Tag Archives: vegan

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4 ways you become a fat vegan

I encounter many vegan or near-vegan patients who remain quite heavy or have a host of medical problems like diabetes, hypertension or even heart disease. Most vegan patients have a relatively simple time controlling their weight. But there are some exceptions to this rule. Lets consider a few of them.

You still eat too many nuts

Nuts are a dirty fuel.
From Medicalnewstoday.com. Nuts are a hidden dirty fuel, and a healthy one.

When an overweight person tells me they eat well, my first inclination is to ask if she counts the nuts she eats. Most people eat nuts by the handful while watching the game or a favorite TV show. Nuts are very healthy in limited quantities, but they are high in calories. Moreover, they are high in good fat, but it is still fat. When you eat fat it accumulates around the midsection and waist line for most folks. As a rule of thumb, I eat no more than 10-20 total nuts of any type on any given day. Nuts are a great appetite suppressant in limited quantities as well, but it backfires with larger portions.

Check those Avocados

Avocado-a not so obvious dirty fuel.
Avocado taken from Healthline.com

Avocados are expensive After some questioning, many admit that they eat avocado smoothies and avocado toast sometimes more than once or twice daily. Avocados are healthy in limited quantities, but they are high in fat calories. More than 1-2 weekly can lead to weight gain, and medical problems.

You still eat dirty fuel

Potato chips, the classic dirty fuel.
Classic dirty fuel

I love potato chips, but I might eat them on Christmas, New Years, July 4th, or my birthday. I just save them for a special occasion. Vegan restaurants carry french fries, tater tots and potato or vegetable chips with their sandwiches. These add up over time. Remember: It is not enough to simply eat clean fuel. You must limit or eliminate dirty fuel consumption as well. Weight Watchers only works because it limits your dirty fuel intake. But, the method requires portion control. On the other hand, eating clean fuel completely blows Weight Watchers away. You actually burn fat when you eat clean fuel combined with fruits and vegetables, and you can eat as much as you want or until your body says no.

To put it all together, if you are eating health and remain heavy, then chances are you are eating too many nuts, to many avocados, or a substantial amount of dirty fuel in addition to clean fuel. Let me know if you have questions. I wish you all well!

Check out this article for a list of clean and dirty fuel foods.

Clean fuel

Can Food Change Your Mood?

Can you eat yourself out of depression?

If you looked at my last posts, you will know that a diet high in processed food contributes to or causes heart attacks and strokes.

A diet high in meat  is associated with certain kinds of cancers as described in the China Study,  a longitudinal study looking at diet and cancer death rates.

Dirty fuel contributes to a host of other illness including diabetes, and  high blood pressure.

Moreover, dirty fuel contributes to depression.

The Evidence

Check out this Wall Street Journal article by Elizabeth Bernstein. She highlights multiple studies concluding that a healthy diet prevents and treats depression.   It is worth a read.  Some specifics need highlighting.

First, the writer describes the following “healthy diet” as “high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish, and unprocessed lean red meat”.   Then they mention that an adequate diet is a  “Mediterranean-style diet made up primarily of fruits and vegetables, extra-virgin olive oil, yogurt and cheese, legumes, nuts, seafood, whole grains, and small portions of red meat.”  Since this article was published in the Wall Street Journal, I would never expect them to ever say anything to challenge the major national food producers, so they must include some meat and dairy to satisfy industry.  Moreover, a Mediterranean style diet reduces the incidence of heart attacks, and strokes, but fails to resolve the issue.  A whole food plant-based diet eliminates the risk of cardiovascular disease altogether.  It appears that the cited study in the article received contributions from Glaxo SmithKline, Novartis, Eli Lilly, Bristol Myers Squibb and the Meat and Livestock Board of Australia.  Need I say more?

The second issue  is this whole new field called “nutritional psychiatry”.  It would be very interesting to see psychiatry pioneer a stronger focus on diet since the rest of the medical industry is woefully behind.  Again, nutrition was not a focus of my education.   Money drives medical and surgical care.  Perhaps it will change, but it will require a grassroots effort.  It will not come from the top.

 

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Eating Out and Clean

Eating out and clean is a struggle.  I try to eat meat or dirty fuel  once daily on three out of seven days weekly.  Someone asked me today if I eat meat to get enough vitamin B12.  For those who do not know, vitamin B12  is found in meat, and you can become B12-deficient on a vegan diet.  Anyone on a vegan diet should consider taking over-the-counter vitamin B12 1000 micrograms (mcg) once daily.   I told her  I eat meat in certain situations  out of desperation (due to lack of options) more than vitamin B12. I don’t always have the time to cook and my refrigerator is empty when that happens.

You see, I struggle with the same struggles anyone else does.  I have  enjoyed my fair share of dirty fuel, and yet I have severely limited my dirty fuel consumption  for over two years.

With that said, I wanted to give some specific recommendations for anyone interested in eating clean while out.

1.  I have heard that Taco Bell has a decent-to- good vegan menu.  I cannot vouch for  it since I do not eat their food.

  1. Mexican restaurants: I recommend beans and greens for maximum weight loss, but these restaurants offer diverse rice and bean options.  You cannot go wrong.  Try not to do cheese and sour cream though.

3.  Thai or Chinese restaurants:  Jasmine rice is good stuff especially combined with other sides.  Do not sleep on rice.  Rice is required at every meal in parts of Asia and people are rarely overweight unless they eat KFC.

4.  Soulfood and Caribbean restaurants:  They are imperfect, but you can usually get beans, potatoes, yams, cabbage and other assorted vegetables.

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Dirty and Diabetes

I have mentioned this before, but I will reiterate it again.  Diet was not a priority during my medical training.  We always asked or ordered an  American Diabetes Association (ADA) diabetic diet consisting of 1500-2000 calories per day for hospitalized patients with diabetes.  The ADA diet consisted of eating a well-balanced  diet that limited processed food consumption.  On the surface,  it seemed to help diabetes, but these patients rarely improved their sugars and many had to at least maintain their present medications.

The ADA diet is inadequate for eliminating diabetes, but eating clean fuel and limiting dirty fuel can clearly control diabetes and reduce insulin  and medication use.   Carbohydrates are supposedly the problem, but rice is consumed in large quantities in Asia where diabetes is rare.  Furthermore, parts of Africa are similar and their primary diet is sweet potatoes and beans.  Again, carbohydrates do not cause diabetes.

However, there are several studies showing the contribution of fat to the diagnosis of diabetes.  Fat containing foods or dirty fuel promote fat absorption, weight gain and insulin resistance leading to diabetes.   The difference between the western world and parts of Africa and Asia is that the western world eats more processed food, fat and animal protein than the simple carbohydrates consumed in other parts of the world.

Compare a diabetes-causing meal versus a diabetes-curing meal.

Dirty meal:  Fried or baked wings, french fries and cole slaw.

Clean meal:  Two oven roasted sweet potatoes (1 tablespoon of olive oil) prepared like french fries, a bowl of black beans and a tossed salad.

The dirty meal causes diabetes, but there is not one sweet item on the menu.  However, the grease and animal protein causes insulin resistance fueling diabetes.  The clean meal is a profoundly low fat meal.  Eating this way will reduce a patient’s weight, diabetes medications or insulin requirements.    I did not provide the specific references to articles contained in the post, but please write a comment if anyone is interested in obtaining them.

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Carter’s Perfect Black-Eyed Peas

My wife simply loves my very own black-eyed peas.  So I have decided to share it with you all.  I figure this is the perfect compliment to my post from last week.  I love to prepare these beans before church on Sunday and have them waiting for me when I get home.

1 lb of dried black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained

6 cups of chicken broth

1 onion quartered

3 bay leaves

1 tablespoon of thyme

1 tablespoon of sage

3 teaspoons of Lawry’s Season Salt

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker and stir.  Cook the beans on high for 3-4 hours until soft.

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Beer Belly, Sugar Belly…Bean Belly

Image result for beans

 

A common complaint I encounter in the office is the expanding waist line. Most patients come in with this complaint. It is especially common in men, but occurs pretty frequently in women.  I can usually drill down the reason for the potbelly or expanding waist line after a short conversation.

Dirty fuels are the true reason for this issue, but the most frequently cited foods that cause this problem include: beer, soda, sugar (desserts), ice cream, and bread.   Quite simply,  dirty fuel causes fat absorption leading to an expanding waist line.   Examples of dirty fuel include: processed food, oils, dairy,  eggs, and meat.

However, just as dirty fuels cause expanding waist lines, clean fuels cause  smaller waist lines.  Indeed, bean consumption is highly associated with smaller waist lines throughout the  world.    There is no identifiable reason for this; however, it does occur.  One can imagine that these foods somehow enhance genetic expression of genes that govern or regulate fat metabolism.  So essentially, clean fuel and beans, in particular, are foods that burn fat and slim the waist line.   Beans are filling, remarkably low calorie, and are full of fiber.

Unfortunately, beans are also associated with  increased gas.  They are an example of a clean fuel that you must eat in small amounts and increase gradually over time.  The gas can be an issue.  I recommend lentils, hummus, refried beans, or very small amounts of beans until you become accustomed to them.  You can also choose to take Beano with them, but you need to take four tabs to get good benefit (my experience).  On the other hand, bean consumption essentially promotes growth of your good intestinal bacteria thereby improving your general health.  The more gas you have, the more benefit you achieve.    If you eat them long enough, then the gas will abate, but it may take awhile-at least 1-2 years.

So the next time you hear about a beer belly, consider trying to achieve a BEAN BELLY.

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Got Milk? Got disease?

I just read an interesting article on souring milk sales and the strategies employed to  address the problem.  The writer of the article addresses several issues.  Milk sales are down by 11% for the year and dairy producers are selling to a more narrow customer base.  Moreover, producers feel that innovation is their method for improving sales.  For example, one producer is trying a pureed fruit and milk drink product.  Another is formulating genetically altered milk that will reduce the symptoms of lactose intolerance and indigestion.  Nevertheless, the article fails to address some of the real health implications of dairy.

Consider this, I will unpack these more in the future, but dairy is associated with prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, breast cancer and even lymphoma/leukemia.  Moreover, more dairy consumption is associated with brittle bones, not strong bones.  Likewise, increase consumption seems to even increase risk of heart attacks and kidney stones.

Now that I have warned you, what can be done about it?  I still like cereal, and I use almond milk daily.  Soymilk is a decent option.  Cashew milk, hazelnut milk and banana milk are newer additions to American stones as well.

 


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Clean Fuel and Dirty Fuel

I am writing this blog to address the health education gap that exists between physicians and patients.  The first thing I will introduce with this post is a synthesized concept I call  clean fuel dirty fuel.

Clean fuel consists of food that your body burns completely without any residue.  Examples of clean fuel include: oatmeal, brown rice, whole wheat pasta or vegetable pasta, sweet or white potatoes, peas and beans, and corn.  These are foods your body largely burns and converts into pure energy.  There is no portion control with these foods; therefore, you can eat as much as you desire as long as the foods are prepared in a certain way.

Meanwhile, dirty fuel presents a bit more of a problem.  These are foods that your body largely turns into fat; they do not burn cleanly.  Fat is the remaining residue, and animal protein lead to a host of medical problems.  Examples of dirty fuel include:  processed food (bread, potato chips, french fries, juice, sweetened tea, soda, alcohol dessert that is not fruit, anything from a fast food restaurant including pizza, nuts (eat no more than 10-20 nuts in a day, oil of any type), eggs, dairy of any type, and meat including beef, chicken, pork, liver, veal, goat, lamb, or any internal organ, and seafood (any of it).  Consume dirty fuel in limited quantities.  Portion control is a must.