Foods I Buy On A Plant-Based Diet #1

A couple of weeks ago I made a video to show a few of the food items I buy but it was taking an age to load onto youtube so I thought I'd just do a blog post to start with (videos may follow in the future).

Here's a list and prices of some items I purchased today at the market in Wakefield, Holland & Barrentt, and Sainsbury's.

Wakefield Market

Box of fair trade bananas (18kg): £12
2 bunches of spinach: £1
Box of clementines (2.3kg): £2.50
Unknown fruit (can't remember what they said it was!) :50p

Total = £16

Holland & Barrett

Pitted dried dates (1kg): £4.49
Californian seedless raisins (500g): £2.69
Whole tahini (340g): £2.99
Millet Grain (500g): £1.45
(It was buy one get one half price on all goods, I did buy some other stuff as well so I paid less than the prices stated)

Total (without offer) = £11.62

Sainsbury's

Mixed Pulses (240g drained weight): £1.10
Green Lentils: £1.10
Aduki beans: 70p
Mixed beans: £1.10
(These were on offer - 4 cans for £2)
Frozen chopped spinach (1kg): £1.50
Frozen mixed berries (400g): £1.30

Total = £4.80

Grand total = £32.42

Coconut Oil: Panacea or Artery Clogger? By Rich Roll

This post was orginally blogged by Rich Roll, Febuary 2013 so is not my writings. Check out the post link here: Coconut Oil: Panacea or Artery Clogger? As always I highly recommend all Rich's podcasts and book Finding Ultra. I'm sure you'll find this post informative.

Earlier today, I tweeted the above video from Dr. Michael Greger’s NutritionFacts.org website in which he poses the question: “Does Coconut Oil Clog Arteries?”. Based upon peer reviewed research, Dr. Greger went on to address the saturated fat content of this oil and the health hazards posed.

Then I got slammed with e-mails and tweets. ”So no good on coconut oil?” ”I thought you liked it!” ”Isn’t it a cure-all superfood?” ”The paleo people tell me there’s no issue!” “Now, I’m confused…” and on and on.

So I thought I would expound a bit on where I stand. Disclaimer: this is my personal perspective. Nothing more, nothing less.

First, let me just say (admit?) that I do use coconut oil – sparingly. Yes, it is a saturated fat. But — as I explained in my book Finding Ultra — a significant degree of the saturated fat component of coconut oil is composted of lauric acid, which is (comparatively) quickly and easily metabolized as a very good energy source (and has also shown to be immunity boosting). This means you are likely to burn it for fuel rather than pack it on the waist, provided you are sufficiently active and it isn’t digested along with something high in sugar to supersede & hijack your metabolism first. So yes, paleo folks, I do agree that sugar is a culprit here.

Although I can’t say I use it in coffee as a vegan version of Dave Asprey’s paleo-popular “Bulletproof” coffee (he advises something like a 1/2 stick of grass-fed butter in your morning blend – wait, really? yes, really), I do include coconut oil (again, sparingly) in some of my (vegetable based) Vitamix blends. It’s anti-inflammatory when compared to the saturated fats found in animal foods. It’s the optimal oil to cook with — if you are going to cook with oil — due to the fact that it holds up (does not oxidize) better than other oils at high temperatures (translation – less free radicals). It’s anti-infection and some studies suggest it aids with the absorption of certain vitamins and other nutrients like beta-carotene and some amino acids.

That said, I use it — again, and wait for it — quite sparingly. Then again, I’m probably training more than you are.

Then why sparingly?

Well people, it’s still a saturated fat, one of the few found in the plant kingdom sure, but still a saturated fat — and one that lacks any of those Omega-3′s we’re always trying to get. In my (supported) opinion – hotly debated by the paleo / low carb folks – there is indeed more than a link between dietary saturated fat intake and deleterious health effects, including atherosclerosis. Now the paleo people will likely tell you it’s fine to enjoy your bacon, butter and other foods high in saturated fat like coconut oil. Provided you strictly adhere to their regimen, they will tell you there is no link between such saturated fats and heightened (bad) cholesterol levels or the hardening of the arteries. Then as support, they will refer you to certain isolated indigenous populations like the Inuit, who eat a relatively high degree of saturated fat yet somehow remain healthy. Finally, they will tell you that because coconut oil is comprised (in part) of medium chain triglycerides (MCT’s), this renders it heart-safe, (all points Jeff Novick tackles in the below linked article). Why is paleo so popular right now? One reason just might be that people love to have their bad habits co-signed.

I cannot rubberstamp this perspective. Nor can most of the doctors & nutritional experts I most respect. People like Dr. Greger, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Dr. Dean Ornish, Dr. John McDougall and others all of whom advocate (as Greger does in this video) that the link between dietary saturated fats and such ill effects is more than legit. For certain, you can find medical research debate ongoing here. But I think to completely dismiss this saturated fat / heart disease connection as some kind of quackery, or “a complete joke” — as some in the paleo / low-carb camp would have you believe — is at best misleading and at worst irresponsible. 
 
Particularly when we are in a health care crisis where obesity rates are absurdly high and climbing. According to the CDC, right now 935,000 Americans suffer a heart attack annually, 600,000 of which are fatal. Coronary disease costs $108.9 billion a year in health care costs and lost productivity. Simply put, that is insane.

Certainly, sugar and processed foods are a huge contributory cause. I don’t dispute that. But you cannot reasonably submit that a diet high in saturated fat — in many ways the defining characteristic of the standard American diet — is not also to blame.

In addition, coconut oil as a food is incredibly calorie dense (4 tbsps exceeds the American Heart Association’s RDA for staurated fat), yet poor in nutrient density – a critical variable in calculating the net benefits or detriments of the foods we eat. My friend Jeff Novick, RD goes so far as to say it’s nutritional deficiencies render it the ultimate junk food. Read the hyperlinked piece – it’s a compelling take on this issue.
Remember – we begin working on heart disease when we are very young. Those arteries don’t clog overnight – it’s years in the making and many of us are walking around like ticking time bombs, totally unaware until it has progressed to critical levels.
Healthy, active, fit & trim? Eat a very clean diet already? Cholesterol & blood tests all good? Then fine — some coconut oil in your diet may not be problematic for you and may be a source of some health benefits (beyond the weight & cholesterol debate) such as those I illustrated above. No doubt it’s good for your skin. But opt to lather rather than eat (too much).

The point is that coconut oil is not some kind of miracle cure panacea or a green light to go overboard.

if you are overweight, a candidate for heart disease or in poor health, think twice and consider foregoing the coconut oil. Actually, forget oil altogether.

I hope this helps clarify my personal opinion on this issue.

Peace + Plants,

Rich

Gary Yourofsky: The Best Speech You Will Ever Hear!

 

Gary Yourofsky is an American animal rights activist, and someone who clearly wears his heart on his sleeve when it comes to fighting for the rights of the animals and the planet. Yourofsky is currently banned from entering the UK and Canada, catergorised and an 'international terrorist'! I can see why he may 'ruffle some feathers', and may offend some people, but the fact of the matter is, he's telling the truth.

Please watch the speech above. Gary crams an incredible amount of information into 70 minutes, his delivery is clear, concise and ultimately, empowering.

Aspartame: The Toxic Truth

A short video on the history of aspartame and how it made it's way into over 6,000 of our food products. A must watch.

 

 

 

List of popular food items that contain aspartame. http://supersweetblog.wordpress.com/list-of-products-containing-aspartame/

Product Name	Category
Diet Coca Cola (all varieties) Coca Cola Zero (all varieties) Diet Pepsi (all varieties) Pepsi Max (all varieties) Diet Irn Bru (all varieties) Lilt Zero (all varieties) Sprite Zero (all varieties) Tango (all varieties) Tango no added sugar (all varieties) 7up Free (all varieties) Lucozade Sport (all varieties) Schweppes Slimline Drinks (all varieties) Fanta Zero (all varieties) Fanta Orange Dr Pepper Zero Oasis Summer Fruits Extra Light Oasis Citrus Punch	Soft Drink
Ribena Really light (all varieties) Robinsons Orange Squash Robinson’s No added sugar range	Cordial
Muller Light Cherry Muller Light Blueberry Muller Light Raspberry Muller Light Banana and Custard Danone Activia Cherry Weight Watchers Fromage Frais Weight Watchers Toffee and Vanilla	Yoghurt
Wrigleys Airwaves (all varieties) Wrigleys Orbit (all varieties) Wrigleys Extra (all varieties)	Chewing Gum
Uncle Ben’s Sweet and Sour Light	Cooking Sauce
Walkers Sensations Sweet Thai Chilli Walkers Sensations Lime and Thai Spices Walkers Prawn Cocktail	Crisps
Canderel Silver Spoon Sweetness and Light Silver Spoon Light Granulated Sugar	Tabletop Sweeteners
Cadburys Highlights (all varieties) Options Hot Chocolate Drink (all varieties)	Drink powders



Macronutrients: Carbs, Fat & Protein with Dr. Garth Davis

Dr. Garth Davis on macronutrients (posted 11/02/2014 on Facebook):

"People just can't get away from the concept of macro nutrients. We are so wedded to the terms protein, fat, carbs and this may be one of the essential reasons we keep getting sicker.

Even physicians, who have very little training in nutrition in general, talk about macronutrients. I had a physician see me the other day because he has the first signs of diabetes on his lab tests and is concerned that "despite cutting out carbs and increasing protein" his lab numbers are getting worse!" When I explained the diet I wanted him to try he exclaimed that it was too many carbs and not enough protein. I asked him point blank how great the "High Protein" diet was working, not just for him, but the whole country.

You cannot divide food into protein, carbs, fat. All food is a combination. Take for instance, an avocado. It is a combination of fat, protein, carb and fiber! The problem is that when we start classifying our diet by macronutrient break down we then begin to choose foods that are higher in certain categories. We will choose meat for protein and label bread as carbs. Unfortunately this leads to mislabelling certain foods as bad because they have a certain macronutrient considered, wrongly, bad.

Furthermore, the macronutrients can be broken down even further. Saturated fat is bad but stearic acid, which is one type of saturated fat, may not be that bad. Carbs are labelled evil, but they are the true fuel source of the body. Fruits and veggies, high in carbs, have been shown to extend life, prevent cancer, and prevent heart disease. Fruits are lumped in with candy in this ridiculous nutrition philosophy we have developed.

The answer is to throw out the terms, carbs, protein, fat. EAT WHOLE FOOD. Favour plant sources of food which have a nice variety of nutrients.

I NEVER think about how much protein or carbs I am eating. NEVER. Not even when I am training for Ironman or a Marathon. I would NEVER drink a protein shake to get more protein.

At the end of the day I try to make sure I have eaten some whole grains, some dark leafy vegetables, something orange or red, berries, whole fruit, beans, nuts/seeds. WHOLE FOODS. I have no use for this modern day lexicon of protein vs carb. Okinawans don't think that way and they are doing just fine, and so am I."

Dr. Garth Davis is a veteran weight loss surgeon who found himself running into a number of health problems, and ultimately becoming his own patient. A few years back he was suffering from high cholesterol, high blood pressure and a fatty liver, not good news for the ol' doc. 

Not satisfied with the high protein, low carb approach pushed by many of his peers he decided to finally study nutrition properly. Unbelievably, it wasn't even on the medical school curriculum.

For more information on how Dr. Garth became plant-based listen to the podcast he did with Rich Roll posted below. 

 

RECIPE: Mixed Vegetable Chilli & Rice Bowl

 

Serves 4

 

Ingredients

 

300ml vegetable stock

2 red chilli, finely diced

Thumb-sized piece of ginger, finely diced

1 celery stalk, diced

2 carrots, diced

1 yellow pepper, diced

1 green pepper, diced

2 courgettes, diced

2 medium potatoes, diced

100g dried red lentils

2 400g cans chopped tomatoes

1 400g can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup frozen corn

 

1. Heat 50ml of the stock on a medium heat. Add chillies, ginger, celery, carrots, peppers and courgettes. Cook for 5-8 minutes of soften.

 

2. Add remaining stock, potatoes, lentils and chopped tomatoes. Mix well and bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 20-25 minutes. Then add beans, peas and corn, and cook for a further 10 minutes.

 

3. Serve over a bed of brown rice. 

 



The Mediterranean Diet: Healthy Or Complete Myth?

 

The content in this post relies on information from Rip Esseltyn's book, My Beef With Meat.

The Mediterranean diet, packed with platters of fish, tons of cheese salads,  fancy yogurts, lashings of olive oil, all washed down with bottles of red wine is the pinnacle of healthy living and longevity. Think again.

The fact of the matter is, there's no real Mediterranean diet! More than 20 countries border the Mediterranean sea, and they all adopt a completely different diet. Some consume olive oil, fish, feta cheese, drink alcohol, many don't.

Rami Zuraykt (an agriculture professor at the American University in Beirut) suggests, "There is no such thing called the Mediterranean diet; there are Mediterranean diets". most of these diets he continues are rich in fruits and vegetables with lots of fresh produce in them, and there is less meat in them.

Dr Ricardo Gomez-Huelgas (Internal Medicine Department at Hospital Carlos Haya in Malaga) states that, "The prevalence of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol in Spain have all risen at an alarming rate over the past twenty years and this is likely to cause future increases in bad health and death due to cardiovascular disease".

The Mediterranean diet myth is actually based on data post World War II in the 1940s and 1950s where people ate lentils instead of meat because they had no choice. "A lot of it has t do with poverty, not geography says Sami Zubaida, a leading scholar on food and culture.

A study from the 1950s found low rates of heart disease among people living on the island of Crete. These folk did consume fats such as olives, avocadoes and olive oil but their diet was predominately plant-based. Fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, with a small amount of fish. At the time the island was economically depressed recovering from the war. They couldn't afford butter, cheese and meat, but as soon as they could, they got fat. The people of Crete today consume a completely different diet to that of 1950s post-war. Obesity and heart disease has risen steadily since the original study.

We've been lead to believe that the Mediterranean diet is super healthy through clever marketing and advertising pushed down our throats by the food industry. More than half the populations of Italy, Portugal, and Spain are overweight. Greece is now the sixteenth-fattest country in the world, with more than two-thirds of its citizens overweight. Super healthy!

A quick word on our beloved, "heart healthy", Mediterranean diet approved olive oil. It takes about 1,375 squeezed olives to fill a litre bottle of olive oil. It's 100% fat, and almost 120 calories per tablespoon, making it more calorically dense than any other food on the planet. It is 14.5% saturated fat, and contains almost no vitamins and minerals. To get your daily supply of omega-3 fatty acids from the oil used have to drink about a half-pound bottle, around 2,000 calories! 

So, along with the olive oil, ditch the Mediterranean diet myth and go plant-strong! 

RECIPE: Shepherd's Pie

 

Classic British dish and not a "moo" or baa" in ear shot!

 

You can still cook traditional homemade foods on a plant-based/vegan diet. Super simple to make, and free from the artery clogging saturated animal fat. Everyone's a winner!

 

Ingredients

 

125ml vegetable stock

4 medium-large sweet potatoes (boiled and mashed)

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1-2 tbsp. fresh rosemary, diced

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. ground coriander

400g can chopped tomatoes, juices drained

400g can green lentils, drained and rinsed

400g can cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup frozen corn

 

Gravy Recipe (one portion)

1 tbsp. corn flour

1 tsp. veg stock

1 tsp. onion powder

1/2 tsp. soy sauce

1 cup water

• Blend ingredients, apart from soy sauce. Heat until gravy starts to simmer and thicken up, add soy sauce.

 

1. Heat 50ml of the vegetable stock over a medium heat. Add the celery and carrots, and cook for 5-8 minutes, until softened.

 

2. Add fresh rosemary, onion powder and ground coriander, cook for 1 minute. Then add remaining stock, chopped tomatoes, lentils, beans, peas and corn and cook for a further 10 minutes.

 

3. Transfer the mixture into a oven-proof baking dish, then spoon the mashed sweet potatoes over the top. Add to a pre-heated grill for 5-10 minutes to lightly crisp the topping.

 

4. Serve with your favourite greens, and drizzle with gravy.

 

 

 

 

Milk is Murder: The Dairy Industry

 

I recently listened to a Rich Roll podcast with Gene Baur (episode 35). If you've never heard of Rich's podcasts I highly recommend you to do so, they're amazing (I'm planning on dedicating a post to Rich). Gene Baur is president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, started in 1986 it's the first animal rescue organisation dedicated to farmed animals. Gene seems like a real down to earth guy, and I'm sure you'll enjoy the podcast if you wish to listen (see below).

 

 So want to know how milk gets on our shelves? Here's the truth.

 

Just like a human, cows don't lactate for the heck of it, they lactate to feed their new born babies. Once the baby calf is born within hours it's taken away from the mother so that she can produce milk for humans to drink. Sound messed up? It is, and it does stop there. The cows are then hooked up to a milk machine 2 to 3 times a day and pushed to produce 10 times more milk than they would normally do in nature. This obviously puts an immense amount of stress on the cow. In a healthy environment a cow can live up to 20 years, compared to a modern dairy where they live to 3 to 4 years, less than a quarter of their potential. Many cows can are pushed that hard to produce milk unnaturally the can't stand, these are called downed animals. At this point they're then slaughtered and become your beef.

 

What happens to the baby calves?

 

If a calf is female, they take the path of their mother by becoming milking cows. If male, they become veal. The veal industry was born out of the dairy industry. These male calves typically only live up to 20 weeks before slaughtering, and are kept in pretty horrific conditions. Many are feed a diet deficient in iron and fibre so they're borderline anaemic, their flesh becomes pale in colour to be sold as milk fed veal.

 

Extremely ugly industry. Next time you're at the store why not try the wide variety of non-dairy milks available; rice, almond, hemp, soy, just to name a few are all excellent alternatives. Much healthier and guilt free.