Raw Korean Cabbage Bowl

At the end of July, M and I did a raw food challenge. The idea was simple. Eat only raw fruits and veggies and some nuts and seeds (and hot tea and mate) for 10 days.

M had been talking about trying this style diet for a while, however I was skeptical. While I know a few different people who eat an all-raw, mostly fruit-based diet, the only ones I know who seem to do well on this style of eating, are all ultra-endurance athletes. In fact, a friend once called me when she was struggling with her 80-10-10 style raw food diet. While initially she had good results, after over a year of fully raw, mostly fruit, she was feeling lethargic, starting to gain weight, and was having some negative health results as well.

For those of you who don’t know, 80-10-10 referrers to the macro nutrient rations. 80% of total calories come from unrefined carbohydrates, 10% from protein, and 10% from fat. I always tell my clients never to worry about counting calories or to worry about getting specific amounts of protein or carbohydrates. In my opinion, this always makes eating way to difficult and rarely ends with positive, long lasting results.

However, after listening to Garth Davis, M.D. talk about how he was planning on trying a 21 day raw diet on the RRP a month ago, I finally agreed to try the challenge with M. As such, we ordered 1 case of bananas, 1 case of large pears, 1 case of navel oranges and a case of mangos. Because we have a small refrigerator, we decided we would buy greens as needed (essentially ever day).

Fruit is one of the healthiest food sources on the planet, with antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties, improved arterial function, reduced cancer risks and believe it or not, better control of blood sugar in patients with Type 2 diabetes.

According to a Harvard Health Letter about chronic hand pain, fruit is beneficial [to human health] in almost any amount. Then I found a paper published in Metabolism where they placed people a 20 servings of fruit a day diet (roughly 200g/d of fructose) with no adverse effects (and possible benefits actually) to body weight, blood pressure, insulin or lipid levels after three months. Further more there was a 38-point drop in their LDL cholesterol.

M and I agreed to start with a 10-day challenge. We did large fruit and veggie smoothies just about every day for breakfast (roughly 300-600 calories), snacked on different fruits and some raw nuts and seeds throughout the day, then had large salads for lunch and dinner with dried fruit and different dressings that we made. 

After the first few days I didn’t notice any real different in how I felt. I felt great eating a whole food, plant based, high starch diet, and I felt just as good on the mostly fruit meals. However, I did feel bored. I also missed the flavors of spiced grains and legumes. Perhaps one of the reasons I felt this way, was because we did the challenge in the middle of winter. While Buenos Aires winters are actually quite mild, on cooler rainy days, I can say with certainty, I wanted the comfort of a warm meal.

By day 6, while I still felt fine, I noticed I was starting to loose some weight. Just a pound or two, however as someone who is already very svelte, even a few pounds is noticeable and weight-loss is actually the opposite of my current goal. As such, on day 8 I ate a large serving of steamed potatoes and finished the remain two days following a Raw-till-4 plan.

M had an easier time with the challenge. She really never had any cravings during her entire challenge. In fact, she reported that she felt lighter; again she also experienced some weight-loss. But most importantly to her, she never suffered from any migraines while doing the challenge.

She has been under a tremendous amount of stress from work and has been working incredibly long shits – multiple 24 hours shifts each week. Often when her stress builds up and she has a shift where she doesn’t get enough sleep, that triggers a migraine the following day. While she says that her migraines became less frequent after going whole-food, plant based vegan two years ago, the attacks never completely disappeared until she went raw.

In fact, she was feeling so good after 10 days; she decided to continue the fully raw diet for an additional 7 days. Finally, after 17 days, she returned to eating cooked foods. She is still feeling great and hasn’t reported any migraines. I believe the primary reason she returned to cooked foods was because the weather took a turn for the worst, and after 5 straight days of cold rain, she was ready for a hot meal.

Both M and I enjoyed the challenge and we both are committing to eat more raw foods. We both already eat a lot of fruit in a normal day, but we want to increase our consumption of uncooked veggies. We have been eating a large salad before enjoying our cooked lunch and dinner.

So what did I learn? Well for starters, I don't plan on putting any patients on this style diet. While the health benefits in the short term are certainly positive, I just didn't believe it was all that practical. Food prep actually took longer. If you don't understand what I mean, think about the time consumption of tossing a few potatoes into the oven verses peeling 10 oranges. It was also significantly more expensive. I would guess we spent more than double our usual amount. 

That said, it was fun to be creative with our foods. We enjoyed the time together in the kitchen, and M especially enjoyed searching for new salads, dressings, and smoothie recipes.  

While we made a lot of different dishes, this Raw Korean Cabbage Bowl was my favorite creation during the week. One I will definitely be making again. It was inspired by the last meal M and I shared in New York before moving to Buenos Aires, which was at the beautiful vegan Korean restaurant, Hangawi. This dish was inspired by those flavors.

Raw Korean Cabbage Bowl

2.5 cups red cabbage – shredded

2 cups white cabbage – shredded

2 large carrots – shredded

½ bunch swiss chard or spinach – sliced

1 green onion – diced

1 cup mushrooms – chopped

½ avocado

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon turmeric

¼ teaspoon gritty sea salt (optional)

½ lemon – juiced

½ inch lemon peel – zested

Shred both cabbages and carrots. Place them into a large bowl (I did a cast iron pan to increase the flavor) Toss spices and lemon juice and zest and massage with your hands for 2-3 minutes until the cabbage and carrots begin to soften.

Now slice the swiss chard into 1 inch ribbons. Add to the bowl with the cabbage and carrots and massage again so the swiss chard becomes a bright green color. Now add the diced onion and mushrooms.

Sweet & Sour Ginger Mustard Dressing

1 inch of ginger

2 teaspoons mustard (preferably stone ground)

1.5 lemons juiced

2.5 teaspoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1 tablespoons currants or raisins

½ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ cup water

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Let cool in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving.

When serving, pour the dressing onto the cabbage bowl and mix well. As an additional option, toss avocado on top and serve with a side of kimichi. 

***

D J Jenkins, et al. “Effect of a very-high-fiber vegetable, fruit, and nut diet on serum lipids and colonic function.” Metabolism. 2001; Apr 50: 494-503.

Top 5 ways to reduce crippling hand pain. Harvard Health Letter. 2013; 38(9):4.

As always the information presented in this blog is for educational purposes only. It should not be considered as specific medical, nutritional, lifestyle, or other health-related advice.

Apple pie cookies (gluten free and with a raw option)

Some people claim that fall is pumpkin everything, and while I love pumpkin as much as the next person, for me, apple will always make the best fall time desserts!

Recently, I created these cookies to help my close friend celebrate finishing their US medical USMILE examations – a grueling two eight-hour day exam. While we are still awaiting the results of the exam, the cookies turned out to be amazing and since Halloween and Thanksgiving are both right around the corner, I've decided to share this tasty treat with you all. Apple Pie Cookies! These little pie-like patties are perfect to get you in the mood for fall and can be made raw or baked. I baked these.

Makes about 20 cookies

5- 6 red apples, cored (I used a mix of New York grown gala and honey crisp)

1 cup date paste*

½ cup raw almonds

½ cup raw cashews

½ cup old fashioned oats

1 cup raisins

1 handful of cacao nibs (optional)

½ teaspoon of Cinnamon, and a pinch of nutmeg and clove to taste

* making date paste is easy. Simply put 3-4 dates in a blender or food processor along with ½ cup of water (to start) blend until smooth and add more water incrementally until you have enough. I like to add a teaspoon of maple syrup to round out the flavor. It should be relatively think and very sweet. If you don’t have a high powered blender, soak the dates in the water for a few hours prior to blending to help soften them.

Blend the raw almonds and cashews together until they are roughly ground but not a complete powder. Some small pieces of nuts are ideal. Add the roughly ground nuts and the oats to a mixing bowl.

Now core the apples, and using a food processor with a shredder, shred three and a half of the apples. Set these in the large mixing bowl and now using the slicing attachment, slice the remaining apples so that you have shredded apples as well as sliced apples.

Add the sliced apples to the mixing bowl with the nuts and oats. Add in the raisins and cacao nibs (if using) along with the spices. Add the date paste on top and using your hands, mix all of the ingredients well.

(Raw option): Using your hands, create small cookie sized patties and place them onto your dehydrator’s food trays.  Put into the dehydrator and set to 115° and dehydrate for 15 hours until the cookies are firm.

(Bake option): Using your hands, create small cookie sized patties and place them onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Have the oven preheated to 250°. Place the trays into the oven and cook for 45 minutes, checking the cookies to make sure they don’t burn about half way through. 

As always the information presented in this blog is for educational purposes only. It should not be considered as specific medical, nutritional, lifestyle, or other health-related advice.

Spicy Thai Cabbage Salad

Recently the word “superfood” has entered into the lexicons of Americans. (I have to give credit to my friend Julie for helping to popularize it.) However, the way we apply the term to foods has been ad-hoc and inconsistent, at best. Typically, we use the term for exotic and expensive sounding foods such as acai, goji berries, sea-buckthorn and the like. Depending who you talk to, you might also hear kale and quinoa described in such glowing terms. However, rarely will more generalize foods, such as iceberg lettuce be described as “super,” even if it is a health promoting food. Another food that is often ignored, but certainly deserves more attention, and is clearly entitled to the entry of the exclusive membership of "superfoods" is cabbage.

Considering how much attention kale has been getting recently, it is surprising that it’s superfood cousin, cabbage, has been left on the sidelines. Perhaps cabbage needs it's own Ryan Gosling meme. 

This is especially surprising considering there are over 400 articles on cabbage and the role it can play in cancer prevention and treatment. According to one study done on cancer cells in a petri dish, cabbage was one of the best vegetables for cancer prevention displaying the ability to kill multiple types of tumor cells (in part, thanks to the high amount of sinigrin an antioxidant found in cabbage); cabbage has also been shown to lower cholesterol in multiple studies, and red cabbage was awarded the “best bang for your buck” by Dr. Greger because of the high concentration of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals as well as because of red cabbage's low price point. On top of all of this, cabbage is incredibly versatile, and can be added to just about any dish and prepared in nearly anyway!

This Spicy Thai Cabbage Salad is the perfect way to get more superfoods into your life!

Serves 3-4: 

For the salad:

1 ½ cups green or savoy cabbage, shredded

1 ½ cups purple cabbage, shredded

1 cup carrot, shredded

1 cup zucchini, shredded

3 stalks celery (optional)

1 large handful fresh basil, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped

½ cup peanuts or cashews (leave out if making a nut-free version)

Fresh or dried mint to taste

For the dressing:

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

¼ cup Liquid Aminos or low sodium soy sauce

¼ cup vegetable broth mixed with ground flax seed (see: oil replacement guide)

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

2 cloves garlic

1 inch piece of ginger, peeled

1 ½ tablespoons curry powder

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon hemp seeds

The dressing will keep for about one week in the refrigerator. 

In a large bowl, combine all of the salad ingredients and toss to mix thoroughly.

In a high-speed blender, combine all of the dressing ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour over the tossed salad ingredients, mix well, and enjoy. 

D. Boivin, et. all “Antiproliferative and antioxidant activities of common vegetables: A comparative study,” Food Chem., 112(2): 374-380, 2009.

As always the information presented in this blog is for educational purposes only. It should not be considered as specific medical, nutritional, lifestyle, or other health-related advice.

Mung Beans and Sprouting Guide

Sprouting is an ancient technique that has been used on all sorts of beans, legumes, and various seeds as a way to increase their nutrition profile, digestibility, and flavor. Over the winter I’ve become addicted to sprouted mung beans (sometimes called ming beans) but this process can be repeated with any other legumes including lentils and chickpeas (which are other favorites).

While you can buy sprouts from most grocers today, they are far cheaper when you sprout them yourself. Besides being relatively cheap, especially when compared to the huge amount of nutrients sprouted legumes offer, they can also be a nice way to add fresh, raw produce to your diet year around.  Adding sprouts is an easy way to make any meal look a little more exotic and fancy.  

One study published a few years ago examined food consumption in five different regions of the world and found that legumes intake was the most important factor associated with longer lifespan. The study found an 8% reduction in risk of overall mortality for every 20 grams of legumes consumed. 

As legumes, mung bean sprouts are an incredible source of nutrients. Besides being anti-inflammatory, they offer an excellent amino acid profile and are 20% calories from protein which is remarkably high (sigh, and yes, they are a complete protein, just like all whole foods!) They also are high in vitamin C and vitamin K, which is essential for the process of blood clotting. Vitamin K also helps regulates bone mineralization and helps maintain bone density. Mung beans are an excellent source of riboflavin, folate, iron, and manganese. They are also packed with Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids as well as other micronutrients.

Besides being an all-around nutritional all-star, mung beans are incredibly easy to sprout taking an average of only 3 days before becoming edible. Once sprouted, mung beans have a tasty, fresh nutty flavor and offer a delicate crunch when added to a dish.

Once sprouted, you can keep mung beans in a sealed jar in the refrigerator for up to 5 weeks, although once you taste them, I'd be surprised if they last more than a few days!    

How to sprout legumes:

1. Take the desired amount (yield is approximately 2:1 so 1 cup of dry mung beans will be roughly 2 cups sprouted) and rinse them until the water runs clean.

     2. Then place the beans in either a bowl or jar and fill with cold filtered water. Add about 2-3 times the amount of water as there are beans. IE: 1 cup beans needs 2-3 cups water

     3.   Let soak overnight (8 – 12 hours)

     4. After soaking the beans, drain them and rinse them again with cold water.

    5. Place the beans in either an empty bowl or jar and set to the side. Store them in room temperature that isn’t directly hit by sunlight, but that does get some light.

   6. The next morning (day 2) the beans should be starting to open. Rinse once more in cold water and then return to the jar or bowl.

   

   7. By day three you should see little tails coming out of the body of the bean. You can either enjoy them this way, or let those little tails grow for another day for a softer sprout. Both are delicious. Rinse one final time, and then enjoy by adding to both raw and cooked meals.

   They’re great on salads, pastas, tossed in soups or pretty much any other dish! I just tossed some on top of my Green Mac N' Cheese. 

Darmadi-Blackberry, M. Wahlqvist et al. "Legumes: The Most Important Dietary Predictor of Survival in older people of Different Ethnicities," Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2004, 217-20.

As always the information presented in this blog is for educational purposes only. It should not be considered as specific medical, nutritional, lifestyle, or other health-related advice.

Holiday Meals 101: Black Friday’s Powerful Cranberry Sauce

The day after Thanksgiving always amazes me. All day long I hear how people are already feeling guilty and ashamed about how they treated their bodies the night before. Many talk about going for a long run to help burn off their Thanksgiving indulgence. While a long run will successfully help you burn off those extra calories, it unfortunately will not help repair the damage that a traditional Standard American Diet Thanksgiving meal can cause.  

lots of colors for vegan thanksgiving

Just one benefit of a whole-food, vegan thanksgiving dinner is you can eat as much as you want without feeling any remorse the next morning (more importantly, in my mind, is that no animals have to suffer). A plant-based thanksgiving meal also doesn’t cause that all-too-familiar fatigue that sets in after a large meal of animal protein, grease and fat. If we step back for just one minute, it becomes very obvious that if the food you eat makes you tired, you probably should not consume that food. (And don’t go blaming the tryptophan, quinoa and oats both have tryptophan in it, and they are energy-boosting foods!)

So why don’t more people incorporate healthy, hearty, plant-strong vegan meals into their holiday routine? I believe part of the reason is because it can be emotionally difficult to give up some of your favorite traditional foods. However, this does not always have to be the case. As a result, BYOL will be posting great seasonal and festive recipes over the next month to help everyone enjoy their holiday without the side of remorse that typically accompanies them. 

Black Friday’s Powerful Raw Cranberry Sauce: Cranberry sauce is a holiday classic. While cranberries are excellent sources of magnesium, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, and Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol) the stuff that comes in a can is about as far removed from its original goodness as can be. Even as a junk-food-loving kid, that stuff always freaked me out. It is loaded with sugars, preservatives, colors and “natural flavors.” It also undergoes an intense level of processing which leaves the gelatinous can-shaped blob while striping the cranberries of much of their original nutritional value. Instead, substitute the canned sugar sauce with this simple to make, truly delicious, and extremely healthy version of the holiday classic dish.

the goods

The recipe originally comes from the dietitians and MDs at PCRM, however I’ve tweaked it slightly to help give it an extra boost of goodness. A high-powered blender works best for this recipe, however a food processor also does the job ably.

To make, simply toss all of the ingredients into the blender or food processor and process until smooth.  (start with half an orange and add more if desired)

12-16 oz of fresh cranberries

½-1 navel orange

3 dates (or date sugar)

1 tsp chia seeds

1 tsp Navitas Naturals Pomegranate powder (optional)

The result will be a vibrant and scrumptious cranberry sauce that will impress all at the table. The antioxidant count in a small serving of this side dish alone will trump the entire meal in the Standard American Diet and it pairs perfectly with mashed sweet potato. It is sure to become a new fall family favorite!

I hope you all had an enjoyable holiday, and sorry for the sporadic posting as of late. Life has been crazy as I just started a new job, moved, and ran my first marathon.... 3:17:53.... 

PLANTSTRONG