Is there a diet not devised by a Quack?

[caesar]

I found a very interesting book by Michael Pollan called the "Food Rules". The idea is: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

He goes on to write that most of what Americans now buy in supermarkets, fast food stores, and restaurants is not in fact food. He is in his 60's and his suggestion is to eat only those things that people of his grandmother's generation would have recognized as food.

 

[Bill Hart]

I found a very interesting book by Michael Pollan called the "Food Rules". The idea is: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

He goes on to write that most of what Americans now buy in supermarkets, fast food stores, and restaurants is not in fact food. He is in his 60's and his suggestion is to eat only those things that people of his grandmother's generation would have recognized as food.

Probably right. But your comment (or his) about food styles of previous generations made me think about menus from previous centuries, from what the robber barons ate at places like Delmonico's in the late 19th -early 20th century, to what Romans ate, and everything in between. Some of it was pretty nasty....
There used to be a very cool old restaurant in Brooklyn when I first lived in NYC, called Gage & Tolner, it was a post Victorian era seafood restaurant that kept its old menu through 8 or 9 decades. At one point, Edna Lewis was directing the kitchen (a well known black chef who did alot of cool nouvelle soul seafood); anyway, among the 21 different kinds of oyster and pan roasts was a dish I had to try: deep fried lobster with bacon and maple syrup on waffles. It was so over the top sweet.... The restaurant eventually closed after 100 years, i don't know what happened to the fixtures. At the time I would go there, in the late 80's, the gaslight ceiling fixtures in the dining room were still operating. And some of the waiters had been working there for 40-50 years. Not many places like that, at least around the NE.

 

[treitz3]

...He is in his 60's and his suggestion is to eat only those things that people of his grandmother's generation would have recognized as food.

Hello, Caesar. Well, I'm not 60 but I can agree. I try my best to not eat anything "processed". I do have one processed thing I won't give up, though. That being Velveeta cheese, although I do limit it to about two times a month or less. My health has improved, I feel better and the kicker to me is that homemade or "real" food tastes better. Yeah, it's a little bit more work but oh, so worth it in the end. I won't even eat meats that have been "glued" together [from Steve's thread a while back]. The thought of it disgusts me.

Tom

 

[Keith_W]

I won't even eat meats that have been "glued" together [from Steve's thread a while back]. The thought of it disgusts me.

If you are talking about Transglutaminase, you don't have to worry. The whole thing is a big media beat-up.

And BTW, i'll bet that you will never find a butcher trying to pass off Transglutaminase bonded steak as the real thing. It's impossible! Where you'll commonly find Transglutaminase - in sausages and processed meats mostly, and high end restaurants.

 

[Tom1356]

There is a myth that a calorie is a calorie. Not true at all. The way sugar and ethanol calories effect the liver is way different than everything else.
Avoid sugars and ethanol in quantity and you will be able to get yourself healthy. The Cavemen diet has a lot to recommend it.

 

[MylesBAstor]

There is a myth that a calorie is a calorie. Not true at all. The way sugar and ethanol calories effect the liver is way different than everything else.
Avoid sugars and ethanol in quantity and you will be able to get yourself healthy. The Cavemen diet has a lot to recommend it.

Except cave people probably didn't live past 20. And evidence of CHD has been seen in our forefathers. Still doesn't negate avoiding sugar. In fact, the average American eats a barrel of sugar per year. Ugh.

 

[Tom1356]

Except cave people probably didn't live past 20. And evidence of CHD has been seen in our forefathers. Still doesn't negate avoiding sugar. In fact, the average American eats a barrel of sugar per year. Ugh.

I've seen the creationist museum. You wouldn't live past 20 either if you rode dinosaurs all day.

 

[treitz3]

If you are talking about Transglutaminase, you don't have to worry. The whole thing is a big media beat-up.

And BTW, i'll bet that you will never find a butcher trying to pass off Transglutaminase bonded steak as the real thing. It's impossible! Where you'll commonly find Transglutaminase - in sausages and processed meats mostly, and high end restaurants.

Good morning, Keith. I don't know why but since watching that thread Steve had posted, I haven't ordered a steak at any restaurant since. I'll only get one from the butcher. I have, however noticed that many processed foods look to have this glue, highly suspect in foods like roast beef from Arby's along with turkey "breast", ham and some other foods found at the Deli. Now, I'll go to the butcher and get fresh cut up chicken/turkey breasts, roast beef and the like. I'll cook it and slice it up with my professional food slicer. One thing I have noticed while doing this is that their is much less salt. It also tastes much better, at least to me.

If you don't mind me asking, why on earth would they put the glue into sausages? It's all ground up inside anyway. I ask because the family has recently switched from beef/pork/chicken sausage to turkey sausage and we would like to stay as far away from Transglutaminase as possible.

On a completely different note, I went to the store the other day and had some fresh chicken breasts from the butcher ground up so that I could make some chicken tacos instead of beef tacos. My wife loved it so much, I don't think we'll ever go back to beef tacos. I'll admit, I liked them better with the chicken as well and at only $1.99 a pound I won't miss the beef for the cost aspect either. Good stuff and I probably wouldn't have thought of it, had it not been for recent discussions here on health.

Tom

 

[Bill Hart]

I've seen the creationist museum. You wouldn't live past 20 either if you rode dinosaurs all day.

Totally funny.

 

[Bill Hart]

Good morning, Keith. I don't know why but since watching that thread Steve had posted, I haven't ordered a steak at any restaurant since. I'll only get one from the butcher. I have, however noticed that many processed foods look to have this glue, highly suspect in foods like roast beef from Arby's along with turkey "breast", ham and some other foods found at the Deli. Now, I'll go to the butcher and get fresh cut up chicken/turkey breasts, roast beef and the like. I'll cook it and slice it up with my professional food slicer. One thing I have noticed while doing this is that their is much less salt. It also tastes much better, at least to me.

If you don't mind me asking, why on earth would they put the glue into sausages? It's all ground up inside anyway. I ask because the family has recently switched from beef/pork/chicken sausage to turkey sausage and we would like to stay as far away from Transglutaminase as possible.

On a completely different note, I went to the store the other day and had some fresh chicken breasts from the butcher ground up so that I could make some chicken tacos instead of beef tacos. My wife loved it so much, I don't think we'll ever go back to beef tacos. I'll admit, I liked them better with the chicken as well and at only $1.99 a pound I won't miss the beef for the cost aspect either. Good stuff and I probably wouldn't have thought of it, had it not been for recent discussions here on health.

Tom

Your taste gets more sensitive to the salt and the other crap in processed food. I was a 'foodie' of the first order- travelling through france based on michelin ratings, etc. and always thought that eating heathly was for yoga instructors and californians. I still really enjoy good food and am eating better and healthier than I ever did.
My wife is a fabulous cook and was far ahead of me in this learning curve; although I didn't eat 'junk food' per se, I was still slamming 3 or 4 good steaks a week, with lot's of starch on the side. I'll still eat a properly cooked aged rib eye (props to Keith for his thread on slow cooking and reverse searing) but I'm far more attuned to what i'm putting into my body. And enjoy food even more, though I'm off the heavy sauces, the salt in salad dressings, and the cheese, cream-based stuff and bread/pasta. (I love killer pizza though and occasionally I will treat myself to some in moderation).

 

[Tom1356]

If you eat sausage or ground meat you need to grind it yourself.
I use the STX turbo force, but an inexpensive hand crank grinder will work.
You wont believe how good homemade sausage, Gyros, etc are.
Super easy to do too.

http://www.amazon.com/STX-TURBOFORCE-3000-SERIES-ATTACHEMENT/dp/B0012KJBR0

 

[treitz3]

If you eat sausage or ground meat you need to grind it yourself.
I use the STX turbo force, but an inexpensive hand crank grinder will work.
You wont believe how good homemade sausage, Gyros, etc are.
Super easy to do too.

http://www.amazon.com/STX-TURBOFORCE-3000-SERIES-ATTACHEMENT/dp/B0012KJBR0

Good afternoon, Tom. I have often thought that making my own would provide better health and better taste but [yes, there is a "but"] of all of my rather large collection of recipe books and magazines, I haven't found anything yet that let's me know what spices to put in. Would you happen to have a source for some good homemade sausages? I would LOVE to try making some on my own, especially some gourmet chicken sausages . Yum!

I have the professional or HD Kitchenaide mixer [whatever model that has the metal gears] that I can get the grinder for but I do appreciate the link for the grinder you provided. It's probably at about the same cost and I'll have to weigh my options there and research on which option that is available to me will work better, last longer, provide optimum results, etc. but I have been reluctant to purchase one without any proven recipes for sausages. Would you happen to have any that is a staple in your household?

One further question if you don't mind...where do you get the intestines or whatever wrap that the sausages come in? I don't recall ever seeing anything of that nature in any supermarket.

Your taste gets more sensitive to the salt and the other crap in processed food

Man, you ain't lying. It's amazing how just over the course of two months, my taste palette has changed. I have grown to dislike overly-salted foods now when before, I didn't mind them at all.

Tom

 

[Tom1356]

Hello Tom,

You are going to love your homemade sausage.

I use this base recipe for both hot and mild.

Ingredients

3 pounds ground pork
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar or Raspberry vinegar
1 tablespoon salt (cut this back to 2 teaspoons if you like)
1 tablespoon freshly cracked black pepper
1 1/4 tablespoons dried parsley
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion granules or powder
1 tablespoon dried basil (I use fresh and its great.)
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste (for hot)
3/4 teaspoon ground fennel seed (leave out for hot)
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme (Fresh works great too)

Directions

Place the pork and red wine vinegar in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle with salt, black pepper, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, basil, paprika, red pepper flakes, fennel seed, oregano, and thyme. Knead until flecks of spice are evenly distributed through the sausage.
Test fry a small patty to see if you have the spices the way you like.

Divide the sausage into thirds, and form into 3 logs; wrap each in plastic wrap. Place wrapped sausage into a freezer bag before freezing, or store in refrigerator for at least 12 hours before cooking.

I don't use casings because they gross me out. I make patties or use it crumbled. You can buy casings on the internet.

Grind your own lamb for gyros and they will become a family favorite.

 

[Tom1356]

Top tip for anyone interested in good health.

Use Yacon syrup as a sweetener. Snack on dried Yacon chips (They taste like dried apples.).

Yacon is a sweet Peruvian tuber grown in the Andes mountains.

The syrup is a lot like molasses in appearance but not as sweet.

Used in combination with artificial sweeteners it will take away the horrible after taste.

It is a powerful appetite suppressant, anti diabetic, and pre-biotic.

Yacon is a superfood which will improve your life.

Check into it.

 

[Keith_W]

I don't know why but since watching that thread Steve had posted, I haven't ordered a steak at any restaurant since. I'll only get one from the butcher.

Tom, restaurants won't bond steak together using Transglutaminase either. If they did, it would be really obvious. Because of my interest in cooking, I happen to know a bit about this stuff. I am also interested in procuring some to play with, if not for the fact that you have to order them in industrial quantities at enormous cost. That alone won't stop me, but the limited shelf life does! Read this article from the International Culinary Center's blog. It is completely safe.

If you don't mind me asking, why on earth would they put the glue into sausages?

To change the texture of the sausage.

 

[treitz3]

Where you'll commonly find Transglutaminase - in sausages and processed meats mostly, and high end restaurants.

Tom, restaurants won't bond steak together using Transglutaminase either. If they did, it would be really obvious.

Hello again, Keith. I'm really starting to appreciate this thread . I am, however, a tad discombobulated with your two statements quoted above though. With your earned respect given, could you please clarify a bit on your two previous statements above?

Tom

 

[Keith_W]

Hi Tom, here are some applications for Transglutaminase I have found in high end restaurants:

- making boneless fish. The fish is filleted and bonded back together then cooked.
- making ultra-crisp chicken crowns. The chicken skin is removed from the breast, fat scraped off, then dehydrated, then bonded back to the chicken. The skin will crisp up beautifully when cooked.
- making shrimp sheets (think of it as a lasagna sheet but made of shrimp). Shelled shrimp is bonded together then sliced on a meat slicer. The sheets are then used to wrap other things or cut up to resemble pasta.
- making meat pasta. The possibilities are endless - mince up any meat, add TG, then pass it through a pasta extruder or pasta machine.
- making fish or meat checkerboards. Cut meat into cube shapes then bond them into a checkerboard.
- wrapping meat of one type with the skin of another. e.g. - you could make a chicken ballotine and bond prosciutto to the chicken breast.

One application that definitely WILL NOT happen is bonding cheap cuts of meat together to form a steak. The joints are usually really obvious, and the end result will not cut up as tender as a more expensive cut of steak, because the connective tissue is within the muscle fibres itself. Rather, Transglutaminase opens up all sorts of creative new possibilities that are only limited by your imagination - which is why so many of us who are interested in cooking find it exciting. You still need to follow the old rules though - anything that you bond together has to be cooked together, so you can not bond two meats which have different cooking requirements (e.g. steak and fish, although I hear that even this has been attempted).

From a food safety point of view, I do not think there is anything to be concerned about, provided the basic rules of food handling are observed.

 

[Tom1356]

Keith Thank you for taking the time to post this.
For those looking to avoid the stuff this will help.

 

[Mark (Basspig) Weiss]

This woman claims to have cured her MS with mostly raw vegetables:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLjgBLwH3Wc&feature=share



In my own experience, last summer, my wife was diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer. The doc told her (I was in the office at the time) "You're gonna die if you don't get this surgery" He went on to say that it was probably already too late to save her voicebox. She had a visible lump on her neck and had difficulty swallowing at this point.

In researching the situation of life after a thyroidectomy, we both decided it was too much to risk. At which point (last Sept), my wife devoted all her spare time to researching a dietary solution. She and I happened upon Dr. Joanna Budwig's protocol diet (she is in Germany), which became my wife's mainstay, in conjunction with raw vegetables, and the elimination of ALL processed food, sugar, animal proteins, etc. She takes a variety of exotic vitamin supplements, too, in addition to megadoses of antioxidents. She drinks something called 'Barley' in the morning. I think it's a form of Spirulina, which is dehydrated sea plankton. The Budwig diet involves cottage cheese from goat's milk, blended with flax oil in a blender. That's her protein intake. Fresh vegetables from our garden make up much of her evening intake. Green tea or Oolong tea are the hot beverages she drinks. She is strict and doesn't deviate from the diet.

She also managed to get a transfer out of the chemical environment at the semiconductor plant she works in. She now has a desk job in an office.

How is it working out? By March, I noticed that there is no longer a visible lump on her neck. She has lost some weight, says she has LOTS more energy, and can swallow normally. Two weeks ago, I felt around her throat and could barely tell if there was still a nodule there or not. Six months ago, it was a lump big enough that any inexperienced person knew it didn't belong there.

The downside is she must stay on this diet, or the cancer may return. I'm under some pressure to go on this diet. Maybe I should, because her libido now far outpaces mine! "Not tonight honey, I'm exhausted from renovating the house."


What Americans must understand is that our medical system is more about illness management than curing the patient. There is no profit in curing, but there is a cash cow in keeping a patient dependent on medical services for life.

 

[MylesBAstor]

Yes I posted that here back in April.