I've been reading The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan lately. If you haven't read it yet, it's a great read -- fascinating, gripping and informative but not burdened by ideological zealotry. I'd like to talk more about that in another post, but for now, I just want to mention a particular kind of experience I'm having with the book, one that happens frequently with me.
I remember when I first became interested in health and whole foods and health, and I remember the form my interest took. What I don't remember exactly is what caused me to engage in particular activities or directed me to particular books. I never have been much of a joiner, so I know it wasn't participation in any kind of group or group activity that stimulated or directed me. Undoubtedly I was subconsciously absorbing cultural trends at the time. I was probably at the early end of that because the ideas so resonated with my own worldview.
Certainly in reading Pollan's book, I am struck by how I was on a parallel, if individual, path alongside some of the early "hippie" pioneers in the whole foods movement. I first became vegetarian in the late sixties. I was married in 1970, and within a year as I took on the responsibility for preparing family meals was reading everything I could put my hands on related to health and whole foods. By 1972, I was pregnant with my first child, and we bought a farm near Galena, Illinois. I hoped to live on it fulltime. Among other things, I wanted to complete the whole food circle, that is, I wanted to grow what I then turned into food, and I wanted my (yet unborn) children to experience where their food came from. I wanted to have what we now call a "small footprint," even live "off-the-grid."
Along with my whole food and health reading, which included my bible, Frances Moore Lappe's Diet for a Small Planet, I was a subscriber to Organic Gardening. I looked for solutions to my gardening problems in its pages and tried them out in my large garden and orchard. I picked up books on solar power and windmills. I fell heir to an authentic log cabin on the farm, which we restored. It was built of whole oak logs with chinking. The windows were small and the ceilings low. I put a concealed heatilator in the restored stone fireplace -- a new idea at the time and something I had to argue forcefully for with my friend/contractor, who eventually put one into the nearby home he built for himself as well. I also put in an energy efficient wood-burning stove. The home was deliciously cool in summer without air-conditioning and toasty warm in winter.
While I guess I knew at some level that what I was exploring personally constituted a "back-to-the-earth" movement in the country at large, I was only peripherally aware of all that. Mostly I was on a mission to do the best things for my growing family that I knew how to do, and my instincts directed me to the earth, to what was natural, and to participating in nourishing life -- my own and that of my family -- not delegating that task. Having my hands and my imagination involved in planting and harvesting (without toxins) and in preparing wholesome and delicious food was deeply spiritual, meaningful and rewarding.
In Dilemma, Michael Pollan refers to the work of historian Warren J. Belasco, who writes that the 1969 events in People's Park in Berkeley marked the greening of the counterculture that developed in the sixties, a counterculture that ultimately changed the way we eat. Among other activities, these hippies, calling themselves "agrarian reformers," planted a garden and announced their intention to eat "uncontaminated" food. 1969, the greening of the counterculture year, was the year I first became vegetarian and just two years before I started tilling my own soil and preparing my own uncontaminated food.
Now I find myself again part of a movement that is taking shape. I didn't plan that. I just continued doing what I have always done but in a new environment, beyond the context of my family. As the owner of a small vegetarian cafe, my deepest commitment to my customers is that their food will all be prepared on-site, from fresh and real ingredients. I like to do the cooking myself or in cooperation with my associate, Jame Thompson -- that is, I like to involve my own hands and tastebuds in the food as well as my philosophy of food preparation and eating. I serve to my customers foods that I would have served -- and do serve -- to my family, using the same ingredients, that is, fresh, whole foods. I no longer have the joy of my garden and orchard, but I started in the food service business as part of the Woodstock Farmers Market, which operates across the street from my new permanent location six months of the year.
When I expressed dismay about wait times customers sometimes had to endure when I first opened, someone mentioned to me that my food isn't Fast Food -- it's Slow Food, and that there is a movement for it. I looked it up -- yes, it's true. The Slow Food Movement, an international movement that started in Italy, where one purpose was to stress the joy of eating good food over the economy or speed of it. Slow Food, according to Pollan, "seeks to defend traditional food cultures against the global tide of homogenization." On the internet, Slow Food bills itself as "Food with Meaning."
Closely related to Slow Food is the movement to restate the value of traditional diets, represented in the Weston Price Foundation and in Sally Fallon's book, Nourishing Traditions. Dr. Weston Price was a dentist who noticed that isolated tribes had better teeth and generally better health than people from industrialized countries and set out to explore why. His dietary observations are provided with scientific underpinning by Sally Fallon, a nutrition expert who now runs the Foundation.
Portions of the diet promoted by Fallon don't work well for me personally since they involve meat, which I don't eat -- and more fats than I can well tolerate. The concept of food with history being healthier and more sustainable, though, resonates deeply with me. Food with history is whole food, comfort food, at least used to be uncontaminated food and can be again -- and has stood the test of time for providing wholesome nourishment. Food with history and Slow Food is food that involves hands-on and that implies personal engagement, not delegation.
So my third Rx for healthy eating -- is make your food yourself or get it from someone you trust who makes it themself. Use whole and fresh ingredients, or make certain that the place where you get your food uses whole and fresh ingredients. As an overall diet plan, find a traditional diet that you like and that works for you, and browse those cookbooks or find friends who can show you how they prepare foods from their native cuisines. Of course, variety is the spice of life, but jumping from cuisine to cuisine without understanding nutrition can result in some significant nutritional gaps. The easy way to cover those bases without becoming a nutrition professor is to stay, much of the time, within an ethnic cuisine with history. These are ethnic diets that have stood the test of time and tend to intuitively provide complete nutrition. This caveat requires a disclaimer -- ethnic cuisines are part of a surrounding climate, geography and lifestyle so may not work well for someone in a very different environment. In other words, an Eskimo diet might not work well for someone at a desk job in Missouri.
And read The Omnivore's Dilemma. It's a great read and so informative!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Addendum to Eat Like a Diabetic
Recently a family member was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, a terrible disease with a dismally low survival rate. Coincidentally, Steve Jobs announced his leave of absence from Apple today -- Steve Jobs was treated for pancreatic cancer in 2004 and survives today, 6 years later. This fact prompted me to do some additional internet research, and I came across the following from SmartPlanet.com.
"...Changes in DNA can start occurring decades before the cancer is detected by a biopsy. A biopsy diagnosis is currently seen as too late to save most people.
"The Hopkins researchers are looking at changes in a gene known as KRAS, because that is where most mutations in pancreatic cancers are found. If a test can be developed for the early mutations, people who seem to be at risk can be screened, the cancer found before it develops, and lives will be saved.
"But which people should be screened first?
"A study published last year in Cancer Causes and Control, conducted in Italy, said frequent meat eaters were twice as likely to get the disease, especially if they also ate a lot of table sugar and potatoes.
"A second study, also done in Italy, found a high glycemic index increases the risk by 78 percent. The index was found in diabetes research, and indicates the speed at which your body absorbs carbohydrates.
"...Check this against your present diet. A high glycemic index will be 70 or higher, a low index 55 or lower."
In addition, I am very intrigued by the CAAT Diet, explored by the A.P. John Institute for Cancer Research. The CAAT Diet, Controlled Amino Acid Therapy, limits the intake of certain amino acids and of certain carbohydrates and sugars while emphasizing the intake of others in order to starve the cancer cells.
I wonder if anyone has had experience with the efficacy of this diet?
"...Changes in DNA can start occurring decades before the cancer is detected by a biopsy. A biopsy diagnosis is currently seen as too late to save most people.
"The Hopkins researchers are looking at changes in a gene known as KRAS, because that is where most mutations in pancreatic cancers are found. If a test can be developed for the early mutations, people who seem to be at risk can be screened, the cancer found before it develops, and lives will be saved.
"But which people should be screened first?
"A study published last year in Cancer Causes and Control, conducted in Italy, said frequent meat eaters were twice as likely to get the disease, especially if they also ate a lot of table sugar and potatoes.
"A second study, also done in Italy, found a high glycemic index increases the risk by 78 percent. The index was found in diabetes research, and indicates the speed at which your body absorbs carbohydrates.
"...Check this against your present diet. A high glycemic index will be 70 or higher, a low index 55 or lower."
In addition, I am very intrigued by the CAAT Diet, explored by the A.P. John Institute for Cancer Research. The CAAT Diet, Controlled Amino Acid Therapy, limits the intake of certain amino acids and of certain carbohydrates and sugars while emphasizing the intake of others in order to starve the cancer cells.
I wonder if anyone has had experience with the efficacy of this diet?
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Eat Like A Diabetic
I always thought that I ate really well, that is really healthfully. One day I was sitting in a restaurant with a friend who had recently been diagnosed with diabetes, and we were talking about which foods she could order. Foods that I thought might be appropriate turned out not to be her best choices. It wasn't that my choices weren't healthy -- it's just that they weren't necessarily optimum foods for her according to the Glycemic Index. She was working from a different set of principles than those that had set my course for many years. My friend told me a little about the diet plan she was following for her diabetes, and I found what she had to say very interesting. As soon as I had a chance, I began to reserach the principles of the Glycemic Index on my own.
That was 10 years ago or more. Since that time, health practitioners have written and spoken more and more about the Glycemic Index and the benefits of an "anti-inflammatory" diet. The more I read, the more the information makes sense to me. Basically the idea is that the American diet, high as it is in sugar and low in fiber, contributes to a chronic inflammatory condition in our bodies. In this country, most of us eat in such a way that our blood sugar spikes and then drops throughout the day. The spikes are inflammatory and contribute to most of the major diseases of aging, including many forms of cancer and heart disease, Alzheimer's and diabetes.
As diabetics know, it is possible to eat in such a way as to avoid the spikes in blood sugar -- that is, it is possible to control diabetes through diet, maintaining a stable blood sugar level. As we maintain a constant blood sugar level, we eliminate the spikes in blood sugar, reduce the work load on our bodies to handle those spikes -- and contribute positively to our longer range health picture.
The idea that it is important to maintain a constant blood sugar level is not new -- at least not to diabetics and their physicians. The specific link to the diseases of aging and the application of the Glycemic Index as an important principle for the general (non-diabetic) population is new. I think it is one of the most important health discoveries in my lifetime.
Eating in a non-inflammatory way is easy. It's easy to locate and review a Glycemic Index that rates foods according to the extent to which they cause (or don't cause) spikes in blood sugar. Eating foods that are lower on the Glycemic Index and eliminating or minimizing consumption of foods that are higher is much easier, in my opinion, than counting calories. And there are nice surprises along the way! Sweet potatoes are lower on the Index than white potatoes, for example, and therefore make a better food choice. No surprise -- and correlating to our Fabulous Fiber Rx, whole grains are lower on the Index than refined.
So, the second pillar in my health Rx: Become familiar with how foods are listed in the Glycemic Index, and start eating the non-inflammatory way.
That was 10 years ago or more. Since that time, health practitioners have written and spoken more and more about the Glycemic Index and the benefits of an "anti-inflammatory" diet. The more I read, the more the information makes sense to me. Basically the idea is that the American diet, high as it is in sugar and low in fiber, contributes to a chronic inflammatory condition in our bodies. In this country, most of us eat in such a way that our blood sugar spikes and then drops throughout the day. The spikes are inflammatory and contribute to most of the major diseases of aging, including many forms of cancer and heart disease, Alzheimer's and diabetes.
As diabetics know, it is possible to eat in such a way as to avoid the spikes in blood sugar -- that is, it is possible to control diabetes through diet, maintaining a stable blood sugar level. As we maintain a constant blood sugar level, we eliminate the spikes in blood sugar, reduce the work load on our bodies to handle those spikes -- and contribute positively to our longer range health picture.
The idea that it is important to maintain a constant blood sugar level is not new -- at least not to diabetics and their physicians. The specific link to the diseases of aging and the application of the Glycemic Index as an important principle for the general (non-diabetic) population is new. I think it is one of the most important health discoveries in my lifetime.
Eating in a non-inflammatory way is easy. It's easy to locate and review a Glycemic Index that rates foods according to the extent to which they cause (or don't cause) spikes in blood sugar. Eating foods that are lower on the Glycemic Index and eliminating or minimizing consumption of foods that are higher is much easier, in my opinion, than counting calories. And there are nice surprises along the way! Sweet potatoes are lower on the Index than white potatoes, for example, and therefore make a better food choice. No surprise -- and correlating to our Fabulous Fiber Rx, whole grains are lower on the Index than refined.
So, the second pillar in my health Rx: Become familiar with how foods are listed in the Glycemic Index, and start eating the non-inflammatory way.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Fabulous Fiber
My Arkansas grandmother died of colon cancer in her 60s. I was in college at the time and had always been very close to her -- so her death at such a young age was very hard. My grandmother was a strong and deeply caring woman. As church visitor, she regularly ministered to the sick and addicted. She was an inspiring teacher, bringing two hundred adults to her classes every Sunday morning. She helped so many people return to fulfilling lives -- and yet she was unable to halt or even slow the progress of her own disease. Her deep faith and strength of character were not enough to sustain her physical well-being.
Like many people who come face-to-face with the death of a loved one, I was probably searching for answers at some level. Perhaps the search wasn't active, but I know I asked myself why such a good woman suffered so terribly from a disease that ultimately caused her death. Was there any way this outcome could have been prevented? In some ways, my reading and research into health in the early 70s was a search to answer those questions.
The health literature at the time seemed to take two paths, one a more spiritual journey, focused on meditation and bio-feedback and the other a more "material" journey focued on nutrition, body mechanics and chemistry. My grandmother had a deeper, stronger faith than anyone I have ever known. As I said, her faith carried many others through their debilitating health and addiction issues. I was inspired by her in this area, and as much as I enjoyed reading about the mind-body connection and the various forms of spirituality that were of interest at that time, I gravitated toward more practical and material wellness literature. A recurring theme that jumped out at me was the lack of fiber in the typical American diet. This theme hit home as the point was repeatedly made that the incidence of cancer, particularly colon cancer, was dramatically lower in areas where people still lived according to a "traditional" diet, that is, whole, natural fiber-rich foods.
Fiber -- the indigestible part of the food we eat, some water soluble and some not -- turns out to be important in digestion and specifically important for colon health. Much of what I read 40 years ago was probably anecdotal, intuitive or deductive, but the importance of fiber has now been documented. The American Dietetic Association recommends a daily allowance of 25-30 grams of fiber per day, but despite what we know, the average American consumes much less. My grandmother's southern diet was full of white flour and sugar products, bacon and bacon fat and was certainly very deficient in fiber. Although I'm sure there was no single cause of my grandmother's colon cancer, her fiber-deficient diet seemed to me to be deeply implicated in her disease. Even after her diagnosis, there was no one in the south at that time who would have recommended dietary changes to incorporate more fiber. 100% whole grain breads would never have been recommended as a replacement for white pull-apart rolls.
Over time, I changed my own diet to incorporate many more high fiber foods. It became routine for me to search out 100% whole grain breads, which at first I didn't like as well as the fluffy white breads I had grown up with. Tastes do change over time, though, and nowadays, I prefer grainy breads and pastas to their white counterparts. I learned from my own experience that I felt more satisfied after eating a fiber-rich meal -- and stayed satisfied longer. I had reached my first milestone on my path toward better health: I had understood the importance of fiber and had incorporated that understanding into a lifetime eating practice that worked for me. I made a rule for myself which I follow to this day (when I'm not being lazy), that I would allow myself to eat as much as I would like as long as it was at a certain level of quality -- that is, for example, I would eat as much bread as I would like but only bread that was 100% whole grain. This effectively eliminated those pesky, nutritionally depleted, restaurant roll baskets!
My grandmother was first diagnosed in her 50s, and the entire time she was in and out of hospitals, she was never introduced to the kind of information that might have caused her to adjust her diet. I am now 62 and have lived two thirds of my life paying attention to the fiber component in my diet. I believe it has been an effective weight maintenance tool, effective in maintaining the health of my digestive tract, especially my colon, and I have rarely left a table hungry. On the contrary, I have enjoyed many delicious, nutritious and satisfying meals without gaining lots of weight by simply keeping my focus on the fiber content of the meal.
So, the first pillar in my health Rx: Enrich your meals and snacks with Fabulous Fiber.
Like many people who come face-to-face with the death of a loved one, I was probably searching for answers at some level. Perhaps the search wasn't active, but I know I asked myself why such a good woman suffered so terribly from a disease that ultimately caused her death. Was there any way this outcome could have been prevented? In some ways, my reading and research into health in the early 70s was a search to answer those questions.
The health literature at the time seemed to take two paths, one a more spiritual journey, focused on meditation and bio-feedback and the other a more "material" journey focued on nutrition, body mechanics and chemistry. My grandmother had a deeper, stronger faith than anyone I have ever known. As I said, her faith carried many others through their debilitating health and addiction issues. I was inspired by her in this area, and as much as I enjoyed reading about the mind-body connection and the various forms of spirituality that were of interest at that time, I gravitated toward more practical and material wellness literature. A recurring theme that jumped out at me was the lack of fiber in the typical American diet. This theme hit home as the point was repeatedly made that the incidence of cancer, particularly colon cancer, was dramatically lower in areas where people still lived according to a "traditional" diet, that is, whole, natural fiber-rich foods.
Fiber -- the indigestible part of the food we eat, some water soluble and some not -- turns out to be important in digestion and specifically important for colon health. Much of what I read 40 years ago was probably anecdotal, intuitive or deductive, but the importance of fiber has now been documented. The American Dietetic Association recommends a daily allowance of 25-30 grams of fiber per day, but despite what we know, the average American consumes much less. My grandmother's southern diet was full of white flour and sugar products, bacon and bacon fat and was certainly very deficient in fiber. Although I'm sure there was no single cause of my grandmother's colon cancer, her fiber-deficient diet seemed to me to be deeply implicated in her disease. Even after her diagnosis, there was no one in the south at that time who would have recommended dietary changes to incorporate more fiber. 100% whole grain breads would never have been recommended as a replacement for white pull-apart rolls.
Over time, I changed my own diet to incorporate many more high fiber foods. It became routine for me to search out 100% whole grain breads, which at first I didn't like as well as the fluffy white breads I had grown up with. Tastes do change over time, though, and nowadays, I prefer grainy breads and pastas to their white counterparts. I learned from my own experience that I felt more satisfied after eating a fiber-rich meal -- and stayed satisfied longer. I had reached my first milestone on my path toward better health: I had understood the importance of fiber and had incorporated that understanding into a lifetime eating practice that worked for me. I made a rule for myself which I follow to this day (when I'm not being lazy), that I would allow myself to eat as much as I would like as long as it was at a certain level of quality -- that is, for example, I would eat as much bread as I would like but only bread that was 100% whole grain. This effectively eliminated those pesky, nutritionally depleted, restaurant roll baskets!
My grandmother was first diagnosed in her 50s, and the entire time she was in and out of hospitals, she was never introduced to the kind of information that might have caused her to adjust her diet. I am now 62 and have lived two thirds of my life paying attention to the fiber component in my diet. I believe it has been an effective weight maintenance tool, effective in maintaining the health of my digestive tract, especially my colon, and I have rarely left a table hungry. On the contrary, I have enjoyed many delicious, nutritious and satisfying meals without gaining lots of weight by simply keeping my focus on the fiber content of the meal.
So, the first pillar in my health Rx: Enrich your meals and snacks with Fabulous Fiber.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Health and Good Eats!
Do you remember the "health food nuts" of the 60s and 70s? People like Adelle Davis and Euell Gibbons? These were health and nutrition pioneers whose anecdotal insights turned out to be prophetic. Their theories have been largely supported by a growing body of science, and now it is a commonplace that we should eat more whole foods and fiber and avoid pesticides and food additives whenever possible.
I remember them well! When I was first exposed to their writings . . . and although I do remember these writers and others, I don't remember when or how I started to explore them . . . something just sounded right to me. I began to look for more material and to read everything I could find from cover to cover. My bible was Frances Moore Lappe's Diet for a Small Planet, a book that combined a philosophy of health with a global ethical consciousness that inspired me.
I also remember in my enthusiasm making a whole wheat carrot cake for my first son's first birthday. My family teased me mercilessly, but it is an often requested item nowadays. In fact, I made that very same cake for each of my sons on their 30th birthdays, and it was a big hit!
I also shared the recipe with my grandson's parents so they could make it for him on his first birthday. What a difference 30 years makes! No teasing over Zachary's first birthday cake. Everyone loved the recipe and wanted a copy.
Then there was the conversation I had with a friend who was complaining about a leg cramping issue. We were sitting in the living room with all the kids running around the house. I referred my friend to The Encyclopedia of Common Diseases by the Staff of Prevention Magazine (Rodale Press, 1976). My then 6 year-old son paused in his running around to chime in, "Oh, yeah, the one that tells you to take two raisins and call in the morning if you're not better!" Imagine -- even my six year old found my fascination with what we called "health food" a good target for his precocious humor.
Yes, things are very different now. There have been so many discoveries, so much new and useful research. Nutrition and whole health is one of the most exciting areas of discovery during the last thirty years, and I am proud to be the owner of a cafe that serves food that is not only good -- but good for you.
I still like to read and think and talk about health and good food. I am an avid cook, and I try to incorporate what I know about health into my cooking. I don't ever want to lose the joy of eating good tasting food, and I have worked hard over the years to make food that tastes delicious to friends and family who may not share my enthusiasm for nutrition. It gives me special pleasure when dubious non-vegetarians come into the cafe and leave filled and happy that they have enjoyed a really good meal.
I'd like to use my posts to share my ongoing thoughts and ideas about making delicious, nutritious food -- and to hear your thoughts and ideas.
In my next three posts, I'd like to talk about three milestone "issues" in my own journey toward healthful cooking and eating: fiber, the glycemic index and food with "history". In the meantime, happy eating. Please visit my website, http://www.expresslyleslie.com/, or better yet, visit my cafe at 100 S. Johnson St., On the Square in Woodstock, Illinois.
I remember them well! When I was first exposed to their writings . . . and although I do remember these writers and others, I don't remember when or how I started to explore them . . . something just sounded right to me. I began to look for more material and to read everything I could find from cover to cover. My bible was Frances Moore Lappe's Diet for a Small Planet, a book that combined a philosophy of health with a global ethical consciousness that inspired me.
I also remember in my enthusiasm making a whole wheat carrot cake for my first son's first birthday. My family teased me mercilessly, but it is an often requested item nowadays. In fact, I made that very same cake for each of my sons on their 30th birthdays, and it was a big hit!
I also shared the recipe with my grandson's parents so they could make it for him on his first birthday. What a difference 30 years makes! No teasing over Zachary's first birthday cake. Everyone loved the recipe and wanted a copy.
Then there was the conversation I had with a friend who was complaining about a leg cramping issue. We were sitting in the living room with all the kids running around the house. I referred my friend to The Encyclopedia of Common Diseases by the Staff of Prevention Magazine (Rodale Press, 1976). My then 6 year-old son paused in his running around to chime in, "Oh, yeah, the one that tells you to take two raisins and call in the morning if you're not better!" Imagine -- even my six year old found my fascination with what we called "health food" a good target for his precocious humor.
Yes, things are very different now. There have been so many discoveries, so much new and useful research. Nutrition and whole health is one of the most exciting areas of discovery during the last thirty years, and I am proud to be the owner of a cafe that serves food that is not only good -- but good for you.
I still like to read and think and talk about health and good food. I am an avid cook, and I try to incorporate what I know about health into my cooking. I don't ever want to lose the joy of eating good tasting food, and I have worked hard over the years to make food that tastes delicious to friends and family who may not share my enthusiasm for nutrition. It gives me special pleasure when dubious non-vegetarians come into the cafe and leave filled and happy that they have enjoyed a really good meal.
I'd like to use my posts to share my ongoing thoughts and ideas about making delicious, nutritious food -- and to hear your thoughts and ideas.
In my next three posts, I'd like to talk about three milestone "issues" in my own journey toward healthful cooking and eating: fiber, the glycemic index and food with "history". In the meantime, happy eating. Please visit my website, http://www.expresslyleslie.com/, or better yet, visit my cafe at 100 S. Johnson St., On the Square in Woodstock, Illinois.
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