In Part 1 of this article we talked about protein and how you don’t have to eat meat to get your protein. You may choose to, but don’t have to.

I know – lots of this is mind-boggling. It’s just not what we’ve been taught all of our lives. Keep an open mind and tip-toe into this new territory with me.

Let’s tackle the other three most commonly asked questions with very abbreviated commonsense answers.

1. "If you don’t drink milk or eat cheese, where do you get your calcium?"

=>Answer #1: Plant foods. Where do cows, horses, giraffes, apes, and elephants get their calcium for strong bones and teeth? Plants. They certainly don’t drink milk (once weaned) and another mammal’s milk at that.

Cow’s milk is made for baby cows, not for baby people much less grown-up people. Period. The only milk made for baby people is mama’s milk.

=>Answer #2: Unrefined plant foods contain all the nutrients you need, including calcium. Nature is so smart.

Where does calcium come from? The soil. Calcium is dissolved in water in the soil and absorbed by plants. Plants transform inedible, unusable calcium from the soil into usable calcium needed by all mammals.

Eating plants is the most direct way of getting calcium, and without the fat, cholesterol, animal protein, milk sugar, hormones, antibiotics, toxins, and pus (yes, pus!) that come in dairy products.

2. "But don’t carbs make you fat?"

=>Answer: All carbohydrates are not created equally. There are good carbs and bad carbs. Good carbs are sourced by whole, unrefined plant foods, as in fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes, the best-for-you foods.

The good carbs you ate yesterday give you the fuel for your body and your energy today. (No, protein doesn’t give us energy.)

Bad carbs are sourced by refined plant foods, such as white sugar and white flour products – breads, cookies, pastries, doughnuts, bagels, cake, candy, desserts, soft drinks, store-bought drinks, and many processed, packaged foods. Too many calories from bad carbs are changed into fat that adds to your fat.

3. "But isn’t olive oil a good fat?"

=>Answer #1: Your body makes almost all the fats it needs, with only two exceptions which are sourced by a variety of plant foods. Therefore, it serves no purpose whatsoever to add more fat to the ready-made fat, especially highly concentrated, refined oils that come without any nutrition.

All added oils, even olive oil, offer you one thing only: calories, and those calories come with a fat price tag – more fat to add to hips, tummies, thighs, and arms. That makes olive oil a bad fat.

=>Answer #2: Look to nature for simple answers. Where do elephants get their necessary fats? Olive, canola, or flax seed oil? Of course not.

Plant foods provide all of our essential nutrients, including fats. Grapefruits contain 2% fat, oranges 4% fat, oatmeal 15% fat, broccoli 9% fat, apples 4% fat, romaine lettuce 10% fat, and cabbage 6% fat.

Hard to believe that cabbage could have fat, isn’t it?

Am I implying that you "have to" give up meat, cheese, goodies, and Queen Olive? Not at all. I’m simply saying that they are choices, not necessities.

One suggestion. Take the time to sort fact from fiction and then make conscious choices about what you choose to put in your body.

As we all know, you are what you eat.