Happy Healthy Long Life

Yogurt's Back in the House - Non-Dairy, Plant-Based, Vegan, Homemade & Sugar-Free (Mostly)

 

The Cuisinart Electronic Yogurt Maker with Automatic Cooling

 

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"Medical researchers are coming around to the startling conclusion that, in order to be healthy, people need more exposure to microbes, not less; and that one of the problems with the so-called Western diet--besides all the refined carbohydrates and fats and novel chemicals in it--is the absence from it of LIVE-CULTURE foods.

The theory is that these foods have a crucial role to play in nourishing the vast community of microbes living inside us, which in turn plays a much larger role in our overall health & well-being than we ever realized.  Bacteria-free food may be making us sick."   

 

- Michael Pollan, "Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation" -

 

Gut Bugs are My New Best Friends - BFF's

 

No fair.  Whole Soy & Co.'s Plain Unsweetened Yogurt came into my life suddenly last Spring.  I fell in love, & before I knew it, he had disappeared without so much as a good-bye or explanation.   He had arrived in March, by June he was gone.  His disappearance left a huge hole in my heart---uh, I mean my tummy.

I missed our easy breakfasts together.  Our delicious savory Mediterranean lunches, mixed with tamari-roasted chickpeas, cucumbers, tomatoes, red peppers & fresh dill.  Our salads were a dinner delight - topped with Thousand Island Dressing.  He had become "my main manna", my go-to-guy, turning into everything I wanted him to be.  

I even went so far as to go public with the "new manna" in my life in "My New Manna - Plain Unsweetened Soy Yogurt is a Game-Changing Recipe Changer!  Viva the Possibilities!"

The medical journal literature is fermenting with research on why yogurt is so good for us (& our kids), and the newly emerging research on the benefits of nourishing our gut microbiome has taken off.  

Just because you've ditched the dairy, & said "no" to sweetened non-dairy yogurts, doesn't mean you can no longer enjoy thick creamy yogurt.  There really is another way.  Make your own!

For a layman's tour on the benefits of cultivating a healhty colony of gut bacteria, check out Michael Pollan's May 15, 2013 NYT Sunday Magazine article, "Some of My Best Friends are Germs"

Or give a quick listen to this fascinating 7-minute Public Radio Take-Away interview on "Why Bacteria Can Be Good For Us"   

"Some of the newest scientific research points to the benefits of the bacteria that live inside all of us. It turns out that bacteria can play a critical role in fighting obesity, diabetes and infections and it can also help keep our immune systems strong."  (The Take-Away, August 22, 2013)

 

 

 

 

 

Where Did "My Manna" Mr. Whole Soy Go & Would He Ever Return?

 

Long story short.  Production problems at WholeSoy & Co.  The company thought it could quickly find a new place to rent for its yogurt-making.  When that didn't work, they decided to build a new plant.  Here's the Whole "WholeSoy & Co." story.  Not into "making your own yogurt?  No worries.  Looks like they'll return in late October or early November.  In the meantime, I've made other plans.  

I've met a "New Manna".  I'm making my own and preferring the "new guy".  He's so much better.  There's no comparison.

 

 

Empowered by Home Fermentation - Homemade Yogurt, My Way

 

"Thousands of years on, we still haven't discovered techniques for processing food as powerful, versatile, safe, or nutritious as microbial fermentation."

- Michael Pollan, "Cooked" -

 

I'd already been thinking about making my own yogurt before WholeSoy & Co. stopped production. But, when they suddenly disappeared & "who knew when they'd return", I started researching the easiest way to make my own.

Thanks to the help of the savvy readers of my Facebook page I discovered "Cultures for Health", which makes a vegan yogurt culture (who knew there was such a thing?), chock full of all kinds of good live bacteria:  Bifidobacterium bifidum, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp bulgaricus, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Streptococcus thermophilus. (excuse any spelling errors)

Read all about the vegan yogurt culture here.  It's a direct-set culture, which means that it is a one-time-use culture and cannot be recultured (i.e., perpetuated beyond the single batch). Direct-set cultures require no maintenance or care. Simply store the packets in the refrigerator or freezer and use the necessary portion for your recipe when it's time to make yogurt.

1 box of vegan yogurt culture contains 8 packets of culture.  Each packet is used to make 1-2 quarts of yogurt.  I use 1 packet to make 1 quart of yogurt at a time.  $1.12 per quart.  To save $$ I bought multiple boxes--but, don't overbuy.  The expiration date for mine is 4/14.

 

What makes a yogurt culture vegan??

 A vegan culture is "grown" on a vegan medium, unlike regular yogurt cultures, which are grown on dairy. This culture is made specifically to work with NON-DAIRY MILK.  It's made to work best with soy or rice milk.  Almond milk, "Cultures for Health" tells me, can be tricky.

 

Which non-dairy milks work best?

• Use Soy Milk with as little additives as possible:  EdenSoy or WestSoy, original or unsweetened will work well.  "Cultures for Health" recommended the addition of 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon of a sweetener (I used maple syrup) when using UNSWEETENED soy milk to give the bacteria something to feed upon.  NOTE 1/11/14:  No need to add any sweeteners to unsweetened soy milk.  It ferments with or without.  Your choice.
• I prefer Organic EdenSoy Unsweetened.  Just purified water & organic soybeans.  It has the highest protein--12 grams.  It also has the highest amount of fat, 6 grams per serving, but it makes a thick & creamy yogurt.  The higher the fat content, the thicker the yogurt.
• I plan to experiment with EdenSoy Enriched with contains calcium, B12, D2, etc.   UPDATE 1/11/14:  EdenSoy Enriched produces a less rich, not-as-thick yogurt, compared to EdenSoy Unsweetened.  EdenSoy Enriched also has a slightly orangey/yellow color, less aesthetically pleasing color.  Advantage of EdenSoy Enriched is its added calcium + other minerals & vitamins that make it equivalent to the nutrititional content of dairy milk.  I plan to experiment with just adding some powdered calcium citrate into the EdenSoy Unsweetened.  NOW brand makes powdered calcium citrate.
• I've been successful with both the original organic Edensoy & original organic Westsoy--no extra sweeteners are needed with these, because they contain some already.  UPDATE 1/11/14:  I've discovered that even the EdenSoy Unsweetened needs no added sweeteners to properly ferment.
• Rice milk will work, according to "Cultures for Health".   I have not tried this.
• According to the "Cultures for Health" staff person I spoke with, turning ALMOND MILK into yogurt can be trickier, fussier & would likely require more thickeners to get a good texture.  I do plan to experiment & report back.  No idea how oat, hazelnut, cashew, flax, or hemp milks will work.  Lots to test out.
• Read more tips on thickening yogurt here.

 

 

 

A interesting word about Lactobacillus rhamnosus:   Notice that it's one of the bacteria strains in this culture:

 

"A recent study performed in Ireland found that introducing a certain probiotic species found in some fermented foods to the diet of mice had a measurable effect on their stress levels & mood, altering levels of certain neurotransmitters in the brain.

Precisely how the presence of a certain bacterium in the gut might affect mental function is unclear, yet the researchers found they could block the effect by severing the vagus nerve that links the gut to the brain."   (pg. 328, Pollan.  "Cooked" 2013.)

 

And lo & behold, a similar finding was recently reported in a new study on women eating yogurt.  Humans, not mice!  Eating yogurt regularly appears to reduce stress & anxiety.  No promises, but still....  Read the actual study here.

 

Let the Yogurt-Making Begin

 

 

 My First Attempt - Oops, Didn't Heat It Long Enough to Thicken - Kefir-Like, But Yummy

 

I was kind of clueless with my first attempt--and I "missed" the instruction to let it thicken on the stove-top after adding a slurry of soy milk & cornstarch.  I got a thinner kefir-like yogurt.  Tasty, but not what I was expecting.

 

Yogurt Success - Thick, Creamy, Delicious

 

My Yogurt Maker:  The Cuisinart Electronic Yogurt Maker with Automatic Cooling  $129.00 free shipping

Other Yogurt Maker possibilities:

• The Euro Cuisine Yogurt Maker - makes yogurt in individual cups  $39.99.  Very popular.
• The Yogotherm Yogurt Incubator - A reliable way to make yogurt without electricity. 2 quart capacity.  $39.95
• Find out more about yogurt-makers, here  Sorry, I have no personal experience with either of these yogurt makers
• Some readers told me of mixed success making yogurt in a slow-cooker, or in a crock that was well wrapped in insulation & then placed in an oven that was preheated & then turned off.

 

 

Reader BW recently wrote to me to say:

 

I used the oven method, however, being cheap and hoping not to have to buy another piece of equipment. I preheated the oven to 150 degrees for 15 minutes then turned it off, but turned the oven light on. I poured my yogurt into a heavy crock-like bowl with a lid, wrapped it in bubble wrap and a thin silver insulating sheet which I happened to have on hand, then placed it in the oven for exactly 8 hrs. Voila! Perfect consistency, delicious taste. It's now in the fridge to stop the fermentation, can't wait 'til breakfast.

Thank you so very much, I am thrilled and glad you now have yogurt, as well. One of these days I will have to order the Heart Thrive treats to crumble on top. Take care, have a great week!

 

 

Note on yogurt & temperatures:  "Cultures for Health" says to incubate yogurt at 108 degrees for 6-8 hours until set.  I've been fermenting mine for 8 hours.  Just saying.  Cooling starts after fermentation, & it is a necessary part of the complete process.  My Cuisinart automatically brings the yogurt down to 43-52 degrees Fahrenheit (6-11 degrees Celsius) after cooling for 8-12 hours.

 

Instructions for making yogurt without a yogurt maker, including, making it in your oven.

 

Why I like the Cuisinart:  

• It makes all the yogurt in one storeable BPA-free container that holds from 4-6 cups of yogurt.  
• It's easier to pour the milk into 1 large container than into individual 8 ounce cups.  I'm "pouring-challenged".
• It's easier to clean just one container than 6-8 small ones.
• You set the yogurt maker to ferment for 6-8 hours, & when fermentation is over, it automatically starts to chill the yogurt--which is an important part of the process.  You can go to sleep, go to work, whatever, & know that the yogurt will keep chilling until you are ready to put it into the refrigerator.  You don't have to hang around.

 

 

One Tub - When It's Done It Goes Right Into the Fridge with Its Cover

 

Equipment/Ingredients needed:

• A candy themomter to measure the temperature of the milk.  It needs to heat up to about 150 degrees to thicken it with a cornstarch slurry. You DO NOT want it to get over 180 degrees. After it thickens, it needs to cool down to just under 110 degrees before you can add the culture. Any higher--& you'll kill the culture. (118 degrees I think is the "kill zone")
• A narrowish whisk  (or a "whisker" as my grandson call it)
• A 2-4 cup liquid measuring cup.
• A saucepan that holds 4-6 cups of milk for heating up the milk. One with a spout is a plus.
• A 4 cup container of soy milk or rice milk with as few added ingredients as possible.  
• 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon of sweetener (I use maple syrup--2 tsp.) when using milk with zero-added sweeteners.  It helps to feed the bacteria.  UPDATE 1/11/14:  I've STOPPED adding any sweetener to my EdenSoy Unsweeted Soy Milk.  It doesn't appear to be necessary at all! Yogurt comes out fine without it.
• UPDATE 1/11/14 (I've increased the cornstarch for a thicker yogurt):  3-1/2 tablespoons of organic non-GMO cornstarch (regular works, too) per 4 cups of milk for thickening.  (orginal recipe used 3 tablespoons)  See recipe below for instructions.  
• Alternate thickeners:  Dissolve 1/2 teaspoon of agar (a vegan seaweed that works like a gelatin) into 1/2 cup of water, bring to a boil & cool before adding to 4 cups of milk.  Allow mixture to cool down to under 110 degrees before adding to the milk.   More agar might be desired for a thicker yogurt.  Experiment.  Agar thickens when it cools down.  Everything you ever wanted to know about thickening yogurt can be found here.

 

Thickening the Yogurt with a Cornstarch- Soy Milk Slurry - Cooling to 105-110 Degrees

 

The Best Yogurt Recipe from Reader Lori S.

 

A big thank-you to my "yogurt mentor & guide", Lori S.  I couldn't have done it without you.  You paved the way! 

Servings:  4

Preparation Time:  12 minutes + time to cool the milk down to 105 to 110 degrees

Fermentation Time:  8 hours at 108 degrees (the Cuisinart takes all the guess work out of the process)

Cooling Time:  8-12 hours

Total start to finish yogurt time:  from 17-21 hours

 

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of organic soy milk  (EdenSoy or WestSoy)  I use the boxes.  *see above for alternative milks
• 3-1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch UPDATE 1/11/14 (I've increased the cornstarch from 3 tablespoons to 3-1/2 tablespoons for a thicker yogurt)
• UPDATE 1/11/14:  NO NEED FOR ANY SWEETENER with unsweetened soy milk.                  (original recipe)  2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon of maple syrup ONLY if you're using unsweetened soy milk.  *I've made it successfully without any sweetener.
• 1 packet vegan yogurt culture (From Cultures for Health)

Instructions:

1.  Pour 1 1/2 cups of milk (straight from a room temperature tetra box) into a saucepan and start heating it.  Keep the temperature around medium.  You DO NOT WANT THE TEMPERATURE TO GO OVER 150-180 degrees.  

2.  Pour 1/2 cup of the room temperature milk into a measuring cup and whisk in 3-1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch until dissovled well. 

3.  Once the milk in the saucepan starts to steam a bit, whisk in the cornstarch mixture, and continue to heat and whisk until you start to get some thickening, similar to a light gravy or sauce.  I wait until it thickens like a pudding, with some little bubbles around the edges, but not a full boil!  Do not bring to a boil.  This is the longest part of the process.  Maybe 5-7 minutes.

4.  Remove the pan from the heat, whisk in the rest of the carton of milk (2 cups), and let the whole pan rest until the temp comes down to at least 110 degrees.  I usually wait until it's at 105 degrees, to be on the safe side. 

SPEED COOLING TIP (updated 11/06/13 & 1/11/14): 

METHOD 1: I now "speed cool" my saucepan of soymilk to quickly get it down to 105 degrees, by placing the saucepan into a bowl of cold water,  just high enough so the "hot" bottom can cool off. I keep it in the cold water only for a few minutes, & then let it finish cooling down on the counter.  Once the bottom of the saucepan has "speed cooled", it takes only about 5-7 minutes for the whole saucepan to reach about 105-110 degrees.

METHOD 2: I pour the UNHEATED 2 cups of remaining milk into the Cuisinart container.  When the cornstarch-thickened milk has reached the right consistency on the stove, pour it directly into the Cuisinart container with the unheated milk.  Whisk well.  This speed cools the milk.  Wait until the mixture cools to between 105-110 degrees before adding the culture.  (updated 1/11/14)

5. When the milk has cooled to 105-110 degrees, pour it into the yogurt-making container BEFORE you whisk in your starter (Vegan Yogurt culture from “Cultures for Health”).  This insures that ALL the culture makes it into the yogurt-maker.  Set the Cuisinart yogurt maker for 8 hours of fermentation.  It's a good idea to check how things are going at around 6 hours. 

6.  After the 8 hours, the Cuisinart starts chilling automatically (or after whatever number of hours you set for fermentation to last)   The chilling is an important part of the whole process.  Chill for 8-12 hours.  This can be done in the fridge, too, but, I let the Cuisinart chill for 8 hours & then I put the yogurt in the fridge. 

7.  It’s nice & thick (& gets thicker the longer it’s in the fridge).  Very creamy, & to me, it’s better tasting than WholeSoy& Co. But, that’s me. 

*You can also thicken the yogurt with agar or pectin.  But,  for now, I’m happy with the cornstarch.  For more information on thickening agents click here.  Also, note, the higher the fat in the milk, the thicker the yogurt.  

I know I have a lot more to learn, and more experiments to try out.  I really feel strangely empowered by making my own yogurt, & I'm intrigued by all the other fermentation possibilities available on "Culture for Health".

 

Good Luck!  Enjoy!  And Happy Yogurt-Making Everyone!

Please Report Your New Findings.  We're all now non-dairy yogurt scientists, sharing our data.  

I see a new journal that needs to be published:  The International Journal of Non-Dairy Yogurt-Making

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 

 

If you received this post via email or you're viewing it on a smartphone, click here, to get to the web version with all the links, the video & to leave a comment.  I LOVE & appreciate comments!!

 

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.

 

 

Ann Esselstyn on "How to Eat Plant-Perfect: What to Eat, Where to Buy It, How to Cook It"

Ann Esselstyn Speaking at a Hospital Employee Wellness Talk: "How to Eat Plant Perfect"
 

 

 The Esselstyns 

 

If you received this post via email, please click here to get to the web version so you can view the videos of Ann's talk, all the links, & photos. 

 

Oh, gee, it's been three weeks since I PROMISED to summarize Ann's talk.  Finally, coming through today, folks--here it is!

Isn't it Ironic that on January 14th, Tara Parker-Pope writes a column in the NYT on, "How to Go Vegan" , garnering almost 800 comments.  Tara, why didn't you talk to Ann, first?  She's got years of experience.

Then on January 15th,  Ann Esselstyn delivers an energizing talk & demo on "How to Eat Plant-Perfect: What to Eat, Where to Buy It, How to Cook It" to a standing-room crowd of hospital employees where I work.   Do you think plant-based is maybe, just maybe, moving a tiny bit closer to "oh, that's not sooo weird" & "it really does makes sense"?  

Ann is a high-energy, down-to-earth dynamo & this crowd of "mostly-new-to-the-plant-based-world" employees loved her!  She shared her Top Ten Plant-Perfect Rules, along with her most favorite foods--like who makes the best pizza crusts, pasta sauces, salad dressings, non-dairy milks, veg broths---& her go-to everyday breakfasts.  Ann's all about making it easy.   Not fancy schmancy.

Ann is the nuts-and-bolts member of the Esselstyn team.  She'll tell you how to shop, transform your pantry, & how to cook all these strange new foods.  Dr. Esselstyn, on the other hand, is armed with his clinical experience, statistics, angiograms, journal citations & science to explain how eating a diet of just vegetables, grains, beans, & fruit can prevent & reverse heart disease.  You can get a summary of Dr. E's explanation here.

Ann tells us how to do it!

 

How to Eat Plant Perfect.  The Ground Rules

 

1. Forget about replacing meat with "faux meat"

Avoid this:  Ann calls it Vegan Junk Food, and the freezer cases of our grocery stores are filled with faux chicken nuggets, barbecue ribs, fake sausage, hot dogs, & lunch meat.  Newbie vegans figure all they have to do is find plenty of plant-based meat substitutes.  "Forget about it," explains Ann.  Read the labels.  Most of those "faux meats" are filled with faux ingredients.  They're high in fat, contain ingredients of questionable benefit, like isolated soy protein, and they usually have too much sodium.  Just read the labels.

Consider instead: If you're looking for a quality plant-based burger, Ann recommends one made by a company in Columbus, Ohio, called Luna Burgers.  You'll recognize ALL the ingredients on their labels:  Spelt Berries, Black Beans, Oats, Onions, Carrots, Kale, Beets, Blueberries, Molasses, Garlic, Apple Cider Vinegar, Salt, Rosemary, Pepper.  I know.  Strange sounding ingredients for a burger--but, they're really good!  Not available everywhere in the US, however.

2. Forget about vegan cheese.  

Avoid this: Carefully read the labels.  Most vegan cheeses contain 2 ingredients you definitely want to avoid: casein, which is a milk protein, & oil.   

Consider instead:  Nutritional yeast.  Find it in the bulk food section of health food stores, or at most grocery stores, these days. Nutritional yeast is a "must-have" seasoning.  It looks like dry pale yellow flakes, but it imparts a subtle cheesy taste to sauces, tofu "ricotta", "mac 'n cheese", pestos, mashed potatoes, popcorn or as a topping, sprinkled on casseroles.  It is a bit of an acquired taste--but, an easy one to acquire.  It's an excellent butter substitute in mashed potatoes.

3.  Give yourself time for your taste buds to adapt & change

If you've eaten a typical American diet all your life, it's going to take time to adapt to the taste of no-oil cooking, new vegetables, less salt, less sugar, exotic spices, unusual beans & grains.  Never fear.  Our tastes change!  

When San'Dera Prude, the 30-something single mom, featured in the documentary Forks Over Knives, was invited to lunch at the Esselstyn's for the first time, she later told Ann she hated the food she was served.

San'Dera was used to fried foods, Kentucky Fried Chicken, a lot of salt, & she wasn't much of a fruit or vegetable fan. Months late, San'Dera realized that she needed to taste a new food at least THREE TIMES before she liked it. Don't make a judgement on your first taste of something new.

4.  What's the difference between Engine 2's Plant-Strong & Esselstyn's Plant-Perfect?

Nuts & avocados are included in the less stringent Engine 2 diet plan.  That's it.  Both plans emphasize: no oil; no meat, no poultry, no fish, no dairy or milk; and both advise a diet of whole grains, mostly unprocessed foods, lots of leafy greens, vegetables, fruits, beans, and legumes.  That's it!   Engine-2 was originally conceived by Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn's son, Rip Esselstyn for a younger population who didn't have heart disease--and wanted to avoid it.

 

 

Ann's Top Ten Plant Perfect Pointers

 

1.  No Oil, Ever.  

 It sounds hard, but it's really the easiest change to make. Here's what's problematic with olive oil.  

Sauteeing vegetables without oil:  Instead of oil, find a low or no sodium vegetable broth to saute with, like Kitchen Basics No Added Salt Vegetable broth.  Read labels. Avoid boullion cubes.  The first ingredient is usually salt, & the second ingredient is often palm oil.  

Sauteeing onions & mushrooms is easy, because they have a high water content.  First, preheat your pan on medium high heat.  Add the onions, mushrooms or celery.  Lower the heat to medium low, & cover the pan. Check on the vegetables about every 2 minutes, stir, add a little broth or water if they are starting to stick--and that will easily deglaze the pan.  In about 7 to 10 minutes you'll have beautiful golden & soft vegetables. Garlic has less liquid content, so you'll need to add more liquid when sauteeing garlic.

Baking without oil:  In place of oil, you can use mashed bananas, baby prunes (avoid Gerber Organic brand--it contain tuna oil. The "conventional" Gerber brand is fine! ), or apple sauce.

Salad Dressings without oil:  Ann's favorite dressing is made with a no-oil, no-tahini hummus, some balsamic vinegar, the juice of an orange, & mustard.  Often she dresses her salads with just a high quality flavored balsamic vinegar, like Olive Tap's.   They have every flavor imaginable, like: black currant, pear, chocolate (which is great on banana "ice cream" or drizzled on strawberries), or tangerine. 

 

2.  Eat Leafy Greens.  Many Servings.  Everyday.

 

Strip.  Ann's fridge & garden are perpetually stocked with kale & collards.  Even in the winter she's harvesting kale.  She calls kale, "Spinach with Heft" because it's so nutrient dense, hardy & "hearty".  To help kale cook evenly, she removes its thick stems by holding each leaf in her left hand, and starting at the stem's base, grabbing the stem with her fingers & sliding the leaf quickly off of the stem.  You can chop up the kale leaves, tear them apart--or not.  Place them in a pot of boiling water, cover, & it's done in 5-6 minutes.  Kale stems can be cut on the diagonal & sprinkled on salads, or thrown into soups.  Kale stems: almost like a brand new vegetable.

Massage.  To use raw kale in salads, you'll need to break down it's tought cellulose a bit by massaging it with your hands using a citrus juice, a non-oil dressing or even some hummus.  After massaging, add cherry tomatoes, some lemon zest & lemon juice, or even mango & lime juice to your salad.  An exotic delicious salad in minutes.  Here's a favorite raw kale salad of mine.

Ann's favorite kale:  Lacinato, the long deep dark puffy textured kale, also known as Tuscan or Dinosaur kale.

Use collard greens as a sandwich wrap, a burrito or for making sushi.  Ann fills large softened collard leaves (burrito-fashion) with steamed asparagus, red peppers, carrots, hummus, cilantro, & lemon slices.  Or she makes them into burritos filled with black beans, sweet potatoes, cilantro, & salsa.

Greens in your pasta.  Another genius Ann tip.  Throw cut up greens into a pot of boiling pasta water & let them soften as the pasta cooks--or throw a bunch into the pasta sauce as it heats.  An easy way of getting more greens into your life.

Remember, no oil, greens every day--in salads, soup, pasta, or sandwiches.  Lots of vegetables.

 

3.  Eat Oats (Oatmeal)

Raw, Cooked, Rolled, Steel-Cut, or Whole Oat Groats.   It doesn't matter how you eat them, just eat them everyday for breakfast.  Or whenever. 

Oats help to reduce cholesterol, reduce inflammation & the more you eat, the greater the results--because their benefits are dose-responsive.

Dr. Esselstyn eats his Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats raw, every night after dinner as a snack.  He adds 1 tablespoon of chia or flax meal (kept refrigerated) to them, along with bananas or berries, a crunchy cereal like Kashi, Ezekiel, Grape Nuts, or Shredded Wheat, and oat milk. 

Ann used to eat her rolled oats totally dry with halved red grapes, & maybe a squeeze of grapefruit juice. She wasn't a fan of cooked oatmeal. But, she's changed her tune, and she's now passionate about cooked steel-cut oats, made with a REALLY RIPE banana, 1 cup of water, & 1 teaspoon of vanilla.  When done cooking, she tops it with chia & blueberries.  No milk in her oatmeal.

Ann's Favorite Savory-Style Oats:  Yay!  She's a fan of my "Cheezy Savory Oats with Greens"   They're steel-cut oats that you could serve to company for dinner.

Dr. Esselstyn's Favorite Milk:  Oat milk

Ann's Favorite Milk:  Almond milk

Don't Forget One of These Important Oat Toppers:  Add a tablespoon or two of ground flax seed (flax meal) or chia seed to your daily oatmeal for a handy source of omega-3's.  Flax seeds need to be ground for your body to absorb their nutrients--and always keep them in the refrigerator for freshness.

The of variety of non-dairy milks is stunning.  Almond, Oat, Soy & Rice.  Sweetened, unsweetened, enriched, Vanilla, Chocolate, you name it.   Each come with there own benefits.  Some are better for cooking.  Some are better tasting.  Most are enriched with calcium & vitamin D, to match dairy milk.  Read the non-dairy milk labels carefully.  Avoid any that contain oil or ingredients that you don't want to consume.   Avoid coconut milk.

 

4.  Fill Your Life with Beans & Lentils

Ann's favorite bean is red lentils, because they cook quickly & dissolve into a thick creaminess which is perfect for soups & stews.  She even throws red lentils into pasta sauces.

Bean rule #1:  Look for cans or cartons with no-added salt.  Whole Foods 365 Brand & Eden Foods make no-salt beans.  Eden Foods packages them in no-BPA cans, & now 365 Brand packages their beans in tetra-boxes.

 

5.  Eat Whole Grains

Read all bread, tortilla, pasta & cereal labels CAREFULLY.  The first ingredient should include the word WHOLE, as in WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, not just wheat flour, or semolina flour.

Pizza crusts:  Ann sometimes uses whole wheat pita bread or lavash as a pizza crust.  But, her all-time favorite, & mine, is Sami's Millet & Flax crusts.  Unless you live in Florida, unfortunately, you'll have to order Sami's crusts from their main bakery in Tampa, FL.  To cut down on shipping costs, I order them with a group of four friends.  32 crusts at a time, 8 crusts for each of us, & we store them in our freezers.

 

 

Pizza & Pasta Sauce?

Ann recommends Walnut Acres Basil & Tomato.  It's one of the few prepared sauces that's made with no-oil & is low-sodium.  Look for it at health food stores, Giant Eagle, or order it through Amazon.   

Second best:  Muir Glenn's Portobello Mushroom Pasta Sauce.

Third best:  Trader Joe's No-Oil Marinara Sauce.  It's high in sodium.

Ann's tip for pizza sauce:  Mix chopped-up cooked kale into your pizza sauce to get extra greens. You won't even notice it in there.

 

 

A Delicious New Bread Discovery by Ann.  Almost dessert-like.

Manna Bread.   This is a sprouted, organic bread made with whole wheat kernels, carrots, & raisins.  Ann recommends toasting it for your "eating pleasure"--because it has a soft squishy texture.   I haven't tasted it yet, but Ann's got a loaf set aside for me in her freezer to be delivered the next time we meet up at the gym. Look for it at some Whole Foods.

 

 

 

6.  Drink Water

Don't drink your calories. No soda.  No diet drinks.  Don't juice.  Don't drink smoothies.  Better to chew your fruits & vegetables, & eat them whole, rather then blend them into a drink.  

 

7.  Limit Salt

The amount of salt that's added to processed, prepared, or restaurant foods is over-the-top.  Instead of salting your foods, Ann recommends a squeeze of lemon or lime juice, because they activate the same taste receptors on the tongue & trick our brains into not missing the salt.  Other brain-tricking options are using a dash of vinegar, hot sauce, sriracha or cholula sauce.

Ann tip:  Freeze lemons & limes whole & grate some onto whatever you're eating.  Vinegar takes the bitterness out of foods, so drizzle some onto greens or other strong-tasting vegetables.

 

8.  Limit Sugar

Bottom Line:  Keep sugary snacks & baked goods out of the house.  It's just too tempting, & as long as you keep the sweets around you'll keep your sugar addiction.  Just try eating one piece of chocolate or one cookie.  You know you'll be back for more.   

Ann tip:  Consider a Yonanas machine & make your own sugar-free "soft-serve ice cream" from frozen fruit & bananas.

 

9.  Avoid Coconut Milk or Coconut Oil

Coconut is everywhere these days, touted as a "healthy fat" mostly because of its creamy mouth-feel.  It's in non-dairy milks, ice creams, & yogurts.  Don't use it.  It's a highly saturated fat.  In just 1/4 cup of coconut milk (about 1 serving) you'll find 12 grams of fat--10 grams of which are saturated.  Even if it was found to be a healthy, unharmful fat--it's still a fat, that's loaded with calories of limited nutritional value.

A Handy Coconut Milk Substitute:  You can easily substitute the taste & creaminess of coconut milk in recipes by adding 1 teaspoon of high quality coconut extract, like Silver Cloud Estates, to one cup of non-dairy milk.  You'll need 1 1/2 teaspoons & 1 1/2 cups of milk for a typical can of coconut milk.

 

10.  Unsweetened Un-Dutched Cocoa Yes!  Dark Chocolate, No!

You get all the heart-healthy benefits of chocolate if you go right to the source:  COCOA.  In one small serving of dark chocolate you're eating 20 grams of fat, 12 of which are saturated.  It's just not necessary. You can enjoy non-fat unsweetened cocoa in so many ways.   Like these, for example:  "Anytime Valentine Chocolate Treats for Breakfast, Snacks, or Dessert - It's Just Beans, Oats, Chia, and Dates (and Stevia)"

 

The New Kitchen Gadget Ann Recently Discovered

 

 

Ann's daughter, Jane, recently gave her a Perfect Tortilla Cup set.  It's available at  Bed, Bath, & Beyond--so I hear.  "The best part",  Ann says, "is that the Engine 2 No-Oil Sprouted Grain & Gluten-Free Torillas fit perfectly into these molds & make "perfect tortilla bowls"  for salads."

 

I'm an unabashed Ann Fan!  She tells it like it is.  She's fit, strong, energetic & a role model for all of us who want to age with health & vitality.

 

 

 

Excerpts from Ann's Talk at the Lab Rat's Rotary Breakfast Meeting (8 minutes)

 

Ann, you'll be happy to know, the Rotarians were taking excellent notes.  Yesterday's newsletter had a full page summary of your talk!  

 

If You Don't See the Video, You Can Access It Here

 

Ann's Talk in Nova Scotia, Canada (36 minutes)

 

This video was part of a public lecture presented by Dr. and Ann Esselstyn while visiting Sydney NS Canada in January of 2013.

 

If You Don't See the Video, You Can Access It Here

 

 

An Ultramarathoner's Best Power-Packed Plant-Based Whole Grain & Seed Waffles or Pancakes

 

Whole-Grain & Seed Power Breakfast Waffles or Pancakes

 

 

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

On Saturday, Deb, an ultramarathoner and endurance athlete sent me the recipe for her favorite waffles & pancakes. 

I tried the recipe out immediately & we liked the waffles so much, that I made a second batch on Tuesday--working the kinks out of the recipe so I could share it with you.

The Lab Rat & I couldn't believe how delicious & filling these waffles were.  On Sunday, just one waffle kept me full & fueled for 5 hours & over 2 hours of exercise.  Had one for breakfast today with PB2 & berries--and I'm just getting hungry now--6 hours later.  That's something!

Thank you, Deb!

 

Here's what Deb emailed me:

 

My favorite breakfast!  

Features:

• Whole grains
• Whole foods
• Gluten-free
• Lots of flax
• Seed + Grain = Complete protein
• Spices, like cinnamon for improved insulin response
• Plant-based &  no chemical leavening
• No added-sugar

I ate one before a 25 mile mountainous trail run last weekend, and all i had later was a gel and a bite size snickers bar (yeah, i know, but it tasted good!) for the whole day...

Here's the recipe.......

 

The Breakfast with Big Benefits

 

For the many benefits of consuming oats & buckwheat groats click here.  Whole grains, protein, soluble & insoluble fiber, low-glycemic, gluten-free, steadies blood glucose, B-vitamins, increases nitric oxide production.  Need I say more?

Flax is fiber, lignans, & a fantastic source of plant-based omega-3's rolled into one package.  Read more about its benefits here.

As for pumpkin seeds, although I don't eat them regularly, they are loaded with nutrients.  Read more here.   Dr. Mladen Golubic, the Medical Director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Lifestyle Medicine rarely consumes nuts, but, pumpkin seeds are a different story for him.  They are a regular favorite snack of his, owing to their high nutrient-content.  Plus, pumpkin seeds are a snack he's eaten throughout his life.

 

Deb's Back Story

 

I first heard from Deb over 2 1/2 years ago--soon after she had started on the E2 version of a plant-based diet.  I figure that if a plant-based no-oil diet can fuel an endurance athlete--it certainly will work for mere mortals like us.  But, even with all those years of running Deb was never able to lose those extra pounds or belly fat until she switched to plant-based & no-oil.  That made an impression on me.  My exact same experience, too! 

 

Here are some bits & pieces of Deb's story:

"I am a 58  year old woman, and I have seen an amazing difference in the way I feel, and how I can train now. 

I was "mostly vegetarian" for a number of years, until switching to plant-based no-oil over 2 1/2 years ago.

However, even with running 50+ miles a week, and eating a healthy diet without a lot of processed foods, I could not lose weight or get rid of that blob around my middle!!  Looking back, I realize we ate refined flour in the form of pizza dough and in our "multi-grain" (but not whole grain) bread, and occasional crackers and bagels... and white rice.

Since switching to plant-based, my joint pain disappeared, other seemingly unrelated symptoms (dry eye, allergies, sinus problems, asthma and digestive issues) all went away!

  

I lost weight, about 20 pounds, got leaner, have more energy, I don't need as much sleep, I feel GREAT!

 

I am never hungry, I am able to keep training hard on this diet, and actually, am even running better than before (gotta be not lugging that extra weight around!) I love this way of eating!!

Of course, after only a short time on this eating plan, all of my numbers also dropped - cholesterol was 156 after only a week and a half, down from the 180's, and is probably lower now... blood sugar down, blood pressure healthier.. all good stuff!

And how many almost 60 year old women do you know who can regularly run 30+ miles, and race at distances of 50-100 miles?   I have gotten my hubby, also an ultramarathoner, off of almost all animal products, but with a great increase in good plant based foods... he even eats kale!

Even at my age, there are markedly positive results from changing to a healthier way of eating.  And maybe that's worth sharing - "it's never too late" sort of thing...

 

Waffles for a Week - If You Can Eat Just One at a Time

 

 

 Nine Golden-Brown Slightly Sweet Waffles for the Week

 

 

 

Peanut Butter (PB2) & Blueberry Waffles for a Protein Boost

  

 

 

Deb's Power-Packed Plant-Based Blueberry Waffles

 

 

I hope this waffle recipe will soon be your fave, too.

The recipe makes 9 medium size delicious-hearty-slightly-sweet waffles that can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer to eat throughout the week.  They're perfect plain, with maple syrup, topped with blueberries, or even spread with 2 tablespoons of PB2  & blueberries.  

What's PB2?  It's defatted peanut flour (1.5 grams of fat per 2 tablespoons) that reconstitutes into a creamy "peanut butter" with just 2 tablespoons of water.  It's now available at Whole Foods & even my local grocery store. You can order a pound or more at a time through the company's website.  That's how we do it.

Without a topping, these make a very portable take-with power snack.

 

 

Power-Packed Plant-Based Whole-Grain & Seed Waffles/Pancakes

 

Makes 9 waffles=1/2 cup of batter

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

 

Ingredients:  

• 1 cup of oats (rolled oats or steel-cut)  I've used both. Rolled oats might grind more easily.
• 1 cup raw buckwheat groats  (buy in bulk at Whole Foods or Nuts.com We buy 10 lbs at a time)
• 1/2 cup ground flax seeds/flax meal
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds  (I use pumpkin seeds!)
• 1/4 cup raisins or currants
• 1 very ripe medium to large speckled banana
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• Optional spices include: pumpkin pie, allspice, ginger, cloves, vanilla to taste
• 3 cups of unsweetened almond milk--or your favorite non-dairy milk.  Water can also be used--although I've only made this with milk.

 

Preparation:

1. Before you start, soak the 1/4 cup of raisins in about 1 cup of the milk needed for the recipe.  

2. SEPARATELY grind each of the grains & seeds in a power blender, like a VitaMix.  Emptying the contents into a large bowl after each one is ground.  Works beautifully--& this won't clog up your blender.  DO NOT try to grind everything together at the same time.  DO NOT GRIND or blend the raisins in anything--except the milk.

I'm sure a food processor will also work, but, I haven't tested that out.

NOTE:  Raisins or currants are too gooey & must be blended separately with the milk, or they'll get stuck around the blades.  Because the pumpkin seeds have fat in them, they don't grind up as "cleanly" as do the grains.

3.  Pour the remaining milk--2 cups--into an empty blender, along with the raisins & their 1 cup of soaking milk & the banana.  Add the cinnamon & nutmeg & mix until well-blended.

4.  Pour the milk into the bowl with all the ground up grains & seeds & mix until just smooth with a whisk or a mixer on slow speed.

5.  Preheat your waffle iron or griddle, if you're making pancakes.  I have a non-stick waffle iron, but I still had to spray it with Spectrum's high-heat canola spray before each waffle, or they stuck.  The trick for me was figuring how long each waffle took to cook & not opening the waffle iron until then.  Using 1/2 cup of batter, each waffle took 4 minutes to be done.  Larger waffles will take longer.  NOTE: I hear that pancakes brown up perfectly, without oil or spray, with a Scanpan.  I'm seriously ready to purchase their Classic 12 1/2 inch non-stick fry pan. 

6.  USE 1/2 cup of batter per waffle in order to make 9 waffles.

7.  Store extras in the refrigerator or freeze them.  Heat them up in a toaster oven for crispness.  Top with thawed wild blueberries or a fruit of your choice.  The Lab Rat insists on maple syrup.   I skip the syrup. For an extra 5 gram protein boost (45 calories), spread with 2 tablespoons of PB2.

 

Nutrition Facts based on making 9 waffles from this recipe.  

1/2 cup of batter per waffle or pancake. 

 

 

 

Welcome Back to Breakfast, "Cheezy" Oatmeal with Greens. Out with the Sweet! It's Time for Sophisticated & Savory for 2013!

 

I'm Bringing Back My "Cheezy" Steel-Cut Oats with Greens in 2013

 

"I adore savory breakfasts.

In the old days I loved bacon and eggs sometimes even with potatoes.

But the arteries and the waistline just won't take it anymore.

I loved the breakfasts I had in Japan and cannot recommend miso soup too highly. The first time I tasted it I had to have two refills. Yum! 
 

Loved Scandinavian breakfasts as well, but can't have the meat and cheese anymore.

Same with Turkish breakfasts, but they always have lettuce tomato and cucumber the above. Very nice.
 

Here is my current favorite breakfast. Absolutely delicious and good for the arteries.  Great science based health blog too, I might add: Happy Healthy Long Life" 

-Posted on Mark Bittman's column, "Savory Breakfast Department,"  by Elephant Lover, New Mexico, February 9, 2011-

 

 

I admit it.

For most of 2012 I neglected this crazy delicious savory nutrient-powerhouse of a breakfast.  

You know me by now.  

I'm always trying something new--and I just got totally hooked on my chocolate oatmeal with raw buckwheat groats & berries for breakfast.  It was like eating a dessert.  I couldn't give it up.  Just never tired of it--and completely ignored my old breakfast friend, "Cheezy Oats with Greens".

That is, until yesterday.  My birthday, and the second day of the New Year--2013.

Wow, is all I can say!  I'm bringing it back for 2013.  Big time.

I highly recommend you give it a try, too.  Almost everyone I know who has tried it has loved its hearty sophisticated taste.  Except kids, of course.

Who says breakfast oatmeal ought to be sweet?  Savory really does kick it up a notch & it's the perfect foil for morning greens.

 

Here's what I posted on Facebook yesterday:

 

Oh, baby! I started the New Year & my birthday off right with the BREAKFAST of CHAMPIONS! "Not Your Mother's Oatmeal! A Mega-Nitric Oxide Antioxidant Boosting Breakfast for Champions: The Healthy Librarian's Savory "Cheezy" Oatmeal with Shiitake Mushrooms, Sundried Tomatoes & Kale.

This is beyond belief delicious--like an amazing spicy risotto. Usually, I make this with spinach--but, today it was kale. I also used vegetable broth instead of the water & sun dried cherry tomatoes from our garden. 

 

 

 

The Healthy Librarian's Savory "Cheezy" Breakfast Oatmeal with Shiitake Mushrooms, Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Spinach

 

"Eat salad at as many meals as possible, even breakfast!"

-Ann Esselstyn, in "Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease"-

 

Anthony Yen, one of Dr. Esselstyn's original patients.  Here, at age 81, at a Whole Foods/Engine 2 event, May 2010

 

"Cheezy" oats for breakfast?  Have I really gone off the deep end?  Probably--but let me explain how I got this crazy notion.

About four weeks ago, I ran into Dr. Esselstyn at the gym.  He was headed in to go swimming--I was heading out to get to work.  We had a mile-a-minute discussion about walnuts, nitric oxide, greens, alpha-carotenes & oatmeal.   He told me how much he liked my post about that little-known antioxidant in oats--avenanthramide--and its beneficial effect on our blood vessels .

Turns out, according to Dr. Mohsen Meydani, the "oat expert" at the USDA-Agricultural Research Vascular Biology Lab at Tufts University,  oats help prevent atherosclerosis by increasing artery-saving nitric oxide production in the endothelium or lining of our arteries. That's the "magic gas" that keeps the arteries relaxed and dilated.  And it's a dose-response--the more avenanthramides you eat, the greater the nitric oxide production.  The dose-response thing--that's the part of my post that really grabbed Dr. Esselstyn's attention.  More oats=more nitric oxide!

To read the whole post about Oatmeal: The Breakfast of Champions click here. 

 

The two new take-aways I learned in our morning conversation:

• Esselstyn noticed that his own cholesterol decreased about 8-10% when he started eating oatmeal after dinner, as a kind of dessert--and he always uses oat milk with his oats.  As crazy as it sounds, oat milk is really delicious, and it's a staple in our pantry.

• Ideally, we should aim to include greens in our diet about 6 times a day--to get a regular nitric-oxide boost!  And it looks like oats are a pretty good stand for greens in the nitric oxide boosting-department. 

Here's why the Mayo Clinic says nitric oxide is important for the brain. 

Here's why it's important for the heart. 

 

I hadn't known about the 6 times a day recommendation for greens.  So let's see how it can play out:

1. Morning oatmeal--topped with oatmilk  (Here's where my new recipe comes in!)
2. Mid-morning green smoothie snack
3. Lunch time salad &/or meal that includes greens, like a sandwich stuffed with romaine or cilantro
4. Mid-afternoon green smoothie snack
5. Dinner side salad
6. Main meal that includes greens, like a casserole, soup, a side dish--or adding greens to pasta or pizza
7. **If you miss one of your six servings, there's always some after-dinner oatmeal for dessert or Mexican hot cocoa made with oat milk (click here for the cocoa recipe)
8. Note:  Esselstyn isn't a big green smoothie fan--too much fruit--and no chewing.   I'm a big fan. 

 

What Does Anthony Yen Have to Do with My "Cheezy" Oatmeal?

 

Well, Anthony always includes vegetables in his daily oatmeal breakfast!  He adds about 3 handfuls of spinach or 2 cups of frozen mixed vegetables and some low-sodium tamari to his morning oats.  Don't think so?  Not for me?  That's what I thought at first, too.  I was wrong!

Anthony was one of Dr. Esselstyn's early patients.  He had a massive cardiac event on New Year's Eve 1987, followed by a quintuple bypass surgery that left him feeling immobilized, depressed, and hopeless.

 

Anthony said, "I blamed myself for what I had done to myself.  I wanted to know what caused my disease, and how do I stop it."  When Anthony told his cardiologist that he wanted to see Dr. Esselstyn, the cardiologist said,  "Esselstyn is not a cardiologist.  If you go to him, don't come back to see me."

Anthony was furious.  "I wanted to get to the cause, and the doctor was so negative.  So I fired the cardiologist, and went to Dr. Esselstyn on my own."  As Anthony's wife Joseanne explains,  "He had no hope.  He was willing to do anything."  pg. 24-25, Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease.

 

Anthony's story really came to life for me when I heard him tell it on a preview DVD of Forks Over Knives I saw last spring.  His personal experience is both compelling and convincing.   Soon after I viewed the DVD, I got to meet him when Rip Esselstyn came to town for a local roll-out of the national Whole Foods' Health Starts Here program.  Read all about Whole Foods' down-right-revolutionary approach to a healthy diet-- here.

Is this distinguished gentleman who's brimming with health & vitality really over 80 years old?  Was he really once overweight with severe heart disease?   He and his wife Joseanne have been eating no-oil &  plant-based for 24 years now, and his picture (above) says it all.  He's also fantastic in Forks Over Knives!

 

 

At the Whole Food s Healthy Start Roll-Out in May 2010.  That's me BEFORE I Cut Out Oil, Nuts, Chocolate & Avocados--and lost weight!

 

 

My "Cheezy" Savory Breakfast Oatmeal with Shiitake Mushrooms, Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Spinach

 

 

 In the Pot, Ready to Cook - Doesn't Look a Thing Like My Fave Pumpkin Oatmeal

 

Anthony & Dr. Esselstyn were my inspiration to find an easy tasty savory breakfast oatmeal with greens.  Today, I finally tried out a recipe, and I was happily surprised at the results. Actually, I thought it was fabulous--but that's me.  Try it, and let me know what you think.

I'm also looking forward to hearing your suggestions for some other knock-your-socks-off savory seasonings.  I'm throwing out the challenge!  Greens for Breakfast!  A call for recipes.

Honestly, it's kinda of like eating a savory frittata.  Oooh--maybe some leftover potatoes, roasted red peppers, or even jalapenos for add-ins.  But it's got to be something quick. 

 

Makes 4 servings.  Cooking Time: maybe 15 minutes??  Click here for the recipe on one page

 

My recipe is a variation of "You're So Cheezy" Savoury Oats, from Oh, She Glows.

 

Ingredients:

1 cup of steel cut oats

2 cups of water  (you could substitute 1 or 2 cups of vegetable broth for the water)

1 cup of non-dairy milk.  I used Eden-brand enriched soy milk

2 TBS. nutritional yeast  (this is what gives it the "cheezy taste")  It's high in B vitamins--click here

1/4 teaspoon or more of turmeric (this gets it nice & yellow)

1 1/2 tsp. of Bone Suckin' Sauce Seasoning & Rub  (This has brown sugar, chili pepper, paprika, garlic, onion, & bell pepper)  Could sub any Cajun or Southwest Seasoning you like)

a few grinds of fresh black pepper

a pinch or two of chipotle powder (optional--I like it spicy & use 1/4 teaspoon)

1 oz. of julienned sun-dried tomatoes (I love the brand called California Sun-Dried because they're already julienned, they're nice & soft & need no soaking.)

About a handful (5) dried shiitake mushrooms, broken into pieces & rinsed.   Use any dried mushrooms you like.

2 1/2 ounces of fresh baby spinach, rinsed per serving of oatmeal!!  I make enough oatmeal for 4 servings & each serving will need to be topped with 2.5 ounces of spinach.  (You can substitute kale or any other green, too.  Kale just takes longer to soften up)

 

1.  Mix the oats,  water, milk (or veggie broth), seasonings, tomatoes, & mushrooms into a pot.

2.  Heat to boiling.  Watch carefully, and turn it down to a simmer once it starts to boil.  Stir occasionally, and check back in about 10 minutes.  You'll want the water absorbed, and the oats nice & creamy.

3.  When the oats are done, microwave one serving of spinach briefly, until it's soft, but not mushy.  Depending upon your microwave this could take anywhere from 30 seconds to 2 minutes. 

4.  Top one serving of oatmeal with the softened spinach & mix.  Enjoy!

5.  Store the rest of the oatmeal (3 servings) in the fridge, and in the morning heat up 1 serving topped with the spinach in the microwave.

Check out this powerhouse of a breakfast!   A double dose of nitric oxide boosting power from oats & spinach!  Crazy how much nutrition is one breakfast bowl!

 

 

Nutrition Facts Healthy Librarian's Savory "Cheezy" Oats with Greens
Serving Size: 1 serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories	245
Total Fat	3.5g
Saturated Fat	0.6g
Trans Fat	0g
Cholesterol	0mg
Sodium	194mg
Carbohydrate	50.9g
Dietary Fiber	18.1g
Sugars	6.6g
Protein	12.8g
Vitamin A 141% Vitamin C 53% Calcium    17% Iron 62%

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 If you received this post via email, click here to get to the web version, in order to see the videos & links.

 

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

 

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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.

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 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! 

 

 

Raw Power-Packed Pumpkin Pie Buckwheat Breakfast, Creamy Chipotle Topping, Blueberry Peach Cobbler and This Week's Three Favorite Medical/Diet Links

Raw Pumpkin Pie Buckwheat Breakfast Pudding - Four Hours of Fullness

 

If you received this post via email, click here, for the web version, with the links, photos, & to share a comment.

This month just got even busier.

On Friday, the Lab Rat & I leave for the Farms2Forks Hudson, New York weekend at the Esselstyn Family Farm.  

Can't wait!  I plan to take careful notes, and plenty of pictures.   If you're going to be there, please find me, & say hello!

The next weekend we're headed to Chautauqua, New York for a relaxing weekend at our friends' 1950's lakeside cottage.  We're all long-time college friends (except for 2 johnny-come-lately's--just kidding M & R--from Go Blue U of M) who coincidently are all celebrating their 40th wedding anniversaries this year.  

It's so interesting that my always-present struggle for balance never seems to change.  Check out my Chautauqua visit post two years ago.   I guess I'm just a work in progress.

View from the Chautauqua Cottage

 

And then, on to a "much looked forward to" Labor Day Wedding Weekend in a charming college town. We're staying at the historic haunted inn.  Hope I get to see a ghost.

Lots of celebrating, schmoozing, dancing, and both the rehearsal dinner & wedding reception will have vegan options.  Amazing, huh?  My friends are the best!

 

Before the Recipes - Three Links I Don't Want You to Miss

 

 

The Unmentionable Link Between Belt Size, Belly Fat, and Sexual & Urinary Problems in Men Over 40

 

 

Hey, guys, this one's for you.

Take a careful look at the table--the one above, I mean--and what happens as belt size increases.

As a Man's Belt Size Increases, So Does His Risk of Sexual and Urinary Dysfunction.

After age 40, if your waist size is over 39.37 inches, bad things can start to happen.

Read the Press Release Here

The article was just published in BJU International 110(4):540-545, August 2012,  Lee, RJ et al "Central Obesiity as measured by waist circumference is predictive of severity of lower urinary tract symptoms"  Article abstract here

 

 

"As a man's waistline grows, so can his experience with sexual dysfunction and frequent urination, say researchers at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

'We have to think of the body in a much more holistic way. What we eat can have devastating consequences on more than just our hearts,' Dr. Kaplan says. 'Quality of life issues, such as sexual and voiding health, can be affected as well in drastic ways.'

The study, published in the August issue of the British Journal of Urology International (BJUI), is the first to comprehensively show that obesity in men affects not just their hearts and metabolism, but also their sexual and urinary health."

The GOOD NEWS: Additional findings conducted since this study was completed show that eliminating just 2.5 inches from the belly's circumference may lead to measurable improvement in sexual dysfunction and frequent urination, says Dr. Stephen Kaplan.

 

This really isn't hot-off-the-press news.  Click here & here for the old news.

 

One Skeptical Thirty-Something's Plant-Based Experiment

 

I posted this link on Facebook last week & it received an enthusiastic response.

Just in case you missed it....

My kids know JJ & his wife, so this success story has even more significance for me.

Here's a fit young man (around the age of my kids) who had been on statins (for very good reasons) since his twenties.

Now he's not.  

JJ's wife wrote last week:

"My husband has been plant-based (dietary vegan) for a year.

It started as an experiment to see whether eating this way would have a positive impact on his cholesterol.  He thought he could improve his lipids by increasing his running.  That strategy didn't work. 

He blogged about his experience today and I thought you might be interested in reading his story.

As a side-note, it has been eye opening for us to see how becoming plant-based has changed our view of the world in a positive way. We think more about our animals, our environment and our future. All great side effects that pharmaceuticals could never offer."

Don't miss JJ's brief, but motivating post here.

 

 

Dr. Gabe Mirkin Talks Type-2 DIabetes

So, What About about Type-2 Diabetics Who are Thin?

I'm a big fan of Dr. Gabe Mirkin's.  His weekly newletter is a must-read.   Mirkin has a wonderful way of making medical research & concepts easy to understand.

 

This week he did an excellent job of explaining  a very curious study published last week in JAMA that counter-intuitively found patients who were of normal weight at the time of their type-2 diabetes diagnosis (about 12% of those diagnosed) were at a greater risk of mortality, than those who were overweight or obese at time of diagnosis.  Hmm.  Curious, right?

Obesity Does Not Protect Diabetics

(From Dr. Gabe Mirkin's August 12, 2012 Newsletter)

"This week, a study showed that people who have normal weight at the time of their diagnosis of diabetes are twice as likely to die over the next 10 to 30 years as those who are overweight at the time of diagnosis (Journal of the American Medical Association. August 8, 2012).

THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT OBESITY PROTECTS DIABETICS FROM DEATH. It means that if you are thin when you develop diabetes, you have a type of diabetes that is more likely to kill you.

THE MOST COMMON CAUSE OF DIABETES:

• Type II diabetes is most commonly caused by inability of your cells to respond to insulin. When blood sugar levels rise too high, your pancreas releases large amounts of insulin. Insulin then attaches on insulin receptors, special hooks on the outer membranes of cells. Then it drives sugar into cells.
• ANYTHING THAT PREVENTS INSULIN FROM ATTACHING TO ITS RECEPTORS CAN CAUSE DIABETES.
• If insulin cannot attach to its receptors, it cannot drive sugar into cells. This causes blood sugar levels to rise too high, and sugar attaches to the outer membranes of cells. Sugar attached to cell membranes is eventually converted to sorbitol which destroys the cells. This cell destruction is what causes all of the known side effects of diabetes.
• FULL FAT CELLS BLOCK INSULIN RECEPTORS. Fat inside cells prevents insulin from attaching to its receptors, so having extra fat in your body causes diabetes.

STORING FAT PRIMARILY IN YOUR BELLY IS A SIGN OF DIABETES

• Insulin causes fat to be stored in the belly, so almost all people with big bellies and small buttocks have high insulin levels because their cells cannot respond to insulin, and the pancreas responds by producing excessive amounts of insulin.
• Most people who store a lot of fat in their bellies and have small buttocks already have diabetes or are pre-diabetic.

LACK OF MUSCLES CAN CAUSE DIABETES

• Muscles help to prevent blood sugar levels from rising too high and damaging the cells in your body. Resting muscles are inactive and draw no sugar from the bloodstream. On the other hand, contracting muscles actively remove sugar from the bloodstream and don't even need insulin to do this.

WHY ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE FAT WHEN THEY ARE DIAGNOSED EASY TO CURE?

• Virtually all people who are fat when they develop diabetes can cure their diabetes by losing weight.
• When they empty their muscle, liver and fat cells of fat, these cells can once again respond to insulin. Blood sugar levels drop and the person is no longer diabetic.

WHY ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT FAT WHEN THEY ARE DIAGNOSED WITH DIABETES MORE DIFFICULT TO CURE?

• More than 90 percent of diabetics are overweight. Thin people who develop diabetes do not have full fat cells.
• They are diabetic because their pancreas does not make enough insulin. We have drugs to make the pancreas put out more insulin, but we do not have drugs to permanently make the pancreas produce normal amounts of insulin.
• Their muscles are so small that they do not remove sugar from the bloodstream adequately.
• Lifting weights would help, but growing large muscles is beyond the motivation of most people with small muscles. It takes a lot of consistent painful resistance exercise to grow larger muscles.
• They may have other hormone abnormalities that are far more difficult to treat.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOU ARE DIAGNOSED WITH DIABETES, STORE FAT PRIMARILY IN YOUR BELLY, HAVE A VERY SMALL BUTTOCKS, HAVE A FASTING BLOOD SUGAR LEVEL ABOVE 100, OR HAVE AN HBA1C ABOVE 5.7?

• Immediately try to lose fat by eating less and exercising more
• Start a supervised exercise program and try to exercise every day
• Start a supervised weight lifting program to grow larger muscles
• Avoid all sugared drinks except when you exercise
• Avoid all sugar-added foods
• Avoid red meat (saturated fat from animals blocks insulin receptors)
• Eat large amounts of vegetables and fruits 
• Get your blood levels of hydroxy-vitamin D above 75 nmol/L"

 

Let the Recipes Begin

 

I promised to share these three recent recipes that I love, today, while I have a little free time!

So, dear readers, here you go.

I may not have much time to post anything until after Labor Day, so it's now or never.

 

• Raw Power-Packed Pumpkin Pie Buckwheat Breakfast Pudding.  This one is a no-maple-syrup riff off of "Oh She Glows"  Carrot Cake Buckwheat Porridge, which is fabulous, BTW!   Angela is an amazing recipe developer, & I never would have considering eating raw buckwheat for breakfast if not for her.  Oh She Glows, Rocks!!
• Creamy Chipotle Sauce/Dressing - Two versions.  A cashew more caloric/fat version & a creamy chia low-fat version.  The credit for this one goes to Son #1.  It's his creation.
• No-Sugar No-Fat Blueberry Peach Oat Cobbler.  Just my tiny tweaks to Cathy Fisher's AMAZING Straight Up Food Recipe.  Thank you, Cathy!  

 

 Power-Packed Raw Pumpkin Buckwheat Breakfast Pudding

 

Buckwheat Breakfast Bliss Made in a Blender - Enough for Five Days

 

What Raw Buckwheat Groats Look Like After an Overnight Soaking

 

Looking for a change to your breakfast routine?

Want to expand beyond everyday oatmeal?  

Not that there's anything wrong with oatmeal.

Give raw buckwheat groats a try.

This is so easy to make, loaded with nutrition & taste, and this recipe makes enough to last for five days.

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.

As if that's not enough--the pumpkin in this pudding gives you a mega-high dose of beta-carotene, along with chia for an antioxidant & omega-3 booster shot.

Definitely, one delicious, power-packed breakfast.

Just one serving of my pumpkin buckwheat pudding will give you over 180% of your daily requirement for vitamin A, in the form of alpha and beta carotene.  Pumpkin, and other deep orange winter squashes are about as good as it gets in the carotene department.

Need a powerful incentive to load up daily on alpha-carotene?  Check out this article in the November 22, 2010 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, "Serum Alpha-Carotene Concentrations and Risk of Death Among US Adults"

"[O]ur findings, based on data from a large representative sample of US adults, showed that serum alpha-carotene concentrations were inversely associated with the risk of death from all causes, and death from cardiovascular diseases and cancer.  These findings support increasing fruit and vegetable consumption as a means of preventing premature death."

 

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

Servings:  5 one cup servings.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups 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   Note: soak overnight in 4 to 5 cups of water, or for 1 hour, minimum.
• 1-1/4 cup of non-dairy milk.  I prefer Eden Extra Plain Soymilk because of its protein, vitamin, & mineral content
• 3 tablespoons of chia seeds
• 1 ripe (speckled) banana
• 2-3 pitted dates  (can add 1-2 packets of stevia if you want a sweeter pudding)
• 1-15 ounce can of 100% Pumpkin (like Libby's)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
• raisins & toasted walnuts to sprinkle on top of individual servings.

 

Preparation:

1.  Add the raw groats to large bowl, & soak in 4-5 cups of water.  I let them soak overnight, but they need to soak for 1 hour, minimum.  Overnight soaking is easy.

2.  After soaking, rinse well a couple of times to remove the gelatinous coating.  

3.  The original 2 cups of soaked groats expand to 4 cups.  Reserve 1 cup to add back to the final pudding at the end.

4.  Add the rinsed groats, minus the reserved cup, the "milk", the chia, the pumpkin, the banana, the dates, the vanilla, the cinnamon, and the nutmeg to a blender or processor. I use a VitaMix.  Blend well.

5.  Taste, add a little stevia is you want a sweeter taste.

6.  Pour everything into a large bowl, then mix in the reserved cup of whole groats.  This gives it a nice nutty crunchy taste & texture without the calories of nuts.

7.  Garnish 1 cup servings with a few raisins & toasted walnuts.

8.  Refrigerate the leftovers & enjoy 5 days of buckwheat breakfast pudding.

 

The nutriton info is based on a one-cup serving

Check out the protein, fiber, iron, & vitamin A content.  Oh, baby!

Nutrition Facts The Healthy Librarian's Pumpkin Pie Raw Buckwheat Pudding
Serving Size: 1 serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories	366
Total Fat	5.1g
Saturated Fat	0.3g
Trans Fat	0g
Cholesterol	0mg
Sodium	29mg
Carbohydrate	73.9g
Dietary Fiber	13.6g
Sugars	14.8g
Protein	14.7g
Vitamin A 188% Vitamin C 5% Calcium    7% Iron 15%

 

 

"Knock Your Socks Off" Creamy Chipotle Topping - Two Ways - Creamy Cashew or Creamy "Nut-Free" Chia

 

 

 Creamy Chipotle Topping Made with 1/2 Cup of Cashews

Chipotle Topping Face-Off: Creamy Chia Chipotle Topping on the Bottom, Creamy Cashew Chipotle on the Top

 Creamy Chia Chipotle on the Left - Creamy Cashew Chipotle on the Right

 

 The Secret Ingredients to Creamy Chipotle Chia Topping - Blends in a Flash

 

To get the chipotle topping recipes on one page, click here. 

We set up a fabulous taco bar one night during our family beach vacation in July.

Son #1 put me in charge of whipping up a creamy chipotle dressing.  I followed his directions & used his made-up-in-his-head-off-the-cuff recipe.  He makes this a lot in his own home.

Trust me, this topping can make a mediocre dish into a spectacular one.

Use it as a topping for tacos, enchiladas, burgers, or salads.

I brought it into work for a taste test, & everyone went wild over it.  Swooned.  Wanted the recipe.  It's so yummy.

Here's Son #1's very simple recipe: 

Creamy Chipotle Cashew Topping

Serves 8 - 1 tablespoon servings

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of raw cashews soaked in 1/2 cup of water for at least an hour.  Longer is fine.
• 3-4 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 coarsely chopped garlic cloves, less to taste
• 1/2 to 1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce.  Sizes vary, so go slowly--you can always add more
• a few grains of coarse sea salt to taste

Preparation:

1.  Soak the raw cashews for at least one hour in 1/2 cup of water

2.  Into a power blender (VitaMix works best) add the cashews AND the soaking water, the garlic, the lime juice, & the chipotle.

3.  Blend well until the cashews are a creamy, silky consistency.  Check for taste.  Add more chipotle, if you like.

4.  Add a few grains of salt to taste.

 

Nutrition Facts for a 1 tablespoon serving

Nutrition Facts The Healthy Librarian's Creamy Chipotle Cashew Topping Serving Size: 1 serving Amount Per Serving Calories 46 Total Fat 3.3g       Saturated Fat 0.8g       Trans Fat 0g Cholesterol 0mg Sodium 18mg Carbohydrate 3.1g       Dietary Fiber 0.4g       Sugars 0.6g Protein 1.3g Vitamin A 1% Vitamin C 4% Calcium    1% Iron 2%

 

Creamy Chipotle Chia (no-nut) Topping

OK.  I know a lot of you don't eat nuts, especially not cashews.

I figured I could come up with a close substitute for the cashew dressing with soymilk & chia.

It's quite good, and very close to the taste of the cashew topping.  It works.  But, I've got to be honest.

If I had to choose between the two, the cashew dressing would take the gold medal in this contest.

BTW, the secret ingredient to the chia topping is a teaspoon of agave.  Turns out, cashews have a natural sweetness that is missing in the chia version.  Agave came to the rescue.

 

Serves 8 - 1 tablespoon servings

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of Eden Extra Plain Soymilk (richer than other non-dairy milks)
• 3  tablespoons of freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 coarsely chopped garlic cloves, less to taste
• 1/2 to 1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce.  Sizes vary, so go slow--you can always add more
• 3 tablespoons of white chia (I like the Salba brand)
• 1 teaspoon of agave (more to taste, if needed)
• a few grains of coarse sea salt

Preparation:

1.  Add all the ingredients into a power blender (I use a VitaMix), adding the chia seed just before you're ready to turn the blender on.

2.  Blend well, until the consistency is smooth & silky.

3.  Taste, & add extra chipotle, salt, or agave to your own taste.

 

Nutrition Facts for a 1 tablespoon serving - Less fat & calories than the cashew version

Nutrition Facts Healthy Librarian's Creamy Chipotle Chia Topping Serving Size: 1 serving Amount Per Serving Calories 26 Total Fat 1g       Saturated Fat 0.1g       Trans Fat 0g Cholesterol 0mg Sodium 7mg Carbohydrate 3.2g       Dietary Fiber 0.8g       Sugars 1.2g Protein 1.2g Vitamin A 2% Vitamin C 4% Calcium    1% Iron 1%

 

 

 

 My Successful Second Try at Straight-Up Foods Cobbler

Blueberry Peach Oatmeal Cobbler

 

 

 

 My Second Attempt at Cathy's Cobbler was a Big Success

 

 Blueberry Peach Cobbler Goes to Work for a Taste Taste and It's a Big Success!

My First Attempt with Oat Flour & Blackberries - Not Bad, But Not Great

 

I love this recipe.

I love Cathy Fisher's Straight Up Foods Blog.

But, my first attempt at the recipe was a disappointment.  Just look at the difference from Try #1 to Try #2.  

What did I do wrong?

Mistake #1:  Well, I took the lazy girl's way out & used oat flour instead of grinding my own in my food processor.  

Big mistake.  The processor grind was coarser, a much better texture for the cobbler.  I also, used a little less of the "home-ground" flour in the topping, & added back in some rolled oats for some more texture.

Mistake #2:  I should have used the date soaking water, instead of plain water in the "fruit sauce".  It made it sweeter.

Mistake #3:  Now this one's personal preference, but I now know that I'm not a fan of allspice in cobblers. I'm more of a cinnamon & nutmeg girl!

Mistake #4:  The blackberries around here are sour & not very good-tasting. And they're super expensive! On my second go-round I used sweet frozen blueberries, & I upped the amount of peaches to 2 cups.  I also made darn sure that the peaches were nice & sweet & ripe.

Big difference!!

I brought samples to work for taste-tasting.  Gotta check it out with the experts, first.  The reviews were excellent. 

"Does this really not have any sugar or butter in it?  It tastes just like the one I make with butter & sugar."

"Not too sweet--just right."

They gobbled everything up & returned the empty container to me.

This is an awesome template for any fruit cobbler.  Apple, Cherry, Blueberry or Plum.  Thank you, Cathy!

 

This is adapted from Cathy Fisher's original recipe:

 

Blueberry Peach Oat Cobbler

Serves  8

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

Cook's Notes:  Read through the entire recipe before getting started!  It seems kind of fussy, but, it's really  very easy.  It helps to read it through, first.  And it's even easier the second time around.

 

Fruit Ingredients:

2 cups of pitted & sliced ripe, sweet, fresh peaches  (could be 2-4 peaches depending upon the size)

2 cups of sweet blueberries (I used frozen)

 

Fruit sauce ingredients:

3 plump medjool dates, pitted, chopped & soaked in enough water to cover, for about 30 minutes.  Reserve the soaking water when you drain the dates.

2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup of reserved date soaking water (Note: you can supplement with the date soaking water from the topping)

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/4 cup of "oat flour" made from processing rolled oats

 

Topping ingredients:

1-1/2 cups of "oat flour" made from processing rolled oats  (NOTE: process about 2 cups of rolled oats in your food processor all at one time--and measure out what you need.  Don't overprocess.  You want it a little coarse. You'll have enough for 1/4 cup for the "fruit sauce" & 1-1/2 cups for the topping)

1/2 large ripe (speckled) banana, sliced

3 plump medjool dates, pitted, chopped, and soaked in water to cover for about 30 minutes.  (NOTE: you can add this reserved "date water", if needed, to make up the 1/2 cup in the "fruit sauce"

1/2 cup of non-dairy milk (I prefer soymilk for cooking--it's richer)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1-1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

 

Preparation:

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Using 2 different small bowls or cups, soak the 3 dates needed for the "fruit sauce", separately from the 3 dates needed for the topping.   Soak for about 30 minutes.  Drain, but reserve the sweet soaking water.  You'll need 1/2 cup of it for the "fruit sauce"

3.  Place the peaches & blueberries in a big bowl & set aside.

4.  Make your fruit sauce.  Blend the dates, the lemon juice, the 1/2 cup of date soaking water, the cinnamon, & oat flour into a blender & blend until smooth.

5.  Pour the "sauce" into the bowl of fruit & mix well to coat evenly.

6.  Place the saucy fruit into a large pie pan or 9 X 9 inch square pan

7.  Make your topping.  Into a blender, add the banana, drained dates, non-dairy milk & blend until smooth.  

8.  Pour into a medium bowl.  Measure out 1-1/2 cups of the "home-processed" oat flour--& then spoon out about 2 tablespoons of it.  Replace that with 2 tablespoons of rolled oats, for a coarser texture to the topping.  Add the oats to the bowl of wet topping ingredients.  

9.  Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, & vanilla.  Mix with a fork until "the texture is somewhere between dough & batter"--fairly thick.

10.  Spread the topping over the fruit evenly, or in big spoonfuls, with fruit peeking through.  Your choice.

11.  Bake at 375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, or until topping is lightly browned--and no longer wet.  Let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.

 

Happy August!

Enjoy the Summer Why It Lasts

Friday Night Dinner & a Movie - "Safety Not Guaranteed", Vietnamese Bahn Mi Salad/Sandwiches & Blueberry Banana Oat Bars for a Post-Movie Dessert

 

The Dinner:  Deconstructed Vietnamese Bahn Mi Salad/Sanwiches--Adapted from Quick-Fix Vegan

 

The Dessert:  Blueberry Banana Oat Bars--Adapted from Katelin Petersen & Cathy Fisher

 

 

The Movie:  Safety Not Guaranteed  (click here if you can't view video)

 

If you received this post via email, click here to get to web-version with the movie trailer, photos, links, & to comment, of course.  Love the feedback, for sure. 

Summer has barely begun & I'm already feeling like there aren't enough hours in the day to fit everything in that I want to do.

It's called F.O.M.O--Fear of Missing Out.   Maybe you're feeling it, too!

Lazy afternoons on the porch, with a book in hand is what I want more of.  Hasn't happened yet.

Picnics, outdoor concerts, family vacations, hikes, bike rides, out-of-town company, weddings, gardening, day trips, weekend trips, local wineries, berry picking, and long after-dinner walks.  Summer's just too short to fit it all in.

Almost every weekend through Labor Day is booked for me & LR--so expect fewer & shorter blog posts until after Labor Day.   

It's definitely hard to find the extra time needed for blogging when gorgeous weather & summer plans beckon.

So, if you want to keep up with what I'm reading, cooking, & learning about everyday, make your way over to the Happy Healthy Long Life - The Healthy Librarian Facebook page occasionally & catch up on my daily posts.  

You don't even need to be on Facebook to view the page!  It's open to everyone.  You can also link to it on the blog--by clicking on my FB picture in the upper right-hand corner.  If you "like me" you'll get updates--but, I know that can be very annoying for some of you.

I promised myself I'd definitely write a blog post today.  I've got a list a mile long of posts I want to share, but in the end, I decided to share two fantastic recipes the Lab Rat & I enjoyed last night--and the movie that knocked our socks off!

Here's on my MUST-POST list---when I've got the time:

• A presentation by Dr. Mladen Golubic of the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute:  "Take Control of Your Health: A Proactive Approach to Wellness & Aging"  Diet, Exercise & Stress Reduction will make it happen.
• This week's "Gal Pal Getway":  So, how do you travel to the middle of nowhere & find decent food? Don't count on it.  We brought our own and it was spectacular.
• The "Strong Bone" diet.  It's not just Vitamin D & Calcium.  A summary of three recent articles that spell out the protocol for strong bones--the right nutrients & the questionable supplements.  
• How our gut bacteria work for us:  protect us from heart disease, diarrhea, inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, type-2 diabetes, clear out the toxins, & boost our immune system.  What kind of a diet promotes a healthy gut microbiota?  And what kind doesn't?  When do you need to take pre or probiotics?   It's definitely not daily.
• Two cardiologists and one cardiovascular surgeon who decided to follow Esselstyn's plant-based no-oil diet.  What's their story, why did they decide to take this route for themselves, and how has it benefited their health.  
• Out of Lund University:  How oats can help protect us from atherosclerosis.
• My 2-year eating plant-based no-added-oil update & the Great Clothes Closet Purge
• More on plant-based athletes--how the diet improves performance, promotes weight loss, & better health.
• Success stories from HHLL readers!
• The 100% plant-based Washington, DC trip and how eating out will make you fat in a flash, even in walk-friendly city.
• Lifestyle & diet in the prevention of prostate cancer--recent research update.
• A recent large study on the synergistic effects of vegetables, fruit, & exercise on cutting mortality in older women.
• My B-12 test results update.  What one B-12 expert told me.
• A summary of the People's Pharmacy interview with Harriet Lerner, a wise grounded long-married clinical psychologist.  Wise common-sense advice. Her recent book is Marriage Rules & the interview is "Making Marriage Work".
• Russian Kale Rules!  The best vegetable we've ever grown in our garden.  Kale all summer long. 
• The five new books I'm reading that are changing how I think about everyday life:  Charles Duhigg's The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life & Business; Anna Quindlen's Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake: A Memoir; Thomas Sterner's The Practicing Mind: Developing Focus and Discipline in Your Life; Dr. Martha Herbert's The Autism Revolution: Whole Body Strategies for Making Life All It Can Be;  Gretchen Reynold's The First 20 Minutes: Surprising Science Reveals How We Can Exercise Better, Train Smarter, & Live Longer.
• More awesome plant-based-no-oil recipes for Cheesy Kale Chips; Sicilian Orzo Salad with a No-Oil Dressing; Farro Salad with Grilled Eggplant, Tomatoes, & Onions; Almost Instant Vegetable Biryani; and Saag Aloo.
• And that's just for starters!  Phew! Glad I got that off my chest.  If you've been keeping up with my FB page you've read summaries of a lot of these already.  Love to hear which ones of these pique your interest.  Tell me.  I really want to know.

 

 

Friday Night at the Movies

 

 The Mission Has to Do Mostly with Regrets, Mistakes....and Love

 

The Lab Rat & I have been seeing the trailer for this must-see movie for months now.  Well, let me be clear.  It's a must-see movie only if you like a crazy quirky sensitive mixture of science fiction, time travel, tender love story, personal growth, characters you adore & root for, laugh-out-loud comedy, and a plot with surprising twists.  This one really works.  For me & LR, that's is.

We absolutely both agreed 100% that we were going to see this one.  True embarrassing confession:  When we were 20 years old we spent an entire day at one of the best libraries in the country researching time travel.  Neither of us can remember what we were possibly thinking---but, we actually spent a day researching time travel.  Hey, we were 20 years old!

Here's the "Safety Not Guaranteed" pitch:

"When an unusual classified ad inspires three cynical Seattle magazine employees to look for the story behind it, they discover a mysterious eccentric named Kenneth, a likable but paranoid supermarket clerk, who believes he¹s solved the riddle of time travel and intends to depart again soon. 

Together, they embark on a hilarious, smart, and unexpectedly heartfelt journey that reveals how far believing can take you."

I'll say no more.  I don't want to give away a thing.   If the trailer has you intrigued, check out where it's playing, here.

In three words:  Charming, hysterical, sensitive.

So....the movie was starting at 7:05 last night.

It was already 5:00 pm & we hadn't given a single thought to what we were having for dinner.

I opened up Quick-Fix Vegan & decided on "The Deconstructed Ba^'hn M^'i Salad".  

The Lab Rat got started on the seitan and the prep, while I ran to the grocery store to pick up pre-shredded cabbage, cilantro & a baguette. We used what we had on hand: Upton's Chorizo Seitan--even though this was a Vietnamese salad.  It really worked.

We put the whole amazing delicious salad/sandwich fixings together in 30 minutes.   We ate & headed out the door with plenty of time to spare.  I cannot wait to devour the left-overs for lunch.

And those "man these are fantastic" Blueberry Banana Oat Bars.  That was dessert when we got home.

 

Quick-Fix Vegan Adapted Deconstructed B^'ahn Mi^' Salad/Sandwiches

 

I Call It a Cancer-Fighting Salad of Sorts--With Cabbage, Garlic, Green Onions, & Maybe Cilantro

 

Deconstructed Vietnamese Ba'hn M'i Salad Sandwiches, Adapted from Quick-Fix Vegan

Click here for a copy of the recipe on one page

Serves 4

Ingredients:

8 ounces of seitan (ground crumble style, like Upton's preferred) or extra-firm tofu, pressed & thinly sliced or soy crumbles  or thinly sliced baked tofu.  NOTE:  We used Upton's Chorizo Seitan, which is what we had in the refrigerator.  It makes for a spicy salad, just the way we like it.  Use plain seitan, if you like less spice.  Finely chop your seitan, if the ground crumbles aren't available or use ground soy crumbles.

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger NOTE: I'm tired of throwing out dried out ginger.  Penzey's Dried, Sliced China Ginger Root worked well in this recipe.  We ground it in the coffee grinder.

3 tablespoons of low-sodium soy sauce, divided

2 tablespoons of hoisin sauce

2 teaspoons sriracha sauce (aka Rooster Sauce)  Note: use less if you prefer less heat

1 teaspoon of sugar (or substitute of your choice)

2 tablespoons seasoned or plain rice wine vinegar 

3 cups of finely shredded cabbage (I used pre-shredded cabbage for convenience, my local store has freshly shredded cabbage)

1 large carrot, shredded (or use pre-shredded carrots for convenience)

1/2 English cucumber, peeled & chopped (I used 3/4 of a large regular cucumber)

1 cup fresh cilantro leaves (can chop or not)

1/4 cup minced green onions

1/2 baguette, cut in half, & sliced into 4 serving sizes

 

Preparation:

1.  Note: If using tofu, wrap it in a clean dish towel, press it under heavy weights for 20 minutes & slice it thinly.

2.  Preheat a large skillet over medium heat.

3.  Add 2 tablespoons of vegetable broth or water to keep the seitan, soy crumbles, or tofu from sticking. Add the seitan (I used Upton's Chorizo crumbles), or soy crumbles, or sliced tofu & cook until browned on both sides, about 4 minutes or less  per side.  Add small amounts of additional broth or water to deglaze the pan & prevent sticking, as needed.  

4.  Add the garlic & ginger and cook until fragrant, 1 minute longer.  Splash with 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce.  Set aside & cool.

5.  In a small bowl, combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of soy sauce with the hoisin sauce, sriracha sauce, sugar, and vinegar, stirring well to blend.  Set aside.

6.  Spread the shredded cabbage of a large platter, sprinkle evenly with the carrot, cucumber, cilantro, and scallions.  Arrange the seitan (or tofu or soy crumbles) on the top.

7.  Serve with sliced baguettes & pass the dressing to spoon on top of the salad.   We piled the salad on top of our baguettes, then spooned the dressing on top, & messily ate them by folding each baguette in half. Don't worry, you'll figure out a way to eat it.  Just have plenty of napkins available.

8.  Enjoy a truly unusual & healthy no-oil taste sensation.

 

Blueberry Banana Oat Bars Adapted from Cathy Fisher & Katelin Petersen

 

It's blueberry season around here, so I couldn't resist trying Cathy & Katelin's Bars.

But, when I got all the ingredients prepped, I noticed that their recipe only called for 1/2 Cup of berries. Not enough for my tastes.  I used a whole pint--2 cups of berries and ended up adding extra oats to thicken up the too wet batter.  I also baked mine in an 8 X 8 square silicone pan, so that meant extra time for baking.  Adapt as you see fit.

These bars are absolutely fabulous.  Not too sweet, and perfect for breakfast, a travel treat, or dessert. Since they're made just with oats, I'm bringing them to a pre-play picnic to share with a friend who has celiac disease & is on a gluten-free diet.  She's OK with occasional oats that aren't specifically labeled "gluten-free".  

As for the bars, the Lab Rat says, "Man, these bars are fantastic!"   That's testimonial enough for me.

 

All Mixed Up & Ready to Go into the Baking Pan

 

Out of the Oven

 

Ready to Eat

 

Blueberry Banana Bars

Servings:  About 12 nicely-sized bars  (bake in an 8 X 8, 9 X 9, or 9 X 13 inch pan--adjust cooking times accordingly)

Click here for a copy of the recipe on one page 

Ingredients:

1 cup plump medjool dates (mine were small & I needed 12 to make a full cup, Cathy used just 7), pitted & diced

1 1/2 cups unsweetened apple juice  (water is OK, but bars will be less sweet)

 

1 cup oat flour (OK to process rolled oats into flour, if you prefer)

2+ cups of rolled oats  Note: I needed about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of additional rolled oats because my batter was too wet with only 2 cups.  The ripeness & size of my bananas may have accounted for my too wet batter.

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

3 medium-sized ripe (speckled) bananas, diced.

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

2 cups blueberries, fresh preferred, but frozen are OK, too.

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

 

Preparation:

1.  Place pitted & diced dates into a small bowl with the apple juice.  Set aside & let these soak for at least 20 minutes.

2.  Preheat over to 350 degrees.  Use an 8 X 8, 9 X 9, or 9 X 13 silicone pan, if you have  one.  If not, line the pan with parchment paper, making sure the sides are lined as well, cutting slits in the corners of the paper so that it overlaps & fits well.

3.  Combine the flour, just 2 cups of the oats (for now), cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl & set aside.

4.  Place the diced dates & apple juice mixture, bananas, & vanilla, into a blender (high-speed preferred) & blend until creamy.

5.  Pour the banana mixture into the dry ingredient bowl & mix with a fork.

6.  Fold in the blueberries & walnuts.  You want the batter similar to a muffin batter, rather than too wet.  Add some extra oats if your batter is too wet.  Mine was.  Sorry for this cryptic instruction.

7.   Bake for 25-45 minutes depending upon the size of the pan you use.  Start checking for doneness at 25 minutes  by poking the bars with a knife or a fork.  It's done when the fork or knife come out clean. Katelin's 9 X 9 pan took 30 minutes.  Cathy's 9 X 13 pan took 25 minutes. My 8 X 8 pan took 42 minutes--but the added blueberries + the smaller pan may have accounted for that. My oven temperature is accurate, so just start watching for doneness at 25 minutes, depending upon the size of your pan.

Note:  If you use water rather than apple juice, your bars will be less sweet, but even with the apple juice, this was a "just right, not-too-sweet" bar for my tastes.

 

Please let me know which of the posts on my "To Post on the Blog List"  you'd most like to read about!  It will really help. 

Eat and Run - Plant-Based Ultramarathoner Scott Jurek Talks Diet, Vegan Travel Tips, Training, and Favorite Foods with the Healthy Librarian

 

 

 

On switching to a plant-based diet in 1999:  "My blood pressure and triglyceride levels dropped to all-time lows, my HDL, 'good cholesterol', shot up to an all-time high.  

I had virtually no joint inflammation, even after miles of pounding trails and roads, and on the rare occasions I sprained an ankle or fell and whacked my elbow or knee, the soreness left faster than it ever had before.

I was running in the morning, working eight-to 10-hour days, then running 10 miles in the evening—yet I woke up with more energy every day. 

Was it the fiber that sped food through my digestive tract, minimizing the impact of toxins?  Was it the food I was adding--the vitamins and minerals, the lycopene, lutein, beta carotene?  Or was it what I wasn't eating? 

"I wasn't sure of the answer, but I had never felt better.

On training:  "I learned patience while doing tedious tasks, but more important, I learned to find joy in repetitive physically demanding work.

Scott's disciplinarian Dad repeatedly told him, "Sometimes you just do things!  There is no free lunch!" 

-"Eat and Run, My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness," by Scott Jurek-

 

 

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

Plant Power to Fuel 135 Mile Runs?  You Betcha! 

 

"I'm a serious vegan.  (I usually avoid that word; to many people it connotes a certain crabby, self-righteous zealousness.)

And I'm a serious athlete.  But, I won't starve for my principles.  

To my delight, subtracting some things from my diet actually allowed me to discover incredible and delicious new foods.  My new diet included fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans and nuts and seeds, and soy products like miso, tofu, and tempeh.  

I was blown away by the bounty of Japanese sea vegetables, that I discovered when I later raced in that country, the simplicity of a homemade corn tortilla, and the complexity of Thai red curry."

 

If Scott Jurek can run insane ultramarathons, all powered by plants--you can bet I wanted to know more!

I can't fathom the strength & endurance needed to run for 25 hours straight, covering 135 miles through blazing hot Death Valley, California and then climbing up a total elevation of 13,000 feet to reach Mt. Whitney.  Crazy, huh?

Here's how I look at it.  If 38 year-old world-class ultramarathoner, Scott Jurek, has been winning grueling trail races since 1999-- all fueled by a plant-based diet, I definitely want to know more about "how that's working for him".

Lucky me. Two weeks ago I had a chance to ask Scott all the questions I still had, after reading his book. Too bad I only had 40 minutes to "power-quiz" the poor guy.  I only got through half of my questions. Admittedly, I was a little nervous about talking to Scott--but his humility and enthusiasm instantly chilled me out.  What a mensch he is!  I was very impressed.

Scott Jurek is in a perfect position to test out how well a plant-based diet compares to the standard American Diet--putting the diet to the hardest test of all--grueling 100 mile+ ultramarathons.  

He didn't start out as a plant-based believer back in the late 1990's--and he had plenty of concerns about getting enough protein, just like all the rest of us.  He's a former hunter & fisherman, who used to live on typical Western meals--pizza, double McChicken sandwiches & extra-large fries.  He competed first, as a meat-eater, before slowly switching it up to plant-based.  It took him about 2 to 3 years to test out his "food as fuel" theories.  And he's never looked back.

Jurek based his diet switch on research, backed up by his own-evidence-based experiences.  He was his own running-Lab Rat--testing which fuel would be the winning formula.  And having a degree in physical therapy gives his n=1 experiment a little more credibility.   He knows something about treating injuries, diet, & the speed of recovery.   

 

Bottom line, here's what motivated Jurek to switch to plants:

 

"What Jurek realized during his remarkable winning streak is that eating vegan allowed his muscles to heal faster between training sessions, a discovery that in turn allowed him to train more. 

'On race day everyone is looking for the magic bullet, but it really comes down to training harder.  If you can bounce back faster, you can train more,'  said Jurek. 

[His] results aren't backed by any significant studies, but his theory is sound.  Extreme exercise inflames muscles and builds up free radicals that lead to what's known as exercise-induced oxidative stress. 

High-fiber foods like fruits and vegetables are rich in naturally occuring antioxidant vitamins minerals, carotenoids, and flavonoids, which help limit inflammation in [the body, and in the] arteries.  Animal fat, on the other hand, is pro-inflammatory..."   (From Men's Journal, Kevin Gray, "The Power Vegans" October 2010)

And don't miss this link to the Men's Journal Guide to Going Vegan that includes the "ground rules", what to expect, a shopping list, and some of Scott Jurek's recipes, click here.

For the Runner's World excerpt of Eat and Run, plus a look at what a plant-based ultramarathoner eats on an average day (recipes, too!), click here 

 

Jurek on staying healthy while training hard:

 

"Years of eating plants had convinced me that the best way to get well and to stay well was to eat simply and to avoid processed foods whenever possible.   

After my epiphany in my first (physical therapy) internship with an old man and his hospital food, I tried to treat injuries and illness with natural remedies whenever possible.  

Food was my medicine.  I even avoided anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen, which other long-distance runners gobbled by the handful.  I thought it masked pain so much that I might risk serious injury by running when I shouldn't.  

I had also heard too many stories of runners taking so much ibuprofen that they damaged their kidneys.  It was a classic case of treating symptoms, of wanting the quick fix.  It was, in many ways, typical Western medicine.  

For Jurek's Strawburst Anti-Inflammatory Smoothie click here

I haven't tried it yet--but, I know this will be the perfect smoothie for the Lab Rat to test out after his next long run.

 

Toughness Training - Starting at Age Nine

If you want to understand what drives ultrarunner Scott Jurek--and enables him to win grueling long distance races, that would be impossible for mere mortals--you have to understand his difficult disciplined childhood.  That's where Jurek got his basic training.

Scott was nine years old when his mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.   With his father working two jobs just to make ends meet, at a young age Scott was expected to take over the daily cooking chores, mow the lawn, pull the weeds, stack the wood,  keep an eye on his younger brother or sister, as well as keep a close watch over his mom.  And still do well in school.  He even made valedictorian of his high school class!  There wasn't time nor money for luxuries, like after-school sports.  

I was so excited to receive an advanced copy of "Eat & Run" &  it hooked me right from the start--even though sports memoirs aren't my go-to-sort-of-book.

The Lab Rat, a long-time runner & a three-time ultramarathoner, gobbled the book up in one giant gulp--enjoying Scott's philosophical-meditation leanings, his training & diet advice, & and his "survival war stories":  vomiting from the extreme heat of the Death Valley race, or running with a sprained ankle and swollen broken toe.  Guys eat that stuff up!

The Hardrock Ultra:  As least one sleepless night and usually two waist-deep river crossings.  Harrowing exposure to heights, fixed ropes, and steps cut into snowfields, tundra, and rock, hopping cross-country where no trail exists, and scree fields that crumble under you feet as you spin in place. (H.L.: told you this was grueling stuff)

 

Inspiration.  Adventure.  Food.  Training Tips.

 

Photo: Runner's World June 2012

 

You don't have to be a runner to enjoy "Eat and Run".   I'm not--and I did!

Jurek offers easy-to-follow tips on exercise for rank beginners, like getting starting, finding the time, sticking it out, stretching, posture,  breathing,  getting enough protein,  and getting enough calories--along with his favorite trail-tested recipes that keep him fueled and winning races.

Jurek started cooking at age nine.  He knows his way around a kitchen & judging by his recipes--the guy seriously cares about how food tastes!  My kind of guy.

• Lentil-Mushroom Burgers.  Jurek says, "These are as delicious as they come!"
• Apple-Cinnamon Granola
• Long Run Pizza Bread
• "Buttery" Omega Popcorn
• Green Power Pre-Workout Drink
• Minnesota Winter Chili.  Says Jurek, "The night I tasted this chili is the night I decided I could be a happy athletic vegetarian."
• 8-Grain Strawberry Pancakes
• Western States Trail "Cheese" Spread.  Spread on Ezekiel 4:9 Bread this a great source of carbohydrates and protein.  Tahini give the "cheese" a bite.
• Chocolate Adzuki Bars.  "If you're going to eat a moist, sweet dessert on the run, this one is ideal."  Carbs & protein.
• Indonesian Cabbage Salad with Red Curry Almond Sauce
• Tamari-Lime Tempeh and Brown Rice
• Coco Rizo Cooler--a thick homemade sweetened coconut-flavored rice milk with chia.  Drink before, during, or after exercise. It sounds delicious.
• Holy Moly Guacamole.  Served on warmed corn tortillas--not chips.
• Pre-Run Incan Porridge--made with quinoa, almond milk, pears or bananas, coconut flakes & spices
• Kalamata Hummus Trail Wrap--"on the run food"
• Carob Chia Pudding--silken tofu, chia, miso, maple syrup, carob/cocoa, & vanilla
• Smoky Chipotle Refried Beans--Jurek uses Kombu seaweed & dried epazote to make the beans more digestible
• Salsa Verde
• Xocolatl Energy Balls--WOW!  Raw cacao, cashews, dates, mesquite powder, red pepper & more!!!  Yum!
• Rice Balls (Onigiri)  Perfect running fuel in the heat.  Sushi rice, miso, nori seaweed.  Jurek's a big fan of these.

 The Healthy Librarian & Scott Jurek Dish about Plant-Based Fuel

 

 1.   Your parents & your hard-working childhood/adolescence shaped your character in such positive ways---but, did your mom’s multiple sclerosis or your dad’s later health problems influence your move towards a healthy lifestyle--running & a plant-based diet?

My mom’s illness--MS had a major impact on my decision to exercise, eat right, & train to be a physical therapist.  “Living with a chronic disease in the family does one of 2 things---you either run away from the idea that you have the power to change your health--or you do everything you can to make sure you can stay healthy.   Reading Andrew Weil’s “Spontaneous Healing”  had a profound influence on me. I realized we have the power of good health in our own hands.   Then, reading Howard Lyman’s (The Mad Cowboy)  book completely changed my mind about meat.  If a Montana cattle rancher can stop eating meat --& knew the evils of factory-farming--then certainly even I could stop.

 

2.  I've got lots of food questions for you.   Favorite soy yogurt?  Is your tofu sprouted? Do you eat seitan?  Do you buy the new-on-the-market sprouted grains?   Do you choose the whole grains like wheatberrries over whole grained flours?   In your book you talk about grinding your own grains for the flour in your pancakes.  Tell me more.

I'm a fan of Wildwood & Whole Soy yogurts--but for taste I prefer So Delicious Coconut yogurt, and now So Delicious has just come out with (So Delicious) a new almond Greek-style yogurt. (HL: we just sampled it in St. Louis & it's really good--but it has too much sugar for my taste.  Too bad it doesn't come "plain".)  

I don't drink soy milk anymore since I already get plenty of soy from tempeh, tofu, & miso.  I stick to traditional whole soy products, & avoid as much as possible isolated soy protein, although I'm not crazy rigid about all of this.   I'm not a big fan of seitan--I'll eat it mostly in vegan restaurants--but, I don’t cook with it myself. It's meat-like texture does make it a good transition food for someone starting out, though.  I'm just not a fan of faux meats.

I eat all kinds of grains.  When it comes to using flour, though, I do like to (when possible) grind my own with a grain grinder.  It’s fresher, and I learned about using a grain grinder when I was in Europe.  But, like with everything, I'm not extreme about food.  I'll eat whole grain packaged flours, too, when it's more convenient to do so.

 

3.  How do you refuel right after a run?   

With real food!  It's very easy to do.  Just do it within 20-30 minutes of exercising to get the most benefits.  I try to be sure that 10-15%, or sometimes up to 20%, of it is protein.  The rest of it, should be carbohydrates.  It's really very easy.  I'll eat some tempeh & rice  or bananas or potatoes.  Just real foods.  Mostly carbs--some protein.

 

4.  Would protein requirements be different if you were weight-lifting---or do you need the same amount for weight-training as you do for endurance sports?   Advice? One of my sons is convinced he needs more protein after lifting weights.

The protein requirements for weight-lifters aren't that much higher than they are for runners or the endurance sports.  Maybe slightly higher protein requirements, over the 10-15% protein that I consume--but, nothing like you see going on in the gyms.  What you really need is to eat more calories---it’s not about the protein. It's all about the calorie count--and that’s what you see in the vegan ultra-fighters & boxers--it’s calories.  If you consume enough calories--you'll get enough protein.

 

5.  As a trained physical therapist--not as Scott Jurek, ultrarunner whose in the middle of a big race---is it wise to run on a sprained ankle, a broken toe, as you've done in some races?

I've learned to read my body--weigh the pros & cons of whether or not it’s something that is fine to run through--or something that will cause more damage if I run through it.  I'm definitely smart about it.  Yes, I've run in air casts and splints, but, only when I knew it wouldn't make things worse.

 

6.  What’s your body barometer that tells you you’ve over-trained--or need more rest?  A cold?  Crankiness?   Poor sleep quality? 

After all these years I can read what my body is telling me--I know when I need a rest & I dial it down.  I have no problem listening to my body & taking a day off, if I need it.  That’s entirely different than believing the false “siren song” of your brain that says,  “Take a break, stay in bed, stay home,  relax--why work so hard?"  You have to know the difference! 

 

7.   When you travel & you know there won’t be any big stores with all your usual must-have foods---what’s on your MUST PACK  list? What do you take to eat on the plane?

I'm moving more toward figuring out how to adapt to airport food that's healthy, instead of needing to bring all kinds of special foods with me.  I'm working toward making it easier to be a vegan.  It should be user-friendly.  If more people are going to eat this way--I'd like to show them how they can do it anywhere--easily, without too much work.  But, I always brings protein powder with me.  I make my own "blend" by mixing up brown rice & a legume protein powders--I don't buy the "pre-mixed combos".  These days I use NOW brand Pea Protein for the legume &  Nutribiotic brand Brown Rice protein.  They are easy to find in most health food stores.  I also bring along dehydrated hummus--which is also easy to find in bulk or even packaged at Safeway.  It's a terrific, easy-to-take-along product.  You just add water if that’s all you have.  You don't even need the tahini.  I often bring some kind of energy bars along, too--but it’s hard to find really good ones that aren't loaded with ingredients I'd rather not eat.

 

8.  I know you use chia--is it something you eat everyday?

Yes, I really like & use chia often--but not necessarily daily.  I love its texture & all the omega-3’s.  But, it's funny--even though many people were first introduced to chia in Christopher McDougall's "Born to Run", I didn’t really see it used much when I was in the Copper Canyon of Mexico.

 

9. Tell me about Udo’s Oil?  I know you're a big fan of the 3-6-9 oil. Why the need for Omega-6 & Omega-9 when they’re so abundant in your diet, already?

Honestly, I first learned about it by seeing it on the shelf at a health food store.  It just makes it easier for me to not have to worry about getting enough of the essential fatty acids. I take 3 TBS a day of Udo’s   3-6-9  I've read the research that Udo Erasmus based his formula on--it’s packaged so no light can get through it--it’s refrigerated--and it’s date stamped. I trust the careful quality control that's involved in this product.  I've seen some athletes not do well when they aren’t getting enough fat in their diet.  Plus, taking Udo’s oil helps me to get more calories--and the right oils into my diet.   

 

10.  What about nuts?  Any concern about their high levels of omega-6's?

I eat them for calories & protein.  I'm not concerned about the omega-6s that come from nuts, as opposed to those that are in processed oils--which I strictly avoid.  The omega-6's in nuts aren’t heated, or chemically extracted as they are in most seed oils.  They aren't producing free-radicals.  And with all the energy I burn during training--I need the extra calories. I make a big effort to include enough calorie-dense foods in my diet--nuts & nut butters, seeds, avocados, starchy root vegetables, coconut milk, and oils such as olive oil, coconut oil, and sesame oil.

11.  What do you think about the top four doctors who write about the benefits of a plant-based diet?   Namely, Drs. Esselstyn, Campbell, McDougall, & Fuhrman.

I've read many of their books and I respect them all.  I've testified before Congress with Dr. T. Colin Campbell and I've done plant-based promotional work with Dr. Neal Barnard & the Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine.   I'm not a strict follower of anyone in particular--I do my own diet tweaking--and experiment with what works best for me.  

 

12.  Do you limit your oil intake to coconut, Udo’s, & olive oil?

I use coconut oil mostly when I'm cooking at high temperatures, because it’s more stable, and in spite of its saturated fat, it appears to not be of any harm.  Most of the research on coconut oil shows it to be mostly neutral--not harmful nor particularly beneficial.  (H.L.: Dr. Chris Gardner of Stanford University would agree with him--and clearly Scott doesn’t need to worry about the calories he's getting from the small amount of coconut oil he's using.)

 

13.  Are you still changing or altering your perspective on diet and training? 

I'm moving away from the rigidity of bringing everything with me when I travel and I'm enjoying the challenge of “how to make this work”  wherever I am, whether it's in an airport or in some remote locale.  These days I'm thinking, "How can I get by with what I have “here”'?  I don’t want to make this “extreme dieting”.   I really want to show people that a plant-based diet can be user-friendly for everyone.

 

14.  What do you fuel with before, during, or after a race?  What are the easy-to-absorb fueling foods that you take with you on your long runs?  Do you use the gels or chomps? 

During a run I use gels, like Clif Shots--but, I'm moving toward packing real food with me on my runs.   Of course, further into the race, I definitely don’t want the real food--it's just too hard to eat.  But, early on, I likes to bring beans & rice burritos, or hummus wraps.  Those rice balls work well, too.

 

15.  What do you see yourself doing at age 60? 

I don’t see myself running many ultras at age 60--but, I’ll be jumping in now & again.  Popping into races.  I see myself as healthy, fit, enjoying life, and being an example to others--how you can age well if you start early to live a healthy lifestyle--instead of waiting until you get too old, or sick.  Yes, I see myself still running--but not the grueling kinds of competitions I'm currently running in. 

 

16.  What do you say to people who ask you if you can get enough protein just from plants?

Here are a few tricks:  In my breakfast smoothie, I add some nuts and a hit of plant-based protein powder (brown rice, hemp, pea, or fermented soy protein).   

For breakfast I'll have a grain source, like sprouted whole-grain toast with nut butter or sprouted grain cereal or porridge.

For lunch I always eat a huge raw salad--I love Lacinato kale--and I'll up the protein content with a soy product (tempeh, tofu, or edamame), a big scoop of hummus, or maybe some leftover cooked grain like quinoa.

For dinner, it might be beans and whole grains, maybe some whole-grain pasta.  If I didn't have soy for lunch, I might have it with dinner.

For snacks I'll have Clif Bars and trail mix throughout the day and some soy-or nut-based vegan desserts--and I get more than enough protein to maintain my muscle tone and help my body recover.

I stick to traditional soy foods, like tempeh, miso, and sprouted tofu--which are all more digestible and have less phytoestrogen than isolted soy protein.

I prefer sprouted-grain breads & tortillas--and when I'm at home, I soak my whole grains & beans before cooking, to help breakdown the indigestible cellulose in plant celll walls.

Average total calories consumed when Jurek is training:  5,500

Average total protein consumed:  80 grams

 

 

A big thank-you to Christina Mamangakis for the advance copy of Eat and Run, and especially to Scott Jurek for the generous time you spent patiently answering all my questions!   

The interview was a delight and I learned so much!   

If you have a chance--I know you'll enjoy Scott's book. 

 

I hope you all found Scott's story & the interview as interesting & helpful as I did.

For many of you who are on the Esselstyn diet, I'm sure you're surprised by Scott's consumption of nuts, seeds, & oils--but, he's been eating "clean" since he's been 25 years old, and he's a life-long exerciser.  He burns calories like it's no tomorrow.  His diet can't be compared to that of someone who's eaten a Western diet for most of their life, is overweight, doesn't exercise much, has the beginnings of heart disease, hypertension, and is perhaps pre-diabetic.  Jurek's a fuel-burning machine!  Just saying....