Obesity: Supporting satisfaction instead of surgery

Hot news from down under - a couple of surgeons who perform bariatric (stomach-stapling) operations would like to perform more of them on us, and would like tax money to fund their work. The media is running their advertisement as if it were a public health statement.

I've battled weight problems for my adult life, and I know there is no magic bullet for maintaining a healthy weight. Neither is there a magic scalpel. Cutting open your body to reduce your stomach capacity and all that could mean for your future is not a tenable general treatment.

Battling obesity en masse

New Zealand is, like most developed countries, guilty of more reporting than acting on the growing obesity problem. While this is always a sensitive subject, a recent longterm study showed that while there are obese healthy people, they are much less likely to remain healthy over the years.

So is it true that "Surgery still remains the most capable strategy for inducing robust and long-term weight loss"? May I see the source please? The (US) National Weight Control Registry research does not mention surgery at all in their summary of how most of their participants lost long-term weight.

But I am even more interested that New Zealand's tax money supports industries that support obesity. Fatty cholesterol-rich foods like beef, pork, chicken, eggs, and dairy. "Added-value" processed foods, which take natural raw foods and package them for the highest profit and shelf life instead of fiber and nutrients. Food technology trumps food quality.

Calorie density

Why does this matter? Jeff Novick, RD, MS explains in this article and this video presentation, but in short, calorie density reigns supreme in how much people eat.

Steak doesn't fill you up like oatmeal. Potato chips won't fill you up like potatoes.

Where the money goes

So if we're going to tweak our economic contribution to solve the obesity epidemic, let's not psych everyone into thinking we have to catch up with the Aussies in dangerous life-altering surgery rates.

Let's at least stop being part of the problem, and remove tax funding from those industries harming our national health. Restrict their advertising which often reports positive health benefits or just plain fun...and often arrives in our schools to advertise to our children.

Help make healthy food cheaper, more available, and more acceptable instead.

I'm still vegan. Cravings, health, and satisfaction

Oh dear. Another high-profile vegan goes public with her vegan failure.  Alex Jamieson is most famous as Morgan Spurlock's vegan girlfriend and inspiration in the iconic movie, Supersize Me.

Ravings on Cravings

I've heard plenty of much less famous people talk about craving animal food "after a while of not having any." But in 17 years without animal foods, I've never had these cravings. When I'm not near animal food, I don't even think about it.

When a smoker craves nicotine, it's a dangerous addiction. When an alcoholic craves just one drink, we recommend medication and support. When someone craves a sugar hit, we don't applaud their instincts and buy them chocolate.

But a craving for animal products is the body asking for what it naturally needs? Let's think again.

I have not yet reached vegan nirvana - I'm not disgusted by all animal products. I still enjoy the smell of cooking meat, eggs, or cheese. However, I have no drive to eat them, perhaps because I am already fully satisfied - not only with my awareness of cruel the animal industry is, but also all the evidence on how unhealthy animal products are for my body.

Even when I was clinically vitamin-B12-deficient and had a series of injections as treatment, I did not feel any craving for animal products with their B12 (and cholesterol, saturated fat, etc). Where were my body's "natural cravings" then?

Vegan Diet Satisfaction

Alex described her long struggles against her cravings. (Hint 1: if you're craving your friends' meat burgers, it might be time to eat with different friends.) But her weapons were apparently green juices and nuts, for extra nutrition. Here's 30BananasADay's reaction to her story.  

For any diet change to work, you must be nourished and satisfied. I stopped eating animals on the recommendations of Dr John McDougall, who supports a very low fat but satisfying starch-based diet with sound medical references and overwhelming clinical success.

The only limitations on starches are if you are trying to lose a lot of weight fast (which clearly, Alex did not need). Could this starch satisfaction be the reason I've never craved animals?

Veganism vs Your Health?

Most people won't stay vegan if they feel bad and only get worse. Of course not.

Alex believed she was an ethical vegan, but she changed because she felt bad and couldn't find the solution. She is not the first. Others complain of unwanted weight gain after going vegan.

Here's a true vegan health crisis story to admire. This woman was not just enduring a few cravings on her high-raw vegan diet, and she persisted until she found a vegan solution.

Given these stories, shouldn't vegans pay more attention to good health as a major and necessary support for the vegan cause? Instead, we hear that it's a nice benefit if it happens, but not the real reason to be vegan. Or worse, that health considerations hinder the vegan cause and damage vegan outreach.

If "veganism is not about health" because of its origins, isn't it time to accept that the vegan health horse has long since bolted and is not going to return quietly to the stable no matter how much we shout? We have to deal.

Let's promote sound vegan health information, instead of just distancing ourselves from the bad...even if only so that ethical vegans don't suffer health crises in public. It's not a good look.

I don't have all the answers, and I'm certainly not perfect. But I am still vegan.

Fat Vegans 101 - from the inside out

Fat vegans - we know who we are. Dr Mcdougall has a whole chapter in his latest book, The Starch Solution, called simply, Fat Vegans. Ouch - not popular. I didn't like it either. I could debate his points, but that wouldn't win my anything in my constant struggle with being one.

So apologies in advance if this post offends. This is my truth about being a fat vegan with an eating disorder, and maybe some of it is yours, and sometimes, the truth hurts.  

It's never easy being fat

So what's the big deal? Anyone who's fat has their share of problems. But it can be hard to be fat and vegan because: 

Vegans are supposed to be thin

Everyone knows that vegans are skinny and weak! And the truth is that vegans and vegetarians are thinner than average. Vegans and nonvegans will make generalisations about veganism and weight loss. What is wrong with me, the vegan who is not skinny?

Vegan advocacy

I feel like a poor role model for the vegan lifestyle. It can be uncomfortable to spread the word when I am spreading over my seat, even knowing that I have lost weight successfully and kept most of it off. I dream of a professional role in food advocacy, but I know my advice could be ridiculed and dismissed at my current weight.

Vegan food porn

Vegans are on a mission to show everybody how amazing vegan food is (and it is). We want to dispel the annoying but persistent myth that food is boring if you're vegan.

Vegans constantly share pictures and recipes of their latest amazing creation...far more often than omnivores. And it's usually the gorgeous chocolate cake, "cheesy" lasagna, and tofu burgers.

Vegan gatherings

Vegan solidarity naturally gravitates toward food. We all have to battle in the nonvegan world to find suitable food, so when we get together, we celebrate our shared delicious all-vegan food (see above).

Yes, veganism is about much more than food...but we don't throw vegan shoe parties.

Food addiction

Vegans love food, and so do I. But for my health and happiness, I need to think less about food. I especially need to think less about chocolate cake, "cheesy" lasagna, and tofu burgers.

An alcoholic or cigarette addict can just not have alcohol or a smoke ever again. I can't just not eat. Well, I could and some do: people in treatment for severe eating disorders often report themselves as vegetarian (1/3 to 1/2) But that's not the answer.

So what can I do?

Get plant-strong

Vegans are not all about your health - in fact a vocal and popular expert camp argues that human health is a lesser issue, or even a barrier to the vegan cause.

I don't go a week without hearing some variation: how selfish and shallow it is compared to animal rights, or how it's not really vegan, to care about your own health. (Not surprisingly, I also have an opinion.) 

So look to plant-strong nutrition and health gurus rather than vegans. Their recommendations are 99 to 100% vegan anyway, so vegans hardly have to flex our well-developed modification muscles.

Plant-strong experts:

Dr McDougall, Dr Esselstyn and Rip, Dr Greger, Dr Campbell, Dr Barnard, Dr Klaper, Dr Popper, Jeff Novick...

They have published so much free information that you can become an expert too.

Get expert help

There are vegan advocates who have never struggled against gaining weight. They may not get it - some will be casual or even cruel about the power of the vegan diet to cause easy weight loss. But there are experts out there who have fought our battles.

• Fitness: Lani Muelrath really knows how to get your body through the hurdles.
• Cooking: Chef AJ. Again, plant-strong recipes are your new best friends.

Get a life

Food is a basic fulfilment. But when I start using it to fulfill all my needs because my inner child thinks that food is the only way to feel good, something needs to change.

Find a happy healthy habit away from food: exercise, declutter and donate, volunteer, play with the kids... When that habit is no longer exciting, find another exciting fulfilment. Repeat and enjoy.

Get a support group

Find (or start) a group who will help keep you on track. This can be in person or online. Stay connected, so you don't become isolated in a world full of trigger foods.

Limit food-related vegan activities

This is a tough one, because I love getting together with vegan friends. But I'm fighting for my life here. Or maybe I'm fighting because my daughter recently found a box full of my pretty dresses under the bed, and I had to tell her why I couldn't wear them.

In the same way an alcoholic shouldn't visit bars, I need to stay out of rich food environments. My friends will understand.

And the rest...

Standard dieting tips can also help. Mindfulness, brushing my teeth to signal I'm done eating, drinking plenty of water, drinking green tea, writing a food journal, etc.

Be aware that all these methods have a honeymoon period. Be ready with another plan for when you start cheating.

There is no one solution to this complicated problem. This story is not done. I welcome your contributions.

Dr McDougall's Starch Solution - What's in it for you?

Dr McDougall's gift is that diet no longer seems controversial. You can picture ol' Doc McDougall offering you a bucket of chicken wings, saying, "Do you feel lucky?"

Well? Do you? 

If you haven't already discovered Dr McDougall, The Starch Solution is this dietary medical pioneer's most complete and compelling work yet. Dr McDougall has the medical training plus decades of comprehensive references and real-life successes to make other food choices seem just a little dangerous.

If you're already a McDougaller, look no further to find out what his latest book has for you.

In Lani Muelrath's recent Teleclass with Dr McDougall, he said this might be his last book. "If you haven't got it by now..."

Getting It

A new book? What to do? I'm in deep decluttering mode, and I already have his 12 Days to Dynamic Health and A Challenging Second Opinion.

So I performed a public service and requested that our city library order The Starch Solution for Auckland, New Zealand. As an extra bonus, I got to be the first to read it.

As another public service for all you McDougall converts wondering what's in it for you - here's:
 

12 Days to Dynamic Health vs Starch Solution

12 Days	Starch Solution
History	History
McDougall's personal medical history, with illness leading him to medical study. When he finds he cannot make his patients better, he moves toward on dietary therapies instead of conventional drugs, and starts St Helena live-in program.	Same history with a few added extras. The fascinating story of the years in between: why McDougall left St Helena and successfully struck out on his own. McDougall comes out as a political activist.
Food Overview	Food Overview
Nutritional building blocks and dispelling food myths - comprehensive.	Starches and why we should eat them - includes reader testimonial for this simpler approach. Poisons in animal foods Food FAQ chapters: Protein, Calcium, Omegas (Fish)
Dietary Guidelines and Politics	Dietary Guidelines and Politics
No specific section	History of the USDA and what has influenced the guidelines.
Environmental concerns	Environmental concerns
None	"We are eating the planet to death" chapter - summary of latest consensus of livestock impact on the environment
Success Stories	Success Stories
Sam and Sally Waterman - in depth look at their 12 days of success. Very personal and moving.	About 10 inspirational Star McDougaller stories - longterm achievements
Vegans/Vegetarians	Vegans/Vegetarians
McDougall eats some meat every year to avoid the negative vegetarian label.	References to environmental impact of veg*nism Fat Vegan chapter - junk food veganism, dangers of isolated soy proteins in replacement meats/milks, recommendations for healthy veganism.
Supplements	Supplements
Recommends B12 to prevent rare cases of dietary deficiency	Chapter discussing latest research on risks of general supplementation - still recommends B12
Sugar and Salt	Sugar and Salt
Limits quantities	Chapter on history of these and current role as dietary scapegoats. Still limits quantities.
The Plan	The Plan
12 Days of Sam and Sally's progress - meal plan. Tips on social and kitchen preparation, shopping, dining out. Approved brands list	7 Days - meal plan. Tips on social and kitchen preparation, shopping, dining out.
Maximum Weight Loss	Maximum Weight Loss
None	Summary page
Recipes	Recipes
Lots of favourites - Healthy and richer listed separately	Lots of favourites
Medical Reference	Medical Reference
Mini Challenging Second Opinion guide	None
References section	References section
Fully referenced by disease	Fully referenced by chapter

Disappointments?

After reading this great new book, my only complaint is the same one I have about Dr T Colin Campbell.

Both unquestioned dietary giants have embraced the environmental cause but seem to fear entering the ethical arena, perhaps not wanting to be associated with weirdos who actually care about animals. Dr McDougall continues to distance himself from vegans and vegetarians, compared to the thorough research he invests in diet and now the environmental issues of industrial farming.

His environmental chapter is called "We are eating the planet to death." Kudos to you, doctor, for telling it like it is. How about a chapter called "We are torturing billions of animals every day"? That is another undeniable result of industrial farming.  

All the book's statements of gentle respect for vegans' sacrifices doesn't cut it. The ethical argument adds that crucial third leg of stability to the plant-based way of life. Readers deserve to hear it.

The Winner?

If you ask me which book to give to a friend you want to help, I'd say "whichever one you've got." The 12-Day book is still relevant, decades after publication.

But The Starch Solution is the book of today - it has more: more information from new research, more modern cover design, and more polish from those extra decades of Dr McDougall's writing and presentation experience. 

Get it for your local library (and your own)!

Beat 7 traps for healthy kids

How do you and your kids rate on the 4-Leaf scale?  Modern life can make it very hard to keep to a simple and healthy diet for your family. Once you're in the know, you can at least avoid these common traps.

1. Wholegrains have too much fibre for kids

It's only recently that we could be wasteful enough to refine foods, and it wasn't a positive step for anyone, healthwise.  Not only fibre but also vital nutrients get stripped out.

Yet...

"Too much fibre fills up kids' stomachs and they don't eat enough..."

"Too much fibre stops nutrients being absorbed, so kids will suffer..."

Where is the evidence for these endlessly repeated theories?   I can't even find the study which apparently started it all, where a child was unwisely given lots of high bran cereals and fibre supplements (not wholegrains).

This review of the scientific literature asks: should we worry about high fibre for children? Answer: No, we should encourage more fibre.

That could be the last word, but it's worth noting the media hype of a recent UK study on nursery food and nutrition - when they found that nurseries were feeding children lots of fruits and vegetables and not much fat and saturated fat, did they applaud in relief?  No, their nutritionist said this risked the children's health.

Headlines include

• Starving toddlers mistaken for "healthy eating"
• Too much fibre bad for toddlers 

This study did not examine a single child for starvation, poor nutrition, or poor development.  The food served was simply held up against the current nutritional recommendations (strongly influenced by food lobbies for meat, milk, and sugar) and declared wanting.

Some great advice from PCRM - they recommend you encourage a taste for whole grains and avoid sugars and highly processed foods.  It's much harder to get into the whole foods habit if you've always had the softer, sweeter version, but here are some tried and tested hints for transitioning to whole grains.   

2. Kids shouldn't be on a lowfat diet

Humans do need some fats, and young children do need more than adults.  One important natural source of fat for young children is breast milk.  I follow the WHO's recommendations to continue breastfeeding until age 2 and beyond, and one reason is so my children get this vital source of perfectly-designed fats and other nutrients.

But foods today are fattened up in the factory like foie gras geese. If children need more fats to grow, does it follow that we should remain unaware of a child's fat consumption?

You decide....

• New Zealand (2006/7) - 1 in 5 children overweight; 1 in 12 children obese
• USA (2008) - 1 in 3 children overweight; 1 in 5 obese 

A healthy diet means far more than just fat levels.  But fat has 9 calories per gram compared to 4 for carbohydrates and protein.

Some healthy fats come from whole grains, nuts, seeds, and avocados.  But most are refined fats added to processed foods to improve both the mouthfeel of the foods (so your child will want more) and the profit margin for international conglomerate food companies.

So reducing fat in a child's diet is hardly medically risky or child abuse - quite the opposite.

3. My kids aren't fat or unhealthy

Congratulations!  Your kids are young and active, and they're burning off the calories they eat so far.

But their taste buds have been in training since birth.  They taste the flavours of the food their mother eats when they drink breast milk, and they learn to like the solids they're fed thereafter. They won't always be tiny power racers!

Again from PCRM -

"Eating habits are set in early childhood...Children raised on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes grow up to be slimmer and healthier and even live longer than their meat-eating friends."

4. My kids won't eat healthy food

Perhaps not. Mine do eat healthy food as well as more traditional treats, and here's how it happened.  Only you know your family's eating story, but consider the following:

• Do they see you eat and enjoy fruits, vegetables, roots, and whole grains every day?
• Do they get to choose to eat the fruits and vegetables they like?
• Do you present them with care and attention?

As per school rules for healthy eating, I prepared a fruit platter for my son's class for his birthday. They were truly excited to see fresh pineapple, watermelon and cantaloupe (rockmelon), cherry tomatoes, and grapes.

You have power over this - even over strong advertising messages. 

5. If you make kids eat good food, they will just rebel later

OK, I see how that works!

• If you make your kids play outside or do sports, they'll become couch potatoes later.
• If you make your kids learn their school lessons, they'll never read or write again.
• If you make your kids be polite and kind and clean up after themselves, they'll become really rude messy teenagers... OK, slippery slope there.

We show our kids habits when they're young, and they're more likely to continue whatever habits they learned - healthy or not.

Parental influence is very important - learn what works and what backfires.

6. If you restrict unhealthy foods, they will only want them more

While there is some psychological truth to the forbidden fruit theory, remember, that was fruit.

There is a famous study from the 1930s showing that children given a range of basically healthy foods to choose from will eventually select a variety of balanced nutrition.

But your child is in the uncontrolled study called life - and often a child is presented with far more unhealthy choices. There is no natural appetite limiter for refined sweet and fatty foods like doughnuts, chocolate, and fries.  By the time your body says enough, you've already eaten too much.  It's worse for a child, who has more enthusiasm and a smaller stomach.

Of course, like an adult, each child has different tastes - enjoying food is key. 

7. All the other kids eat this way 

Remember what your mother said:

If all the other kids jumped off a cliff, would you jump too?

Peer pressure can help you. Young children are particularly likely to eat what their peers are eating, and that goes for vegetables too.
Crucially, you and your kids can be the change we need to see - wouldn't it be great if all the other kids could be eating (and enjoying) healthy food too?

How do you encourage your kids toward your dream of a healthy diet?

Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by Caldwell B Esselstyn, Jr., M.D. - Book review

Last time I reviewed an exciting book by this man’s son (Engine 2 Diet, Rip Esselstyn).  This book is more technical but in its way, just as exciting.

Dr Esselstyn Jr doesn’t waste any time.  He starts with a colleague’s heart attack experience. Right there on the first page of the first chapter, he says, “coronary artery disease need not exist, and if it does, it need not progress.”  That’s a powerful message given the heartbreaking disease statistics in this country – accounting for 40% of deaths.

The basics

In just four pages he simply summarises all the information you need to make yourself heart attack proof.  

You may not eat:
•    anything with a mother or a face (no meat, poultry, or fish)
•    dairy products
•    oil of any kind – not a drop
•    (generally) nuts or avocados.

You can eat:
•    All vegetables, legumes, and fruits except avocado
•    All whole grains and products (as long as they have no added fat)

You don’t actually need to read the rest of the book.  But it helps.

Current medical model

He continues with the case study of this colleague and his cure from cardiovascular disease through diet.  Then he exposes an inside view on how the current medical model nearly excludes nutrition in favour of drugs and surgery – and how patients continue to sicken and die.  Yet successful nutrition therapy is called radical.


History

Next is the history chapter.  Dr Esselstyn Jr’s father and father in law were both also prominent doctors – but between them “they had diabetes; strokes; prostate, colon, and lung cancer; and coronary artery disease.”  He describes his own “epiphany” where he decides to follow a diet along the lines of his own research. 

Diet on trial

Then we learn about the clinical trial with patients suffering advanced coronary artery disease.  Dr Esselstyn provided an unusual amount of personal support for his patients to help them achieve such a radical change in diet.  The individual patient histories make sobering reading – except where one hospital dietician had prescribed a stick of corn oil margarine a day!

Dr Esselstyn has coined the phrase “Moderation Kills.”  This chapter gets quite biological (some may not want to know about nitric oxide and the effect on your endothelial cells) but it thoroughly explains why the popular attitude of “everything in moderation” has led directly to chronic disease. Cutting back to 29% fat does not promote health.

Results!

The results chapter is amazing – according to the cholesterol levels and angiograms (photos included), all compliant patients halted or reversed their disease and increased their quality of life.  For some perspective, the study was performed in the mid ‘80s and this book in 2007.  Almost all the compliant patients are now in late life and healthy. The control group receiving standard medical treatment experienced the standard steady worsening of cardiovascular disease.

Politics and power

Next is some big picture analysis of the politics of medicine and the power of the status quo.  National health policy is set not according to scientifically known facts but to a blend of financial and cultural pressure.   The animal industry is in charge of health and diet information.  Dr. Esselstyn and his colleagues (in particular including Dr T Colin Campbell) want to stop diluting the message based on what people might want to hear and instead tell the simple truth about the optimal diet.  I’m sure that philosophy will resonate with many committed vegans!
 
He then supplies more details about exactly what his curative diet contains:  “no” foods, “yes” foods, and a few supplements.  A handy FAQ chapter includes some questions familiar to any vegan.

Healthy oils?

The myth of healthy oils is debunked next.  He specifically addresses the study used to promote some oils as healthy choices and introduces further comprehensive data.  While diets minus animal products but including oil show health improvement, removing oil improves health markedly again.  Consuming “healthy oils” can lead to as much disease as saturated fats.

Teamwork

I enjoyed his salute to other professionals in his industry who deliver the nutrition-based approach to health against the tide of the Western approach. Dr Campbell, Pritikin, Dr McDougall, Dr Ornish, Dr Attwood, Dr Demas.  He also presents an inspiring vision of health care aimed at eliminating chronic illness (instead of simply treating the symptoms with expensive drugs). 

The diet prescribed for a healthy heart has been shown to prevent many other chronic diseases often simply blamed on aging, including weight gain, stroke, impotence and even dementia.  And he presents some hope with increasing signs that the message is slowly getting through.

The food

Part two is all about the food itself.  First are a few useful strategies for making major dietary changes with no exceptions, including advice from Ann Esselstyn.  Then comes the usual wide-ranging and tasty recipe book.  Nearly all recipes are strictly vegan, with honey mentioned as one option in several desserts.

I highly recommend this book as an accessible route to a plant-based diet for anyone concerned with their health (or the health of a loved one).

Read an excerpt or buy the book.

Originally published in Autumn, V Magazine, Vegan Society of Aotearoa, New Zealand.

The 99% don't need models

This controversial story about model sizes is the news of the day on my social networks - opinions range from "I still prefer skinny women" to "it shouldn't matter what size you are as long as you're healthy" and anywhere you like in between.

Statistics prove that model sizes have been getting skinnier and skinnier, and the outrage goes into a stampede.

Many of us care deeply about our body's health and attractiveness. Many in the vegetarian and vegan world enjoy that their food helps them increase their health and attractiveness.

And there's no question that the pictures we see influence what we consider beautiful.

But there's a gigantic assumption behind this controversy - so let's question it.

Why do we have models?

It could be....

 They help us choose our clothes by showing us what the clothes look like.

Well, this is the only possible excuse there could be for the entire modelling industry.  If only it weren't a total con.

At any size, a model doesn't look like me...or you

For the 99%, no model is your size or shape.  S/he has been picked specifically to look really good in clothes and in pictures.  When s/he wears clothes, they don't look like they will on you.  And that's before posing, lighting, makeup, hairstyle, and airbrushing.

The only thing a model sells is a fantasy - a hope that you will look that good if you bought those clothes.

It works - advertisers know it.

At a logical level, most of us know the truth.  That model does not help you pick clothes that suit you.  But that professional image goes straight through your logical brain without touching the sides and makes you want what you never needed and will not get.

To your health and happiness

Of course, pursue your own best road to a healthier body and life.

But that doesn't include an argument over anorexic models vs overweight (average) models  They're all unreal commercial images, unworthy of your personal aspiration and acceptance.  There are lots of beautiful people in the real world, and that includes you!

If you are concerned about our runaway body image problems, stop supporting the industries who use models.  There are enough good-quality and attractive secondhand clothes to get you through the rest of your life. 

You really don't need to see what they look like on the model first.

Workout #1 really worked!

I've been following my own advice.

As suggested in Productive Workouts, I tried on all the clothes I owned.  It took time and commitment.  And look at the results...

I thought I'd done a good job of clearing out clothes already.  But trying them all on in a short time worked better because I could:

• really see and feel if the clothes fit
• make firm comparisons: which clothes are better or which I have too many in a type

Two of these shirts were actually in my current active wardrobe - but although they are good quality and comfortable, they are unflattering because of size and cut (and I only allow that in my exercise clothes).

And as I hoped, this exercise added extra motivation for improved fitness, since there's nothing like the nostalgia of remembering how you used to love wearing that.

Naughty bits

I also had fun rediscovering my lingerie collection.   Yes, you don't have to be a size 6 to enjoy these! 

I tried everything on and moved what I want to keep from the storage box into a drawer (emptied by previous decluttering).  I even found a short lingerie wrap that I can use as a summer dressing gown for a bit of well-deserved luxury.

Another triumph for Shopping At Home!

Real Food Part 1: Hate Whole Grains? Here's help!

First, watch Dr John McDougall: Lowfat foods vs whole foods

Whether you're seeking a healthy weight or just plain good health, you need to find your way to whole foods.

Whole Grain Health

Fats

Your body needs some fat.  Not lots of unhealthy fat from doughnuts, fries, butter, or steak. Just the right amount of the essential fats in whole grains and other whole plant foods. 

Brown rice has 3 times the fat of white rice, but the weight-conscious should still go brown because of the...

Fibre

Whole grains have more fibre - refined grains have the fibre removed.  For example, brown rice has more than 3 times the fibre of white.

This makes your food

• Slower to chew
• More filling in your stomach
• Cleansing to your digestive and circulatory systems

Vitamins and minerals

When grains are refined, nutrients leave too.  If you think iron, magnesium, and essential fatty acids are important, think hard about whole grains.

Refined grains?  Stripped grains, more like!  You're being cheated - the majority of grain foods for sale are stripped grains.

Here's a great primer:  Whole Grains 101

For more data, you can't go past the fully searchable USDA Nutrient Database.

We hate whole grains!  What do we do?

Many of us were raised eating stripped grains or just envied those that were.  Your mouth may be telling you that white bread and white rice just taste nicer.

That's a natural body response to a richer calorie source. So is gaining weight.

If (like me) you don't need richer calorie sources, you can gradually increase whole grains in your family's diet.

Go Gradual

Add 1/4 whole grains to your usual serving of grains.

Whole grains have more flavour and adding just a bit is a great way to introduce that taste to the family palate.

Bread

A bit of whole wheat plus a lot of white flour is a very popular standard loaf.  Make your own or buy it.

Rice

Learn how to cook brown rice and mix it into the white rice dish before serving.  If you usually flavour your rice, you will hardly notice the change.

Morning cereal

If you enjoy a hot cereal like cream of wheat (semolina), add 1/4 the amount of natural oatmeal when cooking. 

If you already like oatmeal, replace 100% of it!

Home cooking

If you make cookies or cakes, replace 1/4 of the flour with whole grain flour.  Fresh baked foods are softer and you might even be able to use 1/2 whole grain flour right away.

This vegan pudding was made with breadcrumbs from 30% wholewheat bread.



Next

After a month or two of enjoying better nutrition, try adding 1/2 whole grains.  (Mark it in your calendar.) Your taste will have adjusted - enjoy your success!

Real Food Part 2
 
Coming up: Learn some practical ways to enjoy sweetness with less refined sugar.

Welcome Summer! Easy frugal fatfree vegan banana ice cream

Already down a kg by now...

I couldn't resist the bargain - $3 for 8kgs of overripe bananas!  A sign as clear as a robin that warm weather is here in New Zealand.

Time to make some freezer space for banana ice cream makings.  Whoops, no more room.  Better take some of the frozen ones out and make a treat for the whole family.

Preparation

• Peel 4 ripe bananas and chop into roughly 2cm chunks
• Contain and freeze until firm (I use plastic produce bags)

Ice Cream!

I hear a juicer works really well to do this.  I use a food processor (processor blade, not slicer).

1. If frozen solid, leave bananas to sit for a few minutes
2. Separate frozen pieces and put in processor
3. Add liquid: 1/2 cup water, vegan milk, and/or another (unfrozen) ripe banana
4. Add extras: vanilla, molasses, cocoa, chocolate chips, coconut ....?
5. Process.  This is noisy!

• You may need to stop the processor and stir unmixed banana lumps in.
• You may need to add some more liquid (if you have no creamy bananas at the bottom).

Your patience will be rewarded with a smooth creamy cold treat that you'll wish you'd discovered sooner.  Surprisingly it doesn't taste much of banana - my mother is not a banana fan and still loves this.  And so does everyone else!

The banana boys

15 Years Vegan - Food++

Going vegan means avoiding animal foods and other animal products.  But it doesn't stop there.  This change changes you.

I went on a vegan diet for my health (translated: "to lose weight") - these days that's called a plant-based diet.  It worked a treat and I'm featured as one of Dr McDougall's early Stars.  I've kept most of the weight off, even after two kids, which is great for me.

And while I was learning how to eat only plants, the best information around was from vegans.  


Vegans talk about food

One huge myth about vegans is that they're not that into food (so that's why they don't care about giving up animal foods).  BIG lie.  Pop into a vegan potluck someday to learn the truth.  Don't forget your plate.

But vegans don't just talk about food.  Food is just the most obvious marker of a society doomed by its dependence on killing animals for food and other body products.

Vegans examine basic assumptions I grew up with and expose the propaganda.

Vegans talk about health

Eating animals is bad for human health - everybody's. I learned to look beyond the personal concern for my own body and imagine my country as healthy instead of in a health crisis caused by rich animal foods and rich processed foods.

Vegans talk about hunger

Most of the food livestock eats could have been fed to a starving person.
Most of the land growing food for livestock used to feed people (if it wasn't simply being the earth's lungs).

Vegans talk about happiness

I did not go vegan for the animals.  But now that I have shared the vegan perspective, I cannot go back.  I won't return to the dissonance of pretending that a package of sliced flesh on a supermarket shelf is just another product. 

As if I could choose flesh or a can of beans, and it makes no difference. 

I can't pretend that a slice of cow or sheep is dinner when a slice of cat or dog is horrifying.  I may not be able to help all the cows in all the fields I see, but I am happier knowing they are not there because of me.

Vegans talk about hurting

It might just be possible to eat an animal without hurting her much.  But most animal producers don't bother because they want to make more money. 

Animals get hurt - in horrifying ways and numbers - in their lifetime role as your food.  Vegans and other animal rights activists risk their own safety to show it to you.

When you ignore suffering, your personality changes.  When you eat animals, you ignore suffering.

Vegans talk about the world

The world is overpopulated - with livestock.  Not people.  End of story.

Without livestock overpopulation, we could

• feed all our people, and more
• solve much of our pollution
• save the world (maybe)

I haven't lost animal foods, I've gained awareness. Talk about a win-win.

A Free Lunch - Vegan Soup

I weeded the garden yesterday in a fit of Southern Hemisphere spring energy.  

For those concerned about how much eating healthy costs, let me brag about the harvest.

- 4 tiny potatoes
- 5 leaves of kale
- 3 dandelions
- 10 bunches of parsley
- 25 wild garlic shoots

Soup Time! 

Also into the slow cooker pot went:

- frozen leftovers
- 8 organic carrots (tasted bitter fresh - only getting worse)
- 10 broccoli and cauliflower stems
- salt gathered from cashew and pretzel bulk packs

I shredded the carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower and pureed the kale, dandelion and wild garlic.

Lessons

I should have trimmed off the green blades of the wild garlic and the root tips before soaking them clean.  The dirt from these parts got under the layers of the edible parts and I wasted lots more water getting them clean.

Result

All that wild garlic plus the sweetness of the carrot adds up to a surprisingly delicious, lowfat, super healthy free lunch!  (about 5 litres of free lunch)

Harvard joins the food police - you really are what you eat

Diet enemy #1

Health-conscious?  Here's news you need to know. 

A comprehensive mainstream study from Harvard University confirms the health and weightloss message from my favourite fringe doctors (like Dr McDougall and Dr T Colin Campbell).

Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, cardiologist and epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health:

“This study shows that conventional wisdom — to eat everything in moderation, eat fewer calories and avoid fatty foods — isn’t the best approach."

“There are good foods and bad foods, and the advice should be to eat the good foods more and the bad foods less. The notion that it’s O.K. to eat everything in moderation is just an excuse to eat whatever you want.”

I have to stop quoting.  The whole article is a must read, covering specific types of foods linked to weight gain, exercise, health, television, slow weight gain, and the failure of the single factor approach to weight loss.

Health education with Dr T. Colin Campbell - tune in, turn on, declare independence!

To celebrate Independence Day, I am pleased to announce that, along with my dedicated classmates and following in the footsteps of nutrition activists like J Morris Hicks, I've achieved Dr T Colin Campbell's Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition!

Declare your own independence from drugs and chronic disease today!

Question

The benefits of a healthy lifestyle are undeniable. The public is largely unaware of the preponderance of evidence supporting the health benefits of a whole-food, plant-based diet. Controversy, misunderstanding, and degenerative diseases are rampant. Campbell's eight principles provide a simple framework for understanding the complex processes underlying human health and nutrition.

Write a forty-five- to fifty-second dialogue for a public radio announcement that clearly and effectively communicates an important aspect of this message to the public.

Answer

Health news is confusing and scary - another chemical causes cancer or a gene makes mice fat or thin. One of every two people gets heart disease. Are we doomed to disease?

No! You are in control. Multiple studies show that the food you eat outweighs all of these health factors: genes, toxic chemicals, even exercise. Many doctors, for example Dr T Colin Campbell, want you to know this: Good health comes from whole plant foods like wholegrains, beans, fruits and vegetables. Disease comes from animal foods like meat, eggs, and milk, and refined foods like white flour and sugar.

What happens when you eat a plant-based diet, with too many healthy nutrients to even count? A cancer cell can't grow into a tumour, and tumours shrink. Weight loss comes easily. All your blood vessels stay clear and strong. Even risky genes don't cause disease. Study after study show these results.

The list goes on. With disease, your body is only begging you to clean up your fuel - go plant-strong today and get healthy!

Brought to you by the T Colin Campbell Foundation.

Health education with Dr T. Colin Campbell - hot off the press

As I near the end of Dr T Colin Campbell's Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition, one theme is clear:

Communication is key.

Much of the information we are studying is not even new.  Experts like Dr Campbell have been reporting this vital health news to the public for decades, and yet the medical model recommending barely adequate and usually damaging drugs is far more respected.

Spread the word...

Question

Chronic disease diminishes quality of living, saps human potential, and leads to untold suffering and untimely loss of life. Compelling evidence shows that people can improve or avoid a wide variety of chronic diseases by eating a plant-based diet.

Write a press release on an issue you found particularly compelling regarding the benefits of a plant-based diet in chronic disease.

Answer

Eating plants, not animals, reverses all of the big four: obesity, cancer, heart disease, and diabetes

June 1, 2011. Move over, miracle drugs! Obesity, cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes could be wiped out in weeks all using the same simple cure - eating a plant-based diet that is lowfat and avoids animal foods. Nutrition experts like Dr. T Colin Campbell, Dr. Esselstyn, Jr., and Dr. John McDougall have the studies and real-life patient successes to prove it.

Worldwide, scientists and laypeople search for cures for these killer diseases using millions of dollars in grants and donations. This month's miracle drug is next month's horror story, and our family and friends only get sicker. Healthcare cost the US a trillion dollars in 1997, and far too many people are uninsured. With the economy in a delicate balance, applying such a simple solution to most of our major health problems is quite literally a life saver.

Drs. T Colin Campbell, Esselstyn, Jr., John McDougall and Dean Ornish have worked with patients and the public for several decades to report this information, and you can benefit right away from their solid research. Few if any special products are needed, and a plant-based diet works just as well as a preventative as a cure for young and old alike. It really is as simple as choosing different daily meals: oatmeal not eggs, salad sandwiches not ham, and veggie stirfry not steak. Heart pain disappears, pounds melt away, cancer tumors shrink and diabetics can reduce or even stop their injections. And nutrition therapy can work for people who can't even be prescribed standard treatments due to the risk.

Learn more from http://www.tcolincampbell.org/ or from Dr Campbell's acclaimed book, The China Study.

Brought to you from the T Colin Campbell Foundation. Dr. Campbell is the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University. He has more than seventy grant-years of peer-reviewed research funding and authored more than 300 research papers and coauthor of the bestselling book, The China Study: Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health.

Health education with Dr T. Colin Campbell - straight from the heart

I continue to be amazed by the wealth of information in every stage of Dr T Colin Campbell's Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition.  As I approach the end of stage 3, I have enjoyed lectures from (obviously) Dr Campbell, but also Dr McDougall, Dr Esselstyn, Dr Popper, Jeff Novick, RD, and many other experts in nutrition and even environmental and sports science.  Every single lecture has vital information for improving your health.

Here's the next in the series of my answers to course discussion questions:

Question
A common approach to dietary change includes the combined strategies of moderation and incremental progress: resisting overindulgence while taking small steps toward a dietary goal.

Dr. Esselstyn is unsympathetic to this approach, and with doctors who say his approach is too extreme. According to him, "moderation kills."

A close friend has heart disease. He is willing to consider altering his diet, but his cardiologist tells him his condition could be easily managed with medication, and the friend is concerned about missing out on all that is good (and fatty) in life. Without giving medical advice, discuss his options with him, as you see them.

Answer

It must be a real shock to find out you have heart disease - what a difficult time for you and your whole family.

I'm sure it's a relief when your cardiologist tells you your heart disease is easily manageable by medication and some small changes in your diet. You might also want to talk with your doctor about another proven treatment option recommended by other heart disease experts, including Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr.

On the one hand, using medication and moderation will get you a bit better. You will be able to return to an almost normal lifestyle, and when you have pains, you know that you can take your medication. Your cardiologist knows that you will probably not return to the hospital for some time with further heart disease symptoms, and that is one marker of success. But statistics show that you will return eventually.

A comment from the editor of the Harvard Heart Letter shows the usual medical attitude toward heart disease: “The best that can be hoped for in this disease is to slow the rate of progression.”

On the other hand, the cause of your heart disease is already known, and you could actually heal it yourself - for life.

When anybody eats fatty foods, their blood vessels harden almost immediately and blood can’t get through to deliver oxygen. Heart disease is the damage to your body from years of a high-fat diet several times a day. Everyone in the USA who eats meat and eggs, or drinks milk, or uses oil, has this damage to their blood vessels by they time they reach adulthood. But this damage is reversible, simply by eating low fat plant based foods like grains, beans, fruits and vegetables instead of animal foods like meat, eggs, milk, and by avoiding oil.

People of all ages and stages of heart disease have regained blood flow throughout their bodies by changing their diets to low fat plant based foods like grains, beans, fruits and vegetables. If a 75-year-old who had a 248 cholesterol level can drop to 137 in 2 weeks, you have a great chance too.

In one of Dr Esselstyn’s studies, 18 patients had suffered 49 coronary problems (strokes, angina, surgery) prior to starting his program. 17 of them had no further coronary problems in 12 years! Whereas the six patients in Dr Esselstyn’s study who returned to their cardiologists for standard treatment had 13 new coronary events between them – and one of those “events” was death.

When you stop damaging your blood vessels with fats and oils, your amazing body sets to work and repairs the cells very quickly - within weeks. And you'll probably lose weight as well.

I don't have heart disease symptoms, but I did lose a lot of weight with this way of eating, and it really changes what you can do with your body. It may sound weird to give up so many familiar foods that your own doctor says you can still eat, but just imagine: life with no more angina pains.

And it’s not just your heart that improves. Your whole body needs oxygen from blood. How you would feel: lighter and with blood carrying oxygen to your heart and brain and arms and legs again like it should? Imagine staving off senile dementia and lack of muscle control that so many aging people suffer due to reduced blood flow to the brain.

Imagine who you would be again, to your children and grandchildren. Imagine not fearing that return trip to the hospital (or fearing that you won't even make it to the hospital). And all this while still enjoying some of your favourite meals but using different recipes - you can still have hot pizza and Mexican bean burritos!

If you want to read more about this other option, Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr has all the information and references you need. I'd love to see you cured of your heart disease.