OBC Food Rules-Day 38: Favor the Kinds of Oils and Grains that have Traditionally been Stone-Ground

When grindstones were the only way to refine flour and oil, four and oil were generally more nutritious.  In the case of grain, more fo the germ and fiber remains when its ground on a stone; you can't get white flour from a stone.  The nutritional benefits of whole grains are impressive:  fiber, the full range of B vitamins; and healthy oils, all of which are sacrificed when the grain is refined on modern roller mills (as mentioned, highly refined flours are little different from sugar).  And the newer oils that are extracted by modern chemical means tend to have less favorable fatty acid profiles and more additives than olive, sesame, palm fruit, and peanut oils that have been obtained the old-fashioned way.

OBC Food Rules-Day 37: "The Whiter the Bread, the Sooner You'll be Dead"

This rather blunt bit of cross-cultural grandmotherly advice (passed down from both Jewish and Italian grandmothers) suggests that the health risks of white flour have been popularly recognized for many years.  As far as the body is concerned, white flour is not that much different from sugar.  Unless supplemented, it offers none of the good things (fiber, B vitamins, healthy fats) in whole grains-it's a little more than a shot of glucose.  Large spikes of glucose are iflammatory and wreak havoc on our insulin metabolism.   Eat whole grains and minimize your consumption of white flour.  Recent research indicates that the grandmothers who lived by this rule were right:  People who eat lots of whole grains tend to be healthier and to live longer.

OBC Food Rules-Day 31: Eat Wild Foods When You Can

Two of the most nutritious plants in the world-lamb's quarters and purslane-are weeds, and some of the healthiest diets, like the Mediterranean, make frequent use of wild greens.  The fields and forests are crowded with plants containing higher levels of various Phytochemicals than their domesticated cousins.  Why?  Bevause these plants have to defend themselves against pests  and disease without any help from us, and becuase historically we've tended to select and breed crops for sweetness; many of the defensive compounds plants produce are bitter.  We also breed for shelf life, and so have unwittingly selected for plants with low levels of omega-3 fatty acids, since these fats quickly oxidize-turn rancid.   Wild animals and fish too are worth adding to your diet when you have the opportunity.  Wild game generally has less saturated and more healthy fats than domesticated animals, becuase most of these animals themselves eat a diverse diet of plants rather than grain (see rule 27).

OBC Food Rules-Day 29: Eat like an Omnivore

Whether or not you eat any animal foods, it's a good idea to try to add some new species, and not just new foods, to your diet-that is, new kinds of plants, animals, and fungi.  The dazzling diversity of food products on offer in the supermarket is deceptive, because so many of them are made from the same small handful of plant species, and most of those-the corn and soy and wheat-are seeds rather than leaves.  The greater the diversity of species you eat, the more likely you are to cover all of your nutritional bases.

OBC Food Rules-Day 28: If you have the Space, Buy a Freezer

When you find a good source of pastured meat, you'll want to buy it in quantity.  Buying meat in bulk-a quarter of a steer, say, or a whole hog-is one way to eat well on a budget.  Dedicated freezers are surprisingly inexpensive to buy and operate, because they aren't opened nearly as often as the one in your refrigerator,  A freezer will also enable you to put up food from the farmers market, and encourage you to buy produce in bulk at the height of its season, when it will be most abundant-and therefore the cheapest.  And freezing does not significantly diminish the nutritional value of produce.

OBC Food Rules-Day 27: Eat Animals that have Themselves Eaten Well

The diet of the animals we eat strongly influences the nutritional quality, and healthfulness, of the food we get from them, whether it is meat or milk or eggs.  This should be self-evident, yet it is a truth routinely overlooked by the industrial food chain in its quest to produce vast quantities of cheap animal protein.  That quest has changed the diet of most of our food animals in ways that have often damaged their health and healthfulness.  We feed animals a high energy diet of grain to make them grow quickly, even in the case of rumminants that have evolved to eat grass.  But even food animals that can tolerate grain are much healthier when they have access to green plants-and so it turns out, are their meat and eggs.  The food from these animals will contain much healthier types of fat (more omega-3s, less omega-6s) as well as appreciably higher levels of vitamins and antioxidants.  (For the same reason, meat from wild animals is particularly nutritious; see rule 31).  It's worth looking for pastured animal foods in the market-and paying the premium prices they typically command if you can.

OBC Food Rules-Day 26: Drink the Spinach Water

Another bit of  traditinal wisdom with good science behind it:  the water in which vegetables are cooked is rich in vitamins and other healthful plant chemicals.  Save it for soup or add it to sauces.

OBC Food Rules-Day 25: Eat Your Colors

The idea that a healthy plate of food will feature several different colors is a good example of of an old wives' tale about food that turns out to be good science too.  The colors of many vegetables reflect the different antioxidant phytochemicals they contain-anthocyanins, polyphenols, flavonoids, carotenoids.  Many of these chemicals help protect against chronic diseases, but each in a slightly different way, so the best protection come right from a diet containing as many different photochemicals as possible.

OBC Food Rules-Day 24: Eating What Stands on One Leg (mushrooms and plant foods) is Better than Eating what Stands on Two Legs (fowl), Which is Better than Eating What Stands on Four Legs (cows, pigs and other mammals)

The Chinese proverb offers a good summary of traditional wisdom regarding the relative healthfulness of different kinds of food, though it inexplicably leaves out the very healthful and entirely legless fish.

OBC Food RULES - Day 23: Treat Meat as a Flavoring or Special Occasion Food

While it's true that vegitarians are generally healthier than carnivores, that doesn't mean you need to eliminate meat from your diet if you like it.  Meat, which humans have been eating and relishing for a very long time, is nourishing food, which is why we suggest "mostly" plants, not "only".  It turns out that near vegetarians, or "flexitarians"-people who eat meat a couple of times a week-are just as healthy as vegetarians.  But the average American eats meat as part of two or even three meals per day-more than half a pound per person per day-and there is evidence that the more meat there is in your diet-red meat in particular-the greater risk of heart disease and cancer.  Why?  It could be its saturated fat, or its specific type of protein, or the simple fact that all that meat is pushing plants off the plate.  Consider swapping the traditional portion sizes:  Instead of an eight-ounce steak and a four-ounce portion of vegetables, serve four ounces of beef and eight ounces of veggies.  Thomas Jefferson was probably onto something when he reccommended a mostly-plant based diet that uses meat cheifly as a "flavor-principle".

OBC Food Rules-Day 22: Eat Mostly Plants, Especially Leaves

Scientists may disagree on what’s good about some plants-the antioxidants?  The fiber?  The omega-3 fatty acids?- but they do agree that they’re probably really good for you and certainly can’t hurt.  There are scores of studies demonstrating that a diet rich in vegetables and fruits reduces the risk of dying from all the Western diseases; in countries where people eat a pound or more of vegetables and fruits a day, the rate of cancer is half what it is in the United States.  Also, by eating a diet that is primarily plant based, you’ll be consuming far fewer calories, since plant foods-with the exception of seeds, including grains and nuts-are typically less “energy dense” than the other things youe at.  (And consuming fewer calories protects against many chronic diseases.)  Vegetarians are notably healthier than carnivores, and live longer.

OBC Food Rules-Day 21: It’s Not Food if it’s Called the Same Name in Every Language (Think Big Mac, Cheetos, or Pringles)

OBC Food Rules-Day 20: It’s Not Food if it Arrived Through the Window of Your Car

OBC Food Rules-Day 19: If it Came From a Plant, Eat it; if it was Made in a Plant, Don’t.

OBC Food Rules-Day 18: Don’t Digest Foods Made in Places Where Everyone is Required to Wear a Surgical Cap

OBC Food Rules-Day 16: Buy Your Snacks at the Farmers Market

You’ll find yourself snacking on fresh or dried fruits and nuts-real food-rather than chips and sweets.

Fast Food Chains with the Most Unhealthy & Unhappy Customers

While most Americans are happy with their family, friends and home life, more than one in five Americans are unhappy with their health. According to a new survey conducted by consumer-focused information site BIGinsight, those who frequent certain fast-food restaurants are even less happy with their health than the average American.


Read on...

10 Surprising Sandwich Stuffers

Here are some fun sandwich ideas which are low in fat, but high in pleasure...
Banana Nut Butter
Mash equal amounts of peanut butter and banana (to cut the fat in half) and spread on whole wheat bread. 

Turkey Tortilla
Mix 1 tablespoon light mayo with 1/2 teaspoon taco seasoning mix; spread on tortilla.  Layer with thinly sliced turkey.  You can also add thinly sliced tomator and lettuce or spinach.  Roll up & enjoy.

Black Bean Burrito
Puree canned black beans in blender with salsa; add lemon juice, cumin and garlic powder.  Spread bean mixture on whole wheat tortilla and top with finely chopped onion and tomato.  Roll up and eat.

Garden Delight
Mix nonfat cottage cheese with chopped green bell pepper, shredded carrot and diced red onion; season with garlic powder and dill weed.  Spread on whole wheat or garden herb crackers and relax while you snack.

Fruit and Cheese
Mix 1 ounce blue cheese with 1 oz light cream cheese.  Spread on thin slices of whole wheat bread, top with thinkly sliced pear and enjoy.

Crab Special
Mix 1 tablespoon light cream cheese with 1 tablespoon light mayo.  Stir in 2 oz. imitation crabmeat,  1 chopped green onion, lemon juice and garlic powder.  Spread on whole grain roll or bread and eat.

Veggie Supreme
Spread 1 tablespoon reduced-calorie ranch salad dressing into each pita half.  Stuff with fresh spinach, thinly sliced turkey meat and a thin slice of reduced-fat mozzarella cheese.  Add mushrooms if you like.

Chicken Salda Ole'
Mix 1 tablespoon salsa with plain nonfat yogurt.  Stir in 2 oz chopped cooked chicken breast and 2 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro.  Stuff into pita bread smile at how easy it was to make.

Curried Tuna
Mix 2 oz. water-packed tuna with a squeeze of lemon, 2 teaspoons light mayo and a pinch of curry powder.  Stir in finely chopped apple, celery and raisins.  Stuff into pita and promise yourself to do something nice for someone else today.

Danish Delight
Lightly spread light cream cheese on a slice of whole grain bread.  Top with sliced cold smoked salmon and thinly sliced cucumbers; sprinkle with dill and serve open face. 

We'd love to hear your feedback when you try these.  Try one per day and send us a note let us know what you think.

Have a fantastic day!

Eat Less - Try Instead

Helpful Hints for a Healthier YOU Around the Holidays!

Begin by stocking your refidgerator and pantry with lower fat foods.  Be aware that not all lowfat foods offer the best nutrition.  Read the labels to gauge the appropriate nutrition content.

Understanding Food Labels

Plan meals that combine protein (turkey, chicken, yogurt, etc.) with 1 serving of carbohydrate (brown rice, vegetables, whole grain pasta).

Replace ice cream, cake, cookies, pies, and pastries with fresh fruit.

Bake, broil, or grill fish & poultry instead of frying.

Microwave or lightly steam veggies to maintain the high vitamin content.  Keep them low in fat by avoiding additional dressings (cheese and other sauces).

Replace (1) egg with (2) egg whites when baking.