>> From the Library of
Congress in Washington DC.
>> Hello everyone.
I'm Tomoko Steen at
Science, Technology,
and Business Division here
at the Library of Congress.
Today's event is sponsored
by our division, Science,
Technology, and Business Division.
Last month we organized a
lecture on micro [inaudible],
which is a [inaudible] system
and your health and cancer,
and last month's speaker
from NIH was talking
about to maintain the good health,
you have to have a good diet.
And diet health is searching for
the connection, as everyone knows.
And you have an -- you know,
you have to maintain the
good [inaudible] microbes,
so I thought it's a nice
continuous discussion on this topic
and we have a wonderful speaker,
Amy Doolittle, is the [inaudible]
and a very good friend of mine
and I'm so happy to be able
to introduce her to everyone with
this new book just published.
She's a food critic
and chef and a teacher
and she also organize a cruise
and all sorts of things.
She's a multitalented -- I
don't know how to say, chef.
And you can enjoy this talk.
You know, it's learning
about good food
but also how we can
maintain good health.
So before further adieux,
please join me the in --
the -- welcoming the speaker.
Thank you.
[ Applause ]
>> Thank you everyone for
coming this afternoon.
It's really a pleasure to be here.
This is the fourth time that
I've had the pleasure to speak
into a podcast at the Library
of Congress for my books.
So I've spoken on different
topics before.
The first one was my first book
which was called Arabian Delights
and I presented it, there's
a podcast you can see
on the website called Understanding
Middle Eastern Arab cuisine
and culture.
Then I did my second one which is
called The Cuisine and Culture of --
Understanding the Cuisine
and Culture of Egypt.
I also did a program for
National Diabetes awareness month.
We did that with Laverne
in November.
And so now -- and also part of the
book festival, I was really pleased
to be a part of that
this last summer.
And today we're talking
about the Mediterranean diet.
Today and actually this whole
month is Mediterranean diet
awareness month.
So it's perfect that you're here and
I really appreciate Tomoko and all
of the efforts that she made
in making this happen today.
The topic that I'd like to talk
about today is how we can
use the Mediterranean diet
to transform a lot of the illnesses
that plague our modern society.
As I mentioned, it's Mediterranean
diet month, so if any of you are
on social median you
can use this hashtag
and these are all of
my different handles.
This is a book that
we're going to be talking
about today, which is my sixth book.
It's The Ultimate Mediterranean Diet
Handbook, how to harness the power
of the world's healthiest diet
to live better and longer.
We're going to discuss
the definition
of the Mediterranean diet,
how the Mediterranean diet can
be used to transform illness.
We're going to talk about
historical and cultural facts
in the Mediterranean that make the
diet both pleasurable and healthful.
And we're also going to talk
about some more practical tips,
like ingredients and portion
sizes, as well as grocery shopping
and recipes and meal plans, because
my ideas and theories are wonderful
but if you can't put them into
practice they're only so good.
So we're going to be
able to bring it home
for people in the audience today.
As we define the Mediterranean
diet, it's important to know
that this is a traditional
way of eating
that people have been enjoying
for millennia throughout
the Mediterranean region.
So we're going to talk about all
of the different 25 countries
and the different types of
things that they have in common
and the healthful ideas
and practices
that they put into use every day.
The term the Mediterranean
diet was really coined here
in the United States in 1993 by
an organization called Old Ways,
of which I am a culinary advisor on
their Mediterranean foods alliance.
They've teamed together with
Harvard School of Public Health
and the European Office of the
World Health Organization in order
to define and create this
Mediterranean diet pyramid.
So you can look at the pyramid
and see the different tiers,
and we're going to be talking
a lot about them today,
because they really help us to be
able to put this plan into practice.
Did any of you know
that, unfortunately,
diet is the leading killer
of adults in the U.S. today?
So it's the perfect
time to be able to talk
about these different solutions,
especially the healthful, easy,
and pleasurable ones that people
can use like the Mediterranean diet.
One of the bonuses of this diet
is that it's not truly a diet
but actually a lifestyle that
people can put into place
with not only ease but also
with pleasure and some things
that will bring happiness
into your life as well.
So this the Mediterranean
diet pyramid.
On the left we have a 1993
version, and now they've upgraded
with a 2015 version, and it's
important to know the difference
between the two because
as research continues,
and there's been wonderful research,
the last few years I've included
in my book all of the best research
from the last two years from all
around the Mediterranean and in
the United States that they found
to prove the efficacy of
the Mediterranean diet.
And so as they find more and
more research they modified it a
little bit.
What you'll see on the left, the
bottom, for that one in the 1993,
the bottom was breads and grains.
It went in -- right into
foods and ingredients
and was talking about those.
Whereas now the new version,
what they found by studies was
that it's not food at
all that's the base
of the Mediterranean
diet, it's lifestyle.
So we're talking about being
physically active and enjoying
and sharing meals with others.
That's now the base of the diet.
So my book is organized like each
of these tiers on the pyramid.
So the first chapter, instead of
talking about appetizers or foods
that you would normally open
up a meal with, I actually talk
about being physically active
and enjoying meals with others
and creative ways for
people to do that.
It sounds like a no-brainer
but it's something that we take
for granted the most and it's
really the most important backbone
of this diet or lifestyle.
And there are a lot of things in
every language in the Mediterranean
that you should choose who you eat
with before you choose
what you're going to eat.
So, you know, as we
think about our day,
it's very important
to plan that out.
Don't -- you know, even before
you go to the grocery store
and start fretting about what you're
going to cook and how you're going
to get on your table at
night, think about just,
spend a couple weeks just thinking
about who am I going to eat
with today, and that's
a wonderful idea.
I even suggest, you know, with
social media, people who live alone,
and in different neighborhoods,
people are starting
to get together now and having --
you don't have to even
call it a potluck.
You can just kind of make a
lunch date or a dinner date
or breakfast date, and that does
enormous psychological benefits.
They were finding those
more and more.
That's one of the things in the
Mediterranean, whether you are
in France or Israel or Morocco or
Egypt, people usually know every day
that they're going to have at
least one meal with loved ones,
with neighbors, with
colleagues, and that --
having that knowledge and
just that belief and idea
in your body is really, really
beneficial, because it does a lot
for your psyche and you for
your psychological well-being
to know that you're not alone.
And that's what they're finding
more and more with the research
in the Mediterranean diet.
Of course, the other one
is being physically active.
Again, we have to get a
little bit more creative
than in the Mediterranean because in
a lot of these blue zones and areas
where they find people to live
to be [sneeze], bless you,
centurions for a long time,
we find that in those regions people
actually are physically active
because they have to be, not
because they make it a
choice to go to the gym.
Maybe you're a farmer or
shepherd and you have to --
you know, that's your life
and physical activity is
involved in your life.
Or a fisherman, or even if you are
a regular person living in a city
like Rome, you still have a lot of
extra work that you have to do just
to live your daily modern life.
You might have a car but
you probably have to park
about a mile away from
the historic center
where you work in order
to get there.
So you're walking.
You have modern appliances
in your beautiful apartment,
but you don't have a dryer because
they just don't use them in Europe.
So you have to hang your clothes up.
There are all of these little types
of things that people do every day
that add up in terms
of physical activity.
So I tell people remember,
cooking is a physical activity,
and even if you cook
and you're eating a meal
which might be a little --
have a little bit too much fat
or cholesterol than some people
might like in our culture,
the fact that you're cooking it
yourself, you're going to the store,
that you're getting the
ingredients, or you're going
to the farmer's market, or
maybe you're even growing them
in a little pot out back.
That has some physical activity in
it for you, which is beneficial.
So if we can just open up
our minds to different types
of physical activity
that also sets us
up to be a little bit
more successful.
And then the next tier of the
diet, instead of separating them
like they used to do 1993,
now we have one whole big tier
dedicated to plant-based foods.
These are the foods that each and
every meal should be based upon.
So fruits and vegetables, of
course at the bottom but also beans
and legumes and nuts and
seeds and olive and olive oil.
We're going to talk
about all those today.
Every meal should have those in
them and a wide variety of color
and textures in order to
guarantee our good health.
The next tier, which I have a
chapter for, are fish and seafood.
So people in the Mediterranean
are supposed to be eating seafood
about two to three times a week.
And we're going to talk
about some different options
and the benefits behind those.
Then we have a tier for poultry,
eggs, cheese, and yogurt,
which are to be enjoyed in
a little bit more moderation
but still regularly and all
throughout the Mediterranean region.
And then my final chapter is
meets and sweets, which as a chef,
I get a lot of flak for because
culinarily [phonetic] you don't
usually think about meats
and sweets together,
but from a health perspective,
they're at the end of the book,
they're the least, very
good, delicious, rich recipes
but still just a few of them because
those are the things we want to eat
on holidays, on special occasions,
once a week when we get together
with the whole entire family.
In the Mediterranean, no matter
where you are, if it's on Friday
in a Muslim country, or
on Saturday in Israel,
or on Sunday in a Christian country,
people when they get together
for their day of rest or they
there to be communal meal,
that's when they're
eating meats and sweets.
And it's usually traditional.
It hasn't been every day even though
they're available everywhere today.
So now I'd like to tell you a
little bit about how I got started
because I think this is
important to the story
and it drives home the fact that
eating this way is a no-brainer
and that anybody can do it.
I got started when I was a teenager.
I was the family cook so I was
the one who put the meal on the --
on the table for the family
when my mom went to work.
And I enjoyed doing that, but
when I was 15 my mom got diagnosed
with diabetes and she came
home with a little note
like this prescription pad,
it was literally written
on a prescription pad.
The doctor had written all of the
things that she should not eat
and she handed me this note and
she was like I've got diabetes
and we were like oh, we
were devastated and for
about three days we just
kind of silently mourned all
of our favorite foods that we're
no longer going to be able to eat.
And as a kid, you know, I
didn't really know what to do.
This was before the
Internet and before for all
of these wonderful diabetes friendly
cookbooks that we have today.
So I really was at a
loss for what to do.
But after I got the idea, I said
okay, I'm going to make a list
of everything that we should
eat or that we could eat.
So I made a list of all the fruits,
made a list of all the vegetables,
of all the grains, and then I just
started making food be as similar
to what our family was
used to as possible
but with foods that
my mom could eat.
And then as I got savvier, I said
well hey, these are the foods
that she can eat but let's
think about the foods
that will really cure her, which
of these ingredients have things
that people with diabetes
should be eating.
We're going to talk about those too.
And so that's how I started.
So I figure if I was 15,
had no degree, you know,
and nothing to equip me and could do
it, everyone else can do it as well.
And then the picture on the
other side is the historic center
of Crotone, which is a
city in Calabria in Egypt.
It was part of [inaudible], it
was an ancient Greek colony,
and that's where Pythagoras lived.
That's where my family
is originally from.
And another thing that drove home
this idea of the Mediterranean diet
and why we all need to do it is
because I went to visit the family
and I saw that we all
have a twin over there.
Everyone on this side of the
Atlantic has somebody over there
who looks the same, acts the
same, they just dress differently
and they speak a different language.
But we have the same genes.
Most of the people, unfortunately,
in my family on this side
of the Atlantic have diabetes,
hypertension, high cholesterol,
heart disease, and
many other issues.
Everybody over there was fine.
They were a lot older, they had
made even a more difficult life
than people over here had, but
they were very, very healthy.
And so I would ask them about
the health issues they would look
at me like I was crazy.
I said this isn't [inaudible]
in our genes that have this,
we don't know how you
ended up that way.
And so I said oh, great.
So I started doing a little
more research and I said okay,
it's got to be the
Mediterranean diet and lifestyle.
So then it became kind of my
mission to promote it in the U.S.
And there is a term that we're
nowadays, it's going to become very,
very, fashionable like so many
other ancient things that come back
into fashion and that
is culinary medicine.
And this is the combination of
the art of cooking and eating
with science, nutrition,
and medicine.
It's becoming more and more popular
in the U.S. You're going
to hear it all over.
There's lots of hashtags for it
and doctors are going to school
to study nutrition and study --
actually they're going to culinary
school some of them to become chefs
and understand a little bit
more about food and vice versa
because we're realizing
what the ancients knew,
that food can be used
to cure the body.
And that's been done for millennia.
This is a famous quote many
of you know from Hippocrates.
And one of the other
interesting things
that people might find useful
is that about 69 to 70%
of what was available for us
in ancient Egyptian texts,
that they found medical texts,
has been proven to be true
by the British Pharmaceutical
Codecs.
And this was in the 1970's.
And I always tell people, now that
doesn't mean that the other 30
to 31% wasn't true,
maybe it just means
that we don't have the wherewithal
to prove it to be true yet.
So these are many, many things that
people were using in ancient times
to heal their bodies
that we can tap into now.
We have, of course, the plethora
of vegetables that are available
to us today, it's wonderful and
all of them are good and all
of them have their
own unique benefits.
But if you're looking at cancer
and specific compounds which help
to have -- protect us against
cancer, especially breast cancer,
skin cancer, and other
types, you want to look
to the more cruciferous vegetables
like cabbage, Brussel sprouts,
cauliflower, and broccoli.
They have indoles and
isothiocyanates
which are really wonderful for
being uses anticancer properties.
So if you're interested in any of
that or that's a concern for you,
these are some wonderful
vegetables they have on hand.
In this next section
I'm going to kind of go
through with some very specific
ingredients and properties that are
in these different topics and
different ingredients and I do this
because sometimes I speak to
medical professionals or doctors
or counselors, or people who
on a daily basis interface
with the public on their health.
And I want to give them good,
quick examples and suggestions
for their clients to be able to
incorporate into their lifestyle.
So another thing are fruits.
Fruits are wonderful for
us and we can eat a variety
of different colors and
textures to give us the nutrients
that we need in our daily diets.
Always eat what seasonal local, but
people forget about dried fruits.
If the fruits are dried naturally,
sun-dried, not with sugar added
to them, these are
really, really good for us.
They are very nutrient dense,
they have a lot of dietary fiber
and potassium, phenolic compounds
which have benefits that can help us
with heart disease,
diabetes, and cancer.
It's just wonderful
food to take on big go.
I like to think of them
as nature's fast food.
Just make sure you're not using
the ones with additional sugar.
And then grains.
Now grains get really a bad
rap nowadays in the media,
and part of it is not their fault,
it's about the fault of the way
that we've been treating them.
But regardless, some greens have
to be avoided by some people,
but there is still a wonderful
variety of healthy grains
and people can usually find
some that work with them.
So the ones that we want to
talk about when we're talking
about the Mediterranean diet and
eating healthily, are whole wheat,
if that's not -- if you don't
have a sensitivity or an allergy
or have any celiac problems, this
is also celiac awareness month.
Quinoa, brown rice, amaranth,
millet, black rice, rye, farro,
which is an ancient Italian grain.
It's a relative of a [inaudible].
kamut, teff, oats, buckwheat,
kashi, corn, muesli and fufu.
Fufu is from the cassava plant
and it's an African flower that's
becoming more and more popular
in the U.S. thanks to
the immigrant community.
Now there have been a lot
of studies done on grains
because greens are something that we
all have access to around the world.
And the Cleveland clinic recently
did a study about 2,000 people,
which they had them add
three and a quarter ounces
of high-fiber whole-grains
to their diet per day.
And they found that
that reduced their risk
of colorectal cancer by about 20%.
They also found that
obesity, heart disease,
and diabetes were also reduced
when people added these healthy
whole grains into their diet.
Now to understand grains and
understand why they're so important
in the Mediterranean,
why we shouldn't just
automatically demonize them
without knowing exactly which
ones we're talking about,
are because grains have
had a really important part
in the Mediterranean culture.
They weren't just something to
eat, they weren't the staple
that we have today, and this is for
many ingredients, not only grains.
But a lot of the things that we
take for granted like salt and flour
and these things that we
just have in our cabinet.
They were important
commodities during ancient times.
Lentils were literally
worth their weight in gold.
A lot of times in Italy
and other places
in the Mediterranean people would
have lentil dishes for New Year's,
like the way in the south
we have black-eyed peas.
And people say that that's --
especially, you look in any
cookbook they'll tell you that's
because lentils look like coins but
no, it's because lentils were coins.
People used them as currency.
So that -- if you think about
lentils as currency or as gold,
it gives you a very different feel
than the way we have it the back
of our cupboard today like oh,
you know if we get a winter
storm maybe then I'll drag
of the lentils and use them.
It just gives it a whole different
way what of looking at it.
So these very common, very basic,
simple ingredients actually can
be brought to an elevated status
when you think about their
history and the way they're used.
Same thing with grains, grains
we have to cut down on grains
in this culture because of
the way that we're treating it
and because they're added
as fillers in so many foods,
and they're present in all
of these processed foods.
But in the original times, grains
weren't so easy to come by.
And even if you were wealthy enough
to afford a grain, you probably,
about 90% of the population,
couldn't afford the milling.
They used to put very high taxes
on milling grains so that they --
the poorer you were the least
amount of grains you could eat.
And even in many areas people
used to actually eat the residual
of what was left over and thrown
away from the milling process.
They would then bake
or burn those grains
and in Italy there's something
called [foreign language],
which is actually called burnt grain
and that's what the
peasants used to eat.
So to be able to have
wheat was a luxury.
And now, of course, we've
gone overboard with it
and that's why we have to go back.
But it's important to
understand this culture
that took place in
the Mediterranean.
Again, beans and legumes
are wonderful.
They're -- you know, if you
just add one thing in your diet
that you're not com
-- doing all ready,
beans and legumes are a great
thing to do, just one a day.
There is a wonderful variety of
different things that you can have.
They're easy to cook.
They're cheap.
They can lend themselves -- you can
add them and toss them in salads
or soups or stews,
and they're delicious.
They're low in fat, high
in protein and in fiber.
Beans, especially fava beans,
were actually the world's
oldest agricultural crop,
so they've been around forever.
They were also used as currency.
Wild chickpeas were first
cultivated about 11,000 years ago,
so they are very common
to many people's diets.
And chickpea flour, which is a
great gluten free alternative,
is also common in a lot of
places in the Mediterranean.
Luckily today we're getting a
lot of heirloom beans and legumes
that are back on the market.
So for not too an expensive
of a price,
you can have a wonderful product
that you can be guaranteed
is really healthful for you
and has all of these benefits.
The next topic is nuts and seeds.
Nuts and seeds have such a beautiful
place in the Mediterranean.
No matter where you are, if you're
strolling along the Mediterranean
shores in Alexandria, Egypt
or in Sicily or in Jerusalem,
you will find kiosks,
counters, street vendors
with nuts and with seeds.
And people go to them
on a daily basis.
So if you go to the cafe to
meet your friends at night,
maybe you're going play backgammon,
maybe you're going to play cards,
maybe your just going to chatter,
you will stop and get some type
of seeds or nuts and
bring them and you'll be
in the wee hours eating
pumpkin seeds or some pistachios
or maybe some walnuts
depending upon what's in season.
And that's just a nice snack food
that people enjoy instead of candy
and the popcorn that we do here.
So, see nuts and seeds
have a wonderful benefit.
And now we're doing a lot of
research on things like flax seeds.
People are using them
for Omega threes
and the linens that
they have in them.
People are very aware of almonds
and all the wonderful properties
that they have for them.
But they found that eating a
handful of them can really help
to curb your appetite in addition
to all of the wonderful healthy --
healthful fats that
are present in them.
So now we talk about seafood
and the kind of more lean meats
that take place in
the Mediterranean.
It's important to know as we think
of, you know, we tend to have a type
of pescetarian or animal-based
protein,
most of us unless we're
a vegetarian,
in our diets with every
meal in the United States.
In the Mediterranean not so much.
Again, it's mostly plant-based
foods, it's mostly those beans
and legumes that you're getting
your protein from, maybe some dairy
on daily basis, but the seafood
would also come a little bit
less frequently.
So the diet recommends that we
eat it two to three times a week,
but actually there are also
cultural reasons because of
that and economic reasons.
It's the ideas of the sea
wayfaring are deep traditions
and people would go there.
There would be fishermen dotted --
you know, there are fishing villages
since Venetian times all
around the Mediterranean,
where people would get their fish
and catch and bring in for the day.
But depending upon the marine
biology and these patterns --
migratory patterns of fish, you
wouldn't have every single type
of fish available to you every day.
You would have whatever fish was
in season, whatever was available,
and whatever the fishermen could
catch depending upon the weather.
So even fish, which we -- which we
take for granted and think of it
as a substitute or
sometimes a punishment,
if it's during lent
you've got to eat fish.
But in the Mediterranean it was
always viewed as a celebratory dish.
In the Nile, in ancient Egypt,
they used to have festivals
and during their pre -- the
time that they were leading
up to their festivals they
would have what they called
fasting periods.
And during the fasting periods
the fish or anything that came
out of the Nile was
off-limits because it was --
the Nile was considered
to be sacred.
So you could only eat the fish
during a time of celebration.
And this notion carried through the
Mediterranean throughout the years.
And so fish is a wonderful
ingredient and wonderful thing
to cook and has been done
in many, many ways in each
of the Mediterranean cultures.
The important thing, a recent study
in 2011, found that an extra serving
of fish per week could reduce
heart disease risk by 50%.
And then a hypertension journal
also went through and they looked
at women who didn't eat fish
regularly and they found
that they were 50% more
likely to get heart dis --
problems and had three times
greater risk of heart disease
and other diseases as well as high
blood fat in their blood levels
than other people who ate the
fish at least once a week.
So here are some of
the wonderful versions
that have the most nutrients
that are available to us
and that can be paired beautifully
with the Mediterranean diet.
Those are salmon, tuna,
halibut, sole, mahi-mahi,
shrimp, tilapia, and swordfish.
In terms of the lean meats
in the Mediterranean region,
we're talking a lot about
veal, goat, lean cuts of lamb,
and a little bit of beef
on special occasions.
Here are some more of the
wonderful benefits of seafood
that contain zinc, which is very
good for our immune system support.
It has potassium, which is really
good for heart health; selenium,
known for having anticancer
properties; iodine,
which is important for
thyroid function; vitamins A,
which is good for the vision,
organ function, and immune support;
vitamin D, which is really good for
nutrient absorption, for strength,
and for preventing diseases.
We also find that seafood and
that fish in particular are good
for lowering the risk of
Alzheimer's disease, dementia,
and decreased cognitive function
that come with naturally aging.
It's also good for subduing
the symptoms of ADHD, relieving
and preventing asthma, inflammation,
and improving rheumatoid arthritis,
which of course is
linked inflammation.
It's also great for our
beauty, helping keeping our skin
and hair lustrous, and
reversing the UV damage.
Fish is very good for enhancing
our mood, helping with depression,
postpartum depression,
seasonal affective disorder,
and also helping people
with vision problems
and age-related molecular
degeneration.
Now we move onto dairy and poultry.
Again, dairy and poultry
is something
that should be eaten
moderately, but a few times a week
in the traditional
Mediterranean diet.
And we're looking at
things like eggs and yogurt.
Yogurt is really, really beneficial
because of an ingredient
called inulin.
And we know about the
probiotics pretty much,
but inulin doesn't
get a lot of press.
Inulin is something that helps
regulate our blood sugar levels.
It looks like insulin without the
S, and yogurt has this so that's one
of the reasons why it's good,
especially people diabetes.
This is a great thing to
have at night before bed
because it helps before the --
before you sleep at night to keep
your blood sugars levels even.
Cottage cheese, cow, sheep,
and goats milk cheese,
most of the cheeses we're
seeing that are coming
out of the Mediterranean
region aren't made from cow,
but from goat and sheep's
milk cheese.
Goat cheese is really,
really wonderful
because it contains some compounds
which help with muscle response
after strong physical activities.
So athletes, goat cheese is
a really good thing for them
to be eating after workout.
Skim mozzarella and aged cheeses,
we find that sometimes people
who have lactose intolerance
can tolerate some
of the more aged cheeses.
And then we also look at
chicken, turkey, and Cornish hens.
Culturally, some of the things
to look at, just like we talked
about the grains and how people ate
them a little bit less regularly,
also with the dairy and with lean
meats people ate them a little
less frequently.
And the reason for that is if you
had chickens or you had any kind
of livestock you would
keep those alive
and that would provide
the milk that you needed
or the eggs throughout the
day and to be the basis
of kind of your everyday meals.
You wouldn't necessarily
kill anything
because that would
cut off a big piece
of your economy unless there
was going to be a celebration
or a special occasion or a holiday.
So people got used to the
idea of not having meat
or chicken meat present at
the meals because of that,
but dairy really kind of took
center stage traditionally.
And you will be hard-pressed to
go anyplace in the Mediterranean
that does not have a wonderful
dairy culture, each town,
in each country really is doing
amazing things artisanally
with all kinds of dairy.
Wholesome baked goods
are very important.
I tell people this is a great
thing if you want to take
up a new activity, looking for a
hobby, people have kids at home,
baking is a great thing because
you can use quality ingredients,
you have quality control, you know
what you're putting into them.
You can add in little things
like some special seeds or spices
that might be good and
have particular properties
that your family needs,
and also the exercise
and the psychological component.
A lot of chefs and bakers joke
around that we don't therapists
because we do so much baking,
we just go into the
kitchen and bake something.
Seriously, by the time you bake a
significant amount of fresh bread,
you get a workout and
you got a little bit
of mental relief at the same time.
So it's a wonderful practice.
Olive oil, there's so much great
information and research on recently
on olive oil that I could've done
a whole book just on that topic,
and I have enough research
just to that.
It couldn't all fit
into this one book.
But there are many other wonderful
current books already available
on olive oil so I haven't
ventured into that category.
But I did have to include
it because it's important.
And I have a whole
chapter for it with recipes
that use predominately
olive oil in the recipes.
Hippocrates, we talked
about earlier,
used it for treating gastric ulcers
and muscle pain and also cholera,
but we found recently, and the they
reason they do so much research
on olive oil is because
it's available to everybody
and it's the one common denominator
throughout the Mediterranean.
No matter whether you're in Greece
or Italy or Tunisia or Israel
or Libya, you will find olive oil.
So they can look at that and say,
okay, the Mediterranean diet works
because of this particular
ingredient.
So they found that it prevents
the formation of blood clots,
it lowers the levels of
total blood cholesterol,
it boosts the immune system,
again against the negative
influences that come at it.
They believe that it can prevent
memory loss and it also helps
against the risk of
developing rheumatoid arthritis,
as well as breast, colon, and
bowel cancer and melanoma.
It's called green gold
throughout history.
Olives were first domesticated
about 8,000 years ago and this is
from the region in the world
that we now know as Israel,
Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon.
Archaeologists actually found pits
dating back to about 8,000 years ago
and olive oil production evidence
from about 6,000 years ago.
So we've been using
this a long time.
The ancient Egyptians, as early
as about the fourth millennium
before the Common Era,
were using it not only as a food but
also an in cosmetics and perfumes.
And we know that olive
oil has symbolic meaning
in the Judeo-Christian
and Islamic faiths.
When I talk about olive
oil I like to follow it
up right away with citrus juice.
Another easy swap out for people's
daily diets, salad dressings.
In the Mediterranean there's
no bottled salad dressing.
It's all just olive oil --
citrus juice or olive oil
and homemade wine vinegar.
But citrus juice is really
important because obviously it's low
in calories, it's high in flavor,
it has a lot of antibacterial
properties, vitamins and minerals,
anti-inflammatory properties.
Lemon and lime, even though we think
of them as an acid when we cook
with them, they actually
have alkalizing effect
on the pH levels in our body.
So if we have very high acidity
which leads to illness in all cases,
or as a reaction to illness, then
by putting lemon in the water,
putting lime in the
water, or just drizzling it
on whatever you're eating
will help to alkalize
and stabilize those pH levels.
And also, they've been
proven to lower cholesterol.
Here are some of the
illnesses generally
that we can say are improved
by the Mediterranean diet.
People who follow this
diet or 47% less likely
to develop heart disease.
They can reverse the symptoms
associated with Parkinson's disease
and Alzheimer's, as well as reducing
the risk of developing them.
It can increase longevity,
it can reduce inflammation,
it can reduce the risk of death
from heart disease and cancer,
it can prevent cancer and inhibit
cancer growth, as well as prevent
and possibly reverse diabetes,
hypertension, ADHD, and obesity.
Here are some of the
facts as related
to the different types of illnesses.
There was a great study done
of a really large number,
7,447 people in 2013,
where they looked
at high risk heart disease
people and they prevented 30%
of heart attacks, strokes,
and deaths from heart disease
by following a Mediterranean diet.
2013 there was a study done by a
professor in Spain which proves
that heart disease could be reduced
30% by eating a diet that was rich
in fruits, vegetables,
and olive oil; therefore,
concluding a Mediterranean diet.
We also, in terms of increasing
longevity, these are some
of the most recent
types of research.
They studied a group of women,
10,000 of them, from their 50's
for a period of 15 years, and
they found that 40% of those
who follow the Mediterranean
diet were actually more likely
to live past the age of 70, so now
we're looking at a 20 year span,
without chronic illnesses, memory
loss, or physical problems.
And this is the only difference that
they had in the control group was
that they followed the
Mediterranean diet.
They also had fewer strokes than
people in that control group.
Inflammation, as we may know,
is at the base of kind of a lot
of illnesses, and that's why
an anti-inflammatory diet is
so wonderful for people suffering
from a lot of different issues.
The Mediterranean diet is very
effective in reducing inflammation.
One doctor in particular who
is local, Dr. Norton Fishman,
helps to -- you -- he promotes
the use of the Mediterranean diet
for reducing inflammation to
the majority of his patients
who have Lyme disease and other
chronic illnesses that have --
that have inflammation at the base.
And he says that many of the
people suffering from these types
of illnesses develop insulin
resistance and gluten sensitivity.
So the low sugar and the
healthful grains that are
in the Mediterranean diet are
really great for helping people
with those type of illnesses.
Cancer, unfortunately, plagues
us a little bit too often today,
but there is a bioflavonoid
in a lot of vegetables
that people would be
eating every day
who are following the Mediterranean
diet that has anticancer
and anti-inflammatory properties.
Cannellini beans are also a
staple in the Mediterranean diet.
We call those white
kidney beans in English.
And they are great for
preventing colorectal cancer
and are a great detoxifier.
Strawberries and pears,
which are easy,
just make sure you get the organic
variety, have a lot of fiber
and vitamins which are also
known to prevent cancer.
We talked a little bit earlier
about cabbage, Brussels sprouts,
cauliflower, and broccoli and
the properties which they possess
to help us against cancer as well.
Now diabetes is something
that can be helped.
Unfortunately, about one in 10
Americans today suffer from diabetes
and many more than
that have pre-diabetes.
So this is an important
topic for us to look at.
They studied 3,541 people in Spain
who were very high risk
for developing diabetes.
They were between the ages of 55 and
80 years old and they found that 87%
of the high risk patients
were able to prevent the onset
of diabetes just by following
the Mediterranean diet,
so it's a great number of people.
Green leafy vegetables have
a high amount of magnesium
and a low glycemic index.
So they're really important for
people with type two diabetes.
Eating them every day and on
a daily basis has been shown
to lower the risks
associated with diabetes.
And then there are
some other ingredients
which are particularly useful
for people with diabetes,
those are pure cinnamon,
cilantro, carrots, dark chocolate,
and the inulin which
is found in yogurt.
And it's important to know,
one thing I want to mention,
we're talking a lot about
culinary medicine and things
around in antiquity, sometimes
the varieties of plants change
and what's available on the
market today and labeled
as a certain ingredient
might be different
than what they actually
used in antiquities.
So it's a research --
do the research and find if a
particular plant or spice worked
for something, we have to make
sure we know exactly which one
so that it will have benefit for us.
So if you're looking cinnamon, you
want to look at a pure cinnamon,
you want to look at something
like Ceylon cinnamon or something
that comes from different place,
not the standard cinnamon that's
available everywhere in the U.S.,
because our cinnamon can
contain about 20% of cassia
in it, which is wonderful.
It's another bark, it has
other medicinal properties
but not necessarily for
maintaining blood sugar level.
So always make sure that
you're getting the right one.
Cilantro, fresh cilantro is
great for people diabetes.
Also, these other ingredients
that we mentioned.
So are those are some nice little
easy additions into people's diets.
In terms of hypertension,
we're looking at vegetables
being particularly beneficial
because they have high levels
of water, they're fat-free,
and they're low in calories.
So this can help people to maintain
even level of blood pressure.
Pomegranates and paprika, which are
really prominently used throughout
the Mediterranean, are also great.
So are the omega three
fatty acids in fish.
A Spanish study concluded that
those who ate two to three servings
or more of low-fat dairy
actually had a 50% reduced risk
of developing high blood
pressure in the very beginning.
Now obesity, again vegetables at
the base of diet, the main thing.
And we're finding a common thread
here throughout each of illnesses,
vegetables are really,
really important.
The Mediterranean diet, again fish
and seafood two to
three times a week.
Fish is an excellent way for people
to get protein, to build muscle,
and also to lose weight and
increase cognitive function.
Beans as well and lentils, which
have low glycemic index but a lot
of fiber and protein make them
really great for people trying
to lose weight and
also to gain muscle.
Now here are some of the
things that people have to gain
by eating healthfully, and I know
this sounds like a no-brainer
but it's really important
because sometimes we get busy,
we have to juggle, we have
to prioritize and, you know,
we just kind of loose
touch which why --
is why it would be important
to take these extra steps
to implement these practices into
our lifestyle, and better health,
better performance,
lower healthcare costs,
and ways to pass down traditions.
I think that these, a lot of times
I give lectures and I either talk
to doctors or I talked
to individuals,
people who might be implementing
these things into their own lives,
but it's also very
important from a cultural
and from government standpoint
to look at the importance
of eating well, and
luckily we have a lot
of positive changes taking place
in our culture today to try to help
and reverse a lot of
the negative trends.
I want to branch out talk
even more about productivity,
because if you ask people the number
one reason usually why they're not
eating healthfully, the number one
reason is they don't have time.
They want -- they have
a demanding job.
Doctors, medical doctors have some
of the worst diets you will ever see
in your life and it's because they
work so hard and their hours are
so long and the way that
our structure is set up.
So we want to make sure that
people can have the time, you know,
set up to value what they eat and to
be able to pass their own traditions
onto their patients as well.
And so with a better diet, a
better lifestyle people become
more productive.
So that's one of the
things sometimes we have
to remind ourselves is we
just got more pages to type,
or a couple more things to do,
a couple more clients to see,
everybody benefits by eating well.
One of the things in terms of
practicality, now we're going
to talk about some tips for just
use at home in everyday life.
And I think that when you --
when you start out with a new
plan it's so intimidating.
So I tell people, you don't
have to do it all at once.
Sometimes we get excited, we make
that switch, and for me it was
for the lightbulb moment when
I visit my relatives in Italy,
for other people it's another thing.
I talked with a gentleman
in the back who had --
who had his motives for
staying healthy and we want
to just do it all at once.
You know, we run out to
grocery store, we got the list,
we've got the computer thing or
the app, and we want to do it
and we want to implement in a week.
It takes a long time.
And I think the slower --
slow and steady wins the race.
If you can do one thing a week that
really will show long-term results.
The first thing is inspiration.
Everybody's got a buy in.
If you're part of a family,
or a household, or a community
where you all eat together,
everybody's got
to be involved in the process.
Menus are a wonderful thing.
We've really gotten away from doing
that today because were so high-tech
but you've got to kind of
have a menu plan in your head,
written down, on the computer, on
the phone to be able to think about
and make sure that you're getting
the right nutrients in every meal.
Grocery lists are important.
And I tell people this
is a week long process.
If you wait until the day that
you have to shop and cook and prep
to do everything you're
setting yourself up for failure.
I'm a professional and
I can't do it that way.
I have to do professional things
and personal things over the course
of the week because it's
just -- it's easier that way.
And I always tell people to not to
cook on the same day that they shop
and prep, that gives them a little
bit of a -- of a break in between.
I tell people use weekends
for inspiration
or whatever their days off.
Maybe on like a Monday
or Tuesday, that's the --
that's the kind of
a day when you want
to think whenever you five minutes,
well okay these are things I would
like to make, these are the things
my family likes, how does that kind
of fit together and what
might be buying on Friday
or Saturday when I do my groceries.
And then to make a meal plan
that includes literally
every single time you eat.
A lot of times people make grocery
lists that just consist of dinner,
but you have breakfast, lunch,
snacks and all these other things
in between that need to be
thought of and it's important
to get all the meals covered,
or as much of them as possible.
That's how you know you're
going to stay on track.
And I tell people, you know,
if you have a traditional weekend
maybe make your grocery list
on Wednesday or Thursday.
Shop and prep on Friday and
then cook on Saturday or Sunday.
So here are some tips
for planning ahead.
And this my motivation that I give
people, it's a Michael Polan quote
which I love, the shared
meal elevates eating
from a mechanical process of fueling
the body to a ritual of family
and community from the mere animal
biology to an active culture.
And that's our goal.
So we have to make an honest meal
plan if we want to reach that.
And the first way to make an
honest meal plan is by being honest
with ourselves about what we
like to eat and being honest
about whoever we're cooking
for, preparing the meal with,
and what they like to eat.
And what I mean by that is, don't
just look at what you normally cook
at home, look at what
you normally eat.
So if you go out to eat
five nights a week right now
and then tomorrow you
decide that you're going
to be the next week just cooking
at home, you're going to want
to incorporate those elements
that you're eating from out.
Maybe you go out to eat and you
like to eat Thai and El Salvadorian,
and Ethiopian, but then when
you cook at home you just --
you cook food that's from
the southern United States
or from the mid-west.
You're not going to be happy
cooking at home if you're used
to eating Ethiopian and Thai
and all these great wonderfully
vivid flavors from around the world.
So you want to incorporate
those recipes and those ideas
and those influences, those
flavors, into your home meal
and that way you're setting
yourself up for success
so you won't have the urge to order
out because you already
have those flavors at home.
Another thing is to
look at schedule.
You know, maybe you know
you're going have three nights
that you're not going to be home.
Okay, so those aren't going
to be nights to cook at home.
You want to plan in advance
and kind of think about those.
Anticipate any obstacles and think
about which foods are best for you.
Maybe you don't start out with a
-- with a food plan that's all,
you know, low fat and power foods.
Maybe you start out with a
food plan that has avocados,
because I need this type of
healthful fat or it has, you know,
lots of yogurt because I'm trying
to prevent the onset of diabetes.
So you're looking at the foods
that have specific properties
which will benefit
you or your family
and that's a great place
to start from as well.
And other than that, it's just, you
know, making lists of priorities
and which things are
most important for you
and which ideas can give you
the most bang for your buck.
Maybe, you know, people
derail with snacks.
So having some dried fruits
and nuts and seeds ready to go
in little Ziploc bags every day,
that's a way to stay on target.
Here, this is a handy
guide that I give people.
We all forget, and especially
me, I go back and forth
between the U.S. system
and the metric system
of measurements all the time.
So I'm always messing
up with measurements.
So I have to use very visual signs.
So a fist is usually a cup.
And a cup is usually a serving
for, in most American standards,
of a cooked grain or a salad or
vegetable, something like that.
So it's good to know your
fist is the size of a cup.
The palm is usually three ounces,
and that's the serving size cooked
of fish or chicken or meat.
So to have that little reminder
of this is how much fish, chicken,
or meat I should be eating.
Now think about when
you go to a restaurant,
you're usually getting a serving
that's bigger than your whole hand.
So you want to just
remember that's a serving.
Thumb is an ounce.
A thumb tip is a teaspoon.
So usually a teaspoon is what
we would have of olive oil,
for garnishing it with something.
And the handful like nuts
or seeds, one to two ounces.
So that's a great cheat sheet.
They're all available all over
the internet and you can use
that when you're at home.
Here are some tips to save money,
because right after time money is
the big reason why most people don't
eat healthfully.
They see it as a waste or
maybe they can't afford it.
But if you can use a couple tips
it can actually be less expensive
to eat healthfully than
it is hard to eat poorly.
So look at fresh produce,
which is usually on sale.
Think about August,
August in this area,
all around the Chesapeake we've
got lots of corn, we've got lots
of peaches, we've got lots of
tomatoes, they're beautiful,
they're tasty, they're cheap,
they're ripe, everyone's got them.
That's what you want
to be eating in August.
Our bodies actually benefit by
eating the food that's growing
at that time in the area.
So if we live in this area and we
eat that food it's is very good
for us, whereas if we were to
go to South America at the time
where it's a different season
and we the foods that they have
because we're on a trip, that food
won't be as nutritious for us even
if it's for nutritious local
fruit because our body craves
from the area that we live in.
So that's something.
And it's less expensive
when it's in season.
Buy in bulk.
All of these wonderful things we
talked about, the beans, the grains,
the seeds, the nuts, you can get
them all in bulk, they're cheaper,
less expensive and, you know,
can be used at any time.
And they also help you
set up a great pantry,
because if you got a good pantry
at home with stuff ready to go,
you're less likely
to have to order out.
I always tell people, you should
have things in your pantry
that you can make, whip up
a quick dish more quickly
than it takes to order carry out.
And I'd like to invite you all
too, I have a YouTube channel,
just on the topic of quick
dishes where I have all
of these 90 second videos that I
created for a news library that go
on about 28 different syndicated
news channels throughout
the country.
But they're very quick,
easy recipes.
So you're welcome to access those.
I always recommend people
to cook and make dishes
from scratch and to make extra.
Anytime you cook or bake,
always be doing double,
even if you live alone.
You can freeze it, you can
use it later, you can use it
in a couple days, but
you'll be setting yourself
up for success that way.
Of course, bring lunches
and snacks at work
and drinking water
instead of drinks.
Right in the Mediterranean
diet pyramid there's water,
it's just one of the elements.
That's what people
drink with their meals.
Maybe one glass of wine
per day in some areas,
but other than that it's
all about the water.
Here are some tips for saving time.
I always recommend people to clean
their vegetables, soaking them --
or fruits in vinegar or in
some kind of great spray going
to take anything that
might be added to them off.
And shop once a week.
Put everything into little
bags or little containers
and get it sorted out, almost
as if you were at a salad bar.
That way if you come home late
at night you can just throw
things together for a quick salad,
a quick stir fry and
you're ready to go.
It might take you half
an hour one day,
but you're saving time
all week long.
Double batches we talked about.
These healthy kind of grab and go
little snack mix bags are very easy
and especially good for kids.
I talk about to make
lunch the night before
and to organize your grocery
lists like the grocery store.
I always do this.
I started doing it because of
professional events that I had
to do groceries for, but then
I ended up doing it on my own.
It saves so much time.
So you have an area for the produce,
area for fish, you have an area
for dairy, you have an area for
the bakery, and you just go pantry
and you just go through
the grocery store that way.
It cuts at least 20 minutes
out of your grocery trip.
Now this is the one that
makes everybody laugh.
I tell people if you
want to be healthful,
you have to not avoid food and
not, you know, keep it off limits
like it's the plague, but you
actually have to think about it,
embrace it, think about
it constantly.
The more you think about food
the more healthful you will be.
And there's a psychological
reason for that,
and that is when we
are away from food,
if I were in this room
all day long just looking
at this computer screen,
my body would go
into a stress response mode thinking
that I was starving and not knowing
where to get my next meal
from, because remember,
we were designed a long time ago
when things weren't so convenient.
So that stress response would send
stressors into my body and hormones
which would help me to
be more hungry, eat more,
digest my food more poorly, and
absorb less nutrients from it.
But if I'm around food, if I
have a fruit bowl at my desk,
if I can smell food, if I can
hear people talking about food,
if I can look at food, I'm actually
going to absorb the nutrients
in the meal that I eat better,
I will digest the food more
slowly, and I will eat less.
Plus, from a practical
standpoint, if you're thinking
about food you always have a plan
and the plans help you to stay
on track, whereas it's --
when you're really
hungry and really tired
and you know your cortisol levels
are up, that's when you're going
to eat the more fatty foods,
you're going to crave the
salty foods, it's natural.
So these are some little tips
that people can use in morning
when to prep, you know, think
about dinner in the morning.
At noon, if you have to make a
grocery list, that's a good time
to do it, it gets some
inspiration for dinner.
At night you should be thinking
about the breakfast
for the next day.
I was reading a wonderful book from
a fellow cookbook author friend
of mine named Monica Bhide
last night and she mentions
in her book the story about
the mother was always talking
about the next night's
dinner at dinner that night.
Perfect, I said I'm going
to use that tomorrow.
It's the perfect time when you
should be thinking dinner is the
night before.
So very Mediterranean.
Here are some events
that I have coming
up if anybody's interested
and some topics.
My next book will be
out at Christmas time,
it's called The Italian
Diabetes Cookbook.
I'm doing that with the
American Diabetes Association
and its all Italian regional
authentic recipes that fit
into a healthful diabetes
friendly plan.
And then I also do culinary tours.
My next one will be a Tuscan
cuisine and culture tour.
It's going to be taking
place on June 7th.
There are still a few places
available if anybody's interested.
And there will be another tour
in October, and this is really
where we take the culture
of Tuscany to life.
We talk about things like opera
and its influence on food.
We Mediterranean diet days where
we tour the olive oil manufacturers
and we do all kinds of
wonderful things on tour.
All of this information
is on the website.
And the last thing I'd like to
leave you with before opening
up to questions is
this quote from one
of the Greek sages that
moderation is best.
So I think if there's anything
to take from today's topic,
that would be the best quote.
Thank you all for coming.
[ Applause ]
>> [inaudible].
>> Yes.
>> Thank you.
>> So I would love to
take any questions.
Yeah a sliver.
[ Inaudible Question ]
>> Okay. So the question was, on --
in talking about grains
I mentioned cranberries,
I believe that was
in the beans section.
So there are cranberry beans.
There are actually cranberry beans.
They come out, they're fresh, we
can get them in D.C. One week,
I don't remember if
it's July or August,
but you can see them
at the farmers market.
They're delicious,
their beautiful little,
you know, they look like art.
They're white and purplish,
pink marbled
and they're absolutely delicious.
So cranberry beans.
Those are something.
Cranberries are also wonderful for
us, but I don't talk about them
so much in this because they're --
cranberries are actually
native to America.
So when I go to Italy and cook
I have to bring cranberries
with me in order to do it so.
But great question.
Thank you, thank you.
Next time I'll make a point
to notice that I'm talking
about beans not the fruit.
Any other questions?
Yes?
>> When you talk about fish,
you don't say fish and seafood,
so is there a huge
distinction between fish
on the one hand say
shellfish on the other hand?
>> Oh, that's a great question.
The question was is there a
distinction between fish and shell,
shellfish when you talk about
the nutritional benefits.
Some of the, the benefits are
overlapping and so some of them are,
are might generally have Omega
threes and things like that,
good fatty acids in them
and things that we want.
But when we talk in terms
of the Mediterranean diet,
specifically about fish, then
it's just fish and the things,
most of the studies that
have been done on the type
of cognitive benefits and
anti-depression and different things
in fish are talking
about a fish alone.
But when they talk about protein
and other ingredients like that,
then they also talk about seafood
and all seafood, even shellfish,
is so popular in the Mediterranean
that it does get a lot of attention,
although less medical research.
And some types of seafood
like scallops might have a
little bit more cholesterol
or a little more of
other ingredients
that people have to watch.
So shellfish not necessarily two to
three times a week, fish in general,
maybe shellfish a little bit
less like one time depending
on what it is, depending
on which type.
Each, each, each one has
their own like shrimp
and they all have their
own nutritional values.
That's a great question.
Yes.
>> Another fish question,
do you prefer [inaudible],
salmon or [inaudible].
>> That's, that's a great question
and it changes every day the
answer depending upon the USDA
and what their findings are and
what the fish practices are.
So I actually when I teach
sometimes I teach seafood
for beginners cooking classes
and what I do is I'll print,
you can go online and Google
the, the government's list
of the safe fishes and also
Whole Foods Market usually has it
at their, at their counter and it
will tell you as of like that month,
what the current practices
are and which ones are better
because it really does change.
So I, I don't ever give it out
because in the event that I tell you
and then it's wrong, I,
I would hate to do that.
But Google it because the, it's,
it's like a three page list
of each type of fish and seafood
whether their farmed or raised,
which country to get it from,
which country not to get it from
and there's the choices that we
should be using, the best choices,
then there's like the
mediocre choices
and there's the things
to definitely avoid.
So and I tell people, you know, the
and this is your question reminds me
of another question that I
get a lot, people ask me,
well you know it says that frozen,
frozen whatever is not as good
as fresh, what should I do?
And I tell them, look of
course I prefer fresh,
I'm promoting the Mediterranean
diet, I'm a chef,
everybody will tell you fresh.
But if you have the choice of using
frozen fish or frozen vegetables
versus the drive-through
or carry-out,
I'm going to tell you use frozen
fish or use frozen fish, it's all,
it's a matter of prioritizing
we have in our life, you know.
So great question, thank you.
Yes.
>> I have been reading
conflicting information
on frying with olive oil.
>> Uh-hm.
>> What's your opinion about
using olive oil [inaudible]?
>> Sure that's a great
question Nicole.
She asked about frying in olive
oil and what my opinion is
and I have a very strong
opinion about this.
All throughout the Mediterranean
people fry in olive oil.
In Spain they actually even use
the, the residual olive oil for fuel
for automobiles and buses.
So you can fry in olive oil and it's
been done for, for many, many years.
In our culture you always hear that
it has a, a lower smoking point
and so you can use it, you
have to use other olive oils.
I don't know who actually eventually
started that saying, but if you,
if you look at it, many types
of olive oils actually have just
as high if not a higher smoke point.
So I do recommend it and what
you want to do when you fry
with olive oil is use pure olive
oil, which is less filtered than,
excuse me more filtered than others,
so it will have a higher
smoke point.
It's not the one you want
to drizzle on your salad,
it's not the extra virgin.
You just get a pure olive
oil, it's less expensive,
usually comes in a big
bottle and if you're going
to fry, that's what you can in.
And the reason I like it is because
in addition that's what people had,
it was around, it's part of
the tradition and the taste.
If you fry an ingredient like
risotto croquettes in olive oil,
it's going to have a very
different taste than if you fry it
in any other kind of olive oil.
So it's, it's good for
taste and of course,
we shouldn't be frying
that much anyway.
But I do fry in olive
oil personally and,
and all throughout the
Mediterranean it's done.
Good question.
Yes.
>> What, how do you feel
about honey and agave nectar?
>> Oh sure.
>> It was on one of your
slides, but I'm [inaudible].
>> Yes. So the question
was about honey
and agave nectar, great question.
I love honey because just like olive
oil it's one of those, you know,
nature's miracle foods and
if we're using a local,
especially a raw honey it's
so, so good for us and it
and I do believe it's a
medicine, so I love it.
Agave nectar is also very
good and I use agave nectar,
not as much for flavor,
but in baking when I'm doing all
the diabetes friendly recipes.
So the new book I mentioned coming
out in my third book was also
with the American Diabetes
Association,
a lot of the sweets have
agave nectar in them.
If you're going, if
you're using honey instead
of sugar I usually do even
swap outs like cup per cup.
But you will then need
if you're baking,
you'll need to alter your dry
ingredients because sugar is dry
and honey is wet, so you
need to make it work.
If you're using agave nectar instead
of a cup of, if you're using a cup
of sugar you would substitute about
two thirds a cup of agave nectar
because it's more strong
and then you would have
to adjust your dry
ingredients a little bit more
and then you would have to
add another kind of flavor
that complements well the,
the strong nutty type
flavor that agave can have.
And different agaves
taste differently.
I use both of them.
One thing that I would go toward,
I would go more towards honey
for taste and also for the healing,
but I think agave is good and even
and it's, it's a sugar
substitute that people can use.
One thing important to
keep in mind as we look
at sugar substitutes is our
brains don't know the difference
between real sugar and fake sugar.
So if you're just, you know, if
you're having Diet Coke instead
of regular Coke because
you think, you know,
you're being more healthful
you really have to look at that
because our brain will
still crave more sugar,
the more sugar we have the more it
craves and it, it doesn't know so.
Good question.
Agave is also, sorry one more thing,
agave is good for maintaining
even blood sugar levels,
so that's why we use it in
the, in the diabetes thing.
People can have a, a piece of a
dessert or a single serving size,
it won't cause their blood
sugars levels to rise,
whereas honey still may,
but honey also has a lot
of wonderful benefits.
Yes.
>> [Inaudible], so you're saying
by eating, eating pizza is healthy?
>> Eating pizza is healthy.
Eating pizza can be health yes
if it's, if it's a natural,
well see that's, that's a good
question because it caught,
it makes us laugh because I
know unfortunately and I talk
about this a lot in the next book,
tomorrow I'm actually
giving a lecture
at the National Italian American
Foundation where I'm going to talk
about Italian foods
[inaudible] diet.
I'm going to address this
particularly because when we think
of Italian food we think of
pizza and pasta and we think
about how bad they are for us.
But if pizza and pasta are
done well the true way, the,
the traditional way, they're not
the best thing for us and they're,
but they're certainly
not going to hurt us
and they can be part
of a healthful diet.
So yes, if they're done with
real good quality flours,
good quality cheese, homemade
tomato sauce and, and, you know,
maybe some good fresh vegetables
or other ingredients, it,
it can be healthful yes and I
do have a recipe in this book.
Yes.
>> Where do you get
your dried fruit,
I mean so that it's
not extra sugars?
>> That's a good question, dried
fruit if you want to buy it
without the added sugar any
of the local health food
stores will have it.
In our area we have My Organic
Market, Mom's or Whole Foods,
any of those can have it and they
also have, for example apricots
which don't have sulfur added to
them, so they'll be brown instead
of orange, but they're,
they're good flavor.
And a lot of the Mediterranean
and Middle Eastern stores
in the area have great
natural sun-dried fruits.
Yes.
>> Hi, I just wanted
to get your take on,
I've heard of beans
being inflammatory.
>> Uh-hm.
>> [Inaudible], I just
wanted to know if that's
because you say things are
hurting the Mediterranean diet.
>> Sure.
>> Are beans really inflammatory,
are they inflammatory to some people
or [inaudible] beans in your diet?
>> That's a good question.
Sometimes it, it, the question
was are all beans in, inflammatory
and should people avoid
them because of,
of something that she had
heard that they could be.
When we look at a particular
ingredient, we have to look
at which variety because they,
they wouldn't all have
the same negative effects,
the same positive effects that they
have are they're high in fiber,
high in protein and you know,
low in, in some of the other fat
and things that we're worried about.
So those are the good things, but
depending upon what people have
and sometimes what
medications they're on, they,
that can cause them to
reaction in a certain way.
So it's, if you're, if you're
worried about that I would,
I would really examine it.
But in general if people
are just, you know,
wanting to be anti-inflammatory
can they have beans, of course,
it should be, you know, at least
one time a day, a different bean
or legume would, would,
helps everybody.
And they always recommend if
you're not used to eating a lot
of whole grains in your diet, if
you're not used to getting a lot
of dietary fiber in your diet,
you really want to add it slowly
and you want to be drinking a
lot of water with it because it,
you need that in order to process
it through your body properly.
Great question.
Yes.
>> I was just going to make
a comment [inaudible] attest
to olive oil, but really
good olive oil.
>> Yes.
>> And to invest in olive
oil because I discovered
that not all olive oil is the
same and some places here sell
like expired olive oil
and olive oil does expire
and to actually get the ones
that are more smaller presses
like that they do in Italy or Greece
and it changed my life is
olive oil, I swear to God.
Like not the stuff I buy at a
store, but from like a small press.
I mean the taste of
it, the smell of it.
I mean I just, I even rub it in
my skin and it just, it, it is,
it is [inaudible] it, I
mean it rocked my world.
>> That's wonderful,
that's wonderful.
>> Yeah and I never knew that
there was like olive oil like that
like I always went to the store
and got just the regular bottles
of olive oil and didn't realize
there was [inaudible] olive oil.
>> Right.
>> So I mean I would
recommend if people, you know,
want some olive oil to maybe look
at some of those smaller press ones
and they are a little
more expensive,
but I think they're
definitely worth it.
>> So just for the recording
and for those who didn't hear,
it was a plug for Single Estate
olive oils for their nutritional
and cosmetic benefits and it's true.
Unfortunately, we do not regulate
olive oil that much in this country
and so what you can get on
the market is very difficult.
If you, for what you're
eating, if you can go to a store
which allows you to taste it, which
a lot of places do in this area,
that I really recommend that.
When you taste olive oil you
should make a slurping noise and,
and kind of slurp it
back for the first time
and then see what happens,
wait about 30 seconds
and see what happens through
this part of your throat.
If you start to get a burn here,
this means that the polyphenols
in the, in olives are working and
they're doing their job medicinally.
If it doesn't burn and it just kind
of tastes like butter going down,
it's, it's not going to have a
nutritional medicinal benefit
for you.
So that's a little cheat
sheet for, for olive oil.
>> On that point if you find
an olive oil you like you want
to buy a bunch of it how much,
how long would you recommend keeping
olive oil, you know, when you're?
>> The question was how long do you,
can you keep olive oil
in your, in your closet.
There's an Italian saying, it
say oleo nuovo, vino vecchio,
which means aged wine new oil.
The newer the better, always keep
olive oil in a dry area in your,
in your storage away from heat
and if you can, within six months,
grade I mean you could probably
go into a year, but the,
the more rapidly you use it and
the more readily it's pressed.
A lot of these Single Estate presses
that she mentioned will put the date
on them when, when that bottled.
So you want to get a recent one that
was just bottled and then you want
to use it pretty quickly.
Good question.
Yes.
>> And was your cooking able to help
your mother control her diabetes?
>> The question was if, if the
food that I cooked was able
to help my mother control
her diabetes.
When I lived with her, yes, yes,
but unfortunately we live
apart now so [laughter].
>> Can you please join me thanking.
>> Thank you.
>> Amy and it's a wonderful
talk [applause].
Thank you for coming.
>> This has been a
presentation of the Library
of Congress, visit us at LOC.gov.