This is How Dairy Affects Your Hormones. Get Ready to Ditch It Today!

By now, it’s common knowledge that non-organic cow’s milk is one of the worst choices you can buy at the store due to the excess hormones, antibiotics, steroids, pesticides and who knows what else it all contains. The food industry has tried to mislead us into believing that organic cow’s milk (and its products) comes with pure innocence and is made from cows that graze gracefully and happily in fields all day with the cleanest of air, water, fresh grass and more. Regardless that most none of this is true, cow’s milk is still one of the worst health food choices you can make for many reasons, no matter what kind of cows it comes from. The main reason is for how it affects your hormones.

All cows that produce milk are pregnant, organically raised, fed, etc. or not. It makes no difference that their milk doesn’t have added hormones considering that alone, cow’s milk contain over 60 different hormones without anything being added to it. Now, while all of us have different hormone situations going on, there is no logical research that says we need to take in added hormones from another mammal.

Why Ditching Dairy is Important for Your Hormones:

Cows are pregnant nearly 300 days of the year and Harvard Health shares that the more times a cows has been pregnant during that year, the more hormones she produces through her milk every time. Cows were not made to stay pregnant 300 days of the year and they develop infections due to this high demand for production, not to mention may be subject to further disease and bacteria when antibiotics aren’t used (such as in organic farming practices).

So, what about a cow’s hormones so detrimental to our own health?

Here are some things to consider:

1. Insulin Issues

One of the primary reasons dairy is linked to acne is that it raises insulin in the body. All dairy contains IG1, or insulin-growth factor. It raises our levels of insulin, which causes blood sugar swings that lead to acne. Acne is strongly influenced by hormonal changes, which is one reason so many teenagers struggle during puberty. Why would we put ourselves through that anymore than necessary? No matter what kind of dairy you choose, you’re taking in excess insulin growth like factor. Sadly, it’s promoted as a healthy option for body builders looking to bulk up, but over time, it’s not a healthy choice and will likely cause insulin problems that lead to overeating, sugar cravings, and poor blood sugar control.

2. Mood Swings

Dairy also contains hormones that can lead to mood swings. Estrogen and testosterone are our sex hormones, and when they get out of balance according to our bodies’ needs, we suffer mood swings as a result. Dairy milk promotes excess estrogen in the body due to it containing estrogen from female cows. At the same time, milk naturally contains androgenic properties, so it raises testosterone in the body and can cause bulking quickly. It’s absolutely chock-full of all these hormones we don’t need scurrying through out bodies. Think about it this way: the dairy you consume contains hormones from the female cow and the male cow that were used during impregnation. That doesn’t sound so healthy or appetizing, now, does it?

Dairy milk accounts for about 80 percent of estrogen consumed through the human diet, along with the fact that milk from pregnant cows (which is how all milk products are produced) contains about 33 times as much estrogen as milk from non-pregnant cows.

Mood swings inarguably happen due to swift hormone fluctuations and women aren’t the only ones to suffer. Men can too, which is one reason dairy isn’t a healthy choice for anyone looking to have a healthier, happy and more stable mood. How about some tastier, much healthier mood foods instead, all hormone-free?

3. Cancer Causing

The jury is in: milk causes cancer in any form, organic or not. Check this out: Harvard Health studies show that dairy milk and cheese products led to testicular cancer in men ages 20-39 and have been found to affect breast, colon, and prostate cancer heavily as well. And then there’s the casein protein found in milk that has also been linked to cancer. Even without hormones or even lactose, casein is a detrimental protein to our health and should be avoided however possible.

Help Your Hormones: Ditch Dairy

Sadly, the food industry would have you believe you need to consume milk to be healthy, but we know that’s not the case. Quit believing the lies around cow’s milk and have some other calcium-rich options instead, all free of these scary hormones.

http://www.onegreenplanet.org

Veterinarian Randall Cannon shares his knowledge about how to truly care for animals.

Randall Cannon is a veterinarian from Orlando, Florida. We caught up with Randall to find out his perspective on animals.

1-What inspired you to become a vegan?

My inspiration for becoming vegan was, without a doubt, the animals.  Any health and environmental benefits are a bonus.  I was raised in a family that hunted and hunted myself until I was 20.   Like most people, I looked at animals as a source of personal enjoyment whether it be for taste or sport. When I entered veterinary school, I cared for animals, but in a very selfish way looking at them more as a possession than a soul-I loved animals more for what joy they brought ME.

I was trained in the livestock industry and had full knowledge of the horrors involved in bringing animal products to the dinner table.  I was able to keep my blinders on and continued to eat meat and dairy for about 10-12 years into my career.  Somewhere along the way, my patients showed me time and time again that they were as special, if not more special, than humans.  They certainly have purer souls.  I began to look at animals as true beings deserving of all the dignity and rights afforded to humans.  I enjoyed steak immensely—filet mignon was my favorite.  After a good meal, I would be haunted by the vision of a cow’s eye, a beautiful trusting innocent cow’s eye.  The hypocrisy of working all day to save a dog or cat and crying when I couldn’t, but then coming home and eating a steak began to gnaw at me.  I gave up meats about 8-9 years ago, but continued to eat dairy and fish until about a year ago when I finally admitted to the horrors of those industries as well.  I now realize that I have no right to use animals for taste, fashion, convenience, and entertainment, nor can I sit idly by while animals are abused by us humans.

2-In your opinion, as a doctor, do you regard the vegan diet as healthy?

As someone with a medical education, albeit veterinary, I whole heartedly believe that a vegan diet is the healthiest choice for humans.  I did not make the switch to being vegan for health, but rather for ethical reasons.  The bonus for me has been much improved health.  I am 46 years old and I no longer require any cholesterol medications, am at my college weight and am in good shape.  When I consumed animal products, I suffered from severe indigestion and frequently would wake in the middle of the night to take an antacid, but since being vegan, that problem has resolved as well.  I encourage people to read The China Study to get an understanding of how bad animal products are for us.  I look at my vegan friends and I am always amazed at how young they look compared to the general population.

3- I find it very strange that there are not more vegan veterinarians around. Is my assumption incorrect that vets love animals and would therefore not want to see them suffer through the animals agriculture process?

I find this strange too.  As with most people, veterinarians are able to wear blinders and ignore what they know goes on in the livestock industry.  I have a continuing education meeting every month which is held at a steak restaurant.  I am the only veterinarian who orders a vegan meal.  I sit at the table with rapidly aging, overweight veterinarians who ask for their steaks rare…one even said that he wanted it mooing when it hit his plate.  I don’t mince words when I am at the table.  I don’t accuse them of being bad people, but I do point out the hypocrisy of specieism…that we work all day to treat dogs and cats, but could care less about the livestock, whales and dolphins in Sea World, circus animals, etc.  I almost always get asked the same stupid questions of protein, plant feelings, etc., but I bite my tongue and try to appeal to their hearts.  I hope there will be a day when veterinarians take the lead on animal rights instead of defending the very institutions that indoctrinated us into the notion that is our right to use animals.

4- Can animals such as our pet cats and dogs be vegan? What is the best diet for our pets?

As for vegan veterinary diets, I think it is safe to feed dogs a good vegan diet.  For cats, being true carnivores who require animal proteins, it is a different story.  I have no personal experience with vegan cat foods, but I will be looking into it.

5- In addition to your vet work, you are also involved in the animal right’s movement. Can you tell us a bit about what kinds of projects you get involved with and what you are doing currently.

Once I was able to remove the blinders and acknowledge the horrors of the livestock industry, eating a vegan diet just wasn’t enough.  I can not sit idly by while animals are born into a life of hell and then slaughtered for our tastes, convenience, fashion and entertainment.  I actively try to show people the reality of their choices and show them the hypocrisy of loving a pet while participating in cruel industries.  I am sure I offend many, but I always think to myself that I would rather offend them than to not stand up for the animals who have no voice.  I really do not care if I offend someone who really doesn’t care if he/she offends helpless innocent animals in the worst of ways.  Get over it and face reality.

I am also actively involved with the local animal rights group ARFF and frequently participate in protests at puppy stores, circuses, Sea World and the greyhound track.  I actively adopt out animals from my clinic and hand out vegan literature.  I believe that it is just not enough to care, you have to act!

6- Do you have any tips for us about how we can better protect our pet’s health?

Seek out a vegan veterinarian…they will always have the animal’s best interest at heart.  Give your pet plenty of love, exercise and fresh foods.  Learn about their diseases and problems.  Well-educated pet owners have healthier pets.

7- If you had a message for the world on behalf of animals, what would it be?

That is hard because I have so many messages.  I think the animals would want us to know that they are much more intelligent and aware than we give them credit for…that they feel emotional pain at the same guttural level as we do.  Stripping a calf away from her mother hurts her as deeply as it would for a baby to be stripped from a human.  Herding cattle down the slaughter chute evokes the same trembling and fear as humans felt in concentration camps being led to the ‘showers.’  It is not about superiority and who is more intelligent; it is about a sentient being experiencing suffering and pain.  I have witnessed first hand the suffering that goes on in the livestock industry…it is real and it is horrific.  Any veterinarian who tells you otherwise is either a liar or has a distorted view of suffering and killing.

8- Anything else you would like to add?

I have not met a vegan yet who went vegan because he/she did not like the taste of meat and dairy.  It really boils down to if you value your tastes, convenience, fashion and enjoyment more than the suffering and lives of those animals.  It really is that simple.  As hard as I work as a veterinarian to save animals’ lives every day, the truth is that you can save more lives than I ever can by just going vegan….no degree required!  The irony in all of this, humans killing animals, is that ultimately, our consumption of them is what is killing us. Karma.

Thank you so much Randall – you are an inspiration to us! 🙂

from http://www.vegansarecool.com

 

 

6 Reasons You Should Avoid Dairy at All Costs

Got milk?

These days, it seems like almost everybody does. Celebrities, athletes, and even former president Clinton’s head of Health and Human Services, Donna Shalala, are all proud to wear the white “milk mustache.” After all, everyone knows that you need milk to be healthy …

Dairy is nature’s perfect food — but only if you’re a calf.

If that sounds shocking to you, it’s because very few people are willing to tell the truth about dairy. In fact, criticizing milk in America is like taking on motherhood, apple pie, or baseball. But that’s just what I’m about to do.

Based on the research and my experience practicing medicine, I typically advise most of my patients to avoid dairy products completely. I like ice cream just as much as the next person, but as a scientist I have to look honestly at what we know. In today’s blog I will explore many of the documented ill-effects of dairy, and give you six reasons you should avoid dairy at all costs.

The Reason I Have Problems with the USDA Food Pyramid

I’m aware that my advice to avoid dairy flies in the face of the new, “up-to-date” food pyramid from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA’s pyramid recommends drinking 3 glasses of milk a day. What’s wrong with that? Well, for one thing, it’s not a recommendation that’s based on strict science.

Some of the “experts” who helped create the pyramid actually work for the dairy industry, which makes the US Department of agriculture’s recommendations reflect industry interests, not science or our best interests.

In fact, Walter Willet, M.D., Ph.D — the second-most-cited scientist in all of clinical medicine and the head of nutrition at Harvard’s School of Public Health — is one of the pyramid’s most vocal critics. He’s even called its guidelines “udderly ridiculous.” That’s not something a Harvard scientist says lightly.

But Dr. Willett is right. The pyramid just isn’t based on key scientific findings about health. In a moment we will take a look at some of the pyramid’s recommendations and why I disagree with them.

But before I dissect why the current food pyramid is harmful to your health, I want to offer a bit of hope. I recently attended a medical conference put on by Harvard Medical School and the Culinary Institute of America called Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives and met Eric Rimm, who works closely with Walter Willett at Harvard School of Public Health and is a member of the 2010 USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans Committee.

I asked him if he felt that science not industry would be shaping the new guidelines and he said there was now only one scientist with industry ties on the new panel and he was objective and agreeable to make changes when presented the data. I am anxious to see how the science matches policy but feel a ray of hope that for the first time in the history of our dietary guidelines we will see science predominate, not industry interests and that the language will be direct, clear and simple to understand for all Americans. The guidelines from the early 1990’s promoting the consumption of 6-11 servings of bread and cereals daily led to the pasta, carb, sugar generation and led to the largest epidemic of obesity in the history of our species.

Let’s hope the new guidelines for 2010 will guide us toward greater health, not an increasing burden of obesity, diabetes and chronic disease. The USDA food policy guidelines form the basis of the school lunch program and it has contributed to a tripling of obesity in children. Let’s hope we can serve up a different lunch menu for our children and our nation.

The simple idea that science should become policy is unfortunately one that has found little traction in Washington. But that seems to be shifting a little now.

Now back to why the last government guidelines from 2005 are harmful to your health!

1. Consume a variety of foods within and among the basic food groups while staying within your body’s energy needs.

Sounds sensible — but which food groups? If you choose dairy, meat, fats, and carbohydrates, the “perfect” meal could be a cheeseburger, milkshake, and fries with ketchup (potatoes and tomatoes are the two top vegetables consumed in America). Generic advice like that is pretty meaningless and potentially harmful.

2. Control your caloric intake to manage body weight.

Again, that sounds good, but as I wrote in my book UltraMetabolism, even the best-trained nutritionists and dietitians can’t come close to correctly estimating their own caloric intake in a day. Also consider this: Is it okay to consume all of your calories from cola or ice cream as long as you stay within my caloric needs? Of course not. So this is more useless advice.

 

3. Increase intake of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and nonfat or low-fat milk products.

Well, fruits, veggies, and whole grains are great. Milk — not so much. I’ll get back to that in a minute.

4. Choose carbohydrates wisely.

Who could argue with that? But how do they define “wisely”? The real advice here should be to cut down sugar intake from 185 pounds per person per year (what we currently consume) to less than a pound, avoid flour products (except as a treat), and stick to whole-food carbohydrates like vegetables, fruit, whole grains, beans, nuts, and seeds.

5. Choose to prepare food with little salt.

That’s not bad advice. But it doesn’t make sense if most of what you eat is packaged or processed foods that you don’t actually prepare. For most Americans who eat half of their meals outside their homes, this isn’t helpful. A better recommendation would be to avoid packaged, processed, canned, prepared, and fast foods (unless you know exactly how they are made).

6. If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation.

Sounds good — but if you’re usually drinking two bottles of wine a night, then one seems like moderation! I think a better suggestion is to limit your alcohol consumption to half a drink a day or 3 glasses a week (the amount that seems to have the most health benefit).

7. Don’t eat unsafe foods.

Of course you shouldn’t leave your egg salad out in the hot sun or toss your salad with hands that just handled raw chicken coated with salmonella. But the food pyramid guidelines don’t mention pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, or genetically modified foods, despite scientific evidence of their harm. Shame on the USDA!

You can see now why I have big problems with the food pyramid! Its guidelines try to sound sensible — while still protecting the interests of the food industry, the agriculture industry, and all of the lobbyists paying for the elections of the Congress. That way everybody’s happy …

But I’m not, and you shouldn’t be either. The public just isn’t served by this watered down, confusing, and useless pyramid. The next guidelines, I hope will be better, especially with independent scientists like Eric Rimm involved. Worse, some of the recommendations are downright harmful –like the one to drink more milk and dairy products.

The Truth about Dairy

According to Dr. Willett, who has done many studies and reviewed the research on this topic, there are many reasons to pass up milk, including:

1. Milk doesn’t reduce fractures.(i) Contrary to popular belief, eating dairy products has never been shown to reduce fracture risk. In fact, according to the Nurses’ Health Study dairy may increase risk of fractures by 50 percent!
2. Less dairy, better bones.Countries with lowest rates of dairy and calcium consumption (like those in Africa and Asia) have the lowest rates of osteoporosis.
3. Calcium isn’t as bone-protective as we thought.(ii) Studies of calcium supplementation have shown no benefit in reducing fracture risk.Vitamin Dappears to be much more important than calcium in preventing fractures.
4. Calcium may raise cancer risk.Research shows that higher intakes of both calcium and dairy products may increase a man’s risk of prostate cancer by 30 to 50 percent.(iii) Plus, dairy consumption increases the body’s level ofinsulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) — a known cancer promoter.
5. Calcium has benefits that dairy doesn’t.Calcium supplements, but not dairy products, may reduce the risk of colon cancer.(iv)
6. Not everyone can stomach dairy.(v) About 75 percent of the world’s population is genetically unable to properly digest milk and other dairy products — a problem called lactose intolerance.

Based on such findings, Dr. Willet has come to some important conclusions:

• Everybody needs calcium — but probably not as much as our government’s recommended daily allowance (RDA) and calcium from diet, including greens and beans is better utilized by the body with less risk than calcium supplements.
• Calcium probably doesn’t prevent broken bones. Few people in this country are likely to reduce their fracture risk by getting more calcium.
• Men may not want to take calcium supplements. Supplements of calcium andvitamin Dmay be reasonable for women.
• Dairy may be unhealthy. Advocating dairy consumption may have negative effects on health.
  If all that isn’t enough to swear you off milk, there are a few other scientific findings worth noting. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently asked the UDSA to look into the scientific basis of the claims made in the “milk mustache” ads. Their panel of scientists stated the truth clearly:
• Milk doesn’t benefit sports performance.
• There’s no evidence that dairy is good for your bones or prevents osteoporosis — in fact, the animal protein it contains may help cause bone loss!
• Dairy is linked to prostate cancer.
• It’s full of saturated fat and is linked toheart disease.
• Dairy causes digestive problems for the 75 percent of people with lactose intolerance.
• Dairy aggravatesirritable bowel syndrome.

Simply put, the FTC asked the dairy industry, “Got Proof?” — and the answer was NO!

Plus, dairy may contribute to even more health problems, like:

• Allergies(vi)
  • Sinus problems
  • Ear infections
  • Type 1 diabetes (vii)
  • Chronic constipation (viii)
  • Anemia (in children)

Due to these concerns, many have begun to consider raw milk an alternative. But that isn’t really a healthy form of dairy either …

Yes, raw, whole, organic milk eliminates concerns like pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and the effects of homogenization and pasteurization — but to me, these benefits don’t outweigh dairy’s potential risks.
From an evolutionary point of view, milk is a strange food for humans. Until 10,000 years ago we didn’t domesticate animals and weren’t able to drink milk (unless some brave hunter-gather milked a wild tiger or buffalo!).

If you don’t believe that, consider this: The majority of humans naturally stop producing significant amounts of lactase – the enzyme needed to properly metabolize lactose, the sugar in milk — sometime between the ages of two and five. In fact, for most mammals, the normal condition is to stop producing the enzymes needed to properly digest and metabolize milk after they have been weaned.

Our bodies just weren’t made to digest milk on a regular basis. Instead, most scientists agree that it’s better for us to get calcium, potassium, protein, and fats from other food sources, like whole plant foods — vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and seaweed.

So here is my advice for dealing with dairy.

6 Tips for Dealing with Dairy

• Take your Cow for a Walk. It will do you much more good than drinking milk.
• Don’t rely on dairy for healthy bones. If you want healthy bones, get plenty of exercise and supplement with 2,000 IU ofvitamin Ddaily.
• Get your calcium from food. These include dark green leafy vegetables, sesame tahini, sea vegetables.
• Try giving up all dairy. That means eliminate milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream for two weeks and see if you feel better. You should notice improvements with yoursinuses, post-nasal drip,headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, energy, and weight. Then start eating dairy again and see how you feel. If you feel worse, you should try to give it up for life.
• If you can tolerate dairy, use only raw, organic dairy products. I suggest focusing on fermented products like unsweetened yogurt and kefir, occasionally.
• If you have to feed your child formula from milk, don’t worry. The milk in infant formula is hydrolyzed or broken down and easier to digest (although it can still cause allergies). Once your child is a year old, switch him or her to real food and almond milk.

Still got milk? I hope not! Remember, dairy is not crucial for good health. I encourage you to go dairy-free and see what it does for you.

Now I’d like to hear from you …

To your good health,

Mark Hyman, MD

From http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/dairy-free-dairy-6-reason_b_558876.html

Emily Deschanel

Born Emily Erin Deschanel on October 11, 1976. She is an American actress, movie and television producer and has appeared in several movies, including Rose Red, Cold Mountain and Glory Road. She plays Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan in the television series Bones. Since the fourth season, she has also worked as a producer on the show.

Twenty years ago I saw a documentary in school called Diet For a New America that changed my life. I became a vegetarian that minute and worked on becoming a vegan, which I’ve now been for 18 years [2011].”

When asked why she’s vegan, she answered:

“Animals, earth, health – in that order.”

“One way I removed myself from participation and the cruelties that go on is that I became vegan and another is involving myself in organizations like Farm Sanctuary. … They do political work, they do outreach, they do education, and they are also a sanctuary for animals. It’s an amazing place to visit. You get to know these animals that are incredible and you wouldn’t want to eat them again.”

“I’m a supporter of Farm sanctuary, PCRM, and HSUS. My main concern is farm animals because it is such a huge industry. People don’t even know what they are supporting by what they eat. So I do what I can to get awareness out about that. I host events, give money and time, and write letters of support. With PCRM, I wrote a letter in support of the Great Ape Protection Act.”

When asked about why she got involved in the Great Ape Protection Act, she said:

“The act would end the use of chimpanzees in invasive research in the US. Right now there are about 1,000 chimps forced to live in labs where they are separated as babies from their mothers, kept in captivity, inflicted with physical harm, and isolated from other animals or humans. It is no way to live. Most of the apes who have been in these kinds of facilities show signs of physical and emotional trauma. These are such fantastic animals and we can’t let them live in pain like this. There are many alternatives to these cruel practices that don’t involve harming animals.”

She is also involved with PETA. When asked how she handles it that some people view PETA members as extremists, she answered:

“I understand why people think that. Sometimes PETA makes statements that seem pretty extreme, but it’s important to realize that many victories for the animals were aided by PETA. They are very savvy about using the media to get attention for issues that people may not otherwise be aware of. Even I don’t always agree with what PETA or other organizations do or say, but I understand their importance in the movement. If you don’t agree with any particular organization, you don’t have to work with them. Don’t let it stop you getting involved; you can support a less controversial organization like the Humane Society.”

She had her first child, son Henry Hornsby on September 21, 2011. When asked about her vegan pregnancy she said:

“I don’t think it’s any more challenging for me than for anyone else. You have to make sure you get all those essential nutrients. The real challenge for a vegan is getting vitamin B and omega-3s, but you can get those in a vegetarian supplement. I’ve increased my protein intake with beans and brown rice, and shakes made with almond milk and hemp powder. The funny thing is, I love kale and always used to put it in my breakfast shakes, but for some reason I can’t stand it right now.”

“Saying no to meat makes me feel stronger inside; I feel aligned with my morals and ethics. I still have to defend myself because people don’t understand it. As a pregnant woman especially, people will say to me, “You must eat meat and dairy.” You really have to tap into your self-esteem whenever people try to convince you you’re making the wrong choice.”

“I’m a total hippie, so we will co-sleep and breastfeed. My mom breastfed me for more than a year, and I can’t imagine doing it any other way. It’s cheap and much better for the environment, and you don’t have to lug all that stuff around. I’m not saying it’s for everyone, but I’m determined, even if it’s hard at first.”

“There was a study by the UN that shocked even me, a vegan for 17 years [2010]. It said the factory farm business was worse for the environment than all of transportation in the world combined—buses, trains, planes, cars, all of them. That is huge! Everyone is concerned about driving hybrid vehicles, but not many people realize that the food they eat every day is much worse for Mother Earth.”

“Right now most of the grains grown in our country are fed to farm animals. It takes a lot more grain to feed an animal over it’s lifetime before it is killed for food, than it does to feed that grain directly to humans. Not to mention the runoff from the factories which pollute water sources, like rivers. “

Quotes are from her 2007 interview with Women’s Health, , her 2009 interview with Health.com, her 2011 interview with Ladies Home Journal, her 2011 interview with FitPregnancy, , her 2010 interview with Vegetarian Times, her2010 conference-call interview with TV Tango, , her 2009 interview with ecorazzi.

George Eisman: Growth Hormones in Animal Products Equals Cancer

George Eisman, a highly respected vegan registered dietitian in the United States, will explain how consuming animal products causes cancer as well as how the animal agriculture industry destroys public health.
Mr. Eisman served as a faculty member in dietetics and nutrition at several universities and colleges and has worked in a children’s hospital and a nursing home, as well as for public health agencies in four states. He founded The Association of Vegetarian Dietitians and Nutrition Educators, is the co-founder and first Chairman-Elect of the Vegetarian Nutrition Practice Group of the American Dietetic Association, is the director of the Coalition for Cancer Prevention Through Plant-Based Eating and is also an Advisory Board Member of EarthSave International. Mr. Eisman is the author of two books, “The Most Noble Diet” and “A Basic Course in Vegetarian and Vegan Nutrition.”

I’ve been vegetarian for over 40 years now. And I’ve been vegan for about 28 years. And my life’s work is trying to make people aware of the connection between what they eat and their risk of diseases like cancer. And a vegan diet is by far the best way to lower your cancer risk.

There was a study done in Japan a few years ago that found when people in rural areas went from eating animal products just once a week to three times a week, the breast cancer rate went up by 70%. If you can find a drug that would lower people’s breast cancer rate by 70%, you could make a billion dollars. So all you have to do is get them to cut animal products out of their diet and it goes down by that much.

There were an estimated 12.7 million cancer cases diagnosed around the world in 2008, and this number is expected to rise to 21 million by 2030. Cancer is a term used for more than 100 diseases and is characterized by out-of-control cell reproduction.

To be healthy, the body needs a constant supply of new cells and their regulation is an orderly path of growth, division, and death. When this process is damaged, some cells do not end their lives as a normal part of the cell life cycle. These irregular ones grow uncontrollably and divide, forming a mass of abnormal cells. The complex mechanism of cell regulation is tightly controlled by growth hormones.

The best thing about a vegan diet, from a standpoint of cancer risk is that a vegan diet contains no growth hormones. Growth hormones are proteins that promote growth. And cancer is a disease of abnormal growth. So to put growth hormones in your body, when you’re trying to fight cancer or prevent cancer, is like trying to put out a fire with gasoline. It’s just going to make it worse, because it’s going to promote growth.

And growth hormones are animal products, because all the animals that are slaughtered for us are killed when they’re still fairly young, so they’re still growing. And of course, dairy products are meant to grow a baby calf into a thousand pound cow in a year, so they’re full of growth hormones. And eggs are full of growth hormones. So in order to get these growth hormones out of our diet, we have to go to a plant-based diet, and use plant-based milks and egg-substitutes made from plant foods, and of course, things like veggie burgers and tofu and other plant products in place of meat and other animal products.

Organic meats and grass-fed, non-hormone enhanced meats, still are full of growth hormones, because of the age of the animals. We don’t let them get old before we slaughter them, we eat them when they’re still young. So these growth hormones are in their bodies, whether they’re enhanced, injected with them, or they’re just naturally there. Those growth hormones are in our animal products that we consume. These growth hormones are proteins; they’re not fats. So if you eat low-fat meat and low-fat dairy products, it’s actually worse because they have more protein than they do fats, so they have more growth hormone.

Mr. Eisman learned about how dietary growth hormones cause cancer from the work of Professor Jane Plant, a cancer victim herself whose tumor went into remission shortly after she adopted a vegan diet.

I came across this book in 1999 called “The No Dairy Breast Cancer Prevention Program” by a woman named Jane Plant, who was one of the top scientists in England. And this book opened up my eyes to the link between cancer and dairy products, and as well as all other animal products. So dairy products are the one food that people think is healthy for them, and it really isn’t. It’s just as unhealthy as meat and chicken and eggs, because it has these growth hormones that encourage abnormal growth.

And that’s why she features this. And that’s inspired me as a dietitian, because we dietitians are also brainwashed into thinking that dairy products are necessary foods. And they’re not only not necessary, but they are not even healthful. And they actually shorten our lives by raising our risk of this deadly disease of cancer.

Let me tell you the story of Jane Plant herself. Jane Plant was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987. And after five operations, which she lost all of one breast and part of the other breast, she was told she had at most six months to live. Her breast cancer had spread to her neck. She traveled around the world to countries where breast cancer was not a common disease, and compared it to countries where breast cancer was a common disease.

And she said this pattern was very clear to her that the more dairy products, and actually other animal products as well in a diet, the higher the country’s rate of breast cancer. And so she gave up eating all animal products. And within a few weeks, the tumor on her neck started to itch, and it started to shrink. And when she went back to her doctor six months later, instead of being dead, she was cancer-free. And 15 years later she’s still writing books.

Why is it that not enough nutritionists and medical doctors know about this?

Well, first of all medical doctors are doctors of medicine. They’re not doctors of health, they’re not doctors of nutrition, they’re not doctors of food. They are doctors of medicine. My brother is a medical doctor, and he says, “We never learn anything about food. I learn about what each vitamin might do in your body, but I don’t learn about what foods they’re in. If someone, wants to get that vitamin, I prescribe a pill.”

And if you think about it, if people are healthy from what they eat, there’s not a lot of sickness and there is not a lot of business for the hospitals and the pharmaceutical industry. It’s not the doctors themselves, but the doctors are pushed by the pharmaceutical industry and the healthcare industry to treat disease and not to prevent disease.

Dietitians are not trained to prescribe diets. They’re trained to teach people how to follow diets that are prescribed by doctors. But the ideal diet is not something that is really pushed, because it’s not economically beneficial for anybody except the individual.

With much of the medical community not informed as to the innumerable benefits of a plant-based diet, it is no wonder the misconception exists that this diet lacks sufficient protein. However nothing could be further from the truth.

Most people think you need to have a lot of protein in your diet, and you really don’t need to have very much. Just a couple of ounces of a day is all you need. And it’s easily gotten from plant foods. And you don’t have to even eat things like soybeans, which are very high in protein. You can eat other beans, things like kidney beans, garbanzo beans, black beans, but also vegetables and grains and nuts and seeds. They all have adequate amounts of protein to meet our needs.

In the US, one can purchase a hamburger at a fast-food outlet for 99 cents. A study by the Center for Science and Environment estimated that the true cost of a hamburger in the US, including government subsidies to the livestock industry, the harm to public health from consuming beef and environmental damage caused by producing it is US$200.

What we really should stop doing is stop subsidizing the meat and dairy industry. We have these farm bills that pass every year, and meat and dairy get most of the money, that’s our tax money subsidizing those foods. They’re the unhealthiest foods. And those are the foods that should be the most expensive. Instead they’re the cheapest because of the subsidies.

Every farm animal is bred intentionally so if we stop consuming them, we can stop breeding them tomorrow and there won’t be millions of them to be producing all these pollutants that are destroying the atmosphere and polluting the water, as well as creating all this unhealthy food. We can stop the breeding of farm animals tomorrow.

On top of all the wonderful things that a vegan lifestyle brings to us in terms of health and well-being, it has many other beneficial effects as well.

But if we really care about our health and the health of the environment and the health of other people, and the health of the animals that we’re trying to spare unnecessary suffering, then a whole foods plant-based diet is a win-win-win situation for everybody concerned. We don’t get hurt, the animals don’t get hurt, the beautiful dog on your lap, and the cows, and the pigs, and the chickens, and the sheep, they have the same feelings that that dog does. And if somebody were to snatch that dog off your lap and try to eat it, people would be so upset. And yet we do that everyday with these other animals who have the same feeling of wanting to survive, of wanting to not be harmed.

Our sincere gratitude, George Eisman, for providing such essential information about the plant strong diet that ensures cancer-free, fulfilling lives. May you always enjoy utmost success on your noble path.

For more information on the Coalition for Cancer Prevention Through Plant-Based Eating, please visit http://www.CoalitionForCancerPrevention.org
Mr. Eisman’s books, “The Most Noble Diet” and “A Basic Course in Vegetarian and Vegan Nutrition,” are available at the same website and http://www.Amazon.com