The Blood Sugar Solution Cookbook (4 page)
Read The Blood Sugar Solution Cookbook Online
Authors: Mark Hyman
Tags: #Health & Fitness / Diets, #Cooking / Health & Healing - Low Carbohydrate
I hope the suggestions in this section offer you insight about how to make your time in the kitchen enjoyable and efficient.
Set aside an hour or so to investigate all possible disease-creating suspects in your pantry and send them off to the dump. If it is not a real, whole food, toss it. It has no place in your Blood Sugar Solution kitchen. Not sure how to tell the good from the bad? Read on.
(AND WHAT TO REMOVE FROM YOUR KITCHEN)
Follow these rules for getting healthy, losing weight, and feeling great:
1.
Focus on foods without labels—that is, foods that don’t come in a box, bag, or can.
There are some perfectly good packaged foods out there, like sardines or roasted red peppers, but you must learn to read labels in order to buy wisely. Look carefully at the ingredient list and the nutrition facts. The most abundant ingredient is listed first and the others are listed in descending order by weight. Be conscious, too, of ingredients that may not be on the list; some ingredients may be exempt from labels. This is often true if the food is in a very small package, if it has been prepared in the store, or if it was made by a small manufacturer. Stay clear of these foods.
2.
If a food has a label, it should have fewer than five ingredients.
If it has more than five ingredients, throw it out. Also, beware of food with health claims on the label. These foods are usually bad for you—“sports beverages” or “energy bars,” for example.
3.
If sugar by any name is on the label (including organic cane juice, honey, agave nectar, maple syrup, cane syrup, or molasses), throw it out.
There may be up to 33 teaspoons of sugar—often high-fructose corn syrup—in the average bottle of ketchup. And even though refined grains and flour are not technically sugar, they act just like sugar in the body. If you have diabesity, you can’t easily
handle any flour, even whole-grain. Throw it out. And stay away from white rice.
4.
Throw out any food with high-fructose corn syrup on the label.
This super-sweet liquid sugar is quickly absorbed, goes right to your liver, and kicks fat production into high gear. Some high-fructose corn syrup also contains mercury as a by-product of the manufacturing process. Many liquid calories, such as sodas, juices, and sports drinks, contain this metabolic poison. It always signals low-quality or processed food.
5.
Throw out any food with the word “hydrogenated” on the label.
This signals trans fats, which are dangerous vegetable oils converted through a chemical process into margarine or shortening that block our metabolism, create inflammation, and cause diabetes.
6.
Throw out any highly refined cooking oils such as corn and soy.
Avoid these refined toxic fats and any foods fried in them.
7.
Throw out any food with ingredients you can’t recognize or pronounce, or that are in Latin.
8.
Throw out any food with preservatives, additives, coloring or dyes, “natural flavorings,” or flavor enhancers such as MSG
(monosodium glutamate). MSG is a brain toxin that causes compulsive overeating.
9.
Throw out food with artificial sweeteners of all kinds
(aspartame, NutraSweet, Splenda, sucralose, and sugar alcohols—any word that ends with “ol,” like xylitol or sorbitol). They make you hungry, lower your metabolism, create gas, and store belly fat.
10.
Throw out anything that didn’t come from the earth.
As Michael Pollan says, if it was grown on a plant, not made in a plant, then you can keep it in your kitchen. If it is something your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food (like a Lunchable or Go-Gurt), throw it out. Stay away from “foodlike substances.”
That’s it—just 10 goof-proof rules for staying healthy for life. These will keep you out of trouble and automatically lead you to a real, whole-foods diet. When you make these simple choices, not only will you
improve your health and the health of your family, you will also create a shift in demand in the marketplace. You will help America take back its health. You vote three times a day with your fork, and this impacts our collective health, how we grow our food, our energy consumption, climate change, and environmental degradation. You have more power than you think. Use it!
Stock Your Pantry
The key to success in the kitchen is to have the right ingredients on hand when the inspiration hits you. I make sure to stock my kitchen well, so that I can always whip up a meal from whatever’s in my cupboard and fridge. These are the staples everyone should have to make delicious and spontaneous meals and create great health.
The legume family includes a wide variety of beans, all of which serve as a great source of protein. Look for these beans at your supermarket:
• adzuki beans
• black beans
• black-eyed peas
• butter beans/baby lima beans
• cannellini beans
• chickpeas/garbanzo beans
• fava beans/broad beans
• Great Northern beans
• kidney beans
• lentils
• mung beans
• navy beans
• pinto beans
• split peas
When buying canned beans, seek out BPA-free cans. BPA, or bisphenol A, is used in plastics and the lining of cans, and causes insulin resistance, weight gain, and diabetes. Or, better yet, cook with dried beans from the bulk section of your local market. The following instructions show you how to make the tastiest and most easily digested beans.
Soaking dried beans:
Large beans need to be soaked in filtered water for 8 to 12 hours before cooking. While small beans and lentils can be cooked without soaking, you can decrease the cooking time and improve digestibility if you soak them for a couple of hours. Discard the soaking water before cooking.
Using kombu:
Kombu, or dried kelp, is rich in minerals, trace elements, and vitamins. Cooking beans with a small piece of this nutritious sea vegetable increases flavor and nutrition while also decreasing the amount of time they need to cook. And this special seaweed reduces flatulence caused by improperly prepared beans. It is really easy to use kombu; all you need is one 1-inch piece per cup of beans.
Cooking beans:
Drain the soaked beans and place them in a pot, cover with filtered water, and bring to a boil. If you see a film of foam form over the top of your beans, simply skim it off with a spoon—this will help decrease gas. Toss in your kombu, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cover the pot for the remainder of the cooking time. When the beans are tender, drain any remaining water and discard the kombu. The cooking time for beans varies, depending on their size:
| BEANS (1 CUP DRIED) | WATER | COOKING TIME |
| adzuki beans, soaked | 3 cups | 45–60 minutes |
| other large beans (black, navy, pinto, etc.), soaked | 3–4 cups | 1 ½–2 hours |
| soybeans, soaked | 4 cups | 2–3 hours |
| black-eyed peas, unsoaked | 3 cups | 30–45 minutes |
| brown or green lentils, unsoaked | 3 cups | 45 minutes |
| red lentils, unsoaked | 3 cups | 15–30 minutes |
| green or yellow split peas, unsoaked | 3–4 cups | 50–60 minutes |
The legume family also includes soybeans and products made from soybeans. These, when used in the traditional forms noted opposite, are a good source of protein and minerals:
•
edamame
• miso
• natto
• soybeans
• tempeh
• tofu
Make sure all beans and soy products are organic and non-GMO (genetically modified organisms, which have been proven to cause cancer and other adverse health effects).
• Eden Foods
• Soy Dream
• Westbrae Natural
• WestSoy
• WhiteWave
• WholeSoy & Co.
Whenever possible, choose wild over farmed fish. For guidelines on low-mercury fish, visit nrdc.org/health/effects/mercury/walletcard.pdf to download a wallet card you can carry with you for reference when you are shopping. Choose from these low-mercury fish:
• anchovy
• butterfish
• catfish
• clam
• crab (domestic)
• crawfish/crayfish
• croaker (Atlantic)
• flounder
2
• haddock (Atlantic)
2
• hake
• herring
• mackerel/chub mackerel (North Atlantic)
• mullet
• oyster
• perch (ocean)
• plaice
• pollock
• salmon (canned or fresh)
• sardine
• scallop
2
• shad (American)
•
shrimp
2
• sole (Pacific)
• squid/calamari
• tilapia
• trout (freshwater)
• whitefish
• whiting
• CleanFish
• Crown Prince Natural
• EcoFish
• SeaBear
• Vital Choice
Choose organic eggs from grass-fed, hormone- and antibiotic-free chickens. If possible, buy locally sourced eggs.
• Organic Valley
• Pete & Gerry’s Organics
Choose grass-fed, organic, hormone- and antibiotic-free, and, if possible, locally sourced poultry. It is a good source of lean protein. Focus on these types of poultry:
• boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• ground chicken or turkey
• turkey or turkey breasts
• Bell & Evans
• local farmer’s markets
•
Murray’s Chicken
• Plainville Farms
• Whole Foods Market
Select grass-fed, organic, hormone- and antibiotic-free, and, if possible, locally sourced meat. Look for lean beef, lean lamb, and bison (buffalo) meat.
• community supported agriculture (CSA’s)
• Eatwild
• local farms or farmer’s markets
• Whole Foods Market
See ewg.org/meateatersguide for a guide to eating meat that is both good for you and good for the planet. Meat that is sustainably raised, grass-fed, and free of hormones and antibiotics lessens the impact on the environment and the effects on climate change—and it’s better for your body!
Choose organic, seasonal, and local produce whenever possible. Sometimes organic vegetables and fruits are best purchased frozen if they are not in season—for example, berries in the winter months. While organic produce tends to be nutritionally superior to its conventionally grown counterparts, if you need to prioritize, the Environmental Working Group has prepared lists of the “Clean Fifteen” and the “Dirty Dozen” (visit ewg.org/foodnews for updated lists and to download a pocket guide or smart phone app).
• onions
• sweet corn
• pineapple
• avocado
• cabbage
• sweet peas
•
asparagus
• mangoes
• eggplant
• kiwi
• cantaloupe (domestic)
• sweet potatoes
• grapefruit
• watermelon
• mushrooms
• apples
• celery
• sweet bell peppers
• peaches
• strawberries
• nectarines (imported)
• grapes
• spinach
• lettuce
• cucumbers
• blueberries (domestic)
• potatoes
• kale and other greens
• green beans
Think of your grocery store as your pharmacy—it is where you will find the world’s most powerful medicines. As you wander through the produce aisles, pick out Mother Nature’s best drugs:
- red, yellow, and orange fruits and vegetables: bell peppers, carrots, chile peppers, pumpkins, raspberries, strawberries, sweet potatoes/yams, tomatoes, turnips, winter squash
- dark green leafy vegetables: arugula, beet greens, collard greens, dandelion greens, kale, lettuce, mustard greens, spinach, Swiss chard
- dark blue, purple, or red fruits and vegetables: beets, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, eggplant, plums, radicchio, radishes, red cabbage, red onions
- cruciferous vegetables: bok choy, broccoli, broccoli sprouts, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese broccoli, collards, kale, kohlrabi, turnips
- allium vegetables: garlic, leeks, onions, scallions, shallots
- citrus fruits: lemons, limes
- sea vegetables: arame, dulse, hijiki, kombu
- low-glycemic fruits and vegetables: apples, asparagus, avocados, celery, green beans, pears, snap peas, snow peas, stone fruit (apricots, nectarines, peaches, and plums), zucchini
- konjac (the bulb of a Japanese plant that is all fiber, has no calories, and is used to make shirataki noodles)
• Cascadian Farm
• Earthbound Farm
• local farmer’s markets and CSA’s
• Maine Coast Sea Vegetables
• Miracle Noodle
• Stahlbush Island Farms