Tag: food

Longo’s Recipe for Living Longer

~ cafebedouin

Longo and Anderson reviewed hundreds of studies on nutrition, diseases and longevity in laboratory animals and humans and combined them with their own studies on nutrients and aging. The analysis included popular diets such as the restriction of total calories, the high-fat and low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet, vegetarian and vegan diets, and the Mediterranean diet.

The article also included a review of different forms of fasting, including a short-term diet that mimics the body’s fasting response, intermittent fasting (frequent and short-term) and periodic fasting (two or more days of fasting or fasting-mimicking diets more than twice a month). In addition to examining lifespan data from epidemiological studies, the team linked these studies to specific dietary factors affecting several longevity-regulating genetic pathways shared by animals and humans that also affect markers for disease risk, including levels of insulin, C-reactive protein, insulin-like growth factor 1, and cholesterol.

The authors report that the key characteristics of the optimal diet appear to be moderate to high carbohydrate intake from non-refined sources, low but sufficient protein from largely plant-based sources, and enough plant-based fats to provide about 30 percent of energy needs. Ideally, the day’s meals would all occur within a window of 11-12 hours, allowing for a daily period of fasting, and a 5-day cycle of a fasting or fasting-mimicking diet every 3-4 months may also help reduce insulin resistance, blood pressure and other risk factors for individuals with increased disease risks, Longo added.

He described what eating for longevity could look like in real life: “Lots of legumes, whole grains, and vegetables; some fish; no red meat or processed meat and very low white meat; low sugar and refined grains; good levels of nuts and olive oil, and some dark chocolate.”

-“‘Longevity diet’ characteristics: What (and when) to eat for a long life.” University of Southern California. April 28, 2022.

This is a summary of the paper linked in the quote above. If you prefer bullet points:

  • Reduce weight and keep body mass index near 22, see BMI calculator.
  • Eat non-refined complex carbs (45-60%), plant protein (10-15%), and fats (25-35%). Mostly whole grains, legumes (fruits inside a pod), and nuts. Include some fish, but keep meat to a minimum.
  • Stop eating 3 hours before sleeping at night and fast for at least 12 hours.
  • Quarterly, high fat diet for 5 days.
  • Limit alcohol intake.

If you want more detail, the author Valter D. Longo has a book, “The Longevity Diet: Slow Aging, Fight Disease, Optimize Weight.”

Guacamole

~ cafebedouin

Note: I’ll add pictures after I make this today.

Ingredients

  • Fresh hot chilies, such as Thai, serranoes or jalapeñoes
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 1/2 medium white onion, finely chopped (~1/3 cup)
  • 6 oz. (1 medium or 2 plum) fresh tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup of coarsely chopped cilantro
  • 3 medium-large avocados
  • salt
  • juice of 1 lime
  • slices of radish for garnish
  • corn oil
  • corn tortillas

Preparation of Guacamole

  1. Roast chiles, garlic and tomatoes in small, ungreased skillet over medium heat, turning every minute until softened (5-10 minutes)
  2. Remove chili stems, garlic skins and blackened parts of tomatoes,
  3. Mash chilies, garlic into a coarse puree, using a mortar.
  4. Cut tomatoes into small bits
  5. Rise onion in a strainer under cool water, shake off excess water.
  6. Add onion, tomato and chili/garlic puree and stir.
  7. Cut the avocadoes in half, remove pit, score the avocado by cutting half inch lines to the skin using a paring knife.
  8. Scope out the avocado into the bowl with onion and chili/garlic.
  9. Stir avocado into the mixture, but don’t overdo it. Keep it chunky!
  10. Add salt and lime to taste, more lime makes it less spicy.
  11. Garnish with cilantro and radish.
  12. Set aside for flavors to mix while making chips.

Preparation of Fresh Tortilla Chips

  • Heat corn oil over medium heat in medium sauce pan
  • Cut store-bought tortillas into 6 pieces per torilla
  • Fry chips to a golden brown
  • Place chips in a paper towel lined, large bowl.
  • Best to have people eat chips as you make them.

Notes

  • You can use store bought chips. But, frying them yourself is much better.
  • It’s important not to over-mash guacamole. Over-mashed guacamole is what most people serve, and it is inferior.
  • Recipe is based on the classic guacamole recipe in Mexico: One Plate At A Time by Rick Bayless, pg. 4.

What to Eat

~ cafebedouin

“What then is the bottom line when it comes to some sort of recommendation about diet and mental health? Same as already discussed for other conditions. Look askew at supplements, reduce intake of red and processed meats in favour of fish and poultry, replace refined grains with whole grains, increase legumes, and eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. That then is the link between diet and health in a nutshell.”

-Joe Schwarcz, “Food For Thought- Literally.” McGill: Office for Science and Society. March 2, 2022.

Recommendations like these always talk about servings. It would be better if they included a chart of what they meant by that.

Plantains With Jammy Tomatoes and Eggs

~ cafebedouin

“Plantains are nutrient-rich starches that can sweeten as they cook, and, in many parts of the world, they find their way into the best stews and porridges. This recipe is based on “tomato eggs,” a dish popular in Lagos, Nigeria, and across West Africa. Tomato eggs can be made with yams or plantains, and here, firm yellow plantains work best because they hold their shape and texture while absorbing the flavors of the surrounding stew. It’s a perfect meal for days when you want something hot but not too heavy or filling. Any herbs you have on hand will work well, and the dish can be made vegan by substituting medium-firm or soft tofu for the eggs.”

-Yewande Komolafe, “Plantains With Jammy Tomatoes and Eggs.” The New York Times. August 7, 2021.

Saving for future reference.

Black Vegans

~ cafebedouin

“Plant-based eating has a long, radical history in Black American culture, preserved by institutions and individuals who have understood the power of food and nutrition in the fight against oppression…Today, there are estimated to be more than a million Black vegetarians and vegans in the United States, with Black people representing the fastest-growing vegan demographic in the country.”

—Amirah Mercer, “A Homecoming.” Eater.com. January 14, 2021.

What I like about this article is that something, in this case veganism, can be a complete paradox in context. For this woman, veganism ties into a history of fighting black oppression. But, I have to admit when I think of veganism, my experience is mostly privileged whites rejecting mainstream culture either on moral, health or other grounds. Eating itself is a kind of oppression, and in some ways, veganism feels like a style of oppression. For example, the kind of vegan that won’t take public transit because axle grease has an animal component has a lifestyle that cannot be emulated by most people. Is that liberating? If so, for whom?

I found this to provide a lot of food for thought.

Ferming

~ cafebedouin
Everything the body needs.

Open Questions: Will agriculture by fundamentally transformed in the next decade? And if so, what are the likely health implications?

We are on the cusp of the biggest economic transformation, of any kind, for 200 years. While arguments rage about plant- versus meat-based diets, new technologies will soon make them irrelevant. Before long, most of our food will come neither from animals nor plants, but from unicellular life. After 12,000 years of feeding humankind, all farming except fruit and veg production is likely to be replaced by ferming: brewing microbes through precision fermentation. This means multiplying particular micro-organisms, to produce particular products, in factories.”

-George Monbiot, “Lab-grown food will soon destroy farming – and save the planet.” The Guardian. January 8, 2020.

“We are on the cusp of the deepest, fastest, most consequential disruption in food and agricultural production since the first domestication of plants and animals ten thousand years ago. This is primarily a protein disruption driven by economics. The cost of proteins will be five times cheaper by 2030 and 10 times cheaper by 2035 than existing animal proteins, before ultimately approaching the cost of sugar. They will also be superior in every key attribute – more nutritious, healthier, better tasting, and more convenient, with almost unimaginable variety. This means that, by 2030, modern food products will be higher quality and cost less than half as much to produce as the animal-derived products they replace.”

-Catherine Tubb & Tony Seba, “Rethinking Food and Agriculture 2020-2030.” RethinkX. September 2019.

Map of the Food Supply Chain by County in the United States

~ cafebedouin

“Food consumption and production are separated in space through flows of food along complex supply chains. These food supply chains are critical to our food security, making it important to evaluate them. However, detailed spatial information on food flows within countries is rare. The goal of this paper is to estimate food flows between all county pairs within the United States. To do this, we develop the Food Flow Model, a data-driven methodology to estimate spatially explicit food flows. The Food Flow Model integrates machine learning, network properties, production and consumption statistics, mass balance constraints, and linear programming. Specifically, we downscale empirical information on food flows between 132 Freight Analysis Framework locations (17 292 potential links) to the 3142 counties and county-equivalents of the United States (9869 022 potential links). Subnational food flow estimates can be used in future work to improve our understanding of vulnerabilities within a national food supply chain, determine critical infrastructures, and enable spatially detailed footprint assessments.”

-Xiaowen Lin, et al. “Food flows between counties in the United States.” IOP Science. July 26, 2019.

h/t Fast Company.