How did the Green Happiness diet come to life?

1. Diets come and go. Sometimes a diet is here to stay, but often we see a diet appearing as a hype, only to disappear from the scene after a few years. For a few years a new diet, or rather a lifestyle, has been introduced. horizon appeared: The Green Happiness.

1. To be immediately clear: I certainly do not want to say that this diet can also be added to the list of hypes. On the contrary: There are certainly very good sides to it, but there are also some critical comments to be made.

1. Created by two cheerful looking Dutch ladies, Tessa Moorman and Merel von Carlsberg. They developed a brand that supports a healthy way of eating, with the goal of making you feel more energetic, radiant and alive. Their business has expanded from just two employees and a few trainees to 16 employees and the number of employees is still growing. But the success did not come overnight. And Green Happiness was not developed in a day, either. For the ladies it all started with the fight against their own health problems. Tessa suffered from headaches and stomachaches every day. Merel had many hormonal problems, including PCOS and acne. After the ladies studied nutrition (where they met at school), orthomolecular medicine and kinesiology, their lifestyle changed drastically but positively. Both ladies saw a big difference in their health and both agreed they wanted to share their story and help others. After they finished their studies and read hundreds of books and scientific studies and watched self-study documentaries on the balance of food and health and through the experience they had gained in their work as a dietitian, they saw a new adventure: The Green Happiness.

2. Created by two cheerful-looking Dutch ladies, Tessa Moorman and Merel von Carlsberg. They developed a brand that supports a healthy way of eating, with the goal of making you feel more energetic, radiant and alive. Their business has expanded from just two employees and a few trainees to 16 employees and the number of employees is still growing. But success did not come overnight. And Green Happiness was not developed in a day, either. For the ladies it all started with the fight against their own health problems. Tessa suffered from headaches and stomachaches every day. Merel had many hormonal problems, including PCOS and acne. After the ladies studied nutrition (where they met at school), orthomolecular medicine and kinesiology, their lifestyle changed drastically but positively. Both ladies saw a big difference in their health and both agreed they wanted to share their story and help others. After they finished their studies and read hundreds of books and scientific studies and watched self-study documentaries on the balance of food and health and through the experience they had gained in their work as a dietitian, they saw a new adventure: The Green Happiness.

The first book: Your 50 Days of Green Happiness

1. Their big break came in 2015 when a Dutch TV show hired them to develop a 50-day manual to tailor show host Anne-Mar to a Victoria Secret. model. The program turned out to be such a success that it caused an online hype. Wanting to explain that their lifestyle is much more than just a way to lose weight, the girls decided to turn the program into a book. And so the first book of The Green Happiness was published. With many delicious recipes, amazing body facts, and tons of stories telling us how nature can help us feel better, their first book Your 50 Days of Green Happiness became an instant hit. The book seeks to challenge the reader to try a plant-based diet for 50 days and witness the positive changes in your body. The guide will help you try to find a healthy balance and that's good for everyone.

2. Their big break came in 2015 when a Dutch TV show hired them to develop a 50-day manual to tailor show host Anne-Mar to a Victoria Secret. model. The program turned out to be such a success that it caused an online hype. Wanting to explain that their lifestyle is much more than just a way to lose weight, the girls decided to turn the program into a book. And so the first book of The Green Happiness was published. With many delicious recipes, amazing body facts, and tons of stories telling us how nature can help us feel better, their first book Your 50 Days of Green Happiness became an instant hit. The book seeks to challenge the reader to try a plant-based diet for 50 days and witness the positive changes in your body. The guide will help you to try to find a healthy balance and that is good for everyone.

The power of our own body

1. Tessa Merel's fourth book, the winter edition of Your 50 Days of Green Happiness, was published in December 2016 and the ladies had come a long way since their healthy adventure began when they released this. . You'll find detox - smoothies, pumpkin bread, bounty lollipops, healthy pizzas, party pancakes, and quinoa sushi in this book. Lots of tasty recipes that often use our beautiful products from Urban Nature Culture. And the best part is that their books will help you every step of the way. Tessa and Merel describe what happens to your body after you have taken that step, what you should always have in your kitchen cupboards, what you can do if you have a strong urge to snack, etc. It teaches us that by eating the right food and a healthy lifestyle, our body can heal itself, gain strength and feel more energized.

2. Tessa Merel's fourth book, the winter edition of Your 50 Days of Green Happiness, was published in December 2016 and the ladies had come a long way since their healthy adventure began when they released this. . You'll find detox in this book - smoothies, pumpkin bread, bounty lollipops, healthy pizzas, party pancakes, and quinoa sushi. Many tasty recipes that often use our beautiful products from Urban Nature Culture. And the best part is that their books will help you every step of the way. Tessa and Merel describe what happens to your body after you have taken that step, what you should always have in your kitchen cupboards, what you can do if you have a strong urge to snack, etc. It teaches us that by eating the right food and a healthy lifestyle, our body can heal itself, gain strength and feel more energized.

1. The two ladies told, in an online interview with one of the major newspapers, the NRC, about their enthusiasm for a specific diet consisting mainly of vegetables. After that interview, everyone had an opinion about the diet and about the two authors.

1. It is true that there are not many scientific facts to support their diet, but to be fair, scientifically based facts are not always necessary to achieve certain goals.

2. It is true that there are not many scientific facts to support their diet, but to be honest, science-based facts are not always necessary to achieve certain goals.

1. The biggest problem with the interview seems to be that these two ladies cannot substantiate their statements with scientific evidence. And since they have over 200,000 followers and have released a diet book, this is apparently a problem. Which I can fully understand. Some of the - controversial - things they say in their diet book are unsupported by facts, so I can see why people (especially with a science background) get a little frustrated. I mean, if no one has proven it, no matter how good it sounds, don't describe it in a book.

1. But what I don't understand is that people call their diet / lifestyle a myth or a 'health hazard' because these people in turn don't support this with scientific research. It's a bit of a case of the pot blaming the kettle for being black, right? It's an extreme reaction to something that indirectly criticizes people's day-to-day choices in their lives and that in turn is heavily influenced by culture (meat-potatoes-vegetables kind of things). People are offended and that's why they react like that.

1. The so-called problem with the Green Happiness diet is that it is a vegan diet: no meat, fish, eggs and dairy products. As I learned in my nutrition course, a vegan diet is absolutely no threat to health, as long as you take a vitamin B12 supplement daily and make sure you get enough protein from a variety of plant sources (plus you can get extra iron and calcium. take). I have not yet come across any scientific research proving that the vegan diet does not contain enough nutrients, as one dietician claims in a response. As far as I know, vegan food consists of a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains and legumes. If you don't do anything "extreme" then it shouldn't be a problem. So what's the problem?

1. So do I think eating animal products is bad? No, I don't. But I disagree with the way these products are produced today. Farmers are under pressure from competition and high demand. People want to have a great choice of meat at a low price. The only way farmers can do this is by optimizing their production, which does not always mean that the animals are "treated well". I've seen enough videos that give a little glimpse of what goes on on a farm and it's enough to make me feel sick. I want to be responsible for the suffering of millions of animals as little as possible, so I choose not to eat it, or to eat only biodynamic meat.

1. It's also a fact that the meat and dairy industries produce more greenhouse gases than the entire transportation system (cars, planes, etc.) put together, so I think it's time more people started promoting vegan diets. I don't think it's just new hype. No, something really needs to change if we are to continue to feed everyone with the amounts of resources we currently have.

1. Right, back to the Green Happiness diet.

1. In 2016 there was a lot of criticism of the diet. Not only from bloggers, often with unsalted and unfounded opinions, but also, for example, from the nutrition center.

1. The Nutrition Center is by no means the ultimate goal, but I still want to quote a piece of text from the Nutrition Center:

1.  € œâ € ¦The daily menus are low in calories. So there is a good chance that following this program will lead to weight loss. The daily menus consist mainly of fruit and vegetables supplemented with some grain products, vegetable dairy substitutes and legumes.

1. In the winter edition 2016, a small amount of nuts and seeds are part of the program and for a few dishes the suggestion is given that rice or potato can be replaced by meat, fish or egg.]

1. Due to the composition of the daily menus, they contain much less of certain nutrients (such as protein) than the average person needs. The risk of deficiencies in these important nutrients is therefore high. Furthermore, the program lacks a solid scientific foundation and the background information contains many inaccuracies about nutrition…

1.  € œâ € ¦ Many of the claims in the book lack substantiation. For example, advice is given about the digestion time of certain products and about the specific moment at which certain products should be eaten. But no substantiation is provided for this.

1. The book does contain a list of scientific sources. As a result, the program appears to be well-founded, but in reality there is selective 'shopping' in the research results. Nor is it examined whether the quality of the evidence is sufficient on which to base advice. For more information, see Nutritional Science: Types of Research Explained.

1. The background information contains several inaccuracies. By applying this in the daily menus, this can entail long-term health risks. For example, in the first book (2015) it is recommended to obtain 6% of the total amount of kilocalories from proteins. With a daily menu of 1300 kilocalories, this means that the food contains 20 grams of protein. This is far too low an amount for an adult to make up for protein losses.

1. In the winter edition 2016 it is stated that it is virtually impossible to get a shortage of proteins with a calorie intake that meets your energy requirement. But because this program aims to lose weight, that risk is there. The calorie intake in the program is in fact lower than the requirement. Also there are the first book (2015) certain claims about products that are incorrect. For example, chicken is said to be high in fat and a glass of water with lemon stimulates your metabolism.

1. On page 111 of the winter edition 2016, the Eetmeter is incorrectly listed as a source for the amounts of omega-3 in a number of products. These data do not come from the Eetmeter and do not correspond with the levels as stated in the Dutch Nutrients Databaseâ € ¦â €

1. It is true that the Nutrition Center generally only looks at scientific evidence. And on that point I often disagree with this Dutch institute. Scientific substantiation is not a guarantee. The same goes the other way around, of course: no scientific substantiation is no guarantee that it would be bad for you. In fact, there are a lot of nutrients that are beneficial for a lot of people without being judged by the doctors.

1. We've talked about it before: The NRC also paid attention to the two ladies. In an interview Tessa and Merel talk enthusiastically about the books and about the diet. The interviewer is also enthusiastic, and the reader is left with the idea that this is all okay.

1. Three days later, in the same NRC but a different editor, the touted lifestyle of the two ladies is viewed much more critically.

1. Just a few quotes:

1. Â € œThe food that Moorman and Von Carlsburg propagate is largely vegetable, with fish at most twice a week and little, preferably no dairy and meat. There are carbohydrates, but never together with protein-rich food. So forget that you come out at night with potatoes, beans and a piece of salmon. And don't take it lightly, because there is no ailment or TGH makes the connection with food: bloating, headaches, a “hormone imbalance”, a thin upper lip. Even hair growing from your nostrils would indicate that "your coronary arteries are full of fat and cholesterol".

1. The book even has a list of scientific sources, but they say nothing about nose hair. That doesn't bother The Green Happiness. TGH is the umpteenth commercial diet success based on the fear of women in particular for a normal diet. The Food Hourglass: Do not eat starch, except oatmeal. Rens Kroes: don't eat sugar, but maple syrup. ”

1. And also, from the same article:

1.  € œâ € ¦ Remarkable: avoid eggs, because one and a half eggs per week gives five times the risk of colon cancer. Epidemiologists have been arguing about the effect of eggs on colon cancer for 25 years, and no serious nutritional organization has warned against eggs and cancer. If the effect does exist, it is probably not as great as eating sausage every day - and even sausage is only an 18 percent higher cancer risk.

1. Moorman and Von Carlsburg rightly point out the danger of an excessively fatty, low-fiber and meat-rich diet. But in the meantime, you could mistakenly get the impression that a boiled egg and a peanut butter sandwich… ”

1. After all this commotion, Tessa and Merel wanted to deal with all that negative hassle about their lifestyle. This statement has now been taken offline, so I can no longer check it, but according to Clinical Epidemiologist Liesbeth Oerlemans they have said, among other things, about the comment that their diets contain too few nutrients:

1.  € œâ € We do not really know whether our nutritional advice will lead to shortages in the long term, but let us measure whether that is the case now and thenâ € ¦â €

1. By the way, the same Liesbeth Oerlemans is very critical of the diet, with a number of valid arguments.

1. RTL news has also copied a number of passages from the statement, so the statement taken offline has not been completely lost.

1. In the sources, at the bottom of this article, you can find all the links where you can read everything quietly.

1. In addition to all this, let's not forget that obesity is a tremendously big problem in today's Western society. Following an unhealthy diet. So why doesn't the press write about how much rubbish people eat every day? Why do they attack people who want to promote a healthy lifestyle? (I'm not just talking about The Green Happiness here, but about healthy diets in general)

1. The most important lesson people should learn from this is: regardless of whether this particular diet is actually "bad" or not - we should eat less animal products and more vegetables. It's that simple. It is beneficial for both our health and our planet.

1. So all in all, I support these "hyped eating habits" even if they could be presented in a more nuanced way. In any case, they raise awareness about some of the major problems of today and I can only support them.

1. Thegreenhappiness.com/

1. Www.voedingscentrum.nl/encyclopedie/your-50-days-of-green-happiness.aspx

1. Www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2016/09/16/ik-dacht-dat-we- healthy-aten-4317495-a1521617

1. Www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2016/09/19/hoe-twee-dietisten-ons-bang- Maak-voor-een-cooked-ei-4358564-a1522209

1. Www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2016/09/27/voedingscentrum-verwuwt-voor-the-green-happiness-a1523518

1. Www.liesbethoerlemans.com/2016/10/ik-find-de-adviezen-van-tgh-niet-alijd.html

1. Www.rtlnieuws.nl/nederland/bedenkers-omstreden-green-happiness-dieet-ophef-niet-altijd-even-leuk

1. Www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2016/09/23/het-groene-geluk-opgediend-and-witheen- again- boiled to death-4422672-a1523102