Dairy products have recently become controversial as to whether they should or should not be part of a nutritious diet.

I recently stopped eating all dairy products after a lifetime of loving milk, cheese, ice cream and sour cream. I drank soy milk for about a month but it never really tasted like milk (I used to drink skim/non-fat). Then I tried rice milk. It tastes just like milk. The non-dairy cheeses I've tried so far have pretty much sucked. Chocolate soy ice cream is pretty good.

Basically, as explained in The China Study, by T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. and Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, by Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., M.D., you can significantly reduce your chance of getting cancer, heart disease, diabetes and more by eating a plant-based diet as opposed to an animal-based diet.

These two books and their arguments and study results convinced my wife and I to the point where, before I knew it I was a vegan. Order one or both of these books and see what you think. It makes you wonder ... if animal-based foods cause so many life-threatening diseases and if a plant-based diet keeps you, comparatively, disease-free, why isn't this being publicized?

My answer? Money. The media and news outlets rely on ad revenues from multi-billion dollar food, restaurant and drug companies that are totally dependent on Americans continuing to eat as they have been. Many medical device companies, as well as hospitals, cardiologists and oncologists are also dependent on and have a vested interest in heart disease, cancer and diabetes rates going up, not down. Even the powerful Oprah was hit with a multi-million dollar lawsuit when she raised questions about cattle feed and processing.

Truth be told, though, the vast majority of people have no interest in making this kind of major change in their diets. I never thought I would before reading these two books.

Are you interested in or have something to say about nutritious diets and/or dairy products? E-mail me at eatwell@our-best.com. My name is Mike.