Nutrition Insights Coming to Warwick Health Fair
The Fourth Annual Health Fair will include a presentation on nutrition and how it affects the health measures screened at the event and the environment.
What compels Lou Tafuto to do a nutrition presentation at the Fourth Annual Community Health Fair on June 10 in Warwick began with a conversation in a gym decades ago, when a workout buddy pointed out that human anatomy is poorly suited to a carnivorous diet. At that point, Tafuto had eaten meat with what he describes as gusto befitting his Italian heritage. He recalled eating 13 steaks on his birthday, 27 hot dogs at a barbeque and $1000 worth of king crab at a seafood bar.
But his friend pointed out that humans have fingers, not claws; and molars, not fangs for tearing through flesh. Humans have long intestines well suited to complex carbohydrates, not the short trunk of carnivorous predators, nor as much hydrochloric acid for digestion, Tafuto said. Plus, people lack the instinct to kill animals,10 billion of which are killed yearly for food.
So he explored the research, aided by his wife Barbara Tafuto, Ph.D., assistant professor of health informatics at Rutgers. Her work requires scholarly scrutiny of information, so her skills complement those of her husband, whom she describes as an “auto-didact”— a self-taught health consultant, his profession for 40 years.
After reading a book about plant-based diets, he said, “I argued with the author and lost, though the evidence was less at that time. Now there’s lots of evidence. The SAD diet—Standard American Diet—results in high rates of heart disease, cancer and diabetes. In other places, they’re not the top sources of fatalities.”
In Asia and Africa, people are less likely to be obese. Obesity is rampant in the U.S., the result of a diet that wears out organs, Tafuto says.
“A can of soda has 50 grams of sugar, but people shouldn’t have more than 25 grams of sugar in a day. The pancreas wears out early, like a car at 100,000 miles. Kids eat many times the amount of sugar they should. The way we can control this is with our lifestyle. It’s where we have most control,” he said. “Would you put water in the tank of your Mercedes Benz?”
He also contends that milk is not suitable for humans after infancy, noting that when other animals wean their young, they don’t return to drinking milk. Additionally, Tafuto points to the greenhouse gases from animal farming. Nobel Laureate in physics Steven Chu estimated that at least 15% of greenhouse gases come from animal agriculture. Other experts estimate a higher proportion.
“The grain needed to feed an animal for a pound of meat would feed many people,” said Tafuto.
After the conversation in the gym, he shifted to a diet of mostly vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, seeds and legumes. He lost weight and his cholesterol is well under 100 now.
“My mother asked the priest to talk to me because I wasn’t eating at meals,” he said.
Tafuto will give his presentation, helpful for those who eat meat and dairy as well as those who don’t, at some point between noon and 2 p.m. on June 10. This will be one of many events and services at the Fourth Annual Community Health Fair on the Railroad Green in Warwick, presented by the Union AME Church, Ida Bartow Hicks Missionary Society and Rev. Dr. Ann Marie Bentsi-Addison Posey, pastor.
Local hospitals and other health service providers will provide a variety of health screenings, including for eyes, blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol and mental health. Demonstrations of CPR and bicycle safety will be given by Warwick Police and Fire Departments. Freebies and raffles will also abound.
For more information, call Denise Smith: 845-986-1618
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