Have you tried to host a dinner party lately? Or find a restaurant option to accommodate everyone's dietary needs?
Bread and pasta to Paleo Jane are like garlic to a vampire.
Dave is following Forks to Knives. Bring on the quinoa.
Is there a way to eat plant-based most of the time but still enjoy occasional pizza, Chicken under a Brick, or seared ahi?
When food writer Mark Bittman of The New York Times was presented the option of a pharmaceutical regimen or going vegan to change his pre-diabetic status and high LDL/low HDL, neither option appealed to him. The author of How to Cook Anything and its multitude of variations decided to come up with a food program that would serve his health and environmental concerns while leaving wiggle room to enjoy New York's delicacies and restaurants.
Bittman would eat a plant-based diet, eschewing sugar, processed foods, and white carbs till 6 pm. The dinner hour could feature a porterhouse at Peter Luger, slice of Ray's pizza, or the tasting menu at Bouley.
The writer lost weight and experienced a notable improvement in his blood glucose and LDL levels.
Fifteen years, later, he has held his own.
His book VB6 and The V Before 6 Cookbook present a blueprint for this lifestyle change.
As a fit foodie, I was curious enough to One-Click Order both titles on Amazon. If you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll know I stopped "diets" years ago but for environmental reasons and to support my health, I was looking for a way to bridge the gap between living on kale and reviewing L.A.'s hottest restaurants for a magazine.
I had been a practicing pescatarian and/or vegetarian on and off since I was a teen. About six months ago when I donated a kidney, I began to crave an occasional chicken breast or steak. I wasn't ready to give up half and half in my daily coffee or Buratta with Grilled Peaches.
Still, I worried about the impact of our increased protein consumption on greenhouse gases and the inefficient use of grains as animal feed. So many fish species are on the endangered list. Farmed seafood may be rife with antibiotics and contaminants like PCBs and mercury.
The 20-year China Study, conducted by Cornell and Oxford Universities and the Chinese Academy of Preventative Medicine concluded that the Standard American Diet was excessively high in animal protein and unhealthy fats while low in fiber, which contributes to a much higher incidence of obesity and chronic medical issues including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and hypertension. A plant-based diet, according to Dr. Dean Ornish of the nonprofit Preventative Medicine Institute, can possibly reverse heart disease. A diet high in animal protein contributes to inflammation, which is at the root of many diseases like cancer, cardiovascular disease, and autoimmune diseases. Increased animal protein consumption has also been linked to kidney disease.
Any restrictive dietary program, however, may be challenging to keep up, barring high risk for disease. How can we focus our diets on plants, high in fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals while leaving a little wiggle room for epicurean delights?
VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 to Lose Weight and Restore Your Health . . . For Good presents a plan based on plant-based whole foods before 6. The dinner hour is essentially flexitarian.
Like most lifestyle changes, VB6 is based on a few "rules," as follows.
1. Eat fruits, vegetables, and whole grains during the day. Feast on salads, vegetable dishes, oatmeal, fruit, beans, legumes.
2. After 6, your food choices are more flexible. There's no scientific reason behind the 6:00 hour. This just shortens the window of opportunity to indulge in a steak, pasta, pizza, pick your poison.
3. Avoid processed foods, sugar, and white carbs. During the day, avoid that bagel, croissant, cupcake, pasta, ice cream, baguette. By now, we all know to avoid processed foods and sugar. Yet, the temptation to indulge may be hard to resist. VB6 gives you some wiggle room.l
In the week since I've been following the VB6 rules, I have not always ended my day with a cocktail, steak, pasta, or dessert. Some nights, I've stuck by my plant-based regimen. But, when I have dinner plans or just crave a turkey burger, I know it's not off limits. Knowing I have the option makes staying the course much easier.
My favorite pair of food gurus, Bittman and Michael Pollan, have it right.
As Pollan has said, "Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants."
Whether you choose to go plant-based before 6 or "do the dinosaur" ie Paleo, choose whole foods and restrict sugar and processed foods. Vegetarians who select faux soy-based chicken tenders and burgers may not be healthier than meat-eaters who include an arugula salad and some broccoli with their beef or chicken.
Much of following a healthy lifestyle is common sense.
