Author Archives: Dr. Sukol

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Vegan Cassoulet

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Last week we were expecting a whole crowd of people to gather for dinner on Friday night. My husband had been away all week, and we were all looking forward to enjoying good food, good company, and a glass of good wine. 

I was looking for a main course that would serve as a dramatic centerpiece for our meal, a symbol of sorts, and so I decided to try making a vegan version of a cassoulet. Traditionally, the cassoulet, a staple of French cuisine, is made with meats and poultry like mutton, pork, sausage, and duck confit, and different regions of France are known for their own distinctive versions. But I had my heart set on making a new kind of cassoulet that, while plant-based, was still intensely flavorful.  Continue reading →

Returning to the Beginning: Two Core Messages

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Today I want to focus on two of the core messages to which I continue to return time and time again: First, there is an enormous difference between real food and manufactured calories. And, second, as we have been discussing at length in recent weeks, manufactured calories have been associated with an epidemic of chronic diseases, including not only diabetes, coronary artery disease, and obesity, but also depression, dementia, and other brain diseases. Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Green Herb Sauce

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At this time of year, fresh herbs are growing everywhere, and large bags of zucchini, tomatoes, and other fresh vegetables continue to appear in the coffee room at work or maybe on your front steps, seemingly from out of nowhere. So even if you don’t keep a garden of your own, this is a great time of year to whip up a batch of an herb sauce that will channel the magical properties of those gorgeous vegetables. Not to mention that it will increase the likelihood that you and your lucky friends and family will eat more of the nourishing and colorful phytonutrients hiding inside all those beautiful vegetables, especially the phytonutrients in the herbs and other deeply colored green leafy veggies.  Continue reading →

More Disturbing News About Ultraprocessed Products

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Almost three-quarters of packaged consumables sold in the United States are ultraprocessed. The vast majority of ultraprocessed packaged products for sale in the supermarket are placed in the center aisles. They comprise most of the menus at chain restaurants including, but not limited to, drive-through and “fast-food” establishments. At this point, they may safely be said to have edged out consumption of nourishing food in the United States.  Continue reading →

Disturbing News About Ultraprocessed Products

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My friend Nancy recently asked about a jar of “light mayo” whose first and third ingredients were water and “modified food starch,” respectively. She bought it because, in contrast to the 100 kcal found in conventional mayonnaise, it listed calories per serving at 35 kcal. I would say that it is an expensive way to buy water and flour. Currently, approximately two-thirds of the calories in the standard American diet derive from ultraprocessed items. I would like to discuss the many recent articles connecting illness and ultraprocessed products. Note that I don’t call them “food.”  Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: “Nice Cream” with Peanut Butter & Dates

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As you have probably noticed, it’s been a little on the hot side. It is August after all, but I took a quick trip down to Austin, Texas, this week to give a talk on diet and inflammation, and it was, at 104F, 30 degrees hotter than in Cleveland where I can usually be found. I’m pretty sure that 104 degrees is a record for me.

This recipe is guaranteed to make your belly happy when it’s hotter outside than you are on the inside. It’s a great dessert, but it’s also a delicious and nourishing breakfast or afternoon snack. Yes, you read that correctly. It is INFINITELY more nourishing than a bowl of sweet ultraprocessed cereal. Continue reading →

Colorful Meals (with a few recipes)

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In the past few days we’ve had vegetable-bean soup made with Moro beans from Rancho Gordo, fresh tomatoes on toast made from Simple Kneads’s sourdough bread, tossed green salads with peppers and radishes, pickled red onions, fresh guacamole, orange-grapefruit salad sprinkled with pistachios, green grapes, cherry tomatoes, and fresh blueberries. And there is almost always homemade bread made from my husband’s hands with King Arthur’s whole wheat flour. 

Our meals do not exactly have a theme, but they always have a lot going for them. It’s all about vegetables, and fruits, and color. On a regular basis we make our way through red, green (light, medium, and dark), white, yellow, brown, orange, purple and blue produce. That’s a lot of colors. And, as my mom taught me, the more colors at a meal, the better. Continue reading →

Life Hack: Tortillas and Beans

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A colleague of mine, a mother and pediatrician, shared a great idea with me the other day. I thought you might enjoy learning about this idea that falls under the category of “life hack.”

Everyone has experienced the feeling of having no idea what to do for dinner, with barely enough time, and no energy (or desire) to make anything. For some, this is fast food night. Or frozen pizza. Or scrambled eggs. Or hard boiled eggs. But my colleague has hit upon a new solution, one that has been working very well for her family. Continue reading →

Gifts from my Family

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We receive many different kinds of gifts from our grandparents, whether the ability to identify all the trees in the backyard, or a beribboned stack of letters dating from the early 1900s, or a love of card games, baseball, or building castles on the beach. My family loved to cook and eat. This is certainly my inheritance, and a large part of the reason my family ate little or no ultraprocessed food. To use a product like “Shake ‘n’ Bake” bordered on heresy. I come by my love and celebration of good, real food in the most honest way possible.  Continue reading →