Deadly effects of sugar & alcohol

Read “The toxic truth about sugar” by Robert Lustig, Laura Schmidt, and Claire Brindis in the latest issue of Nature

5 simple habits for a healthy weight

1. As much as you can, avoid added sugar in your diet. One good way to do this is to completely avoid drinking sodas, or juices. Drink water, or some plain milk, or tea and coffee without added sugar. Eat the whole fruit instead of drinking the juice.
2. Get lots of fiber by eating whole grains, brown rice, brown bread, etc. Most of the time, eat lots and lots of vegetables.
3. If you want second helpings, wait 20 minutes and then you will find that often you change your mind.
4. If you want a snack, eat a handful of walnuts or almonds.
5. Walk for 30 minutes or more every day.

David Millett Publications

Oxtail and barley

Serves 4 people

Ingredients

• approximately 2lbs oxtail
• 2 red onions, peeled and chopped
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
• a few sprigs of fresh rosemary, chopped
• a small handful of dried porcini
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 whole star anise
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon whole wheat flour
• 1 can of  plum tomatoes
• 2 cups of beef broth
• 1/2 cup of barley
• a splash of olive oil

Method

Heat the oven to 350F. In a heavy-bottomed ovenproof dish, heat a splash of olive oil and gently fry the onions, carrots, garlic, rosemary, porcini, star anise, and cinnamon for 5 minutes until softened slightly. Trim the oxtail of excess fat. Season the oxtail with salt and pepper then toss in the flour, shaking off any excess. Add the meat to the dish and stir everything together, then add the tomatoes, broth, and barley. Gently bring to the boil, cover with a  lid and place in the oven for 3 hours or until the oxtail is tender and comes off the bone easily. Taste and check the seasoning, remove the cinnamon stick and star anise. Serve with some mashed turnips or other mashed root vegetable.

A note about beef: always use grass-fed, organic meat. Oxtail is a great cut to buy because it is much less expensive than other cuts. It needs slow cooking, but the finished product is wonderfully delicious. I am lucky enough to be able to shop at a butcher that has only meat from pasture raised animals. Visit John Robbins’ website for more information on grass fed beef.

David Millett Publications

Fish for food?

The American Heart Association recommends eating fish at least twice per week. This is because fish contains lots of omega 3 fatty acids, which are good for the health of your heart.

Fish contains omega 3 in the form of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Plant sources like walnuts, canola oil, hemp and flax seeds contain omega 3 in the form of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA).  Our bodies convert ALA into DHA and EPA. More evidence is needed to really know the difference for heart health between fish oil and plant oil sources of omega 3, but so far, fish oil seems to be most effective.

Unfortunately, there is more to eating fish than heart health benefits.

Fish can be hazardous to your health. We humans are polluting the world’s oceans where fish live and breed. As a result, fish is contaminated with heavy metals and chemicals. Fish can give you an unwanted dose of mercury; this is especially bad for children and pregnant women as mercury may damage young developing brains. Mercury is not the only contaminant. Toxic industrial and agricultural chemicals like PCBs and dioxins end up washed into our oceans and contaminate fish’s ecosystems.

Moreover, fish populations are being destroyed by human fishing behaviors. Read more about the issue and what you can do to make a difference at the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch and at Greenpeace.

If you are going to eat fish, make sure it is on the Monterey Bay’s list of seafood recommendations.

David Millett Publications

Lemony roast potatoes

Serves 2-4 people

Ingredients

• 1lb of peeled potatoes
• 3 cloves of garlic crushed
• 2 lemons
• 1 teaspoon of  dried oregano
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• a splash of extra virgin olive oil

Method

Set your oven to 425F. Cut the potatoes and lemons into wedges. With your hands, squeeze the lemon wedges over the potatoes and mix the lemon and potato together in the baking dish. Add the garlic and oregano and a sprinkle of salt and some grinds of pepper. Mix it all up some more.

Place the dish into the oven for about 40 minutes. Half way through roasting give the potatoes a stir.  You now have a scrumptious potato treat.

A note about olive oil: if you can find it buy ones that say “first cold pressed” and definitely extra virgin because it is the least processed of all the types available. 

 

 

David Millett Publications

Beneficial barley

We humans have a long history with barley. Roman gladiators used to eat barley for strength, it was one of our first cultivated crops, and beer made from fermented barley might have been our first concocted beverage.

Nowadays, most of the barley we produce is used to feed animals and to make alcoholic drinks like beer and whisky. I’d like to advocate for increasing human consumption of barley grains. It is delicious, high fiber, and very nutritious.

Here are barley’s key attributes:

• It tastes good.
• It contains high amounts of soluble and insoluble fiber. Fiber is fabulous. It helps to keep your insides healthy, lowers cholesterol, slows the absorption of sugars, helps you to lose weight, and may help reduce your risk of colon cancer. The recommended amount of dietary fiber is 20 to 35 grams per day. One cup of pearl barley contains 6 grams of fiber.
• It can help to reduce your bad cholesterol and triglycerides (fats in your blood).
• It has a low glycemic index. It can help you to maintain an normal blood sugar.

To cook barley you need to add one cup of barley to 3 cups of boiling water and then simmer for 45 minutes. To make the cooking time shorter, leave the barley to soak in water for 6-8 hours during the day, then bring it to the boil and simmer for about 20 minutes when you are ready to cook it. A delicious recipe is barley, tomato and garlic risotto I like to substitute barley in place of rice, and so far it has always been delicious.

David Millett Publications

Leptin and appetite

Your appetite is regulated by a hormone called leptin, which is produced by fat cells.

Leptin actually drives your behavior. It is a messenger. It communicates with the hypothalamus in the brain to control appetite. Normal levels of leptin send the message to stop eating.  Conversely, if you are starving, with low levels of leptin in your body, you will prioritize finding food to eat, and will feel hungry. This mechanism would have helped our ancestors to survive when food was scarce.

When the hormone was first discovered in the 1990s scientists thought it might be a cure for obesity. People were injected with extra leptin, but they did not lose weight. Why not? It seems that when our bodies produce excess leptin, or are given extra, they become resistant to it.  Scientists do not yet know how we become resistant to the hormone. However, when people become obese (and have high leptin levels), they may become resistant to the hormone’s messages to the brain. They feel as though they are starving, driven to eat more in the same way as a person who has low levels of leptin due to starvation.

Leptin is involved in more than appetite control. Low levels of leptin, affect the body’s fertility, and ability to enter puberty. There is research showing leptin is also important in the proper functioning  of the immune system.

Remember, you might feel that you are choosing all your behaviors, but there is also the chemistry of your body, your hormones, which drive your actions. If you are obese, you may be leptin resistant, and this could be affecting your appetite so you feel hungry even when you already have enough fuel on board.

 

David Millett Publications

Beet soup

This easy and delicious soup serves 4-6 people.

Ingredients

6 medium sized beets

1 onion

2 pints of water or vegetable stock

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

Salt and black pepper to taste

Plain organic yoghurt

 

Method

Grate the beets and onion. Put them in a pan with the water or stock, bring to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes. Blend the soup. Add the lemon zest and juice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a tablespoon of whole milk plain yoghurt.

David Millett Publications

Winter salad

This salad serves 4 people. Make sure you use organic vegetables. They are grown without synthetic fertilizers. Better for you, and better for the planet.

Ingredients

2 cups of green cabbage

1 cup of kale

1 beet

1 fennel bulb

2 carrots

½ celery root

½ small red onion

½ cup of roasted peanuts

1 cup of cilantro

1 large handful of fresh mint

Dressing:

Juice of 1 lemon

3 tablespoons of olive oil

1 tablespoon of mustard

Salt and pepper

½ cup of organic yoghurt

 

Method

Shred the vegetables and chop the herbs. Mix them together in a bowl with the peanuts. Combine the dressing ingredients together and season with salt and pepper, mix into the vegetables and serve!

David Millett Publications

Healthy people

Everyone should have the right to medical care. Unfortunately, there are still millions of us who do not have health insurance to cover the cost of a physical check-up. In 2010, 19.5 percent of the population under age 65 lacked insurance coverage.  If you are able to go to a doctor or nurse practitioner, ask about your weight.

It is important to know if you are at a healthy weight. About 30% percent of persons aged 20 years and over are at a healthy weight, that leaves 70% at an unhealthy weight. But less than half of doctors routinely measure their patients’ Body Mass Index (BMI) – next time you go for a check up, ask for yours to be measured and ask about your result. Check your BMI now at:

http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/

If you are obese BMI>30 or overweight BMI>25 you should get counseling or education related to weight reduction, nutrition, or physical activity when you go to the doctor.

Does your workplace offer wellness programs or counseling about nutrition? If it does, take advantage of it.

David Millett Publications