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| Disease Proof Your Child |
I found another Fuhrman book - Disease Proof Your Child. The title evokes recent memories of mothers handing their children McDonalds french fries to keep them soothed in the car.
When I slogged vegetables at Walmart, the biggest laughs among us were the technicolor cereal aisle - air-puffed sugar confections - and the tiny air-puffed balls of sweetness for babies in their section, so they could grow into Count Chocula.
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| Merge the Dracula theme with fake chocolate and sugar. Mmmmm. |
Furhman makes a good argument for starting children with highly nutritious greens, fruits, vegetables, and nuts instead of sugary, salty, and fat foods.
I see so many morbidly obese young children that it makes me groan. Children are normally high energy, so how much sugar and fat are being consumed to keep them roly-poly before first grade?
Yes, I had access to desserts as a child, but my parents were always urging vegetables on us. My mother fell for cow's milk "building strong bones and muscles." The Dairy Council gave teachers beautiful color posters about all the high fat, high protein foods we should eat, diminishing the use of vegetables, fruits, and nuts.
Calcium is easily obtained from greens, without the salt, sugar, and fat. We got our milk at elementary school too. We paid our milk money for that each week. Once a year we got chocolate milk - and we loved it.
Fuhrman argues that children will love the good foods they are offered. No secret - the worst garbage (salt, fat, sugar) is found in the form of prepared food ready to microwave or grab from the fast-food window.
I can testify that eating greens and beans has eliminated most of my desire for desserts and junk food. Apples and oranges are my new dessert, about four portions a day. Spinach is shockingly delicious and satisfying in a huge bowl with walnuts, a bit of dressing, flax seed, and blueberries - three blood pressure reducers marked in blue.
We all have different tastes, and beans vary widely. I favor the more flavored types, though they may have more sugar and salt. I have always liked lima beans so I bought some cans for a lunch or supper. Soup is good to blend with vegetables and mushrooms.
I am getting better at getting ingredients cooked to the right temperature. Ice cold mushrooms do not taste right in warmed vegetable soup. Frozen peas warm up fast in the soup, so I look for other frozen ingredients, like the green pepper and onions frozen together. There are also pearl onions and other combinations.
Am I disease proof? I dropped to my lowest weight since we had a President from California. My blood pressure dropped to normal and I stopped the calcium channel blocker. My blood sugar is probably near normal, so I wait for the A1C in March.
Yes, I fell off the no-dessert wagon a total of four days in two months. I eat some fast food with Sassy, but buy no colas with or without sugar.
This is not a diet but a big and welcome change in habits. I reduced meat to three times a week, no milk or milk products, no eggs, no fish. I have had a little cheese on toast but it made my head pound each time, which I consider a salt alert. Pizza? - not even thought about, though I love Chicago pizza.
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| Fuhrman was an Olympic skater. So far, I like the heart book the best - concise and clear. |
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| The End of Heart Disease. The used copies are generally very inexpensive, because they were not read much and were left in the estate. |
