An Oscar Potluck

Two of my closest friends work in media/entertainment, and I've been left with a rather large television, so they and some others came over for some noshing, dishing, and Oscars-viewing.

We had so much food! laid out - not like an etherized patient, more like the antipasti table at a trattoria. Everything we ate last night was light, refreshing, tasty, simple but high quality, easy to prepare. The floral honey, bright green parsley flavor and crunch in the chickpea salad, and raspberries felt like harbingers of a much-awaited spring, while the depth in the blood oranges and dark, woodsy, berry tang of sumac felt like a poignant last look at winter.

*Popcorn tossed with Sumac

*Queso de Murci Curado, a six months' aged raw goat's milk cheese from Murcia in Southeastern Spain (with unspeakably delicious raw Manoir des Abeilles honey mixed with freshly ground black pepper poured over it)

*Red Kardoula Peppers stuffed with Feta and marinated in olive oil, garlic, and basil

*Green-and-black Olive Tapenade (with pita chips): Simply, pitted green and black olives food processed with fresh parsley and thyme, red chilli powder, a small amount of capers, and a slice of preserved lemon.

*Stuffed Grape Leaves

7-layer Bean Dip

Steak Sandwiches a la Ina Garten courtesy of Miz SunDrop

*The Ratatouille from "Ratatouille"

*Blood Orange and Treviso Salad: I sliced two heads of treviso on the bias and laid supremed blood orange slices over that on a platter, scattered some sliced scallions on top, and dressed the salad with a vinaigrette of blood orange juice, pomegranate molasses, cider vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.

*Roasted Chickpea Salad: I tossed cooked chickpeas with olive oil, salt, sumac, red chilli powder, and cumin, and roasted them spread out on a baking pan for 45 minutes in a 350-degree oven, then tossed them with shredded red cabbage, lots of fresh chopped flat leaf parsley, and a simple vinaigrette of lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Farmers Market Quiche

*Raspberries with Honeyed Greek Yogurt

*Moroccan Mint Tea

* = organic

For Rheumatoid Arthritis, Eat an Anti-Inflammatory Diet

I also recently found out that a good friend of mine has all of the factors for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but so far she's physically asymptomatic (that is, no joint pain). Although she doesn't yet have the physical symptoms, she's concerned about her risk of developing all kinds of inflammation-related chronic disease, and how she can adjust her diet to combat inflammation.

Dr. Andrew Weill has a helpful visual anti-inflammatory diet tool - a new food pyramid:

And I found this really great site that someone who suffers from RA put together that has tons of resources. This particular individual has cut out wheat and dairy products and found that to be the most helpful.

It seems like the basic answer for RA is to eat a healthy, Mediterranean-style diet rich in whole foods (fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains for vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber, cold water fish and certain nuts/seeds for omega-3s and protein, lots of olive oil) and low in sugar, meat, refined carbohydrates and saturated fat, and to figure out if you have any food sensitivities that cause inflammation.

A lot of folks with RA start out by eating a "Stone Age" or "hunter-gatherer" diet — only fruit, vegetables, seeds, meat, and fish for one month — and then they start keeping a journal while they reintroduce other types of foods, one at a time, to see if any particular type of food
is causing inflammation. The most common RA-exacerbating foods are wheat, milk and other dairy products, corn, beef and nightshade family foods (tomato, potato, eggplants, peppers and tobacco). The casein (milk protein) in dairy and gluten (wheat protein) seem to be very commonly cut out by RA sufferers.

Periodic fasting has also been studied and seems to help RA sufferers.

For RA, there is a lot of research showing that the following nutrients
help:

1. Omega-3 fatty acids, which you get from (4-6 servings/week) of cold water fish like salmon (choose wild pacific salmon), herring, mackerel, sardines, cod and halibut, also flaxseed and walnuts, and which are anti-inflammatory (human studies with marine omega-3 fatty acids show a direct relationship between increased consumption and diminished C-reactive protein levels);

2. Vitamin D, which you get in salmon, shrimp, sunflower seeds, eggs and vitamin-D fortified milk products (if you don't have any milk protein sensitivity), organically grown fruits and vegetables, and extra virgin olive oil (vitamin D is getting a lot of attention right now; the guidelines were just rewritten for daily recommended consumption, and most people who
are getting tested nowadays find out they're considered to be vitamin D-insufficient);

3. The Mediterranean diet as a whole (pioneer study on the effect for RA sufferers is published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases), which is rich in fish, olives and olive oil, legumes, and fresh produce (and low in simple carbs, meat, and dairy fats). Extra virgin olive oil contains oleocanthal, which very similar chemically to ibuprofen, and this may explain why it is anti-inflammatory;

4. Vitamin E (high in kiwi, whole grains, collard greens, dark leafy lettuces, almonds, sunflower seeds);

5. Antioxidant-rich (whole) fruits and vegetables - the bioflavonoids (plant compounds) have anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumor activity (the more brightly colored and the greater the variety, the better; the ones with some bitter tasting compounds are also high in antioxidants; one trick I like to use is, on a weekly grocery shopping trip, buy the rainbow —
tomatoes, carrots, yellow bell peppers, dark green leafy vegetables like spinach, blueberries, beets...); and

6. Antioxidant-rich tea (white, green, and black).

Simple carbs, saturated fats, and vegetable oils that contain linoleic acid and are high in omega-6 fatty acids increase inflammation (corn oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, wheat germ oil, and sesame oil).

Once people are on medication for RA there is a whole host of dietary guidelines, particularly concerning supplements, because certain of the RA medications make it harder to absorb certain nutrients.

After Gallbladder Removal, Eat a High-Fiber, Low-Fat Diet

Recently, my good friend had her gallbladder removed. Half a million Americans have a cholecystectomy every year.

The gallbladder stores bile, which the liver produces and which is necessary to help digest fats. When you don't have a gallbladder, bile goes directly into your small intestines. The liver is on
its own after gallbladder removal.

Following a high-fiber, low-fat diet post-cholecystectomy helps food move through your digestive system and cuts down on intestinal discomfort. Lemon juice and vinegar also help the digestive system to break down fatty acids.

Whole grains like oatmeal and fresh produce (like beans, broccoli, artichokes, apples, and oranges) are high in fiber. Concentrating on "good fats" is important when cutting down overall fat intake, so you can still get the essential fatty acids your body needs. Non-tropical nuts (walnuts, almonds, etc.), seeds, fatty cold water fish such as salmon and mackerel, and extra virgin olive oil are all great sources of healthy fats. Being liquid at room temperature (as opposed to saturated fats, which are solid at room temperature), unsaturated fatty acids slide through the digestive system and take fat-soluble toxins with them.

Foods to avoid / cut out after gallbladder removal:
- red meat, pork, poultry (they're high in difficult-to-digest animal protein and animal fat);
- dairy (although a lot of folks without gallbladders find they can tolerate yogurt);
- chocolate and caffeine (can be digestive tract irritants);
- refined carbohydrates (they "gum up" the digestive system);
- fried foods (very high in fat);
- spicy foods (again, can be irritating); and
- soft drinks.

Truvia vs. stevia

A friend recently asked me about the difference between Truvia and stevia.

Truvia is a branded, processed sugar substitute consisting partly of stevia extract and mainly of erythritol, a natural sugar alcohol that is almost non-caloric, does not affect blood sugar, does not cause tooth decay, and, in regular use (i.e., not extreme quantities), does not cause side effects.

Stevia is a plant; its leaves, the aqueous extract of the leaves, and purified steviosides are used as sweeteners. It is mostly just sweet but has a tinge of a licorice flavor. Stevia has a negligible effect on blood glucose and may even enhance glucose tolerance. Powdered, crystallized, and aqueous stevia can be purchased in natural foods stores.

Cutting the calories in your diet that come from sugars — everything from processed white sugar to the simple starches and carbohydrates that naturally occur in fruits and white flour — has multiple benefits. You will reduce your propensity towards insulin resistance and thereby cut your diabetes risk, lower inflammation caused by insulin spiking in the blood, lower fat storage and even lower LDL or "bad" cholesterol.

But it is not as simple as replacing the white sugar you use in your tea/coffee with Truvia or stevia. It's about reducing your overall intake of simple carbohydrates. To accomplish that, you should stay away from foods with a high glycemic load, such as sugar, white starches (white rice, white bread, potatoes), fruit juices and purees and juices from sugary vegetables like carrots and beets; even many alcoholic drinks are high in sugar. Eat instead: whole grains (brown rice, steel cut oats, buckwheat, flax flour, whole grain pasta), whole fruit in place of juice, whole vegetables.

Most people find they feel much better — have more energy, feel less tired — when they cut simple carbs out. After you flood your bloodstream with glucose, insulin spikes to take it out, and then you feel hypoglycemic and like eating something starchy again; it's exhausting, a vicious cycle, and over time very damaging to the circulatory system and linked to chronic
disease. Complex carbs release glucose into the bloodstream much more slowly.

Going further: My brother also believes that, because there is a natural insulin spike at the beginning of the day, people should take advantage of that and have all of their carbs prior to 2pm and try to eat nothing during the 2 hours before you go to sleep. So he has steel cut oatmeal for breakfast, a sandwich on whole grain bread for lunch, things like that, and he tends to load up on proteins like fish or lentils for dinner accompanied by raw or lightly cooked vegetables (i.e., no more rice at dinnertime for him). This seems to be working for him.