Beany Ice Creamy

I found this recipe on Dr. Fuhrman's website, tried it, liked it, made a couple of corrections, and present it here.

The recipe on his website is for Strawberry Ice Cream made with aquafaba. Aquafaba is really just bean juice.

Yup, like we used to throw away after we cooked our beans.

The attraction is that this previous discard whips up like whipped cream, but without the fat, more stable than whipped cream and also replaces eggs. And with a beany taste and some of the nutritional benefits of beans. And no fat, cholesterol or high-grade animal protein that's really metabolic poison.

Weird, huh? But I like it and will make it again and again. No more wasted bean broth in my home.

Super delicious, cheap, healthy, flexible and useful ingredient, just my style.

Did I mention that I love eating this way?

Ingredients:
2 cups frozen strawberries
1 frozen banana
1/4 cup Medjool, regular or chopped dates
1/2 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
1 cup whipped aquafaba (see note)

Directions:
Blend dates with milk in high power blender until smooth. 
Add berries and blend.
Add banana and blend. 
Gently stir or fold in aquafaba.
Freeze in bread pan or similar, at least 2 hours. 
Scoop it up, add toppings (nuts, seeds) as desired.

Note: Whipped aquafaba is made with bean cooking liquid. Garbanzos (chick peas) are best with this recipe 'cause they're light colored, but with dark bean liquid we'll make chocolate mousse (another recipe on Dr. Fuhrman's website). He's also got quiche and frittata recipes, plus there's plenty more on the net.  

The juice from 1 can (3/4 cup) makes about 2 cups whipped aquafaba. Add 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice or 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar. Cool it to at least room temperature. Whip with a hand or stand mixer like whipping cream until it forms stiff peaks. The bean juice from cooking your own beans is likely too thin, at least mine was. I started with a cup of bean liquid and reduced it 25% by microwaving in a big glass measuring cup. If when it cools down it's too thin (like syrup) then thicken it, if it's too stiff (like jello) then re-heat with a little added water.

I made this with raspberries the first time, and the intensity of the raspberries made the beany taste go away. We didn't freeze it the first time so it was more like pudding, but still delicious (this instruction was missing from Dr. Fuhrman's site, maybe we won't need this with more practice).

With strawberries the second time (using the rest of the previous night's batch) the beany taste was slight, but not a problem. Annette says it's like a fruit sherbet. Next time I'll try frozen blueberries or blackberries. I can hardly wait to cook more beans!

Plus I'll get my feet wet with aquafaba's other uses, like as an egg and fat replacement in meringues, pies, chocolate mousse, nougat and fudge, buttercream frosting, brownies, cookies, pancakes, butter, creamy dip, mayonnaise, and general egg and fat replacement in baking. And more.

I also love exploring, inventing and modifying new recipes. That's not essential to being a nutritarian, but in my case it helps.

New Understandings

AirMed Helicopter

From time to time I hear the machine-gun fast whomp-whomp-whomp of a helicopter like this one, taking off about  half a mile from my house.

It always reminds me of, well, me.

I was a difficult patient at the E.R. I didn't want air transport, didn't think it was necessary, and resented the huge bill that would come with the service. Unnecessary waste, in my opinion.

Feeble and stupid reasoning, I know.

So it turns out I was right based on the immediate outcome, because the interventional cardiologists at the University Hospital in Salt Lake couldn't do anything for me, but I understand and appreciate the reasoning behind the E.R. doctor's insistence. I even understand her not giving me appropriate medication, as in a dose of nitroglycerin.

Dr. Polokoff says I could have sued.

I just think the E.R. doctor was scared spitless about being sued the other way, for any possible negative consequences of not absolutely insisting I be transported by helicopter. It's the standard of care, after all.

Just not my standard.

But what would you expect after walking into a hospital emergency room? Choices? Nope. Mention that this was overkill and hope to be taken seriously? Never. You give up all rights to self resolution when you walk in to the E.R. and sign the papers, and scare your wife to death that you'll die in the car with her driving and she'll likely have a fatal accident..

Sigh.

But I'm glad for, and would never do without, my ornery self-reliant attitude, my sense that I will overcome this by learning and doing better. The good doctor's resistance to my suggestions only made that resolve stronger, after all.

And I very much appreciate the doctors at the U. of U. Medical center cath lab trying and failing to correct the problem, and confirming my sense that I would have to learn and take action on my own. A new stent would be absolutely nothing compared to that.

I even appreciate the terrible food the hospital tried to serve me. It very much seemed they were determined to keep me sick, make a return visit necessary, and make sure I understood my nutrition first philosophy was out of wack with their medical expertise, when really it was the other way around.

How could anyone be more blessed, or lucky, or fortunate, or whatever you call it?

Probably couldn't have turned out any better regardless. Probably would have been worse, in fact, without the [waste of a] helicopter ride. I got a complete diagnosis and set of scans to be used for my current involvement with Dr. Polukoff.

So my  number one lesson from the visit with Dr. Polukoff is the end result.

Perspective.

My good fortune continued when I found Dr. Fuhrman, and was preceded by my wife's cure from diabetes.

And the desire to learn more and do better. I know he has lots to teach me about my specific situation, and for that I'm extremely grateful.

And I have a sense that I am indeed fortunate to have had this experience, and that I owe a debt that I want to pay back, by virtue of these experiences.

What's the opposite of a perfect storm? A perfect outcome by virtue of perfect understanding, validated by knowledge and practice.

But wait, there's more.

By working with Dr. Polukoff, I'm looking forward to substantial validation of my current course. And by learning and preparing for the visit, by re-reading Dr. Esselstein's book (done), and Dr. Fuhrman's book The End of Heart Disease (in progress), eating better (substantial progress), and exercising better (doing it - joined a gym ((Kubex)), so I'm looking forward to building some muscle along with losing some fat and improvements in my aerobic and heart fitness).

Dr. Polukoff even suggested I take in Dr. Esselstein's on-line training. Another chance to learn and build my knowledge base? Yippee!!

And having an expert review of three sets of complete scans and tests appropriate to my situation, and getting a highly personalized reading and recommendations for course correction.

It just doesn't get any better than that.

A New Beginning

The Reason For My Doctor Visit? I didn't want to be here.... again

Last time started my telling of a doctors visit.

A little more background seems appropriate.

The major attraction of a Whole Food Plant Based Diet (WFPB) is that it  works. But equally important is that it's something I can do on my own, safely and without fearing any negative consequences.

And way better in those regards than standard medical treatment.

When I started, I didn't have medical insurance.  All doctor visits, prescriptions, procedures and advanced diagnostic procedures were, therefore, on my own dime. And the way I live spare dimes are not to be wasted.

Would I prefer to have been able to afford more medical care? Well, yes and no.

Yes, it would have been an advantage to have better medical monitoring of my recovery. No, I didn't want or need the standard medical party line.

Now that I have medical insurance, and have found a specialist in my area of need, I'm more than glad to get things checked out. Dr. Polukoff is recommending a battery of tests, to be done in about three months, just prior to my next visit with him.

This coincides with my need and desires. I consider it a real blessing, more than chance, one of those "miracles" that sustain me, that I ran into him, found out he's a cardiologist with a great interest in nutritional therapy, and the way opened up for me to see him quickly.

His staff booked me for an "emergency" appointment, otherwise it would have been three months before I could see him. Like I told Dr. Polukoff, either he (the doctor) intervened, or He intervened.

Turns out it wasn't Dr. Polukoff. He barely remembered me at first.

The day before my appointment I started a new cardiac exercise regimen. For six years I have walked or run for about a half hour daily, somewhat slowly because the little dogs I drag behind me haven't tolerated a faster pace.

About a month ago Dog #1 - Daisy - expired. Dog #2 - Nilla - is more than happy to run faster. So I've been thinking about doing shorter-but-more-intense interval training, to do a better daily check on my cardiac capacity, verify I'm on track, do a better job of cardiac conditioning, and save some time.

Turns out with more intense exercise, I can consistently reproduce my angina. It goes away when I slow down, but it's a great reality check for me.

So I had all of two days of this new regimen under my belt when I visited Dr. Polukoff's office. I was ready for a rethinking of my strategy, input from a knowledgeable, caring professional, and basically loaded for bear to attack my less-than-stellar-but-still-amazing compliance, and adopt the best WFPB protocols I know.

And Dr. Esselstyn's more rigid prescriptions don't scare me. I know from past experience I will learn, I will adopt, I will adapt, and everything will work out. Because I will be, I am, my own best client and example.

I will do this.

Could I have done this on my own? Yes. Was it likely if I hadn't encountered Dr. Polukoff? Probably not. Why? Human nature, of which I am an avid partaker.

I could have joined Jim Fixx in competing for the "World's Greatest Losers" prize for self induced somnolence regarding taking you own health advice too seriously and resulting self induced death (now there's a great topic for a future blog post). He is, after all, current reigning champion, followed up by Euell Gibbons (OK, two topics).

I don't want to be in the running for that prize (pun intended, and my thanks to Jim for setting a high standard to learn from and not do likewise).

I seek valid outside professional opinions. I treasure them. I am an avid reader and fan of Dr. Fuhrman's medical advice forums. The cost of partaking in them with my own questions is too steep ($50+ per month). But I can relish the validity and perspective of what I read there.

And I'm not opposed to regular medical treatment and opinions. I just have to moderate them based on what I know from experience.

Doctors don't understand everything. Neither do I. Sometimes it's good to seek input, and take it serious.

I can do that.

Now that I have medical  insurance, and a legit doctor with knowledge and background I need and respect.

And I definitely don't expect the standard medical party line. He's the only intervention cardiologist in the State of Utah who understands the validity of the nutritional approach. A Google search for the term "nutritarian cardiologist" shows zero results. "Nutritional cardiologist" lists Dr. Caldwell Esseltyn first. I think I've got the right guy.

Next time: The many things I learned from the visit.

The Jackpot

Yesterday I hit the jackpot. And got a needed reality check.

Dr. Polukoff

I had an appointment with a doctor, an MD and an intervention cardiologist, WHO UNDERSTANDS NUTRITION AS TRUE MEDICINE! He practices it himself, he uses it in his medical practice, he's seen some outstanding results.

And he's dealt with some patients who don't want to hear a thing about it, and suffer the natural consequence of progressive disease and even death.

Wonderful when the results happen, and very frustrating for him when some folks won't listen.

Maybe a little like I've experienced.

The point is, this a true find, a gem and another miracle in my life and story.

To explain why and how, I've got to back up a little.

At my second heart attack, there was no cath lab capability locally, so I was helicoptered to another hospital. This was at the ER doc's insistence, I didn't think it was necessary and still don't. But it happened.

When the cardiologists in Salt Lake found they couldn't do anything to help me beyond giving me drugs, I knew there was better information out there. Somewhere.

The hospital nutritionist did refer me to a book by Dr. Esselstyn of the Cleveland Clinic, that described his research study of nutritional intervention for very seriously ill cardiac patients. He took a small group of patients who had been diagnosed, fully treated, and basically given up on by the cardiac care doctors there. Nobody had anything to lose by trying something different - a change in eating habits - and doubtless few of his peers believed it would succeed.

But succeed it did, and how! Everyone who complied far exceeded anyone's expectations for recovery and extended life. It worked well for even the most serious cases. A few patients complied only somewhat, with less positive results.  This was a true breakthrough, a miracle that indicates what is possible, and that full compliance guarantees positive results.

Way better than any prescription, surgery, procedure, supplement or other protocol in this regard.

So did the medical community stand up and applaud, and immediately clamor for more and better research and then turn to nutrition as the best means of care, prevention and a cost effective, works-every-time solution to a major international problem?

 Certainly..... NOT.

So now to the present day implications for me and my progress, as well as for Infinity and (thank you Buzz Lightyear) Beyond. In my next post.

The Limits of chEating

One of the attractive things about the nutritarian life style is that it's flexible, and even allows eating meat. Dr. Fuhrman suggests many people can be completely healthy and still "cheat" with up to 10% of your calories.

Even the occasional candy bar or dish of ice cream is OK. The key is occasional. Very.

So how do you apply this? What does it mean on a  real-life basis?

Now over the almost six years I've eating this way, I can count on one hand the "normal" meat and potato, processed food type meals I've had, that were my norm before. I just don't like to eat that way any more. But I've enjoyed the flexibility, and it's kept me on track. A more rigid format might have discouraged me.

And even though I'm not perfect, my recovery is good, compared to where I was headed.

It's made it easier for me to do this long term. I enjoy some added calories nearly every day, usually in the form of a few extra nuts or seeds. Since I don't count calories, but I do weigh in and check by my exercise tolerance my progress every day, I know what works for me.

You could reserve those 10% of calories for a weekly regular meal if you wanted.  That means basically you'd have twenty one meals during the week, and one would be the standard Anerican diet type meal. The other twenty would be full bore (and by full I mean rigid, inflexible, strict and totally) nutritarian.

Realistic? I don't think so. If  you can excuse one meal, how can you not excuse other slippage? I really don't know, and clearly I don't believe in this approach because I can't see it working for me.

My personal preference is different. What makes it work for me is to do the very best I can at each meal, and in general add a little something every day that makes my food more enjoyable.

Something still in the healthy direction, however. I don't consume a candy bar every day, or even every month.

I let my weight be my guide. I can tell when I've loosened up too much because I weigh more, and I immediately correct course. Even a couple of extra pounds is a good early warning. I consider an extra five pounds to be an all out danger signal, and tells me it's time to buckle down.

Emily Before & After

Emily Boller, one of Dr. Fuhrman's favorite examples, tells (in a seminar video by Dr. Furhman) of a friend who eats  nutritarian during the week and regular on the weekends. By my calculation this means her friend takes in about 50% or more of her calories from a combination of low nutrient density, processed, meat and dairy type foods.

Emily says her friend has done all the work to learn how to eat right, but she gets none of the benefits. No weight loss, and no difference in health outcomes. None.

So while nutritarian eating isn't all-or-nothing, I'll hazard an opinion here that it takes 80%+ compliance to make it more than mildly effective. Real effectiveness for ordinary conditions doesn't come into play until you're over 90% compliant. For a serious condition you really have to become compliant in the 95-98% range, which means really striving to be 100% in the game.

The good news is, eating right most of the time, and building in a cushion by eating better than necessary instead of pushing the limits, is a delight and a pleasure.

Old habits intrude. The constant barrage of misinformation from a sick culture takes its toll. But the best part is, you come to trust that the plan works, every time you work it. And when you don't work it briefly, you just get back on that horse again and ride it, because you've proved that it works.

The greatest pleasure of all for me is to be alive, healthy, productive and experiencing this life with my lovely wife.

Both of us are medical anomalies. We're still alive in spite of each having health conditions that were supposed to be incurable. We have survived the biggest challenges of all, which are 1. A sick culture and 2. Our minds not always being made up to eat right.

Which goes a long way towards a happy life, because (obviously) we're not dead. And which inspires us to sweetly, gently but persistently encourage family, friends and y'all to join us.

Whaddaya Mean, The End Of Disease?

I mean to speculate here, really extend the line of logic, outside the bounds of reason and rationality, into the realm of fantasy and speculation.

Based on some educated guess work. Plus some speculation on what some would call the "ultimate ideal."

No doubt I'm going to be wrong on parts of this. Maybe some big parts. So I'll start with what I understand and "know," then extrapolate from there.

Fair warning, though. I end up making some religious references. But for more specific religious details I'll refer you to my other blog, www.AMormonNutritarian.com.

Here goes.

1. Dr. Fuhrman, the founder of the term "nutritarian," is a man of science. He came into his medical training with an orientation that caused him to look beyond standard interpretations, dig into the research and find substantial backing for a radical new approach to disease treatment and prevention.

 And, he's not the only one. Others have similar vision, similar effectiveness, and similar science and medical backgrounds. I use him as an example because I'm most familiar with his work. So understand I use him as an example and stand-in for all those who see these possibilities.

2. I find his conclusions to be well-founded and based on both a thorough review of the complete body of nutritional research and his treatment of real-life patients, with startling results. Conflicting and competing dietary systems are either based on an incomplete review of the research, varying degrees of incorrect applications, or correct applications with the wrong emphasis or degrees to which they must be applied to be effective.

Again, this applies to more than Dr. Fuhrman, which application continues below.

3. I also see how his recommendations have changed over the years as added research findings modify his earlier recommendations. His eagerness to adjust his recommendations gives me confidence in how up-to-date his current recommendations are.

4. I've also seen how his enthusiasm has caused irritation in some quarters, with claims that his certitude exceeds his grasp. I think he's a true visionary who bases his opinion on sound research and sound experience.

5. His nutritional recommendations are also medically benign, and in general compatible and not interfering with standard medical protocols. If used with regular medical treatments, they can still be the best, most effective measures possible. More complete recoveries than otherwise, surpassing the effectiveness of normal medical  treatment, and minimizing the harmful effects of drugs and other treatments, are all possible.

6. A wide range of serious and typically incurable medical conditions are impacted by his protocols. He doesn't claim these nutritional protocols treat every known medical condition, but many of the most serious, widespread, expensive to our economy and ineffectively treated conditions are clearly impacted.

7. Plus, if conditions are not well treated by his protocols, there's real evidence that earlier use of his nutritional principles can prevent these conditions before they become medical problems.

8. Extensive application of the nutritional preventive approach, including maternal prenatal intervention, may make for even larger impacts on the health outcomes of the population.

9. Because dietary habits and food preferences are completely learned, a completely radical and positive transformation of our health outcomes is possible, because we have unlimited potential to re-learn. When we use this power and implement these changes universally, with early, willing and joyful understanding what the benefits and outcomes will be for us and our children, we will be at an advanced stage of the revolution.

10. The impacts of a total eating revolution are potentially so incredibly powerful, that this could be a total revolution of our society. Our beginning to grasp the meanings of Dr. Fuhrman's and others findings mean that we should start focusing our incredible abilities to research and analyze in a whole new, food-based direction, leading to even more positive results.

11. The end of virtually ALL disease would be a logical extension of this overall process.

12. There's a part of us that knows we are meant to be happy, that it's the ultimate goal and possibility of all our lives, and that the potential to have a disease-free society really stands for something even greater. I'll call it the ultimate good.

13. This ultimate good is so powerful and far-reaching in its implications, that for me it can only be felt, not fully described. It's really a sort of impossible to fully describe or comprehend  but not impossible to hope for ideal. It's the kind of thing that should make us want to use our desire / dreams / power / freedom / love / belief in the goodness and potential within our souls to bring it about.

14. To accomplish this would mean radical changes, radical choices, and probably completely unforeseen alterations in our hearts and our society.

Impossible? No. Unlikely? On any given day, you bet.

But I believe it's coming. Maybe sooner, maybe later. But coming.

Some day.

Eggplant Ratatouille - Amazing Principles, An Amazing Dish

When the French make a dish, it always sounds exotic.

I call this Eggplant Ratatouille, but I could have called it Eggplant Stew. Or Cacciatore.  Or Gazpacho. Or Goulash, or Pottage, or a dozen other things. Only the country, seasoning, temperature and language differ. Insignificant things, really.

The point is, vegetables in season, mixed, heated, seasoned, served and eaten.

No oil. No meat. No salt.

Variety. Availability. Cost. Freshness. Eaten with my true love, my family.

These are the things that really matter.

So here's my favorite ingredients: Eggplant, zucchini, sweet peppers, onions, garbanzos, tomatoes, mushrooms, Italian spices (oregano 1 1/2 t, marjoram 1 t, thyme 1 t, garlic 1 t, basil 1/2t, rosemary 1/2 t, sage 1/2 t, red pepper 1/4 t). Slice/dice, cook until done, add spices any time. Arrange attractively in a baking pan for maximum effect, or put them all together to save time as above. Add more stuff if  you've got more stuff. Start with 1/2 seasonings amount if you want to be cautious, it's easier to add seasonings later than double the recipe because it's too strong. Add a little meat (-balls, chicken) for a less healthy dish.

To think that a set recipe matters is to lose some of the intent and possibilities. Not that I'm opposed to recipes. But sometimes it's just right to go with what you've got.

This time it was just eggplant, onions, tomatoes, tomato sauce,  mushrooms and seasonings. We just chopped them,  put them in the pan, heated them up, added a little seasoning. We ate it hot, we ate it cold, we loved it. Even made more the very next night. We had more eggplant, after all.

Here's another principle. We often engage in "recipe roulette," where we take a CD titled 1 Million Recipes, put in a list of ingredients we've got on hand, and see what the possibilities are.  Or we play "recipe roulette" by Google search.

Here are some other principles.

1. More important than a recipe is to be flexible.
2. We almost never make it exactly as it says.
3. We never fry or sauté in oil.
4. We cook fresh veggies by "flash steaming" (use your imagination)
5. We cook things less and at lower temperatures than we did.
6. We don't add salt in cooking. If one of us wants salt, we add it after, and in small quantities.
7. We never serve food with or over rice, or potatoes, or starchy foods in general.
8. We eat generous portions, but don't stuff ourselves.
9. We enjoy talking together as we eat.
10. We congratulate good eating decisions.
11. We don't criticize or even acknowledge each other's bad eating decisions, only our own. 

How I Moved The Sun (or was it a mountain?)

I live in a beautiful mountain valley, and as the sun rises to the east, shadows race across the valley floor.

Most people in Utah live in valleys like mine, with soaring mountains immediately to the east. It's because the oldest communities were established at the base of these mountains, to take advantage of streams that run down and irrigate crops.

This morning as I ran, I chased the shadow of the mountain. It was moving because of the rising sun, and I had to run fast to catch the shadow. It really did appear I moved the sun behind the mountain. 

Or maybe it's just moving the mountain in front of the sun.

Either way, moving mountain or sun, it feels powerful. Even though it's really just a change of location, a change of perspective.

But it reminds me of how powerful it feels to understand the truth about excellent health through nutritarian eating.

It's really just a change of perspective, a shift in my understanding, an adjustment of my attitude and actions based on truth.

The difference in my eating, based on Dr. Fuhrman's teaching, gives me true power, real control over my health.

So is that not a mountain I've moved?

Or maybe it's the sun.

Either way, being in control of my health is a  mountain of an accomplishment. Running fast is proof.

In fact, I've experienced a shift in my entire universe.

Thanks, Dr. Fuhrman.

A REAL Cure For Heart Disease

I'm a piker when it comes to curing heart disease.

I consider myself on the path to healing, and I do have a significant remission of symptoms that indicates I'm on the path to complete healing.

Others have done better, and my hat's off to them.

Here's an example summarized from Dr. Fuhrman's website. I'll give you the link to the more complete story and the formula. It's what I do, but better. But the best part is it's real life. It illustrates how to succeed quicker than what I've done. In a later article I'll summarize the difference.

Paul S. reversed the same type coronary artery disease I have, and had it worse than I did, but substantially reversed it within 26 months. He did it by adhering to Dr. Fuhrman's "Six Week Plan." He was running within a year after he started, and has continued on that course for years more. He had a scan 26 months after he started that verified his arteries are clear (the kind of verification I can't afford) and ran two half marathons since then (the kind of verification I can afford).

Here's the link to his story on Dr. Fuhrman's website: www.drfuhrman.com/success/SuccessStory.aspx?id=1214.

Now his cardiologist initially told him it was critical he have angioplasty as soon as possible. He found Dr. Fuhrman's website within a few days, and took immediate, drastic action. He became Dr. Fuhrman's patient, and was coached personally by the best.

He has stayed on that Six Week Plan during the intervening years, proving that radical eating changes are possible, and totally curative in his heart disease situation.  It seems likely it will work in so many others as well.

A miraculous cure? Certainly. But the real miracle is that anyone can do this. It has implications for so many situations, diseases and a vast number of people.

Paul recommends reading three books: Eat To Live, Disease Proof and The End Of Diabetes, all by Dr. Fuhrman, and he says it's all anybody really needs to understand and eat this way. He'd have added The End of  Heart Disease if it had been out.

So here's a brief outline of Dr. Fuhrman's Six Week Plan, in general order of how much to eat:

• Aim to eat a pound or more of fresh (plus anything flash-frozen) non-starchy vegetables a day, emphasizing leafy greens, and the typical things that can go into a salad like lettuce, peas, snow peas, bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and sprouts. In fact, salad is the main dish. No limits, and variety is good with all these healthy foods.
• Also aim for a pound of more of cooked non-starchy vegetables as in eggplant, mushrooms,peppers, onions, tomatoes, carrots, cauliflower, asparagus, zucchini, kale, collards, cabbage, peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes. While the format isn't critical, soups have advantages for these. Unlimited amounts here too.
• Eat a half cup or more of beans/legumes per day, like black, pinto, red, white and garbanzo beans, lentils, tofu, etc. Soups, chili, whatever is good to you is eligible.
• Fresh fruit, especially berries, at least four servings per day. Not dried. Not juiced. Not canned. There's a "qualified" recommendation of limits on these. They're great but not to be as highly emphasized as those listed earlier. Fruits are the "dessert" aspect of eating this way.
• Eat mushrooms, and cooked is actually better for you than raw. Cheaper types are as good for you as expensive ones. One mushroom day is plenty for nutritional purposes.
• Limited amounts of starchy vegetables and whole grains is allowed, but only one serving per day. If you have a tough time losing weight, or a condition like diabetes, ditch these and stick with the higher priority foods.
• Eat some healthy fats from nuts or seeds, but in limited amounts, no more than 1 oz. (one closed-fist handful) per day. Include one tablespoon per day ground chia seeds, ground flax, walnuts or other sources of omega-3s. Avocados work too. Don't overdo these.
• Ditch all animal products for the six weeks, including milk, cheese, yogurt, etc.
• No added oils, sugars, candy, salt, white flour bread/pasta and processed foods.

So keeping this up for just over 2 years made for a complete reversal of Paul S.'s heart function problems and pain. I eased into it, but I think he's smarter.

Dr. Fuhrman defines what you do long term to eat nutritarian as the "Life Plan." You can, like Paul, do the Six Week Plan for life. But some folks, like me, start off with 10% of calories from "outside" the Six Week Plan guidelines (I'm at 5% now), either by higher quantities things that would be limited, or just plain things that would be forbidden like animal products or even ice cream (rarely).

What I do works for me. But, I'll continue this long term plus keep on learning, and get closer to the Six Week Plan over the long haul. After all, as Dr. Fuhrman says, if you've gone to the effort to change 90-95% of what you eat, the next little bit isn't that tough.

The long term defines total success, and total healing.

Heart Disease - A Status Report

So this is a personal post about the status of my heart disease.

It's worth doing because it's a summary of major progress and a work in progress. It took me 2 1/2 years to get to my "ideal" weight, from  210 pounds to just over 160 at a height of 5'11" (I used to be 6'1", but aging and a collapsed vertebra will do that).

I've had two heart attacks, the first in May of 2005 of which could have easily killed me, with two 99% blockages in the LAD artery, and two other blockages in two other arteries, at 99% and 80%.

The second at the end of October 2010 involved a new 80% blockage in the same LAD artery.

The best doctors available said my condition was inoperable.

My friend's referral to Eat To Live is responsible for my ongoing survival and healing.

I saw my doctor twice in the two years after my heart attack, but I wasn't encouraged when I did. He says recovery is impossible. I've since changed doctors and see my cousin, who is interested but doesn't buy in to what I'm doing enough to change his recommendations to others.

But I get a whole different perspective from Dr. Fuhrman's materials, both books and website. He says every heart disease patient he treats gets better. I want that, and I believe it's happening with me.

Most important in my recovery is the status check I do six days a week. At first after my 2nd heart attack I walked for a half hour daily. Gradually I've sped up, and now I jog for half an hour every day. I let angina be my guide, and I exercise as hard as I can - without pain - and the occasional push to test my limits.

Now maybe that doesn't sound impressive to you. But for years I tried to lose weight, and never even approached what I've now achieved:

• Proved it's possible to overcome a strong genetic predisposition to coronary artery disease. 
• Eliminated 95% of the animal products, refined sugars and extra fats and oils from my diet.
• Never gone hungry, counted a single calorie or felt deprived.
• Learned to buy foods, make cost effective substitutions to recipes and grow an appropriate garden, so I spend no more than I did before (and the before was still very cheap!)
• Changed my taste preferences so I no longer miss the bad things I used to eat.
• Developed my own recipes and eating patterns so the variety and taste is completely wonderfully satisfying to me.
• Caught a vision of what this can mean for healing my family, community and world from the unnecessary expense, wasted resources and personal health tragedies that our current health, medical treatment and food culture assumes are normal and unresolvable.
• The weight loss and health this involves is a big part of my wife's total vocational recovery from a paralyzing back injury (and from diabetes, definitely related to her loss of muscle function). She wasn't expected to walk at first. Then they said she'd never stop being diabetic. But she is now fully functional, in a way her rehab doctor has never seen. That her diabetes is gone the doctor and diabetes educators said was just plain impossible. 

I now have real, immediate and justified hope in areas where I saw no current solutions before. That's really the main miracle here.

But then, I've always had hope. I always knew there'd be answers somewhere in the distant future. I just never thought I'd see 'em.

An if I can see these, maybe you can too.

Chunky Chocolate "Ice Cream" Dessert

Chocolate Chunk Dessert in Food Processor Cup

Here's another recipe that is endlessly variable, fun, delicious, and keeps me from ever wanting the stuff that's terribly bad for me. I made it last night in 5 minutes (I get plenty of practice).

Ice cream. My absolute most favorite. My culture's favorite food (some people think it's green jello - sick!)

Make it with chocolate and nuts, and I'm helplessly addicted.

Now I live in the state with the highest per capita ice cream consumption in the world. We have lots of dairy farmers and their families around where I live, so there's plenty of reinforcement.

I also live close enough to two hospitals to hear when the medevac helicopters take off, and when I hear 'em I think, "Yep, likely another ice cream lover."

In that medevac helicopter was me, six years ago.

So here's the dead-honest great ice cream substitute that keeps me alive:

Ingredients:

• 2 frozen bananas (you can substitute non-frozen bananas and a few ice cubes, but you may need less of the soy or other milk below)
• 2 heaping teaspoons baking cocoa powder (not hot cocoa powder)
• 3 heaping teaspoons ground flax, straight from the freezer, or ground chia seeds
• 1 packed cup cold spinach (or other greens)
• Enough soy, almond, cashew or other non-cow milk to make it blendable to a creamy-but-not-runny state
• 4-5 tablespoons assorted nuts and seeds (the dessert in the picture has walnuts, almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds and coconut)
• 1/2 cup celery chunks (celery diced into approximate 1/4" chunks)

Blend the frozen bananas in a blender or food processor while they're still hard-frozen. You should get a coarsely textured kind of "banana-meal" that'll blend the rest of the ingredients with next to no effort (or skip this first blending if you're using non-frozen bananas).

Add the cocoa powder, ground flax and spinach. Add enough cashew or other milk to make it cold, thick and creamy, but never runny, and blend until it's smooth. Make a mistake and you've got a chocolate milkshake (no great loss!).

Add the nuts, seeds and celery chunks. Don't blend these, stir them in by hand until it's all evenly mixed and everything is coated, creamy-cold and chocolatey.

The last step, very important, is to relish every bite, while you contemplate the pleasure of something so delicious and healthy. You may choose to recite to yourself the following facts: Cocoa powder has the highest antioxidant content of any food. Spinach is a highest nutrient-value leafy green food. Celery is the way to double your crunch, making the nuts seem like there's two or three times as much as there really are while adding another healthy green to the mix. And the nuts and ground flax or chia are the healthiest of the necessary oils in your diet.

At least that's what I do.

And this morning, after eating this last night, I got up and weighed in at a new all-time low of 162.3 lbs.

I never in my wildest dreams thought I could ever weigh that little, or walk 3+ miles as fast as I did this morning without a trace of chest pain/pressure/angina.

Thanks, Dr. Fuhrman.

Nutritarian Summary & Outline

So now with twenty or so blog entries, I'll review some key issues on nutritarian success. Anyone can do it, lots of people have done it, and no one fails who does these things. No one.

Now people do fail for various reasons. I've seen it in my own family. Great excitement about the potential, get the books, even some videos, and then, well, nothing. They don't follow through. They don't try. When they fail, they don't dive in and learn some more and try again.

In other words, the plan doesn't fail when you work it. And when you work it works every time.

So here's my list of success principles, in order of how they've been presented in the blog articles so far:

Annette's Story:

• Doctors say some illnesses are incurable. And they are, by them, with their standard medical approaches. Doctors don't get any training, peer support, reinforcement or payment for curing or prevention through nutrition. It's not part of their universe. But it should be part of ours.
• Having said that, medical treatment does have its uses. Diagnosis, confirmation of progress, and all forms of medical support can back up and reconfirm the need for our own efforts. And nutritarian eating is a perfect support of all medical treatment. But in some cases coordination is absolutely necessary. When what you eat makes the need for insulin go away, it needs to be coordinated with your doctor, so you're not overdosing on insulin. Way more detail needed here, read Dr. Fuhrman's book for that.
• Don't be scared of doing this in spite of a large national association saying officially through their minions that it's impossible to be effective this way. The American Diabetes Association, and lots of others, mean well but they're just ignorant. No offense intended. They raise funds for diabetes, and maybe someday they'll find that elusive cure they constantly talk about needing. Who knows, possibly they'll fund a peer reviewed research project on nutritarian eating and diabetes, that'll be world reknowned and universally applauded. But not as long as they're dependent on the pharmaceutical and processed food industries for their funding, you can bet on that!

Creamed Kale:

• Find something you like to eat from the many nutritarian recipes, here, on Dr. Fuhrman's website and books and other places.
• Simplify the formula, make it your own, find and buy the ingredients in quantities that make it affordable and immediately available.
• Expand the recipe, create your own interesting variations. There's nothing like your own creative energy fostered by desire, repetition and need.

 The Power of Truth:

•  Prepare yourself mentally for a radical change in eating. Nobody says that's easy. But lots of folks have done it successfully.  And the more you know, the more you'll want to change, and the more you want to change, the easier it'll be.
• With that in mind, might want to read a little. The best books are Eat to Live, Super Immunity, and The End of Dieting, all by Dr. Fuhrman. The China Study by T. Colin Campbell and  Thomas M. Campbell, was a key to my understanding.
• Associate with like-minded people, either by reading or in person. Learn from those who aren't like-minded. Celebrate every friend, relative and person who has died from diabetes, cancer, or heart disease, or a host of others, because by their example, by their sacrifice, they have proved what doesn't work, and you, my friend, don't have to go there, be there, do that.
• Learn to apply every positive principle you've ever learned to this project. Like, remember the famous, immortal words of Sir Winston Churchill, when he said to Parliament during the blitz-bombing of London, "Nevah, [long pause] nevah, [long pause]nevah [long pause] give up." Repeated three times. Then he sat down. His most famous speech. And it applies here. The only people who fail with nutritarian eating are those who don't stick with and apply this, and never, never give up.
• It really is lies and death and tradition vs. life and truth and positive change. Prepare yourself to live fully, and long and healthy to the end.

A Second Heart Attack:

• Be grateful for the opportunity to change, even though change can be, and most often is, uncomfortable and irritating.
• Be grateful for the Man who said "The truth shall set you free." Even, if you dare, ask Him for the strength to change in accordance with principles of truth.
• Be dedicated to changing in accordance to the principles of truth, and beware of the tendency we all have to deny truth because we perceive change is too hard. Dying, or even just sickness is harder after all.

A Gift of Truth:

• Learn from the simplest, easy to remember expressions of nutritional (or any other) truth. Incorporate those true principles in your life, thinking and daily habits.
• Once you've learned the simple principles, creatively and constructively expand your practice, the way you live, with these. Don't get stuck in a rut, thinking there's only one way to eat perfectly, only one way or set of ingredients that make this work. Bend your mind and bend your actions. Remember that the only people who hate the taste of nutritarian food are those who don't spend the time and effort to get used to, search for, and create their own delicious and nutritious solutions.

 The Nutritarian Basis For Ideal Health:

• Share what you learn. You might just find friends and support in unlikely places.

Nutritarian Principle: Prevention is Treatment:

• Seek reinforcement and validation in your own experience. We've got that in Annette's diabetes cure, but we also have that in the number of colds, flu-like occurrences, and sick days we've had since we started doing this. Like none. Not a single sick occurrence. Unless you count the day after we let down our guard, two Thanksgivings ago. But even that was just feeling sick, not laying-around-all-day-in-bed sick. And recovery was as simple as eating healthy the next day (but losing the weight put on took longer!).
• Seek learning and reinforcement in valid studies. Read or re-read Dr. Fuhrman's books or Dr. Campbell's book. Even someone else's success is a valid case study to learn from.

Medical Monitoring Helped Cure Annette's Diabetes:

• Look for the nutritarian essence in any long-term successful plan. Just as Annette found nutritarian validation in Dr. Neal Barnard's Program for Reversing Diabetes, even before we found Dr. Furhman's stuff, I also found validation in Caldwell Esselstyn's book Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease before I found Dr. Fuhrman. Ditto for his son Rip Esselstyn's book The Engine 2 Diet. Again, Dr. Fuhrman is better versed, research validated and complete in his understanding, writing and overall health program.
• Appreciate that there are hierarchies of truth. Modern medicine is based on truth, but only as far as they have researched and validated and are now teaching things. Health based on modern medicine is untruth, mostly because valid research is ignored and not taught. I owe my life to the validity of a medical procedure in the stents put in with my  first heart attack. But I owe my longer life to Dr. Fuhrman. I owe the purpose of my longer life  to  an even greater Physician, and I thank him for Dr. Fuhrman, because He is the ultimate source of all truth.  I think He may have predicted Dr. Fuhrman (see my other blog at AMormonNutritarian.BlogSpot.com).

The Disease List, Part 1:

• Superior nutrition produces superior health, in all respects.
• Nutritarian eating is best at preventing disease, but it’s effective at curing and reversing many diseases. Sometimes, though, a disease process has gone on too long, done too much damage to be reversed or cured. Even so, it can still be dealt with way, way more effectively than medications alone.
• While I'm not  seriously saying nutritarian eating prevents, cures and helps with everything, the things it doesn't help appears to be exceptions, not the rule. When you consider that cancer, infectious disease, auto-immune disease, degenerative disease and even birth defects are helped, prevented and even cured, you'll understand why it's important to maintain perspective, look at it carefully, and dive in whole-heartedly all at the same time. And don't give up your day job, er, I mean your doctor and regular medical treatment. At least not until you're cured. The right way. The permanent way. Even if you have to eat different to achieve that, it's a cure.

The Disease List, Part 2:

• The gastric bypass is the ultimate admission of failure by modern medicine. The ultimate in technology, done laparoscopically now, and among the most drastic of physical alterations. And, it often doesn't even work out that well in too many people. You can eat your way around a gastric bypass, given determination and time. And you can die in the process. And the doctors will blame you, not their own ignorance, stubbornness, and lack of insight. They are, after all, well intended, and victims of a system that rewards compliance, not results (I dedicate this comment to the life and death of a friend). The ridiculous thing here is, if people would eat right, even if only like they teach them to following gastric bypass, they whole thing would be unnecessary.
• Prescription drugs are poisons. All of 'em. They are not panaceas. Not by a long shot. The advertising that makes 'em look like they are is also one of the signs of an incredibly sick (pun intended) system.
• Ulcerative colitis is an extremely great motivator to me (see the original article). Look around at your family and friends, and you'll find your own motivators. Examples abound. I'm not referring to ulcerative colitis, but deaths.
• Weight gain or loss is a sort of talisman here. Nutritarian eating unlocks the key to healthy weight, and as it does so, the key to health. It's not because of, or just an incidental correlation or superficial relationship, it is, it really is, one and the same process.

What If It's True?:

• If it is, it will win out. Can you afford to be wrong here? Check it out and see!

Cost Effective Health the Nutritarian Way, part 1:

• Understand what healthy eating consist of. Know the difference between "nutrition" and "nutrient density."
• Know what high nutrient density foods are. Eat them. G-Bombs, that is.
• Prioritize not only the highest nutrient density, but the cheapest highest nutrient density foods. Nutrient density is what's important, not just nutritional purity. Cost is important too. For some people, more important.

Cost Effective Health the Nutritarian Way, part 2:

• Grow your own.
• Grow greens
• Substitute cheap for high priced.
• Make a bunch and freeze it. Start with stuff that's freezable.
• Buy and use bulk dry beans. Food storage is your friend here.
• Use a cost effective source of healthy oils. Nuts and seeds are super expensive, almost all kinds, almost always. Ground flax, where I buy flax by the 25 pound bag and grind my own, costs me about one tenth to one fifth the cost of nuts and other seeds.
• When you find a good deal, buy a bunch. Preserve it properly.
• Be creative, resourceful, and energetic. Test and expand your human potential. Nothing beats the will to succeed, in this as in all things.

Cost Effective Health the Nutritarian Way, part 3:

• When I had a second heart attack, I couldn't afford nutritional perfection, and I couldn't afford to not dive in to nutritarian eating. Does it make a difference that I don't eat organic foods, almost ever? Perhaps. But one of the great lessons from Dr. Fuhrman is, research the practice, and practice the research. That's what he does. But in regards to eating organic foods, the health benefits are a theory, and the research regarding their effects on health is inconclusive. Just because they mirror popular belief does not mean we should sacrifice the proven, effective means to health (nutritarian eating) in favor of even this practice, reasonable though the theory may be. But the other side is, if we can afford to, and an seasoned research professional like Dr. Fuhrman advises it, why not? Which for me means I'll expand my cost effective nutritarian garden. Thanks for the motivation, Whole Paycheck!

Cost Effective, Delicious/Nutritious Greens: Chinese Cabbage Salad:

• Less-than-ideal ingredients used sparingly are the "sugar" that makes the medicine go down. I've seen Dr. Fuhrman use parmesan cheese in his "ideal" recipes. And for sugar, dates. But the sugar in dates is still sugar. And the sugar in fruits is still sugar. The oils in seeds and nuts are still oils. Overdone they're bad. In moderation and in combination with the fiber and total package of nutrients they were born with, they're essential. I use a whole tablespoon of brown sugar in this recipe. My rice vinegar has some salt in it (can't speak for yours). The total package isn't perfect, but I call it ideal for my needs.
• The inverse of this principle is also powerfully instructive about what not to do, and how to get sick while eating what we justify as healthy. What must people call "healthy eating" is to take a standard SAD meal and add a little bit of healthy stuff. Like the lettuce, tomatoes and onions on your Double Big Mac and Cheese with supersized fries and a drink. Or a salad where 95% of the calories are from the dressing. Or a dressing that calls itself "healthy" because they just found out that the oil in the aids absorption of some of the nutrients in the salad greens (any lie will do if it sells). A little bit of truth with a lot of lie equals a lie, almost always. So does a little lie with a lot of truth equal truth? Possibly. In the case of my recipes, absolutely!

The Main Reason Any Disease Won't Be Cured:

• "I don't want to, and I don't have to. I'm an adult, and you can't make me." The response of a brain receding back into the childhood we call dementia.
• Start eating right before you're so far gone you don't understand why or how. Otherwise your fate is set, and your memory is lost!

Chunky Chocolate "Ice Cream" Dessert:

• Frozen bananas are the key to many a nutritarian dream dessert. They work! And while the variety of ice-cream-like desserts is endless, with the bananas providing sweetness, creaminess, fluffiness and fiber, in this variety you also get highest-antioxidant cocoa powder,  highest-nutrient value leafy green spinach, more greens with celery, and nuts and ground flax for healthy and necessary oils.

Zuchini Spaghetti:

• Super easy, inexpensive, quick and green in more ways than one (uses zucchini that otherwise may get discarded).

Nutritarian Incubator Cell #1:

• A preliminary plan to reinforce, teach, build, nurture and create a socially fun environment to succeed in nutritarian eating.

Veggie Pizza:

• A borderline nutritarian food that I don't do often (maybe once a month), but incorporates enough nutritarian principles that it satisfies a need without destroying my health. A good example of taking an otherwise pretty much bad food and making it something good. Not great, but good enough for occasional use.
• It's also an illustration of why I like weighing in frequently. I want to know if I'm on an even keel health-wise, and my scale is my early warning system. If I'm off  course, I minimize this kind of food.

So there you have it. Way more words than is desirable in a normal blog article. I might try doing a summary at the beginning of each article instead.

Veggie Pizza & The Ultimate Test Of Success

So I'm a pizzaholic.

I know I'm not alone in this. But I used to take it to extremes.

I could personally down a couple of large pizzas, any toppings included.

No wonder I had two heart attacks, with a life history like that!

And I've missed the occasional pizza fix. OK, OK, I have indulged in the last couple of years, especially since the all-you-can-eat Pizza Monster Café opened locally, but rarely, and in much smaller quantities.

No more than two pieces of pizza twice yearly for me now, thanks.

At least that's what I thought, until this delightful thought occurred. I'm pretty sure I'm not the first, and if you Googled the main ingredient, I'll bet you'd find it out there somewhere. But it's original to me.

Start with a veggie pizza. Throw out the crust. OK, yes, you'll have to start from scratch with your own crust.

But here's but beauty of it. YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN CRUST FROM A TORTILLA. Waaaayyyy less carbs. And cheeeeep. The crust (1 large tortilla) on this baby cost me about 12 cents. 'Course, I had to buy 30 at Sam's Club to get that price.

Too thin, you say? Hah. See the above proof.

So here's what I used to make it work:

• 1 large tortilla, or a couple of regular ones.
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup undiluted (no water added) tomato paste, depends on how much tomato taste you want, or tomato sauce if  you take the time to condense out lots of water.
• Good sprinkle of nutritional or brewer's yeast (optional).
• Pizza seasoning to taste, included red pepper flakes if you're so inclined.
• 2/3 medium onion (about 2+ inches), thin sliced, about 1" pieces.
• 2 cups assorted raw veggies, or about 1 1/2 cups if cooked 
•  Grated parmesan cheese
• 1/3 of the onion, thin sliced in about 2" pieces (1/2 of full round slice) for the top
• Thin sliced tomatoes for the top, after it's cooked.

I prepared the crust above by drying it out in advance in a warm, not hot, oven. If your oven is too warm the tortilla tends to warp and be difficult to use.

Pre-heat oven to 425.

Put your tortilla on a baking sheet and assemble your pizza. No oil is necessary. As needed, I can assemble two pizzas on 1 cooking sheet, but one makes for no trimming due to overlap. Or, I can get 3 regular tortillas on one baking sheet.

Tomato paste works best, as it doesn't soak into the tortilla and make it too soft. Plain tomato sauce makes for a mushy crust.

For seasoning I sprinkled on pizza seasoning blend from Winco, but any Italian seasoning works.

The brewer's yeast adds a kind of cheesy taste. My wife, who won't eat anything she's not used to or sure of, wouldn't. But I like it, and it  adds vitamin B12, good when you're light on meat in the diet.

I used 1/2 a green bell pepper, a cup of fresh broccoli, plus 2/3 of the yellow onion and 3 large sliced mushrooms. Other possibilities are red bell pepper, green beans, red onions, cauliflower, green peas, sugar peas, cabbage, shelled edamame, or any non-starchy vegetable that won't turn to mush. Therefore I don't use zucchini.

The key is to dry the veggies as you cook them, so I loosely stack them on the crust so the oven dries them out as they cook. This is really the key step, and takes some practice.  Mushy-wet veggies make for a mushy-wet crust.

Sprinkle a little grated parmesan on top of the veggies. Too much and you smother the veggies and keep them from drying out. Plus you void your nutritarian warranty on this one.

My ultimate pizza always has toasted onions on top, so I save 1/3 of the onion, thin sliced then cut in half, and separating the strands as I randomly scatter the onion on top. Cook in the hot oven until the onions and parmesan start to turn brown.

The final step is to spread thin slices or small chunks of raw tomato all over the top after it's cooked. I tend to do this piece by piece as I eat it. In the above picture, I ate one slice for my dinner, then froze the rest. Yes, I did pull this out of the freezer for this picture. Is that cheating?

There are two important principles to emphasize. First, keep everything dry. Nothing that is actually liquid should go on your tortilla. Of course, there's always a fork if it goes soggy. But the attraction of a pizza is having a crisp crust so you can pick up and eat your pizza by hand, in my book.

Second, don't eat too much of this too often. It's low carb compared to regular pizza, but I try (and sometimes fail) to eat only a couple of slices in a single meal,  and not to eat this too often.

If it was life and death I'd have to quit it completely.

But for now it's better than saying goodbye to pizza forever.

The acid test is my weight. If I'm at or progressing toward my ideal weight, it's ok. If I'm struggling, it's not.

Nutritarian Incubator Cell #1

This last week I gave my first public presentation on nutritarian eating, to about twenty folks at an "Empty Nesters" pot luck dinner in Salt Lake. This group of adults meets monthly in the neighborhood where we took care of my father.

And what a wonderful group to learn from and practice with. We knew almost everyone there as friends, and they seemed both interested and appreciative. We were also able to say goodbye to the great group of people they represented, the Little Cottonwood 1st Ward of the LDS Church, and hope we stay in touch.

And the next presentation will be better as a result.

The purpose was to firm up my own understanding and explanation skills, connect with a bunch of people I care about, and establish some goals central to the purpose of this blog, The End Of Disease. It took me a couple of days of thinking about it to develop this further.

Of course I want to learn and spread the good news of what's possible, really my central purpose here. So how best to do that?

A monthly dinner club, with a focus on preparing, practicing and sharing nutritrian foods, has possibilities. To be able to gather, reinforce and learn from people with a similar focus is very appealing to me.

So here's an outline for how this might work:

• A charter stating the purpose and how we'll go about this, to be developed as group wisdom and experience dictates. Goals for a convivial group, a format for a warm, supportive learning environment, and a program to teach and learn from each other would be elements of such a charter.
• Monthly dinners on a recurring day and time, say the Saturday afternoon or evening preceding the last Sunday of the month.
• As we are an incubator for nutritarians, we also seek to spawn new groups, which might also seek to grow and spin off new groups. Some specific incentives for doing this could be possible.
• The means of organizing, communicating and reinforcing what we're doing could well be through some social media outlet, or by using a specific tool such as through Meetup.com.

When I attending the 1-day Intensive Seminar by Dr. Fuhrman in Seattle this last spring, he spoke about a nutritarian Meetup group in Seattle. One thing they do I don't want to duplicate is not allowing any foods with animal products (nutritarian eating is not vegan, but vegans can be nutritarians, and way healthier!), and it seems they tend to meet a local restaurants (too few in my area with a vegetarian emphasis to make this work).

So I will try this as I continue to search for avenues of communicating the power of nutritarian health.

Zuchini Spaghetti

Spaghetti sauce on grated zucchini in 8" pasta bowl

Here's a seasonal favorite, wonderful when the garden works well, or if your  neighbor's garden works well, or even if you have a distant cousin who's garden is productive.

Some people may even pay you to take away their excess zucchini :)

It's super easy and inexpensive.

The zucchini is unpeeled and raw, just grated.

The sauce is Prego. Nothing special. Tastes fabulous as far as I'm concerned.

The white stuff on top is grated parmesan cheese. Any commercial brand will do. I buy mine in bulk, straight from the bulk bins at Winco.

Like I said, super cheap, super easy, super good.

Keep in mind the above picture was taken for illustration purposes, before I smothered it in more spaghetti sauce and added more parmesan.

Now some would fault this for 1. A tomato sauce that has sugar and salt in it, 2. Parmesan cheese that has animal products and salt, and 3. Not one darn thing pictured here is certified organic. I think but I'm not sure my source gardener for the zucchini doesn't use pesticides, and zucchini in general doesn't need any.

That's why there's often such an explosive abundance. And the zucchini pictured here was one of those extra-large ones that most people don't prefer, some even throw away, about 2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter.

Regardless, it all grates, tastes and works just great.

But here's a qualifier. I don't believe I'd get the same great results by using "spaghetti squash." As a winter squash it's far higher in carbohydrates, and therefore calories. Nothing wrong with it nutritionally, it's just the tradeoff between quantity and calories. You can have one or the other, But if you have to take or keep the pounds off, a little bit is great, a lot is not.

Here's the saving grace. I ate three huge bowls full two nights in a row, and weighed in at less than before.

Now that's the kind of (non)diet I can live with.

The Main Reason Any Disease Won't Be Cured

Jack is my father, he was 91 years old and died from with dementia (his was likely vascular dementia and a lot like Alzheimer's) a few months ago.

Now dementia is one of those "dread diseases" of old age, increasingly common in our society. It's reputed to be something everyone will get if they live long enough, that is, if don't die first from some other cause.

That's the standard medical line.  We only have dementia increasing because we live longer and don't die sooner from something else. The line becomes a lie when you look beyond that surface relationships though.

Death from dementia can be a slow, miserable process. In my Dad's case his health otherwise was still pretty good; he can walk pretty well, but barely talk and could recently tell stories from 70 - 80+ years ago (over and over again endlessly).

He's been a great father, provider, husband and son, a tireless campaigner for causes he believed in, and very, very generous with his resources. Seeing him decline from Alzheimer's has been painful for us, his children and grandchildren.

But when it came time to try to help him stop the decline of his memory, I found he was just too far gone.

He didn't want to change what he eats. And he didn't have to.

To have lived a full, satisfying life. Whatever you think about how it ended, that's not tragedy, that's cause to rejoice.

But his last five or ten years could have been better, I'm convinced. If the end of life doesn't have to mean losing most of your memories and mental function at some point, that would be a good thing.

And in rural northern India as well as some other places, Alzheimer's appears to be unknown, regardless of age. So is obesity. And cars that make lots of walking all but unnecessary. And sugar. And eating meat. And almost all foods that constitute the main bulk of the SAD diet.

Of course, it always possible that some "magic bullet" that could be turned into a prescription drug could be responsible. Like something in turmeric.

Silly us. We refuse to see  the forest because we're stuck on looking for a comfortable "cure" that makes it so we don't have to change our lives other than take some pills. The trees that obscure our view are our habits and culture.Tough to overcome? You bet. Possible? Absolutely.

People with dementia deserve a chance to have better lives. My experience tells me it won't happen without broader understanding and support for healthy eating.

Some day. I think it's worth the effort.

My parents at a neice's Boxing Day party

Cost Effective, Delicious/Nutritious Greens: Chinese Cabbage Salad

Top 100 nutritarian recipes, Here I Come!

That's how I think of this one. It's a favorite, but I sometimes go months between having it. Whenever I get bored with other, more standard fare, this one is a candidate to come out of the file and transform my dinner table, once again.

It's more important than just a recipe, to show some basic principles:

• It takes a common, typically least expensive green and transforms it into a delight.
• It uses more expensive ingredients sparingly for taste, color and texture.
• It's endlessly variable with different ingredients possible. In fact, you can make a great knockoff without a single identical ingredient.

It saves well in the refrigerator. I find it's great up to four or five days later. The only disadvantage is it's something I'd never freeze (but I might use in a batch of lentil soup, and freeze that!)

It uses less-than-ideal ingredients very sparingly. Nutritarian recipes don't have to be perfect in every regard. Things that would be poison in larger quantities are of great value when they are, literally, the "spoonful of sugar" that helps the much larger quantity of supercalifabulistic nutritional medicine go down.

Who'da thought it, Mary Poppins as the expression of the Nutritarian Code of Ethical Eating - at least of mine;)

Ingredients:

• 1 large head cabbage
• 1 bunch green onions
• 1 cup thin sliced celery
• 1/2 thin sliced x 1" long green or red pepper
• 1 cup sliced spinach (1/4" slices)
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup coarse chopped almonds
• 1 tsp. chicken base
• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 1 tbspn. brown sugar

Chop cabbage as for slaw, add chopped green onions, celery, green or red pepper, sunflower seeds and almonds. Blend together the rice vinegar, chicken base and brown sugar. Pour over salad, toss and chill.

The only thing different here is I added 1/2 cup frozen edemame (green soy beans, not in pods) since I had some left over from the prior weekend. We love the color and the taste.

This is also great with lettuce or any other salad greens. One of our very favorite variations is to  replace the rice vinegar with a fruit or berry vinaigrette, and use walnuts instead of sunflower seeds and almonds.

Wow, makes me hungry just thinking about it. Perhaps I'll re-think that top 100 rating, this may be top 10 material.

But beware of standard cookbooks or on line recipes. They mostly all call for significant amounts of oil in the dressing. As far as I'm concerned, oil adds nothing to the taste, and does nothing but ruin the nutritional profile.

The biggest lie here is that olive oil makes it a healthy food. Wow, what a whopper.

All I'm giving up here is heart disease, diabetes, and a bunch of other bad, bad possibilities.

You're welcome.

Cost Effective Health the Nutritarian Way, part 3

Let's see, last time I made it through the first three of my essential practices for cost effective health eating. Here's more:

4. Grow it yourself. Doesn't have to be a full garden. Even better, grow a single crop of something you'd like to have a constant supply of, grows with incredible abundance in a small plot, useful in a hundred different ways, easy to take care of and harvest and is self is self-renewing instead of picked once and it's gone.

Which brings me to my current ideal meeting all those requirements:

5. Home grown greens (i.e., Swiss Chard and Kale). They're green, They're leafy, they constantly renew, grow in cool weather, warm weather, and are tender and wonderful in salads, smoothies, soups and lots more. Easily harvested by cutting it off about 2 inches above the ground, you harvest again in three weeks or so.

6. With any recipe, substitution of high priced ingredients is my preference. Most often when a recipe calls for something expensive, I substitute something inexpensive but with great nutrition and find it's still wonderful. For example when hummus calls for tahini (made from roasted sesame seeds), I just substitute sunflower seeds. Waaaaayyyyyy cheaper! And it makes a milder hummus, which is my preference taste-wise.

Or if a recipe calls for chia seeds, you'll pay three times as much for chia seeds as you would for flax seeds, at least where I buy 'em.

7. Which brings me to the hummus principle. Or if you're like my wife, you'd prefer refried beans. Or chili or just black beans. Frankly I love them all. Any recipe qualifies here, as long as it requires using lots of dry beans, and can be used as a dip, a base or just by itself.

So this illustrates another core technique.

8. Flexibility and adaptability. I've never seen a recipe that can't be adapted to taste, to budget, and to make wonderful variations that relieve food boredom.

Take for example the smoothie. It's great stuff, a foundation of what I eat. I love the green base, and sometimes I only eat the greens, but often I add some fruit for sweetness (and to keep my wife happily sharing with me).

For variety, I don't blend it all smooth. I also love the texture, the crunch and the joy of chewing my own food. In fact, at times I just about quit making smoothies. I call them chunkies 'cause they are.

An ingredient I add for interest is mild hot peppers. Banana peppers are a current favorite in my green and fruit smoothies, adding some heat and interest to my regular favorites.

Who knows, maybe next month I'll add some chopped jalapenos. Call me crazy. But I think I can predict I will never, ever add habaneros. Now that'd be nasty! Then again, I acknowledge that one man's nasty/crazy/avoid at all cost taste is another man's food heaven. Which is the basis of this principle, and doesn't preclude great health and great eating.

9. Food foraging.

Now this could be a sensitive topic. For many people, cost effective healthy eating typically means buying kale when it's on sale for, say $2 a bunch instead of $3 a bunch. And there's nothing wrong with looking for sales on great stuff, buying all you can safely use, and doing that over and over forever.

But typical for some means out of reach for others.

By food foraging I don't mean dumpster diving (though some in my family think that's what I do).

To me it means finding unusual sources for high nutrition foods.

Here's a case in point:

For several years now I've been looking for a cost effective source of walnuts. Walnuts grow on trees in people's yards. They'll even invite you to come pick them up, because they've grown tired of picking and shelling.

Most walnuts on people's trees in their yards are, well, tough to shell. Black walnuts are impossible. Most English walnuts are a little to very difficult, (try shelling a pound of walnuts and you'll have a new appreciation for the inherent value of buying 'em at the store).

But the variation called Carpathian walnuts are amazing. They're huge (some are two or three times the size of regular walnuts), thin shelled, and you get lots of nut for your effort. I met someone who introduced me to these, and invited me to pick them up in his yard. Lovely!

Any one of these examples may not be a solution everyone else needs. The point is to keep looking, exploring, and be open to cost effective solutions when they come up.

10. Ground Flax.

Healthy oils are an essential part of the nutritarian plan. You should eat some nuts, seeds or avocado every day, but in smaller quantities. These foods are nutrient dense and have plenty of fiber but unlike the rest of the top recommended food groupings, they're also calorie dense because of the fats in them.

There's not a cheaper source of healthy oils. I have a little most days, and I think it's wonderfully good, and cheap (which means I can do it over and over and over again).

But here's an essential principle of nutritarian eating. Never eat a calorie without it's protective source, as in never consume flax oil without the flax seed. Just like the apple, full of succulent, sweet fructose.

Summary:

A calorie isn't just a calorie. The calories in high fructose corn syrup have a very different impact on the body than the fructose in an apple.

And the oil of every seed or nut has a way worse nutritional profile than in its original setting.

Not that the fructose is any different. Same chemical, same effect. Too much, too often and without the plant fiber and other things it was born with it's liver poison, very bad stuff. Same with vegetable fats and oils. You have to understand and use them in the right context, then it's truly great stuff.

And no one I'm aware of ever got to be 500 pounds by eating too many apples. It's a physical impossibility to consume that many apples.

Period.

Cost Effective Health the Nutritarian Way, Part 2

So having stated the three foundation principles, here's my very own top ten list of specific practices for cost effective implementation, including foods, techniques, habits and tools. Please feel free to substitute your own.

1. Cabbage. Nothing on grocery store shelves beats it for consistent low price and high nutrient density. I often find it for 25 cents per pound, and I can usually find it for 49 cents or under. I almost never pay as much as 89 cents, partly because when I find it for less, I buy a bunch and just keep it in the fridge.

Oh, sorry there, got ahead of myself.............

2. Buy great stuff in bulk. When you find a great deal on high nutrient food, get lots of it and preserve it. This applies across all other items on the list.

Here's some examples:

About nine months ago when apples were super cheap, I bought five 40 pound cases. They were in my refrigerator and my garage, and the cool weather where I live is a factor in being able to preserve these so long. So is the type of apple - these are Braeburn's and seem to store exceptionally well.

Something else I tend to buy in quantity and keep and use for a long time is bananas. Often I'll go into a store and ask for a case of over-ripe bananas. I take them home and freeze them in zip-lock bags, and use 'em in smoothies and desserts. A case lasts me well over six months.

Cabbage also stores well, especially in a refrigerator.

Dry beans store well for me for five years and beyond.

Flax seeds, sunflower seeds and nuts all store well in my freezer for up to several years.

3. Make it yourself. Sure, you can wander into Whole Paycheck Market (er, I mean Whole Foods Market) and get lots of wonderful, even exquisite pre-made foods, grass-fed, free-range animal products, and certified organic everything. You may not afford a home payment, but you'll eat mighty fine!

Not that I mean to pick on Whole Paycheck. 98% of all foods at all American grocery stores are pre-cooked, pre-packaged, and nutritional junk (Whole Paycheck I rate at 95%).

Dried beans are a very cheap, inexpensive convenience food, if you buy them in a 25 lb. bag, cook them yourself in a pressure cooker (ready in 45 minutes, or takes three to five minutes to pull a container out of the freezer and defrost them, since you'll want to freeze the excess you don't immediately use).

So that's it for now. Next time we'll make it to ten.

Cost Effective Health the Nutritarian Way, part 1

I love to eat lots of great tasting food. And this way of eating allows me to do that, without guilt or regrets or weight gain.

In fact, it's really hard to eat too much of the right kind of food, even when you understand what that food is.

How, for example, does one eat a full pound of leafy greens? (drum roll, rim shot....) One bite at a time.

Dr. Fuhrman recommends targeting one pound of fresh leafy greens and one pound of cooked greens per day.

Now just this component alone could potentially break most people's food budget. Not to mention some of the other things that go into a great healthy eating plan, like berries, nuts, seeds and mushrooms.

Then there's the issue of all those specialized ingredients that it takes to make all those other things tasty. Like special spices, fresh, natural ingredients, things that it appears, from most of the recipes you'll find, make it so you should really plan on hundreds of dollars per person eating this way.

This, of course, is self defeating baloney.

If it cost lots, I couldn't do it.

In fact, if it cost even an average amount, I wouldn't do it.

Here's the principles of cost effective healthy eating, according to, well, me. They work, and I'm sure they'd work for others. Plus, there's plenty of ideas floating out there, waiting to be gathered in.

First of all, seek understanding of what healthy eating consists of. The words alone are precious truths. The difference between "nutrient density" and "nutrition" helps me focus on the fact that nutrition which focuses on macro-nutrients such as carbs, proteins, fiber and fat, is old-style eating wisdom, and that micro-nutrients are the keys to what ails our modern-day civilization.

Second, know what high nutrient density foods are. Dr. Fuhrman's "G-Bombs" formula of Greens-Beans-Onions-Mushrooms-Berries-Seeds is probably more precisely stated as Gombbs to best prioritize what we should be eating - not as catchy, but the G-Bombs acronym helps reinforce and remind us that it's only a slight modification to describe real nutrient value relationships.

Third, eat the cheapest highest nutrients possible. The most bang for the buck. As the ratio of nutrients per calorie is the key to health, nutritients per cost is the key to affordability, that makes healthy eating, and therefore health itself, a real, practical possibility for everyone.

So obvious it's stupid, huh?

The obvious is sometimes hidden in plain sight. Understanding what works, and why it works, plus proof that it works - now that's what really works.

Add to that an absolute need, and a sentence of pending death if you don't do it, well, that's my motivation.

Works for me. More specifics coming next time.

What If It's True?

So I’m going to engage in some pure speculation here, inspired by my religion, my experience, my impressions, hopes and dreams.

Some day, I believe, the world will be a paradise. Truth will reign supreme, and there will be a perfect ruler at the head.

There will be no war.

Love will be the primary motivation of everyone, because of correct choices in the hearts of all people everywhere.

There will be no sickness or disease.

A thousand years of a perfect society.

And, let’s not forget that perfect ruler at the head, teaching, loving and inspiring by words and example. Never forcing, always judging with perfectly just judgment, helping us learn, love and encourage each other.

Now, it seems to me there’s a congruence here, between the hopes of a nutritarian future for me and for the world as a whole, and the concept of a millennial society. Could it be possible that this is a vein of truth that could be so powerful as to be a part of bringing about the millennial dream?

The title of his former blog and third (fifth?) most recent book make it apparent Dr. Fuhrman thinks it's that powerful. Disease Proof. And, Super Immunity. No sickness or disease. If it’s true, this would be a major part of “The Millenial Dream.” Or, as others would probably prefer to call it, a “Utopian Dream.”

It’s certainly a cherished dream, to live substantially without sickness.

But is it just a dream, or is it a real possibility?

We’re talking about heady stuff here. Impossible stuff, most folks would say.

But wait a minute.

WHAT IF IT’S TRUE?

Wouldn’t it be worth checking out, just to see if it’s possible?

There’s some solid evidence here that it could be just exactly that. More than possible, It’s a dream that some people say they’re living.

This is too good to not at least hope for. And to yearn for. To pray, work, learn and act for.

There are also many barriers. And some warning signs. Just because it’s possible, just because there’s evidence and people who have succeeded with this, does not constitute proof. Not yet.

On the other hand, when you’re faced with a possibility of a long and healthy life, vs. the certainty of disease and early death, what would you do?

I have just that choice before me. I visited my doctor two years after my last heart attack, and he gave me no hope for recovery, only for slowing down the certainty of disease progression.

That’s what all the medications he prescribes, the surgeries he’s familiar with, every medical test he uses, are all aimed at.

Slowing down the certain progress of disease. No one, in his opinion, can turn around heart disease. No one has their arteries clear up, they always continue to close off, but at a slower rate if you follow the medical guidelines.

No one.

So I’m doing everything he suggests, and doing lots more. The most important part of “lots more” is eating according to nutritarian principles.

That’s what this is about, the lots more, the hope, and we’ll see if it’s reality, to be healed.

I’m 66. By the time I’m 91 (and long before that) I want clear arteries. A healthy mind. An active, fulfilling life. Bringing along a few friends(especially my best friend) on that same path.

I live for that hope, that part of the millennial dream, to be my life.