Brenda Davis
Plant-based nutrition from birth to senior years "Well designed, plant exclusive or plant predominant diets are the highest quality diets. They’re the diets that will protect us from the chronic diseases that are killing 70 per cent of our population."
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egistered dietitian and plant-based pioneer Brenda Davis received a standing ovation at last year’s International Plant Based Nutrition Healthcare Conference for a riveting review on nutrition needs across all age groups. Her presentation covered the strengths and weaknesses of diets ranging from omnivore to Mediterranean, vegetarian, vegan and lacto-ovo vegetarianism. It also included detailed research results of all these diets as they impacted different stages of human growth. Her conclusion, on the weight of evidence, was that “well designed, plant exclusive or plant predominant diets are the highest quality diets. They’re the diets that will protect us from the chronic diseases that are killing 70 per cent of our population. “They are nutritionally adequate at every stage of the life cycle. But, I think the number one, or the bigger reason to choose plant-based is really about the benefits plant-based diets provide beyond ourselves. There is no one more powerful step that any human being can take towards the preservation of this planet than choosing a plant-based diet. “In a study of the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2016, they said, if everybody followed the dietary guidelines of eating less meat and more fruits and vegetables we would reduce carbon emissions by 2050 by 29 per cent but we would reduce them by 70 per cent if we all ate vegan. “If you look at the carbon footprint of food you can see, when you look at the emissions in kilograms of carbon dioxide per kilogram of food, you are looking at a factor of about five to 60 for animal products and you are looking at .2 to 4 from plant foods, it’s a huge difference.
Ethically justifiable “And then, of course, plant based-diets are more ethically justifiable for animals and for people. Over 80 billion land animals are slaughtered for food every single year and over 90 per cent of those animals are raised in confined animal feeding operations. “It makes no sense to cause pain, suffering and death to billions of animals every year when it is so unnecessary and undermines the very life support systems of our planet. By getting our nutrition from plants, we all win. “We have a choice as human beings. When we consider the
40 wholefoodliving.life | Autumn 2023
Canadian dietitian, Brenda Davis, is a leader in her field and an internationally acclaimed speaker. She has worked as a public health nutritionist, clinical nutrition specialist, nutrition consultant and academic nutrition instructor. This article covers part of her address to last year's PlantBased Nutrition Health Conference in California. To purchase access to all videos and slides from this conference go to:
www.pbnhc.com
consequences of our food choices, not just for ourselves but beyond ourselves, a plant-based diet becomes both an ethical and ecological imperative.” The full detail of her address is too extensive to cover here, but it’s worth noting that a significant part of her lecture covered some of the key areas of concern around plant-based eating. It needs to be healthy, she stressed. “The big question, because it’s so ingrained in our culture, is, don’t you need cows' milk for calcium? The answer is absolutely not. To me, it just defies rationality to imagine that any mammal would require the milk of another species for its survival. It would defy nature’s laws. In pre-agricultural times humans averaged 1000 to 1500 milligrams of calcium per day without a single drop of any other mammal's milk. And most of it came from plants. “In 2019, Health Canada became a global leader with their new food guide. As plant-based dietitians in our country, we definitely had a little bit of a role in helping them move forward with this change. As you can see, half the plate is fruit and vegetables, onequarter whole grains and a quarter protein-rich foods. They say to include plant sources of protein every day and choose plant sources of protein as the healthiest protein choices. “Milk is a part of that group. You can see a little bit of yoghurt there; I don’t there is any other dairy there but beside the plate is
