Category: Simple Truth

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How Butter Beans Went From Gross to Glamorous

I was mystified. Butter beans — or lima beans, as I grew up calling them in the Midwest — are the most banal of ingredients, a boring bean relegated to the darkest corner of every home cook’s pantry. Why, then, were food influencers drowning them in luxurious sauces, crisping them up as a crouton substitute, and braising them as if they were a fine cut of meat? What the heck was going on?

Beans, broadly speaking, are having a moment. The dry bean market is expected to grow to $8.7 billion by 2028, while the canned bean industry raked in $5.65 billion in 2023 and is projected to be worth a whopping $15.5 billion by 2033, according to the market research firm Fact.MR.

How Butter Beans Went From Gross to Glamorous — https://www.eater.com/24008145/why-are-butter-beans-so-popular

Beans are cheap and nutritious. More people will be incorporating this staple into their diets because they are unable to afford the more expensive foods.

It’s not the vegan/vegetarian/let’s save the world movement. It’s basic economics.

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Trouble in Paradise (it’s Weight Gain Season again)

“Competition puts hurdles in front of you that you have to clear.” 

OKC Thunder coach Mark Daigneault

Here’s the same chart I posted from last year that is attributed to the New England Journal of Medicine. I could never find the original source article.

Take Home Lesson

“God speaks to us through signs. It is important to allow angels to act. When we see ourselves repeating our ordinary routine, we realize how much wealth surrounds our life. We understand each step, each attitude. We discover important things, and useless thoughts. At the end of a week – discipline is always fundamental – we are more conscious of our faults and distractions, but we also understand that, at times, there was no reason to act the way we did, that we followed our impulses, our intuition; and now we begin to understand this silent language which God uses in order to show us the true path. Call it intuition, signs, instinct, coincidence, any name will do – what matters is that through “conscious attention” we realize that we are often guided to the right decision. And this makes us stronger and more confident.”

Paulo Coelho

Happy Thanksgiving!

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How To Reduce Your Risk of Developing DM2 (type 2 diabetes)

Photo by mali maeder on Pexels.com

Replacing one serving of red meat a day with a serving of plant-based protein sources like nuts or legumes decreased the risk of type 2 diabetes by 30%, and substituting a serving of red meat for dairy decreased the risk by 22%.

More Than One Red Meat Serving A Week Can Increase Diabetes Risk — https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2023/10/19/more-than-one-red-meat-serving-a-week-can-increase-diabetes-risk-study-finds/

The Forbes article has links to other research studies on meat consumption and health.

Link to the Harvard press release — Red meat consumption associated with increased type 2 diabetes risk — https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/red-meat-consumption-associated-with-increased-type-2-diabetes-risk/

The study featured in the articles above was published on Thursday, October 19, in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

My Personal Opinion

If you eat meat, eat less. If you don’t eat meat, consider the occasional meal with meat for its nutritional benefits. My diet is approximately 75% meat-free, I do not have diabetes.

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Eat an Apple and Some Broccoli and Call Me in the Morning

A recent study examined the effects of produce prescription programs in 12 U.S. states (1). Almost 4,000 individuals received produce prescriptions. About half were adults and half were children. They were all from low-income neighborhoods. Participants received paper vouchers or electronic cards providing from $15 to $300 per month to buy fruits and vegetables at grocery stores and farmers markets. They attended nutrition classes. The median length of program participation was 6 months.

Adults receiving produce prescription ate, on average, more than three quarters of a cup per day more fruits and vegetables; children averaged a quarter cup more per day. Both adults and children reported that their overall health status improved. Among adults with poor health, improvements were seen in blood pressure, glycated hemoglobin (a measure of diabetes control), and body mass index (BMI). These results suggest that produce prescriptions could have important benefits.

Eat an Apple and Some Broccoli and Call Me in the Morning: Produce Prescriptions Offer Health Benefits — https://www.vrg.org/blog/2023/10/13/eat-an-apple-and-some-broccoli-and-call-me-in-the-morning-produce-prescriptions-offer-health-benefits/ – Posted on October 13, 2023 by The VRG Blog Editor

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Eat Only When Hungry

Retrain yourself to recognize feelings of hunger and respect them. Eat when you feel them and stop when they stop. Don’t eat when you’re not hungry. This approach starts with eating breakfast, planning snacks, or eating only part of your lunch and saving the rest for a snack later on in the afternoon. Eat regular meals but don’t eat by the clock.

Eating When You’re Hungry versus Eating on Schedule — https://www.dummies.com/article/body-mind-spirit/physical-health-well-being/diet-nutrition/general-diet-nutrition/eating-when-youre-hungry-versus-eating-on-schedule-202578/

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You Want Fries With That?

The study found that eating fast food is associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, a potentially life-threatening condition in which fat builds up in the liver. Researchers discovered that people with obesity or diabetes who consume 20% or more of their daily calories from fast food have severely elevated levels of fat in their liver compared to those who consume less or no fast food. And the general population has moderate increases of liver fat when one-fifth or more of their diet is fast food.

University of Southern California – Health Sciences. “Consumption of fast food linked to liver disease: Risk of liver damage is highest for those with obesity or diabetes.” ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230110103508.htm (accessed January 11, 2023).

Journal Reference – Ani Kardashian, Jennifer L. Dodge, Norah A. Terrault. Quantifying the Negative Impact of Fast-food Consumption on Liver Steatosis Among United States Adults with Diabetes and Obesity. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 2023; DOI: 10.1016/j.cgh.2022.11.040

But even with Foods With Low Nutritional Quality remember Braum’s Is the Best American Fast-Food Chain You’ve Never Heard Of.

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Don’t Eat More of Anything (Until You Decide What to Eat Less Of) — A Country Doctor Writes

A year ago this week, I made a stir with my post about five common weight loss myths. Today I had a patient conversation I have had so many times before: Someone was trying to eat healthier and lose weight at the same time. They are not necessarily the same thing.

Don’t Eat More of Anything (Until You Decide What to Eat Less Of) — A Country Doctor Writes:

Saturday morning. Coffee, clean the shower, catch up on news. Later I’ll work for a few hours on my Future Best Seller rewriting and editing my essay on changing habits, food choices and emphasizing what you don’t eat is just as important as what you do eat. Well, The Country Doctor wrote a nice post on this topic.

Thanks Doc.

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