So far, this book has explored how a fast food genocide is destroying lives. We have examined food addiction, our brains on fast food, the historical legacy of ignoring poor nutrition, toxic hunger, food deserts, and several impressive organizations that are trying to help stop the vicious cycle of food inequality. The question now becomes: How do we start making the necessary dietary changes in our own lives? We cannot sit back and let disastrous dietary choices destroy our families, friends, and communities. In this chapter, I lay out the foundational components of a Nutritarian diet. This information will arm you for moving forward with a life-changing new perspective on how to eat. Millions of individuals have discovered these principals and regained their health and vitality. The movement, however, is just beginning. We can win the battle against processed foods once and for all, but it has to start with you!
We have seen how processed foods have become increasingly prevalent in the SAD. During the twentieth century, the consumption of fresh produce and whole grains plummeted, while the consumption of animal products increased. As a result, Americans now consume far more white flour, sugar, oil, salt, animal protein, and animal fats, and lots more calories, and far less fiber and plant-derived phytochemicals. The incidences of obesity, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, heart disease, and cancer have skyrocketed. With the advent and growth of the processed food industry and the fortification of foods with synthetic vitamins, a shocking thing happened: Cancer rates increased for seventy years, from 1935 to 2005.1 Cancer rates and obesity-related mortality are continuing to climb worldwide as countries adopt the American-led consumption of fast food.
| CHANGE IN PER PERSON FOOD CONSUMPTION | 1900 | 2000 |
| Sugar (lbs/year) | 5 | 170 |
| Soft drinks (gall/year) | 0 | 53 |
| Oils (lbs/year) | 4 | 74 |
| Cheese (lbs/year) | 2 | 30 |
| Meat (lbs/year) | 140 | 200 |
| Homegrown produce (lbs/year) | 131 | 11 |
| Calories | 2,100 | 2,757 |
Fortified processed foods do not contain the comprehensive array of delicate nutrients that protect the brain. Calculating all the calories in the SAD coming from health-promoting foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds, and whole grains, adds up to less than 10 percent of the calories Americans consume nationwide, though the numbers for inner cities and the southeast United States are much worse. This dangerously low intake of fresh produce guarantees a weakened immunity to infectious disease, leading to frequent illness and a shorter, more difficult life. The current medical system approaches this myriad of acute and chronic symptoms from the perspective of “pill for an ill” or “surgery for a fix.” We are simply ignoring the primary cause of these symptoms and pushing temporary solutions that often intensify risk.
And, as we’ve seen, our fast food diets are even damaging our genetic code, which is passed on to future generations.
Many people cannot understand why, in all areas across the United States and among all economic groups, the consumption of calories has increased so much over the past seventy years and continues to do so. People don’t want to be overweight, but they can’t seem to help themselves. Have you ever been on a diet and find yourself losing and gaining the same 10, 20, or 30 pounds? Have you experienced how difficult it is to regain a favorable, healthy weight, once you’ve put on an extra 30 pounds? My findings over the past twenty-five years with more than fifteen thousand patients, along with thousands of supportive research studies, show that a poorly nourished body demands more calories, and those demands can be too powerful to ignore.
Most people eat too many calories because they don’t eat enough nutrients. Nutritional inadequacy magnifies food addiction and the desire to overeat. It makes the craving to eat too frequently and too much feel overwhelming.
Eating more of the right foods to supply the nutrients the body needs can decrease overeating behavior and the desire for excessive calories. The information presented here will reduce your need for prescription drugs, lower your risk of developing life-shortening diseases, and enable the reversal of serious disease; it will also help you control your emotional and addictive overeating, thus helping you to prefer to eat less and to eat more healthfully. It may even enhance the pleasure you get from eating.
UNDERSTANDING NUTRIENT DENSITY
There are two kinds of nutrients: macronutrients and micronutrients. Macronutrients are protein, carbohydrate, fat, and water. Excluding water, they are the three calorie-containing nutrients. Micronutrients are vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals, and they are calorie-free. The SAD contains too many macronutrients and not enough micronutrients. A micronutrient-rich diet supplies your body with fourteen different vitamins, twenty-five separate minerals, and thousands of phytochemicals that have a profound effect on human cell function and the immune system. Foods that are naturally rich in these micronutrients are also rich in fiber and water and are naturally low in calories. The ratio of micronutrients to calories in a food is the nutrient density of that food.
Given the thousands of fragile phytonutrients in a berry or a sprig of broccoli, nutrient intake is more complex than originally thought. You cannot buy superior nutrition with a series of health-food store supplements; colorful plant food is just too complex and complete with beneficial substances, many of which have not even been identified yet.
The secret to a successful, healthy, and happy life is to eat a diet lower in calories and higher in micronutrients. It’s all about nutrient bang per caloric buck. The nutrient density of your body’s tissues is proportional to the nutrient density of your diet. My “Health Equation” represents this concept of striving for micronutrient adequacy in fewer calories to improve health and life span:
H = N/C
Health = Nutrients/Calories
The SAD does the opposite; it contains lots of high-calorie foods that are deficient in micronutrients. To achieve superior health and longevity, we must eat more foods that are micronutrient-rich and have fewer empty calories. Very few people are aware of this simple concept, which explains why oils are NOT healthy. They are rich in calories but are virtually devoid of nutrients and fiber.
In addition, eating fewer calories or moderate caloric restriction in the environment of micronutrient adequacy slows the aging process and advances health and longevity. However, what is also conventionally ignored is that little effort to restrict calories is needed once you consume a diet that is nutritionally superior. When you consume all the high-nutrient produce your body needs, you automatically desire the right amount of calories and no longer feel comfortable eating the amount of food that sustains an unfavorable weight. In other words, it is actually difficult to remain overweight when your diet is excellent.
THE TOP 20 SUPERFOODS
1. Collards, mustard greens, and turnip greens
2. Kale
3. Watercress
4. Bok choy
5. Cabbage (all varieties)
6. Spinach
7. Arugula
8. Lettuce (Boston, romaine, and green leaf)
9. Brussels sprouts
10. Carrots
11. Broccoli
12. Cauliflower
13. Bell peppers (red and green)
14. Mushrooms
15. Tomatoes
16. Berries (all varieties)
17. Pomegranates and cherries
18. Onions (and leeks, scallions, and garlic)
19. Beans (all varieties)
20. Seeds (flax, hemp, chia, sesame, pumpkin, sunflower)
The more high-nutrient food you consume, the less low-nutrient food you desire.
Most traditional dieting concepts have encouraged people to try to juggle macronutrients around—eat more protein and less fat, eat fewer carbs and more protein, eat lots of carbs and no fat, and more variations on this theme. Different camps of thought try to produce studies and reasons why their approach is best. However, long-term diet success and excellent health are rarely achieved with such juggling, because rearranging macronutrient ratios is not very helpful and doesn’t address our body’s need for micronutrients.
Conventional diet plans all miss the main issue of nutrient density and nutrient completeness, so inevitably they fail. We need to eat less carbs, less protein, and less fat—and that means fewer calories. But there isn’t one ratio of fats to carbs to protein that is ideal; in fact, there are various ratios of fat-carbohydrate-protein that are acceptable and even favorable, as long as calories are not overconsumed and micronutrient needs are adequately met.
Eating enough protein is rarely an issue when eating healthfully. Beans, greens, and seeds are particularly high in protein. Many people do not realize that high-nutrient plants contain adequate protein, so even when people eat a totally vegan diet, they get enough protein as long as they don’t consume too many calories from oils, sweets, or white flour, which have almost no protein in them at all. Our population is so uninformed that people generally equate protein only with animal products when in fact, almost all plant foods (except fruit) have plenty of protein. Your diet has to be rich in vegetables; otherwise, the nutrients that fuel cellular repair and normal immune function will not be supplied in adequate amounts.
| PROTEIN CONTENT OF COMMON FOODS | (GRAMS) |
| Almonds (3 ounces) | 18.0 |
| Lentils, cooked (1 cup) | 17.9 |
| Kidney beans, cooked (1 cup) | 15.4 |
| Chickpeas, cooked (1 cup) | 14.5 |
| Sesame seeds (½ cup) | 12.8 |
| Sunflower seeds (½ cup) | 11.5 |
| Broccoli, frozen, cooked (2 cups) | 11.4 |
| Tofu, extra firm (4 ounces) | 11.3 |
| Collards, cooked (2 cups) | 10.3 |
| Spinach, frozen (1 cup) | 7.6 |
| Peas, frozen (1 cup) | 7.0 |
| Ground beef, 80% lean, broiled (4 ounces) | 29.1 |
| Chicken drumstick, fried | 7.2 |
| Whole milk (1 cup) | 7.7 |
MAKING EVERY CALORIE COUNT
Most health authorities agree that we should add more servings of healthy fruits and vegetables to our diet, but I address this issue in a different fashion. Instead of trying to add these foods to your diet, make them the main focus of the diet and then consume lesser amounts of foods that are not in this category. The poorer your health, the more your diet has to be vegetable-based. Animal products should be seen as condiments to this plant-predominant diet. Here are my basic guidelines for a healthful diet.
• Eat a large green salad every day.
• Eat at least a ½ cup serving of beans in a soup, salad, burger, or main dish every day.
• Eat at least three fresh fruits a day.
• Eat at least 1 ounce of raw nuts or seeds a day, plus 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseeds or chia seeds daily.
• Eat at least one large serving of cooked or defrosted frozen green vegetables daily.
• Do not eat more than one small serving of animal products per day.
Almost all vitamins and minerals are much higher in a diet of mostly natural foods; the real difference is noted when you measure phytochemicals and especially when you test the antioxidant levels inside the body’s tissues, which can be up to one hundred–fold higher, with the toxic elements one hundred–fold lower.
FAST FOOD MENU VS. NUTRITARIAN MENU
FAST FOOD MENU
BREAKFAST |
LUNCH |
DINNER |
2 glazed doughnuts Medium (24-ounce) frozen coffee beverage |
Fast food hamburger Medium fast food French fries Large (32-ounce) cola |
Canned chicken noodle soup Frozen macaroni and cheese Six chicken nuggets (frozen, prepared) 12 ounces sweetened ice tea Three chocolate chip cookies |
PER SERVING: CALORIES 3,493; PROTEIN 81G; CARBOHYDRATES 499G; TOTAL FAT 142G; SATURATED FAT 49G; CHOLESTEROL 286MG; SODIUM 5,680MG; FIBER 18.4G; VITAMIN A 3,477IU; VITAMIN C 10MG; CALCIUM 659MG; IRON 14.7MG; FOLATE 263MCG; MAGNESIUM 191MG; ZINC 8.5MG; SELENIUM 43MCG
PROTEIN 9%; CARBOHYDRATE 55%; FAT 36%
NUTRITARIAN MENU
BREAKFAST |
LUNCH |
DINNER |
Oatmeal with strawberries and flaxseeds Chocolate Cherry Smoothie |
Taco Salad Wraps Roasted red pepper over wilted spinach with garlic Fresh or frozen berries Water |
Romaine lettuce salad with tomato, red onion, walnuts, and Walnut Vinaigrette Dressing Broccoli topped with black beans and Spicy Red Lentil Sauce Dr. Fuhrman’s Vanilla or Chocolate Nice Cream |
PER SERVING: CALORIES 1,969; PROTEIN 78G; CARBOHYDRATES 321G; TOTAL FAT 58G; SATURATED FAT 6.7G; CHOLESTEROL 0MG; SODIUM 660MG; FIBER 82G; VITAMIN A 71,162IU; VITAMIN C 641MG; CALCIUM 1,030MG; IRON 34MG; FOLATE 1,704MCG; MAGNESIUM 853MG; ZINC 11.6MG; SELENIUM 30MCG
PROTEIN 15%; CARBOHYDRATE 61%; FAT 24%
The Nutritarian menu has sixty times the amount of vitamin C, but more than one hundred times the amount of disease-fighting antioxidants and phytochemicals—the fast food menu has almost none.
Note that the Nutritarian menu contains about half the calories of the typical fast food menu. Very active larger individuals may require more calories, and smaller, inactive people even fewer calories; but regardless of your optimal caloric needs, this diet style is more filling and satisfying because of all the fiber, bulk, and nutrients. People are satisfied with significantly fewer calories when they eat healthier foods; plus all the nutrients they receive lessen the perception of hunger, thereby naturally normalizing and optimizing weight. Imagine the transformation of health, performance, and emotional well-being in the population if everyone ate a Nutritarian breakfast and a Nutritarian lunch or dinner!
For breakfast, it’s so easy to have a cup of steel cut oats or other whole grain soaked in water overnight or cooked in water, with some added almond or soy milk, fresh or frozen fruit, ground flaxseeds, and walnuts—and for lunch, a bowl of vegetable bean soup, a salad with a nut-based vinegar dressing, and some fruit. I encourage people to make a big pot of vegetable bean soup or stew on the weekend and eat it throughout the week.
Eating healthfully does not have to be complicated.
THE SALAD IS THE MAIN DISH
My mantra is to eat salad every day. Raw vegetables, especially raw green vegetables, are linked to a reduced risk of cancer and heart disease and a much longer life.2 Certain families of raw vegetables are particularly effective in preventing cancer, especially the cruciferous vegetables and the Allium (onion) genus. Add raw onions, scallions, arugula, shredded cabbage, or kale to your salad, as well as beans, frozen peas or lentils, and maybe some fresh fruit, such as shredded apple or orange slices. Then coat it with a fantastic dressing.
A nut- or seed-based dressing, usually mixed with vinegar and other flavorful and healthy elements, facilitates the absorption of the fat-soluble phytochemicals and antioxidants in your salad and the meal. Plus the seeds and nuts and even the vinegar have health benefits. I love making delicious salad dressings by blending nuts, seeds, and fruity vinegars with tomato sauce, another liquid, or fruit. Eating delicious and healthy salads is the secret to a long and healthy life.
Everyone should be eating a large salad as a main dish at least once a day. It’s not optional; raw vegetables are essential for excellent health.
SEEDS AND NUTS TO THE RESCUE
You can absorb almost ten times as much of the beneficial nutrients from vegetables when you eat nuts or seeds with that same meal. So use them in salad dressings, a dip or sauce or sprinkled on top of a dish. Flaxseeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds, and walnuts are highest in omega-3 fatty acids, though pistachios, pecans, and almonds are very nutritious, too. Flaxseeds and chia seeds also have the anticancer lignans I emphasized in Chapter 3. I strongly recommend that people eat at least one tablespoon of flax, hemp, or chia every day, as well as a small amount of walnuts. I usually add them every morning to my soaked grain cereal, but you can make all types of dishes, recipes, and desserts that incorporate these superfoods, as I do in my meals.
Make salads and other dips and dishes with any nut and seed, especially sunflower seeds, which are rich in natural vitamin E fragments and protein. I recommend eating nuts and seeds raw or just lightly toasted because the roasting process alters their beneficial nutrients and produces a carcinogenic compound called acrylamide. Commercially packaged nuts and seeds are also frequently cooked in oil and may be heavily salted.
THE VEGETABLE BEAN SOUP, STEW, OR CHILI IS THE SECRET
It’s not hard to eat to live. The trick to making this work without having to shop and cook almost every day is to do one big shopping trip on the weekend, and then that same day, make a big pot of vegetable bean soup or stew for the entire week. You can take that bean soup or chili with you to work or school or when you travel away from home.
Soup is a key menu item in the Nutritarian diet. It’s easy to incorporate lots of green leafy vegetables, beans, mushrooms, onions, and tomatoes all in one pot. Nutrients don’t get lost in the cooking water when you make a soup. Soups and stews are cooked at 212°F, the boiling point of water. This moisture and the relatively low temperature prevent burning of the food and the resulting nutrient loss and formation of harmful compounds. Soups make great leftovers. Make a big pot, enjoy it for dinner, and then have it for lunch for the next few days.
In my home we usually make in advance both a favorite soup, such as split pea or spicy sweet and sour cabbage and corn, and a dark bean chili for the entire week. We also make at least one of our favorite salad dressings on the weekend, too. Then it’s easy during the week to whip up a meal in no time flat, with a thick, hearty soup and some salad, vegetables, fruits, and nuts.
Beans are softer and more digestible if you soak them in water the night before and cook them the next day for a few hours over a low flame. You can also cook dry beans in a pressure cooker to reduce cooking time. If you use canned beans, make sure to select brands that are labeled as “low-sodium” or “no-salt-added.”
Remember, soups and other foods don’t need salt to be delicious. You can add flavor by using herbs, spices, garlic, onions, and lemon. For example, start your soup or other dish with onions and garlic; then add in your choice of herbs and spices while cooking and finish with a splash of citrus or vinegar. A hint of spiciness from black pepper, cayenne pepper, or red pepper flakes is sometimes just what a soup needs. Stock up on some no-salt seasoning blends, which are a quick and convenient way to add flavor.
And beans aren’t just for soups and chili; they have lots of uses. Dried beans are inexpensive, super healthy, rich in protein, low-glycemic, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, weight-loss favorable, life span extending, filling, and delicious. When you mix beans with some intact whole grains and chopped greens, a bit of spicy peppers and scallions or onions, you have a great main dish.
THE MEAT SPECTRUM: HOW MUCH OR HOW LITTLE?
I hope it’s clear that a healthy diet must consist predominantly of whole plant foods that are fresh, frozen, or minimally processed. So the pertinent question is how much animal products such as chicken, fish, and eggs are appropriate in a healthy diet? This question is difficult to answer, and it’s difficult for people to accept what’s best, especially with so many false and distorted claims circulating. Some people will tell you, for instance, that eating butter (high in saturated fat) and egg yolks (high in cholesterol) is fine.
When you look at the evidence presented by those who make such claims, it’s typically from a study comparing two groups that are both eating a relatively unhealthy diet, both with excessive animal products included and then seeing whether high-fat animal products are worse than lower-fat animal products or whether one animal product, such as eggs, makes things worse compared with, say, chicken. In such studies, both study groups have relatively poor outcomes. Too often, researchers don’t have enough knowledge about nutrition to design the right studies. The question isn’t whether dairy fat is worse than lean meat or oil, or even bread or white rice, since these are all unfavorable food choices.
The real question is this: When you lower or remove some potentially unfavorable option from the diet, what should you replace it with to achieve better health? Are you replacing those calories with a truly healthful option?—because if not, the results of any study will be almost worthless. We don’t need to know whether dark meat chicken is worse than light meat chicken if they both increase the risk of heart disease and cancer and the difference is slight. And if white meat turns up to be not as bad as dark meat, it doesn’t mean that white meat chicken is good for you. Whenever a study is performed and animal products are removed and replaced with vegetables and beans, the health benefits are dramatic.
Likewise, just because commercial baked goods and high-glycemic carbohydrates such as white bread and white rice may be even more dangerous for your long-term health compared with eggs or poultry doesn’t mean that eating eggs and poultry regularly is a good idea or enhances life span. Thousands of studies have already documented the benefits of eating a diet low in animal products and rich in fibrous plant foods. It’s hardly worthwhile discussing whether eggs are better or worse than meat, because neither is favorable. The reality is that it is better to eat fewer eggs and less of other animal products and to eat more vegetables, beans, nuts, and seeds.
In fact, when scientists from the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research systematically analyzed more than one thousand studies on this topic, they found that diets low in fibrous plant foods and higher in meat were linked to cancer. As a result, these two organizations recommended that people consume a whole-food, plant-rich diet.3
My point is to make it clear that no matter what type of animal product you choose to eat, it should be a minor part of your diet and not the major part. When you eat too many animal products, no matter what type you consume, they decrease the proportion of vegetation you eat and drive growth hormones produced by the body too high, which promotes cell growth and replication, and thus cancer.
Generally, the most respected long-term studies show that the longest-lived Americans are vegans and near-vegans who include in their diets a bit of seafood. A vegetarian diet may include plenty of vegetables, beans, fruits, and nuts that are rich in phytochemicals, antioxidants, fiber, magnesium, vitamins C and E, and folate and are low in cholesterol, saturated fatty acids, and sodium. Of course, there are also lots of vegans who eat unhealthy junk foods, so just eating a vegan diet does not define dietary excellence. That is the purpose of the term “Nutritarian”—to identify a diet style that avoids fast food and junk food and emphasizes nutrients. Long-term studies repeatedly demonstrate that death from all causes is significantly lower in vegetarians than in omnivorous populations. Compared with omnivores, the incidence of cancer and type 2 diabetes is also significantly lower. Other than the risks from low vitamin B12 and omega-3 fatty acids, which are easily supplemented, vegans and vegetarians generally live longer than people who eat lots of animal products.4
Animal Products and Heart Disease Risk.
All animal products are rich in high biological protein, so they all raise IGF-1 levels unfavorably.
Lots of data have already accumulated suggesting that for excellent health, most people need to keep the consumption of animal products at less than 10 percent of total calories. People with known disease, such as diabetes or heart disease, or a high genetic risk of disease, should cut back on animal products even more, most likely to less than 5 percent of total calories to maximize the protective and healing potential of a Nutritarian diet.
When choosing which animal product to eat, keep in mind that red meats have about 100 calories per ounce and white meats, fish, and eggs have about 50 calories per ounce. Especially if you are limiting your animal protein intake to 2–3 ounces, it still can be a relatively minor part of your total caloric intake for the day. And, of course, you should always try to find animal products, even this relatively small amount, that are as close to naturally and wild raised as possible, as opposed, for instance, to being raised in commercial feedlots with higher potential for containing toxins and being contaminated.
The chart above is from my book The End of Heart Disease, where I demonstrate through scores of studies that reducing animal products to very low levels facilitates dramatic lowering of blood pressure and cholesterol lowering, and the reversal of advanced heart disease.
Many Nutritarians are vegans and eat no animal products at all; others eat a small amount a few times a week or month; and some eat a small serving once a day. Most Americans eat animal products three times a day, at every single meal. I recommend that you eat no animal products at all for breakfast and lunch, and then if you want to eat some animal products, use only a small amount as a flavoring agent with lots of vegetables with your dinner. For example, make a savory vegetable dish in a wok with mushrooms, onions, cabbage, and broccoli and add just a small amount of shredded chicken or turkey for flavor, instead of eating an entire half chicken as your meal. Many people find that mushrooms and tempeh (fermented soybeans) have the right texture and flavor to become a meat substitute or meat extender, so thus they can use very little animal products in a dish.
In order to get the most profound benefits possible from a Nutritarian diet style, people need to simultaneously cut out fast food and significantly reduce their intake of animal products. Many people reject this advice because they enjoy beef hamburgers and don’t want to give up fast food and barbecue. Some tell me, “I’m not giving up meat.” Then I show them how they can use only 1 ounce of meat per person, mixing this small amount to add flavor to a patty made from oats, mushrooms, walnuts, and red beans. They are amazed that this healthy burger tastes like a flavorful meat burger even though it contains only 1 ounce of meat.
With proper meal design, even the die-hard meat eater is satisfied with very few animal products in a meal. I want people to eat for both enjoyment and health; therefore, food must be appealing.
WHY SHOULDN’T I EAT FISH EVERY DAY?
Science dictates limits on certain foods, like animal products and oils. And yes, even fish should not be eaten more than a few times a week. Almost all fish, whether it comes from the middle of the ocean, a local lake, or a fish farm, contains methylmercury and other pollutants. These pollutants accumulate in fish as the fish breathe polluted water through their gills. Larger, predatory fish tend to contain more mercury and pollutants than smaller, shorter-lived fish, but all fish contain unfavorable pollutants, including mercury.
Part of the reason mercury is so toxic is because our body tissues accumulate all of the mercury we eat over the years, and it takes a very long time for it to be flushed from our tissues. You might digest a piece of fish in a day or two, but the mercury in the fish will stay with you for years and can continue to accumulate to dangerous levels in your cells if you eat fish too often. If you eat fish too regularly, you are bound to have unsafe levels of mercury and other pollutants from fish in your tissues.
Studies indicate that the more fish a person eats, the higher that person’s mercury levels. People who eat fish more than a few times a week have been shown to have blood mercury levels exceeding the maximum suggested by the National Academy of Sciences (less than 5 micrograms). Women who eat fish more than a few times each week have been found to have mercury levels seven times higher than the levels of women who rarely eat fish. And children who regularly eat fish have been found to have mercury levels forty times higher than the national mean.5
As we age, high body stores of mercury cause brain damage and memory impairment. Eating a lot of fish is also linked to breast cancer, perhaps because of the high levels of mercury and other contaminants in fish or some other factor, (such as excess animal protein) but studies on this subject are clear. In one such study, 23,963 women were followed, and researchers were most surprised by the strong link between high intakes of fish and breast cancer.6 The women in the study who ate little or no fish had less than half the rates of breast cancer compared with those who ate fish multiple times a week. Moderate amounts of fish may be safe, but too much is a problem. If you eat little or no seafood, you can still get those beneficial fatty acids via a clean supplement.
EATING HEALTHFULLY ON A BUDGET
Dried beans are very inexpensive, and you can buy them, and intact whole grains, in bulk to save money. Plus, they store well. Millet, quinoa, wheat berries, and barley can also be purchased at significant savings in bulk, and families can buy together and share the cost. Root vegetables such as turnips, beets, carrots, parsnips, and rutabaga are not expensive and store well if you buy in quantity. Frequently, the healthiest foods in the world, such as thick green leaves—kale, collards, mustard greens, and different varieties of cabbages—are affordable and also keep for weeks if they are refrigerated or kept in a cool place.
When my wife and I were still students, we would travel to wholesale markets where restaurants and food stores bought their produce, and we would purchase entire cases of fruits and vegetables wholesale and split them up with other families in our apartment building to save money on our food bills. We actually got other health-minded families to food share with us for a minimal fee. My wife even made and sold fruit-containing breads out of intact grains that she coarsely ground herself. Some weeks, with all the produce and breads we sold, our weekly food bill was zero.
When we lived in New York we traveled to Hunts Point in the Bronx to buy food wholesale, and when we lived in South Jersey near Philadelphia, we traveled to the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market to buy food in bulk. We also purchased bananas and other fruits that were slightly damaged or a bit too ripe to fetch the usual price, often getting fantastic deals on lots of food that looked imperfect but was perfectly good to eat. We would cut away the bad parts and either freeze or dehydrate the extra food for another day. Certain fresh fruits, such as berries, can be prohibitively expensive, but they are about one-quarter the price if you buy them frozen in big bags. Remember: Frozen produce is still healthful because it retains most of its delicate nutritional value.
So there are ways to save on your food bill: You can strategize about buying bulk and wholesale, coordinate your food purchases with family or friends nearby, or both. The additional benefit of this last option is the support you get from other people for eating healthfully. Develop healthful relationships with your neighbors rather than dysfunctional relationships with people who eat junk food and doctors who peddle drugs and drug paraphernalia (semi-funny joke).
SIMPLE GUIDELINES FOR NUTRITIONAL EXCELLENCE
1. Eat an intact whole grain (such as steel cut oats or quinoa) with seeds and fruit for breakfast.
2. Eat a fresh green salad and veggie bean soup, stew, or chili for lunch, also with a fruit.
3. Eat raw vegetables, with a dip, and a veggie stew or veggies cooked in a wok as a main dish for dinner. Add some root vegetables or squash.
4. End with a fruity dessert, such as one of my “nice creams,” or fresh fruit with nuts.
DON’T FRY FOODS OR COOK WITH OIL
Oil is an example of a high-calorie, low-nutrient food. Even though some oils are worse than others, all are fattening and do not contain a significant amount of micronutrients. The more low-nutrient calories you consume in life, the shorter your life. Oil consumption has repeatedly been shown to cause obesity in animals. It is absorbed into the foods, spiking the calories, but unlike eating more fruits or nuts, oil does not make you feel full as it doesn’t have any fiber to tell your brain when you are full. In fact, using oil for cooking makes people want to eat even more calories.
Not only does oil have 120 calories per tablespoon and is exceedingly fattening, but when you heat it and fry food in it, it becomes more dangerous. When oils are heated to varying temperatures, aldehydic lipid oxidation products are produced, which are highly mutagenic and carcinogenic.7 The foods that most link childhood and adolescent diets with adult breast cancer may be cooking oils and French fries. A prospective observational study as part of the Nurses’ Health Study II compared women with the lowest quintile of fat intake in their adolescent years with women who had the highest quintile of fat and found a clear increased cancer risk with increasing oil consumption.8 Similarly, but more ominous, was the link between consumption of French fries between ages 3 and 5 and breast cancer in later life. For each additional serving of fries per week, adult breast cancer risk went up 27 percent.9 I call them cancer fries.
BASIC COOKING METHODS AND EQUIPMENT
A few cooking techniques and pieces of kitchen equipment will help you make delicious Nutritarian dishes. Let’s review them before you begin to enjoy the recipes in the next chapter.
SAUTÉING WITH WATER AND USING A WOK
You can use water or low-sodium vegetable broth instead of oil to sauté onions, garlic, and other vegetables. Simply heat a skillet, pan, or wok on high heat, add 2–3 tablespoons water or broth, and when it’s hot, add your vegetables. Covering the pan occasionally will help the food cook faster. Add additional liquid as needed until the vegetables are tender, but don’t add too much or the food will be boiled, not sautéed. Let the pan get dry enough for the food to start to brown just a little before you add more liquid. If you are cooking with mushrooms, they give off their own liquid so you may not need to add any more. Coconut water, tomatoes, and wine are also good cooking liquids.
A wok or large skillet is a kitchen essential. Cook up a variety of vegetables with a tasty sauce and you can have dinner on the table in minutes. Cut ingredients into uniform-size pieces and allow plenty of room so they are not crowded and can cook evenly. Give harder vegetables such as carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli a head start before adding any leafy greens since they only need a short amount of time to wilt a bit. For the best nutrient value, flavor, and texture, cook vegetables only until they are crisp tender, meaning that they are softer than raw but still have some firmness to them.
STEAMING
Steaming is a quick and gentle cooking method that allows valuable nutrients to be retained in the food. It’s better than boiling, which causes more nutrients to be lost in the cooking water. Steam on the stovetop with a pot containing a small amount of liquid that you bring to a simmer. Place the item to be cooked in a steamer basket above the liquid, and cover the pot. Steam vegetables only until they start to become tender but still retain some firmness. Depending on the vegetable, 8–12 minutes is all it takes. Steamer baskets are very inexpensive and can be used in any pot that has a lid.
BLENDING
I blend up whole food ingredients such as vegetables, nuts, seeds, fruit (fresh, frozen, and dried), and beans to make my salad dressings, sauces, dips, creamy soups, and desserts. A blender is a critical piece of equipment when it comes to making Nutritarian recipes. Invest in a durable, high-powered blender; you won’t regret it. It’s helpful when the machine has enough power and speed to process your ingredients to the desired smooth consistency.
If you have only a standard, moderately priced blender, add liquid first and then gradually add the other ingredients. You may need to add a bit more water or liquid than the recipe calls for. You may also need to do a bit more chopping before adding fruits or vegetables to the blender. If you are using nuts, soak them in water overnight to soften them before blending. You can also substitute raw cashew or almond butter for whole nuts. You will only need half the amount because the ground nut butter is denser.
EAT INTACT WHOLE GRAINS
Intact grains are whole grains that have been left as close as possible to their unprocessed, natural state. They still contain all the parts of the grain seed—the bran, germ, and endosperm—and have not been milled, ground, or flaked. Intact grains are even better for you than products made with whole grain flour. They have a superior nutritional profile of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and fiber and because they are digested slowly, they have a more favorable glycemic index.
Here are some intact whole grains that are easy to incorporate into your meals:
Amaranth: A gluten-free seed that is popular in South America, amaranth maintains a bit of crunch even after cooking. It is higher in the amino acid lysine than most grains, which makes it a good protein source. It can be simmered like other grains or popped in a hot, dry skillet and then used as a crunchy topping for soup, salads, or vegetable dishes.
Barley: One of the first cultivated grains, barley is a good source of both soluble and insoluble fiber. Add it to soups or stews for a rich, substantial consistency. Mushrooms and barley are a classic soup combination. Hulled barley and hulless barley are two different varieties of barley and both are considered whole grains. Quicker cooking pearl barley has been refined and is not a whole grain.
Buckwheat: Despite its name, buckwheat is the seed of a flowering plant that is not related to wheat. It is a good choice for people who are sensitive to gluten. Make a hot morning cereal using buckwheat instead of oats. For a simple lunch or dinner, lightly toast the buckwheat in a skillet, add water or broth, simmer until tender, and then stir in water-sautéed onions, mushrooms, and greens.
Farro: Cultivated in Italy for centuries, farro has a satisfying creamy yet chewy texture and a mild flavor. It can easily be substituted for rice in a variety of recipes. Combine it with kale and white beans for a tasty entrée. Look for whole grain or semi-pearled farro. Pearled farro cooks faster, but the nutritious germ and bran have been removed; semi-pearled farro has more of its germ and bran. Whole grain farro is harder to find. As it is a type of wheat, farro is unsuitable for people with celiac disease, gluten intolerance, or wheat sensitivity or allergy.
Millet: An ancient seed crop, millet is still a staple in many parts of India and Africa. This small seed cooks quickly and has a mild flavor and light texture. Add it to soups or toss it with beans, tomatoes, and other veggies for a warm and tasty salad.
Quinoa: In recent years, quinoa has become a mainstream grain. It’s widely available and commonly found in many recipes. Quinoa is a complete protein; it contains all the essential amino acids. Rinse it before cooking to remove the bitter coating of saponin that is on the seeds.
Steel cut oats: To make steel cut oats, the oat kernel, or groat, is cut into several pieces rather than rolled. Steel cut oats have a chewy, substantial texture and are a great choice for a warm and satisfying breakfast. Cook them 10–20 minutes, depending on the texture you prefer. Stir in your choice of nuts, seeds, and fresh or dried fruit.
Wheat berries: The intact whole grain form of wheat, these wheat kernels, or “berries,” contain the wheat bran, germ, and endosperm. To cook wheat berries, cover with water and simmer in a covered pot for about 1 hour or until soft. Pair cooked wheat berries with a vegetable stir-fry or toss them with your salad.
Wild rice: Wild rice is brown and has a slender elongated shape. It is not really rice but the seeds of an aquatic grass native to the northern waters of Minnesota, parts of Wisconsin, and adjacent areas of Canada. Wild rice is a good alternative to brown and black rice, which have been shown to absorb high levels of arsenic from the soil and water they are grown in.
Whole grains combine well with other foods and complement beans and greens nicely. You can easily create a complete dinner by mixing a cooked intact grain with your favorite vegetables, beans, and seasonings. The list below will give you some ideas. Many of these items are probably already in your pantry or refrigerator.
Mix intact grains with:
Cooked beans: chickpeas, kidney beans, white beans, split peas, lentils, edamame
Cooked green leafy vegetables: kale, collards, mustard greens, turnip greens, spinach, cabbage
Salad greens: mixed baby greens, romaine lettuce, red leaf lettuce, Boston lettuce, endive, watercress, arugula
Other vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots, fresh or frozen peas, red or green peppers, hot chili peppers, onions, scallions, sweet potatoes, butternut or other squashes
Nuts and fruit: walnuts, raw almonds, raw pumpkin or sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, berries, mango, apples, currants, raisins
Spices and seasonings: basil, parsley, cilantro, garlic, chili powder, cumin, black or cayenne pepper, cinnamon, no-salt seasoning blends, lemon juice, vinegar
(RE)STOCK YOUR PANTRY
Begin this new diet style by cleaning out your refrigerator and cabinets. Get rid of all the foods that trigger your addictive cravings. Review the healthful menus and recipes in the next chapter, begin to stock your pantry and refrigerator, and then start discovering some exciting new recipes. It may be a big leap from your current eating habits to the diet style I’m recommending, but just wait until you see the miraculous results. You might temporarily feel poorly, but after a week the health transformation begins. Even your taste will improve.
To get you started and to demonstrate the Nutritarian pattern of eating, Chapter 8 provides two weeks of sample menus and a variety of delicious recipes. Use these to modify your eating habits gradually, or jump right in and do it to the limit. You can choose to follow the menus exactly or pick and choose the meals and recipes that work for your lifestyle and preferences. You can switch around the foods and recipes and eat them in different combinations or at different meals. With leftovers, the two weeks of provided menus should give you enough food to last three or even four weeks. Refrigerate and freeze leftovers and use them for other meals. A homemade dressing lasts for several days, and leftover soup or stew makes a perfect lunch or quick dinner.
FRUIT MAKES THE TASTIEST DESSERTS
The most important message of this book is this: No sugar and white flour, no matter what. I want you to retain the thought that sugar and other concentrated sweeteners and white flour products are simply too dangerous to even consider eating. Get those foods out of your house and out of your life. Healthy breads and desserts taste just as good, but even if it takes you a year to accept this, you still need to see these white foods for what they are: addictive drugs, not food.
Dates, raisins, and dried bananas are good replacements for sweetening agents. When you sweeten with dates instead of sugar, an incredible transformation of human biological function occurs. Dates have fiber and phytonutrients, and they are high in sugar. So how does the sugar in dates compare with the sugar in fast food? What is the effect of using dates and raisins to sweeten desserts rather than more conventional sweeteners such as honey, maple syrup, and sugar? The answers have to do with how much calorically dense, high sugar foods such as dates raise blood sugar or triglycerides and create oxidative stress or free radical formation, like sugar does—and these answers are quite shocking.
When scientists used dates instead of sugar in feeding experiments, they found that the blood sugar did not rise like it does with sugar and other sweeteners, triglycerides did not go up, and any increase in oxidative stress was not measurable.10 Figs, dates, and unsulfured dried apricots do not seem to cause a problem with health, weight, or blood pressure. This is mostly because their sugar is bound to a huge amount of fiber; and combined with all their minerals, trace elements, and phytonutrients and their effect on the bacteria that coat our digestive surfaces, they have a different biological effect as they activate enzyme cofactors in the metabolism of glucose. The extra components in dates make a big difference. The reported glycemic index or glycemic load for dates classifies them as “low to medium”—not even close to the higher range of sugar, white flour, white rice, and white potato.
“At least now we’ll be able to stick to Dr. Fuhrman’s Diet.”
Certainly, it’s easy to eat too much dried fruits and nuts and thereby sabotage your weight-loss goals, but a moderate amount of dried fruits and nuts used in desserts and other recipes is overall favorable, not unfavorable.
You can learn to sweeten and enjoy delicious dishes and desserts with fresh fruit and dried fruit. I share some of my favorites in the next chapter, but hundreds more creative ideas are available in my other books and online to help you make the most delectable healthy desserts ever.
It takes some effort to be super healthy and happy and to have a successful life, but it is so worth it. You can live without fear of disease, you can accomplish what you want to in life, and you can be a good example and leave a favorable legacy for your children and loved ones. Let’s all come together and rebuild the health and emotional well-being of Americans by doing whatever we can personally, socially, economically, and politically to establish excellent nutrition all over this beautiful country. Let’s stick together and do this.