Tag: food

A New Breakfast

On By Jack Forrest MD5 Comments

My wife, Deb, recently suggested that I eat oatmeal more often for breakfast. She had observed that I seemed better in many ways when I always had an oatmeal breakfast. A couple of years ago, I broke my femur after falling on a steep, slippery park slope. This fracture extended into my knee joint and up the medial femur. A metal plate and nail device extending the full length of the femur was inserted, and I could not bear weight on the leg for three months. I was essentially bedridden. To avoid constipation, I had oatmeal every day and did well on this regime.

I like oatmeal and had been eating it 2-4 times a week for breakfast, but, about a month ago, I started eating it daily together with flax meal, cinnamon, fruits and nuts. Within a week I noticed some remarkable changes in several things: smaller, more frequent very soft bowel movements; less flatulence; no desire to eat sugar in any form. Very sweet things were now actually distasteful.

I have always had a sweet tooth–candy, cookies, baked goods, ice cream. When I changed to a healthy diet around 20 years ago, I cut way back on sweets, but I still ate some. The desire was always there, especially if I was tired.

This is not a scientific study. I have no idea if new my breakfast regime would affect others with a sweet tooth or flatulence the same way, but it might be worth a try. It certainly won’t be harmful.

If you do try it, please let me know your experience, positive or negative.

My breakfast formula:

A heaping 1/3 cup whole oats, not quick or instant

1 1/2 cups of water

Heat on high in microwave for 3 1/2 minutes.

Stir in cinnamon to taste and 3 TBS flax meal.

Let cool; mixture will thicken in a few minutes.

Top with fruit and nuts/seeds.

More from Greger’s Latest Book

On By Jack Forrest MD4 Comments

Poor diet has replaced cigarette smoking as the top cause of premature death in the US.

The single worst food is salt which is the easiest food to change desire for. Within a few weeks salt craving fades significantly. Lemon, line, spices, herbs can be used to give food more pizzazz.

A previous blog discussed salt, but did not give it the title of the worst of the worst. It’s hard to believe that the worst of the worst food is something as simple as salt. 

I addition to large amounts of salt in most processed foods the food industry uses salt in other ways. It’s one of the major problems with processed meats but saline is also injected into chicken carcasses to make them weigh more. Most commercial chickens sold have huge quantities of added sodium.

People normally lose some taste sensitively with aging. Tongue scraping can increase taste sensitivity.

A frightening statistic is that 99.4% of Americans exceed the American Heart Association’s recommended daily maximum for sodium. Note that this is not 99.4% who exceed optimal; it is 99.4% who exceed maximum recommended.

Replacing sodium chloride with potassium chloride offers health advantages but with caveats. Certain medications already can lead to high serum potassium, adding more could be dangerous. Some foods taste great with KCL; others do not. It’s trial and error. 

Statistically, adding a portion of fresh fruit daily does more to increase longevity than adding any other one food.

Supplements -the latest: 

In general, we need no vitamins or mineral supplements, especially if we eat a WFBB diet.

The exception is vitamin B-12, which is in high quantity in meat, fish, dairy, eggs but not in a WFPB diet. Since many people do not get enough sunlight, vitamin D is deficient in some people.

As we age our bodies use vitamins less efficiently.

Greger’s review of tens of thousands of articles on the subject let him to conclude:

1000 micrograms B-12 daily

2000-3000 IV D-3 daily

These recommendations leave a generous safely margin. Missing some doses is of no concern. These supplements are often critical in older people.

More specifically, calcium supplements have not been shown to help treat or prevent osteoporosis and they can be harmful.