PlantPure Magazine December 2016

Volume 1, Issue 6

plantpure M A G A Z I N E

The Corporate Corruption of Academia Northern Arizona University Research Studies

~what we eat matters~

from the publisher

Welcome!

P

lantPure Summit 2016 has finally come and gone.

We are breathing a sigh of relief, especially the team that worked so hard on this, but also are feeling gratified by the positive feedback from many of the people who participated. It seems the Summit was a rousing success.

I thought about all this on my plane ride back from a recent conference, where I had the opportunity to speak.

In my talk, I made a number of points, but one that I emphasized at the end was the need for our community to come together in a spirit of collaboration. If we are to change the world around the idea of plant-based nutrition, we need to set aside our egos and narrow competitive interests, and broaden our vision to see the win-win possibilities that can come from joining hands with those around us. Only by joining together will we ever be able to launch the grassroots movement we all desire.

The Summit felt like a step in this direction. We felt a spirit of teamwork and camaraderie, so much so that we

have decided to do more of this sort of thing in the future.

We are currently considering strategies for how we might engage with other organizations and people in mutually respecting, win-win relationships. And one idea we are kicking around is the idea of providing more Summits, not only on behalf of PlantPure, but also for other organizations in the community. We like this idea of serving, collaborating and connecting with other groups. This is how movements begin.

Thanks again to all who participated in our Summit.

We hope this will be but the first in a long series of such events.

Nelson Campbell CEO & Publisher

Nelson Campbell CEO & Publisher

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table of contents Editorial Staff

3 Plant-Based Lunchboxes

Tips for packing a stress-free, easy plant-based lunch

4 Eating in Communion with Food

College student Carolina Arias shares what fuels her passion for a plant-based diet.

6 The Corporate Corruption of Academia

Lee Fulkerson discusses the consequences, and major influences behind the corporate corruption of Academia with Dr. T. Colin Campbell.

8 Plant-Based in College

Laura Campbell shares her advice for other college students on staying healthy and plant-based without sacrificing your money, time, or social life.

10 Avoiding Sugar...Yes You Can!

Susan Neulist on the many benefits of giving up refined sugar, and how she has maintained this for over 35 years.

12 Antonia Demas on Food Literacy Education

Antonia Demas, founder of the Food Studies Institute, discusses her work of almost 40 years, in food literacy education

14 Paving the Way for Lasting Change

Wendy Wetzel and her team at Northern Arizona University conduct a series of studies focused on sustaining a WFPB diet, and providing the tools for lifelong health and happiness.

Publisher Nelson Campbell Editor in Chief Amy Joy Lanou Editor Whitney Campbell Food Editor Kim Campbell Designer Nikkona Hildebrandt

The information presented in PlantPure Magazine is meant to be informational, educational, and inspirational, and is not intended as a substitute for personal advice or instruction by your health care professionals. Do not ignore advice from your health care professionals because of something you have read in this magazine. All opinions expressed are solely those of the writer(s), submitter(s), or quoted source(s), and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the magazine, its staff, its sponsors, its advertisers, and/or PlantPure Inc. PlantPure Magazine is not responsible for unsubstantiated claims made by recognized authorities, nor is it responsible for any claims made by advertisers in ads. Although the information within is carefully checked for accuracy, PlantPure Magazine, PlantPure Inc., the writers, contributors, advisors, sponsors, and any agents otherwise attached to the publication shall not be held responsible or in any way liable for any errors, omissions, or inaccuracies, either written or implied, for any reason whatsoever, including negligence.

Unless otherwise stated, all information included is the property of PlantPure Magazine and cannot be used, copied, or reprinted without express written permission. PlantPure Magazine is a publication of PlantPure Inc. and is published monthly, for distribution in the United States only. PlantPure Magazine, 101 E. Clay St., Mebane, NC 27302 USA. Š2016 PlantPure Inc.

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my PlantPure story

EATING IN COMMUNION WITH YOUR FOOD

Photo by Amy Lanou

by Amy Joy Lanou

T

alking in a bookstore and coffee shop called Firestorm, I asked Carolina Arias about her story.

She told me that becoming vegetarian, and then, really thinking about where her food comes from and whom it impacts was a process. At 15, Carolina decided to stop eating meat, in part, because

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she was a teenager and thought it was “this cool thing to do.” Growing up in Costa Rica on a cattle farm, the turning point for her was reading “What to Eat,” by Marion Nestle. It was this book that introduced her to the idea that she could “eat to be happy” and where she first heard about “factory-farming,” including the conditions many animals

raised for food are kept in and fish industry nets that clear cut on the bottom of the ocean. Although she set out reading it to find bodily perfection, she ended up choosing to be vegetarian shortly thereafter. She recalled one evening at 15 when her mom made chicken soup and she sat there looking at it thinking, “I don’t know about this.” Then she went on a weeklong backpacking trip where no meat was served and felt really good about it.

When she announced her choice to her family, her mother said that she would not cook separate vegetarian dishes for her. Interestingly though, it was only a short time before her mom was experimenting with vegetarian dishes and after she watched Carolina give a speech about her reasons for choosing not to eat meat her senior year in highschool, she joined her daughter in this quest to eat in communion with their food. During this time, Carolina knew that she would be going to the US for college and had decided to become entirely plant-based when she moved. She had waited to make this total shift because she felt it would have been too difficult given her family demands and the cultural context of Costa Rica.

Carolina’s activism had started early. Despite “trying not to be preachy” to friends and family, she organized an effort to get her school cafeteria to adopt Meatless Monday’s. She spoke with the food service director, who said she didn’t have vegetarian recipes and was resistant to the “horrible” idea of making one meal a week a vegetarian one, but Carolina was undaunted. She went away, did some research and printed out 100 easy and healthy vegetarian recipes to deliver to the food service director, using up all the ink in the printer. The school cafeteria did end up trying the Meatless Monday concept for a few weeks, but Carolina describes it as “a giant failure,” adding that they did not use her recipes and the meals were not nutritionally balanced. Her lessons learned from this? “People are pretty set in their preconceptions” about how new ideas might come out and can be “pretty intent on seeing that vision through.” Nonetheless, she related that her effort brought up a lot of important conversations.

True to her intentions, Carolina went vegan when she moved to the US to go to college. When she started, she gained 15 pounds thinking, part because she had the idea that everything made from plant components is healthy, included processed foods. But then she started focusing on whole foods from local sources, including from the community

gardens. She now feels she has “way more energy than a lot of my friends,” who eat more highly processed, convenience foods. Her focus is on seeking out variety in colors and flavors, choosing to put together dishes that are visually appealing.

Carolina remains active in social justice causes.

She recognizes that vegan lifestyles can be elitist, but she feels that it is important to acknowledge and act on ways of being vegan that are not elitist.

She goes on to explain that the amount of resources required to fuel people eating the Standard American Diet (SAD) is “a type of theft.” And eating this way is also fueling soil degradation, water scarcity, climate change and, as such, is “one of the greediest and most consumptive forces requiring a massive amount of resources.” She says that her being plant-based is consistent with her values.

Her energy for supporting community gardening, she relates, evolved separately from her choice to not eat animals. Fueled by her anger that our food has become so laden with chemicals, she decided to put energy into trying to get people to make food the center of their lives. She says, if we did that, “we’d have to be in contact with the food you are growing…and we would have to slow down…”

Managing a community garden and working for a community garden network in her town is one way of resisting “food that has become toxic, corporate interests that decided that cheap food is better, and processing food to the point of making us sick.” She notes that as she became involved in community gardens, she was eating food that was so good for her and becoming a healthier person.

Now she is “seeing those two worlds coming together” and feels okay about it. She explains that “being in communion with your food is so much healthier in every way.” You can be in communion with your food, by growing it, knowing it, and also by not “making invisible the suffering of other beings with our willingness to wreck havoc on earth to feed our desire for taste.” In other words, people can make choices to disengage from an oppressive food system and enjoy the benefits of doing so in very tangible ways.

Over the years Carolina’s reason for not eating meat has changed. She says, “I can’t meat at all because it comes from a sentient being. It disturbs me to eat its body. I don’t care about the logic behind this. In a very deep emotional way, the idea is disturbing. And that is enough.”

“I feel so good about my choice, always…it has been 6 years.”

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THE CORPORATE CORRUPTION OF ACADEMIA

by Lee Fulkerson

I

recently had an opportunity to speak with Dr. T. Colin Campbell about the role of academia in the promotion of “science” that’s biased toward the food and drug industry. It’s a subject he covers in detail in his latest book, Whole. Not surprisingly, he has strong views on the subject, especially given that he spent much of his career on panels of experts that were tasked with providing the American public with completely unbiased scientific information.

His first assertion was that, of all the different sectors of our society that communicate scientific findings to the public— industry, government, the medical establishment, pharmaceutical companies, etc.—“I now have come to the conclusion the most irresponsible sector in our society participating in this is academia.”

Given that academia has traditionally had the role— and responsibility—of providing the public with honest and unbiased information on scientific issues, this development—if true—would be highly disturbing to say the least.

Adding weight to this assertion is the fact that Dr. Campbell has seen it in operation, up close and personal, so to speak. “I’m an academic. I’ve been in the business all these years.” He continues, saying, “What really annoys

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me about academia is that when we form policy committees, they can make decisions. They can influence public opinion to a great extent.” However, they fail in this role, mainly because “the people who chair those committees, often have relationships with a company or industry, whether it’s the dairy industry, or the drug industry, or whatever. So they pick other members of that committee who share that view.”

One specific example cited by Dr. Campbell centers on the diet, nutrition, and cancer committee that he served on in the early 1980s. One member of the committee was also the head of the Nutrition Alliance at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). It should be noted that the USDA was formed in 1865 with the primary mission of promoting the interests of American farmers, including those corporate farmers raising livestock and the grains used to feed livestock. Based on his years of research, Dr. Campbell attempted to have the committee acknowledge the role of animal protein in the promotion of cancer. But the member affiliated with the USDA strongly objected, based on the fact that doing so could have a negative impact on one of the USDA’s most influential constituents, the livestock industry. As a result, Dr. Campbell’s proposal was dropped.

eroding. Dr. Campbell explains, “Right now, for example, 70 percent of the teaching faculty at universities are non-tenure-track positions. That means they can be fired tomorrow if they don’t say the right thing.” In the past, those percentages were essentially reversed. If this trend continues, in the near future academic freedom in our universities will become a dead letter. And even those 30 percent of professors who are on a tenure track are severely constrained. “They’re only on the track. So they have to play the game, too, because if they don’t, they’re not going to get their tenure. So now, those of us who are full tenured professors, we’re just basically in the minority. We’re the only ones left who can do the shouting.”

The bet here is that if there’s one thing we can depend on, it’s that Dr. Campbell will continue shouting—as loud and as long as he can.

Photo by T. Colin Campbell

As seen by Dr. Campbell, a major contributing issue is the now-common role of food and drug companies in funding scientific research on college campuses. “I’m a free-market guy. But in this case, it’s gotten out of hand.

They’re not paying off people in the old-fashioned way, under the table. They don’t really do that. It involves subtle power, and involves the industry having influence at the institutional level. You know they can fund research that contributes to larger policies. I mean, their main influence is, I think, at that level.” According to Dr. Campbell, it only takes a small percentage of researchers in academia accepting corporate funding to taint the lion’s share of the research being done by an institution.

Says Dr. Campbell, “I’m really pissed because that’s really what is happening. Academics have a responsibility to tell the truth. That’s what they’re there for.”

Some particularly ironic developments can be seen at Cornell University. It was here, in upstate New York, where Dr. Campbell not only obtained his Ph.D., but also where he did his groundbreaking nutritional research as a professor over a period of three decades. The campus now features a building constructed with $106 million donated entirely by the dairy industry. It contains an amphitheater officially named the “Pepsico Auditorium.”

Adding a touch of the absurd, entrance to that part of the campus leads through a gateway shaped like a giant milk bottle. “So we live within this really crazy system that has been so distorted by, I have to say it, excessive, really excessive capitalism.”

To combat this system requires a cadre of courageous academics who are protected by the tenure system. Generally speaking, tenure is a status earned by a professor after a trial period, often lasting several years, that gives that professor protection from summary dismissal. This, theoretically, allows tenured faculty to express thoughts and opinions—and to conduct research—that conflicts with accepted norms without fear of reprisal. Dr. Campbell was almost unique in receiving tenure from the time he was hired as a professor at Cornell, without having to undergo the usual waiting period. He has since made excellent use of this academic shield. “That’s where I get more courage, I suppose, to say whatever I feel like saying. Because I’m really speaking for a lot of people I know, who happen to agree and can’t speak.”

Tragically, however, this age-old system is rapidly

Dr. Campbell’s office as a graduate student (195661) in Stocking Hall, also called the “Dairy Science Building.” This new renovation cost $106 million, opened in 2015.

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PLANT-BASED IN COLLEGE

by Laura Campbell

C

ollege dining can be challenging, but with a little creativity and knowledge, any student can evade the ‘Freshman 15.’ Seeking out resources and tips from your school, WFPB websites, and even smartphone apps, can help you take on a college lifestyle with confidence and vitality.

For starters, college will truly test your self-control.

You need to be disciplined and mindful regarding food and exercise. Gone are the days when you would practice a sport every day after school, then come home to healthy food provided by your family. When you enter college, you start making your own lifestyle choices.

There are no nagging parents to remind you to get enough sleep and eat your vegetables at the dinner table. Instead, you have an unlimited supply of dining hall junk food at your fingertips. The hard and cold truth is simply that you need to learn self-control and take responsibility for your choices.

Establishing a routine and staying disciplined is easier said than done. The only way to truly follow through with that is to understand how you can eat healthily as a freshman living in a dorm. Most freshman are required to live in a dorm room, and while it seems impossible to cook your own food, there are certainly ways to get around your lack of kitchen space. My biggest tip is to bring a crockpot to school.

You can cook anything this way, from split pea soup to oatmeal to peach cobbler.

You don’t need a stove, oven, or microwave to cook your meals if you have a crockpot.

Just dump in all the ingredients, set the temperature to low, and when you get back from class in the afternoon you’ll have a hot, healthy meal.

Of course, you probably don’t want to spend a lot of money on groceries if you’re already paying for a meal plan. You should absolutely get your money’s worth.

If you’re eating with friends, in most dining halls

I think we often forget the sole purpose of food, which is to provide fuel for our bodies.

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you can find rice, beans, fruit, and steamed vegetables. And you also can use the dining hall as a grocery store rather than a sit down cafeteria. At my school cafeteria, I would bring in a ‘to-go’ box and fill it with ingredients that I could cook with later. One of my favorite things to do was to fill it with fresh vegetables from the salad bar. I would take it back to my place and use it to make stir fries and soups. You also can take things like whole wheat sandwich bread, peanut butter, hummus, and rice. A dining hall can be a really great way to supplement your meals at home.

Food also has a strong role outside of nutrition. In fact, I think we often forget the sole purpose of food, which is to provide fuel for our bodies. One thing that is visible across cultures on a global scale, is the symbiotic relationship between food and social interaction. When you enter college, this concept will be magnified. You’ll be invited to many late night fast food runs and outings to local restaurants. It might be hard to fathom maintaining a WFPB diet while also attending so many food-oriented social events, but it’s actually very possible. At most restaurants, you can tweak the menu and create a vegan meal out of nearly anything. I, for one, am the girl who orders the chicken salad without the chicken. I often ask for tofu or beans to replace the meat. You can order pizza without the cheese, but extra toppings. I recently had a friend ask me if I wanted to go to the local taco truck with him, and he was shocked to learn that I am vegan. “Why did you even come? How are you going to eat anything?” he asked. It hadn’t even occurred to him that I could simply have the beef replaced with something else, like beans or extra guacamole. You can go to nearly any restaurant, and with a little creativity, conjure up a great meal. As for the late night fast food runs, I don’t suggest attempting to create a healthy meal out of McDonald’s. You don’t have to skip the outing all together, though. There is nothing wrong with attending and not ordering anything.

After all, your friends invited you for your presence, not to watch you down a McFlurry and fries.

While all of this information might seem overwhelming at first, it won’t take long before it’s just a simple way of life. There is no need to count calories and go to the gym for two hours a day. Just focus on appreciating your body and giving it the care it deserves, and the rest will fall into place. College is just as fun without the midnight ramen and dining hall ice cream, I promise!

Photos by Laura Campbell

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AVOIDING SUGAR...

YES YOU CAN! Susan Neulist on the many benefits of giving up refined sugar, and how she has maintained this for over 35 years.

by Susan Neulist

I

am proud to say that I have given up eating sugar (and white flour products as well as honey, high fructose corn syrup and all other products which act like sugar in the body) for over 35 years. Here is a little of my background to help you understand why I would attempt this.

I was very overweight in my 30’s and after many weight losses and gains, I finally decided to do something more drastic and it was at that time that I gave up sugar in all forms. Now, after these many years I have maintained my optimal weight, but more importantly, have enjoyed a healthy, active and adventurous life.

The scientific community has written widely on the negatives of eating sugar so I will not address these points. My original reason was weight loss, which I did accomplish (along with the lifestyle changes of eating less and exercising more) but I was not prepared for the other benefits which I continue to receive.

I believe that many in our society are addicted to sugar and other sweeteners. And, I think this addiction is perpetuated by industries who benefit from the fact that if you like something and then become addicted to it, you will continue to eat more and more. This of course, by design, increases the wealth of the particular company.

If you are one of the people who can eat a sweet cookie or piece of candy and not return for more then you are probably not one of us addicted folks. However (and you

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need to be extremely honest with yourself), if you eat one sweet item and continue to return to the refrigerator, shelf in the pantry, store or bakery for more then you can join the ranks with those of us who are. Yes, many can manage with a few sweets here and there, but many cannot. So, for me, cutting out all sugar was the way to go.

You might think that this is impossible. What I do is read all labels when purchasing processed foods to make sure to eliminate sugar and sweet ingredients. I do allow myself all kinds of fruits, which tend to be sweet (in moderation), and stay away from all baked goods, unless they are clearly marked as sugar-free. I have to be careful, though, as many vendors will list “sugar-free” on their package when in fact they contain honey, other syrups, etc. Have I ever had sugar in all these 35 years – yes, I am sure I have, but never when I can read labels or ask questions. I know I am extreme, but it has afforded me feeling good about myself for a long time and keeps me free of some of the issues related to sugar consumption.

A big issue with sugar for some is the desire to binge.

Like an alcoholic who begins with one drink, many with a sugar addiction begin with a small amount only to find themselves binging or eating out of control. Stopping completely was the answer for me.

Another negative is the fact that sugar provides NO nutritional value and is high in empty calories. Eating a

balanced diet of plant-based foods, high in nutrients will support your health and help to maintain weight. I now think to myself that there is no sense in eating empty calories when there are so many delicious plant-based foods with high nutritional value.

Sugar robs the body of energy. Have you ever eaten sweets and felt the quick jolt only to find a complete letdown sometime later, as you go into a sugar haze - which is similar to the effects of certain drugs on the body and mind. With living a busy and overfull life, my thinking is that I do not want to waste my precious time feeling less than 100% in this type of haze.

Many will wonder how to remove sugar from their diet. I think an important point to realize is that our taste buds do change when we change our diet. It may take

Once you have cut out certain items, you begin to taste your foods in a different way. several weeks to a month to notice, but once you have cut out certain items, you begin to taste your foods in a different way, no longer craving those items that you once did crave. Once you have changed your taste buds for sugar you will no longer desire sweets and will enjoy the special taste of plant-based foods. One way to treat yourself is to try some new and delicious fruits and vegetables. Why

not head to the local farmer’s market or grocery store and pick something you have never tried and see how the taste buds react? I have found these beautiful and delicious fruits at our local markets in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, but I know you can find them in many of your local stores as well when the season is right.

These have been my experiences. I can truly say that if I can give up sugar‌.I know that you can too. Just set an intention and with diligence and planning, especially in the beginning, I know you can do it. You can remember that I am out here cheering for you every step of the way.

We would love to hear of your successes at Plant Pure Magazine so make sure to send us a note at editor@plantpuremagazine.com.

Top-Right: Caimito Bottom: Rambutan photos by Susan Neulist

About the Author: Susan Neulist is an artist, traveler, cooking instructor, activist for compassionate living and a blogger. She resides most of the year in San Miguel Mexico. If you’d like to read more from Susan Neulist, check out her travel blog about food adventures she writes with Amy Joy Lanou: vegan-food-adventures.blogspot.com

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ANTONIA DEMAS ON

FOOD LITERACY E D U C AT I O N

by Whitney Campbell

A

ntonia Demas has passion for kids and food, which came from her Italian background. She learned from her grandmother the Italian attitude about food, gardening, and beauty.

Her involvement with food and kids began when her son was born 47 years ago in Vermont.

It was during this time that she began volunteering at a large Head Start Daycare Center so she could expose her son to other kids. As a volunteer, she noticed that the food being served included things like hot dogs and hamburgers.

She was a health conscious vegetarian at the time and knew that these foods were lacking in nutrition, so she decided to take it upon herself to introduce the kids to healthier food by developing cooking and nutrition projects for them.

Rather than simply making changes to the food being served, Demas worked with both the cooks and the children, implementing hands-on education projects around healthy foods. She quickly learned that if the kids had a hand in preparing the food, they would eat it. She says, “I knew I was on to something really important, because it was always the case that if the kids had fun, and you weren’t judging them, they would eat what they prepared.”

The daycare center then hired Demas, where she continued to cook with the kids every day. In the process, she developed a large body of work using food to teach science, math, art, music, and anything academic that could be integrated.

And she’s been doing this ever since.

Demas went on to spend 25 years doing this in various capacities - as a volunteer, a consultant, and in working with kids in other countries. In all this work, she continued to see the positive association between engaging children with their food and their eating behavior. She

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also saw great benefits from kids eating a plantbased diet, especially a reduction in behavioral problems. This observation had serious implications in an academic environment, yet she wasn’t being taken seriously by some of the educators. It was at this point that she went on to get her Ph.D. at Cornell University, in order to test and prove that her observations were indeed scientifically correct and that food literacy education can improve health, behavior, and academic performance.

Demas did her graduate research at Trumansburg Elementary School, in upstate New York.

She divided students into an intervention group and a control group. For the intervention group, Demas taught weekly lessons using food to teach academic subjects. These lessons all revolved around healthy USDA commodity foods (free foods from the government provided to schools), getting around the notion that feeding children healthy food is too expensive. Healthy foods like walnuts, bulgur wheat, brown rice, and lentils are sometimes on the USDA list, even though they are almost never served in school lunches.

Her research proved that kids would eat the healthy food if they were familiar with the food.

Kids who aren’t adventurous with their food are, according to Demas, “just being sensible; it doesn’t make sense to eat something if you know nothing about it.” So she took those foods – like the lentils – and developed units of study around them, where the kids learned about these foods from cultural and historical perspectives, and learned recipes to go along with them.

Within a week after lessons were taught to students in the intervention group, the food was served as part of the school lunch. Each child, including the control children who had no prior experience with the new recipe was served a

Photo by Food Studies Institute

Photo by Food Studies Institute

portion of the new food which was weighed before it was served and again when the children were done eating and returned their trays. Throughout the entire year the control kids rarely, if ever touched the unfamiliar food, and the intervention kids ate up to 20 times as much, having had a positive association with the food and recipes through their classroom experience. The solid evidence and clarity that these results provided laid the groundwork for her “Food is Elementary” curriculum, which has now has been used in 3,000 schools, in over 33 states and abroad.

This curriculum however, doesn’t end with the kids; it includes the parents as well. The key to these parent-child events Demas says, is that these activities have to be fun, and parents cannot be made to feel as they though they are being targeted because they’re ignorant about nutrition, because then they are less likely to participate.

Demas also suggests that this education about healthy eating should extend to cafeteria workers.

She says cafeteria staff can actually be the greatest advocates when they’re educated on serving healthy food.

This experiential education can also take place in the home, and is a great way to prevent the “picky eater” problem. Demas says that, “once you broaden children’s palates at a young age, that memory is always there, and they’re more likely to be more adventurous as they grow older.” One of the things she has been struck by over the years is the number of kids who like raw garlic and hot peppers, which she says “seems surprising at first, but when you think about it, in different countries, that’s what kids sometimes are weaned on to, which is very healthful if you live in a place with poor sanitation and bacteria.”

The way you introduce foods, the foods you have in the house, and the foods you don’t have in the

house are all important factors in dealing with a picky eater. A common misconception, and something Demas says that kids hear over and over again, is that “kids hate vegetables,” which can greatly influence a child’s behavior. Language, she says, really does matter, and it’s too often the case that adults bias kids to be negative about eating certain healthy foods, often without realizing they’re doing it. Having positive, and fun food experiences at home can include things like going to the farmers’ market and letting the child pick out different foods, gardening, and cooking together.

If you’re a parent, educator, or simply a community member wanting to get involved in food education in schools, Demas recommends first getting a group of people together that want to advocate for food education, and then raising money to do a pilot program. You can learn more about the “Food is Elementary” curriculum by visiting The Food Studies Institute (FSI). Any donations to the FSI, large or small, are also welcome and greatly appreciated. Donations are to a not for profit, and tax deductible.

In addition to her work at the FSI, Demas is also the co-author of “Surprises in Millie’s Suitcase”, a children’s book focused on preventing and reversing type 2 diabetes. With a forward written by Dr. T. Colin Campbell, the book will be out in time for the holiday season, followed by another children’s book about cooking and gardening activities. Surprises in Millie’s Suitcase will be published by Sunstone Press, with co-author and illustrator Katherine Orr.

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Photo by Wendy Wetzel

PAVING THE WAY FOR

Lasting Change

by Whitney Campbell

Wendy Wetzel and her team at Northern Arizona University conduct a series of studies focused on sustaining a WFPB diet, and providing the tools for lifelong health and happiness.

J

ay Sutliffe PhD RD , along with his team, Wendy Wetzel, RN, MSN, FNP, Michelle Gorman RN, and Tricia Fortin MPH, have worked together to bring a WFPB diet to employees at Northern Arizona University, in conjunction with Northern Arizona Healthcare. The team is conducting a series of studies, titled “Community Chronic Disease Prevention” (CCDP) as part of their employee wellness program.

The studies track participants’ biometrics, before and after, and provide support and instruction along the way.

Their pilot program lasted six weeks, which they felt was too short to see big changes and to create long lasting habits. While the pilot study had three levels of compliance, the second study (CCDP2) had one, which required participants to limit animal protein to 4 oz. or less per week, and to limit oil products to only 1 tablespoon. This second study, which lasted 12 weeks, had tremendous success with participants, and altogether, the group lost 989.75 lbs. The third study (CCDP3) was 9 weeks, with 55 participants, who lost, on average, 9.9 lbs., and experienced a decrease (on average) in blood pressure from 130/80 to 125/70.

The main goal of these studies, however, isn’t simply to collect numbers. The team’s focus is on

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providing the needed tools in order for participants to sustain a WFPB diet past the study time frame, and finding the optimal number of weeks to fully engage participants. Wendy says their biggest research question is, “What’s it going to take to really flip the switch?” Curently, they are preparing for their next study, the “Nutritarian Women’s Health Study, set for late 2016. The local studies, however, will continue to rotate every couple of months. The team hopes to eventually bring a WFPB lifestyle to the city of Flagstaff.

A large area of focus in these studies is the mental and emotional aspects involved in the transition process. Aside from the “how-to,” participants that do well and follow through need to feel that they are worth it, making self-awareness, goal-setting, and self-esteem vital to individual success. Talks by guest speakers often focus on goal-setting, mindfulness, and “grieving” foods that aren’t in the diet anymore. Wendy says that people come to them in many stages of self-realization, some for health, some for weight loss, and some because they know they are on the wrong path for a lifetime of vitality. An important topic in one of Jay’s lectures is what he calls, the “Prongs in the Plug.” Jay asks participants to consider how many “prongs” they have in the plug, and

whether these prongs are enough to “flip the switch.”

Health/weight loss may not be enough, which is why spiritual connections, family support, medical support, exercise tolerance, overall well-being, and lowering cholesterol are all components that motivate participants to sustain the lifestyle. He makes the point that we aren’t one-dimensional people, which is why we can’t focus solely the physical aspect of health – we’re multi-dimensional people with different issues, and stressors. In addition, participants are given a series of videos, which include cooking demos (done in Wendy and Jay’s own kitchens), and topics such as gut health, getting started, and navigating the grocery store.

In just 9-12 weeks, many participants have experienced significant and life-changing results. Some people have dramatically reduced blood pressure medications (some going down 50%), lost up to 40 lbs., and most importantly, they’ve been given the tools for success. Wendy’s advice for those starting out on their own is to watch Forks Over Knives and PlantPure Nation, saying this gives you a start, and from there, find an active Pod or other support group, and perhaps most importantly, find a buddy or good friend who you can share recipes with and provide mutual support. She says, “having a best friend to share and taste recipes is what’s most important.”

Jay and Wendy are the co-investigators for the coming Nutritarian Women’s Health Study, a national, long-term program that will follow women who adopt a WFPB diet over time. After a 30-day educational program, participants will be followed with extensive health and dietary questionnaires over time. A longitudinal observational study, the goal of the Nutritarian Women’s Health Study is to have participants make a commitment over a 30-day period, and follow them every year or two with blood tests and extensive questionnaires. They have many great results and success stories to come, so stay tuned for future updates.

About the Team: Jay Sutliffe PhD RD started his journey in 1990 while he was completing a dietetics internship and master’s degree. He was trying to determine the best way to advise his clients in optimum nutrition and discovered the simplicity and power of a plant-based diet, and wondered why this was not common knowledge. He started with his own 30-day experiment of a WFPB diet and has continued to this day. He is Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Health Sciences, Northern Arizona University (NAU). He is the former owner of 2 vegetarian restaurants and

with his wife, Chloe, enjoys the mountains of northern Arizona.

Wendy Wetzel RN MSN FNP started her plantbased journey through her study of yoga. Prior to that time, she had been a vegetarian on and off for most of her adult life (including a perfectly healthy pregnancy). Yoga helped her appreciate the issues of animal welfare and sustainability, and her desire for meat simply went away. After viewing Forks Over Knives during its premier season, she immediately switched to the WFPB diet and has never looked back. She began sharing the information with her clinic patients and teamed up with Dr. Sutliffe for their local studies.

Recently retired from a 45 year nursing career, she is now a registered yoga teacher, happy grandmother of twins, and part-time researcher at NAU. Michelle Gorman RD is the Wellness Program Manager at Northern Arizona Healthcare. She began reading about the WFPB diet several years and began incorporating it into her wellness programs. She holds a degree in nutrition from NAU, and the Plant-Based Certification from eCornell. Her background includes corporate wellness, institutional food science and service, and therapeutic nutrition. She is co-investigator of the local studies. She and her husband, Chad, are avid runners.

Tricia Fortin MPH began her plant-based journey as a girl growing up in Texas and California, where she was interested in gardening, fresh foods and animal welfare, and at the age of 12 years, she made a decision to become a vegetarian and learned to cook plant-based meals. She earned degrees in nutrition and public health and has learned about horticulture, ethnobotany, social and cultural factors of foods, and the magic that arises when people prepare and share healthy food. As a researcher, she is especially interested in learning how people integrate and sustain healthy changes and the possibility of positively influencing family, friends and the community. She is the Wellness Coordinator for Employee Health and Wellness at NAU. Julia Scheid is an undergraduate assistant, currently studying Public Health at NAU and will proceed to her master’s program. She began her path with the various documentaries on whole food living and animal welfare. She is a student of Dr. Sutcliffe’s, and a Flagstaff native.

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