Plant-Based Meal Ideas

As I teach my patients the benefits of a more whole-food, plant-based diet, many are at a loss for how to create plant-based meals. Below are some meal suggestions that may make this easier.

For health, we need to increase vegetables, fruits, nuts, fiber and water, and to decrease processed foods, refined grains, gluten, sugars, animal products, dairy, hydrogenated oils (ie. trans fats), excess salt, artificial sweeteners and chemical additives/preservatives. So, be sure to read labels to avoid these unnecessary ingredients.

See how many different colors of vegetables/fruits you can get into one meal. Eat a rainbow variety of whole foods daily, with at least one green veggie during at least 2 meals per day. And have fun creating new, tasty dishes!

BREAKFAST OPTIONS:

High-fiber, low-sugar cereal with milk alternative (like rice milk, almond milk, hemp seed milk or coconut milk) and fresh or dried fruit (like grapes, peaches, berries, raisins, prunes, figs) and/or nuts.

Whole-grain cooked cereal (like slow-cooked [not instant] oatmeal, brown rice, oat bran, buckwheat or rice bran cereal) with fresh or dried fruit and/or nuts. With or without milk alternative.

Congee. (see Easy to Digest Foods post). This is a thin porridge used in China as a breakfast. You can make it from 1 part any whole grain, cooked overnight in a crock pot with 5 parts water. You can add fruits, vegetables, herbs or spices to give it interest.

100% whole-grain (gluten-free is best) bread/toast with natural nut butter and/or low-sugar jam, unsweetened applesauce, fruit puree, or raw, local honey. (No artificial sweeteners).

100% whole-grain pancakes (again, gluten-free is best) with unsweetened applesauce topping, or raw local honey, and fresh fruit.

Fruit smoothie from the blender. Example: 1 cup fresh or frozen berries, 2 large handfuls spinach, 1 cup water or coconut water, and 1 banana or 1/2 avocado (for creaminess!) You will only taste the fruit, but will also get the benefits of the greens! (There are hundreds of smoothie recipes online. The best choices are “green smoothies” which contain green veggies, but taste like fruit. If you’d like less carbs, replace the banana with 1/2 avocado or 2 Tbsp of hemp hearts for creaminess. You can also add a scoop of soy-free, plant-based protein powder such as Plant Fusion, Sunwarrior, Life Basics, or hemp protein powder.

Green Puddings – similar to green smoothies, but use less liquid, and pour it over fresh fruits and nuts.

Leftovers from dinner.

LUNCH  & DINNER OPTIONS:

Salad with lots of fresh vegetables, and perhaps fresh or dried fruits, seeds or nuts. Choose a non-dairy based salad dressing like a vinaigrette, a ginger dressing, a tahini-based dressing, hummus, salsa, guacamole or just squeeze of lemon.

100% whole-grain bread, pita, flatbread or tortilla, gluten-free wrap, or organic soft corn tortilla (to avoid GMO corn) with any combo of vegetables, beans, guacamole, hummus, salsa, or veggie burger patty.

Make pizza from 100% whole-grain bread, pita, or flatbread, (preferably gluten-free) with marinara sauce and chopped vegetables, dried Italian herb seasoning and optional cheese alternative (soy, rice or almond).

Soup with a vegetable broth, tomato base, or bean base, such as minestrone, vegetable, black bean soup, vegetable barley, lentil soup, squash soup, vegetarian chili, etc.

Baked potato, sweet potato, yam or baked winter squash with non-dairy toppings (like guacamole and/or salsa, or cinnamon on the sweet potato or squash.)  Believe it or not, just putting a bit of coconut oil and pink sea salt is amazing on potatoes and sweet potatoes.

Steamed or sauteed vegetables with garlic and spices, by themselves, or served over fresh greens, brown rice, millet, or quinoa, or wrapped inside of a whole grain tortilla, pita or soft corn tortilla.

Brown rice, millet, or quinoa with any combo of beans or vegetables, and any variety of non-dairy sauce such as salsa, tomato marinara sauce, curry sauce or Oriental style tamari, teriaki sauce, or Bragg’s Aminos.

Pasta made from whole grain, corn, quinoa or brown rice with marinara sauce, steamed or roasted vegetables, or chopped fresh vegetables. Wilted spinach is an nice addition to warm pasta dishes as well.

SNACK OPTIONS:

Fresh whole fruit  – apples, bananas, oranges, grapes, berries, plums, prunes, figs, etc.  Dip fresh cut fruit in peanut or almond butter.

Nuts: like walnuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios, peanuts, etc.  (Avoid those with excess salt or flavorings.)

Fresh cut cucumbers, celery, bell peppers or carrots dipped in hummus, guacamole, natural peanut butter or almond butter.  Apples with peanut/almond butter and cinnamon.

Natural tortilla chips (baked are healthiest), with salsa, hummus, beans or guacamole.

100% whole grain bread/toast (gluten-free is best) or brown rice cake with natural nut butter and low-sugar jam or unsweetened applesauce, fruit puree, or raw, local honey (no artificial sweeteners).

Baked potato or sweet potato, or baked winter squash with non-dairy toppings (like guacamole and/or salsa, or cinnamon & honey on the sweet potato or squash.)

Smoothie or pudding from the blender (See Breakfast options).

Chia Seed pudding. (See great recipe here).

BEVERAGE OPTIONS:

Purified water (drink 2 to 3 quarts daily, depending on your size and activity level).

Non-Caffeinated Herbal Tea or Red Tea (this counts as part of your purified water intake).

Green or White Tea (home brewed, not pre-made).

Black Tea (home brewed, unsweetened, or sweeten it yourself with stevia, xylitol or honey. Limit to 2 cups daily).

Organic coffee (limit to 8 oz daily). Organic decaf coffee (limit to 12 oz daily).  (Use almond milk or coconut milk creamers).

Fresh squeezed fruit and/or veggie juices (no sugar added). Dilute juices with water to 50%-25% strength, to reduce the blood sugar spike reaction. (It is better to eat the whole fruit or veggie!)

If you drink alcohol, limit to 2 or 3 drinks per week. (The best choice for most people is red wine.)

FOR WEIGHT LOSS: 

(in addition to the suggestions above…)

Eat more fibrous vegetables, greens, whole beans and fruits than grains, starchy vegetables, or potatoes.

Avoid all processed foods, such as breads, crackers, tortillas, nut butters, jams, cold cereals, veggie burgers, cheese alternatives and milk alternatives, etc. Aim to eat foods only in their whole, natural state.

Avoid all sugars, sweeteners, alcohol and white flour products.

Avoid fats and oils in cooking, sauces and dressings. Limit nuts to 1 oz. daily. Limit avocados to 1/4 daily.

FOR MORE RESOURCES:

One Green Planet has amazing plant-based, gluten-free recipes that will truly inspire you. The Engine 2 website offers some great ways to convert your favorite stand-by’s into healthy, tasty, plant-based versions. And Talia Fuhrman (daughter of Dr. Joel Fuhrman), has a great blog & book full of scrumptious looking vegan temptations, as does the Minimalist Baker.

Happy Eating!

Dawn Potter, AP, Dipl.OM

#vegetables #greens #fruits #fiber #weightloss #greensmoothie #wholefoods #mealideas #phytonutrients #greenpudding #plantbased #nutrition #congee

Nutrition, Part 3: Animal Foods in the Diet

Nutrition, Part 2 discussed Nutrition from a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) viewpoint. The TCM recommended diet is: Whole foods with about 75-85% of the diet as vegetables, whole grains and beans/legumes; 10-15% fruit and nuts, and 5-10% animal-based foods.

Animal-based foods in TCM:

The TCM recommended diet includes small amounts of animal-based foods. They are not the central part of any meal; instead, they are an occasional accent in meals that are vegetable and whole-grain based. Why so little? Because animal-based foods are rich and heavy, and according to TCM, this makes them likely to promote pathogenic Dampness-formation in the body, contributing to a myriad of diseases. (See Part 2 for explanation of Dampness).

But, animal-based foods are not entirely excluded from the TCM diet, because in small amounts they help build more Qi and Blood in the body. The TCM diet is what I most often recommend to patients.

However, for some people and health conditions, I prefer a 100% plant-based (vegan) diet, with no animal-based foods at all, at least for a time. This is because a vegan diet is very cleansing and detoxifying, and it quickly helps to drop high cholesterol levels, assist gallbladder problems, give a much needed break to the liver and kidneys, and help the body conserve pancreatic protein-digesting enzymes, which can greatly enhance the body’s ability to fight (break down) cancer cells.

Other Considerations Regarding Animal foods:

The Poor Qi Quality of Animal Foods:

Up until about 60 years ago, all animal food products were inherently organic, free-range, hormone-free, antibiotic-free, and grass-fed. Because food animals ate their natural diet of grass, meat was rich in omega-3 fats (which help reduce inflammation). They were also leaner and, from a TCM view, their meat had better Qi, because they lived much healthier and happier lives than their modern-day counterparts.

In stark contrast, the meat, dairy and eggs that are available today, as a result of being fed an unnatural diet of grain, sugar, soybeans and animal-byproducts are filled with omega-6 fats (which promote inflammation), have a higher percentage of saturated fat, and fewer beneficial elements.

Many livestock, poultry and egg-laying hens do not have access to fresh air or sunlight.  They are also kept in such large numbers, small cages, and close quarters that they lack the ability to stretch their limbs, turn around, or perform natural behaviors. All of these conditions create physical and psychological abnormalities leading to disturbing aberrant behaviors toward themselves and each other.

These animals are also unable to move away from their own or each other’s excrement, creating hygiene problems. To combat the spread of infection, ranchers use frequent doses of antibiotics on all of their animals, sick or not, which contributes to the development of antibiotic-resistant super-bacteria, and exposes people who consume meat and dairy to these antibiotics and super-bacteria.

Because meat and dairy producers make more money by increasing production volume and speed, food animals are treated with various growth hormones. We ingest these with their meat or dairy, and they wreak havoc with our bodies, including our endocrine (hormonal) systems.

These animals live very unnatural, unhealthy, and unhappy lives. In my opinion, the Qi coming from these foods cannot be healthy enough to benefit our own Qi, but instead places a burden on our health.

What about Organic, Grass-Fed or Free-Range?

While these are certainly better, there are some factors to consider. Hundreds of labels can be found in grocery aisles for “healthier” meat, eggs and dairy. It is difficult to know what they really mean. For example:

Several companies have created their own agencies to certify their meat organic, setting and breaking their own standards as they see fit. Even if the label says “USDA Certified Organic,” (no antibiotics or growth hormones), it doesn’t necessarily mean grass-fed, free-range, or given the environment to perform natural behaviors.

Likewise, if the package says “grass-fed”, it doesn’t necessarily mean organic, free-range, or even that the animal was fed only grass. Many cattle start out on grass pasture for their first 6 – 12 months before spending the rest of their lives on a feedlot; some companies label this “grass-fed.”

With the exception of live poultry, the USDA has no regulations on the terms “free-range” or “cage-free,” so all egg, beef, pork, and lamb producers can use these labels freely.  The only requirement for “free-range” poultry is that it had access to outdoors for some unspecified amount of time (5 minutes qualifies) each day.

As you can see, no label addresses everything, and every label is subject to misinformation or misinterpretation.

So, when choosing animal foods, it really is best to find a local, organic farm/ranch that you can actually visit, to learn about their specific animal-rearing practices, so you know for sure what you are getting.  Quality is FAR more important than quantity.

What about Seafood?

Farm-raised sea foods are also raised in overcrowded conditions, routinely medicated with antibiotics, and fed unnatural diets that change the balance of beneficial nutrients. In fact, farm-raised salmon are so unhealthy that their flesh is grey, so dye is injected to make them appear pink.  Even wild-caught seafood is risky, since nearly all fish-supporting waters are now contaminated with mercury, dioxins, and hundreds of other toxins from industrial pollution.

If you do choose to eat seafood, then wild-caught, smaller fish are the best choices.  Avoid the large species like tuna, swordfish, and shark, as their large size means they have had more time to collect more toxins in their tissues. Smaller fish like anchovies and sardines have lower concentrations of toxic elements.

Animal-based foods promote disease:

Research shows that eating animal-based foods contributes to many diseases common in Western culture, including heart disease and cancer. Here are just a few examples:

In his book, The China Study, which involved a 20-year long look at 6500 people from 65 counties across China, T. Colin Campbell, PhD states, “Consuming animal-based protein increases blood cholesterol levels.  Saturated fat and dietary cholesterol also raise blood cholesterol, although these nutrients are not as effective at doing this as is animal protein.” Also, “In rural China, animal protein intake averages only 7.1 gr/day whereas Americans average a whopping 70 gr/day….Even these small amounts of animal-based food in rural China raised the risk for Western diseases.”

Dr. Campbell also found, that casein, the most abundant protein in cow’s milk, is a strong promoter of cancer cells, in all stages of cancer development.

Dr. Neal Barnard reports on a Japanese study that women who follow meat-based diets are eight times more likely to develop breast cancer than women on a plant-based diet. Harvard studies show that regular meat consumption triples colon cancer risk while a Cambridge University study links dairy products to an increased risk of ovarian cancer.

Studies of the Seventh-day Adventists found that those who avoided meat altogether showed significant reductions in cancer risk as compared to those who ate modest amounts of meat.

So, again, keeping your animal-food intake below 10% of your daily caloric intake will help reduce these risks.

Animal-based foods are Unnecessary in Large amounts:

“It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including…vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate and….are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the lifecycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes.”

Dr. Benjamin Spock, in the latest edition of his world-famous book, Baby and Child Care, advocates a vegetarian diet for children, and no longer recommends dairy products after the age of 2. He says that children who grow up getting nutrition from plant foods rather than meats are less likely to develop weight problems, diabetes, high blood pressure and some forms of cancer.

Good sources of amino acids (protein) are green and leafy vegetables (yes, really! Green plants provide protein to animals as muscular as bulls and horses). Protein is also abundant in beans, lentils, and nuts. If you are a bodybuilder or otherwise require more protein, great vegan protein-shake powders made from pea, rice and hemp proteins can be found online and in most health-food stores.  Some recommended brands are Life Basics, Plant Fusion, Vega, and Sunwarrior.

Rich sources of calcium are found in green and leafy vegetables (such as kale, collard greens, swiss chard, turnip greens), beans, dried figs, tofu and broccoli.

Rich sources of iron include dark green leafy vegetables, beans, lentils, tofu, spinach, swiss chard and beet greens.

Omega-3 fatty acids can be obtained from flax seeds, chia seeds, walnuts, and extracts of algae (the type most used in infant formulas, since it can be cultivated in clean fermentation tanks). Other beneficial fats include avocados, coconuts and nuts/seeds.

Lastly, I recommend taking a high quality multi-vitamin/mineral (whether you are vegan or not). Crop soils have been greatly depleted, so most all of our food is much less nutritious than it used to be. A high-quality, plant food-based multivitamin will help ensure that you are not missing anything, including B-12. Recommended brands include New Chapter and Garden of Life.

Conclusion:

The TCM recommended diet includes 5-10% of dietary caloric intake as animal products: Organic, grass-fed, raised in their natural environments, since these were the only type of animal that existed until about 50 years ago, and will provide the highest quality nutrition and Qi for your body. Quality of these products is far more important than quantity.

Some patients can make greater health gains, faster, if they adopt a 100% plant-based/vegan diet, at least for a period of time, based on whole foods with lots of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans and nuts/seeds.

Either way, most people need to add more plant-based meals into their diets, to use animal-foods as accents to meals, not the main course. If you would like further guidance on meal ideas, check out Plant-based Meal Ideas pages on this blog.

Also, see the blog post Vegan vs Paleo: Finding the Middle Way.

Dawn Potter, AP, Dipl.OM

(excerpts published in Tampa Bay Wellness, June 2011)

#vegetables #greens #vegetarian #animalbased #cancer #vegan #plantbased #nutrition #orientalmedicine

Nutrition, Part 1: Nutrition as Medicine

“He who seeks medicine and neglects his diet wastes the skill of his doctors.”  – Chinese Proverb

A very common topic of discussion in my clinic is nutrition:  Part of my health history intake is asking about the patient’s diet, and I very frequently make nutritional recommendations to assist their health goals.

In addition, I am often asked about what is the healthiest way to eat.  It used to be mainly a weight-loss related question, but now it seems to also be people who are struggling with severe health problems such as cancer, auto-immune diseases and chronic degenerative diseases.  I find it encouraging that people are starting to acknowledge the quality of their nutrition as a fundamental source of their health or disease.

Nutrition as Medicine

The quality of what we consume directly affects our state of health. Depending on what we choose to eat, our diets can be medicinal or harmful. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, knew this. He is famous for saying “Let food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be food.”

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has also known this for centuries (actually millennia, to be more accurate).

In fact, of the Eight Branches of Traditional Chinese Medicine, nutrition is one of the most powerful, and certainly is the one that each of us has the most control over on a daily basis, since we all need to eat multiple times daily. Perhaps you’ve not thought of nutrition as medicine before now, but it is an important concept in TCM.

Healthy nutrition provides the foundational energy and substance which nourishes, heals and sustains our bodies in a state of vibrancy and health; poor diet depletes, harms and toxifies our bodies, causing myriad symptoms and diseases.

Just as the roots of a tree need to be healthy and strong so that they can provide optimal nutrition to the rest of the tree, we need to provide our organs and systems with optimal nutrition to heal and maintain our own strength and vitality. And, just as a house must be seated upon a strong foundation in order to have integrity, we need ensure our own foundation with sound nutrition.

Whole Foods

Before delving into the deeper principles of health-promoting nutrition, we must first eliminate the fast food, junk food, preservatives, chemicals, and excess fats and sugars in our diets. We cannot help our bodies become and stay healthy if we are regularly eating these types of foods. It is essential to learn to read food labels, and stay away from products that contain ingredients that are not recognizable food names, and chemical-sounding names.  Like Michael Pollan says, “If a 3rd grader can’t pronounce the ingredient, don’t eat it!”

The first, simplest and most profound piece of advice for building health through nutrition is to eat whole, unprocessed foods. Whole foods are those that are recognizable in their natural state: whole vegetables and fruits, such as apples, carrots, cucumbers and spinach; whole, unprocessed grains, such as brown rice, quinoa, corn and oats; whole cooked beans, whole nuts and seeds without oils or flavorings added.

Whole foods contain all types of vitamins, fiber, minerals, and health benefiting phytochemicals that number in the hundreds, or even thousands, that work synergistically to nourish us.  Many of these compounds have been found by modern science to protect us from cancer, heart disease, and other degenerative diseases.  Many others of these phytochemicals modern nutritional science hasn’t yet even identified! No one yet knows what other kinds of beneficial and vital properties they carry, or how they all work together synergistically to benefit our bodies.

It makes the most sense to give ourselves every advantage in the quest for excellent long-term health by consuming as much of the beneficial elements as we can in the foods we know are health-promoting. The best way to do this is by eating them in their whole-food form.

In addition to the vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals, the fiber in whole foods slows the absorption of glucose, which helps keep the blood sugar steady, preventing diabetes. It also provides volume to food, to satisfy the appetite without adding calories.

Fiber helps to prevent heart disease by binding cholesterol for excretion. It also absorbs toxins in the digestive tract, provides a mechanical means by which to sweep wastes out of the intestines (which decreases risk of colon cancer), provides bulk to the stool, and exercises the smooth muscle tissue in the intestinal walls to keep them toned and well functioning, preventing diverticulosis.

With all of the vital functions that dietary fiber has, it makes no sense to eat foods that are refined, which means the fiber (and most of the vitamins and minerals) has been removed.

Processed foods made with refined ingredients such as white flour, sugar, white rice, and oil, which include most breads, pretzels, chips, crackers, cakes, muffins, and pastries are not whole foods. Their base ingredients have been stripped of any nutritional value they once had, they have little or no fiber, and they add a lot of sugar, fat and chemicals that wreak havoc with our physical health and negatively impact our mental and emotional outlook (not to mention our waist lines.)

Moderation

The ancient Chinese said that moderation is the key to good health. They were not referring to a moderation of junk foods, chemically-laden foods or processed foods, because these did not exist then. For the vast majority of our existence here on earth, humans only had access to whole foods, (which were organic, by the way) and yet the ancient Chinese still preached moderation. This is interesting to consider, since many Americans think a diet of whole foods (especially organic) is extreme.

So what were the ancient Chinese referring to by “moderation”?  This will be discussed in Nutrition, Part 2 where we will focus on Nutritional Therapy in Oriental Medicine, based on the physiology of digestion from a Chinese Medicine point of view.

Dawn Potter, AP, Dipl.OM

excerpts published in Tampa Bay Wellness, April 2011

#vegetables #vitamins #greens #fruits #fiber #weightloss #phytonutrients #nutrition #orientalmedicine