Category: Thoughts About Food

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Teaching Students to Cook Now Makes Them Better Doctors Later

Lifestyle factors — including nutrition, physical activity and stress — are critical determinants of health and, when poorly managed, can cause a veritable pandemic of chronic disease and unsustainable health care costs. Yet despite overwhelming connections between lifestyle factors and disease, most medical schools lack a cohesive approach to helping students translate their basic science education into practical patient advice and care.

via Teaching Students to Cook Now Makes Them Better Doctors Later.

I’m not quite sure if I actually taught my offspring how to cook.  But having a role model certainly helps.  My father did all the cooking when I was a kid.  One day I asked, “Why do you do all the cooking?” and his reply was,

“You’ve tasted your Mother’s cooking.  Survival.”

I taught myself how to cook because I thought all Dads did the cooking.  Don’t they?

 

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Dean Ornish: Can Healthy Eating Reverse Some Cancers? : NPR

Dean Ornish: Can Healthy Eating Reverse Some Cancers? : NPR.

Over 30 years have passed since I was a vegetarian.  My coworkers thought I was crazy.  Dinner invitations were met with hesitation.  Some friends made excuses like “My hamster is sick and I can’t come over for supper”.  My life as a vegetarian lasted 18 months.

At the grocery store the other day I was asked if I was a vegetarian.  I said no.  When I thought about the correct answer, I really had no answer.  There’s not really a good word to describe my eating habits.  Most weeks two thirds of my meals are meatless.  I avoid processed foods and fast food restaurants.  I guess I try to eat less bad food and more good health enhancing foods like whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, less animal products, and more craft beer.

I stumbled upon this old TED talk this morning.  If you are not familiar with the work of Dr. Dean Ornish, this short video is a great place to start.

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A Longevity Diet? Learning From the Blue Zones | Senior Planet

Summary:

  • high carbohydrate diet centered on whole grains
  • beans
  • eat less
  • eat more earlier in the day, less at night
  • drink alcohol
  • socialize

In my 20’s I was vegetarian for about a year and a half.  I managed to drive everyone around me crazy with my soapbox rants about how eating fast food burgers were the root cause of rain forest clearing for livestock grazing in Central America.  I’ve mellowed with age and no longer rant endlessly about the health benefits of a plant based diet.  I eat almost anything I want, just more of some things and a lot less of other things.  On a weekly basis, approximately two thirds of my meals are meatless.  Bean burritos are a staple, along with homemade bean soups and hummus.  Plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, complex carbohydrates, some good craft beer.  I eat differently than I did growing up.  But I guess that’s obvious given my history of losing over 200 pounds.

Good article and audio.  Check it out.

via A Longevity Diet? Learning From the Blue Zones | Senior Planet.

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From Paleo To Plant-Based, New Report Ranks Top Diets Of 2015 : The Salt : NPR

For the fifth year in a row, the government-researched DASH diet (an acronym for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) ranked No. 1 overall diet. It’s similar to the Mediterranean diet: heavy on fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy, whole grains, poultry, fish and nuts.

via From Paleo To Plant-Based, New Report Ranks Top Diets Of 2015 : The Salt : NPR.

Rather than just another recipe for my first post of 2015 I have posted a link to a story on the best diet for optimal health.  Eat well.  Live well. Stay healthy.

 

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What 200 Calories of Every Food Looks Like – The Atlantic

I know that Chipotle burritos are extremely caloric, but I’ve managed to convince myself that the burrito bowl—all the cheese, guac, and juicy beef, but without the tortilla wrapping—is practically a health food.

No need to work out today, I walked up the Metro escalator! And sure, eight drinks a week is technically “heavy drinking” for women, but I’m Russian.

via What 200 Calories of Every Food Looks Like – The Atlantic.

Go to the article for some sample pictures.  If you dare.

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Craft Beer and Health

via Craft Beer and Your Health.

Before I continue I admit I’m thinking about beer and it’s only 10:00 am.  But for years I’ve used my Saturday mornings to catch up on medical and health news.  Last night The Boss went to The Mall after work so dinner got pushed back.  By the time The Boss got home it was like “why cook?” so we went out to an Italian place for a quick meal.  I managed to eat an entire half tray sized piece of lasagna and I started thinking this can’t be good.

I woke up Saturday morning and expected the worst when I approached the bathroom scale.  Friday I was 190.  This morning I was…190!  There was no damage from the half tray of lasagna.

Must be the craft beer.

So with that thought in mind I wondered if craft beer (in absolute moderation of course) could possibly be healthy.  Click through on the link (yeah, I know the research is self-serving) but I found the article enlightening and there are plenty of legit reference links.

Tonight our tiny town in Oklahoma is having its very first foodie/craft beer/food truck/pop up store/live music street festival.  Roughtail brewery Roughtail Brewing Company | Home. will be serving two of their near beers (3.2 ABV).

I am excited.

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Stroke Rounds: Potassium Tied to Lower Stroke Risk

via Stroke Rounds: Potassium Tied to Lower Stroke Risk.

Women (mean age 63.6) who consumed the most potassium each day (>3,193.6 mg) had a 12% lower overall risk of all stroke (hazard ratio 0.88, 95% CI 0.79-0.98) and a 16% lower risk of ischemic stroke (HR 0.84, 95% CI 0.74-0.96) when compared with women consuming very little potassium (<1,925.5 mg/day), reported Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller, PhD, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, and colleagues.

I had a banana with breakfast.  I’m going to pop a few prunes now.

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Pistachios Improve Metabolic Profile in Prediabetes

via Pistachios Improve Metabolic Profile in Prediabetes.

Beneficial Effect of Pistachio Consumption on Glucose Metabolism, Insulin Resistance, Inflammation, and Related Metabolic Risk Markers: a Randomized Clinical Trial.

This study was funded by the Western Pistachios Association, now known as American Pistachio Growers (U.S.), and Paramount Farms.

Hmm…  The diets were isocaloric and matched for protein, fiber, and saturated fatty acids.  But were the foods identical between the control group and pistachio supplemented group?  Food preparation methods controlled for?  Interesting little study nonetheless.

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