Healthy + Homemade: Whole Wheat Bread
Ah, bread… we hear a lot of contradicting views on bread for our diets. Is it healthy? Is it not healthy? What kind of bread is better? What about the sugar content? All of these questions are valid!
My wonderful wife, Katerina, has a very simple and healthy whole wheat bread recipe that you can make at home. It’s MY favorite bread, and I had to share the recipe with you!
Why opt for a recipe like this rather than buy a loaf at the store?
When we make something from scratch, we feel connected to it. We’re excited about it. We control the process and the ingredients. Let’s look at the sugar content for bread: depending on the brand and the type, a slice of bread could be upwards of 8g per slice. Not just that, they are extremely processed and leave very little nutritional benefits.
This whole wheat bread recipe has everything you need, has about 1 gram of sugar per slice, keeps you full (fiber content), and tastes absolutely delicious!
The ingredients are not hard to find, and they are not expensive — give it a try!
Whole Wheat Bread
Ingredients:
1.5 cups of warm water
1 Tbsp Active Dry Yeast
1.5 tsp of salt
1 Tbsp of honey
3.5 cups of whole wheat flour
Directions:
Fill a bowl with 1.5 cups of warm water. Add in 1 Tbsp of Active Dry Yeast, 1.5 tsp of salt and 1 Tbsp of honey. Whisk together until it’s dissolved. Cover with a towel to keep warm and set aside for about 10-15 minutes.
In another bowl, sift 3.5 cups of whole wheat flour.
After your yeast mixture has had time to rest, pour it into a mixing bowl (preferably your stand mixer with a hook attachment). Add the flour 1 cup at a time, allowing the mixture to incorporate before adding more.
Once the mixture has formed a dough (you’ll know that it’s ready when it pulls away from the sides of the bowl), take it out and place it on a whole wheat flour-dusted surface — like a clean countertop.
Knead the dough a few times and shape it how you’d like. Place it on a piece of wax paper (dust with whole wheat flour) on a pan, cover with a kitchen towel, and let it rest for about 30 minutes.
Remove the towel and with a sharp knife, carefully cut slices across the top (I do three or four!). Dust with a little more whole wheat flour.
Place the pan into a 400-degree preheated oven and let it bake for 28-30 minutes.
Enjoy!
To your health,
Dr. Anthony (and Katerina!)
New Year, New Diet? - Mediterranean (Part 3 of 3)
In my years of practicing medicine and prevention of cardiometabolic diseases, our diets and the way we eat make a very profound difference on our health. In my previous two blogs about the Paleo and Keto diets, I shared my professional opinion on their structure. But there is one more diet that I explain in my book which is a very healthy way of eating — the Mediterranean Diet.
The Mediterranean Diet is rich in whole, natural foods, including fresh vegetables, lean proteins and fish, and olive oil.
The Mediterranean Diet gained popularity - as you can guess - near the Mediterranean Sea and has since expanded from its creation in the 1960s and 70s. It is a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts (unsalted), fish, eggs, lean meat (mostly white meat), whole grains and olive oil — but red meat is rarely eaten. As with all healthy habits, processed foods, deep fried foods, and sugary beverages have no place in Mediterranean diet.
Key items to success with the Mediterranean diet (similar to Paleo) is that you consume healthy, whole foods made from scratch from fresh ingredients and that processed foods are thrown out of the window. It’s also important to note the lifestyle that goes along with this diet. The people who ate the Mediterranean diet would typically work out in the fields for 6-8 hours a day six days a week, which helped them keep up with their muscular physiques and flat bellies.
When comparing the Paleo and the Mediterranean diets, you can see many similarities with the biggest differences coming down to legumes, whole grains and dairy products (these are part of the Mediterranean Diet, but not the Paleo Diet) and the red meat and butter that are liberally allowed in the Paleo diet. The overall lifestyles that match these diets are similar to those who have daily physical work for several hours. There is good scientific evidence that people who eat the Mediterranean diet are prone to living longer, having less chance of contracting diabetes, and that the diet can protect against Alzheimer's and dementia.
Following a diet to live healthier should never be a “fad'“. Focusing on whole foods, while getting rid of sugars, processed and deep fried foods are probably the most important take home messages from both the Paleo and Mediterranean diets. Red meat (when eaten in moderate quantities, and provided that you check your cholesterol with your doctor) or “antinutrients” in legumes are not going to ruin your health. Always complement your diet with an active lifestyle and, of course, do not smoke.
To your health,
Dr. Anthony
New Year, New Diet? - Paleo (Part 2 of 3)
It’s hard to believe we’re almost through the month of January! Have you taken steps towards a healthier life?
In my last blog, I shared some information about the Keto Diet — and this time, I want to share one of the two diets that I have studied for many years and encourage my own patients to follow.
Let’s start with the Paleo Diet!
The Paleo Diet comes from the term “paleolithic”: meaning the era of early stone age and cavemen. Cavemen had no choice but to eat what they had access to, which for many, was heavy in protein — whereas, for others, it was predominantly plant-based. So, in the Paleo diet meat is in big time, including red meat.
What all is “ok’d” in the Paleo Diet? Grass-fed meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and healthy oils are the favored foods.
Processed foods, sugars (including sugary beverages), dairy, legumes and grains are off the table.
Grass-fed meats and vegetables are always a win on the Paleo Diet.
A strong argument of the proponents of Paleo diet is that the human body was created for the challenges of the cavemen, so why shouldn’t we eat today what they ate then? A positive point of this diet is that, once you exclude sugars from your diet, you avoid insulin spikes and can lose weight without feeling hungry. I believe that cutting out legumes, whole grains and dairy is a rather weak point of Paleo diet as these foods contain fiber (legumes and whole grains), protein (legumes and milk), and antioxidants (all three). The concern that legumes contain anti-nutrients that block the absorption of other essential nutrients is more theoretical than real; one would have to eat extremely large quantities of the same legume to have a negative impact on their nutritional status.
Finally, a better way to approach Paleo diet is to consider it as a part of a “Paleo lifestyle”: cavemen used to walk for 2-4 hours a day and seven days a week, jump, lift weights and climb trees. This diet makes it ideal for those who are extremely active.
Overall, eating whole foods, cutting out the sugars and eliminating processed foods are strong, positive points of the Paleo diet — while cutting off legumes, dairy and whole grains is controversial.
Do you eat Paleo? Would this be a way of eating that you would consider trying?
To your health,
Dr. Anthony
New Year, New Diet? - Keto (Part 1 of 3)
A New Year! Another chance for us to start fresh and make the most out of the year. With the New Year comes resolutions -- and the most common one? To lose weight! While there are many different kinds of diets, exercises and ways to get healthy, in my book I discuss the positive health benefits of two trendy diets: the Paleo Diet and the Mediterranean Diet. I stand by these two ways - or philosophies - of eating more than any other kind of plan. However, I also need to acknowledge another diet that is making waves in the health industry: the Keto Diet.
The Keto Diet has become extremely popular -- and for a good reason, as it helps you lose a lot of weight in a relatively short amount of time and without feeling hungry. Keto diet, or “The Diet Without Carbs”, consists mainly of protein, fat, and vegetables. However, it’s a strict diet: can you imagine spending the rest of your life without ever again tasting fruits, bread, pasta, milk or ice cream?! So, if you are looking to try a new way of eating, read below as I give a little synopsis into these three popular diets! Let’s start with the Keto Diet.
The Keto diet is higher in fats and proteins, and keeps carbs down to a minimum.
The Ketogenic Diet, or Keto diet as it’s commonly referred to, has taken the country by storm. The Keto diet is based around the high consumption of fats, proteins, and vegetables while limiting carbohydrates to no more than 20 grams per day (think that even spinach contains 1 gm of sugar per serving). By eating foods that are higher in fat and protein, the body stays fuller longer and that’s the key secret of this diet: you don’t have to feel hungry to lose weight. The fats you can eat include both the heavy saturated fats like bacon, red meats, and excess cheeses, but also the healthier fat choices, like avocados, eggs, and coconut oils. The only carbs that are allowed in the Keto diet are those mainly those found in vegetables and berries. Carbs (such as simple sugars, high Glycemic Index foods, white bread, white pasta, and even some fruits) are extremely restricted as they force insulin to spike. This leads to mild hypoglycemia and hunger. Imagine that you eat to stay full and satisfied, instead of eating every 2 hours when hunger strikes -- which is what simple sugars do!
Beyond being so strict and so difficult to maintain over time, another drawback to trying the Keto diet is the Keto flu. This occurs because our brain is programmed to run on sugar. With the Keto diet, you take sugars out which forces the brain to make an unpleasant adjustment and run on fat instead. The brain doesn’t like that and will let you know: you can feel extremely tired, with possible constipation or diarrhea, as well as bloating. These symptoms may last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks -- but that is to be expected as our bodies get outside their comfort zone (or comfort food!) and have to go through such a drastic transition over such a short period of time. Most scientists do not like the Keto diet because it allows you to eat large quantities of saturated and bad fats. But the main problem that a lot of people deal with on the Keto diet is the inability to maintain the changes in the long run. If you have followed the Keto diet for an extended period of time, lost the desired amount of weight and then go back to your old ways of eating, the weight that you lost will come right back. So, can you stay away from beer, pasta, bread or milk chocolate forever? Not many people have done it.
Finally, I want to add that, as a doctor, I am frequently asked about what this kind of eating does to our arteries, mainly because of the consumption of high fats. The answer comes down to this: if you are obese or significantly overweight, losing the excess weight (in fat) is much healthier in the long run than the effects of a high-fat diet.
Stay tuned! I will discuss two other tasty diets that you can adhere to in the long run and are approved by many scientists.
To your health!
Dr. Anthony
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AND THE WINNER IS... Balanced Eating vs. Detoxing & Diets
Healthy lifestyle, including healthy diet, is one of the main pillars of wellness and disease prevention and a key to a long- as disease-free as possible- and happy life. For healthy diet and healthy lifestyle to be effective, they must be practiced consistently with only occasional transgressions ( less than 10% of the time).
Given the importance of healthy diet, both the general public and scientists want to know which one is the best. The choice is not easy as so many diets are touted as the absolute best, while the scientific evidence supporting these claims may be lacking. The mere fact that celebrities follow and promote a diet should not be seen as evidence of its true superiority.
On this article we will examine a number of proposed short-term diets that belong to the “Detox” category. These are brief diets, running from as short as three days up to six weeks, and are supposed to “cleanse” our body from toxins and help us get a new, healthy beginning in life. They are also used as a jump-start for weight loss. Some diets work (in terms of losing weight) if you follow them to the letter. Are these diets a true winner or just fads, hype or a new trend? Is it realistic to think you will NEVER eat bread in any form again?
While some people may think that “cleansing” is a new concept, Pharaohs’ doctors in Ancient Egypt used to recommend enemas (colon cleansing or purging) as a way of removing toxins from the body. As an idea, it is appealing, but is it really working or necessary? Consider that our body has very sophisticated mechanisms in place, mostly through our liver, kidneys and immune system to cleanse itself constantly from toxins and waste products. In 2011, researchers at Georgetown University conducted a comprehensive review of the medical literature and found absolutely no scientific support of the practice of detoxifying the colon.
It is true that several individuals feel better after a detox period but is this a “placebo effect”? Mayo Clinic reports that there is little scientific evidence that a detox diet actually eliminates toxins from your body.
While there is wide variation among detox diets, most of them eliminate highly processed foods. Some suggest fasting and allow only drinking natural juices. Others allow you to eat only raw vegetables and avoid sugar. Certain diets require you to cut out carbohydrates, but in the same token other “fatty foods” are allowed. One patient we have spoken to said she was in Las Vegas with a friend and at the breakfast buffet, the friend had bacon piled high on her plate, but you would not catch her dead with a piece of toast. Is that a good way to eat?
Here are some examples of foods prohibited by several detox diets:
- Processed, boxed or canned food
- Table sugar or foods or drinks with added sugar
- Refined vegetable oils
- Artificial sweeteners, preservatives, additives, or coloring
- Flour-based foods
- Grains (rice, oats, quinoa); some diets, though, allow non-gluten grains like rice and quinoa
- Beans and legumes (also allowed by many detox diets)
- Dairy
- Coffee and anything caffeinated
- Alcohol
Examples of recommended foods by several detox diets include:
- Fruits (excluded by some)
- Vegetables
- Non-gluten containing grains (rice, quinoa)
- Beans and legumes
- Nuts and seeds
- Oils (olive oil, hemp oil)
- Probiotic-rich organic yogurt and kefir
- Dairy substitutes
- Green tea
- Water
For “juicing”, lemonade with spices and plant-based (for example with spinach or kale) drinks are recommended.
Some elements of detox diets are shared by traditional Western Medicine and Nutrient Science, like fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lots of water, avoiding sugary beverages, and opting for foods prepared from scratch with natural elements rather than packaged or processed food.
There are some important differences between Traditional Medicine and detox diets, however. Traditional Medicine and Nutrient Science do not advocate fasting; they recommend low-fat dairy products, accept up to five eggs per week and up to five cups of coffee per day. Healthy fats, as contained in fish, nuts, olive and canola oil, avocado and dark chocolate are also recommended by Traditional Medicine but prohibited by several detox diets.
While many of the detox diets are not dangerous (it is very possible that people who feel better after a detox cleansing period do so because they have avoided sugar and processed food), extreme fasting and drinking only juices for prolonged periods of time may harm your health.
Eating a balanced diet is better for you and easier! Whole grains won’t kill you; and lean meats/protein, whole unprocessed foods, and foods low in salt, fat and sugar are the way to go. Foods full of nutrients, vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants work like medicine, supporting and preserving our health.
Think before diving into that new diet craze or a detox diet and talk to your doctor before embarking upon those diets. Keep in mind that, both for the purpose of weight loss and healthy metabolism, what is more important is consistency in the long run, not just extreme measures over a few days or weeks that allow you to go back to indiscriminate eating.
Eating healthy, exercising, getting restful sleep and making smart choices are the way to a healthy life. Making healthier choices and eating a balanced diet is the real reason for feeling good and healthy!
It is not always easy, but remember -you are in charge of YOUR health.
To your health!
Dr. Anthony