About this blog

Dear Reader,

I've been a runner since 2006 and I've been on a whole foods plant-based diet since 2011. A year (or 2,300 miles of running later) my cholesterol had dropped from 213 to 164, largely due to my LDL ("bad") cholesterol plummeting from 128 to 81. 

Older members of my family have experienced the heart ailments, diabetes, arthritis, cataracts, cancer, dementia, immobility and fatigue that come with eating an animal-based diet. The death of my grandfather in 2009 (85 years old, unsure of where he was and hardly able to walk) combined with how good I presently feel are what keep me from ever wanting to return to eating animal products.

The scientific findings presented in The China Study by Cornell emeritus nutrition professor T. Colin Campbell and his son, a medical doctor, Thomas M. Campbell, are what persuaded me to adopt this diet to avoid heart disease, cancer, and dementia/Alzheimer's, as well as be as fit as possible to enjoy running to the max. Whether or not you are a carnivore, omnivore, or herbivore, I highly recommend checking this book from your local library and reading it!

Before reading The China Study, I felt guilty eating meat because:

• Meat and dairy production's role in climate change,
• Meat and dairy production's role in deforestation and ecosystem destruction,
• The vast amount of agriculture needed to produce meat and dairy could instead be used to feed over 8 billion people, thus ending global hunger;
• And of course, cruelty to animals.

Those are all really good reasons to give up animal products, but as an athlete I thought animal products were the only way to get enough protein, calcium and iron-- the three nutrients society touts as the most needed for healthy athletes. Fortunately, it simply is not the case that animal products promote healthier athleticism.  

Since adopting a whole foods plant-based diet I've had my best workouts, races, and trained at higher weekly mileage than before while completely avoiding diet based injuries such as stress reactions/fractions or low-iron/anemia. I've also been able to eat closer to workouts and races enabling my body to have more energy throughout the exertion. 

While I hope you investigate converting to a plant-based diet, the purposes of this blog are NOT:

• To convince you to give up meat, or
• To show you the scientifically proven dangers of eating meat for causing heart disease, cancer, diabetes, high cholesterol, or many other diet-dependent chronic illness that definitely damage quality of life and athletic performance.

The purpose of this blog is simply to share delicious whole-food plant-based recipes. I will also share the "running-related" nutrition content of the main ingredients to kill the misconception that a plant-based diet is bad for athletes.  Instead, the nutritional contents for these recipes should instead convince you that a plant-based diet is in fact optimal for maintaining fitness and high-level training.  Sometimes I will also share fun information on track and field athletes or distance runners following a plant-based diet. 

If you have nutrition questions or seek medical advice, this blog does NOT substitute for meeting with a medical doctor or dietician. I'm simply a runner nerd who has read The Chinat Study and continued to look into these things.  When I'm not running I spend my day working on geophysics and astrophysics-- worlds far from medicine and nutrition.

Enjoy the recipes and enjoy running!

Neesha

p.s. Unless I say otherwise, nutrition facts on different ingredients are from this website http://nutritiondata.self.com/.