I hope ALL of you enjoyed a JOYFUL, festive New Year's! Enter 2016, a chance for auspicious, healthy, new beginnings!
Let your New Year's resolution be about reclaiming vibrant health, losing that extra weight, and tapping into energy reserves you never knew existed by moving towards a diet based on unrefined veggies, fruits, legumes and whole grains.
Your payoff starts immediately as inflammation in the body begins to subside and beneficial bacterial colonies in your gut get established.
Within weeks, your blood sugars begin to fall, blood pressure drops, and pounds come off. Acid reflux resolves, constipation is history, digestion improves, pain diminishes. Many positive biological effects are set in motion with far-reaching ramifications. You'll begin to feel better and in time (depending on any medical issues you may be confronting), your energy will rebound.
It turns out plant-based foods, rich in phytonutrients and antioxidants, are powerful medicine. But unlike pharmaceuticals, they address the underlying causes of disease (vs. only treating symptoms). They alone have no negative side effects.
Do this for yourself; do it with and for your children (we now know that many of the chronic diseases that manifest in middle age begin in childhood). Do it for your loved ones who want to have you around, cognitively and physically strong for many happy independent years to come.
The good news? This is not rocket science. Eating and cooking plant-based may be a little intimidating at first but it's not hard! IT'S DELICIOUS! It's not expensive. You can take control of your health and prevent the chronic conditions we associate with aging or blame on our genes - but that aren't inevitable at all! It's best to prevent illness in the first place, of course, but even if we've been stricken, many conditions can be arrested and even reversed. This is in your control, one forkful at a time.
I'm here to help empower you to take your first steps, to answer nutritional questions, provide behavioral counseling, and teach you fundamental plant-based, low-fat cooking methods that will transform your kitchen into one that supports and sustains your family's health and well-being.
And, for more good news:
1. If Santa forgot to drop off Dr. Michael Greger's new book, How Not to Die, pick up a copy! In Dr. Greger's refreshingly inimitable style, he outlines the latest nutritional science regarding our top 15 chronic disease killers, and shares advice on what foods he includes in his plant-based kitchen and why. This is not another medical guru pedaling questionable nutritional wares for personal gain. For years Dr. Greger has worked tirelessly, keeping tabs on current nutritional studies the world over to relay to the public the most reliable, evidence-based findings.
For an introduction to the man, if you missed Dr. Greger's excellent radio interview with WNYC's Leonard Lopate in December, here's a link: http://www.wnyc.org/story/michael-greger/
Finally, if you haven't taken advantage of Dr. Greger's daily informative nutritional videos yet, subscribe on line. It's free and a wealth of reliable information: http://www.nutritionfacts.org
And here's what's coming up soon in 2016:
2. My plant-based cooking classes start up again on Wednesday, January 13 at 6 pm. What's on the menu?
I'll be showing you how to whip up some delicious and healthy VEGGIE PIES, HAND PIES & CRACKERS! Food just tastes better when it's wrapped in a crust, don't you think? But name-brand baked goods and crackers, sold in groceries, bakeries and restaurants are loaded with saturated fats, trans-fats and refined flours. They are among the worst health culprits. And Americans are hooked on them.
But ours will be nothing of the kind:
1. Our oil-free crust is chickpea based (gluten-free too), and bakes up flaky and light.
2. Our filling will use assorted seasonal veggies, sauteed (no-oil) and bathed in a creamy bechamel sauce (non-dairy) and then baked til golden . (And by the way, these veggies are awesome all on their own, or served as a sauce over whole grains or pasta!)
3. We can make a big pie or individualized hand pies (pasties or empanadas) - easily portable in kids' lunchboxes or to take to work.
4. And with the excess dough we'll make wonderful crackers that can be dressed with various herbs and spices to suit everyone's fancy. They make a tasty low-fat snack, dip accompaniment, or platform for an appetizer.
So, we'll be covering a lot of ground with all these dishes. You'll taste it all, and go home with recipes and newfound know-how! For more info and to reserve your spot, click here!
3. Keep your eyes peeled for a new documentary to be released in 2016 that looks promising: Eating You Alive profiles many plant-based medical experts and patients whose lives have been profoundly improved by a plant-based diet. I'll see what I can do to bring the film to Ridgefield for a screening.
Here's the trailer. Take a look:
More news is coming soon about upcoming cooking demos, grocery shopping tours, our new local plant-based meetup, Vegging Out! Stay tuned....
Please email me if you'd like to plan a special event, schedule a private counseling session, or have any questions!
Eat hearty; eat healthy!
Cathy
Cathy's Kitchen Prescription LLC
