The 17 Day Diet (24 page)

Concentrate on traditional favorites such as tomatoes, onion, summer squash, cauliflower, garlic, green beans and chilies (literally hundreds of varieties); tomatillos; and cilantro

Cycle 2: Activate

Stick to the list of approved foods, but add in these cultural selections:

Lean Proteins

Reduced-fat chorizo

Goat meat

Natural Starches

Focus on all varieties of beans and legumes

Use brown rice instead of white

Calabaza

Yucca (cassava root or manioc)

Arracache

Yautia

Plantains

Cycle 3: Achieve

Stick to the list of approved foods, but add in these cultural selections:

Lean Protein

Introduce Hispanic-style cheese known as Queso Fresco or “fresh cheese” as a protein. It contains less calories, fat and cholesterol than other cheeses such as cheddar, mozzarella or processed cheese products. It’s not fake cheese either; thank goodness. My idea of hell is a place where Mexican food is made with artificial cheese.

Natural Starches

Low-carb tortillas

Corn (maize) tortillas

Bollilos (sour dough bread)

Cleansing Vegetables

Chayote

Jicama

Nopales

General Tips:

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Many Mexican dishes such as beans, tortillas, Spanish rice and potatoes are good sources of carbohydrates. Beans are also high in fiber. But it is necessary to part company with tradition when it comes to frying or refrying. The time-honored method is to fry them in lard. Try boiling instead.

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Try preparing refried beans with less oil (use olive oil, not lard), or put them through a food processor and sauté them in a pan that has been coated with vegetable cooking spray.

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Scale back your intake of sour cream (try Greek yogurt instead). Or use salsa or pico de gallo to top your entrees.

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Reduce fat by using a variety of cooking sprays—and for much more than just sautéing. Try butter-flavored sprays for softening or baking tortillas, or olive oil sprays on grilled vegetables, fish or poultry.

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Use herbs and chilies in place of fats and oils.

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Use low-fat or fat-free cream cheeses. Fat-free cream cheese or low-fat ricotta lends a creamy texture to beans and sauces. Combine fat-free cream cheese and low-fat buttermilk to make a sour cream sauce. Avoid nonfat sour cream, which tends to have an offensive taste.

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Use low-fat cheeses in small amounts. They are tastier when mixed with highly flavored ingredients like chilies, spices and salsas.

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Instead of cooking tortillas in oil or other fat, brown them on the griddle and then oven-bake them a few minutes to heat the ingredients inside.

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Focus on eating simply prepared dishes flavored with traditional seasonings minus high-carb, high-fat sauces. Salsa is another favorite made from finely diced tomatoes, onions and chili peppers. This green or red chili sauce adds spice to a meal but not many calories. Many Hispanics are not used to eating foods without grease or salt. But with the right spices, the tastes can almost be duplicated.

Mediterranean Cuisine

There’s actually no one “Mediterranean” diet. At least 16 countries border the Mediterranean Sea. The region’s cuisines include Italian, Greek and Spanish foods. Diets vary between these countries and also between regions within a country. But the common Mediterranean dietary pattern has these characteristics:

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High consumption of fruits and vegetables

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High consumption of bread and other cereals, potatoes, beans, nuts and seeds

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Emphasis on olive oil as an important monounsaturated fat source (monounsaturated fat doesn’t raise blood-cholesterol levels the way saturated fat does)

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Low-to-moderate consumption of red meat, fish and poultry

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Low-to-moderate consumption of cheese and yogurt

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Moderate consumption of red wine

Sounds healthy. Does a Mediterranean-style diet follow the 17 Day Diet recommendations?

Close, but not exactly. In general, the diets of Mediterranean peoples contain a relatively high percentage of calories from fat. This is thought to contribute to the increasing obesity in these countries, which is becoming a concern.

For the most part, the Mediterranean diet is fresh and flavored with garlic, onions, tomatoes and fresh herbs and other vegetables. It is, therefore, enormously rich in antioxidants.

Most of the foods on the 17 Day Diet are found in Mediterranean cuisine. Here are few to add in.

Cycle 1: Accelerate

Stick to the lists of approved foods, but add in these cultural selections:

Cleansing Vegetables

Broccoli rabe

Fennel

Italian flat-leaf parsley

Sugar-free marinara sauce (½ cup = 1 serving)

Cycle 2: Activate

Adhere to the list of acceptable foods, but add in these cultural selections:

Natural Starches

Orzo

Polenta

Risotto

Tabouli (Crushed wheat kernels that have been parboiled and mixed with chopped tomatoes, parsley, mint, olive oil and lemon juice)

Cycle 3: Achieve

Stick to the list of acceptable foods, but add in these cultural selections:

Natural Starches

Flatbreads made from white whole grain, whole wheat and multigrain

Whole grain Italian bread

General Tips:

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Serve hot grilled chicken on a bed of steamed broccoli rabe sprinkled with lemon juice and pepper.

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Cook liberally with canned tomatoes. Cooked tomatoes provide more beneficial antioxidants, such as cancer-fighting lycopene, than raw tomatoes.

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Stay away from fat-laden butter sauces, and stick with tomato-based veggie sauces. The calorie count will be lower.

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Try sliced fennel sautéed over a little olive oil until translucent. Add cannellini beans, and top with a piece of salmon. Sprinkle with chopped Italian flat-leafed parsley for a great Activate Cycle meal.

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Use whole-grain pastas, spaghetti squash or shirataki noodles (low-carb pasta) in place of regular pasta.

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Reduce the oil when making hummus and baba ghannoush, or delete it all together.

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Dip sliced cucumbers in hummus, rather than bread.

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Use whole-grain pita bread over white bread.

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For a nutritious, high-fiber, low-fat lunch, try whole-wheat pita bread stuffed with Greek salad.

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Heart-healthy main dishes include shish kebabs, souvlaki (Greek fast food consisting of small pieces of meat and sometimes vegetables grilled on a skewer), or plaki (fish baked or broiled with garlic and tomato sauce). Dolmas (stuffed vegetables) make an excellent choice because they are usually steamed or baked.

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For condiments: Certain spices that are popular in the Mediterranean diet—oregano, parsley and basil—can spice up your cooking, as can allium-containing vegetables such as onions and garlic.

Asian Cuisine

Asian diets are associated with the best life expectancy in the world. The longevity can be chalked up to a typical healthy, low-fat diet, which is widely believed to result in a lower frequency of heart attacks and strokes than in other countries. Asians also eat their meals at regular times, chew their food well, take in lots of fiber through vegetables and fruits and drink tea frequently. Here’s how to adapt the 17 Day Diet to Asian dietary standards.

Cycle 1: Accelerate

Stick to the lists of approved foods, but add in these cultural selections:

Cleansing Vegetables

Arame, a form of kelp best known for its use in Japanese cuisine

Bamboo shoots

Bean sprouts

Bok choy

Chinese broccoli

Dulce, sea lettuce (used in many international cuisines)

Lily pods

Long beans (an Asian vegetable similar to domestic green beans)

Nori, an edible seaweed commonly used as a wrap for sushi

Pea pods

Snow peas

Cycle 2: Activate

Stick to the list of approved foods, but add in these cultural selections:

Lean Protein

Tofu, all varieties

Organic bison meat

Natural Starches

Edamame

Substitute brown rice for white rice

Cycle 3: Achieve

Natural Starches

Add in the following starches (1 serving = ½ cup):

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Soba noodles: These distinctive Japanese noodles are made from buckwheat flour, but some wheat flour is usually added to strengthen the dough.

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Ramen noodles: Although associated with Japan, this style of curly wheat noodles (sometimes made with egg) actually originated in China.

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Rice noodles: As the name suggests, these delicate noodles, which are used throughout Southeast Asia, are made with rice flour.

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Chinese wheat noodles: A variety of noodles made from wheat and sometimes eggs.

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Udon noodles: A type of wheat-flour noodle popular in Japanese cuisine.

General Tips:

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Boil, grill, steam or lightly stir-fry seafood, chicken, vegetable and tofu dishes—healthy techniques that require minimal fat.

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Try traditional steaming (often done over herb-scented water) in a multilayered bamboo basket. You can whip up several different fat-free dishes in one pot (less hassle and cleanup) in about 10 to15 minutes. As a bonus, veggies, fish and other foods retain their shape, texture, flavors and nutrition.