Depression. PMS. Banana Bliss. Plants on Prozac? Bananas for the Blues? Mustard Seeds for Sleep?

From Dr. G: nutritionfacts.org

According to the studies cited in the video:

Fruit for depression? If that's the case, then the entire country should be growing fruit and not GMO corn & soy!!  Sure, some drugs can boost the serotonin levels, but do you ever actually listen to the entire "effects" list on those TV ads?  Maybe a "safer" approach is needed.  Especially since so many people don't even have medical insurance! And you don't need a script to buy fruit!

What kinds of foods?  Plantains.  Pineapple.  Bananas.  Kiwis.  Plums.  Tomatoes.

Spicy Plantains from Anupy Singla's "Vegan Indian Cooking" book.

Got Melatonin?  White & Black Mustard Sees.  Wolfberry.  Fenugreek.

Tryptophan.  Soy Protein, Peanuts, Beans, Wheat Flour, and Potatoes.

Tofu Curry from Anupy's New "Vegan Indian Cooking" book.

Vegan Indian Cooking: 140 Simple and Healthy Vegan Recipes

Plants have all the same stuff that we do!  Melatonin.  Dopamine.  Serotonin.  

Humans use the serotonin as a neurotransmitter.  Plants use it in a protective role.

Raw Vegan Matcha Ice Cream.  No added fats, salts, or oils.

NanaZen

nutritionfacts.org

According to the studies cited in the video:

High Veggies, fruits, shrooms, and soy have been associated with lower rates of depression.  Leafy greens and fruit (Doug Graham, eat your heart out, no wonder you are so happy!)  have been implicated in better behavior & better mental health in early adolescence.  Why??

Serotonin is in plants.  But it does not (alone) cross the blood brain barrior.  But Tryptophan, apparently does.  Tryptophan is a precursor to serotonin. Looks like people got pretty pissy when they didn't get enough tryptophan (in experiments with a low/no tryptophan diet).  What about those pills you can just pick up at a supplement store?  It sounds like there have been some deaths that were related to this supplement.  However, Dr. G notes that it could be due to a dietary impurity.  Meaning, maybe some type of contamination, etc....However..........there are pill free ways to amp up that tryptophan.

nutritionfacts.org

Tryptophan..........Most people think of Turkey or Milk.  According to these studies, tryptophan is only in small quantities in animal foods, and is muscled out.  However, according to this, the carbohydrates in plant foods allow the tryptophan to be better absorbed.

In the Video:  

"When Trypotphan is ingested as part of a protein meal, serum tryptophan levels rise but brain tryptophan levels decline.  This paradoxical relationship is due to the mechanism of transport used by tryptophan to cross the blood-brain barrier."

The tryptophan in the turkey, cheese, egg breakfast dropped.  The waffle, OJ group-the levels went up.  

And carbon rich, protein poor evening meals actually improved PMS!  After carbs?  The serotonin increases.  So peeps with PMS may actually "over"eat carbs to try and improve their bad moods.....

Toxic Cock Syndrome. It's not just in the Apple Juice. 92% are Poopy Cocks. Scat Chat..

                                             
 Think Apple Juice is Poison??  Ha!!
 Turns out that nothing is quite as Toxic as Good ol' Cock.

Dr. Oz, Dr. Oz....Sigh.....I already rolled my eyes when your entire show was about apple juice made with non-organic apples from China instead of talking about Milk made right here in the good ol' US of A.  But if you are going for the arsenic angle.....think you might have missed the boat a little.  Maybe we should talk about......

Toxic Cocks.  Well, we already know from Dr. Greger & my last post "Weiner Woes. Smaller Shorter Schlongs may be caused by Eating Cocks".  But aside from shortening your stick, could the cock you eat be toxic as well?  Yep, turns out Oz should have had an entire show talking about poultry consumption.  But we can't blame this one on China.  Apples, yeah, brush off and act like the Chinese people are so much crazier then we are with their pesticide use.  But what about Chickens raised in the United States, our "First World" Wonder?  Our much coveted "chicken breast"?  Arsenic.  It's not just for rat poison anymore.  Nope, turns out that while apple juice with apples grown in China may contain up to 36 ppb, Chicken may have as much as 430 ppb.  Americans eat 3 times as much chicken as they drink apple juice, which means there could be 30 times the risk from eating chicken!

Why would there be arsenic in chicken??? Because the Poultry Industry Feeds it to them!!!!

And if arsenic wasn't enough.......I like scat, SINGING.

Not this, um, literally, shit.

From Dr. Greger's (NutritionFacts.org) site:

"Every year about two million pounds of arsenic-containing chemicals have been fed to chickens in the United States. Why would the industry do such a thing? When tens of thousands of birds are crammed into filthy, football field-sized sheds to lie beak-to-beak in their own waste they can become so heavily infested with internal parasites that adding arsenic to the feed to poison the bugs can result in a dramatic increase in growth rates. Also, arsenic can give the carcass a pinkish tinge, which consumers prefer."





Yeah, you might want to consider making Anupy's Arsenic, Poop And Chicken Free Curry from "The Indian Slow Cooker" book.  Made with Free Range Veggies.

Post to come!

And if you are into Scat, this is the Shit.  And I don't mean the kind that's in chicken!Amazing!

Try it at Home!

But with your Scat-Free Curry, you may want to listen to this....Some Tight Polyphonic Scat.  Well, an Indian type of "scat".  Loved it!!

Marvelous Mustard Greens with Spinach (Sarson ka Saag) from Anupy Singla's "The Indian Slow Cooker" book. Snatch up one of Anupy's New Stainless Spice Tiffins!

Another incredible recipe from Anupy Singla's "The Indian Slow Cooker" book.
So can you believe I actually pulled up a lot of my mustard and had to buy mustard for this recipe??
It was crowding my kale, and wasn't working in my fruit smoothies.
Little did I know that it grows everywhere in Punjab and according to Anupy, "synonymous with being Punjabi".

Of course I had to buy the spinach.  Those mean slugs and 100 degree weeks bit my spinach.

  The Indian Slow Cooker: 50 Healthy, Easy, Authentic Recipes

Yes, I am lazy.  I do recycle the plastic & prefer to buy the brand that has compostable plastic.  So often the loose spinach is "soggy" because it is constantly sprayed with water at the supermarket.

Garlic, Onions, Ginger.  Spices.  The plate courtesy of my very mild mannered (I had to hide the ethnicity or she would be "outed" )  Friend who wants to keep me "urban".  I know, I need new plates.  Thankfully my mother doesn't actually read my blog!! These plates were gifts to my husband and I.  Guess what she got for her gift??  "The Indian Slow Cooker"   book and a slow cooker, of course.  Apparently it made it's way to a nudist gathering (she was on assignment-she does NOT frequent these places, which made it even funnier).

A lot of garlic!!  But it cooks for hours, so it doesn't "seem" over garlicky in the end. 

Finally I am using my Thai Chiles!! We only planted one this year because last year I used so few of them.  With all the Indian food, we have nearly picked the plant dry!

And the greens totally overflowing in the slow cooker!!  The lid barely stayed on!

After several hours cooking.  Before hitting the Vita-Mix!  

Urad Dal with the Mustard Greens with Spinach.

Wow!!  We loved this dish.  I preferred this over the Palak (sin Paneer).  I liked the Palak as well but was just totally blown away by the flavor of the Mustard Greens.   And it's not a dish that is always served at "the restaurant".  And if it is served out, usually greens have way too much oil.  But this dish, ZERO.  No oil.  Nada.  Anupy mentioned it was addictive, and I would have to concur.  I believe that my husband and I  ate the entire recipe (10 cups of food) in one evening-and most of that was me.  I have a renewed love of Mustard Greens (just not in my fruit smoothies).  

And I have turned into such a Punjabi Wanna-Be Princess in the kitchen, that I am counting the days (okay, not days as I have no publication date) until Anupy's ALL VEGAN book comes out in 2012!!  Check her Indian As Apple Pie Blog to see what she may include in her next masterpiece.  And check out her beautiful new spice tiffin!

"The Spice Tiffin" 
photos by "Brave New Pictures".




Anupy created this beautiful stainless steel spice tiffin and it comes with standard size measuring spoons.  Although she loved her old tiffin, it drove her crazy to have to use a knife to get level spoonfuls.   I was thrilled when one came to my doorstep (Anupy gifted one to me maybe because I am just slightly crazy about her book!!).  Honestly, I just kept waiting for them to come out because we actually hadn't purchased them at the market yet because I knew hers was going to rock!!  It has space for 7 spices.  A beautiful wedding or housewarming gift.  For anyone!  As Anupy has several at home and uses tiffins for her Indian spices, but also for cinnamon and toppings for morning breakfast.  Meaning, you can put whatever spices you like in it!  They are beautiful & going quickly!  Order them through her website.  Williams-Sonoma online & at stores as well-but call first because demand is high!!  I would order through her website & then pick up an extra copy of her book (to gift) as well!

Don't come between me and my mustard.  This stuff has protection  :)

 Why should you buy Anupy's book?  Why might you want to consider eating plants??  Hmmm.....Watch Sanjay's interview with Bill Clinton.  It is only the tip of the iceberg! (The iceberg that is melting too quickly if we don't start eating plants!  :)

And the very short video above, just more evidence that eating a whole foods, plant based diet may be more powerful than drugs or surgery. From Dean Ornish's study and on The Amazing Dr. Greger's (see my post about Dr. Greger) Nutrition Facts Website. Hours of not so mindless entertainment!

The Magnificent Dr. Michael Greger's Nutritional Nuggets: No Need For Viagra with Vegan Hearthrobs!

  

Dr. Michael Greger has given us the Jackpot.
Nutrition Facts Website with daily videos & blog.

I have seen a handful of vegan speakers, nutritionists, etc...and although I support them all, some are more entertaining than others!  Remember my John McDougall Post?  McDougall ("bean limiter") was hard for me to watch and then I am limited to one cup of beans a day when there is a slow cooker of Organic Dad's Rajmah on my countertop?   Just take me now.........Brenda Davis came to the St. Louis Whole Foods once & I went, reluctantly because the roads were supposed to get bad later, and she was extremely compelling & normal.  Some of Brenda's Books.  Brenda's books are the best, most comprehensive vegan nutrition books that I have come across.  Must have books.

Becoming Raw: The Essential Guide to Raw Vegan Diets

Becoming Vegan: The Complete Guide to Adopting a Healthy Plant-Based Diet

  
Defeating Diabetes

  Brenda uses the "normal" nutritional values and is very rational and I remember that she actually improved her bone density & had "SuperWoman Bones" past the age of 40.  She also talked about the treatment of animals at the end and I tried not to just start bawling right there (along with others I am sure).  But the funniest, wittiest speaker I have ever seen was at a MeatOut in St. Louis when Dr. Michael Greger came to town.  The talk was on Mad Cow Disease and honestly I wasn't expecting to be too terribly interested, as I was already vegan, so it wasn't like I was going to make any dietary changes.  Was I wrong!!  His vocal inflections are awesome and I was totally mesmerized.  See, Dr. Greger went through medical school, so he knows "both sides".  He has a conscience.  He is a total nutrition freak, reading almost a gazillion trade journals, nutrition news, every single day.  At this time, I think he was just doing speaking gigs, for next to nothing.  He just had to tell people about what he had learned, as there is an incredible urgency when you are studying something and then you realize how many people are dying of preventable causes.  And he was hilarious!  His incredibly dry, sarcastic humor makes the information totally entertaining, and you will less likely to slit your wrists afterwards.  Because, really, some of the information just makes you so depressed that our "Free Market" (which isn't truly free at all) is so okay with knowingly taking lives, and that it is okay.

My dad loaned me a DVD he put out, as he compiles the "new information" of each year and puts together a little "quiz show".  Low tech.  I kind of put off watching it because I assumed my husband would be bored, thinking, "I'm already vegan, why do we have to watch something when we already eat that way?".   So when nothing was on the hundreds of Uverse stations, and he was pretty consumed with Angrybirds or FruitNinja or some addicitve ipad game, I watched the DVD.  After a few of the facts, he turned off the video game that had consumed him prior, and stared at the screen.  We both watched the whole DVD and then he asked if there was another one.  We were addicts.  Now our favorite Michael Gregor (who has since been snatched up by the HSUS with a paying job) has an active blog and a website where he is putting every little video snippet online!  So you can watch AND spread the word!!  I am SO addicted to these little nuggets & want to buy all the DVD's as well so I can watch from beginning to end.

Carbophobia: The Scary Truth about America's Low-Carb Craze

Heart Failure: Diary of a Third Year Medical Student

Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching

  This guy is for real.  He is not profit driven in the least and I truly believe this is his passion.  Like an artist or a musician, he has been "performing" his art since his "realizations" in medical school, whether he gets any money or not.  He does it because he has to.  I feel like Michael Greger sees the tragic & utterly ridiculous nature of our "American Way" and our "Health Care" system and he delivers relevant information in such a way that makes "bad medicine" consumable-the truth with a side of humor.  He also reads so many trade journals, FROM THE INDUSTRIES themselves, that it's virtually impossible not to find him compelling.  He is getting some of the "evidence" from reading journals of the Meat & Dairy industry themselves-so it's not like they can dispute their own facts!!  

So after all of my slamming some really pathetic politicians (Jay Nixon has been neutered, Missouri Dog Lovers, "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" and why policitians are douchebags, Glen Beck and his full leather body suit: Why Al Gore should be Vegan,  Meat Eating Tea Partiers & Republicans. Why Meat Eaters have to pay for sex.) who seem to be only driven by sex, money & power, I have to pay tribute to these exceptional men who are changing the world.  Michael Greger, John Robbins, and RawRunner Tim VanOrden for the "Raw Team" (a newbie but also a big reader of nutritional information and not motivated by money).  These guys give me some hope for humanity.  Oh!  Can't forget Mike Anderson, who seems to be "quietly" blowing the lid off of the "Cancer Industry".  Also not profit driven. And Will Tuttle.  Thank you to these heroes.  I know there are many more, and to me, these are the true Warriors, another type of "Army" in which we truly need to invest our money in-as it is my feeling there is a lot of "Terrorism" going on in our own country that causes significantly more deaths than any bomb or outside act, thus far.  

What inspired Michael?  His Grandmother.  Instead of "losing" her when she got ill, he saw his grandmother get wheeled into the "Pritikin Center" and walk out.

Why not fix the "Terrorism" that's here?  What if it would save money economically?  What if it would help curb global warming?  What if it would save lives?  How many people do you know that have died from heart disease?  From Cancer?  From Diabetes?  How heartbreaking was it?  I just hear something about Cancer & it brings me to tears now.  It seems like it's "the flu" and everyone has come down with it. What if there is a better way to prevent and treat diseases than some "Ensure" meal replacement and artificially colored "Jello"?  

Vegan Hearthrob List (The Men's List)-the movers & shakers & information spreaders.  I am not a "star fucker" at all (but I did get chills hearing Art Garfunkel singing "Bridge Over Troubled Water" while  warming up before his show).......but these are the people who really give me shivers.  They are saving lives and fearless, even when there may be a lot of opposition to some of their research. 
And these men don't need Viagra!! But the cool thing is, that they may teach you, that you don't either!!
Michael Gregor
John Robbins
Mike Anderson
Colin Campbell
Caldwell Esselstyn
Tim Van Orden

Who are yours?  Who did I leave out??  And "The Last Heart Attack" with Sanjay Gupta on CNN is rescheduled for this Saturday evening!  Set your DVR's!


Food Revolution, The: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and Our World


The New Good Life: Living Better Than Ever in an Age of Less


Healthy at 100: The Scientifically Proven Secrets of the World's Healthiest and Longest-Lived Peoples


Diet for a New America


Reclaiming Our Health: Exploding the Medical Myth and Embracing the Source of True Healing


 Mike Anderson


Caldwell Esselstyn


 Colin Campbell


Will Tuttle

  And I have a "Get Skinny, Go Vegan" Blogroll.  Please let me know if you would like to be on it (and please exchange the favor if you have a blogroll or link list) and if your blog focuses on raw, cooked, baking, vegan fasion, or healing from cancer, diabetes, weight loss, etc......Just leave the information in the comments section! The food/fashion blogs have to be vegan (duh)!