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Produce Tip #1: How do you know when bananas are ripe?
When I started eating a raw food diet 24 years ago, I thought that ripe bananas were simply yellow, with no green coloring. About a month after starting my raw food journey, a raw food friend of mine mentioned that bananas are truly ripe when they look like this:
Here is more of the story:
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Video for My Simple Green Juice Recipe
I have shared this recipe on my blog in the past and now I have a short video explaining how I make this juice:
This juice has been one of my favorites for years because of its simplicity, nutrient content, and versatility. I find it to be a great introductory juice recipe for people new to juicing, since it has a lighter taste than green juice that contains darker leafy greens. I personally love the taste of dark leafy greens, but for some, the taste may need some “getting used to”. I can certainly appreciate this, given that when I became interested in health years ago, I did not even know that dandelion greens were edible. Now, they are one of my favorite leafy greens!
Here is the recipe:
5 stalks of celery (12” long)
1 lemon, peeled
2 medium cucumber, 8” long
This recipe makes about 32 ounces of juice. Here are some of the nutrients found in these ingredients:
| Light Green Juice ingredients | Adult Daily Values | |
| Calories | 165.9 | |
| Calcium | 246.2 | 1000 – 1200 mg |
| Iron | 2.83 | 8 – 18 mg |
| Zinc | 1.67 | 8 – 11 mg |
| Magnesium | 120.2 | 310 – 420 mg |
| Potassium | 1832.9 | 4700 mg |
The mineral content of such simple ingredients is amazing to me, especially calcium and iron. The sodium content of these ingredients is 270 mg, most of which is found in the celery. Cheers!
One of the best ways to keep in touch with us is to join our email list. You’ll receive a free copy of Our Top 12 Strategies for Long Term Success on A Raw Plant-Based Diet eBook along with regular information about raw food and plant-based diets and periodic promotions for our classes, events, and other offerings!
Video series on juicing by Dr. Rick Dina, D.C.
In this video, Rick explains his experience with juicing:
Here is one of Rick's favorite green juice recipes:
Here is another of Rick's favorite juice recipes:
One of the best ways to keep in touch with us is to join our email list. You’ll receive a free copy of Our Top 12 Strategies for Long Term Success on A Raw Plant-Based Diet eBook along with regular information about raw food and plant-based diets and periodic promotions for our classes, events, and other offerings!
Saving money with wholesale produce
Our new YouTube channel is LIVE! After so many requests, we finally have a YouTube channel where we will be posting videos on a variety of health related topics! We have a couple of videos posted there now, including Rick’s three part essential fat video, and a video about our visit to the NY wholesale produce market:
Rick and I have visited wholesale markets in both the San Francisco bay area and the New York metro area. We live in the SF bay area, so when we buy from our local wholesale produce markets we buy enough food to last us about 3 weeks. Why so much? The food available at wholesale markets is sold in boxes or cases. This works well for us because the produce is so fresh, that it lasts for often weeks at a time in our large-capacity dedicated refrigerator.
We have found that when we buy lettuce at wholesale, the heads are very large, since very few, if any of the outer leaves have been removed. These heads of lettuce are generally larger than the heads we see at the grocery store, which likely have had leaves removed to maintain a fresh look. I really enjoy going to wholesale markets because of the wide variety of food available, especially organic. A very large percentage of the food that we eat is organically grown here in California.
For produce enthusiasts like us, wholesale markets can be a great way to purchase in quantity and save a notable amount of money. Rick has calculated that on average, we spend about 50% less money on produce from the wholesale markets that we would spend on the same amount of produce at the grocery store. You may be wondering if we go to farmers markets and the answer is yes, we love our local farmers market! We can often find foods at the farmers market that are not available at the wholesale market and vice versa.
The wholesale markets we have attended open around midnight or later and close around 10 am or earlier, depending on the vendor, so Rick and I find ourselves waking at 5 am to beat rush hour to the markets. I especially love these markets, since our need to go shopping for food weekly is drastically reduced. I find myself only having to do some minor fill-in shopping for items not available at the wholesale markets, maybe once a week or twice a month. With this shopping strategy, Rick and I overall spend much less time shopping and have more time available for work and other activities we enjoy.
The challenge is that our local wholesale markets are in San Francisco and South San Francisco which are about an hour and fifteen minutes away from our home if there is little traffic. The wholesale produce market that we have visited in the New York area is in the Bronx, which is also about an hour and fifteen minutes from our parents’ homes, where we stay on our visits to the New York metro area. This market has similar hours to our bay area wholesale markets, but is much larger.
Without a doubt, wholesale markets are certainly an experience and a great way to buy fresh produce in quantity. They can also be a tremendous resource for people who live in areas that have limited access to fresh produce year round, providing that the person lives within driving distance of a wholesale market. Many major metro areas have wholesale markets, and our experience at the two we have visited is that most vendors sell to individuals, although some sell exclusively businesses. You will have to check with individual vendors to learn their sales policies.
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Five Health Tips I Learned from my Dad
Over the past several years, the longevity field has exploded in popularity as many people have become interested in staying as healthy and fit as possible into their golden years. My dad, who turned 87 this month, has been talking about the importance of fitness and health for as long as I can remember. Over the holidays this year, dad and I talked about the health-promoting habits that have made a difference in his life. Here are 5 things that he mentioned:
1. The importance of moving one’s body - When I was a child, dad started practicing yoga just about every morning upon rising at 5 AM – this was before many people had even heard of the practice. In addition this, my dad has been walking almost daily for the past 30+ years. His walking routine varies depending on the weather and ranges from 2 – 4 miles, with hills included. Dad walks within his body’s ability and he always says that it is important to not “overdo it”. He is happy to have maintained this level of fitness for so many years and does not experience any joint pain or lack of range of motion anywhere in is body. His friends often tell him that he is lucky to be able to move as well as he does, and his response to them is that he is able to do so because he started his exercise routine many years ago and has maintained it since then.
2. The importance of moving one’s mind – My dad is and has always been an avid reader. He loves learning and has numerous interests that keep his mind engaged constantly. Whenever I talk to him, he wants to talk about some new subject or idea he has recently learned. He thinks that this lifetime love of learning has helped him maintain his mental fitness over the years. He has volunteered at a local library for many years, and one of the benefits of this is exposure to lots of books within his areas of interest.
3. Relaxation is important – I work a lot, given the nature of my career. This work ethic extends to just about everything else I do, so when I am spending time working on projects with dad, I work on them until completion, even if it takes quite a bit of time and focus. When dad sees me working like this he commends me for my dedication and reminds me to take rest breaks, since he feels that rest is just as important as work. He also has told me on many occasions that excessive stress is “not worth it”. He thinks that a little stress can be a good motivator, but that constant stress can be harmful. He has always encouraged me to transform stress into action and not to worry about the things I can’t control. As much as that sounds like common sense, it’s always a good reminder.
4. A sense of humor is invaluable – Need I say more?
5. You are never too old to change – AKA flexibility of thinking. My dad has always said that “what you learn is important and how you apply what you have learned is equally important”. Dad thinks of himself as being selectively open minded, similar to me. He likes to educate himself well about subjects so that he can make a decision based on a substantial amount of information – sounds like critical thinking, which I talk about in our Science of Raw Food Nutrition classes.
When I first started becoming interested in health back in the late 1980s, dad was curious about the information I was learning and he was impressed with my health improvements. He made some changes to his diet here and there over the years, but did not really maintain the changes. About a year and a half ago, dad decided that he was ready to make some dietary changes and to move toward a plant-based diet. Over the past year and a half, he has noted that the more whole natural plant foods he consumes, the better he feels. He says he has more energy, thinks more clearly, has experienced improvements in his short and long term memory, can climb hills more easily while on his walks without having to rest at the top of the hill, etc. Myself and other family members have noticed these differences, too.
Dad attributes his improvements to both diet and exercise, but feels that diet especially has played a role, given that he has already been exercising for many years. He emphatically says that his changes have improved his life dramatically, and he thinks that at 87 years old, this has made all the difference in the world for him. He always says that age need not be a factor in one’s decision to make health promoting changes in one’s life and he is happy that he had the open mindedness to do so.
One of the best ways to keep in touch with us is to join our email list. You’ll receive a free copy of Our Top 12 Strategies for Long Term Success on A Raw Plant-Based Diet eBook along with regular information about raw food and plant-based diets and periodic promotions for our classes, events, and other offerings!
Chocolate mint banana ice cream and nutrient analysis of peppermint
Chocolate, did someone say chocolate?! Yes, chocolate mint, which is one of the many types of mint that one can find in their search for mint plants. In my journeys to various nurseries and plant sales, I have seen the obvious peppermint and spearmint, along with other more exotic types of mint including chocolate mint, and so many more.
I personally love chocolate mint – the fragrance stays true to its name and the flavor to me has a mild peppermint flavor. I currently have chocolate mint and several other types of mint growing in a planter on our deck and find myself enjoying the fragrance of the mint plants whenever I venture into our backyard garden. I have yet to find information on the nutrient content of chocolate mint, so here is a nutrient analysis of its close relative, peppermint, which contains small amounts of important nutrients:
| Fresh peppermint leaves, 10 | Adult Daily Values | |
| Calories | 0.35 | |
| Calcium | 1.22 | 1000 – 1200 mg |
| Magnesium | 0.40 | 310 – 420 mg |
| Potassium | 2.85 | 4700 mg |
I know, nutrient-wise peppermint is rather unremarkable, but Rick and I have found it can really add some zing to frozen recipes especially on hot summer days like today.
Speaking of frozen recipes, I was recently inspired by the fragrance and taste of chocolate mint to create a fun and simple recipe that Rick loves:
Chocolate mint banana ice cream (1 – 2 servings)
3 peeled frozen bananas
10 medium leaves of chocolate mint
There are many ways that Rick and I have made this ice cream. We have used a food processor, high powered blender, and twin-gear juicer. Today, I used the food processor. First, I gathered 10 leaves of chocolate mint from the garden, and then cut 3 frozen bananas into pieces about this size:
Next, I placed the banana pieces and the chocolate mint leaves into the food processor and placed the lid on the container. I blended the bananas and chocolate mint leaves using short pulses until the mixture became more homogenous:
I then blended the mixture continuously until smooth:
I then scooped the mixture into a serving bowl and placed into the freezer for about 5 minutes to let the mixture freeze. Today was a really hot day, so the mixture was a little runny after blending. Freezing for a few minutes after blending keeps the ice cream from melting before serving. When Rick and I were ready to eat the ice cream, we removed the mixture from the freezer and served with a chocolate mint garnish:
This recipe makes one medium serving or two small servings. Of course, one can make more or less depending on how much one would like to have – Rick likes to eat a lot more than this! 🙂
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Front yard citrus and a recipe for green lemonade with nutrient analysis
Whew, what a sense of accomplishment! Rick and I spent a large part of this weekend working on a front yard garden project – planting lemon bushes and a lime tree! We have wanted to do this project for so long, and finally took some time out of our very busy work schedule to do some landscaping that yields these two of our favorite fruits.
When we moved into our house, our front yard had numerous rose bushes with lovely flowers. After a period of time, we noticed that the blooms started to disappear. I would notice rosebuds on the verge of opening on one day, only to find the bud gone the next. Puzzling – why would a rosebud disappear? This occurrence became increasingly frequent, to the point where it was rare to see flowers or buds on our front yard rose bushes. We had a hunch about what was happening to our roses, but it wasn’t until one morning when I woke up for no particular reason around 4 am. I looked out one of our front windows to find a large deer feasting on our rose bushes! Just as we suspected, which hardly surprised us, given that we live near open space.
We have always loved lemons and limes, so we thought that they would make an attractive addition to our yard and replacement for the roses. About a month ago, we purchased 4 lemon bushes and a lime tree and set aside this past weekend for planting. Since our purchase, the lemon bushes have flowered and have small lemons growing on them! We really like the idea of landscaping that is both attractive and productive. Our neighbors with citrus plants have not had a problem with deer eating them, but we will see what happens. In the meantime, we are excited about the new additions to our yard! To celebrate, here is a recipe for green lemonade (aka my favorite green juice):
8 stalks of celery (12” long)
1 medium lemon, peeled
3 medium cucumber, 8” long
This recipe makes about 48 ounces of juice, depending on the ingredients. Here is a nutrient analysis of the juice ingredients:
| Green lemonade ingredients | Adult Daily Values | |
| Calories | 241.7 | |
| Calcium | 371.1 | 1000 – 1200 mg |
| Iron | 4.1 | 8 – 18 mg |
| Zinc | 2.5 | 8 – 11 mg |
| Magnesium | 180.4 | 310 – 420 mg |
| Potassium | 2774.5 | 4700 mg |
| Vitamin C | 85.7 | 70 – 90 mg |
| Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) | 0.38 | 1.1 – 1.2 mg |
| Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) | 0.61 | 1.1 – 1.3 mg |
| Vitamin B3 (Niacin) | 2.61 | 14 – 16 mg |
| Folate | 256.8 | 400 mcg |
One of the best ways to keep in touch with us is to join our email list. You’ll receive a free copy of Our Top 12 Strategies for Long Term Success on A Raw Plant-Based Diet eBook along with regular information about raw food and plant-based diets and periodic promotions for our classes, events, and other offerings!
Five Things One Can Do With Summer Squash
This week, Rick and I returned home from teaching out of town to find that many our small, six-inch long zucchini squash had grown to over a foot long! There was quite a bit of heat in our area while we were gone, so we weren’t too surprised, but now we are left with a dilemma – what to do with so many huge summer squash. Here are five ideas:
1. Shred into salad – Simple and one of our all-time favorite ways to enjoy summer squash. Rick especially loves summer squash in his salad.
2. Use in dressing – Summer squash is a great ingredient to help add volume to a salad dressing. For example, we use summer squash to increase the volume of our miso-tahini-lemon dressing which is a great strategy to decrease the fat content per volume of a higher fat dressing.
- Our recipe: Juice of ½ lemon, 2 tablespoons tahini (we like raw tahini), ½ teaspoon chickpea miso, 2 cups chopped summer squash. Blend in blender until smooth.
3. Make spiralized summer squash pasta – Have a pasta party! Here is a blog post with recipes for squash pasta and sauce.
4. Steam them – This helps to soften the toughness of large summer squash skin. We enjoy steaming large summer squash and adding some avocado for consistency and flavor. This recipe reminds me of the steamed summer squash mom used to make when I was young.
5. Share the wealth – We are now in the process of trying 🙂 to share our squash with neighbors and friends. Resoundingly, they have said “hey, thanks for the month supply” (smile) and asked “how can we prepare these?” See 1 – 4 for ideas.
Nutrient analysis of summer squash – all varieties:
| Summer squash – 2 cups chopped (226 g) | Adult Daily Values | |
| Beta carotene | 271 mcg | |
| Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) | 0.11 | 1.1 – 1.2 mg |
| Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) | 0.32 | 1.1 – 1.3 mg |
| Vitamin B3 (Niacin) | 1.10 | 14 – 16 mg |
| Folate | 65.5 | 400 mcg |
| Calcium | 33.9 | 1,000 – 1,200 mg |
| Magnesium | 38.4 | 310 – 420 mg |
| Potassium | 592.1 | 4,700 mg |
Summer squash may not be a nutrient powerhouse, but it certainly can provide contributory amounts of certain key nutrients, such as the B vitamins listed on the chart above, calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
One of the best ways to keep in touch with us is to join our email list. You’ll receive a free copy of Our Top 12 Strategies for Long Term Success on A Raw Plant-Based Diet eBook along with regular information about raw food and plant-based diets and periodic promotions for our classes, events, and other offerings!
Your Questions, Comments, and Emails
After we sent out our last newsletter, we received many questions, comments, and emails. Right now we are teaching our Science of Raw Food Nutrition classes and will be able to answer your questions and emails as time permits. Thank you for all of your kind words about our blog and newsletter and we look forward to bringing more of this type of information to you in the future!
Best of Health,
Drs. Rick and Karin Dina, D.C.
Why we do not sell “superfoods” or food products on our website
"I noticed that you do not sell superfoods or other food products on your website, why not?" This is a common question that we are asked by people we meet and visitors to our website. The answer is quite simple: we want the information we present to be as objective as we can possibly achieve and this value is very important to us. Our Science of Raw Food Nutrition classes contain information for personal health empowerment, not information associated with product promotion. So, when we are asked a question about a food or product, the answer reflects our own personal experience, research, and observation. We are happy to be able to provide you with this type of information.
Please note that we are NOT necessarily against anyone selling superfoods or food products. In fact, there have been many products that we have tried over the years that we have enjoyed and found to be of excellent quality and very useful. We look at superfoods and food products individually, since they are so diverse in their biochemical and nutritional characteristics. We just choose not to sell them, and a good number of our students and blog readers appreciate this about us. All we sell is education.
What do you think? Is the fact that we don't sell food products of significance to you?
Can certain commonly found fruits and vegetables be called "superfoods"? We think so 🙂
One of the best ways to keep in touch with us is to join our email list. You’ll receive a free copy of Our Top 12 Strategies for Long Term Success on A Raw Plant-Based Diet eBook along with regular information about raw food and plant-based diets and periodic promotions for our classes, events, and other offerings!
Welcome to 2012!
We hope that you had a joyful and healthy holiday season! January is always special time of the year for Rick and I. It is a time to rest, regroup, and set our sights on the coming year. It is also a time when we sit down and ask ourselves some formative questions: how have we progressed toward reaching our personal and professional goals and what do we want to achieve in the coming year.
Among many projects this year, we plan to continue our weekly blog posts on various health-related topics and would like to know what you want to see on this blog!
What nutrition and health topics are of interest to you? Are you interested in our travels, raw food science, our classes, and/or gardening? Are you interested in simply presented information or do you want to read about more technical topics such as nutritional biochemistry and physiology? Do you want to hear about the latest peer-reviewed nutrition research articles and clinical outcomes?
There are so many fascinating topics to share with you so we thank you for taking your time to post your questions and topics in the comment section below this blog post. We really appreciate your input!
Great News about Raw Food Nutrition with Karen Ranzi in NJ
Many thanks to Karen Ranzi, author of the book Creating Healthy Children, for hosting us at her home in October for our 4-hour raw food class "Great News about Raw Food Nutrition".
In the class, we reviewed several scientific studies of long term raw food populations. We also covered several thorough and enlightening nutrient analyses from different popular raw food approaches, and a discussed the potential pros and cons of each. It was really revealing to break things down and see what nutrients are found on each of the raw food plans.
As always, we enjoyed connecting with raw food enthusiasts, sharing information, and answering questions. If you or your group would like to host us for an event in your area, please get in touch with us through the "contact us" page on this website.
One of the best ways to keep in touch with us is to join our email list. You’ll receive a free copy of Our Top 12 Strategies for Long Term Success on A Raw Plant-Based Diet eBook along with regular information about raw food and plant-based diets and periodic promotions for our classes, events, and other offerings!
Catch a Healthy Habit Cafe in Fairfield, CT
Many thanks to Glen Colello and Lisa Storch, for recently hosting us for two successful programs at Catch a Healthy Habit café in Fairfield, Connecticut. We did an evening talk with a food demo followed by a weekend 4-hour workshop, where we shared much information about science-based raw food nutrition.
As always, it was fun to connect with so many raw food enthusiasts to share experiences and information. For those of you in the area, Catch a Healthy Habit is a vibrant raw food café in Fairfield center with lots of great menu items including smoothies, juices, salads, entrees, and creative desserts. Glen and Lisa also host a number of great health speakers there regularly. What a great raw food and plant-based health resource – in southern CT!
One of the best ways to keep in touch with us is to join our email list. You’ll receive a free copy of Our Top 12 Strategies for Long Term Success on A Raw Plant-Based Diet eBook along with regular information about raw food and plant-based diets and periodic promotions for our classes, events, and other offerings!
Life Food Gourmet in Miami
The raw restaurant Life Food Gourmet in Miami was an exceptional experience in many ways. For starters, the décor is fashionable and comfortable. The owner of the restaurant happened to be there when we were ordering, and talked to us for a few minutes about the history of Life Food Gourmet. He was very kind and interested in our experience at his restaurant – which was fabulous. I had one of the BEST salads I have ever had at a raw restaurant.
Rick and I are tough customers when it comes to large salads at raw restaurants, and we were amazed to see that this salad was so well sized. Usually, salads at raw restaurants are a little small for our taste, but this one was much larger than expected. Additionally, the combination of ingredients in the salad and the dressing was outstanding flavor-wise. 🙂 I was impressed. In the spirit of Café Gratitude, I would name this salad “I Am Impressed!” The actual name of the salad was House Salad.
We also enjoyed our hummus plate (Mediterranean Nachos) and Burrito. Kudos to the staff and owner(s) of this exceptional restaurant – we thoroughly enjoyed our experience there. Next time we go to south Florida, Life Food Gourmet will be on our list of must-go places!
One of the best ways to keep in touch with us is to join our email list. You’ll receive a free copy of Our Top 12 Strategies for Long Term Success on A Raw Plant-Based Diet eBook along with regular information about raw food and plant-based diets and periodic promotions for our classes, events, and other offerings!
Hippocrates Health Institute Presentation
We had dinner and gave a presentation to students at Hippocrates Health Institute in West Palm Beach, one of the nights we were in south Florida. The dinner spread was beautiful:
And the food was delicious! I loved the salad and dressing, greens, and the variety of prepared raw plant dishes. Our presentation was enjoyable and many attendees stayed after the presentation and talked to us about various raw food topics. We always appreciate connecting with raw food enthusiasts! Here is Dr. Rick Dina, D.C. presenting at Hippocrates in Wigmore Hall, named after the late raw food educator Ann Wigmore:
We will be presenting in Connecticut and New Jersey in October! Please see our events page for venue details.
One of the best ways to keep in touch with us is to join our email list. You’ll receive a free copy of Our Top 12 Strategies for Long Term Success on A Raw Plant-Based Diet eBook along with regular information about raw food and plant-based diets and periodic promotions for our classes, events, and other offerings!
Ultra Wellness Conference in Florida
In late June, Rick and I spoke at the Ultra Wellness conference at the Regency Health Resort and Spa in Hallandale Beach, Florida. I know this was two months ago, but hey, better late than never! The conference was great, it is always fun presenting to and spending time with like-minded people interested in health. In addition to the conference, we also did an evening talk at Hippocrates Health Institute in West Palm Beach and visited an exceptional raw food restaurant in Miami.
I’ll cover our experience at Hippocrates and the raw restaurant in upcoming posts, so stay tuned! Today, let’s talk about the Regency and Ultra Wellness Conference. The Regency Health Resort and Spa is located right ON THE BEACH and would be an incredible winter vacation destination. Here is a view of the ocean from the back deck:
The beach setting of the Regency is one of the most attractive features of the resort, along with the pool and the fabulous food! The fare at the Regency is a combination of both cooked and raw plant based dishes. Rick and I like to eat relatively simply, so the generous salad bar at lunch was totally up our alley. Here is the lunch salad bar:
Breakfast was fresh fruit with non-fruit options and dinner was usually a delicious cooked meal with a raw option. At the conference, Rick and I presented on "New Science of Raw Food Nutrition" to enthusiastic conference attendees and spent time answering their thoughtful questions. One of my favorite aspects of teaching is the question and answer session, which gives us a chance to help our students have a better understanding of nutrition and how the body works!
Here is a picture of the Regency:
And the beautiful beach behind it:
One of the best ways to keep in touch with us is to join our email list. You’ll receive a free copy of Our Top 12 Strategies for Long Term Success on A Raw Plant-Based Diet eBook along with regular information about raw food and plant-based diets and periodic promotions for our classes, events, and other offerings!
The New USDA MyPlate – Moving Toward a Plant-Based Diet
By Dr. Karin Dina, D.C.
I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the recently updated dietary suggestions released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the form of a dinner plate, called MyPlate. The new icon presents the five food group concept, from the former food pyramid, in a simpler and more relatable style that encourages Americans to move toward a plant based diet.
The MyPlate guidelines encourage people to make half of their plate fruits and vegetables. The vegetable group contains a variety of veggies: chlorophyll-rich dark leafy greens, antioxidant rich red and orange vegetables, starchy vegetables, beans and peas, and other types of vegetables, many of which are popular staples of raw food enthusiasts. Beans and peas also fall under the protein category, as do nuts and seeds. The fruit group contains a wide variety of fruits generally available in natural food markets and grocery stores, making them easily accessible. Many fruits that raw food enthusiasts use in green smoothies can be found on this list.
The remaining half of the plate is divided into the grain group and the protein group. The grain group contains both whole and refined grain options, with gluten free choices. Raw food cuisine favorites such as buckwheat, quinoa, wild rice, and amaranth are on the list. Given that a large number of people in the U.S. consume the standard western diet with plenty of processed grains and refined grain products, the MyPlate suggestion to consume at least half of grains as whole grains is a step in the right direction. Keeping the recommendations relatable and “doable” for the general population is important encourage people to consider healthier options. I personally would like to see more of an emphasis on whole food choices.
Although the protein portion of the plate includes the choice of fish and lean cuts of red meat or chicken, there are numerous choices for vegetarians and vegans including beans, nuts, and seeds. Raw food favorites such as almonds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, and cashews made the list. The MyPlate guidelines encourage people to vary their protein sources by choosing plant sources of protein.
Overall, MyPlate suggests consuming less fat and more fiber rich foods such as fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans. MyPlate also stresses the importance of exercise and eating an appropriate number of calories. Processed foods and foods that are high in added sweeteners and fats tend to be more calorie dense than whole foods, so the probability of consuming more calories per meal is much higher when one is consuming processed foods than when one is consuming whole foods.
The biggest difference between the former recommendations and the new MyPlate is the new icon, but there are some additional notable changes. For example, the dairy group on the former pyramid only gave options from dairy products, while the new MyPlate gives the plant-based option of calcium fortified soy milk. I personally would like to see this section expanded to include more calcium-rich plant-based options. MyPlate encourages people to read food labels to identify saturated fat, trans fat, sodium, and added sugar content. It also reminds people that sugar is often disguised on food labels under many names including: sucrose, glucose, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, and fructose. MyPlate makes an important suggestion: drink water instead of sugary drinks, because of their empty calorie content.
Overall, I applaud the USDA for suggesting that people consume whole foods, with an emphasis on whole natural plant foods. I am also happy to see the restyled presentation of their suggestions as the MyPlate icon. I think this is a very relatable and understandable way to convey dietary information to the American public. Of course, there are many areas where I would like to see improvements, but as a basic blueprint for people eating the standard western diet, I think that this model is a step in a positive direction. For those of us already consuming a whole food plant-based diet, this model provides some confirmation that we are consuming foods with numerous health benefits.
Reference: www.choosemyplate.gov
Posted in accordance with USDA MyPlate icon usage guidelines: The USDA does not endorse any products, services, or organizations.
The history of our Science of Raw Food Nutrition series of classes
We are happy to announce two new classes in the Science of Raw Food Nutrition series! Due to popular demand, we have recently added Science of Raw Food Nutrition III and the Advanced Educator course to our curriculum. This series previously consisted of the 2-day, 12 hour Science of Raw Food Nutrition I, 5-day, 35 hour Science of Raw Food Nutrition II, and 2-day Benefits of Raw Food Nutrition Educator Courses. With the two new additions, the entire series now spans 15 days and approximately 100 hours of valuable course content. These new courses have been offered just a few times so far since September of 2010 and have already received rave reviews.
Those of you interested in raw food nutrition may be interested in how this curriculum was developed. After attending the second annual Vibrant Living Expo in the summer of 2006, Dr. Karin Dina, D.C. (my wife) and I wondered if Living Light would be interested in having a regular raw food nutrition course to complement their culinary classes. A few months later at World Vegetarian Day in San Francisco, Living Light co-director Dan Ladermann approached us with the very same idea! We began with a test class in the fall of 2006, and the students really liked it. We met with directors Cherie and Dan, and it was decided that Dr. Karin and I would put together a two day, 12 hour course together called “Science of Raw Food Nutrition.” It covered (and still does, although it has been refined and improved many times since) the effects of heating on food, pH balance, blood sugar regulation, raw food sources of essential nutrients such as calcium, iron, protein, vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids, anti-aging and longevity, etc. In short, it was a hit!
After a few of these classes, we added a level II class and educator course to the curriculum. So from the summer of 2007 until the first level II and educator course offering in December of 2007, we spent just about every moment in between our chiropractic and nutrition consulting patients, and most evenings and weekends working on our new classes. It was a very intense time, but a labor of love. The prospect of teaching a longer series of classes, where we could build upon the topics discussed in the level I class, as well as have the time to cover many other important and related topics was very exciting to us. In fact, Sundays became our favorite days, because we could sit at the computer and work on our classes all day without interruption! The bottom line is the new classes turned out great and our students were very excited! I remember one student telling us at the end of that first level II class that she was all ready to sign up for level III!
As word got out and demand increased, we offered the new level II class series (now called Benefits of Raw Food Nutrition Educator Certification™ Series) twice in 2008, then three times in 2009, and 4 times in 2010. Beginning in September of 2010, we added Science of Raw Food Nutrition III and the Advanced Educator courses mentioned above (now called the Advanced Raw Food Nutrition Educator Certification™ Series), and offer this entire comprehensive series four times per year. Additionally, the 12-hour Science of Raw Food Nutrition I course is offered by itself 11 times per year, as a regular part of the Living Light curriculum. As we tell our students in terms of implementing raw food nutrition into their lives, the culinary classes are the “how” and the nutrition classes are the “why.” Together they are a highly synergistic combination!
We feel very “lucky” to be able to have the opportunity to see those figurative light bulbs go off over so many of our students heads when various pieces of the nutrition puzzle begin to come together and solidify for them. As far as that particular form of “luck” is concerned, Seneca, a roman philosopher who lived from 5 B.C. to 65 A.D. states it so very well. “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
As far the preparation component is concerned, in addition to our personal experience implementing raw food vegan diets for 45 years collectively, we have both earned 4 year doctoral (D.C.) degrees. It’s just amazing how many pieces of the puzzle come together when going through a formalized 4 year program with heavy emphasis on all of the science that provides the framework that nutrition works as an integral part of. We’ve spent thousands of additional hours in clinical practice and in scouring the peer reviewed scientific literature, as well as putting together power point presentations, course notes, instructor training kits. etc. We do this in a way that makes science easy and fun to understand for those without any kind of science background, but still fully accurate and appreciated by those who do. In our curriculum, all of the above come together in a synergistic manner.
2016 Update: After numerous requests, we are finally offering the updated and expanded version of our Science of Raw Food Nutrition classes online! The name of this course is Mastering Raw Food Nutrition. We invite you to learn more about the class here.
In gratitude,
Dr. Rick Dina, D.C.
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We are happy to announce….
our first blog post! We are looking forward to writing about various topics that inspire us and have helped us achieve our personal health goals.
As expected, we will be writing about fresh whole natural plant foods from a scientific/ research perspective in a relatable and fun manner. Our goal is to regularly cover topics that you find to be valuable, so our question to you is: what health and nutrition subjects would you like to read on our blog? Please let us know by writing your suggestions in the comment section below.
Yours in health,
Drs. Karin and Rick Dina, D.C.
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