So, I watched What the Health this weekend. I do not pretend to know everything and as a teacher of the nutritional sciences I have come to terms with the fact that science is ever-changing and new information can conflict with old information.
So I watched this pro-vegan documentary with an admittedly biased opinion but some openness and willingness to change my stance if the data was convincing.
Here's the deal. I watched the movie. I'm still not vegan. I think the documentary manipulated a lot of data to prove their agenda (something that is, unfortunately, so easy to do with scientific studies!). They interviewed vegan experts who gave biased interviews against eating meat. And they also had some of the biochemistry straight up wrong. I winced more than once during the interview with Dr Garth Davis. He needs to review how insulin works in the body as well as metabolism of carbohydrates & fat.
I was also all kinds of annoyed with the statement when Dr Davis claimed that he has never met a person who is "sufficient in calories but deficient in protein." Dude. Das wrong. Ultrasound and contrast tomography (CT) of hospitalized patients shows sarcopenia (the breakdown of MUSCLE ie PROTEIN) in obese/overweight patients every-dang-day. While some of this muscle breakdown is related to aging and exercise, protein poor diets also contributes to this breakdown.
While I'm not jumping on the vegan train, the thing I loved about the documentary is that it did highlight the importance of eating an anti-inflammatory diet. Let's be clear. I'm not a vegan/vegetarian/paleo/anything hater. I love any diet that promotes the intake of nutrient rich, clean, real foods. And What the Health brought up important points about how inflammation contriutes to debilitating chronic illness & eating a nutrient rich, anti-inflammatory diet can help reverse those conditions. Um, yas. I agree! I just know that you can eat a low inflammation diet while eating meat. But I'll post all about that later this week.
For now, this meat-eating Real Food RD wants to share with you a super quick recipe that's perfect for the summertime. My vegetarians can eat it as a main meal, so it contains enough fat and fiber to fill ya up. My meat eatin' homies can serve this up with an awesome piece of seared salmon. See, I eat meat, but I have no prob sitting down to a huge plate of broccoli slaw. The flavors of this slaw are reminiscent of pad thai, but without the loads of blood-sugar-spiking noodles. I'm a big fan. Next time I think I will add shredded carrot too. Or maybe some shredded daikon. Get creative, peeps.
Broccoli Slaw Pad Thai
10 minutes to prepare
Serves 4
Ingredients
1/2 package broccoli slaw (~4 cups)
1/2 large cucumber, cut into match sticks
1 tablespoon chunky peanutbutter (almond or cashew works too)
2 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup cashews, crushed
1 orange, diced into pieces
Top with seaweed flakes
1. In a large bowl combine broccoli slaw, cucumber and any other shredded veggies you have on hand.
2. Add orange pieces to broccoli slaw.
3. In a small bowl, combine peanut butter, fish sauce, honey. Mix well.
4. Add the peanutbutter mixture to the broccoli slaw. Mix well.
5. Top with seaweed flakes and cashews.
