Happy Healthy Long Life

Friday Night Dinner & a Movie. "Enlightened Bulgur with Swiss Chard, Chickpeas & Feta", My New Love Affair with Whole Soy & Company's Plain Unsweetened Yogurt, Kale Chips-at-the-Movies, and the French Film "The Other Son"

 

Martha Rose Shulman's Bulgur with Swiss Chard, Chickpeas & Feta 

 

Last Night's  "Enlightened" Bulgur with Swiss Chard, Chickpeas & Feta 

 

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I first tried Martha Rose Shulman's "Bulgur with Swiss Chard, Chickpeas & Feta" three years.  It was an instant winner at our house.  I was easily able to ditch the olive oil--but ditching the feta cheese is another story.  I anxiously await the arrival of a reasonably-priced plant-milk feta!  It won't be long, don't you think?

I tried the recipe with a homemade feta made with tofu.  Meh!  I tried to convince myself it was a fine substitute.  It wasn't.

I tried the recipe with the Tree of Life's Smoked Tofu.  Again, it was Meh!

So, this is one of those "3 or 4" times a year I choose to enjoy this dish the way it's meant to be made--with feta (even if I do use the reduced-fat kind).  

OK--I know many of you may disapprove, or be "tsk tsk tsking".  But, I LOVE this easy-to-make tasty dish. I'm perfectly comfortable enjoying my less-than-an-ounce of feta cheese 3 or 4 times a year. The last time I made it was in November.

 

Gorgeous Swiss Chard at the Grocery Yesterday

 

I couldn't resist the giant leaves of organic Swiss Chard at the grocery store yesterday.  Dinner!

Aha!  The perfect occasion for "Enlightened Swiss Chard, Chickpeas & Feta".  I snagged a 3.5 ounce package of reduced-fat feta from the cheese display, & some fresh dill weed.  Chickpeas & bulgur are pantry staples.  Didn't need any more.

So, there you have it.  My occasional treat.  And the Lab Rat & I thoroughly enjoyed our dinner.  I can't wait for the left-overs for lunch today.

Find the recipe on one page here

 

 

 

 

The Salad Course with Soy Yogurt Thousand Island Dressing

 

 

If you've been reading my Face Book page  (& I sure hope you are--because that's where I'm mostly posting these days) you know I've gone absolutely Ga Ga over Whole Soy & Company's Plain Unsweetened Yogurt.

It's become kind of like Manna to me.  It works as a delicious breakfast, savory-style with roasted garbanzos, herbs, & veggies---or sweet-style mixed with thawed berries, jelled with chia or sprinkled with some homemade no-oil cocoa almond cherry granola, or half of a Cranberry Heart Thrive.

You can even turn it into a thick Greek-style yogurt if you mix 1 1/2 tablespoons of chia into a cup of yogurt & let it sit for 5-10 minutes. 

It makes a hearty lunch salad when mixed with tamari-roasted rosemary chickpeas, roasted potatoes, red peppers, cukes, red pepper flakes, black pepper, dill, & lemon zest.  The seasoning & add-in options are endless.  It's like a low-fat mayo that you can flavor anyway you like.  Chipotle, Southwestern, Curried, Greek, Italian, Ranch Dressing anyone?  Maybe too tangy for an Asian variety.

 

Soy Yogurt Thousand Island Dressing

Makes 8 servings - 2 tablespoons each

Makes 1 cup of dressing or sandwich spread

Prep Time:  5 minutes

Recipe on one page is here:

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup of plain unsweetened soy yogurt
• 1 garlic clove, smashed or 1/4 teaspoon of granulated garlic
• 1 tablespoon of mustard (yellow or Dijon)  I use Dijon
• 3 tablespoons of low-sodium ketchup 
• 2 tablespoons of pickle relish
• 1 tablespoon of fresh chopped dill (or 1 teaspoon of dried dill)  More, to taste

Instructions:

1.  Mix everything together in a small bowl.  No need for a blender.  

2.  Taste, add more dill or a little salt to taste.

 

 

My New Manna - Plain Unsweetened Soy Yogurt is a Game-Changing Recipe Changer!  Viva the Possibilities!

 

Works for breakfast, lunch, as a salad dressing or as a mayo.  For tangier salad dressings, or curries--Goodbye high-fat cashew cream or silken tofu--Hello Soy Yogurt!   

No more half-used boxes of silken tofu in the fridge that I can't use up within the 2 day "throw away" date.

And don't forget the probiotic benefits of the live cultures.  L. Pantarum LM, L. Acidophilus, B Bifidum, L. Bulgaricus, & S. Thermophilus.  A minimum of 20 Billion Total CFUs per serving.

Vegan. Casein, Whey, Lactose & Gluten-Free. Organic.  Non-GMO.

Did I mention the protein?  10 grams per cup. 

Hey, folks, I never could eat dairy yogurt because of the lactose--so this is a real treat for me!

 

 

 

 The Savory Mediterranean Breakfast/Lunch Combo with Tamari-Roasted Garbanzos, Veggies, & Chia  (add Oven-Roasted Potatoes, Too)

 

Oil-Free Oven-Roasted Tamari Rosemary Garbanzos--A New Staple At My House

 

I make a double-batch of these every week to mix into my Savory Mediterranean Yogurt Breakfast/Lunch.  Add in peppers, chia, tomatoes, tiny sliced gourmet cucumbers, dill, Penzey's Lemon Zest, red pepper flakes, & fresh black pepper.  Whatever!  You won't believe how delicious & filling this is!!  Or sprinkle on salads.  Eat 'em straight-up.

Recipe for the Oil-Free Oven-Roasted Tamari Rosemary Garbanzos is here.

 

What a Breakfast!  What a Lunch!

 

 

 

Soy Yogurt with Crumbled "Fruit & Nut Manna Bread" & Chia, Of Course

 

 

Soy Yogurt with Canned Chickpeas, Cukes, Tomatoes, Peppers, Dill & Pepper

 

 

Soy Yogurt with Thawed Frozen Berries, Chia & 1/2 of a Cranberry Heart Thrive

 

Soy Yogurt with Homemade Cocoa Almond Cherry Granola & Berries

Recipe for the Cocoa Almond Cherry (or Cranberry) Granola is here.

 

 And Now for Last Night's Movie, "The Other Son"

 

If you don't see the video on your screen, click here!

 

 

I missed this poignant, heart-wrenching, thought-provoking French film when it appeared in theaters last Fall.   It arrived in the mail via NetFlix on Thursday--the perfect film for our "Friday Night Dinner & a Movie Night".

As parents of two sons, the Lab Rat & I found this film to be painful & unnerving to watch---but we were riveted by the impossible story line.  

Two sons, one an Israeli, one a Palestinian, mistakenly switched at birth, raised in two loving homes--worlds & cultures apart.  The mistake is discovered when the boys turn 18, & only because of the  genetic impossibility of the blood type that turns up on a routine Army physical.  Lives change in an instant.

One can only imagine the life-changing difficulties of such a discovery--for the parents & the young men. 

The film is now availble via NetFlix or YouTube.

I don't want to give too much away, but here's a capsule summary:

 

'"The Other Son" is the moving and provocative tale of two young men -- one Israeli, the other Palestinian -- who discover they were accidentally switched at birth, and the complex repercussions facing them and their respective families.

As he is preparing to join the Israeli army for his national service, Joseph discovers he is not his parents' biological son, and that he was inadvertently switched at birth with Yacine, the son of a Palestinian family from the West Bank. This revelation turns the lives of these two families upside-down, forcing them to reassess their respective identities, their values and their beliefs."

 

As Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat, my favorite, most reliable film reviewers explain:

 

'"The Other Son" waters the seeds of empathy in our hearts as we ponder the miracles that can happen when we walk a mile in another person's shoes and truly desire to understand the broader context of another's life. The film also tutors us in the art of listening."   Their full review is here.

Find the New York Times review, here.

 

 

Our Movie Snack:  Good-Bye "Good & Plenty" -- Hello, Lab Rat Grown & Made Kale Chips

 

Kale is Growing in Our Backyard Now!  Hello, Kale Chips

 

Kale Chips Quickly Devoured at our "Friday Night at the Movies"

 

The Basic Recipe:

 

1.  2 bunches of kale (any kind--we used Russian & Lacinato Kale yesterday

2.  1/2 cup of cashews

3.  1 juiced lemon

4.  2-3 TBS of cider vinegar

5.  About 1/3 to 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast (sorry for the loosey, goosey amounts)

5.  1/2 cup water mixed in a high-power blender, then massaged into chopped kale.

6.  The Lab Rat sprinkles on "Bone Suckin' Sauce Seasoning & Rub" for added zest before the kale is dried.

7.  We have a small dehydrator that we use to make the kale chips.  Follow your own dehydrator directions.  Ours were ready in about 4 hours, dried at 115 degrees F.  Check the web for oven-baking directions.

 

 

It's Been an Omega-3 Kind of Week! Sorting Through the Benefits & Hype. Why I've Become a Fan of Algal DHA for the Brain

 

 

 

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DHA May Help the Brain By Improving Blood Flow, Reducing Plaque Aggregation, & Reducing Inflammation

 

Fotuhi, M. et al.  Nature Clinical Practice.  Neurology.  5(3):140-152, March 2009.  "Fish consumption, long-chain omega-3 fatty acids and risk of cognitive decline or Alzheimer disease: a complex association."   Click on drawing to enlarge.

 

"Omega-3's in the brain do three things:

• They reduce inflammation
• They increase blood flow
• They're important for improving the structure & integrity of the brain's cellular membranes, and they reduce proteins associated with Alzheimer's disease. 

I think the best source [of omega-3's], in my opinion, is algal DHA, which is where fish get their omega-3's.    Algal is the most pure form, and algal DHA is a supplement that people can take.

[I] personally prefer DHA because it has been associated with reduced blood pressure, better HDL, better brain function.  And I have seen in some studies that there is plenty [of] compelling evidence that I would take it myself.

 My wife & I take 900 mg of algal DHA. 

And, you know, we're talking about children with ADHD.  I give it to my two daughters, who are five and seven--100 mg each.  It's like a dessert after dinner. We have our little DHA supplement. They have smaller amounts, obviously, than I do."

Dr. Majid Fotuhi chair of the Neurology Institute for Brain Health and Fitness, and assistant professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, interviewed on Diane Rehm's NPR 10/3/12 radio show, "Assessing the Health Benefits of Omega-3's".  Click here for the transcript

 

Oh, baby!  Omega 3's are back in the news again!  Big time.

But, if you only looked at the three "big news" articles highlighted below,  you may have decided to throw your hands up in the air & just quit worrying about this whole omega-3 business altogether.  One week they're good.  The next week they're not.

Not so fast! 

As always--there's more to the story.  Right?

It's high time to do a little omega-3 recap & pitch the benefits, in spite of these recent nay-saying studies.

• JAMA meta-analysis, September 12, 2012:  The latest meta-analysis of 20 clinical trials, involving 70,000 people concluded that supplementing with omega-3's won't reduce deaths from heart disease, sudden death, myocardial infarction or strokes.  This study has been criticized by many because it combined different trials, using different doses & sources of omega-3s; and most of the subjects already had heart disease & were on serious heart medications.  Hey, it's a supplement, a food, not a miracle worker.
  
• Archives of Internal Medicine meta-analysis, May 14, 2012:  Insufficient evidence that omega-3's can prevent a second cardiovascular event in people with a history of heart disease.  Hey, it's a supplement, a food, not a miracle worker.
• New England Journal of Medicine double-blind study, July 26, 2012:  1 gram of fish oil didn't reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in diabetics.  Hey, it's a supplement, a food, not a miracle worker.

Bottom line:  Omega-3's don't have super powers. They can't make up for years of eating a high-fat Western diet that's high in saturated fats, sugar, & omega-6's.   They can't make up for diabetes, a previous heart attack, being overweight, & sitting most of the day.

Prescribing omega-3 supplements without first measuring an individual's baseline level of omega-3 or their ratio of omega-6's to omega-3's is like giving someone a baby aspirin for a migraine---or a prescription pain pill for a hangnail.  It's dancing in the dark. 

But, you probably knew all that.

Omega-3's are essential fatty acids.   We need them.  We can't manufacture them in our bodies.  They curb inflammation.  They've shown benefits to the brain, blood pressure, the cardiovascular system, vision, mood, and learning.  But, more on that later.

BIG POINT TO REMEMBER:  The more grain-fed animals, fried foods, seed oils (like corn, soy & safflower), nuts & seeds, junk & snack food you're eating--the more inflammatory omega-6's you'll have stored in your body--and the more omega-3's you will need to consume.   If you eat less of the omega-6's, you'll need less omega-3's.  It's that simple.  Omega-3 & omega-6's compete for the same enzymes & position in our cells.  Susan Allport does a nice job explaining this:

 

"[W]hen a person on the normal American diet has plenty of extra fat around, let's say, 20 pounds, a huge amount of that is going to be these omega-6's.

And when they go on fish oil, [they're] not going to see that fish oil showing up in their membranes for a long time, because it's competing with those stored  omega-6's."

-Susan Allport, journalist & author of "The Queen of Fats", interviewed on Diane Rehm's NPR 10/3/12 radio show, "Assessing the Health Benefits of Omega-3's".  Click here for the transcript-

 

 

"..if you understand that food energy causes transient inflammatory insults and omega-6s amplify that into chronic injury and omega-3s moderate it, then you can tell people that the take home message is:

• Eat more omega-3s
• Eat less omega-6s
• Eat fewer calories per meal and stop smoking.  That's it."

 

-William Lands, PhD., a pioneer in the study of lipids, omega-3 fatty acids, and the effects of diet on disease, University of Michigan & NIH-

 

 

 

Before You Toss the Chia & Flax, Ditch Your Omega-3 Supplements, or Lose Confidence in Salmon -  Give a Listen to Dr. Melina Jampolis

 

Dr. Melina Jampolis is one of the few physician nutrition specialists in the country.  

She's not happy with the quality & conclusions of the latest JAMA study that minimizes the benefits of omega-3's.  Jampolis looked over all the 20 clinical trials in the JAMA meta-analysis & strongly disputes the authors' conclusions.

Don't miss her short rebuttal of the September JAMA omega-3 meta-analysis. 

 

Click Here for the Jampolis video if you don't see it on your screen

 

 

 

It's Been an Omega-3 Kind of Week

 

Here's what I've been reading this week to help me get a handle on the benefits (or the hype) of omega-3's. 

 

• "Assessing the Health Benefits of Omega-3"--Diane Rehm's October 3, 2012 NPR broadcast.    Rehm interviews four experts:  Dr. Majid Fotuhi, chair of the Neurology Institute for Brain Health and Fitness, and assistant professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (my personal fave--showing my omega-3 biases, here); Paul Coates, director of the Office of Dietary Supplements at National Institutes of Health; Thomas Sherman, associate professor of pharmacology at Georgetown University Medical Center; and Susan Allport, journalist and author of "The Queen of Fats".   Fascinating discussion--that confirmed my own admitted bias towards the importance of DHA for brain health--and the superiority of taking an algal supplement.   
• Can Omega-3's Slow Aging?  Hot-Off-The-Press Ohio State University research,  "Omega-3 supplements may slow a biological effect of aging."  In Dr. Janice Kiecolt-Glaser's study, published in Brain, Behavior, & Immunity, 106 healthy-but-overweight-50-somethings supplemented with 2 different doses of high-quality omega-3's for 4 months, lowered their inflammation levels by 15%, increased their telomere length (a biomarker of aging), & improved their omega-6 to omega-3 ratios.  The lower their ratios--the greater the increase in telomere length.  Translation: Longer telomeres=longer healthier life--or at least that's the theory.  Kiecolt-Glaser says that while the U.S. average ratio of omega-6's to omega-3's is 15-to-1,  a ratio of 4-to-1 or even 2-to-1 would be ideal.   Read more about omega-3's, slowing down aging, & telomeres below.
• "Questioning the Superpowers of Omega-3 in Diets", Melinda Beck in the October 1, 2012 Wall Street Journal.  Mostly good, but some questionable misinformation.  Beck examines the benefits of omega-3's in light of three recent studies that questioned their benefit in reducing deaths or cardiovascular events in people who had previous heart attacks or were at high risk for having one.  Beck, also takes a look at some of the recent omega-3 research & offers "a tantalizing mix of healing possibilities".
• Supplementing with algal DHA improves learning & memory function only in healthy middle-aged individuals.  It will not benefit or reverse dementia, cognitive dysfunction, or Alzheimer's.  Adults 55+: The Memory Improvement with Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) Study, or MIDAS, was the first large, randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study demonstrating the benefits of algal DHA in maintaining and improving brain health in older adults. The study indicated that the use of DHA improves learning and memory recall in healthy older adults with mild memory complaints.  485 healthy individuals ≥55  participated in the trial for 24 weeks, in 19 U.S. clinical sites.  This is the study that turned Dr. Majid Fotuhi into an algal DHA booster.  

 

 

 My Omega-3 Adventures - It's All About the Brain

Look, I'm serious about getting my daily supply of omega-3's.

I don't leave my "getting enough" up to chance.  Honestly, if you are eating a plant-based diet, like I am, you might not be getting enough omega-3's.  You have to be methodical about it.  Eat enough chia, hemp seed, or flax.   Greens help--but, they don't provide a significant amount.   Consider taking an algal omega-3 supplement.  Think about getting your blood levels tested.  I did.  That's why I now take an algal DHA supplement.

 

Credit:  Dr. Joanne L. Mumola Williams' blog, Foods for Long Life

 

It's a complicated process--and it's a good bet that you'll need a whole lot less of the omega-3's if you're plant-based & have ditched oils. 

But, bottom line, our bodies aren't so efficient at converting the plant-versions of omega-3's (ALA)--like chia, flax, greens, & walnuts--into DHA or EPA, the long-chain most benefiical omega-3's. 

And, even if you're eating enough very expensive wild salmon (the farmed won't quite do the job--it's grain-fed & high in omega-6's according to Thomas Sherman, professor of pharmacology at Georgetown Medical Center) to boost your levels, your likely taking in more mercury, toxins, heavy metals, pesticides, &  PCB's than you should. 

According to fish expert, Paul Greenberg, the only really safe source of salmon right now is from Bristol Bay, Alaska,  and those fisheries are now being threatened by copper mines that want to operate in that region--threatening to pollute those safe waters.

 

Here's what I'm taking to boost my omega-3's:

I add 1 1/2 tablespoons of chia to my morning oatmeal--about 3 grams of omega-3 ALA.  Nothing wrong with flax--I just like the taste & texture of chia better. 

On most days I also take an algal DHA/EPA (omega-3) supplement--320 mg DHA/130 mg EPA. I'm currently taking Ovega Algal Supplement--which is recommended by ConsumerLabs, the independent lab that tests supplements.  I've also taken Spectrum's Agal DHA.

Just by eating plant-based & no-added-oil I drastically lower the amount of omega-3's (in a supplement) I need to take--because I've cut out the biggest sources of omega-6's that compete for "cell-space" with omega-3's.  No need for those mega-prescription-strength fish oil capsules.  I'm not eating the typical omega-6 heavy Western diet.

 

Credit:  Dr. Joanne L. Mumola Williams' blog, Foods for Long Life

Sure, I know there's a whole laundry list of omega-3 benefits.  But, honestly, the only benefit that I can physically point to, is that I'm now free from joint aches, pains, & stiffness.  That wasn't always the case.  And maybe those omega-3's are part of the reason I'm almost always in a good mood. 

But, here's the REAL REASON, I'm religious about getting omega-3's into my diet. 

It's all about keeping my brain in working order.

Read on.  This study got my attention last year.

Low Levels of Omega-3 Fatty Acids May Cause Memory Problems

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A diet lacking in omega-3 fatty acids, nutrients commonly found in fish, may cause your brain to age faster and lose some of its memory and thinking abilities, according to a study published in the February 28, 2012, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Omega-3 fatty acids include the nutrients called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA).

“People with lower blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids had lower brain volumes that were equivalent to about two years of structural brain aging,” said study author Zaldy S. Tan, MD, MPH, of the Easton Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research and the Division of Geriatrics, University of California at Los Angeles.

For the study, 1,575 people with an average age of 67 and free of dementia underwent MRI brain scans. They were also given tests that measured mental function, body mass and the omega-3 fatty acid levels in their red blood cells.

The researchers found that people whose DHA levels were among the bottom 25 percent of the participants had lower brain volume compared to people who had higher DHA levels. Similarly, participants with levels of all omega-3 fatty acids in the bottom 25 percent also scored lower on tests of visual memory and executive function, such as problem solving and multi-tasking and abstract thinking.

The study was supported by the Framingham Heart Study’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Institute on Aging.  

Tan, ZS et al.  "Red Blood Cell Omega-3 Fatty Acid Levels & Markers of Accelerated Brain Aging,"  Neurology 2012 Feb. 28; 78(9):658-64.

 

The "Best Brains" in the Neurology Study Had a DHA/EPA Level of 6.5%

 

When my omega-3 levels  were tested last March as part of a pilot omega-3 study, --without taking any kind of a supplement--& only using chia--my DHA/EPA levels were similar to the 75% "healthy brain" levels in the Neurology study--at 6.6%.  Pretty darn good.  Check out the chart below.

But, l'm still shooting to get that level up to the "low heart disease risk level" of 8%.   For comparison--the omega-3 levels of most Americans are at 4 to 5%.  And, honestly, my DHA levels could stand for a bit of a boost.

Although my omega 6 to omega 3 ratio of 5.8:1 was a lot better than the US average which ranges from 8.11:1 to 17:1---getting down to a ratio of 4:1 is my goal.

I hope to get retested after sticking to a daily algal supplement for 3 months.  Stay tuned.

 

The Neurology Study's DHA+EPA Omega-3 Index Levels

 

 

Ditch the Sugar & Go for the Omega-3s 

 

Like I said--it's been quite a week for omega-3 studies, and here's another one to help convince you that the 3's are good for the brain.

Ditch the sugar/fructose  & eat a diet sufficient in omega-3's for brain health!!  It worked for rats trying to find their way through a maze--maybe it will help us find our keys or glasses.  (And check out the Rat Race video at the bottom of this post.  See if that doesn't convince you.)

All the rats in this study were first trained to get through the Barnes Maze, before they started on their special diets. 

After just six weeks on the four respective diets, the rats on a high-fructose and omega-3 deficient diet (RED) took 6 times as long to get through the maze compared to rats on a diet sufficient in omega-3 and without fructose (GREEN).

This study was led by my fave UCLA brain/food researcher, Dr. Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, "'Metabolic syndrome' in the brain: deficiency in omega-3 fatty acid exacerbates dysfunctions in insulin receptor signalling and cognition" Journal of Physiology  2012 May 1;590(Pt 10):2485-99.  For a copy of the article, click here. 

 

Key Points in the article:

•We provide novel evidence for the effects of metabolic dysfunctions on brain function using the rat model of metabolic syndrome induced by high fructose intake.

•We describe that the deleterious consequences of unhealthy dietary habits can be partially counteracted by dietary supplementation of n-3 fatty acid.

•High sugar consumption impaired cognitive abilities and disrupted insulin signalling by engaging molecules associated with energy metabolism and synaptic plasticity; in turn, the presence of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an n-3 fatty acid, restored metabolic homeostasis.

•These findings expand the concept of metabolic syndrome affecting the brain and provide the mechanistic evidence of how dietary habits can interact to regulate brain functions, which can further alter lifelong susceptibility to the metabolic disorders.

 

 Rats on Diets - A Little Sugar (Fru) - And a Side of Omega-3's

 

 

 

What's Up With Telomeres & Aging?  The Studies Keep Showing an Omega-3 Connection

Ohio State University's Research is Just the Latest

 

Originally posted on January 23, 2010

A New Role for Omega-3? Lengthening Our Telomeres--A Key Marker for Aging, Longer Life, and Health. From JAMA & UCSF

 

 

 

 

 

"The main result of our study is that patients with high levels of Omega-3 fish oil in the blood appear to have a slowing of the biological aging process over five years as measured by the change in telomere length. It's also the first study that shows that a dietary factor may be able to slow down telomere shortening."   

 

-Ramin Farzaneh-Far, M.D., of the University of California at San Francisco, lead author of "Association of Marine Omega-3 Fatty Acid Levels with Telomeric Aging in Patients with Coronary Heart Disease"  JAMA 2010;303(3):250-257.

This week's big medical news story appeared in JAMA and it is one more reason why you want to be sure to get your Omega-3s everyday--while lowering your intake of the Omega-6s.

We already knew that the Omega-3s were amazing.

• They're anti-inflammatory and anti-clotting
• They prevent age-related cognitive decline
• They lower triglycerides
• They lower blood pressure
• They slow age-related macular degeneration
• They keep blood vessels flexible
• They lower depression
• They decrease joint stiffness in rheumatoid and osteo-arthritis
• They're necessary for fetal and infant brain development

 

So What Did The JAMA Heart And Soul Study Tell Us That We Didn't Already Know?

 

The UCSF researchers followed 608 outpatients with stable coronary artery disease for 5-8 years.  At the start of the study they measured everyone's levels of Omega-3's and the length of their leukocyte telomeres--which is a marker of aging.  Remember though--this was an observational study, not a gold-standard double-blind randomized controlled study.

Here's how the lead researcher Dr. Ramin Farzaneh-Far explains the results:

"The main result from our study is that patients with high levels of Omega-3's fish oil in the blood appear to have a slowing of the biological aging process over five years as measured by the change in telomere length."

"Patients with the highest levels of Omega-3 fish oils were found to display the slowest decrease in telomere length, whereas those with the lowest levels of Omega-3 fish oils in the blood had the fastest rate of telomere shortening, suggesting that these patients were aging faster than those with the higher fish oil levels in their blood."

"By measuring telomere length at two different times we are able to see the speed at which the telomeres are shortening and that gives us some indication of how rapidly the biological aging process is taking place in these patients."

What Are Telomeres And How Exactly Do They Affect The Aging Process?

 

 

PLASTIC TIPS ON SHOELACES—that’s the analogy often used to describe telomeres. They are the red caps sitting on the ends of these blue chromosomes. 

Just like plastic shoelace tips that keep the laces from fraying--the telomeres protect valuable genetic material needed for our cells to divide properly, and to repair worn-out cells.

They are also strong markers for aging (see the graph below and get depressed).  Not only do they shorten as we age, over time the telomeres can become damaged and shorten because of inflammation, smoking, obesity, or lack of exercise. 

Emmuanel Skorkalakes, of the Wistar Institue in Philadelphia, explains,

"When the telomeres become short, then you start cutting into actual chromosomes where there are genes essential for our body. To prevent the fraying DNA in all those aging cells from seeding maliganant tumors, the body turns them dormant. Your body shuts down more and more cells every day and you become old."

 

This week's JAMA study is just one more bit of evidence that shows how our lifestyle choices can affect telomere length--and promote healthy aging.

• A 2008 twin study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine compared the telomere length of exercising twins versus couch-potato twins.  After only 12 months, the telomere's of the exercising  showed the equivalent of being 10 years younger than their couch-potato siblings.  Click here to read about the study.
• A 2008 study led by Dr. Dean Ornish followed a group of men with early prostate cancer who made these lifestyle changes:  increased their fruit & vegetable consumption; limited their fat consumption to 10%; lowered their consumption of refined sugar; took vitamin supplements & fish oil; exercised for 30 minutes a day; and either meditated or did yoga for stress relief.  After only 3 months, 24 out of 30 men showed significant increases in their telomerase levels.  Click here to read about the study.
• A number of studies have also shown how stress can accelerate telomere shrinking, especially in caregivers of chronically ill children and the spouses of Alzheimer's patients.  One study even suggested that you can accelerate your biological age by as much as 17 years if you're exposed to what you perceive as high psychological stress!

 

All About Omega-3's.  Does It Really Have To Be Fish Oil?

Yes, the JAMA study used Omega-3 fish oil, but Omega-3s really originate in green leafy plants--not in fish.

MUST READ ARTICLE ALERT!  REALLY.  Susan Allport is a medical journalist/researcher who is an expert in "all things Omega-3".  She has written a brilliant article in the September 2009 issue of Prevention, "The Vanishing Youth Nutrient" that does an excellent job of explaining why we need Omega-3s in our diet, why so many physicians equate Omega-3 with fish, and why Omega-3 is sorely lacking in our diets.  Click here for the article.

• We can only obtain the Omega-3s through our diet. 
• They are essential to the healthy development of our brains--and they are found in the highest concentrations in our most active tissues: brains, eyes, hearts, the tails of sperm.
• The metabolism of every species on the planet is a function of the amount of Omega-3s in its tissues, according the Dr. Tony Hulbert of the University of Wollongong in Australia.  Think: Omega-3=growth, activity, energy.  Omega-6=hibernation, fat storage, belly fat.   Athletes take note:  high concentrations of omega-3s in muscle cells lead to improved athletic performance.
  
• Research from the 1980s showed fish-eating populations of Greenland and Japan had the lowest rates of heart disease.  That's why the Omega-3s became associated with fish--instead of with green plants.  And that's why the American Heart Association recommends fish or fish oil as our main source of Omega-3s.  Big Problem:  Fish are not a sustainable source of Omega-3s--there are simply not enough fish in the world's oceans.
• Big Point:  "Omega-3s are found in the green leaves of plants.  Fish are full of omega-3s because they eat phytoplankton (the microscopic green plants of the ocean) and seaweed.  They are what turn sunlight into sugars, the basis of life on Earth."
• You can get all your Omega-3s from green leafy vegetables, legumes, flax seeds, chia seeds (they have the highest level of any plant-click here to read more), or walnuts, grass-fed animals and their milk, or eggs, wild cold-water fish like salmon, highly purified fish oil supplements, or algae-sourced Omega-3 supplements.
• Big Point:  If you cut back on vegetable oils, processed foods, trans-fats, corn-fed meat, chicken and milk you will actually lower the amount of Omega-3s you need in your diet to balance the negative effects of the inflammatory, fat-promoting Omega-6s we are getting in our Western Diet.
• The ratio of Omega 6's to 3's should be between 4:1 and 2:1, or ideally 1:1.  Currently, for most Americans, the range for the ratio is anywhere between 8:1 and 17:1, in favor of heart-disease-causing Omega 6's. 
  

Why Is Our Diet So High in Omega-6s, And So Low In Healthy Omega 3's?

• Omega-6 fats come from the seeds of plants.  We need them--but we need far less of them than we are consuming--and we need them in just the right ratio to Omega-3s.  They promote blood clotting, inflammation, and cause us to "pack on the pounds".  Just like corn-fed beef.  Grass-fed or plant-fed animals and humans are naturally lower in fat!
• Big Point:  Omega-6s and Omega-3s are in constant competition to enter our cells.  Eat too many Omega-6s in the form of meat, oil, or processed food--and you'll be seriously deficient in Omega-3s.  Eat less Omega-6s, and your body won't need as many Omega-3s to function properly.
• Omega-3s began to disappear from our food supply when previously grass-fed animals began eating corn and soybeans, which are high in Omega-6s.  The factory-farm and feedlots replaced the family farm, and grass-fed meat, milk, and eggs became history.  Click here to read about King Corn's effect on our health.
• With farm subsidies for corn and soybeans, companies like Archer Daniels Midland figured out how to extract oil from these and other seed plants--giving us even more Omega-6s in our diet.
• The AHA and other health agencies encouraged us to use oil and margarine because they assumed these cholesterol-free oils were good for the heart.  Wrong!
• "Food chemists discovered that rancidity in packaged food was caused by the oxidation of some minor but pesky  fats: the Omega-3s."  So they removed them and extended the shelf-life of packaged food.
• Fewer and fewer of us are eating enough green leafy vegetables, fish, or flax to even put a dent into the "out-of-whack" Omega-6 to Omega 3 ratio.

I highly recommend you read Susan Allport's article in Prevention, as well as her book, The Queen of Fats.  She does an excellent job of explaining the good, the bad, and the ugly of the fat world.

If you need any more convincing on the wonders of Omega-3, watch Allport's brief video, The Rat Race, comparing rats fed on diets rich in Omega-3s with those fed on diets deficient in Omega-3s.

Click here if you've received this post via email and aren't seeing the video.

 

Overnight Chocolate Berry Buckwheat Breakfast Groats & Oats - A Breakfast to Benefit Your Brain, Heart, Blood Pressure, Blood Sugar, & Digestive System

 

Overnight No-Cook Chocolate Berry Oatmeal & Buckwheat Groat Breakfast Pudding

 

If you received this post via email, click here, to get to the web version with all the links, photos, & comments.

 

As many of you have probably figured out already, I'm doing a lot more posting of health news items/recipes/information, etc. on Facebook than I'm able to write about on my blog.

Please do check out "what's new" daily or weekly--if you're so inclined.  No pressure.  

You don't even have to have a Facebook account to visit my page.  Just click on the link in the upper right-hand corner of my blog--or click here--or just Google Healthy Librarian Facebook--and you'll find me.

If you get that annoying "please log in" message, & you don't have an account, no worries.  Just hit the escape button, & continue on reading.

 

 And Now for the Real Post

 

Breakfast just got even better.

Hands-down, this is the most delicious, most nutritious, most satisfying breakfast I've ever eaten!

Am I exaggerating?

Not really.

Anne Marie's brilliant suggestion of adding unsweetened cocoa into the oatmeal pudding was sheer genius.

It not only tastes scrumptious, but it also adds all the polyphenol blood pressure lowering benefits of cocoa to this already-tastes-too-good-to-be-healthy-for-you breakfast concoction.

Four servings.  Made overnight in your fridge.  Layered parfait-style (or not) into a bowl in the morning.

This breakfast pudding parfait has it all!

And it's so easy!!!

Makes enough to last for 4 mornings.

 

• Cholesterol-cutting rolled oats that are loaded with both soluble & insoluble fiber. 
• The atherosclerosis-preventing polyphenol, avenanthramide, found in oats, boosts the production of artery-saving nitric oxide.  This is a dose-response relationship--so the more oats you eat--the more nitric oxide you're producing.   Now you can enjoy oatmeal for dessert!
• The "miracle polyphenol", epicatechin, found in cocoa.  It lowers blood pressure, neutralizes inflammation, increases HDL's, dilates blood vessels, helps prevent atherosclerosis, increases nitric oxide production and more!
• The anthocyanins found in berries--that boost memory, tamper inflammation, & clean out "toxic brain junk"--like mini-brain maids.
• Buckwheat groats - high in protein, loaded with B vitamins, gluten-free, low-glycemic, & it even steadies blood glucose levels.  Groats also lend a nice nutty crunch to this breakfast pudding. Who could ask for anything more?
• Chia seeds - you'll get 1 tablespoon per serving, which provides all the omega-3's you'll need for the day (2.7 grams), along with bonus anti-oxidants, protein & fiber.
• Walnuts have the highest amount of antioxidants of all the nuts, as well as heart-healthy omega-3s, and a perfect ratio of omega-3s to omega-6s. It's the best nut out there, hands down.

 

 

First:  The Recipe

Second:  All the Benefits

 

 

 Soak the Oats, Cocoa, Chia, Soy Milk, Vanilla, & Smashed Banana Overnight in a Jar or Covered Bowl

 

Soak the Buckwheat Groats in a Covered Bowl Overnight & Rinse Well in the Morning

 

Layer Thawed or Fresh Mixed Berries, Chocolate Oat Chia Pudding, Raw Buckwheat Groats, & Top with Chopped Walnuts.  Yum!!!

 

The Healthy LIbrarian's Overnight Chocolate Berry Buckwheat Breakfast Groats & Oats with Chia & Walnuts

 

For a copy of the recipe on one page, click here

Servings:  4  (you can store leftovers in the fridge, & enjoy 4 days worth of already-made breakfasts)

 

Preparation:

 

Part 1:  The Chocolate Oat Pudding 

2/3 cup of old-fashioned (not instant) rolled oats

2 cups of soy milk (or other non-dairy milk)

4 tablespoons of chia seeds (white is prettier, but not necessary)

1 medium to large ripe banana, smashed up 

1 teaspoon real vanilla

1 tablespoon unsweetened, un-Dutched cocoa (I like Penzey's)  (cocoa is optional, of course--it's still good plain)

Optional: 1 packet of stevia

 

1.  Microwave 1/2 cup of the milk until very warm.  Mix in the 1 tablespoon of cocoa.  Un-Dutched cocoa doesn't dissolve well in cold liquids--that's the reason for this step.

2.  Mix everything together (the oats, the milk, the chia, the banana, the vanilla, the cocoa-dissolved-in-the-warmed-milk, & the optional stevia), mix well,  & put in a quart jar or sealed bowl to soak overnight in the fridge.

3.  Store leftovers in the fridge.

 

Part 2:  The Buckwheat Groats

1 cup of raw buckwheat groats (available from Nuts.com or Bob's Red Mill or your health food store)  Not the same as toasted buckwheat or Kasha.  We bought the white groats.

3 cups of water

1.  Soak groats in 3 cups of water overnight in a sealed container in the fridge.

2.  In the morning, rinse very well.  A few times, is even better.  It removes the sticky coating from the groats.

3.  Store leftovers in the fridge.

 

Part 3:  Putting the parfait together

You really don't need to make a parfait--it just looks pretty.  It's fine to dump one serving's worth of  everything into a bowl--it will taste the same.

MIX UP ONLY ONE SERVING AT A TIME.  STORE THE LEFTOVER CHOCOLATE OATMEAL PUDDING & GROATS SEPARATELY.  LAYER THEM WHEN MAKE YOUR BREAKFAST

 1.  Thaw 1 cup of mixed frozen berries, per serving (fresh is fine) in the microwave.   I use 1 cup of berries per serving  

2.  For each serving, layer 1/4 of the chocolate oatmeal pudding, 1/4 of the buckwheat groats, with 1 cup of mixed berries.  

3.  Top your breakfast with a sprinkling of chopped walnuts.

 

Nutrition Info Based on Using Eden Extra Soy Milk - Use Less Groats for Fewer Calories

Nutrition Facts Healthy LIbrarian's Overnight Chocolate Berry Buckwheat Breakfast Groats & Oats Serving Size: 1 serving Amount Per Serving Calories 420 Total Fat 7.2g       Saturated Fat 0.8g       Trans Fat 0g Cholesterol 0mg Sodium 66mg Carbohydrate 76.5g       Dietary Fiber 13.4g       Sugars 19.4g Protein 16.9g Vitamin A 17% Vitamin C 25% Calcium    17% Iron 20%

 

 

Why You Want to Eat Oats Everyday

 

The New Science Behind Oats - Avenanthramides  

Old news:  Oats have a soluble fiber, known as beta-glucan that helps to lower cholesterol by reducing its absorption into the blood stream.  They are also low-glycemic, taking a nice leisurely time to digest, so they keep you full longer, and keep your blood sugar steady.  All commendable qualities.

New to me news--the Avenanthramides--the heart healthy polyphenol found in oats :   Over at the USDA-Agricultural Research Vascular Biology Lab at Tufts University, Dr. Mohsen Meydani is the "oat expert".   It turns out that the polyphenols in oats, better known as avenanthramides, are the real power players when it comes to heart health.  First off, they prevent LDL from oxidizing, which sets the process of atherosclerosis into motion.  They work their magic by "decreasing inflammation in the artery walls, by limiting the growth of artery-stiffening smooth muscle cells inside arteries, and by preventing white blood cells from sticking to artery walls."  Harvard Health Letter, May 2010.

But it gets even better.  Meydani has recently found that the avenanthramides in oats are not only anti-inflammatory, but they put a stop to the kind of wild cell growth in the artery walls that starts the whole process of atherosclerosis in the first place--which can eventually lead to heart attacks.  As if that weren't enough--when you ingest these avenanthramides with your morning oatmeal, you're also preventing atherosclerosis by increasing artery-saving nitric oxide production in the endothelium or lining of your arteries. That's the "magic gas" that keeps the arteries relaxed and dilated.  And it's a dose-response--the more avenanthramides, the greater the nitric oxide production. Side benefit:  lowered blood pressure.  For Meydani's research click here and here.

Curbing colon cancer with avenanthramides, too.  We knew that oats and other whole grains helped to reduce colon cancer, but the mechanism wasn't fully understood.  Meydani's just-published research in Nutr Cancer 2010 Nov. 62(8):1007-16 found that the avenanthramides in oats tamp down inflammation in the colon, and inhibit the growth of colonic cancer cells.

 

What's So Good About Cocoa?

 

The Greek name for cocoa means, "Drink of the Gods".  Maybe they were on to something.  Epicatechin is the polyphenol in cocoa that does its magic on the cardiovascular system.

• It lowers blood pressure
• It reduces insulin resistance and improves platelet function
• It increases nitric oxide production--that "magic gas" that improves endothelial function, and it has anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
• In a recent meta-analysis in the journal Circulation, 75 grams of dark chocolate for 3 weeks increased HDLs by 14% and decreased LDL oxidation. Lowering blood pressure took even less cocoa to do the job.
• How does cocoa do all this?  It's probably because it increases the availability of nitric oxide, and it also increases arginase--which prevents nitric oxide from breaking down.  It's a 2-for-one!
• Cocoa's best benefit?  It inhibits the kind of inflammation that creates atherosclerotic plaque.
• This study will give you a good reason to drink cocoa daily.  One of the tests for a healthy vasculature is the ability of our blood vessels to dilate.  This study looked at the dilation of arteries after drinking a high flavanoid cocoa drink, compared to a low flavonoid drink.  There was a significant increase in vasodilation with the high flavonoid drink--and nitric oxide levels increased as the level of flavonoids in the cocoa increased.
• Watch out!  Avoid cocoa or dark chocolate that is "Dutch-Processed" or is treated with an alkali to decrease its bitterness--that destroys the flavonoids!

 

Bring on the Berries, Everyday!

 

Berries, baby!   The research is nothing but good, good, good for berries & the brain.  In fact, now we know a little bit more about how they do their magic on the brain.  They "activate the brain's natural "housekeeper" mechanism, which cleans up and recycles toxic proteins linked to age-related memory loss and other mental decline."   Like mini-brain-maids these cells clear out brain junk.  I have berries daily in my Green Smoothies, and either on top of my oatmeal, or mixed in plain soy yogurt.   Lower-cost mixed berries are at BJ's or Costco.  Read more here and here.

 

If You're Going to Eat Nuts, Stick to Walnuts--For So Many Reasons

 

Source:  American Chemical Society, March 27, 2011 press release

In a report [presented at the] 241^st National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, scientists presented an analysis showing that walnuts have a combination of more healthful antioxidants and higher quality antioxidants than any other nut.

“Walnuts rank above peanuts, almonds, pecans, pistachios and other nuts,” said Joe Vinson, Ph.D., who did the analysis. “A handful of walnuts contains almost twice as much antioxidants as an equivalent amount of any other commonly consumed nut. But unfortunately, people don’t eat a lot of them. This study suggests that consumers should eat more walnuts as part of a healthy diet.”

Walnuts are the top nut for heart-healthy antioxidants

 

Vinson noted that nuts in general have an unusual combination of nutritional benefits — in addition those antioxidants — wrapped into a convenient and inexpensive package. Nuts, for instance, contain plenty of high-quality protein that can substitute for meat; vitamins and minerals; dietary fiber; and are dairy- and gluten-free.

Years of research by scientists around the world link regular consumption of small amounts of nuts or peanut butter with decreased risk of heart disease, certain kinds of cancer, gallstones, Type 2 diabetes, and other health problems.

Despite all the previous research, scientists until now had not compared both the amount and quality of antioxidants found in different nuts, Vinson said. He filled that knowledge gap by analyzing antioxidants in nine different types of nuts: walnuts, almonds, peanuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, cashews, macadamias, and pecans. Walnuts had the highest levels of antioxidants.

Vinson also found that the quality, or potency, of antioxidants present in walnuts was highest among the nuts. Antioxidants in walnuts were 2-15 times as potent as vitamin E, renowned for its powerful antioxidant effects that protect the body against damaging natural chemicals involved in causing disease.

“There’s another advantage in choosing walnuts as a source of antioxidants,” said Vinson, who is with the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. “The heat from roasting nuts generally reduces the quality of the antioxidants. People usually eat walnuts raw or unroasted, and get the full effectiveness of those antioxidants.”

 

Dr. David Katz of the Yale University School of Medicine, published a small randomized-controlled study in 2010, that demonstrated how a walnut-enriched diet improves endothelium-dependent vasodilatation in type 2 diabetic individuals, suggesting a potential reduction in overall cardiac risk.  

Source:  Ma Y, Njike VY, Millet J, Dutta S, Doughty K, Treu JA, Katz DL, "Effects of walnut consumption on endothelial function in type 2 diabetic subjects: a randomized controlled crossover trial,"   Diabetes Care,  2010 Feb;33(2):227-32.  Click here for the full article.

 

 Chia - For Omega-3's, Anti-Oxidants, & Plenty of Fiber

 

"Chia seeds are one of the oldest cultivated plants known to man.  They are loaded with antioxidants, essential fatty acids (3 and 6), vitamins, minerals and fiber.  

Chia seeds maintain blood sugar levels as they slow our body's conversion of carbohydrates into simple sugars.  They are great for an athletic person as they can effectively replenish minerals lost in sweat.  

Chia seeds can also help in weight loss as they swell up to 10 times their size, which prevents absorption of some calories we eat.  Chia puddings are great for breakfast as they will provide you with ample energy throughout the day."

This ancient seed is the highest plant source of omega-3s, and it's also loaded with fiber (soluble & insoluble), antioxidants, protein, calcium, and a laundry list of other vitamins & minerals. 

If you've read Christopher McDougall's best-selling book, Born to Run, about the fit & healthy Tarahumara barefoot runners you know what a nutrition powerhouse the chia seed is.  McDougall likens chia water to "drinking a smoothie of wild salmon, spinach and human growth hormone".  Not at all sure about its human growth hormone similarities!

To learn more about all the benefits of drinking chia water,  click here for Christina Pirello's article about chia.   And a big thank you to reader M.L. for sending Pirello's article this way. 

If the Tarahumara Indians sound familiar to you, it's because they are Dr. Esselstyn's poster children for zero heart disease--thanks to their plant-based diet of squash, corn, and beans. 

Now I'm wondering how much a role chia has contributed to their stellar health.  That is, until Western food made its way into their once hidden Copper Canyons--bringing along diabetes, obesity, & heart disease.

 

Excerpt about chia from McDougall's Born to Run:

"...after I satisfied my hunger and thirst with some iskiate, I at once felt new strength, and, to my own astonishment, climbed the great height without much effort.   After this I always found iskiate a friend in need, so strengthening and refreshing that I may almost claim it as a discovery."  (written by the great Norwegian explorer, Carl Lumholtz in the 1890's)

Months later, I'd (Chris McDougall) learn that iskiate is otherwise know as chia fresca--"Chilly chia."  It's brewed up by dissolving chia seed in water with a little sugar and a squirt of lime. 

In terms of nutritional content, a tablespoon of chia is like a smoothie made from salmon, spinach, and human growth hormone.

As tiny as those seeds are, they're superpacked with omega-3s, omega-6s protein, calcium, iron, zinc, fiber, and antioxidants.

If you had to pick just one desert-island food, you couldn't do much better than chia, at least if you were interested in building muscle, lowering cholesterol, and reducing your risk of heart disease; after a few months of the chia diet, you could probably swim home.

Chia was once so treasured, the Aztecs used to deliver it to their king in homage.  Aztec runners used to chomp chia seeds as they went into battle, and the Hopis fueled themselves on chia during their epic runs from Arizona to the Pacific Ocean.

Despite its liquid-gold status, chia is ridiculously easy to grow; if you own a Chia Pet, in fact, you're only a few steps away from your own batch of devil drink.

 

 Humble Buckwheat Groats

 

Buckwheat is the highest source of protein in the plant kingdom, with 50% more B-vitamins than wheat. And it's gluten-free.

Did I mention that it's high in lysine--an important "not-so-easy-to-get" amino acid---and it's high in that "hard-to-find" soluble fiber that slows down digestion, which is helpful for keeping blood sugar levels stable.  A plus for diabetics.

It's so satisfying, & I'll vouch for the claim that buckwheat is a slow-release carb. This breakfast keeps me full for four hours.  Really.

Gas-free (unlike steel-cut oats), too!  A definite plus.  Maybe it's because of the soaking.  

What's the big deal about buckwheat?   For starters, it's not really a cereal grain, but a seed, related to rhubarb & sorrel.  It's rich in flavanoids, like the antioxidant, rutin, loads of B Vitamins, sky-high in magnesium, potassium, & phosphorus, & it helps to lower glucose levels.

Read everything you'd ever want to know about buckwheat here and here, in case I missed anything.

 

I hope you enjoy the breakfast pudding parfait as much as I do.

Please let me know what you think! 

 

 

Centenarian Strategies: How to Stay Happy, Healthy, Fit, & Sharp Until You're 100

 

My Dad Would Have Been 100 If He Were Alive Today

Reading the New York Times with coffee - I'm 15 months old & it's 1951 - and at 62 I still start every day this way!

 

 

If you received this post via email click here to get to the web version with all the links & to leave a comment.

Next month I'll be presenting a talk at the Utah Library Association's 100th Anniversary Meeting in Salt Lake City.  My first visit to Utah and I can't wait.

And what better subject to speak on for a 100th anniversary than, "Centenarian Strategies: How to Stay Happy, Healthy, Fit, & Sharp Until You're 100"!

Right now I'm hard at work putting together my talk--which turns out to be the Best of the Best of this  "Medical Librarian's Adventures in Evidenced-Based Living".

Since January 2008 I've been reading and analyzing the medical research on wellness, nutrition, & exercise-- and then trying out the reasonable strategies on myself--and my husband, who's affectionately known as "The Lab Rat".   Yoga & prunes for bone health.  Chia for omega-3s.  Interval training, chocolate hummus, higher vitamin d,  adding b-12,  using a neti pot with Alkalol & saline, talking to strangers, oatmeal with turmeric & spinach....

 We've come a long way baby!  And I know a lot of you readers have come along for the ride.  As for me, my life has changed plenty since January 17, 2008--and at the start of this project I thought I was pretty healthy already.  Wrong!

 

Little did I know back then, that by 2012:

• I would be enthusiastically embracing a plant-based no-oil diet.  Never in a million years would I have guessed that one.
• I would become an avid plant-based recipe creator & tester--whose husband miraculously discovered he liked to cook.  My husband, a really good cook?  Never would have believed it.
• I'd be regularly spinning, lifting weights, building more muscle than I've ever had, & getting good at yoga--and, I'd even willingly get up at 6:30 am on a Sunday morning to fit in a yoga & a spin class. This one, I might have believed.
• I would have lost 15 pounds, wear a size 4, & not need to be on statins, blood pressure, or bone medications--and I'd even get a health insurance rebate.  Wouldn't have believed it!
• I'd be friends with Dr. Caldwell & Ann Esselstyn, and I'd have the opportunity to hear Dr. Dean Ornish, Dr. David Katz, Dr. Colin Campbell, Rip Esselstyn, Dr. Ed Hallowell and so many others, speak in person on health issues. 
• Many of my friends, family, relatives, & co-workers would be interested in following or at least exploring a plant-based no-oil diet--to varying degrees.  
• I'd still be blogging--and would have started a facebook page in early 2012, enjoying & sharing the "evidence-based healthy living"  ride with thousands of regular readers in almost 200 countries--and getting to know interesting, smart, & engaging people from all over the world--including many physicians.

Yikes, with over 500 posts written, and so much to share, I'm having a hard time cutting to the chase, getting to the nitty gritty--and deciding what to include--and what to leave out in this upcoming talk.

 

 

The plan was to touch on these key strategies, as well as share my own evidence-based experiences.

1. How a plant-based, no-added oil diet can prevent & reverse heart disease, and reduce your risk of dementia, strokes, diabetes, & some cancers.
2. How three different types of exercise can help protect you from dementia, bone loss, osteoarthritis, diabetes, & heart disease.
3. Beyond the body:  Why we need to stretch our brains beyond our comfort zone, make time for friends, fun, sleep, down time, relaxation--& invest our resources in experiences--not things.

 

I Need Your Help!

 

Many of you have been following along with me for anywhere from 4 years to a few weeks.

• What have you learned that's changed your health the most?   Or what's changed your mind?   Or what's changed how you feel, shop, eat, cook, spend your free time, or exercise?
• I'd really appreciate your suggestions about covering the topics that an audience will find the most helpful, the most engaging, the most health-changing, and above all--the least boring.
• What would YOU want to hear me talk about?
• Feel free to comment here (& scroll to the end of the post until you see the comment box) or via [email protected]

Please, give me feedback!  It will be so helpful!  And I'll be so grateful!  Really!

 

 

I'm Taking a Good Look at My 2011 Report Card & My Fifteen Month Plant-Based Diet Update--And You Can, Too

 

 

If you missed my most recent "Report Card" from August 23, 2011, here it is:

Fifteen Months Into the Esselstyn-Style Plant-Based No-Oil Way of Eating - The Healthy Librarian Spills the Beans - And It's All Good! Can't Wait to Compare Notes with Bill Clinton on Saturday

 

I'll probably have less time to post while I put this "Centenarian baby to bed"--but, I'll still try to post "what's new" in health care via Facebook.  And with this gynormous post, you'll definitely have plenty of reading material for weeks to come.

And speaking of what's new....

If you're not a facebook visitor, here's what you missed in yesterday's news.  Pretty interesting!

Happy Healthy Long Life - The Healthy Librarian

Here's it is! After analyzing the data from over 120,000 health professionals for over 26 years, the verdict is in:

Meat's not so good for your health. And it's just as bad for the environment.

“When you have these numbers in front of you, it’s pretty staggering,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Frank B. Hu, a professor of medicine at Harvard. 

This is the first large-scale prospective longitudinal study showing that consumption of both processed and unprocessed red meat is associated with an increased risk of premature mortality from all causes as well as from cardiovascular disease and cancer.

An earlier study linked meat consumption to diabetes.

This "hot-off-the-press" study was accompanied by Dr. Dean Ornish's more readable editorial. If you must have meat--the authors advise sticking to less than half a serving a day. Paleo fans, take note!  You just might want to consider a diet re-do.

Even HeartWire billed the story as "The Carnivore's Dilemma" with an interesting lead:

"Long-term data from two large studies might have more people considering a switch to vegetarianism, with investigators reporting results showing that processed and unprocessed meat consumption is associated with a significantly increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, as well as increased risk of death from cancer."

Find the full article, here: http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/archinternmed.2011.2287?etoc

Here's the editorial:  Arch Intern Med -- Holy Cow! What's Good For You Is Good For Our Planet: Comment on "Red Meat Consumption and Mortality.

 

 

The Report Card on the Healthy Librarian's 2010 Simple Strategies for Staying Healthy and Happy - What's Working, What's Not, What's New for 2011? 

 originally posted February 5, 2011

December 31, 2010--Ending the Year Right--With Good Friends, Good Food, Good Music & Dancing

 

 

Last year on my 60th birthday, perhaps naively, I sat down to figure out if there was anything I could do to increase my odds for a healthy happy rest of my life.  My parents hadn't fared so well after they hit 60.

 

"Judging by my parents--that last quarter of life doesn't look so promising.  Which is exactly why I've been paying attention to exercise and eating right since I turned 30. 

That's when my dad had one of those massive debilitating strokes that left him unable to communicate, unable to read or fully understand speech, and eventually unable to walk or do anything.  He was 69 at the time--just when he was getting ready to kick back a little, work a little less, travel, and just enjoy life.  He spent 16 years living in this kind of post-stroke-limbo-state, spiraling downward.

My mom was 62 at the time, and my dad's stroke changed her life in an instant.  One minute she was planning all the trips they'd finally have a chance to take--and enjoying their new role as grandparents--and in the next she was jockeying the world of wheelchairs and therapists.

With the stress of full-time care-giving, and years of no exercise or attention to diet, by 72 she had developed severe coronary artery blockages, hypertension, kidney stones, osteoporosis and painful spinal fractures.  Then came the mini-strokes that finally added up to vascular dementia in her eighties."

 

So, on January 1, 2010 I wrote one of my favorite posts,  It's the Start of the New Year, the Start of the New Decade, and the Start of My Sixties. Some Simple Strategies for Staying Healthy and Happy. At Least I Can Hope!

It outlined the 12 things I planned to do to stay healthy--live long--and die short (hopefully)!   And evidenced-based librarian that I am, most of these strategies are backed by research--and tried out by yours-truly.

So how did I do?  What worked?  What didn't?  And most importantly, what new strategies did I learn about in 2010 that are now part of my daily routine?   

I looked over all of my 2010 posts to see what new strategies I've added to my original Top 12--and I was surprised to see how much I've learned--and how much I've changed this year. 

I'm including the links to my favorite "I'm now doing this daily" posts for 2010 so I won't have to bore you with the details.   And I'll follow it all up with a repeat of my Start of the New Year, Start of the New Decade, and the Start of My Sixties post--with notes on what worked, what didn't, for me.

 

And a huge thank you to everyone who takes the time out of their busy day to read Happy Healthy Long Life.  If not for all of you, I know I wouldn't take the time to carefully read & summarize research articles, pay as close attention to the details of the recipes I try out, and be so diligent with what I choose to eat. 

And because I really stuck with no-oil plant-based diet, I'm hooked, it's now a habit, cravings are history, and I feel great!   P.S.  I love hearing from all of you!  It makes my efforts all worthwhile!

 

Biggest Changes in 2010?

1.  I've lost 13 pounds since June 21, 2010 (in 7 1/2 months) by adopting Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn's "Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease" approach to eating--just by cutting out added oils in my cooking & in the groceries I buy, ditching all nuts (except very small amounts of walnuts), chocolate (not cocoa) & avocados (except for occasional small amounts).  It effortlessly did the job.  I also reduced my body's percentage of fat by 5%.  (Update 2012:  15 pounds & that's enough for me.)

Back in March 2008 I had cut out all animal protein (dairy, meat, fowl, ate fish only rarely) and sugar & desserts (mostly) from my diet--and I used whole grains.  But, I never lost one single pound until I cut out the oil, chocolate, nuts, & avocados, in spite of exercising regularly!   To be fair, I wasn't trying or expecting to lose weight on the Esselstyn diet--I was more interested in the health benefits.  I didn't expect to shed more than 4 or 5 pounds--but I'm thrilled with the results!   Belly fat is gone--and the butt has shrunk!  Don't be fooled that olive oil, chocolate, nuts, & avocados are health foods.  There are far better choices out there--that are far less addictive--and more nutrient-dense.

2. Health Means Money Where I Work.  Thanks to eating Esselstyn Style, I qualifed for hefty health insurance rebates from my hospital employer at the start of 2011.  I got a 9% rebate off of my 2010 premiums, and I locked into the 2009 rates for 2011--another hefty 17% rebate.   Why?  Because my borderline hypertension is now history, and my lipids are now looking great.  My weight is a comfortable 118 pounds for my small 5' 3" frame--and my BMI is 20.9.  No medical conditions.  No prescription meds.  Woo Hoo!  Lower insurance rates!

 

Why This Plan Works--A Picture & a Graph Tell the Story

Here's why I feel full and can eat whenever I'm hungry.   My belly can only hold 400 calories of high-fiber, high-nutrient plant-based food at a time!  It's that simple. 

 

 

This chart makes it clear as day where you're going to find the best nutrient bang for your calorie dollar!

Source:  T. Colin Campbell, PhD.  The China Study.  Dallas:Benbella Books, 2006, pg. 230.

 

The Healthy Librarian's New "Evidence-Based Living" Strategies for 2010

 

The Exercise Changes I Made This Year

• Kicked it up a notch with the aerobics:  This year's research convinced me that at middle-age I needed to "kick it up a notch" when it comes to heart-pumping aerobics.   I've added higher-intensity intervals to my spinning workout and I've noticed a reduced resting heart rate--an increased aerobic capacity and calorie burn. Read more here and here and here
• Yoga to strengthen your bones & improve core strength, balance & flexibility:  When I learned that yoga is one of the best things you can do to strengthen every bone in your body (not to mention the chill-out factor)--I decided to rearrange my work schedule so I could fit in 3 classes a week.   I never enjoyed yoga that much, nor saw any flexibility improvements until I increased the number of times from once a week or less, to 3 times a week.  Now I'm a huge yoga fan. Read more here and here
• Weight-lifting/Strength-training for the brain & bones:  Weight-training was last on my agenda when it came to exercise--but this year's research showed a double-header benefit for  improvements in both the brain & bones  deparment when you weight-train at least 2 times a week.  This was too hard to ignore.  I now "lift" twice a week--and my husband promises to teach me an easy-to-do-at-home kettle bell routine that can be done in just 10 minutes.  Read more here and here and here  (2012 Update:  I now strength train 3 days a week with an ever-changing routine that engages every muscle & is aerobic at the same time.  It involves using the lower & upper body at the same time, varying the weights, the reps, & the speed of the movement.  Plus lots of push-ups, planks, & ab work. It's challenging & fun.)
• My typical weekly routine: Yoga 2 times a week, spinning 4 times a week, weights/strength training  3 times a week.  One or two days off a week. I can get in this many workouts in each week because twice a week I exercise for 2 hours.    (New for 2012: If you keep strength training all your life, you won't lose muscle--click here & here.  And as we age--we need to add flexibility & strength training to our aerobic conditioning.  Click here)

 

This Research Convinced Me to Make These Supplement/Diet Changes in 2010

• Omega-3s Lengthen Telomeres--slowing down biological aging.  Who can resist that?  I'm not as regular as I should be, but I do take both a molecularly-distilled pharmaceutical quality fish oil capsule, along with a plant-based DHA supplement.  Although this study only looked at the benefits from fish oil--2 other studies in 2010 showed that plant-based omega-3s (ALA)--that's the  the kind found in high amounts in flax & chia--and in smaller amounts in berries & greens--work just as well as fish oil.  Read more here   (2012 update: I regularly eat 1.5 to 2 tablespoons of chia a day & a take a DHA algal supplement-125 mg.  High levels of omega-3 are associated with the best brain health, as we age, click here)  Stay tuned for my update on getting enough omega-3s on a plant-based diet!  Very interesting positive news!
• Vitamin D for So Many Reasons--in spite of the Institute of Medicine's October 2010 guidelines I'm sticking to the advice of Dr. Bruce Hollis and Dr. Michael Holick and taking 2000-4000 IUs of vitamin D--but, it's rarely daily--& my doc tracks my vitamin D levels.   Read more about Hollis & vitamin D here.  I'm also following Dr. Angelo Licata's research that found that absorption increased by 50% or more if you take your vitamin D with your heaviest meal of the day.  Read more about Licata's research here  (2012 Update:  With Rainbow Light Sour Lemon Vitamin D gummies I NEVER miss a day of vitamin D!  I stick to 4000 IUs a day--with my doctor's blessing, but it's time to get retested)
• I'm eating the fruits & vegetables with the highest amounts of antioxidants.   Check the ORAC Index or the Fuhrman/Whole Foods ANDI (aggregate nutrient density index) rankings for the foods with the most bang for the buck.  Read more here
• Low-glycemic whole grains--no exceptions (well hardly any exceptions)--Whole grains (like oats, guinoa, grainy/kibbled breads) reduce the dread & dangerous belly fat & prevent insulin-resistance (think type-2 diabetes).  Cool news to me--the way refined high-glycemic carbs can affect our genes:    "But after the high-glycemic carb meal, insulin shot up, and 62 different genes that are linked to the stress response, insulin-signaling and cytokine-mediated immunity were turned on." Read more here
• B-12 Everyday 1000 mcg/a day:  If you're eating plant-based take a B-12 once daily--that's the only way you'll get enough.  Even if you're eating meat--many medical conditions, prescription drugs, as well as just plain aging can impair the absorption of B-12.  This year's research pointed out the need for adequate B-12 for brain health as we age. Read more here and here
• Rethinking calcium requirements & calcium supplements.  I've decreased my calcium supplement to just 1 a day for 315 mg of calcium--and follow Dr. Walter Willett's advice about the total amount I need--just 700 mg/a day compared to the DRI of 1200 mg/a day for the over 50 set.   I eat a lot of greens that provide highly absorbable calcium, and I use calcium-enriched soymilk in my oatmeal every day.  New this year--2 Australian studies found an increase in cardiovascular events with calcium supplements.  Read more here

Dr. Amy Lanou's Slide from her Wellness Forum Lecture Novembr 2010

 

• Nitric Oxide Boosters to Prevent Alzheimers & Dementia--the blood vessels of the brain need adequate nitric oxide to stay healthy--and increased nitric oxide also prevents dread amyloid plaque formation--and guess what increases it?  That's right, lots of greens & exercise.  I can do that!  Read more here  (2012 Update:  The greens have the highest amount of the nitric oxide building blocks--and arugula is NUMERO UNO!)  Which vegetables are highest in nitrates?  Click here to find out.
• Ditch Vegetable Oils & Nuts (walnuts, excluded)--they are the highest sources of inflammatory omega-6s.  A groundbreaking meta-analysis published in the British Journal of Nutrition pulled the plug on the theory that polyunsaturated oils are good for heart.   Nuts, especially peanuts are off-the-charts high in omega-6s, too!  It took years for the polyunsaturated oil study to surface, so despite research to the contrary, I'm still not convinced that eating 2.5 ounces of nuts a day is a wise health move!   I'm staying away--except for walnuts.  Read more here and here  (New for 2012:  Walnuts are the TOP NUT for heart health.  Click here--& scroll half-way down the page & look for: If you're going to eat nuts, stick to walnuts for so many reasons)

 

Brain Booster Changes Based on 2010 Research

• Berries, baby!   The research is nothing but good, good, good for berries & the brain.  In fact, now we know a little bit more about how they do their magic on the brain.  They "activate the brain's natural "housekeeper" mechanism, which cleans up and recycles toxic proteins linked to age-related memory loss and other mental decline."   Like mini-brain-maids these cells clear out brain junk.  I have berries daily in my Green Smoothies, and either on top of my oatmeal, or mixed in plain soy yogurt.   Lower cost organic mixed berries are at BJ's.  Read more here and here.  (New for 2012: Go for the Berries--latest review on the subject will convince you.  Click here)
• Reduced my belly fat.  It's definitely bad for the brain!  Read more here and here  (New for 2012: At 62 my belly fat is mostly history--I credit my diet, & ditching the added oil & sugar)
• Increased my aerobic exercise & cleaned up my diet--the better the cardiac index the less your brain's volume shrinks.   What's good for the heart is unquestionably good for the brain, according to the latest Framingham study and a University of Pittsburgh study that demonstrated sizable increases in brain volume in the seniors who walked the most!  Read more here and here 
• Keep learning new things daily to grow brain cells & connections.  The only way to keep building brain cells & new connections is by continuously engaging in serious, challenging learning for the rest of your life.  It requires effort, and it has to be something that's important and interesting to you!  It requires intense focus.  Dr. Michael Merzenich is the go-to-guy in this arena.  I'm certainly hoping that putting together this blog is doing something for my brain!  Read more here  (New for 2012:  Why it's important to learn new things as we age.  Click here and here)

 

Favorite Wisdom of  2010 - It Works for Me

• Alkalol & saline solution to prevent colds.  I'm talking about neti pot nasal irrigation with 1-2 TBS of Alkalol, a cup of warm water, 1/2 tsp. of salt, & a 1/4 tsp. of baking soda at the first inkling that a cold is brewing.  1/2 cup through each nostril.  Honestly, this works for me.  Haven't had a cold in a year--in spite of close calls.  What's Alkalol?  It's a solution invented in 1896 by a Massachusets pharmacist, that's made with methol, eucalyptus, thymol, camphor, and oils of wintergreen, spearmint, pine, and cinnamon.  Its "an alkaline saline solution specifically formulated to clean and moisturize the nasal passages, dissolve mucus, kill germs and bacteria, and provide natural relief from the symptoms of sinusitis and allergies."   Better than the now FDA-banned Zicam.  It's sold at my hospital pharmacy, CVS, Drug Mart & Walgreens, but you'll probably have to ask the pharmacist for this low-marketing-budget product.   Read more here  (New for 2012: I now use distilled water & the premeasured packets of salt/baking soda sold at the drug store.  I also wash my neti pot with hot water & soap after every use--& regularly sterilize it in the microwave.  Read more here.)
  
• Make time for fun!   Away from computers & technology.  Hey, I got this message directly from my mom, who passed away in 2003!  This is one of my favorite (& weirdest) posts!  Read more here  And here
• Sister power.  They can be the flesh-and-blood kind--or the best-friend kind.  It doesn't matter.  We all need someone with whom we can share our most insignificant day-to-day things with--and who can give us a reality check.  I count my blessings in this department!  I've got two--Beth & Lisa.  Read more here
• We get our greatest happiness from the experiences we share with our friends & family--not from expensive consumer goods.  "We know that the best predictor of human happiness is human relationships and the amount of time that people spend with family and friends."  Spend your time & money wisely.   Dr. Dan Gilbert swears by this research-backed advice.  Click here  for Gilbert and here  and here  and here for my year.
• "When in doubt, do the positive."  This was Jeanne Marie Laskas' mother's favorite saying and a rule I try to live by.  It's a handy one when you're faced with life's big dilemmas.  "Remember?  The positive is the active thing.  Can't decide whether you're qualified for that new job?  Just apply.  Can't decide whether to go on that first blind date after a divorce or sit home in your pajamas?  Go on the date."    Click here for more

 

Life on the Esselstyn Style Diet

In May 2010, when I found out my cholesterol wasn't as outstanding as I had expected, in spite of a mostly plant-based diet, I asked Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn for advice.  He invited me to be a guest at the day-long session he runs once a month at the Cleveland Clinic, along with this wife Ann.

He challenged me to try eating and cooking with no-added-oils for 4 weeks & see how it works out for me.  I attended the class on June 18th, 2010, and started eating Esselstyn-style on June 21st, 2010.   I haven't looked back & now it's just, "how I eat".   I feel wonderful, I've lost weight, I've got lots of energy, I feel mentally sharp, and my digestive system is AMAZING!  Any nagging hip or joint pain I'd had in the past is long gone--not sure if I can credit the elimination of the inflammtory omega-6s with this surprising occurence or not.  (Update 2012:  knock on wood--hip, finger, joint pain--it's history!  Bill Lands, PhD, a pioneer in omega-3 & omega-6 research says that's no surprise at all.  When you lower your omega-6 load by eliminating the foods that are highest in omega-6, like oils & nuts, you have less inflammation)

 

You can read all about the day long session, and my Esselstyn-style cooking adventures in these posts:

Oops! Take It From Me - Half Dietary Measures to Lower Your Cholesterol Will Result in Half Measure Improvements

The Great Kitchen Cholesterol Clean-Up - Parchment Paper, the No-Oil Saute, and Munching on the Top Cholesterol-Cutting Foods

What I Learned From Dr. Caldwell and Ann Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease "School"

Week Two on Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn's Heart Disease Prevention/Reversal Diet Challenge. The Rules, Tips, and Tricks to Enjoy Plant-Based Oil-Free Eating

Can a Plant-Based No-Added-Fat Diet Survive "Real Life"? My Fourth of July Trial on the Esselstyn Diet - House Guests, Restaurants, Road Trips, and Dinner with Friends. Let the Numbers Speak for Themselves.

Everyone Can Do This! Breakfast & Lunch on the Esselstyn Plant-Based No-Oil Diet Challenge. Fast, Hearty, Healthy and Delicious.

Some Q & A about the Esselstyn Diet Challenge. Why Do It? What about Oil & Fat-Soluble Vitamins? What About Omega-3s? And My Top Recipe Picks of Week Three

Plant-Based Eating Confusion! Omega-3s, Omega-6s, Glycemic Index, ORAC Index and More. A Picture, a Chart, and the ANDI Rankings Help Clear the Confusion.

Final Week on the Esselstyn Plant-Based No-Added Oil Diet Trial. What's Changed? What Have I Learned? Tips and This Week's Favorite Recipes

My Esselstyn Plant-Based Diet Trial Results Are In. Understanding the Numbers and Why No Oil or Nuts Makes Sense. Think Weight Loss, Lowering the Omega-6s, Healthy Arteries, and Energy

More from the Healthy Librarian's Plant-Based Kitchen Lab: The Restaurant Scene, Staying Fueled, PB2 the Nut Butter Substitute, and Chia Fresca for Omega-3s

Wolf Blitzer's Interview with Bill Clinton's Diet Gurus, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and Dr. Dean Ornish - What the Interview Didn't Have Time to Explain about How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease with a Plant-Based Diet

Painless Calorie Restriction for People Who Love to Eat - Lessons for Health, Longevity, and Disease Prevention from the NIH CALERIE Study

Follow One of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn's Patients - Q & A on the First Three Months of a Diet to Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease

My Favorite Healthy Kitchen Pantry Staples: For Quick, Easy & Delicious Plant-Based/Vegan Meals

 

My Top Food Discoveries/Additions for 2010

• Hot Mexican Cocoa, Fruited Steel-Cut Oats (now made with pumpkin! or savory), & Air-popped Popcorn  Read more here.   (2012 UPDATE: Chocolate Oatmeal   Chocolate Hummus & More Treats & Teeccino, a caffeine-free herbal coffee substitute)
• PB2 "Peanut Butter" and Chia "Fresca" Water  Read more here  I top my morning with oatmeal with chia daily!  Go Chia Seed for omega-3s!
• I can easily "Esselstynize" any recipe in my fave cookbook--Veganomicon, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz  Read more here  Just cut out the oil, nuts (or sub smaller amounts of walnuts), vegan margarine, vegan mayo, & vegan cheese.
• Keep vegetables, especially greens & herbs fresh a lot longer with Kinetic Go Green BPA-free storage containers.   These are truly AMAZING!!  Read more here
• Here's a list of my favorite kitchen pantry staples  
• Homemade Raw Chocolate Chia Walnut Energy Bars beat Larabars for their taste & they pack a nutrient wallop!  Read more here
• Spiced Pumpkin Fruited Steel-Cut Oats is my new breakfast fave--brimming with alpha & beta carotenes  Read more here  Top it with a tablespoon of chia seed & you won't be thinking about lunch for hours!
• Sami's Pizza Crusts--whole grain millet & flax, no-oil & delicious.  Order from Sami's Bakery in Florida & receive them in 2 days--it's really not a big deal.  Can't live without these.  Just received an order for 16 to divide among 3 of us.  With delivery it comes to $5.00 per crust--not cheap--but it's fast--whole grain--and feeds my need for pizza.   Read more here
• Appetite for Reduction, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz--my current go-to favorite cookbook.  I could use it everyday.  She's finally cut the fat, calories, eliminated the vegan junk stuff & included nutritional info.  I highly recommend it!  Read more here

 

Best Science-Based Diet Information for 2010

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Losing Weight, Exercise, Stress, and Cardiovascular Risk from an Expert, Dr. Sharon Alger-Mayer. The Best Diet, How Much Exercise, the Hormone Stress Connection, the Best Phytonutrients, and the Healthiest Carbs

Dr. Hiromi Shinya, the Physician-Inventor of the Colonoscopic Polypectomy: What He's Learned About Diet and Health From Over 300,000 Colonoscopies

The Healthy Librarian's Holiday Overindulgence Tool Box: Some Abstinence Inspiration, the Exercise Cure, a Holiday Video, a Company-Worthy Recipe, along with Sara Moulton's Favorite Chocolate (coronary) Cookie Recipe

Dr. Michael Roizen's Straight Talk About Chronic Disease - Lifestyle Changes Can Control Them and Bring Health Care Costs Down. Roizen's Thirteen Pearls of Wellness.

 

Finally, the Original Start of My Sixties Simple Strategies for Staying Healthy & Happy

 

January 2, 2010

It's the Start of the New Year, the Start of the New Decade, and the Start of My Sixties. Some Simple Strategies for Staying Healthy and Happy. At Least I Can Hope!

Author Dan Buettner has scoured the Earth — not for the fabled Fountain of Youth — but for the key to a happy old age. He spent five years visiting areas of the world where people tend to live longer, healthier lives, areas he calls "Blue Zones."

Buettner says he has identified four things people can do that can potentially increase life expectancy:

• Create an environment that encourages physical activity
  
• Set up your kitchen in such a way that you're not overeating
  
• Cultivate a sense of purpose 
  
• Surround yourself with the right people.

"These are long-term fixes that have been shown over and over to add not only more years of life, but better years of life."

-NPR story, "Can 'Blue Zones' Help Turn Back the Biological Clock?", June 8, 2008-

If you're reading this through via email, click here to get to the more readable web-version.

 

It's the start of the New Year. 

It's the start of a new decade.

It's the day I turn sixty.

Look, I'm not a big-birthday-celebration-kind-of-person.  They come and go and I don't even think about the years.  But turning 60 is different.  It's the last quarter of life, with no guarantees on what that quarter is going to look like.

Judging by my parents--that last quarter of life doesn't look so promising.  Which is exactly why I've been paying attention to exercise and eating right since I turned 30. 

That's when my dad had one of those massive debilitating strokes that left him unable to communicate, unable to read or fully understand speech, and eventually unable to walk or do anything.  He was 69 at the time--just when he was getting ready to kick back a little, work a little less, travel, and just enjoy life.  He spent 16 years living in this kind of post-stroke-limbo-state, spiraling downward.

My mom was 62 at the time, and my dad's stroke changed her life in an instant.  One minute she was planning all the trips they'd finally have a chance to take--and enjoying their new role as grandparents--and in the next she was jockeying the world of wheelchairs and therapists.

With the stress of full-time care-giving, and years of no exercise or attention to diet, by 72 she had developed severe coronary artery blockages, hypertension, kidney stones, and painful spinal fractures.  Then came the mini-strokes that finally added up to vascular dementia in her eighties.

And unfortunately, this scenario is all too common.  "[M]ost elderly Americans – more than two-thirds of current 65-year-olds, according to a detailed 2005 projection by a team of health policy analysts — at some point will need assistance to cope with daily living, either paid help or unpaid, at home or in a facility."

So, sixty seems kind of scary to me.

Which is exactly why I'm ready for a more "Conscious Aging" plan.  We already have all the evidence we need to stay healthy.  It's not about adding more years to our lives.  It's all about adding more life to our years!

Just a sampling of the evidence.

• The 52 country INTERHEART study was very clear.  There are 9 easy-to-modify risk factors that are associated with 90% of heart disease.  This was a huge study--30,000 people from every inhabited country--and the results were the same for all races, all sexes, all countries.  All 9 of these risk factors are within our control--and would eliminate 90% of heart disease, regardless of one's genetics. 1. Keep lipids (cholesterol & triglycerides) down; 2. Stop smoking; 3. Prevent or control hypertension; 4. Prevent or control diabetes; 5.  Reduce belly fat; 6.  Find ways to control psychological and social stressors; 7. Increase fruit and vegetable consumption; 8.  Moderate alcohol consumption is protective; 9. Get regular physical exercise   Lancet 364:937-952, Sept. 11, 2004.

• The Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study.  "The largest and longest study to date, done as part of the Harvard-based Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study, included almost 110,000 men and women whose dietary habits were followed for 14 years.  The higher the average daily intake of fruits and vegetables, the lower the chances of developing cardiovascular disease...[F]or every extra serving of fruits and vegetables that participants added to their diets, their risk of heart disease dropped by 4%." Harvard School of Public Health

• The China Study.  This is Dr. T. Colin Campbell's mammoth 2006 study on the effects of a plant-based diet on health--citing over 750 studies.  The conclusion: People who ate the most-animal-based foods got the most chronic disease.  People who ate the most plant-based foods were the healthiest and tended to avoid chronic disease.  According to Campbell, "Good nutrition supported by exercise, clean water, and sunshine is greater than the sum of its parts.  It's a biological symphony.  My introduction to Dr. T. Colin Campbell

• The Longevity Personality.  From the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, April 2009 comes this conclusion: Those who live the longest are more outgoing, more active, more easy-going, more empathetic, and more agreeable than those who live a normal life span. The Blue Zones calls it, "likeability".

Here's My Strategy for Staying Out-of-Trouble After Sixty

Some of these are long-time habits, and they're easy for me to follow.  Some of these I don't do as regularly as I should.  Some of these are new goals.  But this much I do know:  If I don't have a plan, if I don't do these consciously, and if I don't carve out time to make them happen--they won't.

1.  Stick with 7-9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day.  The Green Smoothies make it easy.  I get 6 servings in a 27 ounce Klean Kanteen that I divide over breakfast and an afternoon snack.  I calculated the nutritional info on my daily 27 ounce serving that includes, 2 1/2 cups kale, 8 mini-carrots, 1/2 cup pomegranate juice, 1/2 apple, 1/2 orange, 1/2 kiwi, and 3/4 cup frozen black raspberries.  Check out the nutrient content for 27 ounces:

 2012 Update:  My Green Smoothie has grown up since this post.  These days, it's  mostly vegetables--and not very sweet--but loaded with vitamins & minerals.  

The Green Smoothie Controversy - To Smoothie or Not? The Argument for a Greens & Vegetable Heavy Smoothie  1/24/12

Nutrition Facts The Healthy Librarian's Green Smoothie-kale,blackberries,carrots,orange,kiwi,pom juice,apple
Serving Size: 1 serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories	342
Total Fat	2.2g
Saturated Fat	0.2g
Trans Fat	0g
Cholesterol	0mg
Sodium	140mg
Carbohydrate	82.1g
Dietary Fiber	13.8g
Sugars	49.1g
Protein	8.9g
Vitamin A 729% Vitamin C 485% Calcium    35% Iron 28%

 

Then throw in some veggie-based soup, a salad, a veggie-based dinner entree, some fruit for dessert, and I'm good to go. 

This eating plan is the same as the DASH Diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension)--guaranteed to stop hypertension.  The Cache County (Utah) Study on Memory shows it also prevents cognitive decline.   Dr. Amy Lanou and Michael Castleman, authors of Building Bone Vitality claim it will build and strengthen bones--because the 17 nutrients necessary to build strong bones are all found in a diet high in fruits and vegetables.  I'm still sold on eating 7-9+ fruits or veggies a day.  Still drinking that old-stand-by Green Smoothie--but I keep experimenting--using less fruits, more vegetables.

2.  A balanced exercise plan.  It's not just about cardio--there are 4 areas that need attention: Cardio (spinning-my fave), Weight-training, Flexibility & Balance (yoga-my fave), and Core Strength.  No, you can't just walk and think you're in good shape.  I'm super regular with my cardio, and not as regular with the weight training and yoga.  Click here to see what my workout looks like. As for core strength--that's pretty much non-existent.  And when it comes to weight-training, according to Randy Raugh, the Canyon Ranch physical therapist, and author of the excellent Prime for Life--Functional Fitness for Ageless Living--to get the maximum benefits you need to do it for 3 non-consecutive days a week--2 at the minimum.  Unfortunately, I often weight train only 1 day a week.  If you want to build strong bones and prevent osteoporosis, and maintain your muscle strength as you age--weight-bearing exercise for the lower body, and weight-training for the upper body is a must-do!  Yoga, helps with balance, preventing future falls, and building strength.  As for core strength, I'm upping my game with Dr. Stuart McGill's routine, and my birthday-present to myself is the physical therapist-designed Pelvicore exercise ball. 
Upped my exercise efforts this year--it now includes 3 days of yoga (smart move) & 2 days of strength-training (that made a difference).  Yoga also develops core strength with the plank pose & others.  Haven't done much with my Pelvicore exercise ball--but I should.

3.  A plant-based diet with minimal added fat.  I'm nearing the 2 year mark on eating plant-based, so this is the easy part. I've got this down pat. I still use a little olive oil for cooking and in salads, and very occasionally eat some seafood or dairy when eating with friends.  I'm convinced.  If you want to lower your cholesterol, reduce your risk for type-2 diabetes, lower your blood pressure, reduce your risk of heart disease & stroke, and reduce your belly fat--this is the way to go.  Dr. David J. Jenkins of St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto is one of the pre-eminent researchers on the benefits of a plant-based, low-glycemic diet (like beans, nuts, oats,& quinoa) for improving diabetes control, lowering cholesterol, and preventing cardiovascular disease.  Click here for Jenkins research.  And that's not all--keeping your blood sugar stable with low glycemic plant-based foods and exercise will preserve your brain.  Click here.  And as for too much fat--not only is it bad for your belly--it's bad for your brain--so just ditch it Click here.  I Finally ditched the fat starting 6/21/10.  Don't miss it a bit.  The benefits are too numerous to mention!

4. No time urgency.  This is what keeps the Okinawans calm, relaxed, and living longer.  I'm really working on this one--which goes hand-in-hand with flexibility.  Things don't always go as planned--you either go-with-the-flow or get stressed and anxious.  My favorite 2 words, "Oh well."  Life goes better when you stay in the moment, chill, and don't worry about getting there fast.  When our Christmas Day trip to New York City was aborted because of an ice storm, we checked into a hotel at noon, and enjoyed a dinner of cranberry nut mix, Larabars, Cliff Bars, and clementines.  All the restaurants were closed in this Pennsylvanian town.  Oh well.  We had a good time, and made it to New York safe and sound the next day.  I've used this "slow down", "oh well", "why get yourself in a tizzy" self-talk approach throughout the year.  It helps--I could be better--but I'm better than I was!

5. More Dancing, Singing, Laughing, Playing, Schmoozing, and Mahjing.  What's the point of staying healthy without having fun?  That's the reason we work at staying healthy. Cool fact: There's a little organ deep in the ear, called the sacculus--and it gives us a great sense of pleasure and well-being when it's stimulated.  But, it can only be stimulated through singing!  So, bring on the Singstar Karaoke!  Click here.  I say "Yes!"  to fun things to do, trips, visits, outings, meeting new people, and dinners whenever I possibly can--without making myself crazy by overbooking or overcommitting.   I'm almost always glad for it!   Haven't signed up for dancing lessions yet--but it's on my to-do list--and definitely need more Maj-time!!!  OK, gal pals, when's the next game?  Frannie we miss you!

6.  The Supplements.  I'm really bad at regularly taking supplements.  I'm good at counting them out, taking them to work, and bringing them back home with me.  Truth is, there are some supplements worth taking because there's no easy way to get enough of them through diet alone.  Here are my favorites:  Omega-3s (I use Omega-Brite), DHA, (an omega-3 for brain health), Magnesium, Citracal, Vitamin D (I'm up to 3000 IUs), Curcumin (also known as turmeric, the yellow color in curry), and Juvenon (the combo of acetyl l-carnitine & alpha lipoic acid) developed by Dr. Bruce Ames.  Click here to read more about what I take, and what some prominent physicians take.  I'm not an everyday person with supplements, and try hard to get them from real food, but I still take a plant-based DHA, magnesium in am & pm, 1/2 the Citracal I used to take, curcumin occasionally, Juvenon occasionally, vitamin D (2000-4000 IUs), and a daily vitamin B-12 (1000 mcg), and I've added 1/2 of a whole foods multivitamin ("Mega Food Women Over 40 One Daily") twice a day based on Dr. Roizen's recommendation.

7.  Eliminate the time-wasters from my day.  Except for watching "The Middle" or "Glee", TV watching always leaves me bored and unsatisfied.  So, why bother wasting the precious time?  The same goes for my mindless internet cruising, checking in more than necessary with email, the NYT, and other favorite sites.  Enough already!  Except for writing this blog, doing research, or writing/reading emails I'm no longer cruising the internet.  I just don't have that much extra time in the day--with a long commute & everything else.  TV doesn't interest me much--unless it's at the end of the day & I'm too tired of reading.

8.  Maximize my peak energy times of the day.  Over a year ago I blogged about getting in sync with our natural energy ebb and flow throughout the day.  It works--and I intend to start planning my day around them, when possible.  For instance, 9-11 is the peak time for brain work-creativity-and analytical work.  On days when I don't work I would usually use this time for exercise & errands.  Poor use of brain time.  Better to exercise between 3-6.  To read more, click here:  Maximize Your Energy-Match Your Tasks to Your daily Energy Levels.  This really works & I try hard to follow it.   I've changed my work schedule around so I can fit in exercise on workdays--and on days off, I do brain work before anything else--when I can.

9.  Give a gift a day for 29 days a month.  When 36 year old Cami Walker of LA learned she had multiple sclerosis, her spirits flagged.  She was tired, in pain, and had the prospect of a debilitating disease ahead of her.  When a holistic health educator gave her the prescription of giving 29 gifts a day for a month she thought it sounded it crazy.  Nothing big (and that's the point)--something like making a supportive phone call or saving a piece of yummy cake for her husband.  Of course the prescription didn't cure her,  but it had a startling effect of helping her cope with her illness and gave her a more positive outlook on life.  I love this idea.  It's a planned regular way to just think about kindness.  No big acts, just something little-done everyday.  To read more, click here.  Sorry, to say, this hasn't become a regular habit--but I do look for opportunities to do that "little something more" or favors throughout the day.  I know it makes me feel much better--need to make a more conscious effort with this one.

10. Cultivate my garden of friends and family.  Regular phone calls, visits, dinners, outings, and celebrations.  At 60 there's no time to delay any of these.  It's the glue that keeps us together and makes life worth living.  I really try hard to keep this one at the top of my list!  Can't help but think of the extra time I'd have to accomplish this if I ditched writing this blog, though, but read #11!

11.  Once You're Through Learning--You're Through.  This is the philosophy of John Wooden, the 97-year-old retired (he died in June 2010 at 98) UCLA basketball coach.  No doubt about it, learning and sharing what I learn is my purpose in life.  I'm lucky to have a job that gives me access to learning about health and medicine, and a hobby that gives me a chance to share what I learn.  Not a day goes by that I don't work on this one--but it doesn't feel like work to me!  Well, at least most of the time it doesn't feel like work.

12.  Start Eating Less.  OK, I'm ready to shed a few pounds, and I know from past experience that writing down exactly what I eat, and how much I've exercised, really works.  I use something called MyFoodDiary.com and it's set up with all my favorite recipes.  Unfortunately, I haven't used it in quite some time.  The new year is a great time to start!  To read more about this tool, click here.  Well, this strategy  sure played out big-time in 2010!  I'm eating far fewer caleries, shed 13 pounds, but I eat whenever I want.  You all know this story--I won't repeat it!  And yes, I do use MyFoodDiary for my recipes & to keep a check on how balanced my diet is--but not daily or weekly.

For some good reasons to eat less, read:  CALERIE: The NIH Calorie-Restriction Experiment. Lessons for Health, Slowing Down the Aging Process, Longevity, and Disease Prevention 

 And my updated version: Painless Calorie Restriction for People Who Love to Eat - Lessons for Health, Longevity, and Disease Prevention from the NIH CALERIE Study

 

My new goals for 2011: 

1.  Resume a regular meditation practice--so many good reasons to do so, including its positive effect on some 2000 genes: those that control aging, inflammation, & metabolism.  Read more here

2.  Start playing around with the  Dr. Michael Merzenich's Brain Fitness Auditory software that I received for renewing my local NPR affiliate membership.  I'm a huge fan of his work! 

3.  Figure out some way to have more unscheduled do-nothing time:

"La dolcezza di non fare niente!" 

Italian for "The Sweetness of Doing Nothing"

 

Time to end this list.  I've more than maximized my 9-11 brain time and written this post.  It's now time to make my smoothie, do some core exercises, take those supplements, answer birthday phone calls, enjoy a birthday lunch, followed by an evening out with friends who all share the same wedding anniversary--if we can just make it through our foot of snow!

I'd love to hear from anyone who is 60 or over with advice, tips, and wisdom about maximizing life in the sixties, seventies, and more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Healthy Librarian's Crazy Creamy Chia Salad Dressings - Plus Bickford Flavors & the Best Salad Green for the Buck

 

Lunch Salad Topped with Creamy Southwestern Chia Salad Dressing & a Crumbled Smoky Chipotle Black & White Bean Burger

 

 If you received this post via email, click here to get to the web version with the video, the links, & to leave a comment.

OK, I admit it!  I'm not a Hugh Jass salad eater.  Wondering what a Hugh Jass salad is?   I'm slow on the uptake sometimes--& I had know clue who Hugh Jass was or why he had a salad named after him.  That is, until I said his name out loud.  Right!  Were you as clueless as I was?

In retrospect, I think I avoided the Hugh Jass Salad because I didn't have a no-fat salad dressing that I really really loved.   Something thick & creamy that didn't end up pooled on the bottom of my salad bowl.

Sure, making a salad dressing with nuts or tahini will give your salad dressing a creaminess.  But, I wanted to avoid that route.  And, I was tired of using just a too tart (albeit, tasty) vinegar as a dressing. 

And, another thing...  I really didn't want to fuss that much to solve the dressing problem.  Who wants to pull out 5 different herbs, spices, or condiments, chop garlic, shallots, fresh herb--and then juice 2 lemons--measure them all--in order to make that dressing?  Not me.

Then, as if by magic, in early February, the perfect salad dressing template just fell into my lap.

 

There's always a back story!

Presenting a New Salad Dressing Inspired by Susan Voisin and Ann Esselstyn.

I could bottle this one!

 

• First, I discovered Susan Voisin's Hidden Cashew Ranch Dressing on February 4th--and posted on FB.
  
• I tested Susan's ranch dressing out on my kids when the Lab Rat & I visited them in St. Louis--but I gave mine a Greek spin with Penzey's Greek Seasoning, which has oregano, garlic, lemon peel, Telicherry black pepper, marjoram, & (shh!) salt.  No need for all that measuring.  I cut the milk down, so it would be thicker--and added fresh dill after it was all mixed up.  Thick, creamy dressing that clung to the salad greens. Success.  But, that wasn't the end of the story.
• I played around with the template of ingredients--and tried my hand at a Southwestern version--with lime juice, Southwestern spices (I used Penzey's Arizona Dreaming, with ground ancho chili, garlic, paprika, lemon peel, chipotle pepper, red pepper, jalapeno, cocoa, & natural smoke flavoring)  and added my own fresh cilantro.  Success, once more.  My library taste-tasters gave it a thumbs up!  Lab Rat even added it to some left-over pasta & gave it a thumbs up!
  
• I was excited.  I told Ann Esselstyn about my new fave dressing, but I warned her, "You probably won't want to try this because it has a quarter of a cup of cashews in it.  But, I'm going to play around with it. I think I can make it work without the cashews.  And if I can do it--I'll send you the recipe. Full Disclosure: My original Southwestern Dressing with 2 teaspoons of Arizona Dreaming was way too spicy for her liking.  She's going to try again with less spice.  So modify, accordingly.  Trust me--it's worth it!
  
• I went back to "my tiny kitchen lab" and cut out the cashews.  Instead of cashews I upped the chia seed.  It's such a perfect neutral-tasting thickener.   I wanted a salad dressing with the "Esselstyn Seal-of-Approval"!
• It couldn't be simpler!  You just mix soymilk, your choice of citrus juice/Asian sauce/vinegar, chia seeds, and the appropriate spices in a VitaMix or blender.  Then you add fresh herbs, if you like. Thick, creamy dressing in minutes, with just enough for 6-8 gynormous salads.  And you could load on the dressing if you like, because it's all good stuff.  Stays fresh in the fridge for a week or maybe more, and it doesn't separate. 
  
• I've since made an sweet spicy Asian version, using Dragunara Sweet Chili Sauce--and the possibilities are endless.  I'm hoping you can try out some other versions in your own "Kitchen Labs", and share your successes.
• Salad Dressing Review:  I passed the Southwestern Dressing on to a HHLL reader--and cook extraordinaire.  She gave it a big thumbs up!  She even took some to the Mexican restaurant she was going to--and topped her Esselstyn-approved meal of rice, black beans, & steamed veggies on a fresh corn tortilla with the Southwestern dressing. Here's what she said, "The dressing made the difference between just an OK dinner and a wonderful dinner. I loved the flavor!"   And one of my library taste-tester's was licking her salad plate clean to get every last drop of the Creamy Greek dressing!  And I was, too.
  

 

 

Chia By the Bulk--The Price is Right!

 

A One Pound Jar for $10.00 or a Six Pound Bag for $30.00+ Free Shipping

 

I'm starting to think that chia seed,  "the super food" of the Tarahumara Indians, is really "manna from heaven".   I sprinkle it on my oatmeal.  Click here and here to read why I love this stuff!  I mix it into thawed frozen berries to thicken them & mix in my yogurt.  It's a perfect egg subsitute for baking.  Love drinking "chia lemon water".   And it makes an amazing "no cook" pudding. 

Yes, it's pricier than flax, but the taste is so much better--because it has NO TASTE!  And I love its texture.

TIP:  I found chia in 2 pound bags at COSTCO for about $11.00 a package--near the cereals.  Don't quote me on the price.  And then Lab Rat found a 6 pound bag with free shipping for $30.00 through Amazon.

At that price, it's not that much more than flax seed--and there's no need for grinding or storing it in the refrigerator, like you have to do with flax.

 

The Greek Salad Topped with a Crumbled Lentil Dal Burger--Penzey's Greek Seasoning, Lemon Juice, & Dill

 

The Asian Sweet Chili Dressing with Baked Sweet Chili Tofu

 

The Southwestern Cilantro Lime Dressing

 

The Crazy Creamy Chia Salad Dressing Template

 

Makes 8 servings (2 tablespoons)  But feel free to ladle it on.  It's all made with healthy ingredients.

Preparation Time:  10 minutes

 For the recipe on one page, click here.

Ingredients:

1. The milk base: 1 cup of plain unsweetened non-dairy milk.  I use Eden Extra Soymilk because it's got a creamy texture, some fat in it, & it's enriched with needed vitamins & mineral.

 

2. The acid tang:  2 tablespoons of citrus juice, or Asian (I used Dragunara Sweet Chili) or other sauce, or vinegar  Note: I used lime juice for the Southwestern dressing; lemon juice for the Greek dressing; and Dragunara Sweet Chili Sauce for the Asian dressing.   Experiment with your own versions.  I plan to try a peanut version with PB2; a teriyaki version with teriyaki sauce; an Indian version with chutney & curry; and a pesto dressing with fresh basil, garlic, nutritional yeast & a few walnuts.   The possibilities are endless.  You could probably decrease the milk, & increase the acid tang, if you like--as long as you keep the ratio:   1 cup + 2 tablespoons of liquid + 1 1/2 tablespoons of chia seed

3. The seasoning mix:  Here's what I used--experiment! 

• For the Greek dressing: 2 teaspoons of Penzey's Greek Seasoning oregano, garlic, lemon peel, Telicherry black pepper, marjoram, & (shh!) salt). 
• For the Southwestern dressing.  1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons of Penzey's Arizona Dreaming.  Be careful--it's spicy!  (ground ancho chili, garlic, paprika, lemon peel, chipotle pepper, red pepper, jalapeno, cocoa, & natural smoke flavoring)  There's no salt in this--add some if you like.  I did.
• For the Asian Sweet Chili dressing (goes perfectly with Sweet Chili Baked tofu):  No other spices needed, because the Dragunara sauce has it all!!
• TIP:  Penzey's has lots of pre-mixed blends that make dressing-making easier.  Lots of them are salt-free.  If you buy them in bags, rather than jars the price is about half.  Just saying...

4.  The chia seeds:  1 1/2 Tablespoons  (this is the secret of the salad dressing's success)

 

5. The add-ins:  More room to experiment!

• I added one large fresh garlic clove cut-up for the Southwestern & the Greek--not for the Sweet Chili.   Add-in possibilities could include capers, shallots, some olives, lemon, orange or lime zest, nutritional yeast, miso, mustard, a little maple syrup, whatever.  You guys are all experienced cooks.

6. The fresh herbs:  2 tablespoons of fresh chopped herbs mixed into the dressing, after it's been thoroughly blended, gives it a finishing touch--but it's not necessary. 

• 2 TBS or more of fresh dill weed for the Greek dressing
• 2 TBS or more of fresh cilantro for the Southwestern dressing

Instructions:   Mix the milk, the juices or sauces, the dry seasonings, the garlic, & chia in a VitaMix or blender on high until thoroughly blended.  You will not notice the chia seed texture at all in the finished dressing.    When done, scrape/pour into a container & mix in the chopped fresh herbs.  Let it sit for about 15 minutes to thicken.

Stores well for a week or maybe more--and it's a small enough amount that you will definitely use it up. 

Think about using it on pasta, too.

 

Nutitional Facts for a 2 Tablespoon serving of Southwestern Dressing:

 

Nutrition Facts The Healthy Librarian's Southwestern Salad Dressing 2 TBS serving
Serving Size: 1 serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories	24
Total Fat	0.9g
Saturated Fat	0.1g
Trans Fat	0g
Cholesterol	0mg
Sodium	13mg
Carbohydrate	2.5g
Dietary Fiber	0.5g
Sugars	0.9g
Protein	1.6g
Vitamin A 4% Vitamin C 2% Calcium    3% Iron 1%

 

More Kitchen Lab Experiments with Bickford Flavors

 

 

My New Flavor DIscovery.  I asked one of the Penzey's salespeople if they had coconut extract. My favorite.  I'm looking for one that's made without alcohol.

"No," she said, " we don't have coconut, but we're always adding new ones. But, let me give you some information about a fantastic company that sells wholesale flavor extracts.  It's all natural.  An excellent product.  You can order online."

That's how I discovered Bickford Flavors--a small family-run company in Cleveland, Ohio that makes their flavor extracts in-house with all natural real ingredients.  

I talked at length with the owner's mom, a retired Cleveland Clinic nurse, who now works at Bickford.  They add no sugar, salt, oil or alcohol to their flavorings--and they're even Kosher certified.  Vanilla is the exception--which apparently needs alcohol for the suspension. Some of the flavors, like peanut, are oil soluble, and they need to be bottled in a suspension with an oil so they won't separate.  Call the company if you have specific questions--they clearly list the oil-soluble flavors of their website.

All the water-based flavors are very concentrated--and you'll need much less than you would with  typical extracts.  Always start with at less than half the amount asked for in a recipe.

Looking over the extensive list of more than 100 flavors, I noticed blood-orange, tangerine, and pomegranate.  These sounded very similar to some of the pricey flavored balsamic vinegars that are available at Olive Tap--so I off-handedly mentioned this to the owner's mom.  "Oh, yes.  We sell wholesale to Olive Tap.  We're the source of their flavorings."

So there you go!   Bickford Flavors could be the next new ingredient in your own homemade salad dressings & sauces.   You'll find almost every flavor imaginable.   I haven't place an order yet--but I definitely will.  First up:  Coconut (without the alcohol--finally!), blood orange, pomegranate, & tangerine. 

Bickford's claim to fame:  Dr. John Freeman, the retired Johns Hopkins Pediatric Neurologist, who wrote the Ketogenic Diets--treatments for epilepsy and other disorders, recommends Bickford Flavors in his book, as a way to make his high-fat diet more creative, and palatable for children with epilepsy.

 

Which Salad Green Gives Nitric Oxide Levels the Biggest Boost?

 

Turns out, 8 out of the top 10 vegetables for boosting your nitric oxide levels, are the green leafies!  No surprise.

Watch Dr. Michael Greger's latest video that ranks vegetables by nitrate level--the raw ingredient for increasing nitric oxide levels--and find out which green leafy is  no. 1.   Video Spoiler:  It's Arugula

Here's what Dr. Greger has to say:

"If nitrates can boost athletic performance and protect against heart disease, which vegetables have the most: beans, bulb vegetables (like garlic and onions), fruiting vegetables (like eggplant and squash), greens (such as arugula), mushrooms, root vegetables (such as carrots and beets), or stem vegetables (such as celery and rhubarb)?"

 

If you don't see the video on your screen, click here!

 

Sources cited:

1.  Webb AJ, Patel N, Loukogeorgakis S, Okorie M, Aboud Z, Misra S, Rashid R, Miall P, Deanfield J, Benjamin N, MacAllister R, Hobbs AJ, Ahluwalia A. Acute blood pressure lowering, vasoprotective, and antiplatelet properties of dietary nitrate via bioconversion to nitrite. Hypertension. 2008 Mar;51(3):784-90. Epub 2008 Feb 4.

2.  Scientific Opinion of the Panel on Contaminants in the Food. Nitrate in Vegetables. The EFSA Journal (2008) 689, 1–79.

 

OK, dear readers, I need your help with testing out and improving my humble salad dressing template!  I know you can come up with something so much better!

I have some great cookbooks to mail to the 2 people with best tasting Creamy Chia Salad Dressing recipes.   Please, leave out nuts or tahini.  Let the Kitchen Lab Experiments, begin!

Anytime Valentine Chocolate Treats for Breakfast, Snacks, or Dessert - It's Just Beans, Oats, Chia, and Dates (and Stevia)

 

Valentine Black Bean Brownie topped with Chocolate Chia Mocha Mousse

 

 

 

The Black Bean Brownie Base

 

If you received this post via email, click here to get to the web version with the photos & links.

 

Short & Sweet - Cocoa Rocks!  Chocolate Doesn't!

 

Here's the deal with cocoa.  You really can have your cake & eat it too--as long as it's made with cocoa powder, no sugar, no eggs, & no added fat!

Impossible you say?  Well, just follow along & I'll share some of the chocolate delights I've been eating lately, thanks to a little help from my friends:  Amy, an HHLL reader and Wendy of Health Girl's Kitchen (another HHLL reader)

 

First the Science of Cocoa

The Greek name for cocoa means, "Drink of the Gods".  Maybe they were on to something.  Epichatechin is the polyphenol in cocoa that does its magic on the cardiovascular system.

• It lowers blood pressure
• It reduces insulin resistance and improves platelet function
• It increases nitric oxide production--that "magic gas" that improves endothelial function, and it has anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
• In a recent meta-analysis in the journal Circulation, 75 grams of dark chocolate for 3 weeks increased HDLs by 14% and decreased LDL oxidation. Lowering blood pressure took even less cocoa to do the job.
• How does cocoa do all this?  It's probably because it increases the availability of nitric oxide, and it also increases arginase--which prevents nitric oxide from breaking down.  It's a 2-for-one!
• Cocoa's best benefit?  It inhibits the kind of inflammation that creates atherosclerotic plaque.
• This study will give you a good reason to drink cocoa daily.  One of the tests for a healthy vasculature is the ability of our blood vessels to dilate.  This study looked at the dilation of arteries after drinking a high flavanoid cocoa drink, compared to a low flavonoid drink.  There was a significant increase in vasodilation with the high flavonoid drink--and nitric oxide levels increased as the level of flavonoids in the cocoa increased.
• Watch out!  Avoid cocoa or dark chocolate that is "Dutch-Processed" or is treated with an alkali to decrease its bitterness--that destroys the flavonoids!

 

Healthy Dessert Heaven.  Mix the Cocoa with Beans, Oats, Chia, Dates, & a Dash of Stevia.  TADA!

 

Honestly, I rarely make desserts.  But, when you need a little treat---or company is coming--sometimes you want more than just fruit. 

Hard to believe, but the combo of cocoa, beans or oats, chia, dates & stevia really can produce a sweet chocolate treat that's acceptable to most any palate.  Well maybe not for serious chocoholics.  I'm sure my palate has changed over the past 4 years.

Take Amy's chocolate hummus for example--or chocolate garbanzo ganache, as Son #1 says I should call it.   What's better for you?  A quarter cup of garbanzo beans, cocoa, and  half of  a date---or a 300+ calorie dark chocolate bar?  Hmm, I'll have to think about that one.

 

 

The Black Bean Brownie Topped with Mocha Chocolate Chia "Mousse"

 

Here's the back story on this recipe.

In January I heard from Amy, an HHLL reader who has been experimenting with creating healthy no-sugar & no-fat chocolate desserts.  First she sent me her Chocolate Hummus recipe--which Son #1 says I should rename Chocolate Garbanzo Ganache--because it sounds better than hummus.  And then Amy sent me her recipe for what she describes as,  "The most delectable flourless chocolate black bean cake you can imagine."

But, her flourless cake had a big deal-breaker for me.  It contained 3 eggs.

Amy has her own health turn-around story which sounds very similar to mine.  She's always been fit, eaten a healthy diet & exercised.  But, her "fit & healthy" mom also had triple bypass surgery a few years back & her grandmother died of a heart attack at age 69. 

Last March, after reading my blog, Amy started changing her diet to about 95% vegan & no-oil--and at last count her own "too high" cholesterol has dropped 50 points, as well as her weight.  And now she's enjoying delicious after-dinner treats like her "chocolate hummus" and frozen bananas.

 

In Search of the Perfect Egg Substitute for Amy's Amazing Flourless Black Bean Chocolate Cake

 

The Healthy Librarian's search for the perfect egg substitute to make Amy's Flourless Black Bean Chocolate Cake:

 

1.  Flax eggs.  First I made Amy's recipe with "flax eggs".  1 tablespoon of flax meal mixed with 3 tablespoons of water for every egg.   The Verdict:  It was good--but not great.  The "flax eggs" had a slightly bitter edge.

2. Ener-G.   Next, I tried the recipe with Ener-G, a commercial egg substitute.  The Verdict:  The "flax eggs" were better.  The Energ-G had an off-taste I didn't quite care for in the brownies.  But, of course I still ate this batch of black bean brownies, anyway.

3.  Chia eggs.  Then I tried, "chia gel".   I love the no-taste of chia a lot better than flax.  Why not give it a try?   

Here's the chia egg recipe:  1 tablespoon of chia seeds mixed with 1/4 cup of water for each egg.  Mix well. Allow to gel for at least 20 minutes.  I mixed up the equivalent of 3 eggs, and dumped 3/4 of a cup of chia gel into the flourless chocolate cake ingredients.  After 20 minutes of baking it was totally mushy.  Baked it for 10 more minutes.  Still too gooey.  After 40 minutes it still wasn't set, but I took it out of the oven--covered it up & stuck it in the refrigerator.   The next day it was more solid, and I could cut it into squares.  It was fudgey and delicious.  I asked Amy to give it a try.   She had the same experience as I did--but, it just wouldn't really turn into "cake" or even "brownies" as we know them--but they tasted good.  It wasn't the same cake she made with 3 real eggs.  So I kept on tinkering.

4.  The fourth time was the charm.  Instead of adding 3/4 cup of chia gel to the recipe, I added just 5 tablespoons.  And to give it a little more "brownie-like" texture, I added in 1/4 cup of "freshly ground" oat flour--made by processessing some oatmeal (rolled oats).   The no longer "flour-less" black bean brownie was done at 20 minutes--and it was delicious!

 

 

The Black Bean Chocolate Chia Brownie Topped with Mocha Chocolate Chia Banana "Mousse"

 

 

Click here for a copy of the recipe on one page.

Ingredients:

• 1 can-15 ounces black beans, rinsed & drained

• 5 tablespoons chia gel  (make this 20 minutes or more ahead of time with 3 TBS of chia seeds & 3/4 cup of water & stir well.  After about 5 more minutes, stir again, so it's not clumpy & it's a nice thick gel--refrigerate leftovers (here's the link for the instructions)--then measure out just 5 TBS of gel)   If you have time--make the chia gel ahead of time & keep it in the refrigerator overnight.  It keeps for a week.

• 1/4 cup of cocoa (I love Penzey's natural un-Dutched cocoa--I can really taste the difference)  (if you think it's needed you can add 1 add'l TBS of cocoa) 

• 2 tsp. of baking powder

• Pinch of salt

• 2 tsp of instant espresso powder  (I use Medaglia D'oro brand--and it's available everywhere in the coffee department of the grocery store)

• 1 TBS of vanilla  (yes, a tablespoon)

• 8 pitted dates (9 if they aren't plump or moist)  Use the biggest & moistest of the bunch.

• 3 packets of stevia  (I like Sweet Leaf)  I've researched stevia--and it's perfectly safe.

• 1/4 cup of oat flour or make it yourself with 1/3 cup of rolled oats processed into flour--then measure just 1/4 cup of "oat flour"   Process the oats into flour before you do anything--and set aside.

• 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts

 

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1.  Process oats into flour (if you don't have oat flour) and remove to a bowl--I did it this way.)

2.  Process dates until they are a paste.  This can be annoying, with the need to stop & scrape it down, or use the Pulse function of your food processor. 

3. Add the drained beans & process them with the dates until they're completely smooth & mixed well into the dates.

4.  Add in the chia gel if this mixture is getting too hard to process & needs liquid to get it mixed up well

5.  Add in the coffee, the cocoa, the vanilla & stevia.

6.  Add the oat flour after everything is mixed well.
 
7.  Add the baking powder & salt last.  Finally add the walnuts, & pulse just a few times to mix in.

8.  Place mixture in an 8-inch silicone pan.   Any other is OK, too, but you might need to spray it so it doesn't stick.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes only, & test.  You don't want it to overcook--but you don't want it too loose or undercooked.  Go by "feel"--this is a moist brownie

Cool,  cover tightly with foil.  

Serve topped with a dollop of  chocolate chia banana "mousse"   (It's the chia breakfast pudding I posted about earlier.  Very versatile!)

An HHLL reader saw my preview Valentine chocolate treat pics on my Facebook page & asked for the recipe ahead of time for her book club.  Here's what she had to say about it: 

 

"mmmmm. It was all a hit. I think this was the first time any of those ladies tried chia seeds in something! I finished the topping off with my green smoothie this morning.

I did not have stevia, so I used 1/4 cup sugar in the brownie and added some chocolate chips. I toasted the walnuts and served them as a condiment (forgot to add it to the batter). It was all very yummy. Thanks for sharing. :)"

 

 

My Tweaked Version of HGK's Grasshopper Chocolate Oatmeal Parfait with a Crazy Spinach Banana Frozen "Soft Serve"

 

 

HGK's Grasshopper Chocolate Oatmeal Nutrition Powerhouse Breakfast

 

Believe it or not, this crazy looking breakfast is delicious & will keep you filled for hours!  It's another veritable nutritional powerhouse.

 

To get a copy of all the versions of this recipe on one page, click here!

Five Ways of Making This Chocolate Mint Breakfast Parfait

1.  Here's Wendy's Health Girl's Kitchen original recipe.

2.  The Healthy Librarian's "make it in the morning" version. 

Option 1:

• 1/3 cup regular oats (not steel cut)
• about 7/8 of a cup of soy or other non-dairy milk
• 1 tablespoons chia seeds
• 1/2 tablespoon good quality non-Dutched cocoa--Penzey's is the best
• 1/2 to 1 packet of stevia (or 1 tsp maple syrup)
• 1/4 tsp vanilla

Mix everything together & microwave it in a large bowl until done--depends on your microwave.

Option 2:

If you already have a batch of chocolate slow-cooker steel cut oatmeal made, you're already halfway there.  Scoop out 1/4 of the batch for layering.  Warm it up, or not, and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of chia into it.

Option 3:

Here's how to make my chocolate steel cut oatmeal in the morning if you don't have a slow-cooker, or you forgot to get it started last night.  

1. Follow all the directions for the slow-cooker recipe, but CUT THE WATER DOWN TO ONE CUP--and CUT THE MILK DOWN TO TWO CUPS. 

2. Heat the one cup of water in the microwave & mix the cocoa in it to properly mix it together.  

3. Mix all the ingredients into a saucepan, and heat until it starts to boil.  Lower the heat to a low simmer, stir with a wooden spoon occasionally.  Keep a careful watch, but, this should take about 15 to 25 minutes to absorb most of the liquid, and get creamy and delicious. 

4.  The crockpot/slow-cooker version is a lot better tasting--but this works!

The Spinach Frozen Banana "Soft Serve" Layer

• 1 large frozen banana or 1 1/2 small frozen bananas (be sure to freeze bananas already cut up into pieces!!!)
• 1 cup frozen spinach--the kind that's in a plastic bag--not a solid frozen block
• about 1/4 cup of soy or non-dairy milk
• 1/8 tsp peppermint extract---if you're not fond of mint flavoring, leave this out & add vanilla

Mix the frozen spinach, the milk, and the banana in a VitaMix or food processor & blend until smooth & creamy.  Add a little more milk if necessary.  You'll need the plunger with the VitaMix. 

Now layer the oatmeal & minty soft-serve and enjoy!

Don't have a VitaMix?  Don't have a food processor?  Don't have any frozen bananas in your freezer?  No problem.

No worries--mix the spinach & a regular banana with the mint extract or vanilla in your regular blender & eat your oatmeal like this!   I call it, "Green Eggs and Chocolate Ham".   It looks ridiculous, but it tastes fantastic!

 

Short Order Green "Eggs" and Chocolate "Ham" for Breakfast

 

Check out the nutritional content of this breakfast.  Based on rolled oats (not steel-cut) and soy milk.  You will feel full for hours!

 

Nutrition Facts Wendy's HGK Grasshopper Chocolate Oatmeal
Serving Size: 1 recipe
Amount Per Serving
Calories	407
Total Fat	8.3g
Saturated Fat	1g
Trans Fat	0g
Cholesterol	0mg
Sodium	221mg
Carbohydrate	66.6g
Dietary Fiber	11.1g
Sugars	32.7g
Protein	18.9g
Vitamin A 80% Vitamin C 17% Calcium    28% Iron 24%

 

 

Amy's Chocolate Hummus Renamed Chocolate Garbanzo (or Cannellini) Ganache

 

As a Snack with Half a Banana

 

Served with Berries

 

 

It's hard to believe that a can of garbanzo beans, cocoa, a little espresso powder, some dates & stevia can make something SO Delicious, but it does! 

Full Disclosure:  Be careful with this hummus!  It's so good you'll be tempted to eat it by the spoonful.

 

For a copy of the recipe on one page, click here:

Makes about 2 cups

Serves:  at least 8 servings

 

Ingredients:

• 1 15-ounce can of garbanzo or cannellini beans. UPDATE 3/2/12:  Cannellini beans are better!!  Unlike garbanzos, they have a perfect omega 3:omega 6 ratio--and they make a superior & creamier hummus/ganache!
    Do not drain--you'll need the reserved liquid for the hummus!!!
• 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, or Better'N Peanut Butter or the best choice: mix up your own with defatted peanut butter with PB2.   Good news!  PB2 is now available at Whole Foods, where I live.
• 1/2 cup of non-Dutched cocoa.  Penzey's Natural is THE Best Tasting.
• 3 packets of stevia  (I prefer the Sweet Leaf brand) I've read the research on stevia, I've talked to the company, and I'm personally 100% comfortable using this product.
• 1 teaspoon of instant espresso coffee (I use Medaglia D'Oro brand--availabe at most groceries)
• 4 large pitted Medjool dates--pick out the plumpest, moistest ones.
  
• 1 teaspoon of good quality real vanilla extract
• 1/4 or more of the reserved liquid from the garbanzo beans.  Start with 1/4 cup of the liquid, add more until it's the consistency you like.
  
• a few grinds (or a mini-pinch) of sea salt

 Preparation:

1.  Empty the entire can of garbanzo or cannellini beans & liquid into a heat-proof bowl.  Microwave it until it's nice & warm.   This helps with the blending.

2.  Carefully drain the beans, but reserve the liquid to add back into the hummus to make it creamy

3.  Prepare your PB2 if you are using it.

4.  Throw everything into the food processor, including 1/4 cup of the reserved garbanzo/cannellini liquid.  That's all there is to it!  Note: It's really too hard to make this in a blender--it's thick--and it will be hard to get it out of the blender jar/perhaps a VitaMix would work, but a food processor is preferred.  That's all there is to it.

5.  Keeps well in the refrigerator for up to a week.  Enjoy with sliced bananas, berries, or however you like.

 

What's Your Favorite Healthy Chocolate Treat?

If You Try Any of These Recipes, Please Give Us All Feedback!  I Love Hearing From You.

  

The Perfect Quick Pre-Work-Out Breakfast - Sonya O'Donnell's Chocolate Banana Chia Power Pudding - Followed by the Healthy Librarian's Favorite Friday Morning Work-Out

 

Sonya O'Donnell's Power Chia Banana Pudding

 

 

If you received this post via email, click here to get to the web version with all the links.

Lucky me--I don't work on Friday's.

But, no matter how late I get home on Thursday nights, without fail, I wake up early on Friday morning so I can get to my favorite workout:  Caroline's 30 minutes of spinning, followed by 30 minutes of weight-training intervals that keep the heart pumping.

There usually isn't much time for breakfast--and don't tell anyone--but, sometimes I leave the house without even brushing my teeth--until I get home!  Shhh!

Last week when I spotted Sonya O'Donnell's Quick Banana Chocolate Chia Pudding, I decided I had to give it a try.  I'm a sucker for pudding, chocolate, and chia.

Nothing could have been easier to whip up!  I added my secret ingredient--1 teaspoon of instant espresso powder to give it a touch of sophistication--and a little caffeine.

Let me tell you--this pudding is THE PERFECT PRE or POST WORKOUT fuel.  It even has champion tri-athlete Brendan Brazier's perfect workout fuel or recovery ratio:   3-4 grams of carbohydrates to 1 gram of protein for post recovery. 

 

It's a perfect nutritional powerhouse, with protein from the soy milk, hemp seeds, & chia--potassium from the banana--polyphenols & antioxidants from the cocoa--and carbohydrates, fiber, & antioxidants from the dates--and, it's loaded with omega-3s from the chia & hemp.  Oh baby.  Plus, it tastes delicious!

 

Making the Power Pudding--It's as Easy as Pie

 

Easy Ingredients--Non-Dairy Milk, Chia, Hulled Hemp Seeds, Banana, Dates, Vanilla, & Cinnamon

 

 

Here's Sonya's recipe, with my modifications of espresso powder & soy milk:

 

"Chia seeds are one of the oldest cultivated plants known to man.  They are loaded with antioxidants, essential fatty acids (3 and 6), vitamins, minerals and fiber.  

Chia seeds maintain blood sugar levels as they slow our bodies conversion of carbohydrates into simple sugars.  They are great for an athletic person as they can effectively replenish minerals lost in sweat.  

Chia seeds can also help in weight loss as they swell up to 10 times their size, which prevents absorption of some calories we eat.  Chia puddings are great for breakfast as they will provide you with ample energy throughout the day."

Read more about the benefits of cocoa and chia here and here and here.

 

For a copy of the recipe on one page, click here

Ingredients (makes 4 servings):

• 1½ cups EdenSoy Extra (it's fortified with calcium, B-12, & vitamin D, etc.)  Or use the non-dairy milk of your choice.   Sonya's recipe uses almond milk
• 1 organic banana
• 2 tablespoons hemp seeds
• 2 tablespoons raw cacao powder or Penzey's non-Dutched cocoa (my fave), or any non-Dutched cocoa
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ cup chia seeds
• 2 medjool dates, pitted
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp instant espresso powder

Preparation:

1. Place the chia seeds in a medium sized mixing bowl.
2. Blend soy milk, banana, hemp seeds, cacao or cocoa, salt, dates, vanilla, espresso powder and cinnamon in a high speed blender.
3. Blend on high until a chocolate shake consistency is achieved.
4. Add wet ingredients to chia seeds and mix thoroughly.
5. Let stand for at least 20 minutes while chia seeds swell and become gel like.
6. Serve with a few goji berries as garnish.
7. Pudding will last in refrigerator, covered for a few days.

 

Nutrition Facts Sonya O'Donnell Chia Chocolate Banana Power Breakfast Pudding
Serving Size: 1 serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories	200
Total Fat	7g
Saturated Fat	0.7g
Trans Fat	0g
Cholesterol	0mg
Sodium	180mg
Carbohydrate	28g
Dietary Fiber	7.1g
Sugars	14.3g
Protein	7.5g
Vitamin A 12% Vitamin C 5% Calcium    9% Iron 9%

 

 

The Workout I Don't Ever Want to Miss

 

 The No-Frills Spin "Studio" at My Neighborhood Fitness Co-op

 

That's Me--Enjoying the 30 Minute Weight Work-Out after 30 Minutes of Spinning

 

My idea of a perfect workout:

• 30 minutes of spinning to get my heart rate thumping--in the company of a fun group of 20-somethings through 60-somethings  (namely me--& my friend Janet whose almost 60)
• 30 minutes of non-stop complex weight-training moves that simultaneously use the upper body & lower body to keep the heart rate up.   Think squats, lunges, push-ups, planks, abs, & working every possible upper body muscle group.  Always different, with a mixture of light & heavy weights, bands, & even paper plates!

 

Did the Power Pudding keep me fueled?

Absolutely!!   And I followed it up with some Green Smoothie & Chocolate Oatmeal with Berries when I got home.  I've got energy to spare!  And yes, I brushed my teeth right after that second breakfast!

 

What's your favorite pre or post workout meal?

What's your favorite work-out?

 

 

 

Professor Peter Lewis: I'm Fit, I Mountain Bike, But I Still Got Heart Disease. His Recipe for Reversal. Plus HGK's & Fat-Free Vegan's Sri Lankan Kale, Black Bean, Sweet Potato Mallung & A Daily Dose of Lignans to Prevent Breast Cancer

 

If you received this post via email, click here to get to the web version with a video & links.

Last Wednesday night, after my kids had arrived into town for Thanksgiving--as we were clearing the dinner table of our delicious dinner of Sweet Potato & Spinach Soup and Chef AJ's Thai Vegetable Noodles--Son #1 casually said to me:

 

Son #1:  Hey mom, did you see that video of Dr. Esselstyn--where he gets into a cab, and there's already another passenger sitting in it--and this guy says to him, "Aren't you Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn?"  

And then the guy in the cab tells Dr. Esselstyn how he's come all the way to LA from Wales just to hear him speak.   Turns out, many months before he was having chest pains--went to the emergency room, failed his stress test, got a load of pills, but, he didn't like the survival odds the doctors gave him. 

So he starts doing his own research to see how he can improve his odds of survival; finds Dr. Esselstyn's journal articles; decides to follow the diet---and now he's angina-free & off of all his meds.

Me:  What?  No, I never saw any video like that.  Where did you see it?  You never watch that kind of stuff.

Son #2:  Hmm.  Honestly, I'm not sure.  Could be that DIL #1 had it on her Facebook page or something like that.  Don't really know.  I think maybe her computer was sitting on the kitchen counter as I was making dinner one night--I felt like listening to something while I cooked--so I just clicked onto this video.   But, what an inspiring story.  And the whole thing was so random, how Dr. Esselstyn & this guy just happened to meet in a cab.

 

By now I was very curious.

You have to understand.  Son #1 hasn't even seen Forks Over Knives.  He avoids Facebook, and I can't imagine him watching a YouTube video that's over 6 minutes long--especially one on heart disease.  There's just no way.

So, I asked DIL #1 (his wife--my daughter-in-law) if she knew what Son #1 was talking about.   Turns out, this video was posted on Dr. Esselstyn's Facebook page, not long ago--we tracked it down--and I watched it.   (Note: I, also don't use Facebook--which explains why I never saw this video.  But, that should change in about a week.  Son #1 convinced me it was a good idea.  He, of all people??!!)

As for the video--I totally agree with Son #1.  It's a great story.  Two men randomly meet in a cab--and Peter Lewis ends up sharing his story with all of us!

Me to Son #1:  But, I'm still wondering why you bothered to watch this video through til the end.  Why??  Here's what he told me:

• It was such a random way that Dr. Esselstyn & Peter Lewis met.  And then, Dr. Esselstyn spontaneously asks him to speak to an large audience, without a bit of preparation.
• I was taken in because Peter was so fit--a mountain biker--and he still got heart disease. (Son #1 also mountain bikes & he's fit--maybe this hit close to home.)
• Plus, Peter is a professor, he understood the research, and he wanted better odds for survival than his doctors were offering him--with drugs or stents.

Am I the only one who hasn't seen this video!!

 

 

Peter Lewis, Mountain-Biker, Mathematics Professor From Cardiff Wales on Reversing His Heart Disease--Healthy Expo October, 2006

 

If you do not see the video about Peter Lewis, click here

 

I'm not a huge fan of posting YouTube videos.  Personally, I'm usually too inpatient to watch videos--and I figure, if I'm annoyed by them, maybe my readers are, too.   I prefer the written word.  It's much easier to refer back to. 

But, in this case--listening to Peter Lewis tell his own story is more compelling than just reading a transcript.

So, dear readers, I'm going to give you both--the video & my amateur transcript--not exactly word-for-word-but mostly.

 

Dr. Esselstyn:  Is Peter Lewis here?  Professor Peter Lewis of mathematics fame, from Cardiff? 

Peter, I wonder if I could get you to come up here a moment.  I've known Peter for about 25 minutes.  I was coming in from the airport & I crawled into this filled cab, and I saw this beaming face that I didn't recognize, & this man says, "You're Dr. Esselstyn, aren't you?"   And then he proceeded to tell me this story.  Since Peter is a professor, & he's used to being on his feet, I wonder if you can take just a few minutes & share your story with us, Peter.

 

Peter Lewis:  (Slightly embarrassed, completely surprised, and very charming)  This is totally out of the blue.  15 months ago, I thought I was pretty fit.  My sport is mountain biking & I regularly ride with my 35 year old son, & I keep up with him--and he's pretty keen.  

But, then, while I was helping my son do some gardening, 15 months ago, I felt this pain in my chest.  I thought, "muscle pain", and dismissed it.   But, it didn't go away & I ended up in the hospital emergency room, and I had to stay the night.

The next day, I was released with a bag of pills.   On the way to the "car park", I had to walk up a gentle hill & the pain was so great that I had to stop.   I had it fairly bad--I had a treadmill test in the hospital.  I managed 4 minutes on the treadmill--less than 1/2 of the length of a normal test.  So, I was in bad shape.

(When I got home) I looked on the internet to see what my prospects were--and they were pretty bad.  They talked about improving your risk for survival.  And the best medication you could get would only help lower your risk of getting a heart attack or dying. 

I thought, "I don't want to face that.  I'm healthy.  I want my normal life back!"

So, I carried on with the internet, & came across a paper by Dr. Esselstyn, and what he said was, "I can eliminate your chance of having a heart attack."  He had this study of 18 people who previously had collectively 49 cardiac events---and 12 years later, after they'd been on his diet, they had ZERO.

I thought, "That's the number I want!  Zero."   I didn't want a 5% or 10% risk, because if you're the 5% or 10% who have a heart attack, it's 100% for you!  I want zero.

So, I read the paper, immediately followed the recommendations, & I went immediately on his diet.  I calculated the fat content of what I was eating & it was someting like 7-8% or less.  And I stuck on that diet.

I've got a research background, so I thought "I'm going to measure my improvement.  I've got a standard bike route that climbs up behind my house--about 700 feet, & the first part of it is fairly gentle."

Immediately, when I started this test, I had to stop 7 times from pain during that first little bit.  Then, as the weeks went by, it was 6 times, then 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 time.   Then I managed to do the whole bottom section with no pain--or pain that was manageable.

I thought, "All right.  I'll go on to the next section."  It's steep up into the woods.  Rough track. Tough.  So I had to stop 3 or 4 times going up the steep part--because I was obviously much better.

Then that went down & I started to be able to ride the whole hill with no stops.  So I started dropping some of my medications, Nicorandil, a vasodilator--gradually.   Within 6 months, I virtually eliminated my angina--I was able to ride my bike trip all the way, without stopping & I was dropping my medication.

Now, 15 months later, I TAKE NO MEDICATION,  & when I saw Dr. Esselstyn in this taxi, I said, "I'm here because of you!" 

Because if you're doing this, and you believe so passionately in it, you want to help other people experience the benefits that you've had--but it's hard.   People tend to treat you like "a different sort of person".  They don't really want to know. 

So, in order to feel geniunely inspired, I needed to come somewhere where I'm surrounded by people who believe the same things I believe, & perhaps experience the sort of things I experienced. 

That's why I'm here.

 

Like my son, I'm also inspired by health-turn-around stories--especially, from people who thought they were fit--they exercised, and ate right--or so they thought.

Here's another one--from Michael Bicks--another cyclist who thought he was heart-attack proof--but wasn't:  I'm Healthy, I Exercise, I Eat Right - I'm Heart-Attack Proof. "Not a Moment Too Soon I Thought of Tim Russert"

 

 

Last Night's Dinner--A Gorgeous Sri Lankan Kale, Black Bean, & Sweet Potato Mallung

 

Before I left for work yesterday morning, I checked to see what was cooking in the Healthy Girl's Kitchen.  Turns out, Wendy's friend Quinny had cooked up a gorgeous Sri Lankan Kale with Black Beans & Sweet Potato dish that looked totally easy to make.  In Sri Lanka, it's called Kale Mallung.

I've never had a Sri Lankan dish, and it sounded like a good plan for last night's dinner.

The Lab Rat was up for the challenge--so that's what we ate for dinner last night.  He doubled Quinny's recipe--using 3 large sweet potatoes, 24 ounces of kale, 2 big onions, and 2 cans of black beans. 

Honestly, this recipe is enough for 8 servings--not four.   I'm also thinking that a little pineapple in it, next time, would taste great.   As for the not-so-healthy addition of unsweetened coconut--spread over 8 servings gives you about 4.1 grams of fat, according Susan Voisin, the Fat-Free Vegan and my nutritional info.  How's that for rationalization?   The coconut & lime really made this dish something special.

 It looks like a nutritional power-house to me, in spite of the coconut.

Nutrition Facts Quinny's & Fat-Free Vegan's Kale, Sweet Potato,Black Bean Mullung
Serving Size: 1 serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories	249
Total Fat	4g
Saturated Fat	3.1g
Trans Fat	0g
Cholesterol	0mg
Sodium	218mg
Carbohydrate	45.8g
Dietary Fiber	10.3g
Sugars	13.3g
Protein	10.4g
Vitamin A 312% Vitamin C 220% Calcium    25% Iron 26%

 

 

 

The Benefits of Flax & Chia Lignans for the Prevention of Breast Cancer

 

Thanks again to blog reader Tom, who emailed me yesterday's Disease-Proof   posting that explains how the lignans in flax & chia help to prevent estrogen-driven breast cancer.   One more reason to add a tablespoon or two of flax or chia seed on top of your morning oatmeal!  Fiber, omega-3s, & cancer-fighting lignans.  3 for 1.

The latest study on the subject just appeared in the October 11, 2011 issue of the British Journal of Cancer, "Estimated enterolignans, lignan-rich foods, and fibre in relation to survival after postmenopausal breast cancer."   Read more here.

Excerpt from the Disease-Proof Blog:

"Women eating more flaxseeds with a documented higher serum enterolactone were found to have a 42% reduced risk of death from postmenopausal breast cancer and a dramatic (40 percent) reduction in all causes of death.^14,15 Flaxseeds are clearly super foods; even with a mediocre diet they offer powerful protection against certain types of breast cancer.

 Another interesting study on flax followed women for up to 10 years and found a 51% reduced risk of all-cause mortality and a 71% reduced risk of breast cancer mortality."

Read the entire flax/lignan/breast cancer post here.

 

Goodbye Larabars! Hello, Homemade Raw Chocolate Chia Energy Bars, Loaded with Omega-3s & Antioxidants

Raw Chocolate Chia Walnut Energy Bars

 

If you received this via email, click here for the web version that has all the photos & links.

The only food I really still miss on my Esselstyn-style diet is Larabars--those yummy fruit & nut bars that are so darn convenient when you need a portable quick hunger-quenching snack. 

Explanation: Nuts are not Esselstyn-friendly foods, except for walnuts, and only for those without heart disease.

My fave was Cashew Cookie, made with just cashews & dates--but when you look at the omega-6 content for cashews....it's sky high.  And since most Larabars weigh in at 190-240 calories, and have 10-14 grams of fat per bar, I'm postivie that cutting out my daily Larabar helped contribute to my new-found weight-loss--which by the way--I am loving.

But still...on days when I exercise a lot, or have to miss or delay a meal, it sure would be nice to have a convenient Larabar.

Even Dr. Esselstyn gives the go-ahead for eating walnuts if you don't have heart disease--in moderation of course.  Too bad, none of the Larabars are made with just walnuts.  The closest they come is a mix of almonds (the first nut ingredient) & walnuts in the Apple Pie Larabar.  So, that's why I've resorted to making  my own.

Here's how the nuts used in Larabars stack up by saturated fat, and omega-6:omega-3 ratios

Cashews:   12.5% saturated fat     117:1  omega-6 to omega-3 ratio

Almonds:     6.0% saturated fat   1800:1  omega-6 to omega-3 ratio

Walnuts:     8.0% saturated fat        4:1  omega-6 to omega-3 ratio  It's the Nut with the highest amount of omega-3s

Peanuts:     15.0% saturated fat   1659:1 omega-6 to omega-3 ratio

If you need a refresher about why we should care about Omega-3s & Omega-6s and their effect on health & disease, click here.

The ideal goal for our daily intake of omega-6s to omega-3s is: 1:1 or 2:1, but most experts would say that 4:1 is fantastic, considering that the typical Western diet is 17:1.

 

My New Favorite Fruit-Nut Energy Bar--The Homemade Raw Chocolate-Chia Bar

 

I found this recipe in the January 2010 issue of Vegetarian Times, and it was developed by Mary Margaret Chappell.  Chappell's bar uses blanched almonds, so I just subbed walnuts instead.

These bars have it all! 

• Heart healthy unsweetened unprocessed no-fat cocoa.  Cocoa powder has all the benefits of chocolate without the fat & calories.  It lowers inflammation, increases HDLs, and has the potential to slow or prevent atherosclerosis.  This comes from straight from a 2009 Spanish study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.  Cocoa has more flavonoids than tea or red wine and it improves lipid profiles and insulin sensitivity, lowers blood pressure (click here), reduces platelet activity, and keeps the lining of blood vessels flexible and healthy.  Click here to read more about the benefits of cocoa. This recipe provides about 1/2 tablespoon of pure cooca in every bar--all that's needed to accrue the health benefits.
• Chia seeds, the omega-3 antioxidant powerhouse that is high in fiber, keeps your blood sugar steady, and decreases inflammation.  Click here and here to read more.  This recipe provides a heaping 1/2 tablespoon of chia per serving, which is about 1,370 mg. of omega-3s.
• Walnuts have the highest amount of omega-3s of all the nuts.  But it gets even better.  A recent study out of Yale published in Diabetes Care, February 2010 found that type-2 diabetics who ate walnuts for 8 weeks significantly improved their endothelial function (measured by the brachial artery test)--which is the flexibility of arteries--and an important measure of arterial health.  Too bad the study chose to use such a large amount of walnuts--2 ounces and 366 calories worth--equivalent to about 1/2 cup of walnuts!  Click here for the study.  This recipe provides a little less than 1/2 an ounce of walnuts per serving.
• Dates have one of the highest ORAC antioxidant rankings of any of the dried fruits--at 3895 for 1/4 cup.  This recipe provides about 2.5 tablespoons of dates per serving.
• Honestly, these bars are one of the best tasting bars I've eaten--and I can't wait for you try them yourselves.  The nuts, the chocolate, and crunch of the chia, combine to make something that's a cross between a chewy brownie & a Nestle's Crunch bar.
• Warning:  Allow yourself only one--and make sure it's on a day that you've really put in a hard work-out! It would be very easy to eat 3 of these at one time.
  

 

Raw Chocolate-Chia Energy Bars

 

Click here to view the recipe on one page, suitable for printing

Makes 10 bars

Prep time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups pitted dates (Warning:  pinch each date carefully to be sure the pit has been removed!  An errant pit will stop your food processor cold!)

1/3 cup raw usweetened (& undutched) cocoa powder

1/3 cup whole chia seeds, such as Salba (use the white ones--it looks prettier)

3/4 tsp vanilla extract, optional

1 cup raw walnut pieces

Oat flour for dusting

Preparation

1.  Place dates in bowl of food processor; puree until thick paste forms.  If the dates are on the dry side, you may need to add small amounts of warm water to moisten them up--and make it easier to mix in the other ingredients.  But, be careful to do this slowly, and not overdo it.

2.  Add cocoa powder, chia seeds, and vanilla, if using.  Pulse until all ingredients are combined.

3. Add walnuts; pulse until nuts are finely chopped and well distributed through date mixture.

4. Spread large sheet of wax paper on work surface, and dust with oat flour, if using

5.  Transfer date mixture to wax paper, and press mixture into 1/2 inch thich rectangle.  Wrap tightly with the waxed paper, and then with foil.  Chill overnight.

6.  Unwrap block, and cut into 10 bars.  Dust edges and sides with oat flour,  if using, to prevent sticking.  Wrap each bar in waxed paper & store in the refrigerator.

Nutritional Information, 1/10 of the recipe.

Nutrition Facts Healthy Librarian's Raw Chocolate-Chia Energy Bars
Serving Size: 1 serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories	166
Total Fat	9.1g
Saturated Fat	1.1g
Trans Fat	0g
Cholesterol	0mg
Sodium	1mg
Carbohydrate	22.4g
Dietary Fiber	4.6g
Sugars	15.4g
Protein	3.3g
Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 0% Calcium    3% Iron 5%

Processing the Dates into a Thick Paste

Adding in the Chia Seed & Cocoa

 Mixing Up the Dates, Chia, Vanilla, & Cocoa

Adding the Walnuts into the Mix

Mixing it All Up - So Easy!

 

Forming the Mixture into a Rectangle

Voila!  10 Scrumptious Bars

http://www.bellplantation.com/products

 Packing Them Up to Store in the Fridge - Sprinkled with Oat Flour

 If anyone out there gives these bars a try, please let me know how they turn out for you!!

The No-fat Peanut Butter News Flash!  My friend Yaz emailed me on Wednesday to let me know she saw a Brand New Item at Trader Joe's: pure roasted peanut "flour" with nothing more than 100% roasted peanuts, for $3.49 a pound. 

She figured it could make peanut butter just as well as PB2 does, which costs $3.99 + shipping, for just 6.5 ounces--almost 4 times as much as TJ's peanut flour.  Plus, Trader Joe's product has no salt or sugar added to it--good for health--not so good for taste. 

Coincidently, right after Yaz' email I checked out Emily Malone's Front Burner blog--and lo and behold, she had just posted a taste test comparison matching PB2 with the "peanut butter" made with Trader's Joe's Peanut Flour.  Check it out here. 

I picked up a bag of the peanut flour last night on my way home from work, and my husband, the peanut butter maven--who swears by PB2--and yes, he had just ordered & received a dozen jars of it last week--offered to be my taste-tester later today!  I'll let you know if it's up to the PB maven's standards.

The PB Maven's (my husband) preliminary taste test results for TJ's peanut flour PB: "It's great!  Can't tell any difference."  I did add a tiny bit of salt, and a bit 'o honey.  Yum!

 

 

More from the Healthy Librarian's Plant-Based Kitchen Lab: The Restaurant Scene, Staying Fueled, PB2 the Nut Butter Substitute, and Chia Fresca for Omega-3s

Pajama Diaries by Terri Libenson

Life in My Kitchen.  Always Testing Out Something New.  And if Son #2 Likes It, It Has to Be Good

Click Here if You've received this via email.

Living the Plant-Based No-Oil Life in the Real World

The Restaurant Scene.  I'm not-yet-so-comfortable about asking for special orders, or asking waiters or chefs a lot of questions, but I sucked it up this week, and did what I needed to do.  This was a huge hurdle.  To me, a happy healthy long life is so wrapped up with breaking bread and sharing meals with family & fiends--I don't want to miss out on it.   So...if I want to continue to join my friends & family at restaurants occasionally, I've got to ask the restaurant staff the right questions.  I can't always say, "Hey, why don't you just come to my house.  I'll cook."

• Hippie Healthy Stir-Fries & Noodle or Rice Bowls.  Monday night, I was meeting a friend for dinner, and we tried out a local store-front healthy fast food joint near the university.  What could be better?  Homemade brown rice, fresh steamed veggies, a choice of 3 no-oil spicy sauces, topped with tofu.  Nothing fancy, but we sat outside and enjoyed the summer evening, and some hearty rib-sticking healthy fare.  And the price was right!
• Hip & Mod Mexican.  Friday night we met son #2 across town at a cool out-of-the-box Mexican restaurant in one of those old semi-gentrified neighborhoods.  I figured this was going to be a real challenge.  I could end up eating just steamed corn tortillas, salsa, beans, and a glass of wine--and that would have been just fine.  But I was in for a pleasant surprise.  If I wanted no-oil, vegan fare, our waiter told me my best choice was the grilled portobellos with sofrito, corn tortillas, and salsa verde.  No-oil, he promised!  The mustard crema was on the side, so I could just ignore it.  And I did.

It Tastes Much Better Than It Looks!  Grilled Portobellos Over Sofrito, with Corn Tortillas & Salsa Verde.  Hold the Mustard Crema, Please!

• My Big Mistake This Week.  Missing Breakfast, and Eating a Late Lunch.  After 27 years in our house we are FINALLY redoing our circa 1964 bathroom.  It all started on Wednesday--and I was home to "supervise" the demolition.  Right!  I thought my kitchen ceiling was going to come crashing down as the demo crew sledge-hammered out the old cast iron tub.  Breakfast got waylaid, and lunch was delayed until 1:00 pm.  Note to self:  Never do that again.  My fuel tank was running on empty.  To refuel I enjoyed this wrap for lunch. It did the trick in no time! 

Food tip of the week thanks to Mina:  Her suggestion--add broccoli slaw to wraps or salads!  Loved it and who would have thought?

Refueling with a 3 Bean All-American Chili, Sweet Potato, Broccoli Slaw, Spinach Wrap

 

Wrapped Up & Heated in a 450 Degree Oven for 10 Minutes--Crispy & Delicious

My new favorite wrap:  French Meadow Bakery Sprouted Grain Tortillas.  More pliable, and less dry than the Ezekiel brand.

Finding a Breakfast That Works for my Lab Rat Runner Husband

My niece Jamie clued me into a new product aimed at peanut butter lovers who don't want all the fat that's in peanut butter!  It's called PB2, and it's powdered defatted roasted peanuts that you mix-up with a tablespoon or two of water, and voila!  Instantly you have 2 tablespoons of peanut butter with just 1.5 grams of fat, and only 45 calories--sure it's almost 40% fat,  but compare that to the 190 calories, and 14 grams of fat (+2 grams of sat fat) for the real thing!  It's got less fat than heart-healthy cocoa--which has  25 calories & 1 gram of fat per tablespoon.  PB2 is made by Bell Plantation, click here for more info.  To get some--we had to order it--but it was quick & painless.  But I can't vouch for what the Esselstyn's would say about PB2. 

Believe me, this stuff is a very suitable peanut butter substitute--according to my nut butter aficionado husband--and niece, Jamie!  I'm not interested in imbibing, but PB2 is a huge boost for my husband who has given up his long-time-habit of morning almond butter on Ezekiel---too much fat.  And way too many omega-6s--as in 3802 mgs!  I can't vouch for the number of omega-6s in defatted PB2, but you can always sprinkle on some high omega-3 chia for good measure!  I'm planning to experiment with PB2 for spicy peanut noodles, and a homemade energy bar.

So where did Jamie hear about PB2?  On Emily Malone's Front Burner blog.  Check it out--she's a 29 year old culinary school trained chef who's cooking vegetarian lunches for the staff at an organic farm (I think--I don't exactly know her back story).  She's a vegetarian, a runner, who cares about healthy food, keeping fit, and she loves to experiment with food.  Her food photos are amazing.  She does use a bit of oil, & sometimes tiny amounts of cheese, eggs, or dairy---but hey, you can modify any recipe.  BTW, niece Jamie also recommends Chocolate PB2, made with cocoa.

Emily's PB2 & Jelly on Rice Cakes

Refreshing Lemony Chia Water for Omega-3s, Hydration, Protein, Fiber, & Feeling Full

Chia Water=1/2 squeezed lemon or lime + 1 TBS of Chia Seeds.  Shake Well & Shake Again!

Chia isn't a new story around this blog--but drinking Chia Water is!   What a great way to enjoy all the benefits of this nutritional powerhouse.  It's tasty, it has a great mouth feel, it will keep hunger at bay for about an hour longer than usual, it will energize your workouts, and it's like getting a slow IV drip of omega 3's. 

I've been taking it along to work and to work outs--instead of just plain old water.  My husband has followed suit.  And now son #2 is ready to try it out on the soccer field. Give it a try--and report back! My favorite brand is Salba--it's superior to common chia seeds.  Click here  to find out why it beats common chia.  Click here to find out why it beats flax.

"The Salba agronomic teams have invested the past 15 years researching Salba (Salvia hispanica L.).  During those 15 years, we found the perfect location, the perfect soil composition, the perfect climate, the perfect irrigation methods, the perfect crop life-span, and the perfect amount of sunlight. We perfected the art of Non-GMO selective breeding and studied each crop carefully.

Salba seeds are hand-picked, and only the seeds with the highest nutrient density are harvested and replanted. The result? Higher quantities of the quality nutrients you need and guaranteed consistency from crop to crop. When you choose Salba, you choose quality of life."

Tip:  Use a funnel, but be sure to pour out enough water from the bottle so that the funnel spout does not touch the water.  The seeds get a gelatinous coating as soon as they hit the water, and you don't want the funnel clogging up.  Add about 1 tablespoon to 25 ounces of water--and start shaking to keep the seeds separate.  Shake for about a minute.  And then shake the bottle before you take each sip, to suspend the chia in the water.  You'll quickly get the hang of it!

This ancient seed is the highest plant source of omega-3s, and it's also loaded with fiber (soluble & insoluble), antioxidants, protein, calcium, and a laundry list of other vitamins & minerals. 

If you've read Christopher McDougall's best-selling book, Born to Run, about the fit & healthy Tarahumara barefoot runners you know what a nutrition powerhouse the chia seed is.  McDougall likens chia water to "drinking a smoothie of wild salmon, spinach and human growth hormone".  Not at all sure about its human growth hormone similarities!

To learn more about all the benefits of drinking chia water,  click here for Christina Pirello's article about chia.   And a big thank you to reader M.L. for sending Pirello's article this way.  If the Tarahumara Indians sound familiar to you, it's because they are Dr. Esselstyn's poster children for zero heart disease--thanks to their plant-based diet of squash, corn, and beans.  Now I'm wondering how much a role chia has contributed to their stellar health.  That is until Western food made its way into their once hidden Copper Canyons--bringing along diabetes, obesity, & heart disease.

Excerpt about chia from McDougall's Born to Run:

"...after I satisfied my hunger and thirst with some iskiate, I at once felt new strength, and, to my own astonishment, climbed the great height without much effort.   After this I always found iskiate a friend in need, so strengthening and refreshing that I may almost claim it as a discovery."  (written by the great Norwegian explorer, Carl Lumholtz in the 1890's)

Months later, I'd (Chris McDougall) learn that iskiate is otherwise know as chia fresca--"Chilly chia."  It's brewed up by dissolving chia seed in water with a little sugar and a squirt of lime. 

In terms of nutritional content, a tablespoon of chia is like a smoothie made from salmon, spinach, and human growth hormone.

As tiny as those seeds are, they're superpacked with omega-3s, omega-6s protein, calcium, iron, zinc, fiber, and antioxidants.

If you had to pick just one desert-island food, you couldn't do much better than chia, at least if you were interested in building muscle, lowering cholesterol, and reducing your risk of heart disease; after a few months of the chia diet, you could probably swim home.

Chia was once so treasured, the Aztecs used to deliver it to their king in homage.  Aztec runners used to chomp chia seeds as they went into battle, and the Hopis fueled themselves on chia during their epic runs from Arizona to the Pacific Ocean.

Despite its liquid-gold status, chia is ridiculously easy to grow; if you own a Chia Pet, in fact, you're only a few steps away from your own batch of devil drink.

So there you have it!  This week's new additions to my adventures in healthy eating.

• No need to miss out on meeting friends & family at restaurants.  Call ahead, ask questions, find out what you can eat that's plant-based, and prepared without oil.  And bottom line:  The goal is getting together with friends & family.  Don't decline invitations.  Make it work.
• NEVER MISS A MEAL.  Carbs are our number one primary fuel supply--and our brain's only fuel supply is carbohydrate glucose.  Keep the fuel tank filled by eating something about every 3 hours.  Unrefined carbs provide a nice slow drip of fuel.  Besides, small meals create less oxidative stress.
• Nut butter lovers might consider PB2 as a serious stand-in.
• Chia Fresca--for a daily omega-3 energizing drink!   And try chia seeds sprinkled on the higher omega-6 carbs, like oatmeal or rice to balance out their omega-6 content.  It's like eating mini-sesame seeds--great texture--no taste.