)

It’s all about language. Someone asked him if he ever got in trouble for going into schools and promoting plant milks instead of cow’s milk. When speaking in schools or to a generally non-vegan crowd, he doesn’t use the “v words” but “plant-based”. Furthermore, he doesn’t say “animal milk” and “plant milk”, but just “milk”. Which milk is better for you if you want to have a healthy heart? Kids will get the gist of it without you having to throw adjectives in front of the word. (Personally, I don’t think we should step down from our vegan soapboxes, but sometimes a gentler approach like this is warranted, too. I think they’re both good as long as we can recognize which one will get our foot in the door first, and it’s always different. That’s why it pays to be conscious of your audience!)

Focus on the positive. When you put a positive spin on something, people want to listen. They want to improve their health and they want to feel good. (As I mention in the previous point, it comes down to the educator to decide if or when it’s the most effective time to address the negative side of one’s diet. And, it doesn’t have to be either/or! I’ve found it to be most effective for presenters to start off with the negative and finish off with the positive. This is just what George Eisman did at our presentation. He started off talking about the environmental impact of animal food, the depressing details of the meat and dairy industries, and how certain foods that people eat increase risk of disease, but moved on to the multitude of positives of a vegan diet. When information is presented in this way, you leave feeling empowered.

All that I have left to say about yesterday’s talk is that if you ever have a chance to hear George Eisman speak, take it!