Let Food Be Your Medicine!

I don’t know about you, but I know I want to live a long, long life. I don’t want my grandmother’s aches and pains. So I have spent decades studying how to use food as my medicine, (combining food and exercise) to keep me spry!

Did you know that kiwi helps with asthma? That cherries can not only help with arthritis, but also are great to eat after your last meal to help with a better nights’ sleep? Or that Macadamia Nuts can clean your arteries for cardio protection?

Yeah. Surprising, right?

YES CHEF!

Well there’s way more than we can ever know… so I want to pass on to you a couple of points that may make the difference in your life and level of health.

Now, do we agree that when we know better, we do better?

YES CHEF!

Good. Thank you. It’s with that thought in mind that I encourage you to take ‘baby steps’ adding some of these ideas one by one, week after week into your lifestyle.

You know the saying… You go on a diet? You go off a diet. That’s why there’s no diet here, just gentle shifts in the way you look at food for the intention of helping you navigate your way to good health.

There are two things I never understood: First, that animal protein and fat isn’t good for our bodies… we don’t digest it well. At the top of the list? My gorgeous fall off the bone ribs… But after reading this, you will know how to keep your body happy and still enjoy the ribs! And second, I never understood that disease cannot grow in an alkaline body. (I didn’t even know what that meant). lol

So, the conversation here is about animal protein and an alkaline body.

Let’s start with an alkaline body. The easiest way it was explained to me is: fruits, vegetables, almonds, walnuts, coconut water…. They’re all alkaline. Everything else is acid. And what we’re talking about is heart disease, cancer, etc. Now, I don’t take people’s word for things. (And you shouldn’t take what is written here in place of your own good judgment. Do your own research)!

One of the reasons I love blogging at ChefMarian.com and San Diego Loves Green is it makes me do the research. It makes me read a ton of different opinions and see if I can make sense of it all. My research led me to reading about the Gerson Institute. They have a location in San Diego, but the real clinic is down in Tijuana. And here’s what they claim: People come to them with 3 months to live. They’re dying of cancer. The Institute cleans their system out and then starts fresh with an alkaline diet. They continue eating that way, and their documentation shows people going back to their doctors, finding out they no longer have cancer, leaving the doctor befuddled asking: “How can this be”? Well, wanna say it with me?

DISEASE CAN’T GROW IN AN ALKALINE BODY!

Great! Thank you!

Now let’s move this conversation onto animal protein, and then you’ll see how all this ties in together. I think it wasn’t until I saw the movie Forks Over Knives, (you can find it on Netflix), that I truly understood animal protein. They talk about the people of Norway, and how they had high rates of Cancer and Heart Attacks. Then, Hitler came through and took all their chickens, pigs and horses away, to feed the soldiers. Their statistics of Heart Disease and Cancer dropped to zero.

Yes. Zero.

When the war was over? They gained again all their animals. And? You bet. Heart Disease and Cancer shot back up. Last year at this time, after seeing this movie, I went 90% vegan, sugar, dairy and gluten free. I even wrote a book: ‘Sugar, Dairy and Gluten Free… I’m not as much fun as I used to be”. Lol

And it’s true. The weight just fell off. I created a recipe book which includes Quinoa, Kale, Carrot and Sweet Potatoes caramelized with onions and mushrooms. YUM! A great thing to keep a quart of in the fridge. Four bites? And you’re no longer hungry.

Shopping got way easier and less expensive. Think about the cheese part. Our bodies don’t process cheese or milk products. Remember the saying: “Milk DOES a body good”?

YES CHEF!

Well, they’re not allowed to say that anymore. Why? Because it’s not true! So I switched to Almond and Coconut Milk. And cheese? I have two things to say about cheese, aside from the fact that I love and crave many different cheeses.  First, think about what you spend. I never got out of the grocery store without buying 2-3 bricks of cheese…. Havarti, Parmesan, Parmesan Reggiano, St. Andres Triple Cream… Don’t get me started! Lol But each brick is about ten bucks! 3 bricks? THIRTY BUCKS! So, I have saved incredible amounts of money. And the second thing? There are alternatives. There’s buying only one brick of Parmesan Reggiano, and using that strong flavor occasionally to lightly add shreds here and there to satisfy that craving, or buying Daiya shreds… which has great flavor and works well on homemade pizza. There are Pizza Joints that actually use Vegan Cheese for their Vegan options. So that being said? You can eat at home or actually eat out these days and still keep yourself mostly animal free.

Now we’ve learned to keep our body alkaline and limit animal consumption… and why.

So what do you do, when those ribs are calling to you? You do what they do throughout Europe. You eat a big salad last. Why? Because it will turn your body from acid back to alkaline. And isn’t that what we have been talking about?

Happy Eating,

Chef Marian