March 2024: Do you Know about this Lifespan-Increasing Food?
Last month in this space I introduced the concept of “caloric density” and explained how eating a bowl of salad before each meal could improve blood sugar, lower inflammation and reduce the risk of common chronic diseases. (But to get the full benefit, the salad must not include any meat, dairy, eggs, oils or sugar.) I suggested readers try this for one month to experience for themselves the incredible healing power of whole plant foods. (If you don’t have the February Topeka Health and Wellness, you can read my article from last month here: https://joannfarb.weebly.com/thw )
This month I want to inspire you to add something else to your daily diet – it’s the magic longevity food – BEANS. You can watch this terrific 4 minute Nutrition Facts video to get the whole story: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/increased-lifespan-from-beans/ but I will share with you the gist of what that video explains.
You’ve probably heard that there are places on this planet, where unusually large numbers of people not only live to be 100 years old, but do so with incredible functionality, living independently almost to the end of life...and it’s not because of their genes – because when people from those places move to new places and adopt the diet of the new place, they don’t live as long. But what you may not know – is that when it comes to what they eat, the people in all of these places have something in common – they consume a lot of legumes --also known as beans, peas and lentils (and they eat very little meat.) If you want to know more about these places, look up, “The Blue Zones.”
Related to this is that populations with the shortest life spans (The Massai and Inuit are two examples) also have something in common in terms of their diets too – they do not eat any legumes!
It’s unfortunate that beans have such a bad rap, and here is why they do. When people have not been consuming enough beans on a regular basis they may have unpleasant gastrointestinal reactions to them when they do eat them. This is because what we eat, over time actually increases and decreases various microbes that live in our gut. Those microbes help us digest our food and which one’s we have, depends upon what we have been eating for the past couple of weeks. So if you want to have the gut microbes that easily digest beans, then simply eat beans every day for a month. (if you want to minimize GI symptoms at the start, do this for two months, and add them slowly starting with only a single tablespoon of beans every day for a couple of weeks. After the first two weeks gradually increase the amount of beans by one TBS every few days.) For simplicity – you can just add beans to one of your daily salads. They are a delicious addition and will give your salad staying power! Make sure you chew very well too. I love to start my day with a huge salad for breakfast topped with a cup of beans – I don’t feel hungry until well into the afternoon. Adding beans to your diet, will increase the bacteria in your gut that help you to digest beans and help your gut microbiome to evolve in ways that make it easier for you to eat more and more beans, without unpleasant symptoms. Also keep in mind that peas, lentils and green beans are less likely to cause gas than other legumes.
Like the greens I recommended last month, legumes also have a positive impact on blood sugar and not just for the meal that included them. There is something called the, “second meal effect” (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/beans-and-the-second-meal-effect/ ) where the next meal eaten after eating beans, also exhibits a reduced glycemic response.
Beans can be eaten in soups, used to make meatless burgers, burritos, chili or even made into dip. One of my favorite bean dips is this oil-free hummus recipe:
This month I want to inspire you to add something else to your daily diet – it’s the magic longevity food – BEANS. You can watch this terrific 4 minute Nutrition Facts video to get the whole story: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/increased-lifespan-from-beans/ but I will share with you the gist of what that video explains.
You’ve probably heard that there are places on this planet, where unusually large numbers of people not only live to be 100 years old, but do so with incredible functionality, living independently almost to the end of life...and it’s not because of their genes – because when people from those places move to new places and adopt the diet of the new place, they don’t live as long. But what you may not know – is that when it comes to what they eat, the people in all of these places have something in common – they consume a lot of legumes --also known as beans, peas and lentils (and they eat very little meat.) If you want to know more about these places, look up, “The Blue Zones.”
Related to this is that populations with the shortest life spans (The Massai and Inuit are two examples) also have something in common in terms of their diets too – they do not eat any legumes!
It’s unfortunate that beans have such a bad rap, and here is why they do. When people have not been consuming enough beans on a regular basis they may have unpleasant gastrointestinal reactions to them when they do eat them. This is because what we eat, over time actually increases and decreases various microbes that live in our gut. Those microbes help us digest our food and which one’s we have, depends upon what we have been eating for the past couple of weeks. So if you want to have the gut microbes that easily digest beans, then simply eat beans every day for a month. (if you want to minimize GI symptoms at the start, do this for two months, and add them slowly starting with only a single tablespoon of beans every day for a couple of weeks. After the first two weeks gradually increase the amount of beans by one TBS every few days.) For simplicity – you can just add beans to one of your daily salads. They are a delicious addition and will give your salad staying power! Make sure you chew very well too. I love to start my day with a huge salad for breakfast topped with a cup of beans – I don’t feel hungry until well into the afternoon. Adding beans to your diet, will increase the bacteria in your gut that help you to digest beans and help your gut microbiome to evolve in ways that make it easier for you to eat more and more beans, without unpleasant symptoms. Also keep in mind that peas, lentils and green beans are less likely to cause gas than other legumes.
Like the greens I recommended last month, legumes also have a positive impact on blood sugar and not just for the meal that included them. There is something called the, “second meal effect” (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/beans-and-the-second-meal-effect/ ) where the next meal eaten after eating beans, also exhibits a reduced glycemic response.
Beans can be eaten in soups, used to make meatless burgers, burritos, chili or even made into dip. One of my favorite bean dips is this oil-free hummus recipe:
Ingredients:
1½ cups canned or freshly cooked chickpeas
3 TBS lemon juice
2-3 cloves of garlic (depending on how much you like garlic)
¼ cup of raw (shell-less) sunflower seeds
1 TBS dried parsley
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp salt
2-3 TBS water (as needed for blending)
Directions:
1. Drain and rinse the chickpeas and then place them into a food processor fitted with “S” blade.
2. Add all remaining ingredients except the water and turn processor on high to blend. You will need to stop and scrape the sides down several times.
3. Add the water – a little at a time, only as much as needed to help it all mix well. Then process for at least 3-5 minutes until the sunflower seeds no longer are present in chunks.
Use as a dip for raw veggies, spread on crackers, or roll up in a tortilla with lettuce and tomatoes.
1½ cups canned or freshly cooked chickpeas
3 TBS lemon juice
2-3 cloves of garlic (depending on how much you like garlic)
¼ cup of raw (shell-less) sunflower seeds
1 TBS dried parsley
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp salt
2-3 TBS water (as needed for blending)
Directions:
1. Drain and rinse the chickpeas and then place them into a food processor fitted with “S” blade.
2. Add all remaining ingredients except the water and turn processor on high to blend. You will need to stop and scrape the sides down several times.
3. Add the water – a little at a time, only as much as needed to help it all mix well. Then process for at least 3-5 minutes until the sunflower seeds no longer are present in chunks.
Use as a dip for raw veggies, spread on crackers, or roll up in a tortilla with lettuce and tomatoes.
And now, I invite you to make up a batch of my oil-free hummus, grab a package of baby carrots and sit down and watch this terrific documentary – Forks Over Knives. It’s title refers to the fact that when it comes to dealing with the chronic diseases plaguing Americans – the dinner fork is often more powerful than the surgical knife. This is my favorite documentary explaining how powerful a whole-food, plant-based diet can be. It’s free to watch online right now and it’s so inspiring:
https://www.forksoverknives.com/the-film/
Check back next month when I will bust a myth about a food that most people believe is healthy – but it’s not.
https://www.forksoverknives.com/the-film/
Check back next month when I will bust a myth about a food that most people believe is healthy – but it’s not.
Feb 2024: Caloric Density Can Be Your Friend
Perhaps you watched the classic movie, Forks over Knives, or the more recent one, The Game
Changers and wondered what a plant-based diet might do for you? Or, maybe your cholesterol, blood
pressure or fasting glucose are higher than you’d like...and you don’t want to end up on medication...or
even something worse? Or, maybe you noticed the rising rates of heart issues in young adults and the
concurrent increase in (non-covid) all-cause mortality in working age adults – and wonder if those
might have anything to do with the popularity of the various meat-increasing diets?
We’ve known for a long time, that one of the most important things we can do to slow down aging and
prevent or even reverse many chronic conditions and extend both one’s life span AND one’s “health-
span” is to eat fewer calories. However this only works if one is still getting sufficient nutrients. By
“nutrients” we are not just referring to vitamins, minerals and protein, but also to the multiple types of
fiber and thousands of different phytochemicals that are only found in whole plant foods. These
phytochemicals (or “plant” chemicals) with names like beta carotene, thiocyanate, lignin, chlorophyll
and resveratrol (to name just a few of the thousands so far identified) serve roles as anti-oxidants and
are key players in critical cellular processes that fight cancer, boost immunity, increase longevity, repair
damaged tissues and protect us from environmental toxins. However taking them as supplements,
rather then getting them from whole plant foods is not the same. When eating whole plants, we get
thousands of these different phytochemicals together in every bite. Previous research has suggested that consuming them in this way – as part of a whole symphony of phytochemicals is what facilitates all
those benefits I just described. However studies have also suggested that taking them as purified
extracts of a single phytochemical. (ie beta-carotene supplements) can actually do the exact opposite.
In a major landmark study where they gave beta-carotene supplements to smokers, it had to be stopped early, as cases of newly diagnosed cancers in those taking the supplement skyrocketed. In contrast, research clearly demonstrates that those with the highest levels of beta carotene in their blood
(indicative of eating a diet rich in whole plant foods) had the lowest rates of cancer.
Unfortunately, “eating less,” (as a strategy to consume fewer calories) can be one of the hardest things
to actually do! That’s where using the concept of “caloric density” can literally save your life. Shifting
one’s diet in the direction of whole plant foods, allows you to decrease the caloric density of what you
eat, thereby eating fewer calories, without having to count calories, weigh portions or eat less food.
Eating whole, unprocessed plant foods, without added oils, or sugars, can not only be delicious and
incredibly satisfying, it allows you to eat to satisfy your appetite, without counting calories and still
lose weight. Does that sound too good to be true? Here’s why it works. One of the things that drives
our appetite is the volume of food in our stomach, which has stretch receptors that communicate signals
of hunger and satiety to our brain. To understand this concept, look at how many calories are in one
pound of the following:
Changers and wondered what a plant-based diet might do for you? Or, maybe your cholesterol, blood
pressure or fasting glucose are higher than you’d like...and you don’t want to end up on medication...or
even something worse? Or, maybe you noticed the rising rates of heart issues in young adults and the
concurrent increase in (non-covid) all-cause mortality in working age adults – and wonder if those
might have anything to do with the popularity of the various meat-increasing diets?
We’ve known for a long time, that one of the most important things we can do to slow down aging and
prevent or even reverse many chronic conditions and extend both one’s life span AND one’s “health-
span” is to eat fewer calories. However this only works if one is still getting sufficient nutrients. By
“nutrients” we are not just referring to vitamins, minerals and protein, but also to the multiple types of
fiber and thousands of different phytochemicals that are only found in whole plant foods. These
phytochemicals (or “plant” chemicals) with names like beta carotene, thiocyanate, lignin, chlorophyll
and resveratrol (to name just a few of the thousands so far identified) serve roles as anti-oxidants and
are key players in critical cellular processes that fight cancer, boost immunity, increase longevity, repair
damaged tissues and protect us from environmental toxins. However taking them as supplements,
rather then getting them from whole plant foods is not the same. When eating whole plants, we get
thousands of these different phytochemicals together in every bite. Previous research has suggested that consuming them in this way – as part of a whole symphony of phytochemicals is what facilitates all
those benefits I just described. However studies have also suggested that taking them as purified
extracts of a single phytochemical. (ie beta-carotene supplements) can actually do the exact opposite.
In a major landmark study where they gave beta-carotene supplements to smokers, it had to be stopped early, as cases of newly diagnosed cancers in those taking the supplement skyrocketed. In contrast, research clearly demonstrates that those with the highest levels of beta carotene in their blood
(indicative of eating a diet rich in whole plant foods) had the lowest rates of cancer.
Unfortunately, “eating less,” (as a strategy to consume fewer calories) can be one of the hardest things
to actually do! That’s where using the concept of “caloric density” can literally save your life. Shifting
one’s diet in the direction of whole plant foods, allows you to decrease the caloric density of what you
eat, thereby eating fewer calories, without having to count calories, weigh portions or eat less food.
Eating whole, unprocessed plant foods, without added oils, or sugars, can not only be delicious and
incredibly satisfying, it allows you to eat to satisfy your appetite, without counting calories and still
lose weight. Does that sound too good to be true? Here’s why it works. One of the things that drives
our appetite is the volume of food in our stomach, which has stretch receptors that communicate signals
of hunger and satiety to our brain. To understand this concept, look at how many calories are in one
pound of the following:
|
You could eat a pound of sweet potatoes, plus a pound of spinach and half a pound of beans – a huge volume of food that will make you feel very full, for the number of calories in a single pound of beef. Even better – the two and half pounds of plants come packed with artery-healing, blood sugar-lowering, cancer-preventing phytochemcials, that over time may make the difference between living independently or needing full time care by the age of 80 (if one even makes it to 80.)
Here is yet another way to illustrate this concept. Just simply compare the nutrients in 100 calories of
spinach with 100 calories of steak:
Here is yet another way to illustrate this concept. Just simply compare the nutrients in 100 calories of
spinach with 100 calories of steak:
Want to try a really simple experiment to begin to appreciate the power of plants? Here is a very easy
way to start. For the next 30 days commit to just adding this one simple thing to your diet. You won’t
even need to deliberately stop eating anything you currently eat. Just start every single meal with a
leafy green salad before you eat anything else. But there is this one requirement you must follow for
this to work. Your salad, cannot use any packaged salad dressing, nor can you use any oil or sugar. It
must not have any meat, dairy or eggs added to it either. You must use only a whole-food plant based,
home made salad dressing. Here is one of my favorite recipes:
way to start. For the next 30 days commit to just adding this one simple thing to your diet. You won’t
even need to deliberately stop eating anything you currently eat. Just start every single meal with a
leafy green salad before you eat anything else. But there is this one requirement you must follow for
this to work. Your salad, cannot use any packaged salad dressing, nor can you use any oil or sugar. It
must not have any meat, dairy or eggs added to it either. You must use only a whole-food plant based,
home made salad dressing. Here is one of my favorite recipes:
One of the benefits of doing this, is that by eating at least a full packed cup of RAW chopped romaine,
spinach, arugula, bok choy, kale, collard, leaf lettuce, mizuna – or virtually any raw leafy green, is that
it will reduce the blood sugar spike that typically follows when you eat whatever it is that you normally
eat. Another benefit of adding all these greens to your diet is that it will begin to improve your
microbiome. Just two weeks of doing this, will favor the growth of gut microbes that down-regulate
inflammation in your body, and begin to crowd out microbes that contribute to chronic inflammation.
Be sure to check this space next month, when I will explain how adding one more food to your daily
diet, can provide even more benefits!
spinach, arugula, bok choy, kale, collard, leaf lettuce, mizuna – or virtually any raw leafy green, is that
it will reduce the blood sugar spike that typically follows when you eat whatever it is that you normally
eat. Another benefit of adding all these greens to your diet is that it will begin to improve your
microbiome. Just two weeks of doing this, will favor the growth of gut microbes that down-regulate
inflammation in your body, and begin to crowd out microbes that contribute to chronic inflammation.
Be sure to check this space next month, when I will explain how adding one more food to your daily
diet, can provide even more benefits!