I guess this is a catchy phrase. In the last 3 lectures, whenever I open for Q & A afterward, people always ask for the info. I will always redirect to Healthy Aging by Andrew Weil. The concept is very healthy eating and once you read through I think the average person thinks ......ok, it's just a list of everything healthy. http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02012/anti-inflammatory-diet
The exerpt from the book is far more informative. Some people just need a list to post as a constant reminder. The food pyramid is a little more user friendly than it has been in the past but still doesn't have a wow factor. Some folks are probably looking for a new diet to follow also.
Most medical studies are centering on the role of inflammation in many diseases. Obviously in acute inflammation/injury but now in arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, bowel problems and even cancer. I have heard that people attending my conferences are trying to watch food intake but the economy is hitting hard. My beloved Whole Foods is a great store but leaving with half a bag full of stuff will usually run me the same price for a week of family eating at Jewel (a popular grocery chain in Illinois).
I am visioning a step wise approach to changing a diet will be with stuffing one's self with fruits and veggies. As is suggested by many a dietician, 5-7 f and v's per day is a basic. In my diet, getting 5 in daily will usually take up the volume in my stomach that would have been taken up by something else I would have been eating previously (fast food). Or the converse is true, the 5 would be filling up a stomach that would have been growling at 10-11am or 4-5pm for lack of anything being eaten. In 1999-2000, my medical practice was booming and my fund of knowledge was huge. My health was also the worst of my life. I remember often "powering" through lunch and dinner without eating and justifying that action as "at least I won't gain weight". I paid for those years with psychological scars I will never forget,(I still carry a wrist band from being admitted once to the hospital).
My wife made my daughters favorite spagetti dinner and I said, Oh No....I won't be able to stop so I shouldn't start. She said, why do I suffer so much. My reply was that I suffer more from the bloating, slowed bowel, and lethargy than I do from the act of starving. She often calls me OCD since I like to maintain eating small portions of fruits and veggies up to 4-5 times daily to keep the stomach full and stop the hunting for a dopamine rush with something carb loaded. I also rely on a small salad before eating a tasty dish just like the Italian restaurant does to postpone hunger.
So ultimately, the Saguil Approach is "stuffing down" 5-7 fruits or veggies per day will usually "push" out the space that would have been taken up by something else in the daily diet. The 5-7 "fillers" will also supply foods that are low glycemic index (keeping the stable and not crashing after food intake), high in fiber and easy on the bowel. A smooth working bowel will translate to proper absorption of nutrient, supplement and not to mention, secreation of serotonin, the hormone use to treat depression.....(another reason for carb hunting). Fluid plays a great role as well but thats for a later blog. Once a patient realized how good life is without bowel problems, and sleep is improved and workouts are more intense/rewarding, the process steamrolls and more aspects of the "Weil Antiinflammatory Diet" can be followed (without guilt)
