“Some…of my vegetarian friends basically subsist on a steady diet that includes: Hard cheeses, French fries, pizza (meatless, of course), soft cheeses, breads, ice cream, vegetarian burgers, semi-soft cheeses, onion rings, mac-and-cheese from a box, cereals, pasta, microwaveable vegetarian meals, cookies, cake, anything vegetarian and pre-packaged, energy bars, wine, beer, hard liquor, and many, many vegetarian burritos. It’s a good thing they’re not preachy.

Some of my vegan friends aren’t much better: They consume basically the same diet I describe above, with necessary dietary substitutions including non-dairy ice cream, pretend eggs, and fake cheese.

… many of my vegetarian and vegan friends are unabashed processed food junkies. If all you ate every day of your life were the “foods” I rattled off above, I wouldn’t consider you to be healthy, and, more importantly, you shouldn’t, either. In fact, I would consider you to be woefully unhealthy, mostly because your diet is crap. I don’t care how much you work out or how thin you are. Those things don’t negate your terrifyingly over-processed diet…”

I agree, though to be picky, Christine should substitute the all encompassing word omnivore instead of carnivore, as the latter implies meat exclusively. Sadly, I have encountered too many preachy vegans and vegetarians who look like death warmed over, and whose diet I find undesirable.

My response to Christine’s article:

People classify themselves into categories: vegan, vegetarian, paleo, frugivore, carnivore, raw, macro etc. yet how much attention do they pay to what they ingest, the source and conditions of productions? Do they assume that because they eat within a particular label, they are healthy? Or are they making a ‘lifestyle statement’ regardless of any potential health consequences?

Processed meat raises risk of diabetes, heart disease and cancer

A new study published in the journal Circulation reveals that eating processed meat products significantly raises the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Previous research has linked processed meats to cancer as well.

The new paper involved a meta-analysis of 20 different studies covering more than one million people from 10 different countries. The study found that eating just 2 ounces of processed meat each day resulted in the following:

• A 42 percent increase in the risk of heart disease.

• A 19 percent increase in the risk of diabetes.

Interestingly, the analysis simultaneously found that eating non-processed meats was not linked to these increases in disease risk. The study authors concluded that it was the processed salt and chemical additives in the processed meat that caused increase risk of disease.

Read the full article, including Why sodium nitrite is poison, and How many children are dying from processed meat? and more on the Natural News website.

One summer, years ago, I worked in a unionized government warehouse. The older guys would take smoke breaks, frequently. When I came along, one in particular would watch me move two boxes, then would stop me while he had a smoke break. I’d move two more boxes, then he’d smoke another one. It was such a waste of time and effort that it really motivated me to continue my education. Truthfully it wasn’t the smokers that did it. It was when the highlight of the day for the warehouse crew was putting sheets of bubble wrap over the floor and then driving the forklift back and forth across it and listening to it pop. I refused to end up like that.

I’ve wondered, would a non-smoker be more productive? Not necessarily. Smokers just need to limit their breaks. But since I’ve been changing my eating habits, I find I can have high energy all day. Am I more productive because I don’t get dozy after lunch and run out for a chocolate bar? Or vegetate in front of my computer until it passes? I don’t need to frequent the coffee machine either. I don’t need the morning java juice to get me going. Is someone who eats like me more productive?

I hear from other raw food people: cookbook authors, sprouters, health advocates, that yes, they are high energy, and they are more productive since they started eating like this. Next time I hire, I’ll look for this on resumes.

Over the past month, as good as the cereal had become, I don’t do it anymore. Two weeks ago after I killed the Magic Bullet, we purchased the Vita-Mix 5200 Blender, and it is terrific. Now I put everything in, and I mean everything: greens, fruits, berries, nuts, spices, herbs, olive oil, water, and blend it up. That super-smoothie is breakfast and my daily drink, with an apple or salad for lunch. Fast. Easy. Healthy.

Many people who eat mainly raw foods talk about percents of the food mix in their diets: vegetables vs fruits vs nuts. One very healthy person I use as a personal example has 80% fruit, about 15% vegetable, and the remaining 5% nuts. Another has 1/3 of each. I am learning where I fit, and it seems closer to 50% vegetable, 20% fruit, and 30% nut.

After a month my weight is still the same, my waist is still the same, blood pressure is still nice and low. My legs seem more muscular, though 20 KM a day sure helps. But my understanding of which food affects me has certainly increased. Now that the vegetable garden is in, I’ll be eating many more greens at harvest time, and looking forward to learning more.

• A spoonful each of raw almonds, walnuts, pecans, and pumpkin seeds that had soaked overnight.
• A couple of spoonfuls of extra virgin olive oil.
• Half a banana.
• Buckwheat groats that had sprouted for six days.
• About 1/16 each of a teaspoon of spirulina, maca root, and hemp seed.
• Three drops of iodine.
• Filtered water.

After blending, I added in some more sprouted buckwheat groats and the rest of the banana, sliced up, for something to chew.

It sat, in the Magic Bullet cup, for two hours until I ate it, after my morning cycle commute and settling in.

It is quite good. It is not sweet, but has a palatable taste. Less than 8 grams of fructose. I’m getting there.

The agave was great in our raw food recipes, and once the bottles were empty, we found that our neighbourhood Costco had begun selling it, cheap. I wondered at the time what effect a distribution network like Costco would do to it. Could the quality be maintained when it was mass produced? What about the source of the agave plant? Would mass production be harmful for the, and its, environment?

We have been buying and using agave, but after hearing some potentially negative things about it, I decided to do some online reading. Along with about a half dozen articles, I found a Dr. Mercola article This Sweetener Is Far Worse Than High Fructose Corn Syrup which also discussed fructose. The middle of the article has a chart with the fructose levels of various fruits:

Fructose chart from Dr. Mercola

After reading the article I realized that maybe I am eating too much fructose. Last summer I cut out processed foods, and other than the rare treat (holiday feasting), and eating out 1-2 times a month, about 90% of the fruits and vegetables I eat are raw. Having gone from 200 pounds down to 173, cycling 80 KM a week, other exercising and yoga about 2-3 hours a week I still have a belly. a beer gut, even though I was never a beer drinker and now don’t touch any alcohol at all. Even when I was running half marathons and did lots of sit-ups, I still had a gut.

You may be thinking that is is alright to eat fructose in fruits, because that is ‘natural’ versus the fructose in processed foods. From what I read, maybe not. Fructose may be fructose, with the same effect on our bodies, in whatever form. I’ll experiment with my food regimen for the next month and see what happens.

My morning cereal, which is mainly almonds, pecans, walnuts, and various seeds soaked, rinsed, and put through a Magic Bullet, sometimes with rejuvelac (wheatgrass) and dates, and poured over a bowl of sliced fresh fruits, may be too much fructose. I’ve eliminated the dates and all fruits except for one banana, and have added in locally grown blackberries and raspberries.

My daily smoothie, an eclectic mix of, in descending order: fruits, vegetables, sprouts, nuts, olive oil and spices, has had the fruits removed. This morning’s was barely palatable. It needs some work.

Over the next month I’ll try to eat this way, and see how eating much less fruit, but more vegetables, affects me and my gut. Hopefully I will find ways to make raw food relatively sweeter and more palatable without using fruits with high concentrations of fructose.

The perfect dish?

Contrary to what letter writer Donald Ward (The Fat Connection – Dec. 28) believes – that 16 tablespoons of fat in chef Rob Feenie’s recipe for roast game hen with choucroute and mashed potatoes (My Sister’s Best Recipe: Comfort Foot – Dec. 23) are too much – I disagree that these sorts of dishes are causing the obesity epidemic. As a chef and cooking instructor, I teach balance, sustainability and, most important, cooking from scratch in addition to knowing the integrity of your ingredients.

The dish Chef Feenie prepared is for a special occasion and, as a result, is not one that anyone would consume on a regular basis. I believe the problem is our dependence on packaged, prepared foods. When you start using tinned soups and cook and heat pot roasts and other culinary abominations, you surrender all control over your fat, sodium and additive intake. It’s not difficult to cook healthy, well-balanced meals and still maintain a busy lifestyle.

Instead of taking on a single chef and small business owner, why not tackle the food giants that are pushing a diet of convenience at the expense of our health.

Bruce Wood, chef/owner, Bruce’s Kitchen, Salt Spring Island, B.C

There are recipes at the back of the book, but I have found it simpler to read the book, throw everything into a blender, and create my own. The trick is adding enough fruit to make it sweet enough to be palatable.

There is some weird scientific stuff in the book, too. Statements that microorganisms can change some elements into other elements, such as calcium to magnesium, and sodium into potassium. That seems physically impossible.

For overall health and nutrition, I recommend a quick read and follow the recipes.