Disease Proof : Disease Proof : Health & Nutrition News & Commentary : Dr. Joel Fuhrman

Its Friday pard’ners and his week Eating to Live on the Outside goes wild—Wild West! Yee-hah! Saddle up because we’re taking a broken trail towards the Lonestar Steakhouse. Relax, I know the word steakhouse is frightening, but remember that a few weeks ago we survived our Outback adventure just fine. So no worries mate!

The first thing I noticed about Lonestar’s menu is the amount of meat, as far as the eye can see, meat, not too surprising considering this is a steakhouse, although there are a few healthy options consider. I admit it’s still going to be tough, but good thing I have my trusty six-shooter by my side—although a head of lettuce might be more useful. Also, for what it's worth, Lonestar does provide nutritional information online, so that earns them a couple bonus points.

And just to recap: this is about what I would order, having read Dr. Fuhrman's book. These, my friends, are not recommendations from Dr. Fuhrman. Thoughts on what you would order are more than welcome in the comments.

Like usual my eyes gravitate towards the salad section of the menu; it’s like the Alamo, a safe haven in the middle of hostile territory. The Cobb Salad has some promise, but I’m making a couple alterations—goodbye cheese and adios bacon! Now, I can deal with the chicken and egg, I only eat meat once a week anyway, so I don’t really mind this concession. Overall my favorite thing about this dish is the avocado. I have bit of an avocado fetish.

The El Paso Salad isn’t too bad either, but again, I’d drop the bacon, cheese, and in this case, the croutons have got to go! This salad also comes with your choice of meat, if I had to choose, I’d probably order chicken or salmon because I don’t eat red meat and shrimp doesn't rank very well on the contamination scale according to OceansAlive.org. Be sensible about the salad dressing and I think you’ve got a decent meal. Oh, and the standard Dinner Salad looks cool too.

The Fresh Catch of the Day intrigues me, but there’s a catch (tasteless pun I know). I’d ask the wait staff exactly what the Catch of the Day is, if it’s something like salmon or tilapia, I’m all smiles. If not, I’m heading for the hills, or I’d probably just order the Grilled Chicken instead and couple it with a few healthy sides; a baked sweet potato and steamed veggies sounds good.

Other than these few dishes there really isn’t anything else I’d order. The soups scare me because they all seem to be cream-based and the last thing I need in my system is dairy. I might experiment with the crab legs or the lobster, but again the contamination worries me. In a pinch another good idea is to combine a bunch of sides into a main dish; this worked well during our Outback experience.

Don’t forget, we want your feedback! Check out the Lonestar Steakhouse menu and let us know how Eat to Live on the outside? Leave a comment or email us at diseaseproof@gmail.com.

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One minute you're at home checking out DiseaseProof (shameless plug) and the next you're at a restaurant with friends---totally dumbfounded by the menu! It may be Friendly's, bit it's not looking very Fuhrman-friendly! You're scared. Your initial reaction is, "Oh man! I gotta get out of here. I can already feel myself getting fatter." Don't worry, you're not alone. We'll stare down this menu together. Although feel free to curl up into the fetal position if you need to.

For more than a month we've examined menus of many national restaurants, trying to figure out what an Eat to Liver might eat there. Some eateries have lots of potential like Chipotle, P.F. Chang's, and Baja Fresh. Others like Outback Steakhouse, Friday's, and IHOP, require a lot more creativity and concessions. As I've said in the past, this isn't perfect science. More like informed guess work. It may shock you to learn this, but I am not a doctor. I am a blogger.

Okay, time to flex my powers of guess-timation. This week I'll being taking a look at the ironically named Friendly's menu. After a few minutes of perusing the menu sweat actually began to bead up on my forehead. This restaurant is a tough sell for an Eat to Liver---just lots of good-old fried goo smothered with cheesey American goodness! But surprisingly, you do have some options.

At first I was thinking I might order the Tuna Roll, but given the amount of mercury in tuna, I'd avoid it. A basic soup and a salad is a decent choice, although stay away from the cream based soups and definitely not choose the oily or creamy salad dressings. Speaking of salad, the Oriental Chicken Salad and the Chicken Caesar Salad look good. I like the Oriental Chicken salad a lot because you get a nice array of plant matter: mandarin oranges, roasted almonds, and mixed greens. Just remember to go easy on the dressing. I'd easily take this over the Chicken Caesar Salad.

In this bleak setting, the Grilled Chicken Deluxe Sandwich gets honorable mention just for not being fried, and including shredded lettuce, tomato, red pepper, garlic, and red onion.

Another dish that is certainly worth a try is the Vegetable Fajita Quesadillas. You Eat to Livers know what I mean, you see the word vegetable on a menu and your eyes snap to attention. Now, it's not perfect, but you can work with it. The flour tortillas are a problem, but an acceptable concession if you skip the Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheese. Then you're left with baby portabella mushrooms, sautéed onions, and red peppers and green peppers---I'm a sucker for portabella. Yes, I realize cheese is high on Dr. Fuhrman's list of evil foods.

Finally, if you're in the mood for fish give the Grilled Flounder a whirl. Calm down! According to OceansAlive.org flounder isn't too riddled with mercury, so if you have it, just wait a few weeks before you eat it again. The rest of the dish seems pretty tame, white rice and garden vegetables, but I'd kindly ask the waiter not to even show me the garlic bread.

And as always we want to hear about how you handle eating away from home. What would you do different? Check out the Friendly's menu and email us at diseaseproof@gmail.com or leave a comment. How do you Eat to Live on the outside?

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You're an Eat to Liver, you love your veggies, greens, beans, and quite frankly, just saying the word cruciferous... CRUCIFEROUS! But you're out with friends and next thing you know you're at local eatery having serious doubts about how Fuhrman-friendly it is. Nervous yet?

Fear not! This blogger is more than willing to be your crash test dummy. I've read Eat to Live, I blog about it all the time, and follow many of Dr. Fuhrman's recommendations. So here's what I'd order if I found myself gazing longingly at Baja Fresh's menu. Yup, that's right, this week we'll examine Wendy's sister restaurant (pun intended) Baja Fresh Mexican Gill.

You're in luck. Baja Fresh shows a lot of promise, very similar to Chipotle.

The first thing I noticed about the online menu is the inclusion of nutrition facts next to each menu item; just like P.F. Chang's. This is a great start. I don't know about you, but I like to know what's in my food. I've never been to a Baja Fresh, so does anyone know if the menu in the restaurants also has nutrition facts?

Hmm what to order? The majority of the dishes include some sort of tortilla and unless you go for a soup or salad, this is a concession you're going to have to make. I like the Grilled Veggie Burrito a lot, there's tons of good stuff in it: grilled peppers, Pico de Gallo, chilies, onions, black or pinto beans, and lettuce. I bet there's plenty of nutrients in all that. It also comes with sour cream and a couple cheeses, I'd ditch those.

Another good option might be a Grilled Mahi Mahi Taco. It's got some really mouth watering ingredients: sliced avocado, cabbage, Pico de Gallo, Mahi Mahi, and a zesty avocado dressing. Some people might be inclined to skip the avocado dressing, but I have a bit of an avocado fetish, so I'm keeping it. Now I know what you're thinking: "Mahi Mahi. Fish! No-no! Mercury!" Don't worry, according to OceansAlive.org Mahi Mahi is among the Eco Best for low mercury contamination. Nice!

Now if you're not in the mood for tacos or burritos, try getting a little creative. Baja Fresh has got a bunch of interesting side-dishes, and if you piece them together you've got a pretty good meal. Here's an idea, order a side salad, some guacamole, and some rice and beans. It might seem a little bland, but you're getting a nice array of veggies, loaded with nutrients.

Remember if you've got an interesting Eat to Live on the Outside story we'd love to hear from you. Hey, we might even make a post out of it. Check out the Baja Fresh menu and email us at diseaseproof@gmail.com with your ideas and stories or just leave a comment. Let us know how you Eat to Live on the outside?

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Okay another work week in the books. It's Friday and you know what that means? Time to take a look at "Eating to Live on the Outside." If you've been reading DiseaseProof over the past month you know once a week we peruse the menu of a popular restaurant and see what an "Eat to Liver" might order. Sound crazy?

Well it's not. Sure, it's best to prepare nutritious meals at home and avoid the risk of restaurants all together. But we all live in the real world (at least I hope so) and sooner or later you'll find yourself seated at a not-so Fuhrman-friendly dining establishment. Then what do you do?

That's why we started this feature, to help. We've read Eat to Live and how we'll tell you what we would eat, if we found ourselves in various restaurants. An important thing to remember is this isn't a perfect science. In most cases it's impossible to find a 100% Fuhrman-friendly selection, and I'm not a doctor anyway. Rather think of this as damage control because you're going to have to make some concessions.

Over the past month we've looked at Friday's, IHOP, Chipotle, and P.F. Chang's. This week we're going down-under, into the Outback...steakhouse. "Too right mate! Let's see what we can find."

The fact that the Outback is a steakhouse should have alerted you to the need for concessions.

The menu item to jump at me was the Brisbane Caesar Salad. Salad is always seems to be a great choice, if you've got veggies, in particular green vegetables you're good. The Brisbane also comes with your choice of meat, either grilled chicken, shrimp, or an "Aussie-sized chicken breast" (I assume that means bigger). I might get the grilled chicken, the shrimp might be okay too for a special occasion.

Further down on the menu are "Outback Grillers," there's some promise here. If you decide to order the Chicken Griller it'll come on a bed of seasoned rice, grilled vegetables, and pineapple. You also get a salad with it too. Grilling isn't the healthiest cooking technique, but those are actual vegetables with healthy phytochemicals, and the pineapple is cool too, and best of all you get a salad. Skip the dressing and you're sure get a nutrient dense mound of greens.

Now if you're feeling fishy, the selections under the menu heading "Botany Bay Catches" are very intriguing. You get a side of fresh steamed veggies with the Atlantic Salmon and the Botany Bay Fish O' The Day, very encouraging. And neither dish is prepared too unhealthfully. You might want to stay away from the Boomerang Shrimp, the words "battered" and "breaded" are red flags. I'd also consider the Hearts of Gold Fresh Catch: You get Bronzed fresh filet, sautéed artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes and green onions. Although you might want to ditch the lemon Alfredo sauce.

Here's another option to consider. Instead of modifying one of the main dishes, try ordering a combination of the healthier sides. You can choose from fresh steamed veggies, fresh steamed broccoli, grilled onions, sautéed shrooms (mushrooms), or a House or Caesar salad. If you were to order half a plate of broccoli, half a plate of veggies, and a House salad with none or limited dressing, you'll have survived you're Outback adventure fairly well.

And as always we want to hear about how you handle eating away from home. What would you do different? Check out the Outback Steakhouse menu and email us at diseaseproof@gmail.com or leave a comment. How do you Eat to Live on the outside?

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At long last, Friday has returned! And that means its time to take another look at "Eating to Live on the Outside." Over the past few weeks DiseaseProof has taken on menus from Friday's, IHOP, and Chipotle, this week we take a look at P.F. Chang's China Bistro.

By now you all know the drill. You're on the Eat to Live plan, but your buddies aren't. One night you're all hanging out, someone suggests getting a bite to eat, and before you can say "cruciferous" a waitress is awaiting your order. Holy broccolini! What do you do?

Well fear not, because if you've landed at P.F. Chang's you'll walk away from dinner feeling pretty good about yourself. The menu shows a lot of promise, not bad for a restaurant I didn't even know existed. I honestly thought P.F. Chang was a pro-wrestler.

Now this doesn't do you a lot of good if you're already at the restaurant, but if you can plan ahead of time, check out the menu online. Next to every dish they actually have the nutrition information listed, pretty cool huh? Definitely a sign of a progressive dining establishment, I wonder if hardcopies of the menu list this info too. Anyone know?

Okay, so you've got a lot of options here. I'll point out some that look delicious to me, but no doubt you'll see plenty more. So scream and holler in the comments if you find something else.

The first menu item to jump up at me was Harvest Spring Rolls. They've got some pretty hearty vegetables in them: bamboo shoot strips, black mushrooms, cabbage, carrots, and celery. The sauces, salt, and sesame oil make them a little suspect, but not too bad. An even better choice might be the Steamed Vegetable Dumplings. The tofu, bamboo shoot strips, bean thread noodle, black mushrooms, cabbage, ginger, green onions, Mi Chiu rice wine, and red bell pepper sound pretty tasty. Given the breadth of vegetables in these two selections, you're bound to ingest some nutrients.

The Ginger Chicken and Broccoli really caught my eye. Check out the picture, there's a mound of broccoli there, and broccoli is a real nutritional heavy weight. I like the Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon Steamed with Ginger too. Steaming is an oil-free way to cook and you get a nice dose of green vegetables with the bok choy and the asparagus. If you're looking for greens Buddha's Feast Steamed is also a solid choice.

If it were me, I'd also consider P.F. Chang's Fried Rice Vegetable or Chicken. I'd order either with brown rice, although you're making a huge concession by going with something fried, but you'd be hard-pressed not to find something with oil on this menu. If you're totally oil adverse I'd pick a dish that isn't fried (like the Vegetarian Ma Po Tofu) and ask the waiter to hold the oil they use for seasoning.

Overall you've got a lot of options at P.F. Chang's. It isn't perfect, but you've got a fighting chance. Unlike a trip to McDonalds or Burger King that'll knock you out in the first round with a rabbit punches of cholesterol and the refined wheat and sugar pile-driver.

As always we want to hear about how you handle eating away from home. Any tips? Check out the P.F. Chang's menu and Email us at diseaseproof@gmail.com or leave a comment. How do you Eat to Live on the outside?

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