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I’ve always loved pasta — although we rarely had it when I was growing up. In our house, Mexican food was what was on the table. Which is why espagueti verde was the best of both worlds, and it quickly became a family favorite (my dad is a big fan). It’s inspired by the flavors of rajas poblanas con crema (roasted poblanos with cream),and it’s one of my all-time favorite dinners.
Rajas poblanas are strips of roasted poblano peppers cooked in a rich cream sauce and garnished with queso fresco (a soft, mild, slightly salty cheese commonly used in Latin America), and are often served with tortillas and rice. Rajas poblanas have been around much longer than espagueti verde, which makes them the true inspiration for this dish. They originate from Puebla and are popular across central and southern Mexico, including Mexico City and Oaxaca. This pasta captures all those flavors and blends them into a vibrant, creamy sauce that is as flavorful and tangy as it is beautiful.
Poblano peppers are perfect here because they give the sauce a smoky depth without making it too spicy. It’s an easy, velvety pasta dish that even kids will love (my daughter Charlie can’t get enough), and the addition of cream cheese makes it irresistibly creamy. It’s a recent Mexican staple (within the last century or so) that is ideal for weeknight dinners, as it brings bold flavor and comfort to your table with minimal effort. Pair it with steak or chicken, or enjoy it on its own. Trust me — once you try this, you’ll never look at any other pasta sauce the same way.
Key Ingredients in Espagueti Verde
How to Make Espagueti Verde
If Mexican crema is hard to find, sour cream makes a great substitute. When you combine it with the cream cheese, it gives the pasta its signature creamy, tangy flavor.
Storage and Make-Ahead Tips
Peppers can be broiled and peeled ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Reserve leftovers and any remaining pasta water in separate airtight containers for up to 4 days. Use the pasta water to loosen up the sauce when reheating over low heat.
I’m a recipe developer, food writer, stylist, and video producer (and The Kitchn’s Dinner Therapist), with more than 10 years professional experience. Since graduating from The French Culinary Institute, I’ve authored 3 cookbooks: Buddha Bowls, Plant-Based Buddha Bowls, and The Probiotic Kitchen.
Do you know more about basic nutrition than most doctors?
“A poor diet now outranks smoking as the leading cause of death globally and in the United States, according to the latest data.” The top killer of Americans is the American diet, as you can see below and at 0:23 in my video How Much Do Doctors Actually Know About Nutrition?.
If diet is humanity’s number one killer, then, obviously, nutrition is the number one subject taught in medical school, right? Sadly, “medical students around the world [are] poorly trained in nutrition.” It isn’t that medical students aren’t interested in learning about it. In fact, “interest in nutrition was ‘uniformly high’ among medical students,” but medical schools just aren’t teaching it. “Without a solid foundation of clinical nutrition knowledge and skills, physicians worldwide are generally not equipped to even begin to have an informed nutrition conversation with their patients….”
How bad is it? One study, “Assessing the clinical nutrition knowledge of medical doctors,” found the majority of participants got 70 percent of the questions wrong—and they were multiple choice questions, so they should have gotten about a fifth of them right just by chance. “Wrong answers in the…knowledge test were not limited to difficult or demanding questions” either. For example, less than half of the doctors were able to guess how many calories are in fat, carbohydrates, and protein; only one in ten knew the recommended protein intake; and only about one in three knew what a healthy body mass index (BMI) was. We’re talking about really basic nutrition knowledge.
Even worse, not only did the majority of medical doctors get a failing grade, but 30 percent of those who failed had “a high self-perception of their CN [clinical nutrition] expertise.” They weren’t only clueless about nutrition; they were clueless that they were clueless about nutrition, a particularly bad combination given that doctors are “trusted and influential sources” of healthy eating advice. “For those consumers who get information from their personal healthcare professional, 78% indicate making a change in their eating habits as a result of those conversations.” So, if the doctor got everything they know from some article in a magazine while waiting in the grocery store checkout aisle, that’s what the patients will be following.
Of doctors surveyed, “only 25% correctly identified the American Heart Association recommended number of fruit and vegetable servings per day, and fewer still (20%) were aware of the recommended daily added sugar limit for adults.” So how are they going to counsel their patients? And get ready for this: Of the doctors who perceived themselves as having high nutrition knowledge, 93 percent couldn’t answer those two basic multiple-choice questions, as seen here and at 2:39 in my video.
“Physicians with no genuine expertise in, say, neurosurgery [brain surgery] are neither likely to broadcast detailed opinions on that topic nor to have their ‘expert’ opinions solicited by the media. Most topical domains in medicine enjoy such respect: we defer expert opinion and commentary to actual experts. Not so nutrition, where the common knowledge that physicians are generally ill-trained in this area is conjoined to routine invitations to physicians for their expert opinions on the matter. All too many are willing to provide theirs, absent any basis for actual expertise…” Or worse, they’re “often made on the basis of native bias and personal preference, at times directly tethered to personal gain—such as diet book sales—and so arises yet another ethical challenge.” That’s one of the reasons all the proceeds I receive from my books are donated directly to charity. I don’t want even the appearance of any conflicts of interest.
“In a culture that routinely fails to distinguish expertise from mere opinion or personal anecdote, we physicians should be doing all we can to establish relevant barriers to entry for expert opinion in this [diet and nutrition], as in all other matters of genuine medical significance.” I mean, we aren’t talking celebrity gossip. Lives are at stake. “Entire industries are devoted to marketing messages that may conspire directly against well-informed medical advice in this area.”
“Medical education must be brought up to date. For physicians to be ill-trained in the very area most impactful on the rate of premature death at the population level is an absurd anachronism….The mission of medicine is to protect, defend, and advance the human condition. That mission cannot be fulfilled if the diet is neglected.”
A possible starting place? “Physicians and health care organizations can collectively begin to emphasize their seriousness about nutrition in health care by practicing what they (theoretically) preach. Is it appropriate to serve pizza and soft drinks at a resident conference while bemoaning the high prevalence of obesity and encouraging patients to eat healthier? A similarly poor example exists in medical conferences, including national meetings, where some morning sessions are accompanied by foods such as donuts and sausage.”
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This EasyGround Beef Vegetable Soup, or commonly called Hamburger Soup, is the perfect easy soup recipe for a busy day. Our 30 minute soup recipe is a flavorful ground beef based soup loaded with vegetables, lean ground beef, diced tomatoes and potatoes. It’s a one-pot dinner that makes it an easy cozy soup recipe!
Hamburger Soup is a quick and easy ground beef recipe, but don’t worry, as simple as it is to make, it’s still packed with flavor. And best of all, it hits 5 major wins:
It’s great made ahead of time
Totally budget friendly
A one pot meal
Reheats well, even better than day 1
AND freezes perfectly!
Mom’s Wisdom
One of the first things I learned when I got married was that my mom’s budget-food recipes she sent me off to college with were exactly what I needed as a busy newlywed as well. Easy beef vegetable soup is a filling and inexpensive recipe that makes life so much easier when you’re trying to get dinner on the table.
Mom taught me that homemade soups are super easy to throw together and they’re much tastier than store-bought canned soup, plus healthier too. I like to make a double batch so I can eat one and freeze one!
Carrian’s Tips
If you’re not in a hurry, reduce the broth. Letting the broth simmer and reduce for 30-35 minutes or even all afternoon will concentrate the flavors and slightly thicken the soup.
Taste for seasoning OFTEN. Taste the broth as some broths are extra salty. After adding all of the ingredients, taste it again before serving. This is where you can bring a little personality with smoked paprika, extra salt, hot sauce etc. to make it to your liking.
Ingredients for Ground Beef and Vegetable Soup
Olive Oil: Used to sauté the onion, garlic, and veggies. It adds flavor and helps everything soften before the broth goes in.
White Onion: Builds the savory flavor base for the soup. Onions add natural sweetness and depth.
Ground Beef: The hearty protein that makes this soup filling and comforting. Browning it first adds rich flavor. We use 90/10.
Garlic: Adds aromatic depth and classic savory notes that round out the broth.
Carrots: Add sweetness, color, and texture while bringing natural balance to the savory beef.
Celery: Contributes a mild, earthy flavor that pairs with onion and carrots for a classic soup base.
Tomato Paste: Intensifies the tomato flavor and adds richness and body to the broth.
Russet Potatoes: Make the soup hearty and filling, while their starch helps naturally thicken the broth.
Ingredients continued…
Beef Broth: The main liquid base, enhancing the beef flavor and tying all the ingredients together. You can also use water with beef bouillon.
Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes: Add a smoky, tangy depth and little bursts of tomato flavor throughout the soup.
Worcestershire Sauce: A splash of umami and tang that boosts the savory richness of the beef.
Bay Leaf: Infuses the broth with a subtle earthy, herbal note while it simmers.
Frozen Mixed Vegetables: Quick, convenient way to add more veggies, color, and nutrition without extra chopping. I like to find one that has corn, green beans, peas and carrots included.
Italian Seasoning: A balanced blend of herbs (like oregano, basil, thyme) that gives the soup a warm, comforting flavor.
Salt: Enhances and balances all the other flavors.
Black Pepper: Adds a mild kick and balances the richness of the beef.
FreshParsley: Sprinkled at the end for freshness, color, and a bright finishing note.
How to Make Hearty Ground Beef Soup
Sauté: Heat a little oil in a dutch oven over medium heat, then add the onion, ground beef, carrots and celery until the beef is cooked through. Drain the excess fat.
Combine: Add the tomato paste and stir into the meat followed by the potatoes, broth, tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, seasoning and bay leaf.
Simmer: Let the soup simmer for 10 minutes with a lid on.
Add: Now add in the remaining ingredients (except the parsley).
Simmer: Let the soup simmer for another 15-20 minutes.
Serve: Sprinkle each bowl with fresh chopped parsley and serve with some yummy crusty bread.
What to Serve with Hamburger Soup
While the soup is simmering, I like to prepare a quick salad which helps to lighten up the meal, while my mom would always slice up a loaf of french bread or even serve sandwich bread… yes, sandwich bread, it was the 90s. 😉 You could also make some quick dinner rolls to go with it.
FAQ
Can ground beef vegetable soup be made in the slow cooker?
Yes, absolutely! Brown the ground beef on the stove top first, and then add all the ingredients to the slow cooker and let it cook on low all day (5-6 hours) or on high for 2-3 hours.
How do I thicken the broth?
The starch from the potatoes should help thicken the broth but if you want it thicker, you can make a cornstarch slurry to thicken it up.
can I use ground chicken or turkey?
Yes! Ground turkey and chicken both make great substitutes in this recipe. They will be a little less flavorful, but will be lower in fat.
Storing and Reheating
Leftovers should be stored in the fridge in an airtight container. It will keep for 4-5 days. It can be reheated in the microwave or on the stovetop.
This is also a freezer-friendly soup recipe. Let the soup cool completely and pour it into a freezer safe container. It will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let it thaw in the refrigerator and then reheat on the stovetop until heated through.
This ground beef vegetable soup with potatoes is the perfect mix of healthy and hearty. A simple recipe that’s freezer-friendly, budget-friendly, and always delicious!
Watch Our Video on How to Make Ground Beef Vegetable Soup Recipe
More Cozy Soup Recipes…
Prevent your screen from going dark
In a large dutch oven over medium heat, add a drizzle of oil. Add the onion, ground beef, garlic, carrots and celery, and cook until no pink remains. Drain any fat.
1 teaspoon Olive Oil, 1 White Onion, 1 Pound Ground Beef, 2 Cloves Garlic, 1 Cup Carrots, 1 Cup Celery
Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring into the meat until well mixed.
1 Tablespoon Tomato Paste
Add potatoes, broth, tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, seasoning and bay leaf.
2 Russet Potatoes, 8 Cups Beef Broth, 28 oz Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes, 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce, 1 Bay Leaf
Simmer covered 10 minutes.
Stir in vegetables, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper and simmer 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
3 Cups Frozen Mixed Vegetables, 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning, 1 teaspoon Salt, Black Pepper
Serve with fresh chopped parsley and crusty sour dough bread.
A randomized controlled trial investigates diet and psychological well-being.
“Psychological health can be broadly conceptualized as comprising 2 key components: mental health (i.e., the presence of absence of mental health disorders such as depression) and psychological well-being (i.e., a positive psychological state, which is more than the absence of a mental health disorder,” and that is the focus of an “emerging field of positive psychology [that] focuses on the positive facts of life, including happiness, life satisfaction, personal strengths, and flourishing.” This may translate to physical “benefits of enhanced well-being, including improvements in blood pressure, immune competence, longevity, career success, and satisfaction with personal relationships.”
What is “The Contribution of Food Consumption to Well-Being,” the title of an article in Annals of Nutrition & Metabolism? Studies have “linked the consumption of fruits and vegetables with enhanced well-being.” A systematic review of research found evidence that fruit and vegetable intake “was associated with increased psychological well-being.” Only an association?
There is “a famous criticism in this area of research—namely, that deep-down personality or family upbringing might lead people simultaneously to eat in a healthy way and also to have better mental well-being, so that diet is then merely correlated with, but incorrectly gives the appearance of helping to cause, the level of well-being.” However, recent research circumvented this problem by examining if “changes in diet are correlated with changes in mental well-being”—in effect, studying the “Evolution of Well-Being and Happiness After Increases in Consumption of Fruit and Vegetables.” As you can see below and at 1:37 in my video Fruits and Vegetables Put to the Test for Boosting Mood, as individuals began eating more fruits and veggies, there was a straight-line increase in their change in life satisfaction over time.
“Increased fruit and vegetable consumption was predictive of increased happiness, life satisfaction, and well-being. They were up to 0.24 life-satisfaction points (for an increase of 8 portions a day), which is equal in size to the psychological gain of going from unemployment to employment.” (My Daily Dozen recommendation is for at least nine servings of fruits and veggies a day.)
That study was done in Australia. It was repeated in the United Kingdom, and researchers found the same results, though Brits may need to bump up their daily minimum consumption of fruits and vegetables to more like 10 or 11 servings a day.
As researchers asked in the title of their paper, “Does eating fruit and vegetables also reduce the longitudinal risk of depression and anxiety?” Improved well-being is nice, but “governments and medical authorities are often interested in the determinants of major mental ill-health conditions, such as depression and high levels of anxiety, and not solely in a more typical citizen’s level of well-being”—for instance, not just life satisfaction. And, indeed, using the same dataset but instead looking for mental illness, researchers found that “eating fruit and vegetables may help to protect against future risk of clinical depression and anxiety,” as well.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of dozens of studies found “an inverse linear association between fruit or vegetable intake and risk of depression, such that every 100-gram increased intake of fruit was associated with a 3% reduced risk of depression,” about half an apple. Yet, “less than 10% of most Western populations consume adequate levels of whole fruits and dietary fiber, with typical intake being about half of the recommended levels.” Maybe the problem is we’re just telling people about the long-term benefits of fruit intake for chronic disease prevention, rather than the near-immediate improvements in well-being. Maybe we should be advertising the “happiness’ gains.” Perhaps, but we first need to make sure they’re real.
We’ve been talking about associations. Yes, “a healthy diet may reduce the risk of future depression or anxiety, but being diagnosed with depression or anxiety today could also lead to lower fruit and vegetable intake in the future.” Now, in these studies, we can indeed show that the increase in fruit and vegetable consumption came first, and not the other way around, but as the great enlightenment philosopher David Hume pointed out, just because the rooster crows before the dawn doesn’t mean the rooster caused the sun to rise.
To prove cause and effect, we need to put it to the test with an interventional study. Unfortunately, to date, many studies have compared fruit to chocolate and chips, for instance. Indeed, study participants randomized to eat fruit showed significant improvements in anxiety, depression, fatigue, and emotional distress, which is amazing, but that was compared to chocolate and potato chips, as you can see below and at 4:26 in my video. Apples, clementines, and bananas making people feel better than assorted potato chips and chunky chocolate wafers is not exactly a revelation.
This is the kind of study I’ve been waiting for: a randomized controlled trial in which young adults were randomized to one of three groups—a diet-as-usual group, a group encouraged to eat more fruits and vegetables, or a third group given two servings of fruits and vegetables a day to eat in addition to their regular diet. Those in the third group “showed improvements to their psychological well-being with increases in vitality, flourishing, and motivation” within just two weeks. However, simply educating people to eat their fruits and vegetables may not be enough to reap the full rewards, so perhaps greater emphasis needs to be placed on providing people with fresh produce—for example, offering free fruit for people when they shop. I know that would certainly make me happy!
How can we use sensory-specific satiety to our advantage?
When we eat the same foods over and over, we become habituated to them and end up liking them less. That’s why the “10th bite of chocolate, for example, is desired less than the first bite.” We have a built-in biological drive to keep changing up our foods so we’ll be more likely to hit all our nutritional requirements. The drive is so powerful that even “imagined consumption reduces actual consumption.” When study participants imagined again and again that they were eating cheese and were then given actual cheese, they ate less of it than those who repeatedly imagined eating that food fewer times, imagined eating a different food (such as candy), or did not imagine eating the food at all.
Ironically, habituation may be one of the reasons fad “mono diets,” like the cabbage soup diet, the oatmeal diet, or meal replacement shakes, can actually result in better adherence and lower hunger ratings compared to less restrictive diets.
In the landmark study “A Satiety Index of Common Foods,” in which dozens of foods were put to the test, boiled potatoes were found to be the most satiating food. Two hundred and forty calories of boiled potatoes were found to be more satisfying in terms of quelling hunger than the same number of calories of any other food tested. In fact, no other food even came close, as you can see below and at 1:14 in my video Exploiting Sensory-Specific Satiety for Weight Loss.
No doubt the low calorie density of potatoes plays a role. In order to consume 240 calories, nearly one pound of potatoes must be eaten, compared to just a few cookies, and even more apples, grapes, and oranges must be consumed. Each fruit was about 40 percent less satiating than potatoes, though, as shown here and at 1:45 in my video. So, an all-potato diet would probably take the gold—the Yukon gold—for the most bland, monotonous, and satiating diet.
A mono diet, where only one food is eaten, is the poster child for unsustainability—and thank goodness for that. Over time, they can lead to serious nutrient deficiencies, such as blindness from vitamin A deficiency in the case of white potatoes.
The satiating power of potatoes can still be brought to bear, though. Boiled potatoes beat out rice and pasta in terms of a satiating side dish, cutting as many as about 200 calories of intake off a meal. Compared to boiled and mashed potatoes, fried french fries or even baked fries do not appear to have the same satiating impact.
To exploit habituation for weight loss while maintaining nutrient abundance, we could limit the variety of unhealthy foods we eat while expanding the variety of healthy foods. In that way, we can simultaneously take advantage of the appetite-suppressing effects of monotony while diversifying our fruit and vegetable portfolio. Studies have shown that a greater variety of calorie-dense foods, like sweets and snacks, is associated with excess body fat, but a greater variety of vegetables appears protective. When presented with a greater variety of fruit, offered a greater variety of vegetables, or given a greater variety of vegetable seasonings, people may consume a greater quantity, crowding out less healthy options.
The first 20 years of the official Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommended generally eating “a variety of foods.” In the new millennium, they started getting more precise, specifying a diversity of healthier foods, as seen below and at 3:30 in my video.
A pair of Harvard and New York University dietitians concluded in their paper “Dietary Variety: An Overlooked Strategy for Obesity and Chronic Disease Control”: “Choose and prepare a greater variety of plant-based foods,” recognizing that a greater variety of less healthy options could be counterproductive.
So, how can we respond to industry attempts to lure us into temptation by turning our natural biological drives against us? Should we never eat really delicious food? No, but it may help to recognize the effects hyperpalatable foods can have on hijacking our appetites and undermining our body’s better judgment. We can also use some of those same primitive impulses to our advantage by minimizing our choices of the bad and diversifying our choices of the good. In How Not to Diet, I call this “Meatball Monotony and Veggie Variety.” Try picking out a new fruit or vegetable every time you shop.
In my own family’s home, we always have a wide array of healthy snacks on hand to entice the finickiest of tastes. The contrasting collage of colors and shapes in fruit baskets and vegetable platters beat out boring bowls of a single fruit because they make you want to mix it up and try a little of each. And with different healthy dipping sauces, the possibilities are endless.
Are you growing purslane yet (I mean, deliberately)? Its claims to fame are split, 50-50: invasive weed versus superfood. As the latter, it is delicious, and it hollers of summer. Browsing my photograph archives recently, I found bunches of purslane being sold at the Union Square greenmarket in Manhattan for $2 in 2018; in 2011, they were being sold for $2 per pound. Last week I bought loose, perfect purslane stems from my local Brooklyn farmers’ market. They were $20 for a quarter pound. I laughed out loud. But I bought some, because I don’t grow it. Luckily, you don’t need much purslane to benefit from this summer annual’s juicy, omega-3-rich fatty leaves, and their succulent crunch. And if you have weeded the uninvited plant from your garden beds and are now snickering at a person foolish enough pay for purslane, just simmer down and be thankful that you have at hand a plant whose nutritional numbers may silence dissent.
Above: Purslane for sale at a farmers’ market.
To some people, purslane is essential. It was lauded by the Romans. And, in Sylvia Townsend Warner’s The Corner that Held Them, a novel I’m reading, set in a 14th century English convent during the Black Death, a nun laments: “It is bad enough to be without a priest. Surely we need not be without purslane.”
Aside from its tremendously high levels of fatty acids, including omega-3‘s, purslane (Portulaca oleracea) also contains Vitamins A, C, and E, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and melatonin. It has been studied for its antidepressant effects, as well as for its neuroprotective qualities, with positive results.
Now, is it worth $20 for a quarter pound? The minute you put a price on something, the sticker shock can make people sit up and take it seriously for the first time.
Above: Circa 2011, purslane sold for just $2/lb at Union Square.
At the same market where it was selling for $20/quarter pound, a man asked me with friendly interest, How do you eat purslane? I started rattling off the ways: raw, in salads; raw, with flaky salt; raw in tomato sandwiches; pickled; cooked slowly with lamb; cooked in vegetable curry. He looked a little surprised. He didn’t buy any. Maybe I was overzealous. Or maybe he had a gardenful at home. I hope so.
This dish for creamed peas and potatoes is a wonderful side dish that your family will love.
❤️WHY WE LOVE THIS RECIPE
We love delicious side dishes and this one doesn’t disappoint. It’s an old-fashioned dish that our Nanny used to make, and we all loved it. It’s a great addition to any meal and we sometimes add it to our holiday menu. Check out all our favorite holiday dishes here.
SWAPS
We make this dish with bacon drippings, but you don’t have to. You can easily make this without it, and it’s still delicious. We peel the potatoes, but you don’t have to do that either. We make this with evaporated milk, but you can use regular milk.
This dish for Creamed Peas and Potatoes is delicious. Perfect side dish for any occasion and a wonderful addition to the holiday season.
Prep Time 10 minutesmins
Cook Time 20 minutesmins
Total Time 30 minutesmins
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American, southern
3large russet potatoescan use red potatoes
3slicesbaconcooked crisp
1tablespoonbacon drippings
3tablespoonsbutter
1/4cupchopped green onioncan use regular onion
1/4cupall-purpose flour
112 ounce can evaporated milk (can use regular milk)
1/4teaspoonblack pepper
1/2teaspoonsalt
116 ounce bag frozen green peas (can use fresh peas)
Peel the potatoes and cut into pieces. You can leave peelings on but I don’t. Cover with water and bring to a boil on stove. Cook potato pieces about 8 minutes. Do not overcook or they will become mushy.
Cook the bacon in a skillet on top of the stove, remove and drain, set aside. Save 1 tablespoon of the bacon drippings in the skillet. Add the butter and onion to the bacon drippings and saute’ onions. Sprinkle in flour and pour in milk and cook until mixture starts to thicken like you are making gravy. You don’t want it too thick.
Pour in peas and drained potatoes. Add salt and pepper. Turn heat to low for peas to cook. Only takes about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and crumble bacon on top.
Keyword easy recipe, easy side dish, easy skillet meal, peas, peas and potatoes, potatoes, the southern lady cooks
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Does the so-called miracle tree live up to the hype?
Moringa (Moringa oleifera) is a plant commonly known as the “miracle” tree due to its purported healing powers across a spectrum of diseases. If “miracle” isn’t hyperbolic enough for you, “on the Internet,” it’s also known as “God’s Gift to Man.” Is moringa a miracle or just a mirage? “The enthusiasm for the health benefits of M. oleifera is in dire contrast with the scarcity of strong experimental and clinical evidence supporting them. Fortunately, the chasm is slowly being filled.” There has been a surge in scientific publications on moringa. In just the last ten years, the number of articles is closer to a thousand, as shown here and at 1:02 in my video The Benefits of Moringa: Is It the Most Nutritious Food?.
What got my attention was the presence of glucosinolates, compounds that boost our liver’s detoxifying enzymes. I thought they were only found in cruciferous vegetables, such as cabbage, broccoli, kale, collards, and cauliflower. Still, it turns out they’re also present in the moringa family, with a potency comparable to broccoli. But rather than mail-ordering exotic moringa powder, why not just eat broccoli?Is there something special about moringa?
“Moringa oleifera has been described as the most nutritious tree yet discovered,” but who eats trees? Moringa supposedly “contains higher amounts of elemental nutrients than most conventional vegetable sources,” such as featuring 10 times more vitamin A than carrots, 12 times more vitamin C than oranges, 17 times more calcium than milk, 15 times more potassium than bananas, 25 times more iron than spinach, and 9 times more protein than yogurt, as shown here and at 2:08 in myvideo. Sounds impressive, but first of all, even if this were true, it is relevant for 100 grams of dry moringa leaf, which is about 14 tablespoons, almost a whole cup of leaf powder. Researchers have had trouble getting people to eat even 20 grams, so anything more would likely “result in excessively unpleasant taste, due to the bitterness of the leaves.”
Secondly, the nutritional claims in these papers are “adapted from Fuglie,” which is evidently a lay publication. If you go to the nutrient database of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and enter a more reasonable dose, such as the amount that might be in a smoothie, about a tablespoon, for instance, a serving of moringa powder has as much vitamin A as a quarter of one baby carrot and as much vitamin C as one one-hundredth of an orange. So, an orange has as much vitamin C as a hundred tablespoons of moringa. A serving of moringa powder has the calcium of half a cup of milk, the potassium of not fifteen bananas but a quarter of one banana, the iron of a quarter cup of spinach, and the protein of a third of a container of yogurt, as seen below and at 3:15 in my video. So, it may be nutritious, but not off the charts and certainly not what’s commonly touted. So, again, why not just eat broccoli?
Moringa does seem to have anticancer activity—in a petri dish—against cell lines of breast cancer, lung cancer, skin cancer, and fibrosarcoma, while tending to leave normal cells relatively alone, but there haven’t been any clinical studies. What’s the point in finding out that “Moringa oleifera extract enhances sexual performance in stressed rats,” as one study was titled?
Studies like “Effect of supplementation of drumstick (Moringa oleifera) and amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor) leaves powder on antioxidant profile and oxidative status among postmenopausal women” started to make things a little interesting. When researchers were testing the effects of a tablespoon of moringa leaf powder once a day for three months on antioxidant status, they saw a drop in oxidative stress, as one might expect from eating any healthy plant food. However, they also saw a drop in fasting blood sugars from prediabetic levels exceeding 100 to more normal levels. Now, that’s interesting. Should we start recommending a daily tablespoon of moringa powder to people with diabetes, or was it just a fluke? I’ll discuss the study “Moringa oleifera and glycemic [blood sugar] control: A review of the current evidence” next.
Culinary herbs add freshness and flavor to our meals. Growing them at home means that a quick trip to the garden or to the pot at the front door can yield a handful of aromatic goodness. It is often assumed that herbs require full sun to thrive, but many herbs prefer to grow in shade, or at least in partial shade. These shade-loving herbs include plants native to regions as diverse as the Mediterranean, North America, and Southeast Asia. Some of them are deeply familiar, and others may be more surprising.
Here are 13 herbs for shade that are staples in my kitchen. (If you have a favorite shade herb that you don’t see here, let us know in the comments.)
It took me years to learn that basil appreciates shade where summers are very hot. It begins to make sense when you realize that Ocimum species are native to tropical Asia and Africa, which conjures leafy forests. While basil will grow in full sun (with adequate watering), in hot summer climates it thrives in either full shade, afternoon shade, or dappled shade. The most shade-loving basils in my experience are purple, Thai, and Greek, in that order. Lemon basil also likes shade, while sweet (so-called Italian) basil will take more sun. Purple basil relishes shade, where it is as ornamental as it is delicious. During this very hot July my Thai basil planted in full sun is tall and full of flowers, but wilts twice a day, while the pot in full shade has remained more compact, is bushy with fragrant leaves, and has not bloomed yet; plus, it does not require double watering.
Mint
Above: This mint is Mentha spicata.
The mint we buy in grocery stores is Mentha spicata, a semi-aquatic perennial native to Eurasia and Southwest Asia. With a tendency to proliferate when planted in-ground, contained in a (large) pot it loses its invasive potential. This mint thrives in shade, where it will also guzzle less water than if it is planted in sun. Harvest it by pinching or cutting it back to another set of leaves, and water it deeply, rather than sprinkling the surface of the soil.
Coriander, or Cilantro
Above: Bolting ain’t bad—cilantro’s flowers turn to delicious coriander seeds.
The herb cilantro (Coriandrum sativum, native to Southern Europe and the Mediterranean) is also known as coriander in English, while in the United States, the seeds are always called coriander. Grown in shade, cilantro is slow to bolt and you will be harvesting its succulent leaves for longer than from a plant in full sun. When it does bloom, the pollinated flowers form citrus-forward seeds, which are an ephemeral delicacy while still green.
Parsley
Above: Parsley dislikes humid heat and will appreciate shade.
Parsley, another soft herb, will flourish in half a day of shade or in high, bright shade. Whether it’s curly or flat-leaf, Petroselinum crispum, native to Europe and parts of the the Mediterranean, will be slower to bolt when shaded.
We can raise BDNF levels in our brain by fasting and exercising, as well as by eating and avoiding certain foods.
There is accumulating evidence that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) may be playing a role in human depression. BDNF controls the growth of new nerve cells. “So, low levels of this peptide could lead to an atrophy of specific brain areas such as the amygdala and the hippocampus, as it has been observed among depressed patients.” That may be one of the reasons that exercise is so good for our brains. Start an hour-a-day exercise regimen, and, within three months, there can be a quadrupling of BDNF release from our brain, as seen below and at 0:35 in my video How to Boost Brain BDNF Levels for Depression Treatment.
This makes sense. Any time we were desperate to catch prey (or desperate not to become prey ourselves), we needed to be cognitively sharp. So, when we’re fasting, exercising, or in a negative calorie balance, our brain starts churning out BDNF to make sure we’re firing on all cylinders. Of course, Big Pharma is eager to create drugs to mimic this effect, but is there any way to boost BDNF naturally? Yes, I just said it: fasting and exercising. Is there anything we can add to our diet to boost BDNF?
Higher intakes of dietary flavonoids appear to be protectively associated with symptoms of depression. The Harvard Nurses’ Health Study followed tens of thousands of women for years and found that those who were consuming the most flavonoids appeared to reduce their risk of becoming depressed. Flavonoids occur naturally in plants, so there’s a substantial amount in a variety of healthy foods. But how do we know the benefits are from the flavonoids and not just from eating more healthfully in general? We put it to the test.
Some fruits and vegetables have more flavonoids than others. As shown below and at 1:51 in my video, apples have more than apricots, plums more than peaches, red cabbage more than white, and kale more than cucumbers. Researchers randomized people into one of three groups: more high-flavonoid fruits and vegetables, more low-flavonoid fruits and vegetables, or no extra fruits and vegetables at all. After 18 weeks, only the high-flavonoid group got a significant boost in BDNF levels, which corresponded with an improvement in cognitive performance. The BDNF boost may help explain why each additional daily serving of fruits or vegetables is associated with a 3 percent decrease in the risk of depression.
What’s more, as seen here and at 2:27 in my video, a teaspoon a day of the spice turmeric may boost BNDF levels by more than 50 percent within a month. This is consistent with the other randomized controlled trials that have so far been done.
Nuts may help, too. In the PREDIMED study, where people were randomized to receive weekly batches of nuts or extra-virgin olive oil, the nut group lowered their risk of having low BDNF levels by 78 percent, as shown below and at 2:46.
And BDNF is not implicated only in depression, but schizophrenia. When individuals with schizophrenia underwent a 12-week exercise program, they got a significant boost in their BDNF levels, which led the researchers to “suggest that exercise-induced modulation of BDNF may play an important role in developing non-pharmacological treatment for chronic schizophrenic patients.”
What about schizophrenia symptoms? Thirty individuals with schizophrenia were randomized to ramp up to 40 minutes of aerobic exercise three times a week or not, and there did appear to be an improvement in psychiatric symptoms, such as hallucinations, as well as an increase in their quality of life, with exercise. In fact, researchers could actually visualize what happened in their brains. Loss of brain volume in a certain region appears to be a feature of schizophrenia, but 30 minutes of exercise, three times a week, resulted in an increase of up to 20 percent in the size of that region within three months, as seen here and at 3:46 in my video.
Caloric restriction may also increase BDNF levels in people with schizophrenia. So, researchers didn’t just have study participants eat less, but more healthfully, too—less saturated fat and sugar, and more fruits and veggies. The study was like the Soviet fasting trials for schizophrenia that reported truly unbelievable results, supposedly restoring people to function, and described fasting as “an unparalleled achievement in the treatment of schizophrenia”—but part of the problem is that the diagnostic system the Soviets used is completely different than ours, making any results hard to interpret. There was a subgroup that seemed to correspond to the Western definition, but they still reported 40 to 60 percent improvement rates from fasting, but fasting wasn’t all they did. After the participants fasted for up to a month, they were put on a meat- and egg-free diet. So, when the researchers reported these remarkable effects even years later, they were for those individuals who stuck with the meat- and egg-free diet. Evidently, the closer the diet was followed, the better the effect, and those who broke the diet relapsed. The researchers noted: “Not all patients can remain vegetarian, but they must not take meat for at least six months, and then in very small portions.” We know from randomized controlled trials that simply eschewing meat and eggs can improve mental states within just two weeks, so it’s hard to know what role fasting itself played in the reported improvements.
A single high-fat meal can drop BDNF levels within hours of consumption, and we can prove it’s the fat itself by seeing the same result after injecting fat straight into our veins. Perhaps that helps explain why increased consumption of saturated fats in a high-fat diet may contribute to brain dysfunction—that is, neurodegenerative diseases, long-term memory loss, and cognitive impairment. It may also help explain why the standard American diet has been linked to a higher risk of depression, as dietary factors modulate the levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor.
Women with breast cancer should include the “liberal culinary use of cruciferous vegetables.”
Both the Women’s Intervention Nutrition Study and the Women’s Health Initiative study showed that women randomized to a lower-fat diet enjoyed improved breast cancer survival. However, in the Women’s Healthy Eating and Living Study, women with breast cancer were also randomized to drop their fat intake down to 15 to 20 percent of calories, yet there was no difference in breast cancer relapse or death after seven years.
Any time there’s an unexpected result, you must question whether the participants actually followed through with study instructions. For instance, if you randomized people to stop smoking and they ended up with the same lung cancer rates as those in the group who weren’t instructed to quit, one likely explanation is that the group told to stop smoking didn’t actually stop. In the Women’s Healthy Eating and Living Study, both the dietary intervention group and the control group started out at about 30 percent of calories from fat. Then, the diet group was told to lower their fat intake to 15 to 20 percent of calories. By the end of the study, they had in fact gone from 28.5 percent fat to 28.9 percent fat, as you can see below and at 1:16 in my video The Food That Can Downregulate a Metastatic Cancer Gene. They didn’t even reduce their fat intake. No wonder they didn’t experience any breast cancer benefit.
When you put together all the trials on the effect of lower-fat diets on breast cancer survival, even including that flawed study, you see a reduced risk of breast cancer relapse and a reduced risk of death. In conclusion, going on a low-fat diet after a breast cancer diagnosis “can improve breast cancer survival by reducing the risk of recurrence.” We may now know why: by targeting metastasis-initiating cancer cells through the fat receptor CD36.
We know that the cancer-spreading receptor is upregulated by saturated fat. Is there anything in our diet that can downregulate it? Broccoli.
Broccoli appears to decrease CD36 expression by as much as 35 percent (in mice). Of all fruits and vegetables, cruciferous vegetables like broccoli were the only ones associated with significantly less total risk of cancer and not just getting cancer in the first place, as you can see here and at 2:19 in my video.
Those with bladder cancer who eat broccoli also appear to live longer than those who don’t, and those with lung cancer who eat more cruciferous veggies appear to survive longer, too.
For example, as you can see below and at 2:45 in my video, one year out, about 75 percent of lung cancer patients eating more than one serving of cruciferous vegetables a day were still alive (the top line in red), whereas, by then, most who had been getting less than half a serving a day had already died from their cancer (the bottom line in green).
Ovarian cancer, too. Intake of cruciferous vegetables “significantly favored survival,” whereas “a survival disadvantage was shown for meats.” Milk also appeared to double the risk of dying. Below and at 3:21 in my video are the survival graphs. Eight years out, about 40 percent of ovarian cancer patients who averaged meat or milk every day were deceased (the boldest line, on the bottom), compared to only about 20 percent who had meat or milk only a few times a week at most (the faintest line, on the top).
Now, it could be that the fat and cholesterol in meat increased circulating estrogen levels, or it could be because of meat’s growth hormones or all its carcinogens. And galactose, the sugar naturally found in milk, may be directly toxic to the ovary. Dairy has all its hormones, too. However, the lowering of risk with broccoli and the increasing of risk with meat and dairy are also consistent with the CD36 mechanism of cancer spread.
Researchers put it to the test in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer who were given pulverized broccoli sprouts or a placebo. The average death rate was lower in the broccoli sprout group compared to the placebo group. After a month, 18 percent of the placebo group had died, but none in the broccoli group. By three months, another 25 percent of the placebo group had died, but still not a single death in the broccoli group. And by six months, 43 percent of the remaining patients in the placebo group were deceased, along with the first 25 percent of the broccoli group. Unfortunately, even though the capsules for both groups looked the same, “true blinding was not possible,” and the patients knew which group they were in “because the pulverized broccoli sprouts could be easily distinguished from the methylcellulose [placebo] through their characteristic smell and taste.” So, we can’t discount the placebo effect. What’s more, the study participants weren’t properly randomized “because many of the patients refused to participate unless they were placed into the [active] treatment group.” That’s understandable, but it makes for a less rigorous result. A little broccoli can’t hurt, though, and it may help. It’s the lack of downsides of broccoli consumption that leads to “Advising Women Undergoing Treatment for Breast Cancer” to include the “liberal culinary use of cruciferous vegetables,” for example.
It’s the same for reducing saturated fat. The title of an editorial in a journal of the National Cancer Institute asked: “Is It Time to Give Breast Cancer Patients a Prescription for a Low-Fat Diet?” “Although counseling women to consume a healthy diet after breast cancer diagnosis is certainly warranted for general health, the existing data still fall a bit short of proving this will help reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence and mortality.” But what do we have to lose? After all, it’s still certainly warranted for general health.
Switching to a plant-based diet has been shown to achieve far better outcomes than those reported on conventional treatments for both active and quiescent stages of Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis.
Important to our understanding and the prevention of the global increase of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), we know that “dietary fiber reduces risk, whereas dietary fat, animal protein, and sugar increase it.” “Despite the recognition of westernization of lifestyle as a major driver of the growing incidence of IBD, no countermeasures against such lifestyle changes have been recommended, except that patients with Crohn’s disease should not smoke.”
We know that “consuming whole, plant-based foods is synonymous with an anti-inflammatory diet.” Lists of foods with inflammatory effects and anti-inflammatory effects are shown here and at 0:50 in my video, The Best Diet for Crohn’s Disease.
How about putting a plant-based diet to the test?
Cutting down on red and processed meats didn’t work, but what about cutting down on all meat? A 25-year-old man “with newly diagnosed CD…failed to enter clinical remission despite standard medical therapy. After switching to a diet based exclusively on grains, legumes [beans, split peas, chickpeas, and lentils], vegetables, and fruits, he entered clinical remission without need for medication and showed no signs of CD on follow-up colonoscopy.”
It’s worth delving into some of the details. The conventional treatment he was started on is infliximab, sold as REMICADE®, which can cause a stroke and may increase our chances of getting lymphoma or other cancers. (It also costs $35,000 a year.) It may not even work in 35 to 40 percent of patients, and that seemed to be the case with the 25-year-old man. So, his dose was increased after 37 weeks, but he was still suffering after two years on the drug. Then he completely eliminated animal products and processed foods from his diet and finally experienced a complete resolution of his symptoms.
“Prior to this, his diet had been the typical American diet, consisting of meat, dairy products, refined grains, processed foods, and modest amounts of vegetables and fruits. Having experienced complete clinical remission for the first time since his Crohn’s disease diagnosis, the patient decided to switch to a whole food, plant-based diet permanently, severely reducing his intake of processed foods and limiting animal products to one serving, or less, per week.” Whenever his diet slipped, his symptoms started coming back, but he could always eliminate them by eating healthier again. After six months adhering to these diet and lifestyle changes, including stress relief and exercise, a follow-up “demonstrated complete mucosal healing [of the gut lining] with no visible evidence of Crohn’s disease.”
We know that “a diet consisting of whole grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables has been shown to be helpful in the prevention and treatment of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, gallbladder disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and many cancers. Although further research is required, this case report suggests that Crohn’s disease might be added to this list of conditions.” That further research has already been done! About 20 patients with Crohn’s disease were placed on a semi-vegetarian diet—no more than half a serving of fish once a week and half a serving of meat once every two weeks—and they achieved a 100 percent remission rate at one year and 90 percent at two years.
Some strayed from the diet, though. What happened to them? As you can see below and at 3:32 in my video, after one year, half had relapsed, and, at year two, only 20 percent had remained in remission. But those who stuck with the semi-veg diet had remarkable success. It was a small study with no formal control group, but it represents the best-reported result in Crohn’s relapse prevention published in the medical literature to date.
Nowadays, Crohn’s patients are often treated with so-called biologic drugs, expensive injected antibodies that suppress the immune system. They have effectively induced and maintained remission in Crohn’s disease, but not in everybody. The current remission rate in Crohn’s with early use of REMICADE® is 64 percent. So, 30 to 40 percent of patients “are likely to experience a disabling disease course even after their first treatment.” What about adding a plant-based diet? Remission rates jumped up to 100 percent for those who didn’t have to drop out due to drug side effects. Even after excluding milder cases, researchers found that 100 percent of those with serious, even “severe/fulminant disease, achieved remission.”
If we look at gold standard systematic reviews, they conclude that the effects of dietary interventions on inflammatory bowel diseases—Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis—are uncertain. However, this is because only randomized controlled trials were considered. That’s totally understandable, as that is the most rigorous study design. “Nevertheless, people with IBD deserve advice based on the ‘best available evidence’ rather than no advice at all…” And switching to a plant-based diet has been shown to achieve “far better outcomes” than those reported on conventional treatments in both active and quiescent stages in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. For example, below and at 5:37 in my video, you can see one-year remission rates in Crohn’s disease (100 percent) compared to budesonide, an immunosuppressant corticosteroid drug (30 to 40 percent), a half elemental diet, such as at-home tube feedings (64 percent), the $35,000-a-year drug REMICADE® (46 percent), or the $75,000-a-year drug Humira (57 percent).
Safer, cheaper, and more effective. That’s why some researchers have made the “recommendation of plant-based diets for inflammatory bowel disease.”
It would seem clear that treatment based on addressing the cause of the disease is optimal. Spreading the word about healthier diets could help halt the scourge of inflammatory bowel disease, but how will people hear about this amazing research without some kind of public education campaign? That’s what NutritionFacts.org is all about.
Eating a diet filled with animal products can disrupt our microbiome faster than taking an antibiotic.
If you search online for “Crohn’s disease and diet” or “ulcerative colitis and diet,” the top results are a hodgepodge of conflicting advice, as you can see below and at 0:15 in my video Preventing Inflammatory Bowel Disease with Diet.
What does science say? A systematic review of the medical literature on dietary intake and the risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease finds that Crohn’s disease is associated with the intake of fat and meat, whereas dietary fiber and fruits appear protective. The same associations are seen with ulcerative colitis, the other major inflammatory bowel disease—namely, increased risk with fat and meat, and a protective association with vegetable intake.
Why, according to this meta-analysis of nine separate studies, do meat consumers have about a 50 percent greater risk for inflammatory bowel disease? One possibility is that meat may be a vehicle for bacteria that play a role in the development of such diseases. For instance, meat contains “huge amounts of Yersinia.” It’s possible that antibiotic residues in the meat itself could be theoretically mucking with our microbiome, but Yersiniaare so-called psychotropic bacteria, meaning they’re able to grow at refrigerator temperatures, and they’ve been found to be significantly associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This supports the concept that Yersinia infection may be a trigger of chronic IBD.
Animal protein is associated with triple the risk of inflammatory bowel disease, but plant protein is not, as you can see below and at 1:39 in my video. Why? One reason is that animal protein can lead to the formation of toxic bacterial end products, such as hydrogen sulfide, the rotten egg gas. Hydrogen sulfide is not just “one of the main malodorous compounds in human flatus”; it is a “poison that has been implicated in ulcerative colitis.” So, if you go on a meat-heavy, low-carb diet, we aren’t talking just about some “malodorous rectal flatus,” but increased risk of irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel syndrome (ulcerative colitis), and eventually, colorectal cancer.
Hydrogen sulfide in the colon comes from sulfur-containing amino acids, like methionine, that are concentrated in animal proteins. There are also sulfites added as preservatives to some nonorganic wine and nonorganic dried fruit, but the sulfur-containing amino acids may be the more important of the two. When researchers gave people increasing quantities of meat, there was an exponential rise in fecal sulfides, as seen here and at 2:37 in my video.
Specific bacteria, like Biophilia wadsworthia, can take this sulfur that ends up in our colon and produce hydrogen sulfide. Eating a diet based on animal products, packed with meat, eggs, and dairy, can specifically increase the growth of this bacteria. People underestimate the dramatic effect diet can have on our gut bacteria. As shown below and at 3:12 in my video, when people are given a fecal transplant, it can take three days for their microbiome to shift. Take a powerful antibiotic like Cipro, and it can take a week. But if we start eating a diet heavy in meat and eggs, within a single day, our microbiome can change—and not for the better. The bad bacterial machinery that churns out hydrogen sulfide can more than double, and this is consistent with the thinking that “diet-induced changes to the gut microbiota [flora] may contribute to the development of inflammatory bowel disease.” In other words, the increase in sulfur compounds in the colon when we eat meat “is not only of interest in the field of flatology”—the study of human farts—“but may also be of importance in the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis…”
I went to college to study art history and journalism, and I spent a lot of my free time cooking and planning dinner parties. So after graduating I went to culinary school with the plan to combine my loves of communication and food. I dove into any experience I could find in my hometown of Houston, Texas –– teaching cooking classes, working in food nonprofits, developing recipes, and even farming. Eventually, I moved to New York to work as a recipe developer and food stylist, including at meal kit companies Marley Spoon and Dinnerly.
In my free time, I continue my quest to perfect kolaches and breakfast tacos that taste like home. You’ll find me shopping at the farmers market, having elaborate picnics, or hosting dinner parties that start with crudité and end with a candy plate.
Nothing makes me happier than helping create more enthusiastic home cooks — except perhaps a good salad. My favorite way to cook and eat is seasonally, locally, and sustainably. I want to give people the tools and access to do that, too!
Is it possible to reverse type 1 diabetes if caught early enough?
TheInternational Journal of Disease Reversal and Prevention has already had its share of miraculous disease reversals with a plant-based diet. For instance, one patient began following a whole food, plant-based diet after having two heart attacks in two months. Within months, he experienced no more chest pain, controlled his cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugars, and also lost 50 pounds as a nice bonus. Yet, the numbers “do not capture the patient’s transformation from feeling like a ‘dead man walking’ to being in command of his health with a new future and life.”
I’ve previously discussed cases of reversing the autoimmune inflammatory disease psoriasis and also talked about lupus nephritis (kidney inflammation). What about type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease we didn’t think we could do anything about? In contrast to type 2 diabetes, which is a lifestyle disease that can be prevented and reversed with a healthy enough diet and lifestyle, type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which our body attacks our pancreas, killing off our insulin-producing cells and condemning us to a life of insulin injections—unless, perhaps, it’s caught early enough. If a healthy enough diet is started early enough, might we be able to reverse the course of type 1 diabetes by blunting that autoimmune inflammation?
As I discuss in my video Type 1 Diabetes Treatment: A Plant-Based Diet, we know that patients with type 1 diabetes “may be able to reduce insulin requirements and achieve better glycemic [blood sugar] control” with healthier diets. For example, children and teens were randomized to a nutritional intervention in which they increased the whole plant food density of their diet—meaning they ate more whole grains, whole fruits, vegetables, legumes (beans, split peas, chickpeas, and lentils), nuts, and seeds. Researchers found that the more whole plant foods, the better the blood sugar control.
The fact that more whole fruits were associated “with better glycemic [blood sugar] control has important clinical implications for nutrition education” in those with type 1 diabetes. We should be “educating them on the benefits of fruit intake, and allaying erroneous concerns that fruit may adversely affect blood sugar.”
The case series in the IJDRP, however, went beyond proposing better control of just their high blood sugars, the symptom of diabetes, but better control of the disease itself, suggesting the anti-inflammatory effects of whole healthy plant foods “may slow or prevent further destruction of the beta cells”—the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas—“if dietary intervention is initiated early enough.” Where did this concept come from?
A young patient. Immediately following diagnosis of type 1 diabetes at age three, a patient began a vegetable-rich diet and, three years later, “has not yet required insulin therapy…and has experienced a steady decline in autoantibody levels,” which are markers of insulin cell destruction. Another child, who also started eating a healthier diet, but not until several months after diagnosis, maintains a low dose of insulin with good control. And, even if their insulin-producing cells have been utterly destroyed, individuals with type 1 diabetes can still enjoy “dramatically reduced insulin requirements,” reduced inflammation, and reduced cardiovascular risk, which is their number one cause of death over the age of 30. People with type 1 diabetes have 11 to 14 times the risk of death from cardiovascular disease compared to the general population, and it’s already the top killer among the public, so it’s closer to 11 to 14 times more important for those with type 1 diabetes to be on the only diet and lifestyle program ever proven to reverse heart disease in the majority of patients—one centered around whole plant foods. The fact it may also help control the disease itself is just sugar-free icing on the cake.
All this exciting new research was presented in the first issue of The International Journal of Disease Reversal and Prevention. As a bonus, there’s a companion publication called the Disease Reversal and Prevention Digest. These are for the lay public and are developed with the belief I wholeheartedly share that “everyone has a right to understand the science that could impact their health.” You can go behind the scenes and hear directly from the author of the lupus series, read interviews from luminaries like Dean Ornish, see practical tips from dietitians on making the transition towards a healthier diet, and enjoy recipes.
The second issue includes more practical tips, such as how to eat plant-based on a budget, and gives updates on what Dr. Klaper is doing to educate medical students, what Audrey Sanchez from Balanced is doing to help change school lunches, and how Dr. Ostfeld got healthy foods served in a hospital. (What a concept!) And what magazine would be complete without an article to improve your sex life?
The journal is free, downloadable at IJDRP.org, and its companion digest, available at diseasereversaldigest.com, carries a subscription fee. I am a proud subscriber.
Want to learn more about preventing type 1 diabetes in the first place? See the related posts below.
Above: Two chrysanthemum green pies—round, and square.
Chrysathemum Green Pies
Makes two 10-inch pies
Chrysanthemun greens add their unique, bright flavor to a yeasted pie that makes a satisfying autumn lunch or supper, or a portable treat for a picnic (it is so crisp and narrow that I have slipped it into the laptop pocket of my backpack, more than once. Well-wrapped, of course). This recipe can also be made using dandelion greens, spinach, chard, or lamb’s quarters. Adding feta is optional, but places the pie firmly in the Mediterranean. It surprised me to learn, when I first researched them, that the chrysanthemum greens prized in East Asia are native to the Mediterranean, and Central Asia.
Dough
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1¼ cups tepid water
1 lb all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Filling
2 lbs chrysanthemum greens and tender stems and leaves, washed
6 oz feta cheese, roughly crumbled, or cubed (optional)
1 Tablespoon sumac
2 teaspoons gochugaru, chile flakes, or Aleppo pepper
¼ teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
Egg wash
For the dough: In a mixing bowl combine all the ingredients and stir until a cohesive dough forms. Turn out onto a board or clean surface and knead (or stretch and pull) until the sticky dough feels silky, supple and elastic— about 10 minutes. Return to the cleaned, lightly oiled bowl and cover. Allow to rise until it has doubled, about 1 -2 hours, depending on the ambient temperature. (I use the microwave as a proofing box. If a finger-poke into the dough fills in, it needs more rising-time. If a dent remains, it’s ready.) Return the dough to a board or clean surface and knead for a few seconds. Cut it in four equal pieces, and form each piece into a ball. Cover, and rest for 10 minutes.
For the filling: Steam the chrysanthemum greens in a large, covered pot over high heat until they are completely wilted and tender, but bright green —about 6 minutes. Transfer them to a colander and dunk into a bowl of cold water to refresh them. Drain, and squeeze as dry as possible. Roll them up in a tea towel to press out extra moisture (no one wants a soggy pie). Chop them roughly. Place the greens with optional feta in a bowl, add the sumac, chile of choice, pepper, and salt, and toss well to mix.
To assemble: Preheat the oven to 425°F. Oil two baking sheets or line them with parchment.
Press your palm down on each dough ball to flatten it and release the air inside. Working with two balls at a time, roll or press the dough flat into 10 to 11-inch discs (any larger will make the base too thin and fragile). Gently wrap one disc around your rolling pin and transfer to a baking sheet. Readjust its shape if it stretches in the transfer. Heap half the chrysanthemum green filling onto the dough and spread it evenly, leaving the outside ½-inch clear. Wet that edge with water. Place the second rolled-out disc on top of the first, covering the filling. Press down and seal the edges, either by pressing with a fork’s tines, or turning the edges up and crimping with your fingers. Cover this pie while you make the second one.
Brush each pie with the egg wash, cut a steam vent in the middle of each, and slide into the hot oven. (If your oven is small, bake one at a time, covering the waiting pie with damp cloth while the other bakes.)
Bake until golden, about 25 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool, or enjoy piping hot!
I went to college to study art history and journalism, and I spent a lot of my free time cooking and planning dinner parties. So after graduating I went to culinary school with the plan to combine my loves of communication and food. I dove into any experience I could find in my hometown of Houston, Texas –– teaching cooking classes, working in food nonprofits, developing recipes, and even farming. Eventually, I moved to New York to work as a recipe developer and food stylist, including at meal kit companies Marley Spoon and Dinnerly.
In my free time, I continue my quest to perfect kolaches and breakfast tacos that taste like home. You’ll find me shopping at the farmers market, having elaborate picnics, or hosting dinner parties that start with crudité and end with a candy plate.
Nothing makes me happier than helping create more enthusiastic home cooks — except perhaps a good salad. My favorite way to cook and eat is seasonally, locally, and sustainably. I want to give people the tools and access to do that, too!
The Buchinger-modified fasting program is put to the test.
A century ago, fasting—“starvation, as a therapeutic measure”—was described as “the ideal measure for the human hog…” (Fat shaming is not a new invention in the medical literature.) I’ve covered fasting for weight loss extensively in a nine-video series, but what about all the other purported benefits? I also have a video series on fasting for hypertension, but what about psoriasis, eczema, type 2 diabetes, lupus, metabolic disorder, rheumatoid arthritis, other autoimmune disorders, depression, and anxiety? Why hasn’t it been tested more?
One difficulty with fasting research is: What do you mean by fasting? When I think of fasting, I think of water-only fasting, but, in Europe, they tend to practice “modified therapeutic fasting,” also known as Buchinger fasting, which is more like a very low-calorie juice fasting with some vegetable broth. Some forms of fasting may not even cut calories at all. As you can see below and at 1:09 in my video The World’s Largest Fasting Study, Ramadan fasting, for example, is when devout Muslims abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset, yet, interestingly, they end up eating the same amount—or even more food—overall.
The largest study on fasting to date was published in 2019. More than a thousand individuals were put through a modified fast, cutting daily intake down to about ten cups of water, a cup of fruit juice, and a cup of vegetable soup. They reported very few side effects. In contrast, the latest water-only fasting data from a study that involved half as many people reported nearly 6,000 adverse effects. Now, the modified fasting study did seem to try to undercount adverse effects by only counting reported symptoms if they were repeated three times. However, adverse effects like nausea, feeling faint, upset stomach, vomiting, or palpitations were “observed only in single cases,” whereas the water-only fasting study reported about 100 to 200 of each, as you can see below and at 2:05 in my video. What about the benefits though?
In the modified fasting study, participants self-reported improvements in physical and emotional well-being, along with a surprising lack of hunger. What’s more, the vast majority of those who came in with a pre-existing health complaint reported feeling better, with less than 10 percent stating that their condition worsened, as you can see in the graph below and at 2:24 in my video.
However, the study participants didn’t just fast; they also engaged in a lifestyle program, which included being on a plant-based diet before and after the modified fast. If only the researchers had had some study participants follow the healthier, plant-based diet without the fast to tease out fasting’s effects. Oh, but they did! About a thousand individuals fasted for a week on the same juice and vegetable soup regimen and others followed a normocaloric (normal calorie) vegetarian diet.
As you can see below and at 2:54 in my video, both groups experienced significant increases in both physical and mental quality of life, and, interestingly, there was no significant difference between the groups.
In terms of their major health complaints—including rheumatoid arthritis; chronic pain syndromes, like osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, and back pain; inflammatory and irritable bowel disease; chronic pulmonary diseases; and migraine and chronic tension-type headaches—the fasting group appeared to have an edge, but both groups did well, with about 80 percent reporting improvements in their condition and only about 4 percent reporting feeling worse, as you can see below and at 3:25 in my video.
Now, this was not a randomized study; people chose which treatment they wanted to follow. So, maybe, for example, those choosing fasting were sicker or something. Also, the improvements in quality of life and disease status were all subjective self-reporting, which is ripe for placebo effects. There was no do-nothing control group, and the response rates to the follow-up quality of life surveys were only about 60 to 70 percent, which also could have biased the results. But extended benefits are certainly possible, given they all tended to improve their diets, as you can see below and at 4:00 in my video.
They ate more fruits and vegetables, and less meats and sweets, and therein may lie the secret. “Principally, the experience of fasting may support motivation for lifestyle change. Most fasters experience clarity of mind and feel a ‘letting go’ of past actions and experiences and thus may develop a more positive attitude toward the future.”
As a consensus panel of fasting experts concluded, “Nutritional therapy (theory and practice) is a vital and integral component of fasting. After the fasting therapy and refeeding period, nutrition should follow the recommendations/concepts of a…plant-based whole-food diet…”
Oftentimes when I’m out in the garden, I’ll pop a cherry tomato or blueberry straight from the bush and into my mouth. I’m not worried about washing it, but that’s because I’m an organic gardener! There are many different scenarios when it comes to washing fruit and vegetables, and I’m here to offer to guidance.
It’s funny how perspectives of cleanliness can change based on relationships. As an organic gardener, I see the fruit, vegetables, and herbs that come out of my garden as the cleanest and healthiest food that has ever been. It’s similar to how I feel as a mother. I just don’t get grossed out by snot and slobber from my own kid, as I can imagine other people would.
When I look at my relationship with the garden, I think about how much care and effort I put into the soil, into every seed that is grown, and into the water and fertilizers that feed it.
I know that each piece of produce has been nurtured in the most healthy way possible because I’m the one who nurtured it. With this knowledge, when I’m out in the garden, and a sun-warmed tomato is just begging to be picked and eaten, I pop it into my mouth without a second thought.
That doesn’t mean you want to skip washing the fruit and vegetables you plan to consume.
Whether your fruits and vegetables are picked from your garden, arrive in a CSA box, or were chosen from a market, it’s good practice to give your fruits and vegetables a wash before you eat them. I took some time to look more critically at how and why to wash fruit and vegetables to provide you with some answers to your burning questions.
This post will cover…
Washing Fruit and Vegetables From the Store
More and more experts are now advising that the produce also be washed with warm, soapy water before putting it away. This is the process I use.
Wash hands for 20 seconds with warm water and soap.
Unpackage and wash skin-on produce (like apples, avocados, beets, etc) for 20 seconds with warm, soapy water. For lettuce and cabbage, remove the outer leaves and compost. Wash the rest with water and spin in a salad spinner. For berries, remove from the packaging and rinse. Dry and store as usual. Not all produce is the same, just use common sense.
Any produce that I feel needs some extra cleaning, I use my homemade fruit and vegetable wash. I spray it on 2-3 times and let it sit for a couple of minutes before rinsing off with water.
Wash hands for 20 seconds with warm water and soap.
Apply hand lotion so your skin doesn’t break down (and feel like snakeskin!).
Always wash produce before storage, with the exception of some fruits and veggies that are best washed right before consuming.
How to Wash Vegetables and Fruit from the Garden
Unless your garden is in a public space or in proximity to exposure, garden fruit and veg don’t need the full soap and water procedure.
If you’re doing a big harvest out of the garden, then it’s worth setting up some washing buckets outside before you bring your produce indoors. Set up three buckets and fill them full of drinking water.
Take your freshly harvested vegetables and dunk them in the first bucket, swish them around, then pull them out, give them a shake, and pop them in the second bucket. If your vegetables aren’t very muddy or soiled, then you can remove them from the second bucket, put them in a salad spinner, and spin out the water.
If they were quite muddy in the first bucket, then move them over to the third bucket for the final rinse before putting them in a salad spinner.
This is really great for salad greens and root vegetables as they should be washed immediately when harvested and then they can be stored clean and ready to eat. There are some freshly harvested fruit like blueberries, grapes, tomatoes, apples, and some vegetables like kale that I don’t like to wash before bringing them inside because I want to keep the protective bloom on their skin as long as possible.
These are all vegetables and fruits I don’t wash until I’m ready to eat them.
You can see bloom on the outside of blueberries as a grayish coating that comes off when you touch the blueberries with your fingers or when you wash them. You might also notice it on some of the other vegetables in your garden. The purpose of it is to help protect the fruit from insects and bacteria, so when I bring in produce that has bloom, I don’t wash it until right before I’m about to eat it, allowing the produce to protect itself as long as possible and stay fresh for longer.
Apples should be washed just before being eaten.
Why Wash Fruit and Vegetables from the Garden?
I feel pretty good about the soil and the water that I use in my garden. I use a drinking-water-safe hose for watering the vegetable beds, and I don’t use synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides.
That being said, you never know what might be lurking in the soil or water. While I feel confident that popping some fresh berries into my mouth while gardening is not going to be the end of me, I still practice washing larger harvests.
The other reason for washing fruit and vegetables you harvest from the garden is to remove any little bits of soil, debris, and insects that might be hiding. You know the old saying that the only thing worse than finding a worm in your apple is finding half a worm? Well, the only thing worse than finding a caterpillar in your salad is finding half a caterpillar.
I’m not that squeamish about bugs, and I know I’ve probably eaten my fair share. And, frankly, more people eat bugs than don’t. But I still give my kale and lettuce a good wash and send the aphids down the drain.
Wash vegetables to get dirt, debris, and insects off your produce.
Washing Organic Fruits and Vegetables from a CSA or Market
While you know what goes into the fruits and vegetables that you’re growing in your garden, it’s unclear exactly what is going into plants that come from other sources.
Even when something is marked “organic” it doesn’t necessarily mean that the soil, water, and land where it grew will meet your expectations. Plus, after the plants are harvested, then they can be touched by many hands and be exposed to many different environments, none of which you get to be privy to.
I would say that it’s just as important, if not more so, to wash purchased produce, especially considering the fact that nearly half of all foodborn illnesses come from produce. I use my homemade fruit and vegetable wash with vinegar and citric acid for anything that doesn’t come from my garden.
A salad spinner is very helpful for cleaning all kinds of greens and herbs.
What About Boxed or Bagged Salad Mixes and Pre-Cut Vegetables?
In some cases, you may purchase boxed or bagged salad mixes or pre-cut vegetables that are labelled “pre-washed.” I’m more skeptical of the cleanliness of these prepared products than I am of the whole, unpackaged vegetables.
In many cases, once you cut up a vegetable it begins to decompose more rapidly than if it was left whole. And yet the shelf life of these prepared foods seems to be much longer than fresh ones I can keep in my fridge, which makes me suspicious.
I always wash pre-cut salad mixes, and I’m shocked that when I wash them in the salad spinner, the water often turns green or cloudy. When I wash freshly harvested greens from my garden, there may be a few aphids floating in there, maybe even a spider, but the water is clear
I suspect that there’s some sort of fumeric acid or anti-fungal treatment added to extend shelf life and that’s not something that I want to consume. After all that pre-washing and adding chemicals, studies show that the pre-washed salads still probably need to be washed anyway, so I just skip them and go for a whole head of lettuce from the market instead.
You should still wash any produce that’s labelled as “pre-washed.”
Should I Use Plain Water or Produce Wash?
Research says that using plain tap water to wash fruit and vegetables is effective at removing the majority of the contaminants that could be on them.
When I wash sprouts I usually add a few drops of food-grade hydrogen peroxide into the water just to be extra careful.
As I mentioned above, I typically only use water to clean the produce that comes from my garden. But anything that I buy from the store, I like to use my homemade fruit and vegetable wash. This extra layer of cleanliness helps to remove the more difficult stuff, such as apple wax and surface-level pesticides.
Soaking vegetables and fruits in an acidic solution helps to remove bacteria and any surface-level pesticides.
Can I Eat Bruised, Past-its-Prime Produce?
I don’t believe that things from the garden have to be perfect, but it’s also important to use your common sense and not eat things that are spoiled.
It may be tempting to salvage a crop if you’ve grown gorgeous produce and all of a sudden, just before harvest, it got munched by a critter or attacked by a fungus.
Use your judgement to see if cutting off the affected portion leaves you with something that is still edible, but remember that even if it’s edible that doesn’t necessarily mean you should eat it.
If you cut off the undesirable section and what you have left is a piece of nice, tasty produce, go ahead and eat it, but keep in mind that often when a fruit or vegetable has succumbed to damage or disease, its flavour has also been affected (see more on that here).
There’s an Ayurvedic principle that states you should not eat anything unless it’s delicious. I try to live by this. If the food is no longer fresh and delicious, then it probably isn’t going to serve me to eat it. It will, however, make excellent compost.
Slight bruising is quite okay to ingest.
Can I Wash Off Bugs and Still Eat My Vegetables?
What about bugs? Wormy apples, aphiddy kale, and leaf-mined lettuce sure aren’t pretty, but they are also aren’t the end of your harvest. Insects on garden-grown vegetables are a certainty, but eating them is not so black and white. It depends more on how much you can stomach.
In most cases, the insects won’t hurt you to eat them, despite the fact that they might be somewhat unappetizing.
Probably the worst thing they’re going to do is suck all the delicious flavour out of your food, leaving it less tasty than it would have been had it not been shared with some six-legged friends.
In most cases, I’ll just wash off any bug damage and remove any discolouration or unappetizing-looking parts. The insects should come right off when washing fruit and vegetables, and the rest is just fine to eat.
