Dharma Feast Cookbook (6 page)

Too many of these cycles for too long increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and also contribute to weight gain. None of us can afford emotional instability. It is difficult to function in a body unbalanced from intense blood sugar swings. The goal is to eat foods with a GI below 55. Almost all living foods fall into this category.

Along with GI we need to know a food’S glycemic load (GL). This tells how much carbohydrate is in one serving. Foods with a GL of 10 or lower are best. A food can have a high GI but a low GL because of its density. For instance, pineapple has a GI of 66 but a GL of 6 because it isn’t very dense. A good list of GI and GL numbers can be found at
www.mendosa.com/gilists.htm.

#4—The Traditional Diet

The Traditional Diet is based on the work of Westin A. Price, a prominent dentist who studied the nutrition of indigenous cultures around the world to research the causes of dental decay and deformation as well as the physical degeneration he saw in America. He founded what became the Research Section of the American Dental Association. In general, but not across the board, these indigenous cultures eat meat and animal products. Therefore, except for the two specific aspects discussed below, we do not recommend this diet, although we know people who follow this regimen with great success.

1. The Traditional Diet advocates eating high-quality saturated fats. These fats ensure that we get enough fat-soluble vitamin A, which supports the immune system, cell structural integrity, and bone, eye, and heart health. One of the best saturated fats is organic, raw butter. Coconut oil and coconut milk also provide good fats, and many of our recipes will suggest these. We recommend that you use at least a tablespoon a day of high-quality saturated fats for cooking, or more in a smoothie. A good oil mix for cooking is equal parts olive, coconut, and sesame oils. A tablespoon or more of coconut oil or at least a quarter-cup of coconut milk can be a delicious addition to a smoothie.

2. The second aspect of the Traditional Diet that we incorporate is the use of fermented foods. They support healthy digestive-tract bacteria. These include sauerkraut, pickles, tempeh, soy sauce, and kimchi (a Korean sauerkraut). Mulkasan, a fermented whey drink, can be found in most health food stores, so this can be used in Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the diet.

#5—The Alkaline/Acid Consideration

The recipes in
Dharma Feast Cookbook
support healthy eating and healthy bodies. The discussions in
Our Main Influences
are designed to introduce different aspects of achieving this goal. And although acid/alkaline was touched on in
The Macrobiotic Diet,
this balance is so important we gave it its own section as well.

Keeping alkaline and acid balanced (pH) is essential for health. Almost every biological system requires an alkaline environment. The digestive system is the body’S only acidic environment. It needs to have the right proportion of acids to digest food.

Every food is either alkaline or acid in nature. An
alkaline food
is one in which, after it is metabolized, there are leftover electrolytes. The body needs these surplus electrolytes to carry electrical impulses across cells in the nervous system, heart, and muscles. An
acid food
is one in which its electrolytes are insufficient to neutralize the acid it contains. Thus the body must pull electrolytes from cells, thus weakening or killing them.

In general, we eat considerably more acidic foods than alkaline foods. Dairy products, meat, most grains (not millet and quinoa), and most
processed foods are acidic. If too much acidic food is eaten, the body is stripped of electrolytes. Physical symptoms can include fatigue, depression, headaches, mouth ulcers, muscle spasms, overall muscle weakness, twitching, convulsions, irregular heartbeat, blood pressure changes, and numbness. We may also develop nervous system or bone disorders. To regain balance and keep the blood at an alkaline level it extracts minerals from the bones. Natural medicine says that this is the main cause of arthritis. Other medical and common-sense arguments also support that an acidic environment in the blood and tissues is much more likely to breed disease.
(Read Cleanse and Purify Thyself: Book 1
by Richard Anderson and
The China Study
for further information on diseases caused by a body in an acid state.)

The way to assure proper pH balance is through diet. To maintain this balance some acidic foods are necessary. The goal is to eat within a range of 70 percent alkaline foods, 30 percent acidic foods.
Dharma Feast Cookbook
draws heavily from the alkaline side of the chart, as most of the foods recommended on this diet are alkaline. The chart below is a good introduction to foods from each category. If you are concerned about a food not on this list, there are many websites you can consult. One good one is
www.rense.com/1.
mpicons/acidalka.htm.

¹
In Asian philosophy,
yin
represents soft, yielding, slow, diffuse, feminine energy;
yang
represents hard, aggressive, fast, solid, masculine energy.
Yin-yang
is always portrayed together to show the interdependence, interconnection, and natural balance between what can appear to be contrary forces.

*Eat foods from this group no more than three times a week

**Alcoholic beverages are highly acid forming and destroy friendly bacteria in the digestive system.

†Processed foods lack enzymes and minerals, making it difficult for the body to get the nutrients it needs. Charts from the book
Cleanse and Purify Thyself, Book 1,
by Richard Anderson, and used with permission.

Everything changes when we overlay

—L
EE
L
OZOWICK

The Dharma Feast Diet

The diet we recommend is composed primarily of grains, cooked and raw vegetables, greens, fruits, fresh-squeezed juices, nuts, seeds, beans, seaweeds, fermented foods, raw organic butter or organic ghee (clarified butter), water, and certain supplements (see
Supplementation
in
Resources and Recommendations,
Chapter 7
).

The following lists will introduce you to the kinds of foods on this diet. We are not recommending that
every
kitchen have
all
of them:

Grains:
The * items do not contain gluten. Short and long grain brown rice*, brown basmati rice*, millet*, quinoa*, bulgur, buckwheat*, oats (whole oat groats, steel-cut, or rolled), teff*, amaranth*, wild rice*, polenta*, barley, and sticky sushi rice* (naturally white). These grains can be bought in bulk from your local natural food grocery or food co-op.

The healthiest, least-processed rice is brown because only the first hull has been removed, leaving the bran and germ, which is where all the nutrients are. White rice ("unpolished rice") has had the bran and germ removed. Polished rice is white rice that has been buffed with glucose (sugar) or talc powder to make it bright and shiny. “Enriched rice” is polished rice that has been sprayed with synthetic vitamins and minerals. Converted or parboiled rice is white rice that has been boiled in the husk before milling (removing the outer hull).

Eat grains no more than three times per week because they are acidic. They should be soaked before cooking to remove phytic acid, which blocks the absorption of minerals. Pan-roast millet before cooking to bring out its flavor. Further instructions can be found in
Grains
in
Recipes,
Chapter 5
.

Beans:
Red and brown lentils, red kidney beans, black beans, great northern beans (navy beans), pinto beans, mung beans, garbanzo beans (chickpeas), split peas, black-eyed peas, and aduki beans (which are easy to digest). These can all be bought in bulk. Beans added to soups make them more filling.

Beans should be soaked. Further instructions can be found in
Cooking Beans
in
Recipes,
Chapter 5
.

We recommend eating beans no more than three times a week on the Stage 3 diet (see
The 3-Stage Diet
in
To Begin With,
Chapter 1
) because they are very acidic. The commitment in Stage 3 is gradually to be getting protein from lighter and more refined sources. Beans are heavy foods, heavier than soaked nuts and seeds. Someone with a clean body (meaning the liver and the large and small intestines are relatively clean of debris and toxins) can utilize protein from all kinds of vegetable sources, not just beans.

Cooking Oils:
Extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, sesame oil, grapeseed oil, palm oil, and safflow-er oil. Buy cold-pressed oils (not cold-processed, which involves chemical processing) to preserve nutrients inherent in the oil. Store oils in a dark or opaque bottle in the refrigerator for longest shelf-life—exposure to light, heat and oxygen spoils some oils quickly.

Choose extra virgin olive oil, as it is 100 percent olive oil. Virgin olive oil is 75 percent olive oil and pure olive oil is 50 percent olive oil at best. Olive oil can be stored on a shelf in a dark location. It does not lose its nutrients when heated, which is why it makes a good cooking oil.

Palm oil is good for sautéing because it has excellent stability at high temperatures. Buy red palm oil because it naturally contains red carotene, the substance that is found in carrots, but note that it will give the sautéed food a golden color. The white variety has been boiled so that the red carotene is removed. One good brand is Jungle Products Red Palm Oil. Do not use palm kernel oil.

Another good cooking oil is a mix of equal parts olive, coconut, and sesame oils. The coconut and sesame oils have strong flavors so make sure they are compatible with the flavors in your finished dish. Safflower oil is sometimes preferred over this mix of oils because it is a light, delicately-flavored oil.

If any oil is heated to the point that it begins smoking, it has broken down and now contains free radicals (molecules that, when they bond to molecules in our bodies, damage cells and DNA. They play a part in the aging process and some autoimmune diseases and are linked to the development of cancer.). Throw it out and start with fresh oil.

Other Cooking Liquids:
Soy sauce, tamari, Tabasco, red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, rice vinegar, and rice wine (cooking wine).

Condiments for the Table:
Apple cider vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, Tabasco, cayenne, sea salt, pepper, gomasio (ground sesame seeds, see recipe), nutritional yeast, garlic and onion powder, Bragg Liquid Aminos (a low sodium soy sauce substitute), and tamari.

A word on salt:
If your salt is white and doesn’t clump together that means it is highly processed. Processing uses chemicals and high temperatures so that many of the minerals that naturally occur in salt are removed and other harmful substances are added. We suggest a high-quality salt (Himalayan
www.saltworks.us/himalayan-salt.asp
and Celtic
www.healthfree.com/celtic_
sea_salt.html are good choices) because it is not processed and its minerals are intact. Sea salt is also the only salt that is used in raw recipes because it is unprocessed. A word of caution— some salts are “saltier” than others. Until you get used to the sea salt you choose, add it to taste instead of in amounts suggested.

Canned or Jarred Foods:
Used on Stages 1 and 2 of this diet. The process of canning destroys enzymes so use sparingly. Choose glass jars whenever possible. Black olives, green olives, dill pickles, sauerkraut, artichoke hearts, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, coconut milk, tahini, pickled ginger, wasabi, Dijon mustard, and almond butter.