What's cookin' good lookin'?

This is an example of a nutrient dense dinner.
Dinner
Veggies, bean and rice taco-style sandwiches
Loads of Steamed Chard with sautéed shallots
Shredded Carrot and Mache Salad
Dessert
Basil Fruit salad with raw almonds, walnuts and sunflower seeds


First, a gentle reminder that cancers, diabetes and heart disease begin decades before they're even detected in the human body as symptoms and are primarily a result of our feeding practices. We'll touch more on our magical cell factories and they're machinery in later posts.

But me just say this again in a different way.
Diseases of affluence are diseases like cancers, diabetes and heart disease. These are the diseases that Americans are sick with more than any other country in the world. Cancer, diabetes, and heart disease are diet-related and most importantly, unnecessary diseases, people.

The war on Cancer is already won - if we let it be. It's already won with the veggies, fruits, beans, nuts and seeds as the unsung heroes in this epic battle. The battle is indeed epic too because the same high quality food heroes that can beat cancer and reverse heart disease and diabetes can also beat the asses of chronic migraine headaches, depression and autoimmune diseases.

If you want to live strong, don't wear a yellow rubber-band around your wrist and give your money to the next 3 day walk for the cure. Go to the freakin' produce isle and start eating the greenest stuff you can find and feed it to anyone who comes to your house for dinner. And feed that stuff to your kids too. They'll eat it if you eat it. They'll eat it if they have no other salty, sweety, *processed type stuff to choose from and you'll find a way to help them eat it if you understand that feeding them anything else on a regular basis is contributing to their future as a sick adult and even sicker nation.

*processed = any product that is sold to you in a package with more than 2 or 3 ingredients.

And don't be fooled if you think you're exempt. I thought my diet was pretty nutritious too until I had some very real diabetes symptoms. It's natural to think we're not the ones who'll be sick. But unless you eat a high nutrient, mostly plant-based diet, which means that 90% of what you eat is plant-based and high nutrient, you're not exempt. Even if you don't have symptoms of disease now does not mean the disease process hasn't begun in your body. Childhood feeding practices play a large and important role the disease process.

Take an honest look at what you eat each day and then recognize that the act of eating and what you put in your mouth is one of the most powerful acts you take part in each and everyday. You could provide for yourself and your family a powerful act of kindness, respect and healing by introducing a new nutrient dense way of eating into your life. You and your children could live a healthy, long, uninterrupted, pleasurable life without prescription medications and without the fear of chronic, debilitating illness in old age.

So, give yourself the gift of a few hours to play around in the kitchen. Give yourself the gift of spending some time with beautiful food magical enough to reverse even the most stubborn diseases. Give yourself and your family the gift of making your kitchen a happy and vital place to be. You're making the home. It's a lost art. And it's a gift that can help save humans and the planet.
Seriously, how can you refuse?
The quantities that you buy of these ingredients will depend on how many people you're feeding. We cook for the 2 of us and we eat a lot. It may take some experimenting to find out how much you need to buy and cook for yourselves. Make enough so that you actually get full and if you make too much, the leftovers are fantastic the next day.

When we first started shopping in the bulk and produce isles, it seemed rather expensive, but then we crunched the numbers and we were spending about the same amount of money that we would spend going out, taking out and buying packaged and processed meals and foods.

When we began buying most of our foods in the produce isle and local open air markets, the quality of our food increased, which means the nutrient levels in our cells increased, which means our cell factories, the magic factories that make up our entire body, have less toxins and more nutrients. And the garbage we made by buying less packaged product decreased, including recycling, which is still ultimately garbage. So take note that when you shop this way, you buy less in the way of packaging. Children and the planet will thank you since you won't be contributing as much to our hidden and dangerous landfills.


Sidenote: Eating a high nutrient diet is the most effective fight against the Swine Flu. Your immune system gets strong by feeding the cells micronutrients. The most nutrient dense foods are plant-based. Bottom line. So eat the veggies, beans, nuts and seeds first. And then wash your hands about 3,000 times a day. In that order.

So, on with the menu for tonight along with a few recommendations.

We recommend you really try and give yourself plenty of time to cook and make the atmosphere in your kitchen enjoyable. My favorite atmosphere changes regularly depending on the season and such : ) Right now, I'm really enjoying good jazz and a glass of quafable red wine with Mati at the table too. I cook, he DJ's and we chat each other up. We've been enjoying Art Blakey lately with a little Herbie Hancock thrown in. But it changes frequently.

The ingredients are documented below in the form of a shopping list. You should only have to go to a few isles in the grocery store; the produce isle, the isles with the grains and beans and maybe the section with the condiments.

Shopping list:
Beans and grains section
Whole wheat (organic) flour (3 cups)
Bulk dry kidney beans or a bag
Brown basmati rice
Produce Section
Red leaf lettuce
Mache or Baby Spinach
Cucumbers
Red peppers
Yellow peppers
Red onions
Tomatoes
Carrots
Avocados
Shallots
Swiss chard
(Buy and make lots of this. It's highly nutritious and delicious and should be a major part of your meal)
Bananas
Melons
Oranges
Any other fruits you'd like to mix in. The more variety, the better. Go for it!!
Nuts - Make sure they're unsalted and preferably not roasted
Pine nuts
Walnuts
Almonds
Sunflower seeds
Condiments and Spices
Stone ground dijon mustard- unsalted
Balsamic vinegar
Dried onion flakes (A delicious staple in our kitchen)
Bay leaves

I’ll keep this as simple as I can. Read the instructions first and print it if you need to and most of all Have FUN

Okay, so in the order of efficiency, first put your kidney beans on to cook.
You'll want 3 parts water to 1 part kidney beans and 2 bay leaves.
Bring them to a boil and then turn them down to medium heat.
They'll need an hour or an hour and a half to cook.
You'll know when they're done because you can pierce them easily all the way through with a fork.
Whole Wheat Tortilla Time
3 cups of whole wheat flour(organic, preferably) in a big bowl
1 cup of water added gradually and you mix with your hands
Work the mixture into an elastic-y ball of dough and then divide it into about 12 or 13 equal dough balls.
Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat.
On a smooth surface, roll a dough ball into a little flat tortilla and cook it for 30-40 seconds on each side. (you’ll need extra flour to use for your surface so the dough doesn’t stick to the rolling pin or the surface you’re rolling on)
If you don’t have a rolling pin, which I didn’t for a while, you can use a bottle. It works too.
Or you can just stretch them out. Be creative.
You may need to remove your pan from the heat from time to time until you get your timing down. Rolling the dough and cooking your tillas at the same time can be tricky but its you’ll get it.
If you can’t bear the thought of this, buy yourselves some quality whole wheat tortillas without salt. – but I highly encourage the handmade method. It’s like working on art in the kitchen. You are a painter, sculpture, artist person with magic tools and even if its hard at first, it will eventually be rewarding. Your kids will think its fun too.

Next the Rice.
Once you put your beans on to cook, in a medium pot, put 2 parts water to 1 part rice and bring that puppy to a boil.
Then turn in down to a simmer and let it cook for 15 minutes or so.
You’ll know when it’s done because the water will have cooked away and the rice will taste yummy ; )

Wash and chop your veggies
Wash your red leaf lettuce and shred it. Put it aside or in a big bowl or something on the table.
Peel the cucumber if it’s not organic and slice it into thin rounds or match sticks or whatever shape you feel like. Be creative. and then put them on a platter or in big bowl.
Slice your red peppers. and put them in with the cucumbers
Slice your yellow peppers and put them in with the cucumber too
Slice your red onions very thin. Very thin so as not to overpower the other veggie flavors and put them in with the cucumbers too.

Check on your rice if you haven’t been.
And your beans.
Maybe give yourself a refill on the vino : )

Wash your swiss chard and chop it.
Use those big white celery like stems too. Rich in nutrients.
Slice your shallots

Now for the Dessert.
Chop, slice and dice all the fruit and put it in a big salad bowl.
Put the salad bowl in the fridge to chill.
Coursely chop the walnuts and almonds and put them aside to top the fruit salad.
Keep some extra fruit washed and by the whole piece in a bowl for those who’d like more dessert. Plus it looks so pretty on the table. You’ll have a fruit frenzy.

Next make your Carrot Mache Salad
Grate at least 4 carrots. I like about 1-2 carrots per person. You’ll have A LOT of grated carrot.
Put the carrots in a big salad bowl.
Diced your tomatoes small. Throw 'em in with the carrots.
Wash and coursely chop the mache. If you don’t have mache, baby spinach will work too.
Put that in the bowl with the carrots and tomatoes.
Add Balsamic vinergar and mustard to taste.
Mix a handful of pine nuts in there and you’re good to go.

When your beans are done cooking, and you’re just about ready to eat, time for chard steam.
Water sautée your shallots
When they’re translucent, add all that magic swiss chard.
Turn off the heat, add a lid and let the chard wilt.
Put it in a bowl on the table.

Put in all on the table.
Eat it up.

Divide the chard between the peeps eating and serve it up.
Combine the beans and rice in a bowl and give everyone a hearty helping.
Put the nice warm pile of tortillas on the table.
The mustard too.
The dried onion flakes.
Put the carrot mache salad out too. Give everyone a hefty helping of that.
Isn’t it pretty?
And the giant bowl of mixed veggies.
Chop the avocados and put those on the table too

Me, I like to spread mustard on my tortillas
then smash some bean and rice mixture
add all the veggies I can and eat it like a taco. It’s my favorite.

We'd like to build a strong community of exchange, dialogue and tasty high nutrient recipes.

So, if you do indeed, try our dinner menu, leave a comment and tell us what you think. Or ask a question if you have one.

Until next time,
Be well little cell.

Make no mistake: the science is clear.

Book Review 1

All of us have a friend or family member who suffers from diet-related diseases like diabetes, cancer or heart disease. Can we really continue to turn a blind eye to evidence that may radically change our lives for the better? With the right tools we can take back the power and become our own primary care providers.

The most important question when assessing any piece of research is to know who authored it. Dr. T. Colin Campbell is the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University. He has more than seventy grant-years of peer-reviewed research funding. Remember that peer-reviewed research funding is the gold-standard for ensuring honesty and transparency in the research process. Dr. Campell has authored more than 300 research papers in more than forty years of research.


“By any number of measures, America’s health is failing. We spend far more, per capita, on health care than any other society in the world, and yet two thirds of Americans are overweight, and over 15 million Americans have diabetes, a number that has been rising rapidly. We fall prey to heart disease as often as we did thirty years ago, and the War on Cancer, launched in the 1970s, has been a miserable failure.

Half of Americans have a health problem that requires taking a prescription drug every week, and over 100 million Americans have high cholesterol. To make matters worse, we are leading our youth down a path of disease earlier and earlier in their lives. One third of the young people in this country are overweight or at risk of becoming overweight.

Increasingly, they are falling prey to a form of diabetes that used to be seen only in adults, and these young people now take more prescription drugs than ever before. These issues all come down to three things: breakfast, lunch and dinner.”

--The China Study, Introduction

The China Study is the result of 20-year project jointly arranged through Cornell University, Oxford University and the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine. The New York Times described the book as the “most comprehensive large study ever undertaken of the relationship between diet and the risk of developing disease.”

The China Study examined "more than 350 variables of health and nutrition with surveys from 6,500 adults in more than 2,500 counties across China and Taiwan." Researchers sought to compare disease rates in China and Taiwan with those in rich Western countries. They wanted to know why Americans and other Western populations die of cancers and cardiovascular disease while the Chinese and Taiwanese almost never did at the time of the study.


The book’s authors claim to "conclusively demonstrate the link between nutrition and heart disease, diabetes, and cancer." But don't take their word for it. Judge for yourself.

Among the claims the book makes:
•Drugs and surgery don’t cure the diseases that kill most Americans.

•The genes that you inherit from your parents are not the most important factors in determining whether you fall prey to any of the ten leading causes of death.

•Vitamins and nutrient supplements do not give you long-term protection against disease.

•Type 1 diabetes, one of the most devastating diseases that can befall a child, is convincingly linked to infant feeding practices.

•Heart disease can be reversed with diet alone.

•Breast cancer is related to levels of female hormones in the blood, which are determined by the food we eat.

•Your doctor probably does not know what you need to do to be the healthiest you can be.

In Dr. Campbell's own words:
“What made [The China Study] especially remarkable is that, among the many associations that are relevant to diet and disease, so many pointed to the same finding: people who ate the most animal-based foods got the most chronic disease. Even relatively small intakes of animal-based food were associated with adverse effects. People who ate the most plant-based foods were the healthiest and tended to avoid chronic disease. These results could not be ignored. From the initial experimental animal studies on animal protein effects to this massive human study on dietary patterns, the findings proved to be consistent. The health implications of consuming either animal or plant-based nutrients were remarkably different.”

When someone of Dr. Campbell's credentials makes the above claims you might want to pay attention. And he’s not the only one. In the following weeks we’ll bring you more doctors, scientists and authors who represent the very best in the American spirit. Do yourself a favor and check them out. It’s your life we’re talking about here. So be well little cell.


The China Study website: www.thechinastudy.com/about.html

With a formal apology for not posting these recipes a year ago, I dedicate the following recipes to Golden West College Summer Anatomy Class Lab Lunch Crew 2008.

Thank you, to all the anatomy students I've had the pleasure of teaching, for being wide-eyed, wonderful and curious about nutritional excellence.

May you all introduce radical nutritional wellness into your future health care practices. May you initiate nutritional protocols before medications. And may you go forth to help heal the planet and the people who suffer unnecessarily with preventable and reversible disease.

You are the heroes and heroines of our future.
Sincerely,
Ms. O'Donnell
Human Anatomy - GWC and LBCC

Its not easy to make a major change in your diet especially if you're not accustomed to playing around in the kitchen with recipes.

We'll post the recipes we think are delicious, nutritious and easy to prepare.

"Easy to prepare" is relative, though, if you're used to popping a hot pocket in the microwave, but cooking is creative and therapeutic and when you trust that you can prevent and reverse disease through the dishes you prepare for yourself and your families, you might even feel inspired. : )


Changing your diet will change your life in many ways you might not expect. We get most of our medical and dietary information from Dr. Joel Fuhrman. He's a family doctor in favor of radical well-being through nutritional excellence. His office is in New Jersey. He seems to have dedicated his life to educating families and individuals on how to take control of their health. For us, he's provided a profound voice of reason and new inspired sense of hope.


I encourage people to work through the discomforts and the changes of detoxing and in learning the art of "home"making through nutritional excellence.

*** Important Note***
Most all people switching to a diet of nutritional excellence will have detoxification symptoms. Most all people who are unaware of the idea of food detoxing will mistake it for hypoglycemia, protein deficiencies etc. and may be easily convinced this way of eating is not good for them.

Do Not be misled. Detoxing is favorable for your body. Let your body clean itself up. That's what it's designed to do and you may feel discomfort at first. As an alcoholic might detox or a new exercise program might make you feel uncomfortable at first, allowing your cell factories to eliminate a lifetime of wastes may feel uncomfortable. Don't throw in the towel just yet. Give yourself three dedicated months and then see how you feel.

Let your body do what it needs to do. Trust it. And get the extra support you may need at www.drfuhrman.com and www.diseaseproof.com

We're also happy to talk about our own experiences and to provide support and resources if you need it.


When you make a profound diet change like this, all 11 body systems will show their appreciation to you in ways that will surprise even the most resistant cynic. So, let's start by posting a few recipes I promised my summer school students at Golden West College in Huntington Beach, California.

Oatmeal Breakfast for 1 person
**********************1 apple - diced and put into a big bowl
1 banana - sliced on top of that
1 big spoonful of flax seeds
1 big spoonful of raw sunflower seeds
cinnamon to taste - I love a lot
1/2 cup of cooked oats - whole oats -
**not more oats than fruits
and any other fresh fruits you like (blueberries and strawberries for sure).
Be creative.

Fruit Salad Breakfast
*********************
This is fantastic when its hot outside or after a workout.

5 or 6 lettuce leaves per person
Butter lettuce is a good one for this
Place a handful of shredded lettuce on the bottom of a large bowl.

1 sliced banana per person
Cubed melon - cantalope, casaba, watermelon or any combination - try one you've never had before
A handful of grapes per person
A half an orange per person divided into individual sections
A handful of raw almonds, walnuts and sunflower seeds
And diced avocado if you feel adventurous

Place all the ingredients atop the lettuce leaves and enjoy.

Note: It's important to have some avocado, nuts and seeds with your meals in place of oils, butters, creams and salt.

Chocolate Blueberry Spinach Smoothies
for Breakfast or Lunch jammed pack with nutrients and kids love them too.

** Dark leafy greens are amongst the most nutrient dense foods on the planet.
When you put spinach in your smoothies, you increase the amount of micro-nutrients in your body and you can't taste the green-ness of it.

First blend the spinach, soy milk and pomegranate juice.
Then add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.
Serves 2.

2 handfuls of organic baby spinach
1/2 cup of soy milk
1/2 cup of pomegranate juice
1 medium banana (freeze banana chunks to give it an ice creamy quality)
1 Tbspn. natural unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups of frozen blueberries
1 Tbspn. ground flaxseeds


Lentil Spinach soup
This recipes makes a large pot and will last for a couple of days depending whose eating and how much.

1 diced onion
3 diced carrots
2 diced zucchini
2 large cloves of fresh garlic
2 cups of water
1 28 oz can of diced no salt tomatoes
(any other vegetables that suit your fancy : )
1 cup of red/coral lentils
1 Tablespoon cumin
Ground curry to your liking - start with a teaspoon and add more if needed.
Lots o’ spinach or swiss chard – 3 or 4 large handfuls of chopped greens

Water sauté = add water to cover the bottom of the pan, heat the water to boil, add the ingredients and sauté as you would with oil.

On medium heat, in large stock pot, sauté onions, carrots, garlic and other veggies (except the spinach) for about 5 minutes in water.

Add the cumin and curry – sauté for another minute
Add the tomatoes and water and lentils
Simmer for 30 minutes or until lentils are tender
Turn off the heat
Add the spinach and cover
Let the spinach wilt
Mix all together and serve

This recipe is easy, comforting and quick. I usually make it in the crock pot but you don't have to - especially if you're using canned beans. The most important thing about this recipe is to use UNSALTED canned beans.

*For lunch we have the soup and a slice of whole wheat sprouted bread (Alvarado or Ezekial bread) with avocado mashed and green salsa on top and maybe a banana and handful of walnuts for dessert.
*For dinner, we include a large salad with variety of raw vegetables including avocado, nuts and seeds and dressing.
*Typical dressing: dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar, fresh squeezed orange juice and a clove of garlic pressed in, stir it up and pour it on (no oil necessary).

Clean up your palate! Once you do, you will start to prefer a cleaner tasting foods, like vegetables and fruits and your cravings for processed and refined foods will begin to diminish.

Dessert a la Dr. Fuhrman Healthy Times Newsletter (www.drfuhrman.com)

Macabanana Popsicles
1 cup raw macadamia nuts
2 bananas
2 medjool dates
1 tsp. cinnamon
Blend all ingredients in a blender,food processor,or VitaMix.
Pour into popsicle trays and freeze until hard for an unusual summer treat.

***Important Note*******
If you are just beginning your change in diet, its oh so important to know that your meals may not taste as delicious to you as they do to us - YET. Be patient. The rewards will astonish you. You must allow time for your palate/mouth/tastebuds and body to adjust. If you eat a diet high in salt (which almost everyone does), it will take some time before you can taste the subtle flavors of delicious veggies and fruits. The longer you take to cut out salts and dairy and meats, the more difficult it will be to enjoy this way of eating. Remember that your body will do some detoxing.

****Another VERY IMPORANT NOTE*****
We are not doctors. If you have an illness and you are making a change in your diet, we recommend you get in touch with Dr. Joel Fuhrman (www.drfuhrman.com). We don't work for him or anything, we just trust him.

We changed our diet radically towards nutritional excellence a year and a half ago. Many of our loved ones and friends see the positive changes. Most of the most important beneficial changes cannot be seen, however. Matthew's blood pressure was curiously and dangerously high despite his lean body and active lifestyle. Within a month of our diet change, it was within a healthy range. I no longer have diabetes symptoms. I've lost 30lbs, which I wasn't expecting but it came off rather quickly. My complexion is better. My digestive system works distinctly and noticeably better. Food tastes way better. I sleep better. I no longer have premenstrual symptoms. And we both have a curious sense of inspiration that is intangible really, just knowing we are on the right path.

And lastly, this is not at all boring. We buy organic whenever we possibly can. We don't eat animal products - that includes dairy - except for special feasting days and occasions. We eat approximately 2 pounds of veggies and fruits per day (1lb. cooked, and 1lb raw), and that sounds like more than it actually is. If you weigh it out, its not as much as you think.

I am a lover of everything food, fun and festivity related. I promised myself if I felt deprived, I would rather deal with the weight, any disease and die younger, than to adopt a diet style that did not bring joy to my life.

And I am here to tell you that I have it all. We eat our nutrient-dense meals with gusto and feel better than we ever have. We feast with friends, occasionally, and enjoy those feasts outside our normal diet in ways we could have never appreciated before. We just don't eat feasting-style 3 meals a day, 7 days a week. It's been a true joy, this change. We think you'll like it too.

Until next time,
Be Well Little Cell

Ruth and Matthew : )

The Time is Now

We found that our approach to our meals can help heal the planet, restore our health and give us a voice that feels more powerful than casting a vote.

And it's time to talk about it. We might even consider talking and debating the subject of diet styles in the same way we're speaking and debating feverishly over the public option, the senator's outburst and Obama's approval ratings.

Since the subjects are distinctly intertwined and we would be remiss, frankly, to do otherwise. So let's talk about it, okay?

It's been a one and half years since we made the switch to a mostly plant-based diet.



The formula is pretty simple but the commitment is complex and since many of our friends and family have expressed an interest in hearing more about how we live and eat, we're going to express what we can here in the way of observations, ideas, book reviews and recipes.

So this is the formula, if you will, that we've adopted from our research.

We eat:
All kinds of beans and lentils.
A mad variety of fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
Our main fat source is: All types of nuts, seeds and avocados.


Our table is always beautiful.
We're never hungry.
We always have dessert.
We're happier, healthier, stronger and more physically fit than either of us were when we played college basketball and baseball.



And yes, we get enough protein. We'll discuss myths and truths in our diet in later posts. And we'll footnote and reference the science for those of you who would like to read for yourselves, what we're reading.

Cancers, Diabetes, Migraines, Autoimmune diseases, Obesity, and Cardiovascular diseases can be prevented and reversed through changing your diet. Oh and don't forget depression.

Did you hear that people????


Cancers, Diabetes, Migraines, Autoimmune diseases, Obesity, and Cardiovascular diseases can be prevented and reversed through changing your diet.
Oh and don't forget depression.


With the exception of emergency medicine and rare cases, we are now convinced there is NO NEED FOR MEDICATIONS.

With the proper nutritional protocols, nearly ALL people taking medications for nearly all illnesses, diseases, and depression could be drug-free if they really want to be. The science is there and it's really good science.

The vast majority of doctors, though well-meaning, are nutritionally misinformed. This is due to the influence that large drug corporations and lobbies exert on the scientific literature. Yet there exist a handful of doctors, scientists and journalists who are interested in creating a new paradigm and helping to heal people through nutritional excellence, without drugs and without confusion.

So we're here at the Be Well Little Cell Blog.
And we're going to discuss it.

Until next time...
Be Well Little Cell.