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Frequently Asked Questions |
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Question:
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Answer: Thanks for your question about fish What is recommended is that people eat foods high in "n-3 fatty acids" daily. The reason is that numerous studies show that people with a higher intake of n-3 fatty acids have significantly less heart disease and fewer strokes. The decrease in mortality is about 40-50%. In the Lyon Heart study, the decrease in mortality for those who were fed a high n-3 fatty acid intake was over 70%. This is quite remarkable. You can get n-3 fatty acids from many sources. You will notice that the first two suggestions are flax meal and walnuts, two excellent sources. Fish is another good source for those who choose to eat meat. People are given a choice. For myself, I choose a plant based source. As you are working with the community, most, if not all, will likely be eating meat regularly. If these people include fish a few times each month, you may significantly reduce their risk. Eventually, you may be able to encourage many of them to follow a vegetarian diet. Notice that one of the recommendations is to "eat more plant based foods." Until them, it is wise to meet people where they are. Also keep in mind that these guidelines are for all people, not just vegetarians. The principles can apply to all. In the current issue of JAMA (Dec. 25) there is an article on fish intake and risk of stroke in 43,671 men followed for 12 years. They found a 44% reduction in risk of stroke when men ate fish only as often as 1-3 times per month, compared to those who never ate fish. Fish is a good source of n-3 fatty acids, but as mentioned earlier, there are also good plant based sources as well which I choose to use. You don't have to promote fish, I don't, but if people choose to eat meat, fish can be a healthier alternative until they are ready for further change. The important point is to reduce risk of heart attack, eat foods high in n-3 fatty acids daily! I hope this explanation helps.
Don
Hall, DrPH |
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Question: Why are meat and alcohol discussed in the Eight Weeks to WellnessTM participant guidebook? |
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Answer:
As you know, these materials are designed for use
with
community members and church members that are
interested
in improving their health. As you heard at the
recent Vegetarian
Conference, about 2% of the U.S. population are
true vegetarians
(don't eat any meat). About half or fewer
Adventists are vegetarian.
Realizing that we are here to help these people eat
better, it is
important to address the meat issue wisely, not
dictatorially. Principle
#5 on page 19 of Eight Weeks to Wellness says,
"Limit High Fat
Meats". It suggests eating less of these foods but
if they continue
to eat them, to choose the lower fat cuts and eat
smaller portions
less often. I think that is a good principle. Some
would try to
immediately remove people from all meat. Even Mrs.
White ate meat
for years after she started her diet reform and
after she gave her
messages on diet (that was one thing that irritated
Dr. Kellog).
The very next principle #6 states, "Use vegetable
protein foods", and it
shows the benefit of moving toward more vegetable
proteins. When
working with non Adventists in the audiences, or
even meat eating
Adventist audiences, I feel it's important to work
wisely and
progressively. People who make many hard and fast
rules often do
more harm to the health movement than they do good.
People are
turned off and don't want anything more to do with
our church.
Before we become too emphatic on meat eating, let's
put it in
perspective. All the disciples were meat eaters, as
was Jesus. Also,
let's keep in mind that in the Adventist health
study, excess weight,
inactivity, and other dietary practices such as
eating nuts and more
fruits and vegetables were better predictors of
longevity than if they
ate meat or not (as presented at the last
vegetarian conference.)
Let's build bridges and move people gradually as
they are ready
to change. Until then, let's love them and not
condemn them.
The same principle applies to alcohol. The slide
stated strongly,
alcohol is not recommended. But, if people (non
members) decide
they are going to drink anyway, then it seems
prudent to suggest that
they limit their intake. Every person must decide
for themselves, we
can't be conscience for the community, but we can
make sound,
healthy recommendations that are received well and
are not
condemnatory of our attendees from the community.
If we focus
on the positive and promote an attitude of love,
acceptance and
progressive reform we will build bridges and make
the health message
attractive to our community not drive them away.
Yours for health and wholeness,
Don Hall |
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