SoulVeggie

"The Devolution of Thanksgiving" - my lecture to Olgethorpe University

"My recent lecture. The History of Thanksgiving, fasting/prayer, corporate excess, the modern turkey, the kitchen as a biohazard laboratory, a no-fat plant-based diet, veganism, metabolic syndrome (heart disease, type II diabetes, alzheimer's disease, etc.), pesticides, gmos, advice for dealing with Thanksgiving, and a host of other related issues.  Roughly a 35 minute talk, and I cut loose a bit in the subsequent 30 minute Q&A.

This slideshow accompanying the audio (the lecture was given via Skype) was a quick'n'dirty assembly of related images to the topics I was discussing.  By no means comprehensive, they seem to augment the whole experience." 

"Plant-Strong by the Numbers" - Heart Disease, Fat, Sugar, & Salt

"Although a knowledge of numbers isn’t critical to successfully navigating the journeyto a plant-strong lifestyle, recognizing important signals on the trip can be very useful for helping in deciding what to eat and what to avoid.  They can also be additional encouragement to help us stay on the road less traveled by and not get lost in false needs."

There are various numbers and statistics that are suggested as being useful to remember to encourage optimatl personal health. A discussion and distillation of these metrics on daily intake requirements for fat, sugar, and salt, as well as their content and measurements in certain foods, can be found in my guest blog post for the "Engine2 Diet" website."

The Experimental G-BOMBS V-12 Pizza Prototype

A buzzer sounds at the heavily secured massive steel door.

"What's the pass-phrase?" asks the Head Chef in gruff tones.

"Anthony Bourdain Eats Tofu," came the quick response from the other side of the door. A moment of silence before the door slowly opens, and Dr. S. quickly takes his seat.  Surrounding the Conference Room table are several austere and serious looking men and women in lab coats with a picture of a pizza shaped like a heart sewn on the front of each jacket.

"You're late, S." growls HC from the table's power seat.

"Sorry, sir," came the response, "An emergency in in the Iron Chef kitchen."

"So I've heard... I take it matters are under control?"

"Er, yes sir.  Dr. Psymon has been dismissed, per your orders."

"Nasty business, S.  Dr. Psymon knows the rules.  No oil.  I don't care if he's also on "The Chew."  It's no excuse.  People's health is at stake.  Chef Battleitaly has obviously been a bad influence on him."

"Undoubtedly, sir."

"Alright, enough of the pleasantries, S.  Report!"

The lights dim, a very large flat screen rises up from the far end of the table, the heart-shaped logo upper center on the screen pulsing.  Dr. S. hands dart quickly dart over his iPizza pad.  The monitor comes alive with light and color.  "I'm pleased to say, sir, that we've had a major breakthrough on Project Super Heart Healthy Pizza.  This is a photo collage of the Super Secret Experimental V-12 Pizza Prototype."

©2102 by Mark Sutton, topping sauce recipe from "Heart Healthy Pizza." Click to see larger image.

There are gasps from around the room. The chefs whisper excitedly to each other in panic, and one yells out:  "it's not possible! That's... that is... you've... OH MY GOD!"

"Quiet down everyone," demands HC, standing up and leaning across the table forcefully. "S., you can't be serious.  What you're showing us can't be done.  It breaks the dish of every foundational theory we've developed in over 100 years of covert culinary research.  How many?  What on Earth did you do, man?"

"Well, ah...."

"Dammitt, S., I'm a Food Physicist and Head Chef, not a Psychic.  In the Name of T. Colin Campbell, tell us, HOW MANY?"

"12, sir."

"TWELVE!!" exclaims HC, leaning back in his chair.  Pandemonium breaks out around the table, people are yelling and screaming at each other, pounding the table.  "But 11 was considered the highest level?" "It violates the Laws of Nature." "What if the New York Times Food Critic finds out?" "Is it stable, are we in danger?" "It can't be, he's lying."

Dr. S. stands up, and waves his right arm theatrically.  "Ladies and gentlemen, it IS possible."  The Team Members quiet down.  "Yes, this is a heart healthy pizza with twelve distinct vegetables as added ingredients."

"But, but... why, S., why? Why risk the potential structural collapse in the oven? We know that 11 is as high as you can go before the entire internal stability of the pizza resolves as an unedible avalanche of disconnected veggies, no matter how much topping sauce is used as an adherent agent.  Complete culinary collapse at the Julia Child Curve with a corresponding Emeril Explosion making "bam" look like "pop"."

S. chuckled. "I used to think this too, my friends.  I used to believe in that limitation. However, I had to think out of the pizza box. There had to be a way, a safe way, to safely exceed these limits.  I surmised that the key problem was the size of the individual veggies and where they were co-located in the PPCS, the Physical Pizza Collective Structure."

"Incredible... IF it works" says HC, his voice heavy with admiration yet caution, "I take it that you figured out that you could reduce the size of the Barnardian Vegetable Components and through a careful Morimotto Scatter Algorithm, avoid overloading the Ozian weight/pressure ratios of crust and sauce."

"Exactly, sir.  I wanted to increase the McDougall Ratio of vegetables to bite, while maintaining a reasonable Alton Brownian Mass to Gravity Failure Comparitive."

"Honor us, Dr., please describe to us your prototype."

"Delighted to, sir."  S. walks around the side of the table with his laser pointer.

"We start with a basic pizza crust base.  I was going to initiate construction with a gluten-free crust, but felt I'd reduce the unknown variables for this round to that which was a bit more clear in terms of loading stress capabilities.  A whole wheat crust is topped with chopped tender kale, followed by thinly sliced tomatoes, and sprinkled with freshly diced basil."

The young intern at the back of the room smiled and whispered loudly, "You had me at kale."  There were quiet giggles around the room.  "Hush up," admonished HC.

S. continued: "at this point, I added diced mushrooms as kind of shock absorbers to the next layer with a sprinkle of garlic powder and red pepper chili flakes.  I like it spicy, " he winked at the intern, "...then, using a Trader Joe's mixture of chopped vegetables..."

"Trader Joe's?" queried HC.

"Yes sir.  Due to time and budget constraints (how often do I have so many raw vegetables in the refrigerators?) I used Trader Joe's 8 Raw Chopped Vegetables, available for under $3 at most stores.  They were scattered and placed lightly across the pizza with enough space between individual veggies to allow for eventual topping sauce penetration. I also spread the carrots and purple cabbage bits around a bit to provide a pleasing visual appearance."

"Clever, S.  And yet you still stayed on budget."

"Yes sir... now, at this point I took a fundamental risk.  Onions or no onions?  I decided to go for it.  Slices of onions were draped on top of the lightly scattered veggies."

There was appreciative sounds of agreement and admiration from around the table.

"Of course, the decision of what type of cheese-like topping sauce to use was difficult.  I wanted not only good texture and taste, but one that would really kick the nutritional quality of the pizza into a Fuhrman Zone intersection with the Esselstyn No-Oil Barrier."

Gasps from around the room.

"Yes, my skeptical friends, a no-added oil Fuhrman G-BOMBS* without berries (which you could easily have in a dressing on a side salad).  To make this work, I went with a "Millet, White Kidney Beans, Sunflower Seeds, Sirarcha Sauce" topping, sprinkled with ground pepper. You can see the final results on the screen."

"Count, count, count!" came the collective cry from the other Chefs.  "Count, count, count!"

"Okay, here we go: (1) kale, (2) tomatoes, (3) mushrooms, (4) celery, (5) carrots, (6) jicama, (7) green cabbage, (8) purple cabbage, (9) green peppers, (10) radish, and (11) broccoli."

"Twelve, twelve, twelve..." came the demand from the screaming Chefs, some standing on the table, others writhing on the conference room floor.

"And, to complete our V-12 Prototype Pizza..." (pausing for effect), "ONIONS!!"  S. smiled proudly, while around him the Chefs were throwing their iDevices into the air, slapping themselves on their backs, hugging, and wiping the tears flowing from their eyes.  It was an historic moment, and even HC's own eye was misty with the realization of what had been shown here today.

"Praise Lyman! This is a momentous, S. You've done us proud.  Generations will remember this event and be healthier as a result.  Now, my good friends, time to celebrate.  I'll order in a vegan lunch for all of us from "The Millenium Restaurant", my treat."

"But sir," notes the young intern, "that's across the country in San Francisco."

"No problem, m'dear," chuckled HC, "I have our Trans-Orbital on standby."

As the Team Members exited the conference room, each shaking S.'s hand before leaving, they knew inside that the battle for healthy diets wasn't over, but yet that a major victory had been achieved.  New challenges awaited them, and their dedicated efforts to help people eat better food would continue unabated.

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AUTHOR'S NOTES:

1) *“G-BOMBS” is an acronym you can use to remember the most nutrient-dense, health-promoting foods on the planet. These are the foods you should eat every day, and they should make up a significant proportion of your diet — these foods are extremely effective at preventing chronic disease and promoting health and longevity." [Source]

2) the original topping sauce recipe, from my cookbook, HEART HEALTHY PIZZA, used cashews.  1/3 cup sunflower seeds were substituted for the cashews to give the sauce a lighter fluffiness and to lower the fat content a bit.  Easily enough sauce was made for both the V-12, and who knows? Maybe a V-13...

Mad Cowboy Newsletter, Official Pizza, & Free Cookbook Giveaway

The latest Mad Cowboy Newsletter was posted shortly before Memorial Day weekend.  You can read the entire issue at this address:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mad_Cowboy/message/96

Note:  I've posted the Official Mad Cowboy Pizza recipes (& photos) and there's a free giveway of my cookbook, "Heart Healthy Pizza" detailed in this edition of the newsletter.

Here's the Intro & Table of Contents:

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Howdy! Welcome to the 73rd issue of the Mad Cowboy Newsletter!

In this special issue, we have two contests! The periodic Vegan Mind-Bender Contest (for a year's subscription of VegNews), and today, a free giveaway of the very 1st vegan pizza cookbook: "Heart Healthy Pizza." There's also a link to where you can view the Official Mad Cowboy Pizza recipe, obtain more information about this book, and order an autographed copy of same.

Reading further, learn about some new and very large studies indicating that consumption of red meat not only increases mortality from degenerative diseases, but from strokes as well. There's information on a unique court case where the judge is assessing liability for potential damage to the Earth's atmosphere for future generations, the environmental impact of eating shrimp vs. beef, the brewing eco-storm, continued warnings about too much salt, and take action against the collective evils of Monsanto.

Moving onward, among other matters, you can contact the FDA about animal testing, see the difference between PR spending between the Meat Industry and Veg-related Organizations, know about the controversial "Vegan is Love" book, how to be vegan inexpensively, FARM's mobile activism, and how to be a hero by what you eat.

And don't miss our "Vegan Digital Media Theater" featuring video of Dr. Esselstyn, President Clinton, vegan ultra-marathoner Scott Jurek, and others of note.

... as always, a tip of the hat to our new subscribers: y'all can browse/search through past issues at the Mad Cowboy Newsletter Archives at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mad_Cowboy/

Best regards, Mark   MC editor/webmaster

***********************************************
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
00: Quote(s) from Howard
01: The Vegan Mind-Bender Contest Winner/Challenge!
02: Mad Cowboy Pizza Recipe & Heart Healthy Pizza Book Giveaway Contest
03: Mad Cow Info Round-Up
04: Red Meat=Mortality=Strokes, Hold the Salt
05: Judging the Atmosphere, Shrimp vs. Beef, Eco-Storm, Evil Monsanto
06: Vegan Digital Media Theater
07: Tell FDA No Testing, Meat vs Veg Ad$$, Mobile Activist Video
08: "Vegan is Love," Cheaply Vegan, Be a Hero by What You Eat
09: Quick Bytes
10: Closing Thoughts

WebMD: "Plant-Based Diet for Heart Health"

Guess more mainstream folks are catching on about a plant-based diet being "heart healthy."

http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/plant-based-diet-for-heart-health

Decent and validating summary of studies pertinent to the topic, although the Med. Diet is often misunderstood.  As Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn has pointed out, it merely slowed down the progression of heart disease in subjects (many still had heart issues later), and doesn't reverse or prevent heart disease as his recommendations have been shown to do.

Athough the article misses the issue of NO ADDED OIL (proven to reverse heart disease), it's still a timely and current article that provides me with additional encouragement to get my book out.  Doing final layout and indexing (have two incredible endorsements I can't publish yet!).  So close...

FYI, Mark

http://www.hearthealthypizza.com

From the article above:

"In an analysis published in 2009 in the American Journal of Cardiology, researchers reviewed 27 studies on the heart benefits of four different types of plant-based diets:

• Vegan
• Lacto-ovo-vegetarian
• Primary plant-based (similar to the lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet, but allows small amounts of lean meat)
• Combination diet -- a traditional vegetarian or vegan diet combined with nuts, soy, and/or fiber

The researchers found that people who ate the combination diet decreased their total cholesterol and LDL "bad" cholesterol by 20% to 35%.

Those who ate the vegan diet had LDL decreases of 15% to 25%. People who ate the lacto-ovo-vegetarian and primary plant-based diets had significantly smaller decreases: 10% to 15%.

The researchers also noted that plant-based diets are associated with:

• Lower levels of triglycerides
• Lower concentrations of inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein (CRP)
• Lower blood pressure
• Decreased body weight and body mass index (BMI)
• Decreased risk of death from any cause, including heart disease
• Improved insulin sensitivity
• Better blood sugar control in patients with diabetes

The heart benefits of eating more plant foods are well-established by large-scale studies such as the Nurses' Health Study and the male Health Professionals Follow-up Study.

Studies show that people who eat the most fruits and vegetables have a 20% reduced risk of heart disease and a 27% reduced risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, especially stroke.

Further research shows that each 10-gram increase in daily fiber from sources such as whole grains is associated with a 27% decreased risk of dying from heart disease."

 

Video: Dr. Novick Contrasts Sugar, Oil, & Junk Food

Here's a neat short video of Dr. Novick contrasting Sugar, Oil, & Junk Food.  Interesting and thoughtful approach that I find most useful.  Sorry to have not blogged much recently, but I'm on the final laps of getting my own no-added oil plant-based cookbook out.  Working on 1st major edit, and when the 2nd major edit is done, I should be able to announce it (although it won't be available until late September or early October).  Dying to announce the title.  Best to all, Mark

Excerpted Quotes from Dr. Esselstyn on Taste Addiction, Added Oil, & Heart Disease

Been pulling together material to cull through for appendices in my "soon to be announced" cookbook.  The following are selected from Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn's landmark "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease."  Most notable are what he says about taste addiction, oil & free radicals, describing how even a little oil is damaging, and Dr. T. Colin Campbell's observation about oil in one's diet.

Enjoy!  Mark    Twitter: @solveggie

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Pg. 114:  "Collectively, the media; the meat, oil, and dairy industries; most prominent chefs and cookbook authors; and our own government are not presenting accurate advice about the healthiest way to eat."

Pg. 114:  "And it's not just a matter of bad information.  The truth is that we are addicted to fat --- literally.  Receptors in our brains account for our addicition to nicotine, heroin, and cocaine, and similar cravings have been identified for fat and sugars as well."

Pg. 114:  "The way to break the fat habit is to abstain entirely from eating it --- just as those who use heroin, cocaine, and nicotine must give them up once and for all.  We have all seen what happens with many people who go on reduced-fat diets in order to lose weight.  A diet that permits even a modest amount of animal, dairy, and oil fat still feeds the habit.  The craving remains.  And the moment diet is completed --- or, more often, fails --- the dieter too frequently returns to his or her old habits of eating and regains the lost weight."

Pg. 04:  "Here are the facts.  Coronary artery disease is the leading killer of men and women in Western civilization.  In the United States alone, more than half a million people die of it every single year.  Three times that number suffer known heart attacks.  And approximately three million more have "silent" heart attacks, experiencing minimal symptoms and having no idea, until well after the damage is done, that they are in mortal danger.  In the course of a lifetime, one out of every two American men and one out of every three American women will have some form of the disease.

Pg. 38:  "Every mouthful of oils and animal products, including dairy foods, initiates an assault on these [cell] membranes and, therefore, on the cells they protect.  These foods produce a cascade of free radicals in our bodies --- especially harmful chemical substances that induce metabolic injuries from which there is only a partial recovery.  Year after year, the effects accumulate.  And eventually, the cumulative cell injury is great enough to become obvious, to express itself as what physicians define as disease.  Plants and grains do not induce the deadly cascade of free radicals.  Even better, in fact, they carry an antidote.  Unlike oils and animal products, they contain antioxidants, which help to neutralize the free radicals and also, recent research suggests, may provide considerable protection against cancers."

Pg. 84:  "...[oils] are not heart healthy.  Between 14 and 17 percent of olive oil is saturated, artery-clogging fat --- every bit as aggressive in promoting heart disease as the saturated fat in roast beef.  And even though a Mediterranean-style diet that allows such oils may slow the rate of progression of coronary heart disease, when compared with diets even higher in saturated fat, it does not arrest the disease and reverse its effects."

Pg, 84 - 85:  "...Colin Campbell, author of the best-selling China Study, was asked his thought on the results of the Lyon Diet Heart Study [Med Diet], and to compare those results with those he found in studying health and nutrition in rural China, where coronary disease is practically nonexistent.  Colin didn't hesitate for a moment.  The Mediterranean and rural Chinese diets are practically the same, he replied.  "I would say the absence of oil in the rural Chinese diet is the reason for their superior success."

Pg. 04:  "The cost of this epidemic is enormous --- greater, by far, than that of any other disease.  The United States spends more than $250 billion a year on heart disease.  That's about the same amount the nation spent on the first two and half years of its military venture in Iraq, and fully twice as much as the federal government allocates for all research and development --- including R&D for defense and national security."

Pg. 04:  "But here is the truly shocking statistic:  nearly all that money is devoted to treating symptoms.  It pays for cardiac drugs, for clot-dissolving medications, and for costly mechanical techniques that bypass clogged arteries or widen them with balloons, tiny rotating knives, lasers, and stents.  All of these approaches carry significant risk of serious complications, including death.

Pg. 04 - 05:  I believe that coronary artery disease is preventable, and that even after it is underway, its progress can be stopped, its insidious effects reversed.  I believe, and my work over the past twenty years has demonstrated, that all this can be accomplished without expensive mechanical intervention and with minimal use of drugs.  The key lies in nutrition --- specifically, in abandoning the toxic American diet and maintaining cholesterol levels well below those historically recommended by health policy experts.

Pg. 05:  "The bottom line of the nutritional program I recommend is that it contains not a single item of any food known to cause or promote the development of vascular disease.  I often ask patients to compare their coronary artery disease to a house fire.  Your house is on fire because eating the wrong foods has given you heart disease.  You are spraying gasoline on the fire by continuing to eat the very same foods that caused the disease in the first place."

Pg. 05:  "I don't want my patients to pour a single thimbleful of gasoline [oil, meat, dairy] on the fire.  Stopping the gasoline puts out [and prevents] the fire.  Reforming the way you eat will end [and prevent] the heart disease."

Pg. 10:  "Cholesterol is a white, waxy substance that is not found in plants --- only in animals.  It is an essential component of the membrane that coats all our cells, and it is the basic ingredient of sex hormones.  Our bodies need cholesterol, and they manufacture it on their own.  We do not need to eat it.  But we do, when we consume meat, poultry, fish, and other animal-based foods, such as dairy products and eggs.  In doing so, we take on excess amounts of the substance.  What's more, eating fat [even as added oil] causes the body itself to manufacture excessive amounts of cholesterol, which explains why vegetetarians who eat oil, butter, cheese, milk, ice cream, glazed doughnuts, and French pastry develop coronary disease despite their avoidance of meat."

Pg. 11:  "The cornonary arteries are the blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrients to the muscle of the heart.  They get their name from the Latin word for "crown" because they encircle the heart almost like a royal headpiece.  They are relatively small, but exceedingly important: without the nourishment they bring to the incredibly efficient pump they serve, the heart becomes injured, begins to fail, and may die."

Pg. 11:  "The innermost lining of all blood and lymph vessels and the heart is called the endothelium.  Far more thana simple membrane, the endothelium is actually the body's single largest endocrine organ.  If all the endothelial cells in your body were laid out flat, one cell thick, they would cover an area equal to two tennis courts."

Pg. 11:  "Healthy arteries are strong and elastic, their linings smooth and unobstructed, allowing a free flow of blood.  But when the levels of fats in the bloodstream become elevated, everything begins to change.  Gradually, the endothelium, the white blood cells, and the platelets, the blood cells that cause clotting, all become sticky.  Eventually, a white blood cell adheres to and eventually penetrates the endothelium, where it attempts to ingest the rising numbers of LDL cholesterol molecules that are being oxidized from the fatty diet.  The white blood cell sends out a call for help to other white blood cells.  More and more of them converge on the site, becoming engorged with bad cholesterol and eventually forming a bubble of fatty pus--- an atheroma, or "plaque," the chief characterisitic of atherosclerosis."

Pg. 11:  "Old plaques contain scar tissue and calcium.  As they enlarge, they severely narrow and sometimes block the arteries...  A significantly narrowed artery cannot give the heart muscle a normal blood supply, and the heart muscle, thus deprived, causes chest pain, or angina.  In some cases, the coronary arteries actually perform their own bypasses, growing extra branches --- called "collaterals" --- that go around the narrowed vessels."

Pg. 11 - 12:  "However, it is not the old, larger plaques that put you most at risk for heart attacks.  The most recent scientific evidence indicates that most heart attacks occur when younger and smaller fatty plaques rupture their outer lining, or cap, and bleed into the coronary artery."

Pg. 12:  "As the plaque is formed, a fibrous cap develops at its roof, which is covered by a single layer of endothelium about as thick as a cobweb.  For a while, thus protected, plaques lie quiety in place, doing less perceptible harm to the artery's owner.  But an insidious process is nonetheless under way.  The white blood cells that raced to the rescue, now engorged with oxidized LDL cholesterol, are called "foam cells," and begin to manufacture chemical substances that erode the cap of the plaque.  The cap weakens to thethickness of a cobweb.  And eventually, the shearing force of blood flowing over the weakened cap may cause it to rupture."

Pg. 12:  "This is catastrophic.  Plaque content or pus now oozes into the flowing bloodstream, and that constitutes a thrombogenic event: nature wants to heal the rupture, and so platelets are activated.  They try mightily to stop the invading garbage by clotting the rupture. Thus begins a lethal cascade.  The clot is self-propagating, and within minutes, theentire artery may become blocked."

Pg. 37:  "We  should be aiming much higher: at arresting coronary artery disease altogether, even reversing its course.  And the key to doing this, as my research demonstrates, is not simply reducing the amount of fat and cholesterol you ingest, but eliminating cholesterol and any fat beyond the natural, healthy amounts found in plants, from your diet.  The key is plant-based nutrition."

On Giving Unsolicited Dietary Advice: Fat, Salt, & Sugar

The issue of "giving people unsolicited advice" is very much on my mind recently.  Although I'm quite busy trying to get this cookbook done, dealing with personal tragedy, and deflecting naysayers, I thought it an interesting issue worth addressing on my blog.

I've been blogging less these days and spending more time in "Twitter-verse (@solveggie)," which, admittedly, is a mixed blessing.  Kinda like a humongous international cocktail party at times, and very addictive.  But, the issue of my pointing out the outrageous sugar and fat content of recipes posted as "healthy" has come up a few times.  People suggesting that it's best to not offer advice unless asked to.  "Keep the Peace."

Yup, that's my normal mode of operation, but regarding fat, sugar, and salt, I throw away that rule.  Let's look at an analogy:  if someone were about to jump off a cliff, "I can fly!!," would I voice a loud concern that, "Hey, that's not a great idea, let's discuss this before you execute?"  You might not be aware of new discoveries regarding the newly proven concept of "gravity."

Heart disease is the number one killer of men and women in this country.  Modern medical science can't CURE heart disease.  At most, through drugs, invasive surgery ("let's attach a leg vein to the heart, yeah, that'll work"), and other ridiculous (expensive) approaches, at most, they can delay death.  But, they have NOT reversed heart disease.

How many vegetarians or vegans believe that because they eschew meat, dairy, or eggs, exercise a lot, makes them immune to getting heart disease?  It's an illusion.  They may be "less" likely, but, with the added useless oil, sugar, and salt, they are not immune.  That's the problem. They don't know about the new "nutritional gravity" that has been proved.

When two doctors, separated by 2,000 miles (Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and Dr. Dean Ornish) both, independently REVERSE heart disease through a no-added fat vegan diet, with 20 years of peer-reviewed research, it's hard not to pay attention.  Add to that Dr. Neal Barnard reversing Type II Diabetes with a no-added fat vegan diet, and Dr. T. Colin Campbell supporting the no-added fat concept (oh, and he was the head of history's largest study on diet, "The China Study.").

Then, if you factor in that Dr. Esselstyn points out that it's the added fat/oil that fuels plaque development that causes 90%+ of strokes, and that the constriction of one's blood vessels for several hours from eating one high-fat meal has been measured (yup, measured), one gets a better sense of the real issue.

Oil is NOT a food (neither is "Daiya, Follow Your Heart, or Teese").  It is a nutritionally vapid and useless highly processed bunch of fat calories that has severe negative effects on the human circulatory system, especially over a long period of time.  Those saying it's "healthy" are thinking in narrow studies targeted for specific effects, but NOT taking into account the totally of the biological impact of eating this non-food.

I try to be polite.  I try to be nice.  But when I see a single entree (and this one was "raw") promoted as "heart healthy" and it well exceeded the total day's worth of fat recommended by Esselstyn or Ornish (or 1/3 a day's worth of fat by the American Health Association), I sometimes feel obligated to point out the nutritional reality:  it ain't healthy.

Going vegan or vegetarian certainly reduces the probability of degenerative diseases in your life, but going no-added fat vegan pretty much eliminates the possibilities (5% genetics not withstanding).  It's the ADDED OIL that is the real killer, and that's hard to argue against.

Sure, people make their own choices, but there are far too few bloggers, twitters, Facebookers, journalists, vegan "pundits," veg cookbook authors, either aware of or communicating this NEW reality.

"Moderation kills" (McDougall, Campbell, Barnard, Esselstyn).  And the sooner we rid ourselves of the taste addiction to fat (let alone, sugar and salt), the healthier we will truly be.  I've been off added-oil for four years now, and I have no desire at all to use oil in anything.  It can be done.  You can re-calibrate (as Dr. Esselstyn puts it) your taste receptors.  You just need the desire and discipline to try.  Takes about 14 weeks.  Your mileage may vary.

Anyway, if you're about to jump off a cliff and I see you, I will say something.  If you are using "gawd awful" amounts of sugar, fat, and/or salt in a recipe posted online, I might call you out.  "Nutritional gravity."

It's not personal in a confrontational mode, but it's personal in a "life saving" mode.  Life is important.  Life persists.  People need to know the nutritional truth, not the urban myths.  We need to rid ourselves of our taste addictions, and truly embrace "real food. Living, loving, and relishing a long and healthy life depends upon it.

Article/Research: "Food Addictions to Fat, Sugar, and Salt"

An excellent post for validating theories of biological addictions to fat, sugar, and salt. Although years behind Dr. Barnard on the topic, it's still a good summary article of issues and related related research.  An excerpt:

"Here are some of the scientific findings confirming that food can, indeed, be addictive(ii):

1. Sugar stimulates the brain's reward centers through the neurotransmitter dopamine, exactly like other addictive drugs.
2. Brain imagining (PET scans) shows that high-sugar and high-fat foods work just like heroin, opium, or morphine in the brain.(iii)
3. Brain imaging (PET scans) shows that obese people and drug addicts have lower numbers of dopamine receptors, making them more likely to crave things that boost dopamine.
4. Foods high in fat and sweets stimulate the release of the body's own opioids (chemicals like morphine) in the brain.
5. Drugs we use to block the brain's receptors for heroin and morphine (naltrexone) also reduce the consumption and preference for sweet, high-fat foods in both normal weight and obese binge eaters.
6. People (and rats) develop a tolerance to sugar -- they need more and more of the substance to satisfy themselves -- just like they do for drugs of abuse like alcohol or heroin.
7. Obese individuals continue to eat large amounts of unhealthy foods despite severe social and personal negative consequences, just like addicts or alcoholics.
8. Animals and humans experience "withdrawal" when suddenly cut off from sugar, just like addicts detoxifying from drugs.
9. Just like drugs, after an initial period of "enjoyment" of the food, the user no longer consumes them to get high but to feel normal."

You can read the full article here.  Worth a glom.  I can testify to kicking the addiction to all three.  It can be done, just takes time, willpower, and determination.  But, reducing the probability of any number of diseases and disorders is well worth the effort.

Article: Dr T. Colin Campbell: "Low-fat Diets are Grossly Misrepresented"

It's great to see Dr. Campbell write a more mainstream and less technical article about the incredible benefits of a no added fat vegan diet.  Less enjoyable are the many ignorant comment flames from people who blindly think moderation works (it doesn't, ask Dr. McDougall or Dr. Esselstyn), and of course, then there are those who believe eating dead animals is good for you.

Here are some excerpts that I particularly like:

"...More serious, however, is the effect that this mythology has had on suppressing information on the extraordinary health value of diets that are truly low in fat (10-12 percent). I am referring to a whole foods, plant-based diet that avoids added fat and processed and animal-based foods. This diet contains about 10-12 percent fat, sometimes pejoratively referred to as "extremely low fat". Call it what you will, but this diet (also low in total protein, about 8-10 percent) produces, by comparison, "extremely low" incidences of sickness and disease. In fact, it now has been shown not just to prevent these illnesses but to treat them. Importantly, this dietary lifestyle cannot be dismissed by the mythological argument that so-called low fat diets have been proven to be questionable..."

"...It is time that we seriously consider the health benefits of a whole food, plant based diet, which is naturally low in total fat, animal-based protein, and refined carbohydrates but rich in antioxidants and complex carbohydrates. The health benefits that are now being reported for this dietary lifestyle are unmatched in scope and magnitude of effect. It is time to discard the gibberish about low fat diets being responsible for the obesity epidemic. This demonizing of low fat diets does not apply to whole food plant-based diets, even lower in fat, because this dietary lifestyle really works. Just try it, but stay with it long enough to allow your body to overcome your taste preferences for fat that arise from its addictive nature."

As the guy in charge of the largest study on diet in history, "The China Study," he's not someone that vegans who consume added oil should summarily dismiss.  Add his view to the two guys who've reversed heart disease with a no-added fat vegan diet (Esselstyn, Ornish), Barnard (reversed Type II Diabetes), and McDougall's work, and it's amazing to me that many veg'ns just don't get it.  Do you really think you know more than these guys?

Anyway, oil is not a real food, it damages your endothelium immediately, and you're better off losing your taste addiction to fat (as well as sugar and salt).  Maybe Chef "fat is flavor" Tal and other "celebrated vegan chefs" that everyone is crowing about should pay attention. It's not compassionate or humane to provide such unhealthy vegan meals and claim they are "good for you."  Heart disease, among other disorders invited by added fat, isn't pretty... or inevitable.

You can read the full article here.  Nice work, Doc!