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Sunday, August 01, 2010

Food as Medicine

One of my new favorite shows is "Losing It with Jillian Michaels," and one of the points that she makes is that your food can be the poison that kills you, or it can be your medicine that makes you healthy.

I love to eat.  Over time, my diet has evolved from grilled cheese, fries and coke, to far healthier choices.  Needless to say, salad was not always part of my repertoire.

Above is one of my favorite salads.  It's healthy too.  On a bed of organic lettuce, I add some of my favorite veggies, like carrots and peppers, slices of fruit like mangoes and apples, tomatoes, avocado, and 150-200 calories worth of protein like lentils, marinated tofu, Field Roast, or Chick'n-free Chicken from Follow Your Heart. 

I don't add salad dressing.  Rather, I let the salad marinate in the tomatoes and fruit, and no calorie-laden dressing is needed.

I get my organic lettuce and bulk veggies and fruit at Costco.  Or I buy from local farmer's markets.  Trader Joe's has marinated tofu or lentils in their refrigerator section, and Follow Your Heart in Canoga Park (if you live in LA) has lots of "fake meat" options, including my favorite, Chick'n-free ChickenField Roast, a soy-free "grain meat" sold at Whole Foods, has a meaty texture and tastes great sliced in sandwiches, cubed in salads, or cooked with veggies and mashed potatoes.

2 comments:

John La Puma, MD said...

Dr Shenkman, so glad to know about your approach to both cardiology and to your own health.
I agree about "Losing It": it was a great series; Jillian cares about people, and it really shows: I hope NBC renews it.
You probably already know of Neal Barnard in DC with PCRM; they're probably the group most interested in vegan approaches to disease;(pcrm.org); and CMBM in DC, which has a food-as-medicine conference which I believe integrates veganism as a primary them.
Keep up the good work.
Best
John La Puma, MD

Annabel @ www.FeedMeImCranky.com said...

totally agree with the food as medicine approach! In the past, though, I've used food to "self-medicate" -- by eating loads and loads of unhealthy junk food. So, I've exercised two very different approaches to "food as medicine"! :)