Healthy eating to be “Fit as a Fiddle” for Summer
“Summertime, and the livin’ is easy.” You may remember these words from the song. “Summertime,” all about lazy days when everything seems to slow down. Summer is a good time to forget our worries and let our hair down. Summer is the season of high energy, joy and passion. It is when nature is at its full and glorious height. It’s a time of openness and peace ... and the living is easy.
This is the time of the greatest expansion of energy in the cycle; it is the most abundant time for growth. The foods that are most needed when the weather is warm are salads, fruits and green vegetables – and lighter cooking is required. Cooking needs to be subtle as well, so be sure not to overcook. This kind of food will help us to keep our cool and improve our health.
Healthy blood from a naturally balanced diet
When all stretched out, there are 60,000 miles of blood vessels in a body. Understanding vascular health is of paramount importance. Many diseases are caused by compromising the flow of blood to various tissues. As my friend John McDougall MD eloquently put it, close the arteries to the brain and you have a stroke; to the eye, macular degeneration; to the inner ear, hearing loss, tinnitus (ringing), and vertigo (dizziness); to the heart, myocardial infarction; to the kidneys, renal failure; to the leg, gangrene; and to the penis, impotence.
The vessel walls of arteries with unhealthy blood resulting from an unhealthy diet will stiffen within minutes. If you equate the health of our blood to the roots of a tree, a tree absorbs nutrients through external roots; the roots of the body are deep inside in the region of the small intestine where nutrients are absorbed. It is here that they enter the bloodstream and are distributed to the body’s cells. This is the home of the major microorganism colonies in the body where food is digested along with pancreatic enzymes. Nutrients are absorbed through the villi, small root like structures on the intestinal lining.
When a tree grows in healthy soil, it receives balanced nourishment and can thrive. But if the soil is deficient in minerals or contaminated with chemical toxins, the tree becomes unhealthy and its leaves eventually wither and die. A naturally balanced diet is like healthy soil. When the body is properly nourished, the quality of the blood is sound, and the cells function in a normal way. So, strong blood is like healthy soil. If food becomes unbalanced, the quality of the blood begins to deteriorate, and the body’s cells may eventually become unhealthy and lead to many degenerative diseases.
Lighter eating
In the medicine of the Far East, the energy of summer nourishes the Heart and the Small Intestine[i]. Summer energy provides us with a good opportunity to lighten the diet, cut down on salty foods, eat more raw foods, enjoy fruits and generally relax the system. Sunny days and warmer weather call out for an orderly and relaxed way of being. Summer is an easier time cut the sugar, coffee, black tea or alcohol out of a diet.
You may find the light and simple foods of summer helpful if you suffer with digestive problems. Simplicity is the key, nothing fancy or complex. The abundant variety of raw vegetables and fruit, and lightly cooked dishes help restore the balance and calm the system. Foods that over-heat the body are not good for the heart and salt is usually reduced.
Drink more water
It is usually a good time to increase the amount of pure water we drink (always at room temperature), particularly first thing in the morning, as we lose approximately half a cup of water each night when we sleep, and the cells need hydrating when we awake. The brain is composed of 80% water so water will make you will feel more alert. You might also try dry skin brushing before having a shower – it will not only make your skin velvety smooth but also increase circulation, creating a healthy glow.
Avoid processed foods
Eating a plant-based vegan diet does not mean living on processed foods, sweets or soft drinks. You must eat FOOD AS GROWN to receive the adequate protein you need daily. Corn on the cob is one thing, corn crackers are different, potatoes are a wholefood, and potato crisps are not. When adopting a wholefood plant-based vegan diet, there are some things you must do properly. It’s not just a matter of eating snack foods or processed fake ‘meats’ and burgers, and think you are going to be healthy.
Food to lose weight
This is the best time of year to lose weight, so choose foods which are easy to digest. Sea vegetables salads such as wakame with grated apple, mixed fresh greens are a great way to pack in minerals. Vegan paella served alongside a delicious summer salad. Use spring onions and some parsley for garnish. Foods that strengthen the heart are bitter endive and dandelion, asparagus, whole grains such as rice and bulgur or couscous. Dandelion root tea is an excellent tea for strengthening the heart and also aids in digestion. In my book Go Vegan you will find over 80 delicious recipes with stunning photographs to keep you and your family in excellent health. Here is one of my favourites.
Marlene’s Vegan Paella
Food has a very powerful influence on our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. A macrobiotic vegan approach to diet is the most helpful to create delicious balanced meals. Enjoy my version of the typical Spanish paella.
10-12 saffron threads
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, finely chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
1 red pepper, 1 yellow pepper and 1 green pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
1 sachet umami instant stock mixed in 2 cups hot filtered water
2 tbsp tamari or shoyu
2 cups paella rice
1 cup green peas
1 tbsp lemon juice
Lemon wedges
Fresh basil
Soak the saffron threads in two cups of filtered water and set to one side. In a large paella pan, heat a splash of filtered water and add the garlic, onion, shallots and tomatoes. Sauté over a low heat until soft. Add the peppers and cover with the umami stock. Add the tamari and leave to cook on a low heat for 15 minutes, until the vegetables are al dente, soft to the bite, adding more water if necessary. Add the rice and the saffron threads with the soaking water, adding additional water if required. Simmer covered for 20–25 minutes, until the rice is soft to the bite. Stir in the peas and lemon juice. Allow to sit for 5 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges and fresh basil leaves. Makes 4–6 servings.
As always, we invite you to join us in service for a healthy world for humans and nonhumans alike. How To Eat Right & Save The Planet & Go Vegan is our daily passion. We must continue to educate to bring sense and sensibility back to our world.
The Future Of Nutrition - T. Colin Campbell
It's been five years since my last interview with Dr. Campbell on Marlene & Friends and many other fabulous pioneers doing great work in the world. I decided it was time again to once again start my series to share their incredible research and studies with you all. As always, I had a lot of fun interviewing our valued friend and one of my favourite people on the planet. Here is Dr. Campbell's message to the world. You will learn much from this incredible human and I ask you to kindly forward this interview to friends, family and colleagues. This life saving knowledge needs to be shared to help as many people as we can to protect themselves from COVID-19 and other diseases that plague society.
The slide show that Dr. Campbell shares in the video will relate to many around the world who are already in the process of forming degenerative diseases or they already have them from eating a nutrient poor diet. What Dr. Campbell shares is that the same poor nutrition operates on viruses also. Summarising, Dr. Campbell explains that people who have these degenerative conditions are much more likely to get the viral disease. Comorbidity, to use the technical term, in simple terms refers to the presence of more than one disorder in the same person. We also discuss Dr. Campbell's latest book The Future of Nutrition available to pre-order worldwide. This ground-breaking book answers so many questions amid the mass confusion surrounding nutritional science. Please join the evolution with us to continue to share this life-saving work from T. Colin Campbell to every corner of the globe.
The Book: The Future Of Nutrition
An Insider's Look at the Science, Why We Keep Getting It Wrong, and How to Start Getting It Right.
A glimpse at some of the many topics discussed in the new book.
Why, despite the many advances in science and technology over the past few decades, does our health only seem to be getting worse?
Why, despite so much time and energy spent studying the foods we eat, are we more confused than ever about nutrition?
What good nutrition looks like, and what it can do for our health?
Whatever your passion is that gets you out of bed each day The Future of Nutrition has it covered.
As always, Bill and I wish you good health, stay safe and take care of each other.
In good health
Bitter Greens and Liver Health
Imagine if you could eat something that would help your liver act as a gentle diuretic to purify your blood, cleanse your system, assist in weight reduction; cleanse your skin, eliminate a host of health problems, improve your bowel function, prevent or lower high blood pressure, prevent anaemia, lower your serum cholesterol by as much as half, eliminate acid indigestion and gas build up by cutting the heaviness of fatty foods, and, at the same time, have no negative side effects.
Don’t give sickness the green light to establish itself in your body. Use green foods to alkalise and reduce acidity, because even a slight rise in acidity can turn your body into a breeding ground for illnesses and disease. Chlorophyll is rich in all green foods. Green foods are the closest component to the human body. If there was a perfect food for the body, it would be green food.
When scientists look at blood and when they look at green foods there is only one difference, one molecule difference. In blood it’s haemoglobin, it’s iron, and in green foods it’s chlorophyll and as you know chlorophyll delivers oxygen to the plant so anything green is like having the life blood of the plant.
Go Green
Knowing now, haemoglobin red blood cells, and green foods chlorophyll are virtually the same, makes it the most perfect food for the human body. It works on the blood. It helps us create healthy vibrant blood cells which then give us vibrant health and a disease-free body. If the foods, you eat are acidic they settle as acidic ash in the blood. If you eat Mother Nature’s food, it is alkaline food which is the way nature intended us to eat ‘unprocessed’. Alkaline foods deliver good health and a natural slim body. What makes the food alkaline is enzymes, it’s like an electrical charge in the food. The steamed kale dish image from my book Go Vegan is one of many of my green plates I serve up daily.
All our bodies work on a very subtle electrical current and there are two ways in which we charge our body up. We get energy from the sun and through the power of alkaline foods which are all the foods on this planet that are natural. Acidic foods have no energy as they have in some way been treated. Anything that will last in your refrigerator or cupboard for more than a week is generally acidic. Green food is one of the most alkaline foods you can put in your body because it is oozing with enzymes.
I use bitter greens at least 3 times a day. This food tastes good in salads, teas, and soups and thankfully you have nature on your side, providing these miracle plants in abundance during spring and summer!
DarK Leafy Greens
Here are some great examples, broccoli, and kale, chard and collards, watercress and parsley, coriander, rocket and a plethora of others are powerhouses of chlorophyll. In addition to being vitamin-rich (like most greens), bitter greens are exceptionally beneficial for digestion.
Vegetables, beans, wholegrains and fruits have the best ratio of nutrients to calories. These are the diamonds, platinum and gold of your diet. They give you the most nutritional value per calorie, hence why they have the highest nutrient density scores. Raw leafy greens are the top of my list, solid green vegetables second, non-green, non-starchy vegetables third and starchy vegetables fourth.
The typical western diet is calorie rich and nutrient poor. By contrast, refined grains and many oils to name but a few fatten you up while cheating you of the nutrients their wholefood counterparts contain. You wind up tired, deficient, and plagued by chronic health problems.
Here are the top health benefits of eating energised bitter greens:
- They're a nutritional powerhouse.
Bitter greens are particularly nutrient dense and packed with vitamins A, C and K, and minerals like iron, calcium, potassium and magnesium. Filled with folate and fibre, and low in fat and sodium, these greens are a nutritional powerhouse! They promote great skin (beta-carotene), a strong nervous system (folate), healthy blood clotting (vitamin K) and contain phytonutrients shown to support eye health.
- They're digestive magic.
Eating bitter food activates taste buds that simultaneously stimulate enzyme production and bile flow, which promotes digestion. The better your food is digested, the more nutrients you'll absorb from your food. It doesn't matter what you eat, if you can't absorb it, it won't be of much benefit to you. The high fibre content in bitter greens also helps to eliminate waste through the digestive tract.
Bitter greens also promote natural detoxification of the liver, which regulates cholesterol, balances hormones, detoxifies the blood, and metabolizes fats. We need to eat more bitter greens to digest fats in a more efficient manner.
- They'll balance your taste buds and reduce cravings.
Unfortunately, a western diet primarily consists of sweet and salty tastes and is lacking in others. It is to our benefit to eat foods that activate all of our taste buds and start with incorporating some seriously healthy bitter greens! It’s also been suggested that consuming bitter greens daily may also reduce food cravings and aid in weight loss!
Greens will keep in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days, but it’s best to use them as soon as possible. To prepare greens for cooking, wash or “bathe” greens in a sink full of water and then remove any hard stems or stalks.
Steaming greens reduces bitterness, enhances digestibility, and even releases nutrients for easy absorption. The more alkalising foods you eat, the less sugar you will crave. Easy!
In good health
Cooking With Wholegrain
Changing your diet always means finding replacements for less healthy options. Our goal is to share healthier and tastier alternatives to whatever you desire. Bill and I discussed what we felt would be most helpful to people around the world to assist them in learning the basics of healthy living. We have therefore put together a series of short videos sharing how easy it is to adopt a wholefood plant-based vegan diet. This is the first video which covers all you need to know about grains.
Cereal grains have served as the foundation of the human diet for centuries. Taken as a group, the grains can feed more people per acre with semi-perishable food than any other food. The nourishing qualities of eating grain plus the ability to store grain for long periods of time with little spoilage have made it the most important single crop in human history. It made it possible for societies to survive through periods of drought or the presence of harmful pests. It was insurance against the bad times.
It’s a proven fact that we eat with our eyes. Our eyes lead the way. Our tongues simply follow. This seems to make sense. Our eyes see the food, they tell our brain what it will taste like via a whole series of learned and natural responses, and we taste what we think we should. Plating and food presentation, therefore, plays a key role in how we experience our food. Not only do we find food more appealing when it is artistically plated, but we absorb more nutrients from it as well. No better way to learn how to plate than from my latest book Go Vegan available world-wide on amazon. Every recipe has a stunning photograph for you to replicate. It doesn't get any easier than that.
Also, it stands to reason that if we absorb more nutrition from foods we find physically appealing, then our minds are likely to absorb more information from literature that we find appealing as well. That was one of the reasons I included the three most important aspects of understanding how to live a long happy healthy life.
In Go Vegan you will find morsels of information throughout the book in sidebars. They are identified by three symbols:
The microscope indicates science
When you see this sign there will be a short note of recent science that confirms the health benefits of a vegan diet. You may be surprised that most of this information has been available for decades. It is heartening that a message that presents such hope and potential to both prevent and manage disease is finally filtering into the mainstream. Veganism is not a fad; it is an important movement towards redefining good nutrition and having an ethical approach to eating.
The tree indicates the environment
This icon represents the environment. For many people the shift to vegan eating is driven by environmental concerns. One of the most important aspects of our food choices is the impact that they have on the planet. It is a fact that some of the most critical influences on climate change and species loss are directly related to what we eat. A healthy diet should be sustainable and benefit all life, human and non-human alike.
The spiral is ancient wisdom
The thoughts and actions you will find under this symbol we call ancient wisdom. We have a tendency to think that ‘modern’ is always best, but this is not always the case. Our collective ancestors prized some traditions that are especially important for living a healthy life. Some of these had to do with food selection or preparation, and some addressed our way of thinking. Remember, there is nothing new under the sun.
In Bill's latest book How To Eat Right & Save The Planet you will find a comprehensive discussion of the key factors that should be driving our food choices. This is an absolute must read for anyone who is concerned about the environment, suffering of animals and human and non-human health.
In the meantime, I would be very grateful if you would share this newsletter with as many as you can. We are working hard to raise awareness and reaching out to every corner of the globe to assist all on how they can strengthen their immune system during these times of coronavirus.
Thank you for sharing and caring. Please enjoy my recipes and feast your eyes on the stunning images in my book. As always, Bill and I wish you good health, stay safe and take care of each other.
In good health
The Negative Health Impacts Of Cheap Food
Every chemical process in the body is dependent on our consumption of food, water, and air. Since this is true, paying attention to what we eat is essential for good health. There is very little disagreement about what a healthy diet really is. A wholefood plant-based vegan diet is the daily fare of the healthiest and longest-living people on the planet.
There is also no disagreement about what the modern diet laced with cheap food is doing – it is killing us. Eating a poor-quality diet high in cheap food is linked to a higher risk of obesity, depression, digestive issues, heart disease and stroke, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and early death. And as you might expect, this tsunami of disease puts incredible pressure on an already struggling NHS.
Profit Over Health
The diet that we eat today is a result of corporations and governments placing profit over health. The primary focus of the food industry is to generate the maximum profit by producing foods that appeal to dramatic taste, price, and convenience above any other considerations. This food has been made cheap largely by the application of government subsidies. The true cost in terms of public health and environmental impact are not factored into the mix.
Whole grains, beans, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds are readily available and affordable by all. It is not expensive to eat a healthy plant-based diet. All my students and clients will testify to that. They tell me that they have saved up to 40% on their monthly food bills by removing meat, dairy and processed foods from their diet. I have also created recipes for living below the line where I lived on £5 for five days eating rice, beans, and vegetables.
This watercress and spinach soup below is so easy and affordable, delicious, nutritious and ticks all the boxes. We have no need to eat animals, all we require to live a long healthy life is available from nature. Hydrate, eat plants, exercise and get some sun. Be with like-minded folks who share the same passion, and educate others who don't.
As the author of Go Vegan my passion for a vegan world drives me daily.
Watercress & Spinach Soup
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 banana shallot, peeled and chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 large baking potatoe, peeled and sliced
1 umami instant stock sachet
3 cups warm water
2 cups watercress, packed tight
2cups spinach, packed tight
1 heaped tbsp sweet white miso
Dissolve the umami stock in the water and set aside. Warm a splash or two of water in a heavy-based soup pot and saute the onion and garlic until softened. Add the potatoes and stock to the onion mixture. Place the lid on the pot and simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Add the watercress and spinach, stir and let simmer for a few minutes until the greens have wilted. Remove from the heat, transfer the contents to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Adjust consistency if the soup is too thick. Stir in the sweet white and serve.
In good health