Ah, the holiday season. So full of warm feelings and happy memories, and so full of unhealthy foods to sabotage your efforts at staying healthy. If you can make it through this time of year and stay on track, the rest of the year is a piece of cake. (Maybe a raw chocolate cake.)

The good news is that we can each do our part to reinvent traditional holiday meals. It always helps to bring a dish to a gathering, especially one that’s delicious and that everyone can enjoy. We can show the rest of the world that the word “healthy” does not mean bland or undesirable. The best way to win people over is by surprising them with tasty, healthy dishes. With that in mind, here are a few recipes of popular holiday dishes.

Cornbread Dressing

• 2 cups corn
• 3/4 cup flax seed, soaked
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 3 celery stalks
• 1/2 onion
• 1 Tbsp thyme
• 2 tsp sage
• 1/2 tsp rosemary
• 2 garlic cloves

Blend all until becomes thick and emulsified. Dehydrate.

Portobello “Turkey”

• 4 cups Portobello
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp orange zest
• Sea salt
• Pepper
• 1/8 cups Bragg’s
• 1 Tbsp OJ

Marinate portobellos in mixture.

Sweet Potato Casserole

• 4 C sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 Macintosh apples, cored and sliced
• 1-1/2 cups walnuts, ground
• 2 orange, juiced
• 1/2 cup dates, soaked
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp Celtic salt
• 1/4 C raw honey

Place half of the walnuts, sweet potatoes, apples, orange juice, dates, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a food processor and puree. Pour into a serving dish.

In a separate bowl, toss the remaining walnuts with the pecans, salt, and honey. Scatter over the top of the puree.

If desired, warm in a dehydrator or low oven prior to serving.

Cranberry Sauce

• 1 cup apple juice
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 8 dates, pitted
• 1 Tbsp orange zest
• 2 cups whole cranberries

Blend until thick.

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Katy Perry and Russel Brand watched Forks Over Knives and then tweeted the following:

If you haven’t seen the documentary, it’s a great introduction to the benefits of a plant-based diet.

Brandan Brazier is a professional triathlete who follows a strict vegan diet that is mostly raw foods. Bodybuilding.com features an interview with Brazier and asks him about his choice of a vegan lifestyle. Brazier replies:

Athletic performance enhancement was my first motivation and is still the strongest. Once I learned how to be a healthy vegan by eating the right foods my performance improved dramatically.

Brazier shares that his recovery time is faster because he eats a plant based diet. Since his recovery time is faster he is able to train more and achieve greater improvements. To get an idea of just how much Brazier trains, check out his weekly routine:

Monday
AM: Swim 4000 meters.
AM 2: Gym workout.
PM: Bike 90 minutes easy – flat.

Tuesday
AM: Bike 6 hours – mostly flat.
Run 45 minutes immediately after bike ride.
PM: Run 90 minutes with pick-ups.

Wednesday
AM: Swim 4000 meters.
AM 2: Bike 5 hours hilly with some big ring climbing.
Run 75 minutes immediately after bike ride.

Thursday
PM: Swim 4500 meters.
PM 2: Gym workout.

Friday
AM: Bike 5 hours easy – flat.
Run 75 minutes immediately after bike ride.

Saturday
AM: Hard fartlek (hard then rest) run on rolling terrain.
AM 2: Gym workout.
PM: 4400 Open water swim.

Sunday
AM: 3 hour run.
PM: Bike 4 hours hilly.
Run 60 minutes immediately after bike ride.

Brazier is living proof that a plant based diet is suitable for elite athletes. To see the full interview, visit http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/kristi17.htm.

An article was published in the New York Times about physicians who were asking the Federal Department of Agriculture to rethink the four food groups. The following is an excerpt:

A group of physicians is asking the Federal Department of Agriculture to abandon the traditional four food groups — meat, fish and poultry; grains; dairy products; and fruits and vegetables — and to substitute what many will consider a radical new grouping of foods. The four new groups, proposed at a news conference here on Monday, are fruits; grains; vegetables; and legumes, which includes beans, peanut butter and soybeans. Meat and dairy products are options, and minor ones at that.

What’s interesting about this article is that it was published in 1991. That’s 20 years ago. It just goes to show that the benefits of a plant-based diet are nothing new. Another interesting part of the article:

Secretary of Agriculture John R. Block, president of the National-American Wholesale Grocers’ Association and a pig farmer from Illinois, said on Monday that the recommendations of the physicians’ committee were “the height of irresponsibility.”

Controversy over nutrition has raged on for years, but at Montgomery Heart & Wellness we’re most concerned with scientific data and patient wellbeing. Whatever opinions persist out there, we are seeing great results with our approach. Whether it be reversing heart disease or curing diabetes and other chronic illnesses, we consistently see patients revolutionizing their health.

These four patients have shared their stories about overcoming diabetes and other chronic conditions just by changing what they eat.

Before and After: One Patient’s Success Story

In just two weeks, one patient went from 289 to 267.5 pounds. That’s a weight loss of 21.5 pounds in two weeks! Before the nutritional intervention, she was on all of these medications:

• Levemir 70 units qam and 30 units qhs
• Humalog 34 units qam and 34 units TID b/f meals
• Klor-Con 10 10mEq bid
• Cozaar 50 mg daily
• Diltiazem 240mg qd
• Furosemide 80 mg qd
• Vitamin D 50,000 IU 2 times per week
• Pantoprazole 40 mg qd
• Benzonatate 100 mg tid
• Isosorbide Mononitrate qd
• Simvastatin 40 mg qd
• Travatan 0.004% 1 gtt qd
• Prednisone 10 mg 1/2 tab qd
• Meclizine 25 mg prn
• Metolazone 5 mg prn

After just two weeks, her medications were reduced to the following:

• Travatan 0.004% 1 gtt qd
• Tekalmo 300/10 qd

In addition to losing over 20 pounds and discontinuing almost all of her medications, her quality of life drastically improved. All of this just from making a few lifestyle changes. If you’re interested in seeing results like these, why not sign up for the Nutritional Boot Camp or get a copy of The Food Prescription for Better Health?

The purpose of the World Preservation Foundation (WPF) purpose is to “assimilate, document and present scientific data relating to climate change”. The WPF recently called on the government of the UK to promote a plant-based diet as a solution to rising healthcare costs. This course of action was also recommended as a measure to reduce rates of obesity, heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes.

From an article at www.foodbev.com: “The WPF stated in a letter to the prime minister that the government can take the international lead in the advocacy and implementation of healthier plant-​based policies and incentives, setting a benchmark in healthcare, environmental protection and policy innovation.”

This letter makes an excellent point that promoting a plant-based diet is not just about health. It can also significantly reduce healthcare costs and help the environment. Any country that takes the lead on this front will be setting a great example to the rest of the world.

Read the full article here

Dr. Sanjay Gupta explores the signs, tests, and lifestyle changes that could result in “The Last Heart Attack.” This 41 minute documentary from CNN gives a good overview of how heart attacks happen and what you can do to prevent them.

This new website provides reliable nutritional information in a manner that is easily understood.

“NUTRITIONFACTS.ORG is brought to you by the Jesse & Julie Rasch Foundation in partnership with Michael Greger, M.D. Dr. Greger scours the world of nutrition-related research, as published in scientific journals, and brings that information to you in short, easy to understand video segments. We also provide links to the original journal articles whenever possible so that you can source the information directly, if you so desire…”

Watch this video about why Dr. Greger started this site:

CNN featured yet another example of how eating a plant based diet can prevent and reverse heart disease. Dr. Esselstyn puts it well: “It’s a foodborne illness”.

Channel 13 Houston featured this story about Sheila Lewis, one of our patients who reversed her heart condition by changing what she eats.

Read the full story here