Food and Healing : protein

Beating the blues through diet

Annemarie Colbin — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 13:12:00 GMT

In the early sixties, I got what I eventually recognized as “the blues”. I had a series of low level jobs, and at times had brief fantasies of sweeping everything off the tables and making a mess. These feelings surprised me, as they were new.   I associated the feelings with the German expression “weltschmerz,” or “pain about the world.” Mostly, I felt sorry for myself and didn’t like how I felt. Life sucked, as we would say today. I ascribed it to the state of the world and my understanding of how people messed everything up.

As I recently looked back on those days, I realized that those feelings of nameless despair had long ago disappeared and never returned, regardless of my personal circumstances of trouble or happiness in the ensuing 40 years. What was it that had made the difference?

First of all, diet. Early on I found that the food most clearly associated with the “blues” is sugar.   My late friend William Dufty, whom I knew well and saw often during the late ‘60's and early ‘70s, knew what he was talking about when he called his book Sugar Blues. About 8-10 days after I quit eating sugared breakfasts (coffee with sugar, donuts), as well as desserts, the gloomy feeling lifted completely. In other words, if you are sad, blue, mildly depressed, sighing about the miseries of your life - the first thing to do is to quit eating refined cane and other sugars. And I mean ZERO sugar. No sweetened cereals, no breads or bean salads with sugar in them, no muffins, no cookies, no jams, no desserts. This means careful label reading, as well as very conscious eating – none of this shoveling food into your mouth without noticing what it is.

After eliminating sugar, the next step for me was replacing all refined carbohydrates with whole grains: brown rice instead of white, steel cut oats instead of farina, wholegrain bread instead of white, even whole grains instead of potatoes. That made another big difference, as it gave me a sense of strength and groundedness.   For many, that means also avoiding wheat products and dairy foods, as mild allergies often manifest in emotional states.

Insuring that I got enough protein was another step for mental health, and especially for avoiding sugar cravings. I found that some animal food in each meal (not much, one egg, 4 oz meat or fish) was a great help for insuring steady moods.

Eating only fresh, home cooked foods (instead of frozen meals or canned vegetables), was a major aspect. This is not a new idea, nor is it an airy-fairy notion of the counterculture. More than 30 years ago, in the 1977 report of the Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs of the US Senate, chaired by then senator George McGovern, there was an extensive discussion of the dangers of relying on frozen and highly processed foods. Mention was made of prisons where inmates stopped complaining about the food and throwing their meals against the wall when they were again fed properly cooked meals.   Mary Goodwin, a Montgomery County public health nutritionist, was quoted as saying “if you eat enough precooked, frozen, reheated foil-and-plastic packed lunches out of machines, part of you will starve to death.” (Dietary Goals for the United States. Printed for the use of the Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, United States Senate. US Government Printing Office, Washington: 1977)

So the dietary approach to getting out of mild depression includes the following:

no cane sugar (white, brown, or organic); no corn syrup, molasses, high fructose corn syrup, regular fructose (refined), or artificial sweeteners (which confuse the blood sugar regulation system and so can affect moods)
eating sufficient protein (meat, fish, organic chicken, organic eggs) daily
choosing only freshly prepared foods (nothing canned or frozen)

And finally, if food is not enough, look into therapy, acupuncture, energy healing or soul retrieval. We humans are very complex beings.

Annemarie Colbin, Ph.D.

ANNEMARIE COLBIN, Ph.D., CHES, is an award-winning leader in the field of natural health She founded Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts (TM) in New York City in 1977, and is adjunct professor of nutrition at the city’s Empire State College. She is the author of four books, including The Book of Whole Meals (Autumn Press, 1979; Ballantine Books, 1983), The Natural Gourmet (Ballantine Books, 1989, 1991), and Food and Healing (Ballantine Books, 1986, 1996). Her website is: www.foodandhealing.com

Super-immune kids: four tips for the new school year

Annemarie Colbin — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 09:21:00 GMT

Here are my four top tips for helping your children to stay healthy and avoid illnesses in the new school year.

The foods that make kids the sickest are sugar and dairy.

1. Avoid dairy

If you can possibly raise them without milk products, you will prevent the most common mucus conditions, especially colds and ear infections. Milk is a great mucus producer; bacteria love living in it, and casein, the protein in milk, is commonly used in laboratories to set up bacterial cultures. Cheese is just as much of a problem, and yogurt is little better. And it’s not because of the fat – in fact, butter does not bring on infections, according to my observations – it is the protein and the calcium, which in cow’s milk are intended to help baby cows become big cows (or steer), and are excessive for humans.

2. Don’t reward them with sugar

If you can avoid giving your kids sugared foods – including sugared breakfast cereals, cookies, cake, candy, and ice cream – you will allow their immune systems to do a better job of keeping them healthy. Sugar is known to depress the immune system, and what is worse, it is really addictive. According to a recent study at the University of Bordeaux, France, it appears to be more addictive than cocaine. I know that we tend to reward the children with sweet goodies, but that habit is perhaps best reconsidered – crayons, balloons, comic books or nuts and raisins might be a better idea for rewards.

3. Give them lots of protein

To keep the kids healthy, they also need to eat sufficient protein (some in each meal, such as fish, chicken, meats, or beans and legumes), with lots of vegetables both cooked and raw, as well as good quality fats (extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, organic butter). See my post on protein breakfasts for more advice.

4. Make sure they get plenty of rest

Most importantly, they need enough sleep and rest, which will allow their bodies and their brains to recuperate and restore, as well as grow. Lack of sleep is one of the major causes of stress and illness.

So there you have it: feed them well, keep them off the ice cream and sweets, and make sure they sleep enough, and they will avoid many illnesses.

Annemarie Colbin, Ph.D.

Protein Breakfasts for the Health Conscious

Annemarie Colbin — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 09:54:00 GMT

Let’s start by eliminating dry cereal with milk, a really wimpy breakfast that doesn’t carry you for more than a couple of hours. Here are some easy ideas:

For cold weather:

Oatmeal with one fried egg on top, with a light sprinkle of good sea salt.
Oatmeal with a handful of almonds and hazelnuts, a little salt or soy sauce.
Left-over dinner, such as cooked fish, chicken or steak, quickly sautéed in a little butter with left-over vegetables, rye crackers
For the vegetarians or the adventurous: cooked beans or chili, reheated, in a whole wheat wrap with some cucumbers and tomatoes
Obviously, eggs any style, with rye crackers, maybe some nitrite-free sausage or bacon.
Miso soup with brown rice eel-avocado sushi and pickles
Canned salmon and egg omelet with sauerkraut

For warm weather:

Smoked salmon or whitefish on wholegrain toast, with butter or cream cheese, onion slices, pickles (a real New York weekend breakfast)
One poached egg atop one slice of toasted sprouted wholegrain bread, which has been sprinkled with about a tablespoon of really good extra virgin olive oil, plus a little good sea salt and freshly ground pepper on top.
Rye crackers with almond butter
A bowful of soaked and roasted nuts, including almonds, pecans, walnuts, cashews, sunflower seeds. Add some soaked raisins for a sweet touch.
Kippers, with chopped raw tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers
Canned tuna fish with 3 tablespoons chopped celery, same of onions, 1 tablespoon good quality mayonnaise, sea salt to taste, on rye crisps

I trust you’ll find something to eat here!

Annemarie Colbin, Ph.D.