"Eat until you're...what?!"

There I was. About ten years old with a heavy encyclopedia in my lap. Volume W-X-Y-Z. The only volume of the World Book series that contained four, count ‘em, four letters.

My Dad bought this set from a door-to-door salesman
decades ago. He recently asked if I wanted them. I told
him, "Thanks, Dad, but I have all that information at
home on a thumb drive."

        Mom said that was because less words started with W, X, Y and Z, but I knew the real answer. The poor sap who had been forced to write an entire encyclopedia had to be so freaking bored by the end, he naturally started to do some condensing. 

        This seemed obvious to me because at that very moment I was being forced to write a report on “Washington, George” and had, at loooong last, come to my final paragraph which tumbled out like this: 

“An English guy surrendered to George Washington. Then Washington went back home. Then he turned back into a farmer. Then he died. The end.”  

The people who caught the last helicopter out of Saigon could not have been more anxious to be finished than I was. 

The only thing that could have made this event worse would be having
to write a school report about it.

  All I had to do was come up with a more original word for “died” and I’d be done. 

        "Croaked?" I thought. "Yeah, Croaked." 

        I called to my Mom in the next room.

“Mom, how do you spell “croaked”?! 

And then she said it. Those three words that have the power to make a young student cry out in despair and confusion.

“Look it up!” 

“Look it up?! What do you mean?! Just look at all the pages in the whole stupid dictionary and hope it magically appears?!”

  Of course, as the years passed, I came to understand this phrase. But when I became an adult (and got a little paunchy), an equally perplexing phrase took it’s place.

“Eat until you’re satisfied.”

        "Eat until you're satisfied?!"

For twenty years this phrase gave me fits. Every time some one offered up this little gem of nothingness I wanted to say, “Um, excuse me, but I’m not satisfied until the last morsel I swallow drops a mere quarter of an inch down into my esophagus and stacks itself neatly on top of the rest of my meal.”

202 lbs. (Due to the size of my wife, objects
in the picture may appear larger than
they actually are.)

172 lbs. (Son, Ben, ain't helping me much
either.  He's 129 lbs soaking wet)

        Seriously, for most of my adult life I have eaten until I simply can’t take another bite. That’s what "satisfied" had always meant to me. It never dawned on me to stop eating before the bursting point. Why would it? There was more food on the table. My jaw still worked. I could still grip a fork. Why would I stop shoveling stuff into my mouth?!

But earlier this year, a few days into a whole food, plant strong diet, I contemplated a second bowl of lentil chili, but then I thought to myself, “I guess I could eat more, but I’m...hey!...I’m satisfied! What the-?! So, that's what they mean!" The planets aligned! (Turns out there's an actual reason for this.)

        Five months later I’m 30 pounds lighter and 30 inches slimmer. Next month, I’ll get some blood drawn and find out whether my A1c number has dropped significantly. I'll let you know how that goes, but for now (sigh) I'm done writing. You get the point. Blah, blah. Wrapping up. The end.

Cooking Date Night: Thai Portobello Wraps

     When people explain their propensity to "eat big" you'll often hear something like this:

     "Well, my mother is Italian, so..." OR -
     "We're a typical Jewish family, so, you know..." OR -
     "I grew up in a traditional Mexican home, so..."

     Seems like everyone thinks their culture has the corner on glutony. The other day I read about a woman who was trying to reverse the effects of all that "traditional Scandinavian cooking". Really? I married into a traditional Swedish family. No one gets fat on crisp bread, herring and beets.

Most Swedes look like this because...

...they eat sandwiches that look like this.

   



     Here are some explanations for "eating big" that you NEVER, EVER hear:

     "Well, we're Japanese, so..." OR -
     "Well, you know how we Vietnamese are..." OR-
     "My mother is from Thailand, so, naturally..."
 

Sumo wrestlers eat 20,000 daily
calories of chankonabe (a meat soup)
to get fat. Kim Jong Un is on a peasant
diet. He eats 3 small farmers every day.

 Sumo wrestlers and North Korean despots aside, the incidences of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes are still amazingly rare in most Asian countries. In fact, The China Study revealed that "in certain pockets of China where plant based diets were most common, researchers could not find a single person out of 100,000 who had died from heart disease." The study also revealed that "American men were seventeen times more likely to die from heart disease than rural Chinese men." Unfortunatley, for the Chinese, all of this is changing. You can probably guess why.

Some people fear that China is plotting our takeover. Don't
worry, America. Invasion and occupation takes a lot of
energy. Let's see how ambitious they feel after a couple
of generations of fast food.

   





     For this and thousands of other reasons, it appears the verdict is in. To over-indulge in the so-called Western diet is to invite the Grim Reaper to your dinner table.

     But here's some good news: A) The right food can heal you. B) Eating a whole food, plant-based diet is surprisingly tasty! and C) Making the switch is NOT as hard as you think it is going to be.

     Not surprisingly, a lot of the best tasting recipes come from the Far East. Maria and I have long been fans of Thai food (a shout out to our friend PC at Thai Pepper in Newhall, CA) and this Forks Over Knives recipe for "Thai Portobello Mushroom Wraps" is at the top of the list. We made it for a recent stay-at-home date night and, well, you can watch the little movie below.

     So, how can you tell if your diet is having a detrimental affect on your health? For starters, it's a bad sign if the guy carving the meat is using a scythe.

THAI PORTOBELLO WRAPS

from

Forks Over Knives: The Cookbook

SERVES 4

• 1 tablespoon grated ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• Zest and juice of 1 lime
• 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 large shallots, diced small
• 1 pound portobello mushrooms, stemmed and finely chopped
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped mint
• 4 green onions (white and green parts), thinly sliced
• 4 large romaine lettuce leaves or 8 small ones

1. Combine the ginger, garlic, lime zest and juice, soy sauce, and crushed red pepper flakes in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add the shallots and mushrooms and stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes. Add water 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time to keep the vegetables from sticking to the pan. Add the ginger mixtures and cook for another minute. Add the cilantro, mint, and green onion, and remove from the heat.
3. To serve, place some of the mushroom mixture on the bottom of one of the lettuce leaves and fold the lettuce over the filing. Repeat for the remaining lettuce leaves.

Maria's Chickpea Salad Sandwich

     So here's a little update. Since starting a whole food plant-based diet just 10 weeks ago, I have dropped three of my four medications, lost 18 pounds, and my average fasting blood sugar is 123. I can't tell you what my fasting average was before I started this lifestyle because I never tested consistently, but every time I did test it was above 200. Sometimes far above. 

     I also can't begin to tell you how helpful it is to have someone like Maria at my side. She coaches and encourages me. And she's a great cook. It's fun to watch her freewheeling ways in the kitchen. Her ingredients are measured only in approximations. It's more a matter of look and feel. And sometimes, as you'll see, there are happy mistakes along the way. The recipe below is going to be a new favorite of mine. 

     Maria is a big fan of Susan Voisin's excellent blog and website Fat Free Vegan Kitchen. The recipes are excellent. At the very least, they're a jumping off point for Maria to improvise. This chickpea salad recipe is inspired by Susan's Sea-sational Chickpea Salad. I say "inspired" because there are a few small differences and one Big One. Susan adds arame, a sea vegetable, so the chickpea mixture will be given a tuna taste and aroma.  Forgive me, seafood lovers, but this is like throwing a load of clean laundry into the dryer and adding a Wet Dog Dryer Sheet.  If I could extract the tuna smell from tuna I'd be a lot more fond of tuna. And I could add "Nobel Laureate" to my resume.

     And let's be honest here - "sea vegetable?" If it grows in the sea then it has much more in common with a slimy ocean thing that freaks me out when it sticks to my leg than it does a vegetable. An eggplant never snuck up on anyone and pretended to be a jellyfish. I'm not about to eat something I frantically swim away from.

     But why am I obsessing over a such a trifle? Fat Free Vegan Kitchen is an inspiration.

     I hope you enjoy Maria's Chickpea Salad Sandwich. This is the kind of recipe that makes you feel just fine about pigs (or tuna) being in your rearview mirror. Don't forget the red pepper. 

     And one more thing. Chickpeas are also called Garbanzo beans. How did such an unassuming little fella' end up with two such great names? Chickpea and Garbanzo. These are the names of my next two dogs. Well, maybe not, but it's better than Tuna and Ol' Socks.

Maria's Chickpea Salad Sandwich

• 1 15 oz. can of chickpeas or Garbanzo beans

• 1/2 cup of silken tofu

• 2 Tbsp Vegenaise (vegan mayo)

• 1 Tbsp lemon juice

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon smoke paprika

• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper

Maria says a recipe like this offers an opportunity to add a bunch of your favorite veggies. She added finely chopped baby carrot, green onion, cucumber, tomato, red onion, green pepper. 

Galileo, 2013 A.D.

      I was in high school when I first learned about Galileo's treatment at the hands of the Roman Inquistion. Put in his same situation, I think I might have channeled Woody Allen.

     "The earth revolves around the sun?! I said that? I don't, I mean, how would I even know that? Because I, I, you know, I never even look up at the stars. I get vertigo. Not to mention an overwhelming feeling of insignificance."

     Then I would have gone home and broken my telescope.

     But Galileo stuck by his science and spent the rest of his life in prison. It's an inspiring story. I remember wanting to go back in time just to tell him, "Dude, don't worry! In the future, everyone will know your name! Well, okay, part of that's because of this song called Bohemian Rhapsody, but don't let The Man get you down! Because someday...you'll be known as the Father of Modern Science!"

     Sometimes I still wish I could do that. I'd be sure to bring my iPhone so I could play Queen for him. He'd probably be interested in lot of the apps, too.

     I bring up Galileo because a few nights ago I think Maria and I met a just such a man.

     His name is Dr. T. Colin Campbell. He's the co-author of The China Study and is also prominently featured in the documentary Forks Over Knives. His latest book is called Whole.

     He was speaking at a restaurant in Scottsdale called Nourish 123. After a wonderful meal (you can see more of Maria's pictures below) he laid out the science of how the so-called Western diet is killing us, but also, how we can save ourselves in three simple ways: breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

     He asserts that a lifetime of rigorous scientific study has irrefutably proven that if we'll eat a whole food plant-based diet, our bodies can prevent and even reverse the damage inflicted by a lifetime of consuming enormous amounts of animal fat, its carcinogenic protein, casein, and processed food. You can read an excerpt here.

     Dr. Campbell will never be imprisoned for his views but he has suffered condemnation from the High Priests of the Medical, Pharmaceutical and Food industries. He's not recanting. Whole is the sound of Dr. Campbell doubling down. A plant strong lifestyle will remain at the center of his nutritional universe. Heretical? Someday it may seem as obvious as the order of the planets.

     What's clear is that America's current healthcare system is not working. Just take a look at where we rank among the nations of the world. 37th. Right between Costa Rica and Slovenia. As Freddy put it -

Thunderbolts and lightning
Very, very frightening me!

I'm a 10! :(

     Last week I had a visit with Natalie, my Physician's Assistant. She told me I was a 10! I was stunned. I mean, I had lost a few pounds but, wow. A 10?

Well, that's how it felt when she told me.

     CUE RECORD SCRATCH!

     She was talking about my A1c number!

     The A1c is a test that measures a person's average glucose level over the past 2 to 3 months. Here's some perspective from WebMD on what a "10" means.

     For people without diabetes, the normal range for the hemoglobin A1c test is between 4% and 5.6%. Hemoglobin A1c levels between 5.7% and 6.4% indicate increased risk of diabetes, and levels of 6.5% or higher indicate diabetes.

     So, while in everyday life a "10" is associated with perfection, when it comes to the A1c a "10" is associated with the possibility of future blindness, neuropathy, and even amputation. And in the short run it means your doctor wants to add an injectible medicine to your daily regimen. Translation: When it comes to the attractiveness of my current health situation, I'm more Dudley Moore than Bo Derek.

     And it's my kidneys that are suffering. I'll explain it this way. Diabetics can't make use of all the valuable glucose in their system, and when too much glucose hangs out in your bloodstream with no good place to go it's like a bunch of aimless teenagers hanging out in the streets at night. Sooner or later that loitering gang - once filled with so much promise and so much positive, useful energy - are going to mug your kidneys.

     So we struck up a bargain, Natalie and I. I've got three months to shave 3 points off my A1c. She made it clear that fixing runaway numbers with diet alone was not her plan A, but she was encouraged by the fact that two years ago I quickly got down to 7.1 by changing to a vegan diet. And, as she rightly said, "It's your body. I can't force you."

     Now comes the great test.

      Dr. Neal Barnard, who briefly appears in the excellent documentary "Forks Over Knives" (which will make you punch the next hamburger you meet) claims that diabetes can be reversed without drugs. Through diet alone. Sometimes I wonder if my particular case is too far down the road, but my earlier efforts have proven that, at the very least, a vegan diet can produce dramatic change. And quickly, too.

     In fact, I have been amazed at how forgiving my body is. I removed meat, dairy, and all processed sweets a few weeks before meeting with Natalie and since that time I've lost 9 pounds and my blood sugar numbers have dropped dramatically; almost all are within range and, at Natalie's instruction, I've reduced one of my medications by half.

     But can I ever be a 5? For the first time in my life I'm working really hard to be come half the man I am today.

My Dinner with Herbie

     When you tell someone you don’t eat meat, they look at you as if you just said, “I rather enjoy being waterboarded.” I understand this reaction. Some time ago, if you would have told me I’d be eating only fruit, grains, and vegetables, I would have invested in some japanese cutlery and died with honor...after eating a farewell pork roast, or course.

     So how can I be content in this post-cheeseburger existence of mine? Here’s one reason: If you gave my wife, Maria, a bucket of rhubarb and a fistful of dandelions, she could dash into the kitchen and turn it into something that would make a lumberjack re-think bacon. 

     As a cook, Maria has more in common with a jazz pianist. She’s all about the improvisation. For her, the recipe merely provides a key and time signature on which to riff. Her fingers tinkle up and down the spice rack like the soulful hands of Herbie Hancock. I’m little help, I’m afraid. If she’s Herbie Hancock, I'm the awkward fifth grader who joined the band and got stuck with the triangle.

     I got no groove in the kitchen! When I cook, I spend half my time bent over at the waist like a carpenter’s square, re-reading the recipe for the umpteenth time before making the momentous decision to dump a 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper into the mix. By the time I reel myself upright and rotate to the frying pan, Maria has already shaken in random amounts of paprika and chili powder. I gasp at her audacity. She assures me that I won’t be disappointed. But I’m annoyed. I invested a lot of time into verifying that the recipe called for 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper! And it was leveled off so nicely!

     So the other night, before she came home, I got working on a recipe for Spicy Lemon Pepper Pasta with Broccoli. When she came into the kitchen I resolutely waved off her suggestions. This time we were going by the book. 

     But, later, when we sat down to eat, I was disappointed. This dish was all spice and no love. I chewed slowly, breathing in sharply now and then to cool my tongue. Maria was politely silent. Too silent. I put down my fork. “Okay. What would you have done differently?” She shrugged. “I don’t know." But it eventually came tumbling out. "Maybe I would have added some chickenless chicken broth...a little basil...and I would have zested the whole lemon.” 

     My mouth instantly watered at her suggestions. Dang, that sounded good. Really good. 

    
 And that, my friends, that is one reason I’m able to live without filet mignon. I live with a veggie virtuoso.

     I learned another lesson that night. If all you can do at the piano is one-finger “Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star” you might want to scootch over and make a little room for Herbie Hancock.

Vegan Me

     In May of 2011 I went to see a movie called Forks Over Knives. It's all about the benefits of eating a whole food plant-based diet which is code for "vegan". (In fact, the word "vegan" is only mentioned twice in the film and both times by a successful mixed martial arts fighter named Mac Danzig. The thinking here is, if you're capable of kicking your opponent in the ear before he even sees your foot leave the ground, you get to use the word vegan with no fear of ridicule.  And, unfortunately, vegans are the object of great ridicule. In fact, the only group of people who seem to be more universally disliked are mimes. If you're a vegan who also happens to be a mime, you're probably ostracized in a way that makes gypsies feel downright trendy. But I digress.)

I went to see this movie by myself because I knew if I took Maria, my steady date and wife for the last 26 years, I'd wake her inner hippie, and the next thing you know I'd be buying food products with names that were seemingly created to embarrass the shopper. "Excuse me, where would I find the, um...tofurkey?" I once asked a stocker. "THE TOFURKEY IS RIGHT NEXT TO THE FAKIN' BACON!" she screamed. "Gee, thanks," I thought. "And to think you can get that kind of volume without a megaphone." You see, I went to see Forks Over Knives by myself because part of me wanted to do something bold to improve my health but the other part of me really wanted more cheese for my nachos.

Long story short, I fell in love with "Forks Over Knives". I went home and told Maria all about it. We went back the next night, and just as I suspected she went full Woodstock for it. That night we bought a rice cooker and more fruit and vegetables than I had consumed in the previous decade.

That was May of 2011. I was a totally devoted vegan for six months. Almond milk, tempeh, black bean burgers, vegan-this, vegan-that. Loved it. I truly did. Not hard at all. I saw the benefits immediately and dropped 25 pounds by Thanksgiving. But then, of course, came Thanksgiving.

"I'm not going to be weird about this," I told Maria. "I'm going to have a little Turkey. A tiny slice of pie and maybe just a little butter on my roll. A drizzle of gravy, that's all...and a spoonful stuffing."

You can guess how things turned out. Not only did I keep my promise NOT to be weird on Thanksgiving, I was perfectly un-weird all the way through New Year's Day...and the entire year that followed.

But I'm ready to start again. The truth is, I must. I am a type II diabetic who is living in La La Land. I'm maxed out on medication, I have arthritic knees, I'm tired, and I feel older than my 51 years. I have a lot left to do in life, not the least of which is watch my five wonderful children continue to grow.

So bring on the whole-food plant-based diet. I won't call it vegan. Not until I can, with lightning speed, bring my arthritic knee into the ribs of a meat-eating bully.