Author: Ray

Greens, https://greensrestaurant.com/, is a vegetarian restaurant that was started in San Francisco in 1979 and it continues to serve incredible diversity and quality of vegetarian food with vegan options.

The restaurant has a great location in Fort Mason on the San Francisco waterfront, with views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Marin Headlands.  The address is: 2 Marina Boulevard, Fort Mason, Building A, with plenty of parking just steps from the front door.

The menu is comprised of small plates and first courses that are like tapas and great for sharing, plus main courses.  Every dish that our group had was excellent, as were the deserts.  I highly recommend the blistered peppers, grilled peaches and Johnny Cakes.  The main courses that I tried were the Mesquite Grilled Tofu and Saffron Risotto, which were great.  Many dishes are marked with a “VP”, meaning vegan possible and there are many “GFP”, gluten-free possible dishes as well.

This is definitely a restaurant to visit with friends, so you can share plates and try as many dishes as possible.

You can start the afternoon with a pre-meal stroll along the Marina, just next to Fort Mason and/or visit The Interval, right next door to Greens for a cocktail.

I highly recommend Greens, even if you are not a vegetarian/vegan!

Not to be outdone (much) by recent Beyond Meats announcements, Impossible Foods recently announced that their sausage in “Savory” and “Spicy” flavors will be sold at grocery stores soon. Up to this point, Impossible Sausage was only available at places like Starbucks and Burger King.

The suggested retail price is $5.99/14oz package. See Impossible_Sausage.

This comes after Impossible Meats announced last month their “Chicken Nuggets” alternative.

It is getting easier by the month to try out, or convert to, a plant based diet!

Climate change articles are coming out every week, especially with Fire season in full swing around the world and Hurricane season in play as well. Many of you are aware that the United Nations just released its updated Climate Change report this week. You can download the full 1300+ page report or a 39 page policymakers’ high level summary here: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/#SPM.

An alternative to that is to look for a trusted source to summarize it for you. Here are some options, but virtually every news source has an article covering this:

Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/un-sounds-clarion-call-over-irreversible-climate-impacts-by-humans-2021-08-09/

NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/09/climate/un-climate-report-takeaways.html

NPR: https://www.npr.org/2021/08/09/1025898341/major-report-warns-climate-change-is-accelerating-and-humans-must-cut-emissions-

I urge you to read about this report. It is too important to ignore or delay thinking about. One note: The report gives a very stark outlook on the future, but does not go into possible solutions or actions.

Beyond Meats and Pizza Hut just announced today, August 10, 2021, that Pizza Hut locations will have Beyond Meats’ plant-based Pepperoni: https://www.beyondmeat.com/whats-new/beyond-pepperoni-arrives-at-pizza-hut-locations-in-the-u-s/.

This announcement comes just after A&W Canada began selling Beyond’s Chicken nuggets, also this month: https://www.beyondmeat.com/whats-new/beyond-chicken-nuggets-debuting-at-aw-canada-nationwide/.

The Pepperoni and Chicken alternatives are not even listed on the Beyond Products list.

WHAT’S NEXT???

A new article in Healthline, https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vegan-diet-benefits?fbclid=IwAR3oHXp3dqELb_8PRVeQbxR4WuUBZIXp2Zb-VD1r11eaTtpFIDwZSk4Fitg#TOC_TITLE_HDR_3,

points out 6 of the many reasons why a plant based diet is beneficial.  None of this information is new, but this is another established medical resource confirming why you should be looking into or continuing a plant based diet.

We encourage you to read the article rather than take our word for it.  This one is an easy read.

The benefits listed are:

1. A plant-based diet appears to be richer in fiber, antioxidants, potassium, magnesium, folate and vitamins A, C and E.  You just need to ensure you get adequate fatty acids, B12, iron, calcium, iodine and zinc.

• The diet can help you lose weight.  A number of studies are cited.

• The diet appears to lower blood sugar levels and improve kidney function, again citing a number of studies.

• A Vegan diet appears to protect against certain cancers (more studies cited).  The exact reasons are not fully understood according to Healthline.

• A lower risk of heart disease.  Fruits, vegetables, legumes and fiber are all key components that help lower risk factors.

• You may be able to lower pain, swelling and stiffness from arthritis inflammation.

Again, you don’t have to become a hard-core vegan to get benefits.  If you can just decrease highly processed foods and replace more meat and dairy with plant-based alternatives, you will be better off.  The more you can go towards a plant-based diet, the healthier you will be.  No, a plant-based diet does not cure or prevent all diseases, but it is very good for your health, the environment, and animals!

Take a look at a couple of articles in the BMJ Nutirition and Health archives (https://nutrition.bmj.com/content/3/1/74 & https://nutrition.bmj.com/content/early/2021/05/18/bmjnph-2021-000272) present some incredible findings regarding diet and immunity, in case case immunity towards severe Covid-19 symptoms.

The second article concludes after studying nearly 3000 cases from 6 countries (including over 500 diagnosed with Covid) that those with a plant based  diet fared better than other diet options, including keto, paleo and many other diets were much more likely to have less severe symptoms.  “Participants who followed plant-based diets had a 73% lower chance of moderate to severe COVID-19 illness, whereas those who followed low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets were 48% more likely to have moderate to severe COVID-19 illness. “

The first article reviews the effect of many nutritional factors on immunity.

It is amazing how beneficial a plant based diet can be, so long as you get a great variety of foods to ensure all the minerals and vitamins you need!

Whole Foods published their first ever Plant_Based_Trends.

While the company has been stocking a growing number of plant based food products, conducting and publishing a study of this sort indicates the importance they are placing on the market.

The study highlighted 5 trends:

1. The growth in gourmet cheese alternatives with “more authentic textures and flavors”.
2. More alternatives for BBQs than hotdog and sausage alternatives, including jackfruit and tempeh based products.
3. Plant based foods and snacks that appeal to young kids.
4. Seafood alternatives.  Well someone must have watched Seaspiracy.
5. More dairy-free dips and spreads to choose from.

Keep your eyes open as if is getting easier and easier to follow an all or mostly plant based diet!

A new study reviewed in National Geographic, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/meat-production-leads-to-thousands-of-air-quality-related-deaths-annually, has estimated the number of deaths from air pollution caused by all agriculture is around 17,900 per year, 80% (or 16,000) caused by meat and dairy production.

The study “is the first to identify which individual foods and diets have the biggest effect on the air pollution that causes asthma, heart attacks, and strokes.”

The data analyzed for this study was from the EPA and US Dept. of Agriculture. Naturally, meat and dairy industry groups are disputing the findings, although they don’t have data of their own.

Of the possible solutions reviewed, a plant based of minimal meat diet is estimated to reduce these deaths by 10,000-13,000. Not perfect, but still one more reason to take up a plant based diet.

US News rated the Mediterranean Diet the best of over 40 diets for the 4th year in a row. See https://health.usnews.com/best-diet. The Dukin and keto diets, high in protein and fats, often animal based, were rated the worst.

Even better, also reported this week, the Mediterranean Diet appears to help reduce the chance of Dementia. See the CNN summary: https://www.cnn.com/…/mediterranean-diet…/index.html
This is not the first study to link a (mostly) plant based diet to reducing chances of cognitive loss diseases.

In the CNN article, Claire McEvoy, assistant professor at Queen’s University Belfast stated “Eating a healthy plant-based diet is associated with better cognitive function and around 30% to 35% lower risk of cognitive impairment during aging.”

CNN states that although we may associated some rich, animal based foods with Mediterranean countries, the majority of people in the area eat a heavily plant based diet, with limited meat, dairy and processed foods.

The CNN article has a link to the scientific article in Neurology magazine, but unless you need something to put you to sleep, stick with the CNN summary.

How Not to Die, authored by Dr. Michael Greger, also known for the website NutritionFacts.org is one of the best science based books detailing how a plant based diet can improve one’s health and combat diseases.  There are over 100 pages of sources cited (and none of them is Fox News or CNN or….).

It is a very well written book that you must get a hold of!  There is too much good information to summarize, so get a copy.  This is one of those books you will keep after reading.

There are 2 parts to the book. 

Part 1 details how specific disorders or diseases, ranging from heart and lung diseases, to various cancers, to suicidal depression and Parkinson can be helped or prevented by diet.    You might read a given chapter if you have a specific disease or concern.  Each chapter covers a disease and is only 10-20 pages long.  His writing is to the point and is easy to understand.

Part 2 is a review of Dr. Greger’s “Daily Dozen”, 12 things you need for longevity.   If you don’t have a specific disease concern, just start here.  You will need to read the 140 pages, but here are the dozen foods:

Beans, 3x per day

Berries, once per day

Other Fruits, 3x

Cruciferous Vegetables, once

Greens, 2x

Other Vegetables, 2x

Flaxseeds, once (seeds need to be ground to be absorbed)

Nuts, once (Walnuts seem to be the best)

Spices, once (Lots of options here, so read up.  Turmeric, cinnamon, cloves…)

Whole Grains, 3x (includes info for those who want gluten free)

This is where the 5:1 ratio of carbs to fiber comes in.  You want 5, or less, grams of carbs for every gram of fiber.  This eliminates a lot of options.

Beverages, 5x.  Water, coffee, tea.  The only good sweeteners are black-strap molasses and date sugar.  Sugar can interfere with a number of nutrients, so minimize added sugars.

Exercise, once (yes, you need to work out a little)

There is also an appendix covering supplements.  Basically, 2500mcg of B12 once a week and 250mg of long chain omega-3s.  Everything else can be obtained in a plant based diet.

The book is well written and is easy to read.  It advocates moving towards a healthier diet, rather than is a hard-core prescription of “musts” or “must-nots”.  There is a companion cookbook, if you want recipes that follow the book.  Once you’ve read the book, I’m betting you’ll want to check out https://nutritionfacts.org.

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