In some of the health threads, I’ve noticed recently that people have talked about eating the same food and lacking cooking skills, don’t have time, etc. This is in the context of the Ultra Simple Diet and the follow-on elimination diet. In order to provide some help in this situation, or not, I’ve compiled a few quotes, tips, from some of the ‘food pages’ of the health and detox books of: Murphree, Rogers, Baker, Wilson, and Ross. These may help, or not.
Remember, all there is - is lessons, experiment and have fun cooking – for your life. :)
Both of the following books, primarily about macrobiotic cooking, have sections on cooking for the busy worker, even timetables of cooking and preparation (maximising the use of your time) for when you get home, whilst simultaneously fitting in with the rest of the family, and cooking ahead for the rest of the week at the same time, as well as descriptions of techniques.
The following book has lots of recipes, seasonal and monthly guides, and sample week plans.
The following book also includes a chapter on menus – two weeks worth, including where to make more, using leftovers, and gives a few recipes as well.
And, see Laura’s post (Reply #442 on: August 12, 2010, 05:15:45 AM ») quoting The Ten Commandments of Health in the Ultra Simple Diet thread, to complete the set. :)
Play, make mistakes and learn in the process, modify non-Gluten-Free, etc recipes – see what happens, and above all, have fun with your hobby for life, or not. :)
Remember, all there is - is lessons, experiment and have fun cooking – for your life. :)
Murphree in Treating and Beating Anxiety and Depression said:Causes of food allergies
Cause no 1 - Overeating the same foods. So try to go four or five days before repeating a food, eat a varied, balance diet.
The Rotation diet
Once someone becomes sensitive to foods, damage to the internal wall of the intestinal tract has most likely occurred. Repeated exposure to the same foods may initiate allergic reactions. Left untreated, intestinal permeability and overstimulation of the immune system can create an allergy to almost any food. A rotation diet helps reduce the chances of developing further allergies.
On this diet you can eat non-allergic foods every day for four - seven days. Allergic foods (as determined by testing or elimination dieting) are slowly re-introduced into the diet over a period of months.
… write out four different breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and dinners. But make sure you’re waiting three days before repeating a food.
Both of the following books, primarily about macrobiotic cooking, have sections on cooking for the busy worker, even timetables of cooking and preparation (maximising the use of your time) for when you get home, whilst simultaneously fitting in with the rest of the family, and cooking ahead for the rest of the week at the same time, as well as descriptions of techniques.
Sherry Rogers in The Cure is in the Kitchen said:… you definitely want at least one portion of greens at every meal, even breakfast. For the other two meals you want to try to strive for at least two vegetable dishes. At the end of the day, if you have had a total of six vegetable dishes, three of which are greens, you have done a perfect job. …
… Every day have some boiled (as in blanched vegetables), steamed, pressed, or water sautéed (use minimal water and keep adding more as needed. Just use enough you can get away with in order to cook them and have no water left) greens, three dishes of them.
A four day plan
… greens … just be sure you have them 3 times a day and don’t cook all vegetables in the same style. … The reason for cooking style variations is easy: different styles result in different nutrient and energy contents of the food as well as digestibility.
… Make a new recipe each week. … Learn a new recipe a month. … It’s only when you run out of ideas that it becomes boring and a chore. But that’s true for anything. The only difference is with this hobby your life depends on it.
The following book has lots of recipes, seasonal and monthly guides, and sample week plans.
Shirley Gallinger and Sherry Rogers in Macro Mellow said:A balanced diet consists of combining proper proportions of foods with proper cooking and seasoning methods to create balance in our bodies, according to season, our health, activity, and mental state.
[paraphrasing] (In terms of balancing Yang (contractive) and Yin (expansive) the method of cooking is provides the following, from Yang to Yin: Grill/Deep fry – Bake - Pressure cook/Stir fry – Steaming/Boiling – Pickling/Pressed salad/Raw.
Cooking method shows gas as neutral.)
Variety – Aim for a variety of grains and vegetables. Try to have some type of root vegetable, fresh leafy green vegetable and a small amount of sea vegetable in some form daily. Two servings of each are even better.
Season – Aim for locally grown seasonal foods. Hot weather emphasizes more fresh lightly steamed or boiled vegetables, raw salads, less cooking time, less salt, less oil. Colder weather emphasizes hardy, rich dishes, stews and thick soups, more protein, …, and more oil and salt.
Left-overs – Let’s start calling them planned overs. … The possibilities are only as your imagination.
Vegetables – Use a variety of leafy, round (ie, above ground and onion) and root vegetables. Carrot, onion, parsnips, turnips, and squashes and the sweet vegetables, seasonal and locally grown are the best choices.
Cooking Methods for Vegetables
(leafy) boil/water sauté/waterless/roast, (round) steam/stir fry/stew/bake/broil, (root) oil sauté/blanche/pressed salads/raw salads/pickles.
Fruits
Usually prepared cooked from dried or fresh fruit. Fresh fruits may be used in season.
…
Avoid or very limited use if you live in the Northern temperate climate: all tropical fruits … A small amount of lemon and lime juice may be used for cooking.
Menu Planning
…
Aim to keep the meal simple but tasty. Too many fancy combinations of food are not pleasing to the taste or the digestive system. Try to limit fancy dishes to a maximum of two per meal.
Vary the textures of foods such as creamy, chewy, firm and crisp and try to furnish all five flavors in a meal. “Sour, bitter, sweet, sharp-pungent and salty.” Aim for a variety of colors. A monocolored meal is very boring. Think of green, yellow, orange vegetables, …
… daily basic needs …
…
One serving of … vegetable soup
…
One serving of oil
Two servings of leafy, green vegetables
One serving of yellow vegetable
One, or two servings of root vegetables
…
One to two servings of pickles
…
Condiments such as sea salt, … and other seasoning can be used daily, as well as grated or chopped carrot, daikon, parsely and scallions and also unlimited use of fresh grated ginger root.
Sidney Baker and Karen Baar in The Circadian Prescription said:10 Rules of the Circadian Diet
1. Put protein in your morning meal, snacks and lunch. … fish, eggs, … poultry, … and meat … 40-60 percent protein.
2. Move most of your carbohydrates … to the evening.
After 4.00pm, your goal is to cut back on protein and emphasize healthy carbohydrate-rich foods like: … sweet potato and other starchy vegetables. …
3. Eat plenty of fresh vegetables to take advantage of their fibre, antioxidants, and phytochemicals …
4. Circadian neutral vegetables
… green leafy veg … can be eaten at any time of the day, the same is true for stems like celery, … artichoke and asparagus.
Cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, bok choi, broccoli, collards, kale, Brussel sprouts, and cauliflower, …
… nuts make excellent daytime snacks.
…. Pumpkins, squash, cucumbers, … are fruits, though we treat them like vegetables. Most of their weight is water, not starch, and what’s left is mostly fibre; you can eat them at any meal.
Bulbs, like onions, garlic, leeks, and other members of the Allium family, are also fibrous and can be eaten any time.
Starchy vegetables
For the most part try to eat vegetables from tubers and roots in the evening. The true root vegetables – carrots, beets, … turnips, parsnips, and radishes – are not as starchy as tubers, so you can eat them in small amounts any time of the day. But tubers, such as cassava (tapioca …), sweet potatoes, and yams are almost pure starch and should be restricted to the evening.
5. Eat plenty of fresh fruit, but save most of it for the evening.
Like vegetables, fruits are rich in vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that help prevent disease. But they contain large amounts of natural sugars.
Raw fruit is sweet enough to raise your blood sugar and stimulate insulin production, but it has enough fibre content to blunt these effects. … If you can, postpone fruit until late afternoon or evening.
6. Avoid caffeine. …
7. Limit consumption of alcohol in the evening.
8. Eliminate artificial sweeteners and diet drinks.
9. Consume healthy oils
… For cooking … olive oil.
…fish oil concentration, … and flaxseed oil … including fish in your diet is a good way ….
… flaxseed oil or fish oil, breakfast time is the best time to take them.
10. Drink eight glasses of water a day.
11. Eat regularly … eating breakfast at 7.00, lunch at midday, and supper early in the evening.
… Cold water fish such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, blue fish, sardines, and herring, have the most liquid oils …
James Wilson in Adrenal Fatigue said:What to Eat and Drink
If you suffer from adrenal fatigue you will do best combining fat, protein and starchy carbohydrates (…) at every meal and every snack. …
To salt or Not to Salt – There is No Question: … Salt is a welcome addition to the diet in adrenal fatigue because it not only helps increase blood pressure, but also helps restore some of the other functions related to sodium loss within the cells. …
Sea Salt is a good source of salt. … often it does not include iodine. … To improve the nutritional content of sea salt it is a good idea to mix it half-and-half with kelp. …
Proteins
Good quality protein is available from meat, fish, fowl, eggs, … and various plant sources is essential to adrenal recovery. … Proteins have more food value and are easier to digest when eaten lightly cooked or raw. The amino acids are delivered intact (and therefore more usable) in uncooked or lightly cooked food rather than in the denatured (irreversibly changed) form produced by high heat or ling cooking. However, it is always necessary to fully cook poultry and pork to avoid potential microbial danger and to make sure that raw fish, shellfish and beef are free from contamination.
Carbohydrates
The sweet or sugary carbohydrates predominate in foods that taste sweet ( … dried or fresh fruit, …) … These foods are most detrimental early in the day. … The best choices in this category are fruits and fruit drinks sprinkled with some salt. …
Starchy carbohydrates are found mainly in grains and certain root vegetables. … Good sources of unrefined carbohydrates are …, buckwheat, … Quinoa, and amaranth. Cook and eat them pretty much the way they come from nature, simply washed and steamed in a covered pot with a little salt and the appropriate amount of water (…) …
Vegetables
Every day you should include 6-8 servings of a wide variety of vegetables in your meals, especially the vegetables that are naturally highly colored (bright green, red, orange, yellow, purple). In addition to carbohydrates and proteins, vegetables provide vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and a high amount of fibre. They also provide important constituents such as proanthrocyanadins, anthrocyandins and other elements essential for health but not considered in the typical energy or nutritional categories. Make sure you have at least three highly colored vegetables with each of your noon and evening meals. You will not gain weight with any of these vegetables but, by including them, you will give your body many of the factors it needs to improve your overall health with time.
Vegetables can be steamed, sautéed, stir-fried, deep fried, baked, boiled, grilled, blanched or eaten raw. It is actually better to use a variety of techniques to prepare vegetables because different nutrients are made available through different cooking methods. For example, nutrients like Vitamin C and Folic acid are vulnerable to heat and do not survive cooking. However, other vitamins such as carotenoids/Vitamin A related substances and some of the minerals become more available if the vegetables are cooked before being eaten. Therefore, if you combine a variety of preparation techniques with a wide variety of vegetables, you will increase your choices of getting the complete range of available nutrients from the vegetables.
Fruit
Any fruit that you eat should be organically grown. …
As a general rule, do not have fruit in the morning, … Always wash fruit before eating.
Fats and oils
… Saturated fats withstand heat the best, and so do not become rancid or toxic as easily as other fats when heated. Use saturated fats for cooking (baking, broiling, sautéing, frying), but use the minimum amount needed to do the job and do not reuse them. … Butter, animal fat, palm and palm kernal oil, and coconut butter are common sources of saturated fats.
Tips on cooking with oil
…
Avoid all deep fried (or eat fried foods once a month or less) and browning.
Put a little water into the [hot] pan first before you add the food to be cooked
Add the food before the oil
Use only a small amount of oil (less than a teaspoon)
Oils for cooking (in order of preference)
Coconut, Palm Kernal, Cocoa Butter, Butter (Ghee) … Olive.
Summary of what to eat
Eat a wide variety of whole natural foods.
Combine a fat, protein and carbohydrate source with every meal.
Eat lots of vegetables especially brightly colored ones.
Salt your food to a pleasant taste.
Eat mainly whole grains as starchy carbohydrate sources.
Avoid fruit in the morning.
Mix 1-2 tablespoons of essential oils (omega-6) into grains, vegetables and meats daily.
Eat high quality food; it becomes you.
Eliminate All Foods to Which You are Allergic, Sensitive, or Addicted.
The following book also includes a chapter on menus – two weeks worth, including where to make more, using leftovers, and gives a few recipes as well.
Julia Ross in The Mood Cure said:Good-Mood Food Number one: Protein
… The more protein, the better you’re able to feel. Most people seem to need 20 to 30 grams of protein per meal. That means at least the palm-of-your-hand-size portion of protein three times a day.!
…
The following foods provide the highest concentrations of protein:
Fish
Poultry – chicken, turkey, and, especially, Cornish game hens
Eggs
Lamb, beef, pork, and venison (including liver!)
…
Shellfish
Fish
Please try to eatat least twice a week. … (serve your fish with a delicious garnish of coriander, an effective mercury detoxifier.)… the rate of depression worldwide corresponds to the amount of fish consumed. The Japanese eat ten times more fish than we do, and they have ten times less depression!
Eggs
… eggs are back to being the perfect food. … The only trouble with eggs is that we aren’t eating enough of them. Two gives only 13 grams of protein, and we need over 30 grams per meal – so have three at a time! …
Beef, Lamb, Pork, and Venison
…
Note: For better protein digestion , people with type A blood seem to do best adding supplements of hydrochloric acid when eating animal protein, as they are known to be weak in this protein – (and mineral -) digesting acid.
Good-Mood Food Number Two: Fats
Your body is supposed to be full of fat, about 80% if you’re a man and 28% if you are a woman. Your brain must be particularly fatty. Up to 60% of it should be composed of specialized fatty substances that have to be replaced constantly and have very complex mood-related duties. …
… We need fats!
Omega-3 fats
…
Where can you get this wonder food? Omega-3 fat comes in two forms: a ready-for-the-brain form found only in fish and a cruder form found in flaxseeds and some other seeds and nuts. …
…
… But by far the best sources of the omega-3 fats are wild salmon, sardines, herring, anchovies, and mackerel. They have about three times more omega-3 than other fish and five tines more than flaxseed oil.
… But when was the last time you ate fish five times a week? That’s how much they [Japanese] eat, …
The SAT (for satisfying) Fats
…
The crucial fat-soluble vitamins A, D, and E cannot be absorbed into our bodies without their carrier, saturated fats. Nor can calcium! For example, spinach has lots of calcium, which is not absorbed well unless it’s eaten with butter (or olive oil which contains some SAT). Same principle with collard greens and bacon fat.
… Butter is packed nutritionally, …
… working with people with with eating disorders. … we tried a new food plan that ended up working like a charm. It was very simple: high protein, high vegetables, and more, mostly saturated fat! No sweets (even fruit) or high starch food at all. The result: no cravings, high energy, satisfied with the food, mood fine, weight normalizing and cholestorel lowering!
… second favorite SAT … coconut milk. … Coconut fat contains powerful antiviral and antifungal fat and is probably a bit more stable even than butter, as it is a little more, saturated (think satisfying, satiating, and rancidly resistant). That’s why the milk and oil of coconut is so safe as well as yummy to cook with.
The omega-9 fats are the final good mood fats. … olive oil.
Happy omega-3 fats from fish, saturated fats from food like chicken skin and butter, and olive oil are primarily fat sources for some of the healthiest people on earth. In the Mediterranean … Crete and Italy …
Good-Mood Foods Number Three: Vegetables
… They’re the only carbs guaranteed not to cause blood sugar shocks. …
… “How many vegetables fill my mood requirements every day?” you ask. Answer: from 4 to 5 cups a day, the amount of veggies … Think a good-size salad plus 2 cups cooked or raw vegetables. Or a big salad (8 cups) containing lots of veggies. … (it takes 2 cups of leafy greens like lettuce or raw spinach to make a cup, …
… Cooking veggies in a soup or sautéing them or roasting them with a protective coating of olive oil preserves the potassium. And it’s in the peel – so don’t peel, just scrub. If you steam veggies or boil them, you lose a bit of potassium in the water (so drink it!) …
The more organic and fresher the veggies you eat, the more vitamins and minerals you get. … Cooking destroys some of the vitamins and minerals and most of the enzymes in veggies, so have some raw veggies- either in a salad or as nibbles – every day. When you can stir-fry quickly or simmer (…) to retain maximum nutrients in your cooked food.
Good-Mood Carbs: Fruit, …
… Fruit … Fructose, the primary Sugar in fruit. … eaten when it’s best digested, before meals or as a between-meals snack. … Vitamin C is easily destroyed by heat, so raw fruit (and veggies) are bar far our best sources.
General Good-Mood Food Guidelines
Put your first emphasis at all three meals on protein, fats, and vegetables. Eat 20-30 grams of protein at every meal, … Eat lots of green and some red, orange, purple, and yellow vegetables every day. Your goal is at least 4 or 5 cups of vegetables a day.
Eat Regularly
Eat Enough
Eat Organic and Range Free Whenever Possible
Eating at Home
1. The food should be tasty
2. The food should be easy to prepare
3. The food should be stretchable so that you can make extra to use in other meals to minimize the work and time involved in feeding yourself well.
And, see Laura’s post (Reply #442 on: August 12, 2010, 05:15:45 AM ») quoting The Ten Commandments of Health in the Ultra Simple Diet thread, to complete the set. :)
Play, make mistakes and learn in the process, modify non-Gluten-Free, etc recipes – see what happens, and above all, have fun with your hobby for life, or not. :)
