The Michael Pollan Lecture

On Saturday night I went to hear Michael Pollan speak at Benaroya hall.  My friend Christina and I both thought it was a really great lecture.  Pollan was not only informative, but witty and inspiring as well.  Here is a rundown of what he had to say.

Food vs Nutrients:

Instead of being so concerned with the nutrients in food we need to get back to focusing on the food itself.  A food can have lots of nutrients that are essential to a healthy diet and still not be very healthy for us.  An example would be cereals and cereal bars.  On the package for these foods you can see they have vitamins, minerals and fiber but are highly processed and full of sugar. Then look at a piece of fruit, it also has vitamins, minerals and fiber but isn't processed or refined and has much less sugar.  Being more concerned with eating natural whole foods, rather than with the specific nutrients we are eating, can actually help us have a healthier diet overall.  

The Western Diet

Americans are the most diet obsessed people in the world and yet we have the highest rates of obesity and obesity related diseases.  How is this possible?  Many researchers believe it is due to what they call the Western Diet.  This diet is one full of highly processed foods full of sugar and starch and low in natural whole foods.  Even though we have hundreds of diet foods and low-fat foods most of them are still not good for us.  Many of the low-fat foods are full of sugar that is used to replace the fat and the diet foods are made with refined flours.   The problem is not with the amount of fat or meat we eat but with the fact that we are eating foods that are not natural.  Some populations eat tons of fat and meat but are still healthy because they are eating what nature, not a processing plant or science lab, has provided them.  We need to get back to eating like our ancestors used to, or at least like our great grandmother.  Eat some butter instead of margarine, oatmeal instead of Trix, an apple instead of fruit snacks!

Other Tips and Interesting Facts:

• We spend 500 billion dollars a year in health care for Obesity related diseases 
• Many of the healthiest populations eat only until they are no longer hungry not until they are full (or stuffed!) 
• Its not just what you eat but how you eat it.  Don't eat your food in the car! Sit down at the table, savor and enjoy your food.  Make your meal important. 
• Think about food quality instead of food quantity. Don't eat a ton of something that tastes bland (think rice cakes) just because its low fat or calorie.  Eat a smaller portion of something delicious and savor it. 
• Many low fat products have twice the sugar and sometime more calories than the full fat options.  Read the label and be aware of what your are buying
• Help out farmers by returning to whole foods and buying your food at farmers markets 

New Year

Last year I wasn't so great at posting consistently so this year I am resolving to post at least twice a month.  Hopefully I can make that happen! This month there will be some good things to post about since I am going to hear Michael Pollan speak on the 15th.  I am sure he will have a lot of great things to say and some ideas for how we can all be a little healthier and greener this year.  I know over the last few months with the holidays I've gotten a little off track.  Things get busy and there is so much delicious food that its hard not to over indulge.  I'm actually a little relieved that the holidays are over so I can get back to eating normally and feeling better.  To start that healthy eating off right I will be posting a recipe for a Kale and Brown Rice Casserole in the recipes section.  Its a take off the Braised Kale Gratin from Beecher's Cheese.  If you have never had their version you should definitely try it.  They sell it at Pasta & Co.  In the meantime though try my version.  Its very easy to make and tastes great the next day too! I hope you all had a great start to the new year. Look for a post about the Michael Pollan lecture in a couple weeks!

A Plant Based Diet

A few facts from the book "Food Matters" by Mark Bittman: it takes about 10 times as much energy and resources to raise an animal than it does a plant; we currently raise 60 billion animals a year for food consumption, by 2050 that number will double and will require more land and resources than currently exist on earth; it takes 40 calories of fossil fuel to produce 1 calorie of beef protein; if we all ate the equivalent of 3 fewer cheeseburgers a week we would cancel out the effects of all the SUV's in the country!  As you can see eating more protein than we need not only effects our health but the environment as well.

The average man needs 56g of protein a day and the average woman needs 46g, about the amount of protein in 6 ounces of chicken or beef.  However, most of us get double this amount everyday.  Lets look at a sample day of meals to see how much protein someone might be eating beyond what they actually need.

Breakfast -
Tall latte
Bacon and egg breakfast sandwich
Protein - 28 grams

Lunch -
Turkey and Cheddar Sandwich
6oz yogurt
banana
Protein - 42 grams

Snack -
Apple
1T peanut butter
Protein - 4 grams

Dinner -
4oz chicken breast
1 cup Rice
1/2 cup Broccoli
8oz glass of milk
Protein - 49 grams

Total = 123g of protein!! and this is really a conservative number because many people will have a snack between breakfast and lunch and after dinner.  Extra protein means extra calories and if it comes mostly from animal sources it can mean extra saturated fat as well. Not to mention the effects on the environment I listed at the beginning of this post.  So what can we do to get enough protein and be good to our bodies and the earth at the same time? Eat a plant based diet.

A plant based diet isn't necessarily a vegetarian one, it just focuses on fruits, vegetables and whole grains instead of on meat.  For instance if you usually use 1 pound of ground beef in your spaghetti you could make it more plant based by cutting the meat amount in half and adding sauteed mushrooms and onions and grated zucchini and carrots to bulk up the sauce.  Not only will you cut down on calories and fat but you will boost the fiber, vitamins and antioxidants.  You could make it even healthier by using local grass fed beef and whole wheat pasta! But one step at a time is fine! I would challenge you to try cutting down on the animal products in your diet for one week.  You may find that you feel better and might even lose weight! Since vegetables and whole grains are high in fiber and water you will feel fuller and eat less over all.  Look in the recipe section for a chicken corn chowder that uses half the normal amount of chicken but is still delicious and satisfying!

Green Nutrition

There are a lot of "diet" foods out there.  Sugar free pudding, low fat ice cream, lite bread and so on.  In the past I have eaten lots of these foods and at the time I thought they were amazing! Low calorie versions of some of my favorite foods, what could have been better? But after I ate them I usually felt sort of bloated and gross because I had eaten way more than I should have and my stomach was trying to digest the fake sugars and fillers.  Many people think that these types of foods are healthier than the real versions because they don't have as many calories or as much fat. However they often have other things in them that are not so healthy to replace those calories and fat grams in them.  Added sugars, modified food starch plus all those ingredients you can't pronounce.  Don't get me wrong, you can definitely lose weight eating these foods, however it doesn't necessarily mean you'll be healthy or doing what's best for your body.  This is where green nutrition comes in.

Green nutrition is all about eating food that is real, whole and fresh in amounts that are reasonable.  Having 1/2 a cup of ice cream made with only a few ingredients, instead of a cup or more of low fat ice cream; or savoring a slice of freshly baked bread with butter, instead of several pieces of lite bread slathered in margarine and sugar free jam.  I think that when you eat real foods as opposed to imitations of those foods you feel more satisfied and tend to eat less and in the long run achieve a healthier body overall.  Here are some basic tips for eating green:

Eat real food: Sort of sounds like a no brainer, but this means eating foods that haven't been overly processed or turned into something you don't recognize.  Foods that don't have a long ingredient list or don't have an ingredient list at all; like fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and beans.

Eat local in season foods: buying local foods ensures freshness and helps support farmers.  Plus local vegetables that are fresh from the farm and haven't been in a truck for a week taste sooooo much better!  I get a box delivered every week from the Klesick Family Farm in Stanwood www.klesickfamilyfarm.com. Their vegetables and fruit are gorgeous and delicious! Here is a photo of a few things I just got in my box today.  Look online to see if there is a farm in your area that will deliver produce to you or go to your farmers market once a week.  Many grocery stores have also started to carry local produce.


Eat meat that is humanely raised, free range and grass fed - if you have ever watched Food Inc. you will never think about your meat in the same way again.  Meat that comes from animals raised in a feed lot or a chicken house is more likely to be contaminated and the animals are incredibly mistreated before they are killed.  If you choose to eat meat pick what you buy carefully.  An interesting fact from the movie Food Inc. that really surprised me is that cows that eat grass and not corn have far less ecoli bacteria in their gut.  Cows are not really meant to eat a corn diet, their stomachs are designed to digest grasses.  If you take a corn fed cow and give it grass instead it will shed 80% of the ecoli bacteria in its gut in 5 days.  Something to think about! Free range and grass fed meat can also be leaner so it has less fat and calories.

Eat organic foods if you can: Eating organic foods is great, however there are lots of local farms that grow their food very carefully but can't afford to be certified organic. Plus not everyone can afford to buy organic items.  Its better to eat lots of fresh, whole, real foods, even if they aren't organic. Organic doesn't necessarily mean something is healthy for you.  They make organic cookies and chips too!

These are just a few ways that you can have a greener diet and become healthier in the process.  By eating more fruits and vegetables, whole grains and lean meats and staying away from processed packaged foods you can lose weight, feel better and often save money!

Why Green?

There is something about the smell of a natural foods store that I just love. It's earthy and fresh and real. It tells you the food here was not engineered in a lab somewhere, it does not have a million ingredients you can't pronounce and it didn't come from 2,000 miles away.  This food was grown by a farmer near by, made simply and treated with care.  This is what "Green" is to me.  My passion for natural, real foods started about 22 years ago when I was about five and went with my family to Marlene's Market and Deli, a natural foods store near our house.  That experience has since turned into a career in dietetics and an opportunity to help people be healthier by eating green.