My Dish on Diet

Big topic—diet, nutrition, food. After editing so many many books on diets, all of which were convinced their diet dogma was the only valid answer, and most of which I just ended up wanting to throw across the room, I came to an alternative conclusion. For some time now, I've been saying that if I were to write a book on diet, I'd callit Put Down That Fork ... And Move! It would be a short book and it would be all about portion control, eating moderate amounts of a good variety of enjoyable healthy foods ... preferably organic if you can afford them, but whole foods nonetheless, nothing processed ... and exercising to keep the blood moving.

Here I defer to Michael Pollan http://www.michaelpollan.com who writes better on the subject of food than anyone I've come across. I don't have any people heroes (the U.S. Constitution is about the only thing that qualifies as a hero in my book), they tend to fall off pedestals too easily, but if I did, he'd certainly be one. Pollan first showed up on my radar with his bestselling book, The Botany of Desire, and back at the beginning of 2007 he cemented himself in my firmament with his brilliant article on Nutritionism, Unhappy Meals, in the Sunday, January 28, 2007 New York Times Magazine, which he has turned into a book, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. His opening words of the article, now transposed to the book's cover and widely quoted everywhere, "Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants." said it for me for all time, and I thought, finally, someone who makes sense about food. And the balance of the article proved I was right. It's an idea that, if it ever caught on, could technically put diet books, alternative and not, out of business. In spite of that, or maybe because of that, he deserves a wide audience because his take on intake is so relevant for this time. The no-diet theory's time has come and Michael Pollan brilliantly got the ball rolling on January 28, 2007. Although I risk being accused of arrogance for daring to even think I could be anywhere near his level, I am, for the most part, on his wavelength, and I'm here adding to the rolling ball from my perspective of editing alternative diet books for all these years.

My Personal Plan

My own personal plan is almost irrelevant because it is so specific to my circumstances, but I'll lay it out anyway, just FYI. I was a foodie before there was such a term, when the concept was just taking shape, and I spent my married years trying to fulfill myself as a high-end hostess and home chef. But in spite of the acclaim that came to me, and that I perversely welcomed and denigrated at the same time, it never really took. It defined and confined me in what I then (silly me) considered a low level of creativity, so I backed away years ago and haven't regretted my decision for a moment. Now I work at home and combine my freedom to eat what I want when I want with the inescapable fact that I am not really capable of ingesting only small-to-moderate portions three times a day. I LOVE food, but I can put weight on just looking at it. My biggest problem, in fact, has always been enjoying it far too much and overeating, which is why portion control is important to me.

After decades of diets and yo-yoing weight, it became obvious that dieting didn't work for me in the long run, so in order to balance things out, I had to consciously substitute the concept of developing an eating lifestyle for that of merely dieting. And this revelation has led me to my own unique routine (my lifestyle routine naturally includes daily exercising, but that's a separate topic I'll discuss later on). Of course, there are always variations, even surprises, because the body needs variety. Some, including my co-author and friend Sylvia Goldfarb http://www.doctorsylvia.com/ say that eating the same foods over and over, day after day, can lead to allergic reactions to those foodstuffs. Don't exactly know if that's true or not, but I don 't want to find out the hard way either, with my own body becoming the experimenting scapegoat.

Given that caveat, here's a skeletal rundown of the basics. My day begins with early morning tea infused with organic ginger. I peel the thin skin of the fresh ginger root with the side of a spoon, then slice the ginger into little round pieces, pound each piece with the blunt end of a knife to release the juices, stick the smushed-up pieces in the tea, and eat them after I've drunk the tea. WOW, what a kick that is! It's also a great antidote to the numerous upper respiratory infections I used to contract regularly. My day continues on with two (not three) high-quality, healthy meals—breakfast well after noon, and dinner at night, usually about five to six hours later. I eat what I want, just not too much (your stomach shrinks when you give it a rest) and the two-main-meals format works for me. With my food, I take lots of food supplements (vitamins, minerals, etc.) , but NO prescribed drugs. The upshot of this lifestyle I've adopted is that I continue to be lean, extremely healthy, full of energy, and ready to go, and my lifestyle diet that I've outlined below seems to suit my body to a T.

• Where it's applicable, and when possible and affordable, I use organics and locally grown produce .

• I eat a lot of carbohydrates in the form of wholegrain hot cereals (filling and great for sustained energy) or wholegrain cold cereals and breads, organic long-grain basmati brown rice (its intoxicatingly wonderful cooking fragrance reaches into every corner of the house and even out into the hall of the apartment building I live in), an occasional pasta dish, fresh vegetables, including mesclun salad greens, radishes (a low-calorie way to satisfy my daily crunch quota), tomatoes, a ton of garlic, fresh fruits, including lemons--my favorite flavoring for just about everything--and apple, pomegranate, and acai juices (I love mashed potatoes and pasta, but try to avoid most white or refined carbohydrates, and I definitely avoid processed, boxed foods).

• I eat some protein, mostly grilled free-range chicken or wild salmon, shrimp, and sometimes sushi—if I felt like meat, I'd eat it, but I really never want it, the most I can manage is a Gray's Papaya hot dog or a very occasional cheeseburger—skim milk with cereal, organic fat-free yogurt (plain, lemon, or lime), omega-three organic eggs once a week (sometimes as ingredients in French toast, using incredible wholegrain sourdough bread from San Francisco that's made with grains grown in undepleted, unpolluted soil), low-fat fresh goat cheese, and French gruyère; some fat, mostly from olive oil or the olive spread in my homemade, oil-free, balsamic vinaigrette, but also from the butter I have with my once-a-week eggs, from small amounts of canola oil, and from raw almonds and walnuts, which I eat with almost everything to satisfy my need for/love of crunch.

• Oh, and I can't forget that, especially in colder weather, I eat a lot of soup, freshly made at home or in a specialty store (often chicken-and-vegetable-based, but nothing out of a can).

• With all the above, I use liberal amounts of herbs and spices, fresh and dried.

• As occasional treats, I adore supposedly antioxidant-rich, dark dark chocolate, usually organic (I sometimes have a small square of it accompanied by a crunchy walnut or almond as I drink my daily coffee with milk), Almondina cookies, a muffin when I feel like it, or a power bar—the blood center loves the blood I donate about every 56 days, so I eat one of these and some raisins beforehand to make sure my hemoglobin is high for them

• I mostly avoid junk food (the closest I come are the addictively delicious organic blue corn chips I dip into garlic salsa and munch away on).

• For liquids, in addition to the ginger tea, the diluted organic apple juice I drink with yeast and my morning supplements, my daily cup of skim-milk-heavy coffee, and the skim milk I have with my cereal and drink with my nighttime calcium, I mostly drink lots of filtered water. No sodas to speak of, unless you count a rare diet coke at the movies, or diet ginger ale as a stomach settler after an, also rare, Thanksgiving-sized meal (overeating occurs less and less).

• In summer, I have a passion for my own mix of Haagen Dazs Raspberry Vanilla Frozen Yogurt (or, as I refer to it, FroYo) with fresh whole walnuts, and it takes real discipline to keep the container in the freezer for a long time. But the dessert concoction that never fails to delight me, and that I eat at least three times a week, consists of some sort of fresh cut-up fruit, organic apple juice, fat-free plain and lemon or lime yogurt (half and half), sometimes cinnamon, and walnuts, all of it mixed together in a bowl. Years and years ago, this started out with apples, which led one friend to label it Bobby's apple soup.
  

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A Note about Fat, Fat-Free Yogurt, and Sugar

In general, I don't much like fat, it sometimes makes me gag. I do, however, know that the fat-free craze spawned a gazillion products that made up for the lack of fat by adding more sugar—a lot more sugar—and that is why, years down the road, people were still getting fatter. They were gorging on sugar-laden fat-free products and their caloric intake was enormous. Once again, moderation and portion control could have helped out here.

About sugar: in the past, too much sugar dumped into my system at once has made me dizzy enough to have to sleep at an upward angle... too much sugar, as in demolishing most of the pint of FroYo if I make the mistake of eating out of the container instead of spooning it out in a small bowl. Knowing that pitfall, I do my best to follow my own advice about portion control, though I have to add here that moderation does not come all that easily or naturally to me. It's a challenge, but one I'm winning so far.

I really enjoy small portions of my fat-free yogurt dessert described above, so my ears perked up recently when a friend expounded on the addition of inulin to the organic fat-free yogurt he and I both eat. He seemed offended that an organic product would contain this soluble fiber, adding that it is put only into the fat-free variety (not the low-fat or regular versions) to give it a fuller texture. From what I know of inulin (information I gleaned from editing What's with Fiber, a terrific 2005 book by Gene and Monica Spiller from Basic Health Publications (www.basichealthpub.com), it is a beneficial substance built from fructose that has gained recognition from consumers because it is added to commercial fermented milk products. But my friend has stopped buying this yogurt, claiming it gives him indigestion, and feeling there is something not quite honest about its inclusion in organic yogurt. I don't see it that way. It is certainly not anti-organic, just the opposite, and as with other soluble fibers, its protective action in lowering cholesterol and blood-sugar levels makes it a very healthful addition to the diet. It also acts as a laxative, and I have noticed slightly increased flatulence after eating it, but that's a tradeoff I can live with. Just wanted to clear the air on this in case anyone out there has a similar problem.
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Most doctors, probably nutritionists too, will tell you it's much better for your health to eat smaller portions more frequently throughout the day—to graze if you will. They're probably right, but that doesn't work for me. I know myself, and with that regimen, I'd just end up overeating at grazing time and putting on extra pounds that would weigh me down and slow me up.

Just to be clear: I think the quality of the food I eat is pretty recommendable, but I do not, under any circumstances, want to recommend my unique eating schedule to anyone else. What I can recommend for everyone, however, is for them to unflinchingly examine their own habits and proclivities and come up with a sensible routine that they enjoy, and that really and truly works for them.

I noted with interest a recent Personal Health column by Jane Brody in The New York Times titled: "My Diet Strategy? Controlled Indulgence." It was all about maintaining her optimum weight, partially by allowing herself small portions of daily treats in order not to feel deprived, which she believes leads to overindulgence. Glad to see that a person of her stature is on the enjoy-what-you-eat/moderation bandwagon—with more like her and Michael Pollan balancing out the diet craziness, common sense might just have a shot at prevailing.

That about does it on the subject of diet from me for now. It's time to hear about food from some guest bloggers.

Elizabeth Karaman on Her First Trip to China

My cousin by marriage and my lifelong friend, Elizabeth Karaman, is tall, thin, gorgeous, and looks many years younger than the calendar would have it. Her topic is veganism, the food alternative she practices, beginning with a trip to China that first made her aware of its impact. Her interest in this aspect of nutrition is a natural outgrowth of the investigations into food and health that she has conducted for much of her adult life. Although originally drawn to this way of eating for weight loss, she is no longer a vegan because of a need to lose weight, or even because of some heart problem. Neither condition applies to her, but she does have a lung problem and a compromised immune system, and believes she's better off than would be the case if she didn't take extra measures, such as veganism, yoga, and aerobics, to stay healthy.

How China Changed

My Weight and My Outlook

I always had to be vigilant about my weight. Until 1979, that is, when I toured China with my mother. Before that trip, in order to keep the pounds from increasing, I was forced to resort to restricting calories, portion control, and occasional juice fasts along with colonics in order to detox my body from ice-cream binges. Often, I turned to a low-carbohydrate diet for two or three days to get rid of my bloat. This dehydrating low-carbohydrate route was, however, the most depleting of all the measures I took. By the end of the third day, my brain was fried because it was receiving no fuel and no hydration (low-carbohydrate diets are known for that). More than anything, I resembled an inert mass lying on my living room floor. Even running five miles a day didn't accomplish my weight-loss goal. Progress eluded me and I was starting to get concerned about my escalating overweight—I weighed what I had when I was nine months pregnant.

My mother's invitation to join her on a tour of China saved me. I already knew about the lack of degenerative diseases there, so I was eager to see for myself what they did to help avoid heart and circulation problems, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, and suchlike. But mainly I wanted to see their secrets for super-model thinness. Our tour started in Hong Kong and extended all the way to the remote, arid territories of Northwestern China. Talk about an adventure... few regular tourists went that far West in those early days of Sino-tourism.

My first laboratory-like observation came in Hong Kong, which was populated by skinny muscular men and women of all ages riding their bicycles. Their routine daily activities seemed to me more strenuous than ours, yet their bicycle ride to work was brief and was followed by hours of sitting at their jobs, so I wondered what else they were doing to maintain their perpetual leanness. Back home it was a different story. Americans, who had become more sedentary since the fifties, were gaining weight, even though many did daily workouts. I wanted to know why.

I found the answer during our three-week stay in China. Everyone on our tour, me included, lost ten pounds. With no access to junk food, sweets, dairy products, red meat, or soft drinks, and with a diet of rice, vegetables, tofu, fish, and small portions of animal foods—primarily duck—everybody looked better and got thinner. My mother, who had type 1 diabetes since childhood, ate mounds of rice and vegetables, plus a little duck and fish, but no red meat or dairy products, and this allowed her to substantially reduce her daily insulin, a totally unexpected outcome. Much to her glee, she could devour a once-banned food—rice, a carbohydrate then condemned by the American Diabetes Association. And with no dairy, her perennial sinus infection vanished. Her blood-sugar levels, normally a roller coaster for her, stabilized, and this allowed her to participate fully in all the group's activities—no small source of pleasure to her.

One day towards the end of our tour, I sat outside a museum in Beijing watching tour buses disgorge masses of people from just about every country on earth, each bus labeled with country of origin. Interestingly, a pattern emerged regarding the shapes of their occupants—Europeans, Australians, and Americans were all overweight, parched, and listless. By contrast, the Asian tourists were slim, vibrant-looking, and filled with energy. There it was—my own epidemiological study right in front of me to demonstrate the truth of an emerging scientific theory. All I had to do was observe the pronounced weight fluctuations that defined the different nationalities I was seeing. Those who (assumedly) ate the most animal products, weighed the most. Those who made the centerpiece of their diet rice or other grains, along with lots of vegetables and small amounts of animal foods used only as condiments, were lean.

Previously, scientists had thought that all carbohydrates caused weight gain, while a high-protein diet caused weight loss. But, my observations during this trip demonstrated conclusively to me that the exact opposite was true: Complex carbohydrates were not fattening, but animal food was. This theory has since been verified by many, including Colin Campbell, Ph.D. of Cornell University, and can be accessed at this website: http://nutrition.cornell.edu/ChinaProject/publications.html His exhaustive study of thousands of Chinese in the 1980s reached the conclusion that the less animal food eaten, the less weight gained and the fewer degenerative diseases encountered.

He found that the main reason the Chinese were so thin then (like me, he was there and did his study before the fast-food companies and the newfound wealth altered Chinese diets for the worse), with 20 percent lower body weight than Westerners even though they were eating 30 percent more calories, is because consuming diets high in protein and fat causes the body to store the calories as fat, whereas diets high in complex carbohydrates cause calories to be more easily burned. The amount of daily calories in the Chinese diet was 2641 versus our 1989; their total fat was approximately 14 percent, and ours is anywhere from 34–40 percent; their daily fiber intake was between 33–70 grams versus our intake of 12 grams a day—fiber helps the body in many ways, not the least of which, for me, is how it helps burn calories; their total protein was 64 grams, whereas ours is 91 grams.

Regarding this statistic, 70 percent of our total daily calories come from animal food; in China it was more like 7 percent. Ah, there we are -- the seven-percent solution.

Colin Campbell's colleague, Linda Youngeman, Ph.D., did studies of rats on a low-protein diet and found they all reacted happily to the regimen by riding wildly for hours on their mini-bicycles. Their fur grew thicker, and they lived longer than the control rats who ate the standard American diet (SAD).

Based partially on these findings, that ingesting any amount of animal foods led to disease, Campbell later became a vegan—and so did I. Switching to this type of eating—whole grains at every meal, beans, vegetables, soy products, and occasional dairy-free desserts—helped me lose twenty-five pounds to achieve my optimum weight. And better still, I no longer have to practice portion control, subject myself to endless rounds of vegetable-juice fasts and colonics, or spend hours exercising at the gym. I eat a lot, but am now able to easily maintain my desired weight without having to even think about dieting. And to me this is a win-win situation.

Paul Loeb and Suzanne Hlavacek on Alternative Ways to Care for Pets

Paul Loeb, a highly esteemed dog trainer and friend from way back, and Suzanne Hlavacek, are the authors of Smarter Than You Think (Simon and Schuster Pocket Books, 1997), and The Heart of the Matter (Simon and Schuster Pocket books, 2000). Paul's first book, Paul Loeb's Complete Book of Dog Training (Prentice Hall, 1973) is still being sold and has taken its place on the bookshelves as a much-revered classic. I ran into Paul and Suzie shortly after starting this blog venture and realized they fit the bill perfectly to write about better alternatives to the present day conventional wisdom on how to raise dogs. I had just recently edited the updated revision of Dr. Earl Mindell's Nutrition and Health for Dogs (Basic Health Publications, 2007 www.basichealthpub.com), which focuses on natural preventive-care methods, and as Paul, Suzie, and I stood talking at Broadway and 72nd and they spoke glowingly of Mindell's book, I recognized kindred spirits and asked on the spot if they'd grace this Diet section of my blog with their important and much-needed, common-sense advice. Just like them, I have become increasingly distressed by the proliferation of nonsense surrounding dog and cat care. It's all so alien to the way I successfully raised and lived with my wonderful Welsh Springer Spaniel, Rip, from the late 60s on. He was with us for sixteen terrific years, with no cages, no disgraceful face straps to impair his breathing, and no dry dog food, only wet. This latter was Paul's advice, one of many things he said and did to get Rip started out on the right path when he was the puppy I had just brought over (on my lap on the plane) from England.

Anyone who cares at all about their pet would definitely gain from reading what these two authors have to say.

A Quick, Simple Way

To Solve the Problem of Being Allergic to Your Pet

We came across an article in The New York Times, "Learning to Live With Your Pet (and Breathe, Too)" (Jane E. Brody, May 16, 2006), that provided, not allergy relief, but a bit of comedy relief, although taken altogether it did make us sneeze. Could there be any person in his or her right mind who could possibly follow these recommendations and still have time for a life? Some highlights from the article, interspersed with our comments, follow.

• First and most important is Containment. “Keep the pet out of the bedroom and …off the furniture people use. …Confine the animal to just a few rooms …" Should your pet escape quarantine, then the mop-up campaign begins. Cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning.

• “Frequent cleaning, of your pet, its quarters, and your home…” Note the distinction between the pet’s quarters and your home, not to be one and the same, evidently.

• “Pet cages… pet cushions, and blankets washed weekly…when handling your pet, place a towel on your lap and wear washable clothing that is cleaned separately from the other laundry. If the pet licks you, wash your skin with soap and water as soon as possible...” When thoroughly cleaning your house still isn’t adequate, douse your pet with stuff.

• Furthermore…“Wash it every week, with a pet allergy-relief solution like Allerpet or AllerFree…” Free plugs for commercial products.

• The cleaning instructions go on and on and on, as it appears the pet is becoming increasingly toxic. Watch out… “Wear a dust mask over your mouth and nose.” And keep cleaning anywhere and everywhere the little toxic creature goes, including your walls and ceilings; and install air filters and Hepa filters as well.

• There is more. “If all else fails and the pet is considered an indispensable family member… (try) daily dosing with antihistamines or a series of desensitization injections to minimize a person’s reactivity.”

We have a simpler solution. Wear a HAZMAT suit and gloves when in the areas roamed by the toxic pets, especially now that they have become more toxic than raw chicken and require the same safe-handling directions. Here, in your own house, you are confronting your own case of a Resident Evil. (No surprise these days when dogs are walked with more face straps than Hannibal Lechter when released from their cages for their airing-out time in the yard or on the street.

Seriously though, we have a less time-consuming solution than all this constant vigilant cleaning and home prison for your pet, either in his special quarters or in a cage, neither of which is a happy solution for the family pet who likes to spend his time hanging out with you. And although we picked on The New York Times, these recommendations are pretty much the standard expert fare offered when discussing pets and allergies.

Time to go back to the basics.

Dogs and cats are not stuffed animals, fake toys to be fed and kept healthy with fake, imitation food. As organic, living, breathing creatures, they need the same good nutrition we need to keep their immune system healthy and working in good order.

If you want to stop being allergic to dogs and cats, our number-one, time-tested solution is to feed them REAL food, fresh cooked food (the kind we eat). That means the real thing, not rendered byproducts from an unidentified source, but real chicken, beef, fish; real rice, pasta, and potatoes; real vegetables—not dried-out processed stuff that in some distant past life once had a vegetable, protein, or carbohydrate origin. Pet foods are our waste products—garbage with a fancy label. Crude protein, fat, and fiber are exactly that—crude, unidentified, crude stuff. When your animal is properly nourished from the inside, you can see, feel, and smell the results on the outside. Fresh food clears up not only allergies but also the bad dog and cat smell (especially pungent on rainy days). You will have less shedding, a richer coat, and a healthy skin, and you will avoid hot spots. The same omega-3 oils that are good for you are also good for your pet. Don’t buy a special doggy oil—salmon, sardines, or any oily fish will do. Or your own omega-3 supplement will work too.

It’s bothersome that the commercial pet food eaten by most pets is never mentioned in connection with allergies or any other health problem, when in the human world we can’t get enough of our obsession with healthy diets and nutrition to help ward off such problems. The New York Times is usually one of the go-to guides for up-to-date good health and nutrition news for humans, so why isn't it for pets as well?

Change your pet’s food to a fresh food diet and you will be amazed at the results. And by the way, there is no need to buy a special doggy shampoo for your pet—whatever shampoo you use will do a good job for him or her as well.

After over fifty-five years of working with dogs and cats, this is a time-tested recipe that works! It's simple and holistic. Fifty-five years ago there were virtually no commercial pet foods, and the family pet ate what the family ate. Allergies of epidemic proportions were rare on both sides. Give nourishing home-cooked meals and enjoy the company of your dog and cat as they rejoin you in a home you all can share. No longer will your dog need to be confined to quarters, but she or he can once again be a free-roaming happy camper.

For those who say they don’t know how to cook: Learn.

For those who say they don’t have time to cook: Make time.

The only way you can be sure of what your pet is eating is when you make it yourself. Both you and your pet will reap the benefits.

Scott Stringer
Borough President of Manhattan

The third guest piece in this section on Diet concerns our terrific Manhattan Borough President, Scott Stringer. He has just published The Go Green East Harlem Cookbook and at his book signing in the end of January, I broached the subject of putting his book on the blog. To my delight, his assistant called the other day to say it's a go and, in fact, here it is. This timely book is his response to the off-the-charts rates for diabetes (and asthma, though that requires environmental action as well) among the people in East Harlem -- a mini step, to be sure, but a good start. It's great to see a politician do something proactive that doesn't involve big pharma and drugs, just good wholesome food.

Here's what Borough President Stringer has to say about this project.

"We conceived Go Green as both a series of steps to improve residents' health in East Harlem and a model for other environmentally neglected neighborhoods. The excitement and ownership that residents feel about the cookbook comes from the sense that we truly can improve our lives through the choices we make—from what we eat to how we advocate for crucial changes like better air quality."

The sad fact about neighborhoods such as East Harlem is that they tend to have more fast food restaurants and bodegas (which, like 7-Eleven-type stores, have little discernible living food in them) than supermarkets or fruit and vegetable stands and markets. The result of this reliance on convenience food is a huge uptick in the numbers of overweight people with diabetes, even down to seven-year-olds, according to Dr. Adam Aponte, a member of the Go Green Steering Committee whose weight-loss advice is featured in this cookbook. "This is a fully preventable tragedy," he says, "and one this cookbook directly takes aim at."

This colorful, richly illustrated, bilingual book features sixty-eight carefully reviewed, healthy recipes, and each is coded with helpful information, such as what is dairy free, sugar free, whole grain, vegetarian, etc. There's a section on setting up a kitchen, and the BP himself, who doesn't cook, contributed tips for choosing healthy takeout—that ritual so earnestly practiced by many of us in New York (even as I write this, the person delivering Chinese food for visiting family has just been ushered in). To put it all in focus, there's even a map of the neighborhood restaurants and organizations that contributed recipes and a group photo of the many planners and organizers on the Steering Committee.

The recipes sound scrumptious and it's nice to know that all the money from the book will be going to a non-profit organization, The Community Fund for Manhattan, that supports public/private partnerships to benefit residents of Manhattan and the City of New York.

But, hey, you can see for yourself what the whole story is, and how to purchase this unique book, by clicking here.