Here is an interesting, reinforcing video a friend sent. It's unrelated to the current crop of diet doc gurus, but still arrives at the same conclusion - that we are negatively affecting our health in a significant way by eating processed foods, and Plant Strong is the way to go.
It's about 18 minutes and the affliction in question is M.S. ...Quite remarkable.
Jansan, that is very remarkable! She was able to design her diet around her specific health goals and proved incredibly successful in reducing her symptoms of M.S. Wow! I hope her diet and progress become well studied and practiced by more people. I had to read more about her and am considering buying her book. Her goal of veggies was impressive. Three cups leafy greens such as kale, 3 cups of sulfur rich vegetables, and 3 cups of colorful vegetables. A touch of seaweed weekly, and then sources of omega-3 and certain other minerals and nutrients that could come from meat or vegetable sources.
I'm concerned about my heart health, and Dr. Esselstyn provides visual proof of what a plant strong diet can do for heart disease. This page http://www.heartattackproof.com/resolving_cade.htm includes 4 sets of photos showing clogged arteries before and after a plant based diet. His book contains even more photos and case studies. This is the diet Bill Clinton followed after his surgery and realized he could either do it or die.
It's funny that so many of us don't make these types of healthy changes until we face something so devastating. Clinton with his heart, and Wahls with her M.S.
I'm a visual person when it comes to cooking (I pick out new recipes from the way they look at tastespotting.com!) so this is a huge plus for me
Me too! I crave foods with color and if it looks like it's been served by a top chef then it tastes even better I wonder if there is a tastespotting clone just for healthy food
I also have How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman and love it. I've tried a few of his recipes that I have regularly now.
Unattractive food - I recently came across a stash of Sphere magazine, which was very popular in the 70s. I was a teenager, and mom subscribed to Sphere and we devoured every issue. (home life, travel, sewing, but mainly food). I excitedly opened the vintage issues and couldn't help but laugh at the food. Everything was brown! Meat loaf, potatoes, meat and potato casseroles, roast beef in gravy, liver and onions, and every now and then a spatter of something deep olive green that was very overcooked and unrecognizable. No wonder I don't think of food when I reminisce about the 70s.
She was able to design her diet around her specific health goals and proved incredibly successful in reducing her symptoms of M.S. Wow! I hope her diet and progress become well studied and practiced by more people. I had to read more about her and am considering buying her book. Her goal of veggies was impressive. Three cups leafy greens such as kale, 3 cups of sulfur rich vegetables, and 3 cups of colorful vegetables. A touch of seaweed weekly, and then sources of omega-3 and certain other minerals and nutrients that could come from meat or vegetable sources.
It's been my impression that a number of these plant based people are working with MS patients. I believe Dr McDougall is one, and his mentor Dr Swank (deceased) another. If anyone is interested, do a search for the Swank diet. That is separate from this woman's. Both would be worth investigating.
Re Iodine - I don't think that is an issue for anyone living near an ocean or consuming foods grown near the sea, but most people don't.
The Plant STrong diets of today come across as a one size fits all. But there is variability in what each suggests, and as a result, perhaps if one has a 'malady', it might be worth looking deeper into each of them to best match one's own health issues. For example, I've heard Dr Fuhrman say 'beans and greens' for diabetics are best.
And for heart related issues, some of the docs are in disagreement about the amount of fats to be consumed. Dr Fuhrman, who I am gravitating to more and more, suggests people with heart issues should not eat extremely low fat, but they should also include seeds, nuts, and even avocado. Others disagree.
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It's funny that so many of us don't make these types of healthy changes until we face something so devastating. Clinton with his heart, and Wahls with her M.S.
Or me just getting old!! and realizing it's now or never to make significant change.
As as an aside, there has been some work the past few years about how the nutrient levels in vegetables have continued to decline the past 5 decades or so. (I can provide links if anyone is interested). It is thought this is the result of several factors - depleted soils, faster growing veggies (and less time for phytonutrients to develop), and newer varieties which have been selected for shipping characteristics and faster growth. So our mama's kale is not the kale of today.
This IMO makes it even more imperative for us to eat even more veggies than we think in order to get enough nutrients. Or grow and preserve our own, or seek out local farmer's market sources with nice organic produce.
jansan and Suzanne thanks for sharing those studies/research- I look forward to perusing them
I have been really on my fiance lately about eating more greens. He can go days without eating vegetables and not notice. We're both young and he's slim, which is why it's hard for me to push on him the importance of eating more plants. If I make something he likes and put it in front of him he'll eat it... but he doesn't seek out vegetables and I have to go out of my way to make sure there are veggies he likes around (eggplant marinara, diced carrots in lemon juice and dill, sweet potatoes, etc. Notice no salads!). It's a lot of extra effort on my part, especially when I prepare two kinds of vegetables, one for him and one for me, which is tiring. He loves stir fries and sauteed veggies, I like salads. But I do most of the cooking in our household and I just think it's so important for both of us to eat lots of vegetables. My side of the family has lots of diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and colon cancer. I know it's related to how my very Southern family eats and I don't want to carry on that tradition!
I have no words of wisdom for you Indi. I've never been able to get anyone to eat what I thought they should, but they thought they shouldn't. Getting him to eat some veggies is better than nothing.
I've been doing pretty well the past couple days. Nothing out of the ordinary to report.
I have been using good olive oil on my salads, but after reading more about the benefits of nuts and seeds alla Fuhrman, and that even olive oil doesn't have much good nutrition in it, I made some blended salad dressings with walnuts as the 'oil' base. They are not bad, and I still prefer the traditional olive oil vinegrettes, but I havent given the others a full chance yet, nor experimented enough yet to give up. Tonight's salad was however very good. But that was the avocado.
I am just loving drinking hot cocoa made with almond milk. So very good, so very filling, so sinful feeling. I'm probably drinking too many of them, but it's cold and they are also warming.
Mmmm I had a cup of hot cocoa yesterday, jansan. I made mine with regular milk, but I can't wait to try it with almond milk when I'm back in the US.
I don't think I reported a few weeks ago that I actually made soy milk at home. I found cheesecloth and went at it. It turned out ok- very noticeable bean taste. It was labor intensive, which is fine for me every now and then since I am a consultant working from home who sometimes has the time to do things like make soy milk.
I didn't really enjoy it in coffee or other beverage, which is normally how I drink milk, so I may not make it again. But it was a fun experiment.
Jansan, that's a neat idea to use walnuts as a base of a dressing. I really enjoy almonds but not most other nuts, so I could really use opportunities like that to incorporate more. The salad dressing I've been enjoying is mixing a bit of orange juice with honey, heating till the honey is dissolved, and tossing over a salad. It's not high in nutrients but it's also not high in calories, leaving more room for adding other things into your salad- nuts, etc. It also don't take much to add a nice sweet tang to a big bowl of greens.
Yesterday I had an entire roasted eggplant for lunch. Roasted it in a frying pan, tossed with toasted cumin seeds, a bit of sugar and balsamic, salt and pepper, and onions. It was okay. I'm not a big eggplant fan, which is terrible because it's one of the lowest-calorie/most-nutrient-dense veggies available! I've been a vegetarian since I was 14 and I still haven't managed to like eggplant. I think it's a consistency thing- it's so mushy. I don't really like roasted peppers for the same reason. Still, it's good for me so I will continue to try to love the eggplant!
Anyone have any good eggplant recipes? Here they are called brinjal
I LOVE eggplant! But I really only prepare it one way. I cube it, toss with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt and roast it in a convection oven until it's lightly browned. I don't care for some varieties of eggplant. I buy mine from the same farmer at the farmers market each summer and roast away. I discovered that roasted eggplant even freezes well, so I can thaw it later and bake it in the oven and you can't tell it's not freshly roasted.
I had no idea that brinjal meant eggplant. I knew it was eggplant but I thought it was an eggplant recipe with a specific spice blend. I have no idea why I thought that
Jansan, thank you so much for the PM! I'll respond tomorrow after my 6 yr old granddaughter goes home and I can sit in front of the computer for more than 5 minutes. It's Christmas break
Ooo tossing it in olive oil and seasonings BEFORE I roast it- good call! I'll try that next time.
Off to the grocery store in a few minute. I'm buying ingredients for the following:
Zucchini bread
Roasted curry cauliflower
Broccoli stir fry in Thai peanut sauce (will add egg noodles to my fiance's portion)
Also, roasted puree pumpkin thawing in the fridge. What to do with it? Hmmmm....
I'm another who isn't crazy about eggplant. Mom used to roast it and claim 'It's good for you.'. But she fortunately never forced us to eat it. It was the worst-looking stuff IMO. Now the only time I will eat it is when it's been grilled and incorporated with something else. In pre Plant-Strong days, I would eat it in grilled veggie sandwiches, or as part of a layer of grilled veggies in a cheese-rich lasagna.
I love pumpkin. I used to make blender pumpkin icecream, but wouldn to know how to do that now without the dairy. Maybe you could make faux pumpkin pie by baking the puree with spices. Or roast it with some raisins and nuts, spices, and sweetening.
I fortunately have a break for a couple days without any holiday temptations. I'm looking forward to a few days of 'pure' eating. Who would ever have guessed I would look forward to eating green veggies and salads. I've been brain-washed!!!
Indi, you've mentioned making soy milk. I've tried making almond milk with some success, but it was messy and time-consuming and really didnt save much money. And I never knew how rich it was compared to commercial, so I decided to go back to buying Trader Joe's product. At least I know I can make some of my own if a 'cocoa emergency' were to occur.
As to using walnuts in my salad dressings, that is an idea straight from Dr Furhman. He also uses cashews too. And other nuts and seeds. I was thinking from your mention of orange juice, that a good dressing might be to incorporate some sesame seeds, and perhaps fresh ginger and garlic too. I love good dressings and really can't enjoy a salad without something as a flavoring agent.
I actually have used ginger in the orange juice-honey dressing and it's turned out wonderful. Great idea to add in sesame and even garlic!
I made a version of this white bean za'atar salad today. The salad overall is ok but the dressing made from pureed beans (I used lima), lemon, and seasonings is wonderful. I may just make that next time and pour it over lettuce. What a great high-protein, low-fat dressing.
I also did a loaf of zucchini bread. It's the second time I've used a "flax seed egg" as a replacement for real egg. The consistency turns out a little flat but I don't think for a quick bread that's too big a deal. Used my pumpkin puree in place of oil... turned out delish!
Ive been MIA lately and it will probably continue that way until the new year! So busy with the holidays, family, etc... the plant based lifestyle is suffering!!! ugh. Made cookies this morning. I have had 3 and they are on their way out of the house in just a few minutes!!!
Suzanne- Yep, It's Rikki and I just bought some goat cheese too...mmmmm. just for the holidays though. I tend to get carried away! Trader Joes had some little medallions and that makes portion control easy!
As for Cookbooks- there are several that I am very fond of! Veganomicon, appetite for reduction, happy herbivore-she also has lots of great recipes on her blog!
you guys are making me crave hot chocolate! I think I have a little dark chocolate almond milk left and may have that with some coffee this afternoon
Eggplant I truly love- mostly battered and fried though! haha... I make it in stirfry sometimes and its delish- I also peel and slice and use it like lasagna noodles for veggie lasagna...
Haha good way of putting it, jansan. I have definitely been off the plant-based lifestyle for several days. We made shrimp risotto and stuffing for Christmas Eve dinner, plus curried cauliflower and double-chocolate bombe cake. It was delicious but I was snacking on leftovers for the last two days. Thankfully they're all on gone ^_^
My big victory though was attending a huge fancy brunch on Christmas with a group of our friends. I can't describe how much incredible food was there. I wasn't perfect, but pretty good: two plates of steamed and fresh vegetables and then one small plate of bites of other things. A bit too much dessert but at least I got my veggies in.
Anyway, the fridge is cleared today and I'm looking forward to a salad and green beans for lunch, then fresh fish for dinner. I'm lifting this afternoon so I'm going for a bit more protein this evening.
Hope you all are doing well and having wonderful holidays.
I was back on plan yesterday and feel enormously better this morning. Huge salad for lunch with tuna on top, protein shake after my workout and sauteed zucchini with a small slice of pizza for dinner.
Yesterday's meals look very different from the ones I was eating a few weeks ago. Much more processed food and more protein. I've done a lot of reading up about protein requirements lately. I still haven't come to a conclusion- that would take a lot more reading and expertise- but I've settled on what makes the most sense right now. Right now I'm still in a calorie deficit (aiming for 1400ish) each day and lifting heavy. In a typical circumstance, eating 40-60 g of protein a day would be fine, or "enough." But this isn't a typical circumstance- it's exhausting muscles under a deficit of calories. Not getting a lot more protein than I usually do is a quick recipe for losing lean body mass.
So for now I'm upping my protein, even if that means incorporating more fish and more processed proteins. Not forever just for now.
I wonder if there is a tastespotting clone just for healthy food 
