
Martica Heaner PhD, is a nutritionist and exercise physiologist and health writer. She is an adjunct associate nutrition professor at Hunter College in NYC and the author of 6 books including Cross-training for Dummies and Lean Mommy. She has been a group fitness instructor for over 30 years and starred in a fitness TV show while living in London in the 90s. She has been a vegan for 5 years (prior to that was vegetarian for 32) and teaches plant-based nutrition in a conventional nutrition 101 class.
Martica and I got on the phone and talked about her childhood, her education, her fitness career, and some of the myths floating around the plant-based world. We discussed:
- wanting to become a novelist
- reading The Jungle by Upton Sinclair at age 11
- becoming a vegetarian in her early teens
- smoking cigarettes (and other substances) and getting drunk in high school – while eating healthy
- teaching aerobics senior year in high school (big hair and leg warmers)
- developing the fitness industry in England and Europe
- “Body Heat” – fitness show on daytime TV (before “Topless Darts”!)
- becoming fitness director for Fitness magazine in NYC
- “I always feel like I don't know anything”
- drifting toward academia with obesity and exercise research
- going vegan five years ago – after discovering the truth about dairy cows and plant-based diet and asthma
- eliminating dairy and not using her inhaler for the coming year
- the Columbia University nutrition curriculum: “olive oil and lean meats are healthy”
- nutrition textbooks have a mission to promote dairy, even when not relevant
- it was harder to be a junk-food vegan 10 years ago
- how much controversy really exists in the scientific literature?
- exploring Valter Longo's longevity findings
- “anecdotal evidence is more convincing to people than good science”
- “everyone thinks they're better than they are… and that holds true for vegans”
- vegan junk food can crowd out nutrients (the Kind Bar diet)
- livestock are supplemented with B12 before they're slaughtered
- signs of protein deficiency in humans
- getting the quantity of nuts, seeds, and beans
- “we don't have to work for our food anymore”
- the Amish pedometer study
- focusing on the wrong thing: osteopenia isn't as big a problem as sarcopenia
- “walking is absolutely not enough for health”
- physical activity is fundamental – a good diet doesn't excuse lack of exertion and movement
- and much more…
Enjoy, add your voice to the conversation via the comment box below, and please share – that's how we spread our message and spread our roots.
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The Plant Yourself Podcast theme music, “Dance of Peace (Sabali Don),” is generously provided by Will Ridenour, a kora player from North Carolina who has trained with top Senegalese musicians.
It can be found on his first CD, titled Will Ridenour.
You can learn about Will, listen to more tracks, and buy music on his website, WillRidenour.com.
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