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[post_content] =>
In the past month's series on nutrition, I explained how the manner in which we eat can affect us as much as our food choices can. We looked at the vital roles that cooking and chewing play in digestion, and the importance of eating slowly and not too much. And I described the digestive tract from the mouth to the stomach. I think it’s important that everyone understands at least the basics of how their organs work, so let's look at the rest of the digestive tract this time.
Although we may have teeth and reality TV, we’re more like worms than we like to think. We’re all just a bunch of cylinders, with a tube of the outside world running through us. Worms put dirt in theirs, we put marshmallows in ours.
After the mouth, esophagus, and stomach, food enters the small intestine, which is about 23 feet long. It's where most nutrient absorption takes place, and all the value of good nutrition hinges on good absorption. At the beginning of the small intestine, a bunch of gastric juice is injected from the pancreas and gallbladder, which neutralizes the acidic food coming from the stomach, and makes the nutrients more absorbable. The pancreas produces a blend of digestive enzymes that break down the different components of food - fat, carbohydrates, and protein. The gallbladder squirts out bile (which is produced in the liver) to make fats absorbable.
The lining of the small intestine is composed of many folds, covered with tiny hair-like protrusions called villi (which are further covered with tinier hairs called microvilli). These greatly increase the surface area of the small intestine to maximize nutrient absorption. Some inflammatory conditions, such as celiac disease (gluten intolerance) and bacterial overgrowth of the small intestine (SIBO) can damage this membrane, leading to malnutrition.
The small intestine is followed by the much shorter but wider large intestine (most of which is called the colon). Food spends a very long time in the large intestine, where water and some remaining nutrients are absorbed, and stool is compacted and waits to be liberated. Finally, the stuff we can’t digest, along with waste products from throughout the body, leaves the rectum as stool. About 60 percent of its dry weight is bacteria.
Where does it come from? Riding along with us in our intestines are about 100 trillion microorganism passengers. There are about 500 different kinds, most of which are bacteria. They’re known as our “gut flora,” and they do all sorts of useful things for us, such as helping us digest things, protecting us from harmful microbes, synthesizing some vitamins, stimulating growth of intestinal cells, and assisting the immune system. We acquire these microscopic pals by eating food that’s contaminated with them or deliberately cultured with them (like yogurt and sauerkraut), and by taking them in supplements known as probiotics.
So, as we’ve seen, our environment (what we select from it based on taste) literally passes through us. We make the outside world into ourselves. It’s a practice worth taking seriously. Besides the healthy eating practices I discussed previously, some of the main factors in good absorption are having enough gastric juice, having healthy gastric membranes, having a strong and healthy population of gut flora, and having a relaxed nervous system.
Cultivating a relaxed nervous system has many additional benefits, so spend time in nature, eat in a calm environment, get massages, meditate, do whatever works for you to become peaceful. As for gastric juice, insufficient enzyme secretion is pretty common. Consider a good digestive enzyme complex, taken at the beginning of a meal. I’ve had at least a hundred patients who have overcome longstanding digestive problems just by supplementing for a while with digestive enzymes. Some people who have trouble digesting fat do well to take a product that also contains ox bile. Finally, promote healthy gut flora by eating live, fermented/cultured foods on a regular basis, and occasionally taking a course of probiotics (especially after using antibiotics).
If you’re interested in learning more about the big picture of eating and nutrition, check out the four week course I developed for The Dragontree, called How to Eat.
Be well,
Dr. Peter Borten
[post_title] => Basic Vehicle Maintenance, Part Three: Know Your Insides
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[post_content] => It’s almost time for the Thanksgiving feast, and I know many people feel it’s a challenge to avoid gorging themselves and feeling guilty. So I’d like to offer some thoughts on the subject, along with a great recipe for a vegetarian gravy that’s (somewhat) healthier than the usual stuff but every bit as delectable.
This recipe came originally from my wife Briana’s grandfather John Moore, passed down by her dad, also John Moore, to her, and by association to me. There’s something special about following these family recipes – even if they change over time. At the start, deliciousness was the only guiding principle. Then Briana wanted to make it vegetarian, and I wanted to make the flavor a bit more complex and add some spices that might even help to balance digestive-overwhelm.
First let’s talk about overeating and feeling guilty. I’ve written about this in the past, and I’ll say it again: the single most healthful change a person can make to how they eat is to stay fully present during the act of eating.
More than keto or intermittent fasting or veganism or any other diet, being totally engaged and conscious while eating will automatically change how you eat, what you eat, and how you feel afterwards. Furthermore, it will teach you what does and doesn’t work for your body, and it will add a whole new dimension of depth and connection to the act of nourishing yourself. I’ve known people to spontaneously abandon unhealthy behaviors like gambling and codependent relationships when they became more awake to their nutrition and allowed themselves to experience all facets of that process – being both the loving giver and the grateful receiver of their own loving care.
I know there’s going to be good conversation and an abundance of excellent food. Staying conscious while eating doesn’t mean you can’t have it all. In fact, you’ll actually have a more fulfilling experience of all of it – both the food and the company – if you stay present. It might take twice as long to eat half as much food, but you’ll be able to walk away from the table rather than hobbling.
Now for the recipe. As it’s presented below, it contains gluten and dairy, but it can easily be modified to have neither.
Ingredients:
- Butter – ¾ to 1 cup (a stick of butter is a half cup) – or ghee, or coconut oil, or vegan butter substitute
- Onion – half to whole, depending on how much you like onion – finely diced
- Mushrooms (optional) – any kind, though I prefer crimini or another variety that isn’t chewy – approximately 1 cup, finely diced
- Garlic – 5 cloves, crushed
- Flour (normal or gluten-free) – ¾ cup to 1 cup – roughly the same amount of flour as the amount of butter you used
- Vegetable broth – 4 cups (have a few more cups on hand). I like the Better Than Bouillon Organic Vegetable Base and Organic Mushroom Base, and I often mix the two together. It comes in a glass jar and one jar makes many cups of broth, so it’s tasty, compact in your fridge, and eco-friendly.
- Soy sauce or tamari (gluten free soy sauce) – 4 tablespoons
- Worcestershire sauce (optional) – 1 to 2 teaspoons – note, it usually contains anchovies
- Rosemary, chopped – approximately 1 tablespoon fresh or 1 teaspoon dried
- Sage, chopped – approximately 1 tablespoon fresh or 1 teaspoon dried
- Fresh ginger – finely grated – approximately 1 tablespoon
- Nutritional yeast (optional) – 1 to 2 tablespoons
- Good quality salt and black pepper
Directions:
In a large deep pan over medium heat, sautee the onion, mushroom (if using), and garlic in the butter (or butter alternative) until it begins to brown (about 5 minutes).
Slowly add the flour, soy sauce or tamari, nutritional yeast (if using), and worcestershire sauce (if using). Work it with a spoon or spatula to form a smooth paste. Stir occasionally, allow it to become evenly browned.
Gradually add the broth, using a whisk or hand blender to blend it with the flour paste.
Add the ginger, sage, and rosemary, bring to a boil, then immediately reduce to a simmer, and simmer low for about 5 minutes.
At this point the gravy should be delicious and an ideal consistency.
If you need to thin it, add more broth or (if you don’t want to make it more salty) hot water.
If you want to thicken it, add more flour to a small amount of broth in a bowl and whisk or hand blend to make smooth, then add and continue to whisk into the gravy until the desired consistency is achieved. If it’s much too thin, this could also be achieved with corn starch or arrowroot powder – mix 1 tablespoon at a time in a small amount of water or broth until dissolved, then add to the gravy and bring to a boil again, stirring constantly. Repeat as necessary to thicken further.
If you want to give it more kick, add extra ginger, garlic, black pepper, or crushed red pepper.
If it’s not salty enough, add either more salt, or (if it needs more body altogether) add more soy sauce or tamari.
If it lacks body, you may add additional nutritional yeast, a little powdered clove, or a pinch of garam masala.
Serve abundantly over virtually everything or drink by the glass. If you make this gravy I’d love to know how it turns out – along with whatever of your own modifications made it even better! And if you experiment with eating mindfully, I would love to know what’s different about the eating process and how you feel afterwards. Also, when you practice mindful eating, what obstacles do you encounter?
Be well,
Peter
[post_title] => Mind-Blowingly Good Vegetarian Gravy – and How to Leave the Table Feeling Good
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IF WE’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO EAT ANIMALS, HOW COME THEY’RE MADE OUT OF MEAT?
I saw that line on a bumper sticker when I was about 16, shortly after becoming a vegetarian. I laughed heartily at it; it was a good reminder not to take myself too seriously.
I stopped eating meat mostly because I just didn’t like it. But in the early 1990s I encountered John Robbins’s Diet for a New America, and my reasons for not eating flesh became more numerous. If you aren’t familiar with him, Robbins is the vegan son of the cofounder of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream empire, and he left the ice cream business in part because of his opposition to the mistreatment of cows and his emerging belief that humans shouldn’t consume animal products. In Diet for a New America he explores the ethics of factory farms, the environmental impacts of animal production, and the health effects of consuming dairy and meat. It made sense to me and I felt empowered in my position.
But when I began grad school in Chinese Medicine some years later, my Asian professors were perplexed by the high rate of vegetarianism among the students. They asked us, “Why wouldn’t you eat meat if you can afford it?” To them, vegetarianism was an involuntary choice necessitated by poverty. They pointed to our sharp canine teeth and the place of meat in the history of human diets. They weren’t familiar with any of the issues or fads around meat eating and vegetarianism; they only cared about what’s best for human health. So I decided to set aside my biases and earnestly seek the truth.
When I began my clinical internship, I met numerous vegetarian patients – and even more vegans – who were weak and had insufficient immune function. Their pulses, which should have felt something like a jumping piece of spaghetti at the wrist, were often more like a faintly twitching thread. Often, they were under the impression that not eating meat in itself would make them healthy – even if they never gave much thought to what they did eat instead.
In my practice, ethics and preferences began to take a back seat to biological necessity. When these patients began to eat meat – often because I advised them to experiment with it – nearly all of them felt stronger and healthier. I even met some people who thrived on meat, whose bodies seemed to crave meat over anything else and whose only intolerances were to certain plant-based foods. Eventually I started eating a little meat now and then. (I can’t say I noticed much difference in my health from doing so, but I was already eating plenty of animal protein in the form of eggs and yogurt.)
Coincidentally, meat was making a big comeback. When I first moved to Portland, it had a large selection of vegetarian restaurants. Fifteen years later, many of these had been replaced with restaurants that were unapologetically meat-based with barely a flesh-free dish on the menu. Elk burgers, pork bellies, and lard were so hot. With the advent of Paleo diets, people were flocking back to meat as if it they’d been deprived their whole lives.
Meanwhile, I became a father, I became more connected to the earth, I realized I had never really forgotten all those points that Robbins made 30 years ago, and I found it increasingly difficult to be willfully ignorant of the impacts of my choices of consumption. One of those impacts is that meat production – in the prevailing manner and scale – is devastating to the planet.
Thus, I found myself in the middle of the complex intersection of nutrition, industry, environment, ethics, and politics – and I’ve never again had an easy answer to the question of whether people should or shouldn’t eat meat.
We’ll look more closely at the pros and cons of meat consumption next week. I’d love to hear about your experience with – or without – meat in the comments below.
Be well,
Dr. Peter Borten
[post_title] => To Meat or Not to Meat?
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In the past month's series on nutrition, I explained how the manner in which we eat can affect us as much as our food choices can. We looked at the vital roles that cooking and chewing play in digestion, and the importance of eating slowly and not too much. And I described the digestive tract from the mouth to the stomach. I think it’s important that everyone understands at least the basics of how their organs work, so let's look at the rest of the digestive tract this time.
Although we may have teeth and reality TV, we’re more like worms than we like to think. We’re all just a bunch of cylinders, with a tube of the outside world running through us. Worms put dirt in theirs, we put marshmallows in ours.
After the mouth, esophagus, and stomach, food enters the small intestine, which is about 23 feet long. It's where most nutrient absorption takes place, and all the value of good nutrition hinges on good absorption. At the beginning of the small intestine, a bunch of gastric juice is injected from the pancreas and gallbladder, which neutralizes the acidic food coming from the stomach, and makes the nutrients more absorbable. The pancreas produces a blend of digestive enzymes that break down the different components of food - fat, carbohydrates, and protein. The gallbladder squirts out bile (which is produced in the liver) to make fats absorbable.
The lining of the small intestine is composed of many folds, covered with tiny hair-like protrusions called villi (which are further covered with tinier hairs called microvilli). These greatly increase the surface area of the small intestine to maximize nutrient absorption. Some inflammatory conditions, such as celiac disease (gluten intolerance) and bacterial overgrowth of the small intestine (SIBO) can damage this membrane, leading to malnutrition.
The small intestine is followed by the much shorter but wider large intestine (most of which is called the colon). Food spends a very long time in the large intestine, where water and some remaining nutrients are absorbed, and stool is compacted and waits to be liberated. Finally, the stuff we can’t digest, along with waste products from throughout the body, leaves the rectum as stool. About 60 percent of its dry weight is bacteria.
Where does it come from? Riding along with us in our intestines are about 100 trillion microorganism passengers. There are about 500 different kinds, most of which are bacteria. They’re known as our “gut flora,” and they do all sorts of useful things for us, such as helping us digest things, protecting us from harmful microbes, synthesizing some vitamins, stimulating growth of intestinal cells, and assisting the immune system. We acquire these microscopic pals by eating food that’s contaminated with them or deliberately cultured with them (like yogurt and sauerkraut), and by taking them in supplements known as probiotics.
So, as we’ve seen, our environment (what we select from it based on taste) literally passes through us. We make the outside world into ourselves. It’s a practice worth taking seriously. Besides the healthy eating practices I discussed previously, some of the main factors in good absorption are having enough gastric juice, having healthy gastric membranes, having a strong and healthy population of gut flora, and having a relaxed nervous system.
Cultivating a relaxed nervous system has many additional benefits, so spend time in nature, eat in a calm environment, get massages, meditate, do whatever works for you to become peaceful. As for gastric juice, insufficient enzyme secretion is pretty common. Consider a good digestive enzyme complex, taken at the beginning of a meal. I’ve had at least a hundred patients who have overcome longstanding digestive problems just by supplementing for a while with digestive enzymes. Some people who have trouble digesting fat do well to take a product that also contains ox bile. Finally, promote healthy gut flora by eating live, fermented/cultured foods on a regular basis, and occasionally taking a course of probiotics (especially after using antibiotics).
If you’re interested in learning more about the big picture of eating and nutrition, check out the four week course I developed for The Dragontree, called How to Eat.
Be well,
Dr. Peter Borten
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