Vegan food posts for Starchivores who follow Dr. McDougall, Dr. Esselstyn, Rip Esselstyn, Chef AJ, and others - recipes or links to them and photos when available.
On March 16, 2015, during the hours following the McDougall Advanced Study Weekend I developed a viral infection that affected my inner ears. I totally lost my hearing, my balance was disturbed, and I became very weak. At about midnight I walked to the bathroom, lost all control of my muscles, fell down to the floor onto my buttocks, and was unconsciousness for a few minutes. I woke with severe pain. With Mary's help I managed to return to bed. She wanted to call an ambulance, but I refused. I knew what could happen. I would be taken to the hospital, x-rayed, and found to have fractures of my lower vertebrae, pelvis, and a spiral fracture of my left femur (I knew this by the way I felt).
Treatments of my fractures, including surgery may have been planned. But that was a minor concern of mine. I was afraid of what else might happen to me once under medical care.
In my nearly defenseless condition, they would have wanted to know the condition of my heart before anything else would be done. This decision for them would be easy to justify: after all, I was an elderly male (67) and I had a past history of serious atherosclerosis, having suffered a major stroke at age 18. I have no doubt that there are old blockages (scars) in my arteries that developed as a young man eating the Western diet (my highest cholesterol had once been 338 mg/dL). Twenty years ago I had a CT heart scan (performed out of curiosity) showing significant amounts of calcification in my coronary arteries demonstrating that I had atherosclerotic plaque disease. These blockages were, however, old fibrous scars. Since I changed my diet at age 27 my cholesterol has dropped to below 150 mg/dL and I am confident that no new disease has formed. But the scars (with calcium in them) remain for a lifetime.
The plaques found on my heart scan are healed, stable, non-lethal, and of no risk to me—unless they were to be discovered and treated by a cardiologist or a bypass surgeon. If I would have gone to the hospital after my fall in March of 2015, I would have been facing the standard practice of prophylactic revascularization: angioplasties with stents placed before any other treatment to my bones would be provided. Remember, I refused to go to the hospital so I avoided this common scenario. I healed at home.
Before continuing, I would like to tell you my outcome. My hearing has completely returned to normal and my balance is pretty good. It took about three months for my fractures to heal and after six months I was almost pain free. I can say I am back to 100% a year after this near tragedy. But, how do I protect myself in the future from unnecessary investigations of my heart if I have an accident that leaves me unable to defend myself? Have a tattoo written on my chest?
In general, I notice that it is processed food that drives the addictive process. People should keep in mind that there is nothing wrong with THEM. It is THE FOOD that is the problem. Animals have zero problems regulating food intake. Except when confronted with processed food. Then they have problems. The best move, if a person struggles with excess weight, is to minimize processed foods. That means bread, pasta, little healthy crackers. Etc. I never worry about people going crazy on WNF. Except nuts. The rest, even if you eat a huge amount, it all doesn't actually add up to much. And you will just eat less the next day. Rarely is any sort of portion control needed with unsalted whole starches like potatoes or rice. Truth is...people don't grasp that it is very rare to consistently overeat on whole natural foods. Even if you stuff yourself, you will eat less tomorrow. I have to say, I hear this a lot. But when people come to true north health center they magically do not eat enough food to gain weight. Eating as much as they want, if they are overweight, they lose weight. We keep Jeff Novick's warnings about nuts in mind, and no worries. People think that if they stuff themselves it means they over ate. That they eat more than they "needed" to. But you NEVER eat the RIGHT amount of food, as such a quantity does not exist. Right amount for what? The next hour? Four hours? Six? Two and a half? There is no RIGHT amount of food to eat. When you have eaten not enough or too much. Impossible. The nervous system evolved to continually course correct. It is a dynamic process. You eat a ton at 4pm, you won't be eating a ton at 5pm. That simple. Eat a lot today and don't exercise, you will eat less tomorrow. You won't even notice it, but this will happen. Eat away. Just make sure it is WNF. (Whole natural food). You don't eat for "other reasons". You may think you do, but you don't. If so, why do you not spontaneously breathe more? Just go up 20% or so for an hour on breathing. Or sleeping. Or fluid intake. Why is it never any of these other homeostatically controlled drives that gets excessive for "other" reasons no? Why is it ALWAYS eating that people think they are doing for "other" reasons? If you are munching away on WNF there is a perfectly good reason why. You are still a bit hungry. It is worth storing a bit of glycogen in your liver and muscles for tomorrow. If you get good and stuffed and don't need it, your hunger will be less tomorrow. If a personally is systematically overeating, day after day, it is because the food is adulterated. Salt. Sugar. Oil. Processed to be softer than normal. Easy to digest as it has been pulverized and reconstituted. Like bread and crackers. Binge eating to excess, consistently, on WNF? I don't think so. Rare. I'll be straight. I've met less than 10 of those people in my whole career. I'm open to feedback on this, but be clear. Is anyone saying that they eat a diet devoid of any processed foods, no sugar, salt, fat, or processing, and consistently eats so much on that diet to maintain excess weight? Let's hear. Because if this is you, you are an unusual, quite unusual, animal. If so, you might need to eat salad and vegetables religiously before you eat the cooked starches. But hitting all three in order -- salad, vegetables, starches--is close to fool proof. That has been my observation. DrDoug
Hip Pressure Cooking has a nice article on why pressure cooking your potatoes is the best way to cook them. It increases resistant starch when potatoes are cooked ahead of time and cooled and there are no acrylamides to worry about.
Pressure Cooking Potatoes Turns Bad Starch Good
When a potato is pressure cooked and cooled a large portion of its starch is converted into “resistant starch” – a healthier starch that isn’t fully digested and instead used by the body like fiber – lowering blood cholesterol and fats.
This is for all those people on the forums and Facebook community who say tofu isn't allowed on the basic McDougall program. Pay attention specifically to the very first sentence:
He regrets writing The MWLP book!?! Eat lots of starches, not lots of green/yellow veg, he says. Yet he says people who say they can't lose eating all these starches are liars. (sigh) I wish he would extend his weight loss studies to follow the people *after* they left his 10 day program. Follow them a month, a year, 5 years later. Let's see the actual long-term weight loss of these people after they're home, cooking on their own, living in the real world.
In the past he had also said he wants to change the buffet tables at the live-in programs to put the salads and cooked vegetable dishes last so people load up on starch first. He never has - they're still salads first.
The webinar ends with a over a half hour of Chef Gustavo making 2 recipes from the April 2016 newsletter, a tray of roasted veggies from frozen, and a roasting up couple of gigantic sweet potatoes. He's said a number of times now that he wants to become a real chef as his next professional title. I hope he starts doing weekly cooking webinars as well as these interview ones - that food looks GOOD. :)
This is a short clip taken from the McDougall Medicine tv show. I see he added a whole lot more of these short clips to his YouTube page today. Fantastic! Something to watch after this afternoon's webinar!
Weight Watcher's pasta sauce? Fantastic Foods boxed products? Herb Magic salad dressing? Those products no longer exist, and when they did, our stores only had one or 2 Fantastic Food mixes (the seitan one, I remember).
Of course, calories still count, but it becomes almost impossible to over consume calories from the foods you choose if you follow these recommendations. The numbers Tom gave are very close, so let me adjust them slightly These are averages that I use for each category that I think covers the range of the category fairly well and if anything, errs on the side of caution. Fresh Veggies are around 100 cal/lbFresh Fruits around 250-300 cal/lbStarchy Veggies/Intact Whole Grains around 450-500 cal/lbLegumes around 550-600 cal/lbProcessed Grains (even if their Whole grain) around 1200-1500 cal/lbNuts/Seeds around 2800 cal/lbOils around 4000 cal/lb What I have found is if the calorie density of the food is below ~400 calories per pound, not matter how much they eat, they will lost weight. Between ~400-~800 calories per pound, with some moderate exercise, they all lost weight. Between ~800-~1200 calories per pound, people gained weight, except for those with very high activity levels Over ~1200 calories per pound, everyone seems to gain weight. Remember, the physical sensation of "fullness" is influenced in a large part by the filling of the stomach and the triggering of the stretch receptors. This would happen regardless of the calorie density of the food, as long as enough food was consumed. However, between 400-800 calories per pound is the range where people either maintained, gained or lost a little. It was the area that I call the "cut-off" zone and the results depending on the person and their activity level. The mid point of the range is around 600 cal/lb I would not worry to much about the exact numbers when you are trying to apply this to yourself but would be more concerned about the principles as I would not want anyone to weigh and measure their food. The calorie density numbers I give for food groups are "averages" and dont apply exactly to each food in the group. If you follow the MWL program, you will be applying the principles of calorie density. If it is not working as well as you would like then you can adjust the calorie density of your intake by making slight adjustments in your food choices. These numbers are also inline with other recommendations.
Join Dr. McDougall for a casual conversation in which he will answer participant’s questions regarding the McDougall Program, diabetes, weight loss, blood pressure, dietary treatment of cancer, the controversial influence of large pharmaceutical companies on world health, recent media coverage about cholesterol and saturated fat, and many other topics of interest. The information you garner from Dr. McDougall will change your life forever.
Don’t miss this opportunity.
If you are having health issues such as diabetes or heart problems, this would be a great way to meet Dr. McDougall. If you are having difficulty with aspects of the McDougall Program and need some clarification, this would be a good place to get questions answered. Remember, “It’s the Food.”
These webinars take place online and will be recorded and available after the event for your convenience.
Free and Open to Everyone – Sign up Today Moderated by Dr. Gustavo Tolosa
Scheduled Free Webinars
Thursday, May 26, 2016 at 11 a.m. PST
Title: Maximum Weight Loss Program
Description: In this live webinar, Dr. McDougall, MD, discusses his program for Maximum Weight Loss (MWL) and answers questions.
Title: Live Q&A with Dr. McDougall, MD and Free Services You Can Get Now!
Description: Learn all the ins and outs of how to benefit from the FREE McDougall program through Dr. McDougall’s web site. Ask Dr. McDougall questions!
Title: Dr. Doug Lisle: Food Addiction, Emotional Eating, Weight Loss (Part 2).
Description: This live webinar is a continuation of Part 1 (food addiction, emotional eating, weight loss) which is available at Dr. McDougall’s web site. Please watch it here before attending Part 2 so that you can get the most out of this Part 2 session. Bring YOUR questions to Dr. Lisle and regain your health and be inspired!
Sadly, it's not for me any more, but for those who don't need to lose weight and can afford a few extra calories around the holidays or have family gatherings to cook for, Isa always has the most fantastic recipes!
Gustavo had the assistance of Jeff Novick in recording the lunch time video and burger taste-testing. I noticed Jeff had his 2 burgers (his own only) plain on a plate with some salad and potatoes. So that's how he stays so slim - no bread! Gustavo, on the other hand, had both of his on rolls. Don't tell the UWL people! LOL
At the end, Gustavo reminded us that the webinar for May 26th is going to be on the MWLP program
I do agree with Gustavo that seeing these lectures live is probably a great experience that everyone should try to do once in their life, but I know I'll never get there, not because of the money, although that's a big consideration, but because I do NOT fly. Never have, never will. I was warned decades ago that with my ears, one trip up in the air could rupture my ear drums, leaving me totally deaf, and that would certainly be worse than the partial deafness I suffer from now. I wish that eventually Dr. McDougall's program sprouts franchises and doctors all across the country open up programs like these Intensives everywhere. I would even put up with having the lectures done live via Skype. Heck, I'll take 'em pre-recorded, as long as they serve us the same food that the official program does! Just being together with other McDougallers would be worth the cost.
Mary McDougall's Planning Lunches, Dinners and Snacks talk has never been recorded, AFAIK, but other talks of hers that cover the same topic from older DVD sets can be found on YouTube.
Most of the dinner recipes are in that same PDF file from above, plus:
(Such a tiny serving!! I would starve if I ate that little! No wonder Dr. McD reports people at his programs lose 4+ pounds when they're there!) According to the schedule, this was to be Dr. McDougall's talk for this first day:
Jeff Novick's talk, the Lighten Up lecture, is also available on DVD from a previous presentation at the McDougall Program. The recipes from dinner:
Apple Vinaigrette Dressing from MWLP book. Sorry, I don't have it typed out yet nor can I find it on-line. CREAMY CEASAR SALAD DRESSING Preparation Time: 5 minutes Servings: makes 2 cups 1 12.5 ounce box Lite Silken tofu 2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard 3 tablespoons soy parmesan cheese 3 tablespoons lemon juice 2 tablespoons soy sauce ¼ cup water (approximately) 1 tablespoon drained capers (optional) Place all ingredients, except the capers, in a food processor. Process until very smooth. Add additional water if you want a thinner salad dressing. Add the capers and pulse briefly, until they are chopped but not pureed. Hint: This will keep in the refrigerator for about a week. If you don’t have any capers, or don’t like them, they may easily be omitted.
FRENCH LENTIL SALAD This is great to take on a picnic and every one loves it—even those people who are sure they don't like lentils. It keeps well in a cooler or in the refrigerator. Be sure to make it at least 3 hours before you plan to serve it to allow time for the flavors to blend. Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 30 minutes Chilling Time: 3 hours Servings: 6 1 cup dry brown lentils 4 cups water 1 cup grated carrots ½ cup chopped sweet onion ½ cup chopped fresh parsley ½ teaspoon crushed fresh garlic 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 1 tablespoon water 1 tablespoon soy sauce 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 1 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce ½ teaspoon ground oregano several twists freshly ground pepper Place the lentils and water in a medium pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook for about 30 minutes, until tender but still firm. Meanwhile, prepare remaining vegetables. Combine vinegar, water, soy sauce, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, oregano and pepper in a small container and mix well. Set aside. Drain lentils. Place in a bowl. Add carrot, onion, parsley and garlic. Mix well. Pour dressing over and mix again. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving. SPINACH VEGETABLE SALAD Preparation Time: 30 minutes Servings: 4 6 cups loosely packed washed and dried fresh spinach leaves ½ pound mushrooms, sliced 2 carrots, thinly sliced 1 cucumber, thinly sliced 1 tomato, thinly sliced 1 cup alfalfa or clover sprouts Oil-free dressing to taste
Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Serve with your favorite oil-free dressing.
MINESTRONE SOUP This makes a wonderful meal with a loaf of fresh bread. It also reheats well. Preparation Time: 30 minutes Cooking Time: 3 hours Servings: 8 1¼ cup red kidney beans 8 cups water1 onion, chopped 1 teaspoon minced garlic 1 stalk of celery, sliced 1 carrot sliced 6-8 fingerling potatoes, chunked 1½ cups fresh green beans, cut into 1½-inch pieces 1 cup tomato sauce ¼ cup parsley flakes 1½ teaspoon basil 1½ teaspoon oregano ½ teaspoon marjoram ¼ teaspoon celery seed ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper 1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed 1 15-ounce can chopped tomatoes 1 zucchini, chopped 1 ½ cups shredded cabbage ½ cup uncooked whole wheat elbows Place the kidney beans in a large pot with water to cover. Bring to a boil, cook for 2 minutes, turn off heat and let rest for 1 hour. (To eliminate this step soak the beans overnight). Drain off water. Add onion, garlic, and 8 cups of fresh water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook for 1 hour. Add celery, carrot, potatoes, green beans, tomato sauce and all the seasonings. Return to a boil, reduce heat and cook for 45 minutes. Add the garbanzo beans, canned tomatoes and zucchini. Cook for another 30 minutes.Then add the cabbage and pasta and cook for an additional 30 minutes. HINTS:I have many varieties of minestrone that I make throughout the fall and winter months, but this one is our favorite. You may use any type of uncooked pasta that you like, we also like spaghetti broken into 2 inch pieces in this soup.
CREAMY GOLDEN GRAVY
This gravy is made with brown rice flour instead of wheat flour. The great thing about using rice flour instead of wheat flour for thickening is that it doesn’t form lumps like wheat flour often does. This does not have to be stirred constantly to prevent lumps. I have walked away and forgotten to stir this gravy and it still comes out smooth and lump free because of the rice flour.
2 cups vegetable broth 2 tablespoons soy sauce 2 tablespoons tahini ¼ cup brown rice flour freshly ground black pepper
Place all the ingredients, except the pepper, in a small saucepan. Stir well to mix. Cook over medium–low heat, stirring occasionally until smooth and thick. Season with freshly ground black pepper to taste. Serve at once.
Hint: This may be made ahead and refrigerated. It will thicken slightly more when refrigerated. To reheat, place in a saucepan, add a small amount of water, whisk to combine and then heat slowly, stirring occasionally, until hot.
TOFU LOAF
This is an excellent, firm loaf to serve with mashed potatoes and gravy. The leftovers also make a great sandwich filling.
30 ounces water-packed firm tofu 1 2/3 cups quick oats ¾ cup whole wheat bread crumbs ½ cup ketchup or barbecue sauce 1/3 cup soy sauce 2 tablespoons Dijon-style mustard 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce ¼ teaspoon garlic powder ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Drain the tofu well and mash finely, using a bean/potato masher and your fingers. Place in a large bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Mix well, again using your fingers. Turn the mixture into either a square baking pan or a loaf pan. (If you don’t have a non-stick pan you will need to lightly oil the pan first.) Bake the square pan for 45 minutes or the loaf pan for 60 minutes, until the top and edges are golden brown. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Loosen sides and invert over a platter to remove from baking pan.
Hints: The quick cooking oats work best in this recipe. To make bread crumbs, process 1 slice of bread in a food processor. (Do this when you have extra older bread and store the crumbs in a sealed bag in the freezer.) Serve with a sauce or gravy to pour over the loaf-or serve plain with a barbecue sauce on the side. Vegetarian Worcestershire sauce is available in most natural food stores. Low sodium soy sauce is also available in most supermarkets for those of you who are trying to reduce your salt intake.
MARSALA MUSHROOM SAUCE Preparation Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 15 minutes Servings: makes 3 ½ cups 2 leeks, sliced (white and light green part only) ¾ pound fresh mushrooms, sliced 3 ½ cups water ½ teaspoon leaf oregano ½ teaspoon leaf sage ¼ cup soy sauce 1/8 cup Marsala wine 3 ½ tablespoons cornstarch mixed in ¼ cup cold water Place leeks and mushrooms in a pot with ½ cup of the water. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the remaining water, the oregano, sage, soy sauce and wine. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 8 minutes. Add the cornstarch mixture and cook and stir until thickened. Hint: This delicious sauce may be used as a topping for grains, potatoes or vegetables. Chocolate Brownies We serve these brownies topped with vanilla soy ice cream on the first night of every McDougall Program. They are a rich treat best reserved for special occasions. We especially like them cold from the fridge, so we sometimes make them ahead, cut and arrange them on a platter, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for a day before serving them. Leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 3 days, but I doubt they’ll be around that long. Prep: 15 minutes | Cook: 30 minutes Makes 9 2 tablespoons Ener-G Egg Replacer 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour 2/3 cup Wonderslim Wondercocoa Fat-Free Cocoa Powder 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup chopped cashews or walnuts (optional) 1 cup Sunsweet Lighter Bake 1 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract Preheat the oven to 350oF. In a small bowl, whisk the Egg Replacer with 1/2 cup warm water until frothy. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the nuts, if using. Set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the Lighter Bake, sugar, and vanilla. Stir in the Egg Replacer. Stir this mixture into the flour mixture just until the ingredients are combined. Spread the batter evenly into a nonstick or silicone 8” x 8” baking pan, smoothing the top. Bake until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Set the pan on a rack until cool, about 30 minutes. Cut the brownies into three equal strips in one direction, then three in the other, to make nine brownies. (If using a silicone pan, flex and invert the pan to release the brownies onto a platter before cutting them.)
Dear Fat Vegans, We need you! If you would like to contribute any of the following to the first issue of the Big Fat Vegan Zine:
A written piece.
Poetry.
Art.
Vegan recipes.
Suggestions for folks to interview.
Anything else zine-appropriate!
It would be great to include some of the following topics:
Fat shaming and health trolling within the vegan community.
Fat vegan experiences, and……
Fat vegan experiences that intersect with other unique lived experiences of, for example, disabled/trans/of colour folks, etc.
The struggle around body positivity and the journey to loving our fat bodies.
Experiences of eating disorders as fat vegans.
Experiences of dealing with thin privilege and its effects.
Struggles with health professionals around our fatness/veganism.
The Health at Every Size movement and how it deals with/incorporates veganism (or not).
Fat vegan role models.
Resources for fat vegans: blogs, Etsy shops, Facebook groups, etc.
Please feel free to express yourself honestly and freely, whether you have a positive or negative experience or viewpoint to share. Please feel free to be ANGRY or SAD, or to be joyful and hopeful.
