Juicing with a DASH

I will admit to feeling a bit hypocritical: I am a nutrition student and am overweight.  I can admit this – if not, then how can I ever ask a client to?  I could make excuses about quitting smoking (which is a REALLY good thing), changes in my hormones, and my long hours of sitting/computer time that have caused me to get where I am weight-wise.  The reality is, however, that I needed to decide to take the steps towards healthy eating.  There is no doubt that I know what they are.  Not so different from smoking cessation, I have to be ready for change. 

So, where does my path to change start? I have decided to mix a bit of alternative with a mainstream-eating plan: I will do a 3-day juice detox and then move into the DASH diet that will include juicing.

I really enjoy juicing, and I believe in the benefits of a detox.  Whether or not we want to believe that the natural filtering process of our bodies needs the additional detox-boost of a juice fast, we cannot deny that fresh vegetable juices provide us a concentrated source of phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals.  If nothing else, a juice detox can give us a really good jump-start on healthy eating plan for the New Year.

When we juice and detox, we are essentially giving our bodies a break from the processed foods, alcohol, and/or high-fat richness of the holidays.  We become immediately more aware of what we are consuming. When we move out of a detox it is a great time to identify how our bodies react to foods, we can begin to identify sensitivities and reactions that we may have been overlooking or masking with a bottle of OTC medication.

The DASH diet is the mainstream diet that is often recommended to reduce high blood pressure and LDL cholesterol – while I have neither of these I have adapted it as a weight loss diet.  I will most likely be prescribing this plan to clients in the future so it seemed prudent to work through the plan myself.  I will be adding fresh juices into the plan as meals and snacks.  DASH is not that different from an exchange diet, Weight Watchers or calorie counting.

I am one to use what I have, and am a member of a winter CSA so I am getting fresh apples and veggies to incorporate into my juice plan.  I own 2 juicers: an Omega 8006 ~ a masticating juicer and a WaringPro ~ centrifugal juicer.  I will share more with you about these in the next few days.  If you are a beginner and would like to try a juice plan you could refer to Dr. Oz’s 3-day plan or you can also order a fresh juice kit: Root Juices for example.

Juice with a DASH: detox is set to begin Friday January 4^th – stay tuned.

         

Feast of the Seven Fishes, a tasting dinner

Several years ago I was looking for a change from our typical prime rib Christmas Eve dinner.  I found the idea of a Feast of the Seven Fishes intriguing.  Many Italian-American families are known to celebrate the holiday with this meal featuring delicious Italian fish specialties such as baccala, stuffed-squid, and scungilli salad.  However, I am not Italian, for that matter the dinner crowd guest are not all Christians, but we all love food and culture so we have chosen this tradition to morph into our own melting pot of ethnicities and cultures for our own special holiday celebration.

The way we do our seven fishes is something very different then what you might expect from the traditional meat-abstinence driven European feast.  Sometimes there is bacon, well…. usually there is bacon.

Our meal is a tasting menu of 7 fish courses with a wine pairing (sometimes a beer or cocktail).  We draw our inspiration from across the globe.  The offerings are always delicious, homemade, and most of all creative; we rarely repeat a dish from year to year.  I believe part of the enjoyment is searching out new recipes.

Over the years we have enjoyed Miso black cod (Nobu style), Bloody mary shrimp cocktail, Cioppino, Bouillabaisse, Lemon crab risotto, Shrimp-stuffed poblano peppers, Oyster bisque, Clam linguini, and… the list goes on and on.  All of the dishes are in tasting portions and are served by the guest who has prepared the dish.  What is very nice about this style of dining is that there is no one cook caught in the kitchen for the night – it is something like a high end of potluck.

This year we are moving the party a few houses down the block, but I expect the same amount of deliciousness.  I hear rumors of a Warm salad with baccala and potatoes, Shrimp sliders, Lobster with local winter beets, and an authentic dish from a Brazilian guest.  I will be making crab spring rolls and a dish from my upcoming cookbook “In season, a year on the North Fork” featuring Peconic bay scallops.

I think I can speak for the crowd: this is our favorite meal of the year.

Happy Christmas!

Watch my Facebook page for some delicious details on our 2012 feast.  

Note: the photo above was taken at a street market in Venice, Italy.

Immunity Booster: Yogurt

Winter is here and we can be ready for this cold and flu season by boosting our immunity with the foods we eat.  I will spend the next few weeks with some suggestions on ways to boost your immunity, helping you avoid communicable winter illnesses.

I have always been a strong believer of Foods over Supplements.  The bioavailability of the nutrients is usually greater in whole foods then in any pill or supplement form. This is the best way to find all the components of edible health benefits.

So, let’s start this series with my recommendation for you to eat yogurt regularly.

One of the best ways we can protect our heath is by avoiding inflammation; yogurt containing live cultures has an immune-function without creating an inflammatory response.  This fermented milk product contains the probiotics that assist in this protection.

Yogurt’s live cultures not only appear to be beneficial for gut immunity, but are also showing some benefits to allergic reactions and is suggested to lower incidence of upper respiratory illness, which goes right along with the winter cold and flu.

When purchasing yogurt look for the LAC seal – this is the Live Active Cultures identification from the National Yogurt Association. Frozen yogurt, and products made with yogurt, such as yogurt-covered raisins, may be delicious and have separate benefits, but not the ones we speak of here.  Furthermore, “Made with live cultures” does not mean that the cultures are still alive – which they must be for us to receive all the immunity benefits, so make sure your carton has the LAC seal.

Remember that because is not conclusively studied that you should consume a live-culture yogurt product, with all its complementary ingredients such as protein, calcium, vitamins B2, B12, and D.  It very possible that the real benefit of yogurt is in the combination of macro and micronutrients with the probiotics, so take it all in for good health.

Take home message: Eat yogurt with live active cultures at least 4-5 times each week to improve immunity and digestive health.

Nutrition Facts for 1/2 cup of plain low-fat yogurt: 96 calories, 1 g fat, 1 g sat fat, 6 g chol, 75 mg sogium, 16 g CHO, 6 g Protein.

Dietary Highlights: Recommended Daily Values: 19% of Calcium, 13% of Riboflavin (B2), and 10% of B12

Kopp-Hoolihan, L. (2001). Prophylactic and therapeutic use of probiotics: A review. American Dietetic Association.Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 101(2), 229-38

Van, d. W., Keen, C. L., & Gershwin, M. E. (1999). The influence of chronic yogurt consumption on immunity. The Journal of Nutrition, 129(7), 1492S-5S.

Meyer, A., Micksche, M., Herbacek, I.,& Elmadfa, I. (2006). Daily intake of probiotic as well as conventional yogurt has a stimulating effect on cellular immunity in young healthy women. Annals of Nutrition & Metabolism, 50(3), 282-9.

National Yogurt Association: http://www.aboutyogurt.com

Confessions of a Freshman Farmer

Pre-med student becomes a small sustainable farmer: this is Tom Hart’s journey.  Some might find this to be a strange transition but Hart is a lover of food so it was perfectly natural for him.  Somewhere along the way, as an upperclassman in Boston, he began purchasing ingredients away from the conventional grocery stores.  He declared: “Everything just tasted so much better.”

Then he read it, Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma.  He said, “Whole Foods, my go-to place for groceries, was ruined for me.”  He realized then that he could make a real difference as a farmer and his vision for the future changed.  Tom Hart could be part of the change to America’s agriculture system. 

He embraced the ideas of Pollan, Wendell Berry, and farmers like Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm in Swoop, Virginia.  Hart envisioned creating a farm on the North Fork of Long Island, similar to Polyface, one that works on a rotation system of ecological and sustainable practices. 

A “Whole Farm” or “Mixed Farm” concept is one where land plots are used both for a variety of produce and for the livestock.  The land is able to gain benefit from the diversity instead of being drained of nutrients; the theory is that this leads to a better final farm product with less ecological impact. 

After leaving thoughts of medical school behind, Hart sought apprenticeship opportunities so he could work towards making his dream into a reality.  These foundational apprenticeships included two small sustainable and certified organic farms. Biophilia Farm, where he learned about growing seasons and practices on their 14-acre produce farm, and Browder’s Birds raising pastured meat and egg chickens through the lifecycle from chicks to market

Tom Hart founded deep Roots Farm in the spring of 2012.  He has been able to create a farm of diversity in the very first season. Along with heirloom-variety vegetables grown with sustainable eco agriculture, they are also raising a good variety of pastured animals.  Tamworth hogs, broiler meat chickens, egg layers, and broad-breasted turkeys are in the plot rotation at the farm.

Hart’s farm is not organic at this point, but he talked about transitioning his leased fields to become certified by NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Association).  He does not anticipate seeking the same certifications for the livestock however.  He said, “While I do feed the animals organic feed, I also feed them byproducts from the local brewery and vegetables that are donated from a conventional farm neighbor.  It is more important to me to use this local waste for a good purpose.”

So, what did Tom Hart learn in his first year of farming his own operation?  “I learned how helpful people are; there was always someone around to lend a hand on processing days. Everyone has been great,” he said.  He also learned some logistical lessons about being more diligent with cover crops, and how weeds can really just take over so very quickly.  He learned that the equipment he started the season off with is going to need a tiller upgrade; he was so sure that his tractor was all set up.   

Hart said, “One of the things that surprised me the most was how much gasoline I used just going back and forth from home to the farm and to market, I really underestimated that.”   

What will be new for Deep Roots next year?  Well, a more efficient run-around car for starters to save on the gasoline budget.  Hart also mentioned re-thinking some of this selling outlets next year due to limited manpower.  He said, “I don’t think I will be able to afford to hire someone, so something might have to go.” He is working on his 2013 crop plan now and he feels like he learned a lot about what was growing best on his land and what was farmer-friendly for harvesting and storage longevity.

It is important to Hart that he not be labeled as a livestock farmer alone, which has been a tendency of late.  The raising of animals for food is quite unique in his area and the media has been very interested in a new wave of locavore meat producers.  Hart said, “I don’t want to be known as only a chicken farmer, what I have is a small diverse farm: animals and vegetables”

Tom Hart and his Deep Roots Farm goods can be found in-season at Greenport and Kings Park Farmers Markets.  You can also visit his facebook page for more information: www.facebook.com/deeprootsli.                                                

Acid Reflux, are you suffering?

Heartburn is a painful burning feeling just below or behind the breastbone. It usually comes from the esophagus. The pain often rises in your chest and may spread to your neck or throat. Contents from the stomach can back up (reflux) into the esophagus.

Altering your diet and lifestyle may help alleviate both heartburn and the more serious GERD, but neither should be overlooked and left untreated.

Lifestyle changes 

Some lifestyle changes that can help control your acid reflux symptoms. These include:

Maintain a healthy weight.

Quit smoking.

Limit alcohol.

Avoid eating 3 hours before lying down.

Raise the head of your bed.

Do not wear clothing that is too tight around your waist.

Reduce Stress.

Dietary Changes

Eat smaller more frequent meals

Eat Slowly

Chew thoroughly

Foods to Limit or Avoid, these may make it worse:

Spicy foods      Fatty foods             Mint

Chocolate        Alcohol                   Caffeine

Citrus fruits      Tomato-based foods

Keep a Food Diary:

Ultimately, every person responds differently to foods. Food diaries that include the symptoms you experienced after eating the food allow you to refer back to it to monitor any trends you notice with certain foods.

Call your health care provider if symptoms worsen or do not improve with lifestyle changes or medication.

Also call for any of the following symptoms:

•     Bleeding

•     Choking (coughing, shortness of breath)

•     Feeling filled up quickly when eating

•     Frequent vomiting

•     Hoarseness

•     Loss of appetite

•     Trouble swallowing (dysphagia) or pain with swallowing (odynophagia)

•     Weight loss