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

Life is about winning and losing. Sometimes you win, and other times you find yourself banging your head against the wall while repeating, “Why, why, why!” This week’s Eating to Live on the Outside is certainly one of those why-why-why moments. That’s right my friends, on today’s menu is heaping helping of standard American restaurant with all the trimmings. I present, Indigo Joe’s Sports Pub & Restaurant. Okay, take a deep breath, and here we go.

No surprises here, the menu is loaded with standard American staples like cheese, bacon, red meat, and ranch dressing. So as far as the appetizers go, I’d go with the Fresh Vegetable Basket or the Fresh Fruit and Cheese Platter. Both of them obviously come with a variety of fruits and veggies, but they’re also served with crackers, cheese, and ranch dip. I’d promptly hurl these into the garbage can. So in the end, you’re left with a pile of fruit and vegetables—nothing bad about that!

Now like many standard American restaurants Indigo Joe’s offers up the almost obligatory token salads. But unlike most standard American restaurants, they actually have a pretty nice variety. You’ve got seven salads to choose from, but, since two are Caesar Salads you really only have five. Still, that’s a decent offering, although they all need modification before I’d eat any of them. For example this one really caught my eye. The Sesame Chicken Salad is prepared with chicken, wontons, sesame seeds, cucumbers, carrots, Mandarin oranges, scallions, and almonds. When ordering I’d ask the wait staff to omit the chicken and the wontons. And of course, I’d go easy on the dressing which would probably be the Lite Italian. Not bad right? Raw scallions in a salad sounds pretty interesting, don’t you think?

Okay, now we’ve come to a dead end. Why? Well, how do I put this—the rest of the menu stinks! There’s no hope for an Eat to Liver there. Maybe in the past when I was willing to eat a rubbery plastic looking piece of grilled chicken breast I might have had more to say, but sorry, I don’t go there anymore. Dishes like the Char-Grilled Chicken Sandwich, the Philly Steak Sandwich, the Patty Melt, or Chicken Fettucini, just aren’t Fuhrman-friendly, period. I’d rather order a glass of water with a side of ice than sit here and try to make this menu look good—like I said, bashing your head against the wall.

Rather than ponder the shortcomings of the rest of menu, let’s revisit the salads and see what other options you’ve got there. How about the BBQ Chicken Salad? It’s made with chopped lettuce, corn, jicama, cilantro, corn tortilla strips, shredded mozzarella cheese, chopped BBQ chicken breast, diced tomatoes, scallions, and olives. See what I mean about the menu going downhill, BBQ chicken, cheese, and tortilla strips in a salad? Nothing very healthy about that. But if you ditch them, you’re left with a nice variety of veggies—yippee! Same goes for the Mexican Chicken Salad, after you scrap the chicken and cheddar cheese. So if you like being limited to only salads Indigo Joe’s is for you.

To be honest, to me Indigo Joe’s belongs in the category of “I hope I never have to go there.” Sure, I love salads, but I’m not going to some standard American restaurant to order overpriced veggies. So if my friends asked me to meet them for dinner at this place, I’d just pretend to miss their call.

So there you have it. Hopefully you don’t have a headache from bashing your head against the wall, I do, and I may have a concussion. Great, I guess next week I’ll be doing Eating to Live on the Outside: Hospital Food. Don’t forget to check out the Indigo Joe’s menu and let us know how you Eat to Live on the Outside? Leave a comment or email us at diseaseproof@gmail.com.

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I’ve got to thank The King of All Media for the inspiration behind this week’s installment of Eating to Live on the Outside. Now, a lot of people don’t know this, but Howard Stern is a real health nut. Despite his constant self-deprecation, Howard, who turned 53 last month, manages to keep himself fit, trim, and youthful. He’s an avid work-out-aholic and keeps a close watch on what he consumes, in fact, check out the lambasting he gave trans-fat.

Earlier this week Howard talked about an amazing dinner he had at a New York City restaurant called Pure Food and Wine (We Like It Raw has more on that). So, as a card-carrying member of The Stern Nation, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Pure Food and Wine’s menu. As you’ll see, this place is a real winner; innovative, creative, and extremely Fuhrman-friendly!

Okay, now I know what you’re thinking, “Um, Pure Food and WINE? But Dr. Fuhrman doesn’t recommend alcohol as part of a healthy diet.” You’re right, just take a gander at Alcohol and Your Health, and you’ll see that Dr. Fuhrman believes that the detrimental effects of alcohol outweigh the supposed benefits. So, I’ve got an easy solution to this problem, no wine for me. There we go, issue resolved, now onto Pure Food and Wine’s all raw chewables.

If you’ve been following this series you know that every once and while a restaurant comes along that looks totally A-okay, take Mesob Ethiopian Restaurant for example. Alright, since Pure Food and Wine is far from a standard American restaurant, I won’t knit pick about finding the best food choices (they’re all good), instead, here are the dishes that really caught my eye.

First up, from the First Course section of the menu, is the Marinated Shiitake and Avocado Sushi Rolls, an obvious choice, given my love affair with avocados. The sushi rolls are served with pickled pink ginger, dulse, and sesame. Personally pickled ginger isn’t really my thing, so I’d leave that on my plate, but I’d devour everything else—me love avocado! I’m also digging the Napoleon of Black Trumpet Mushrooms and Bosc Pear; which comes with herbed cashew cheese, caramelized shallots, and apricot reisling sauce. So far so good, right? I can practically feel the phytonutrients surging through my body—tingly.

As for the Second Course, I really like the Zucchini and Heirloom Tomato Lasagna; prepared with basil-pistachio pesto, sun-dried tomato sauce, and pignoli ricotta. Now my Italian bones are leery about this creation being called lasagna, but Howard Stern is half Italian and he ordered and loved it, so I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt. The Truffled Parsnip Pasta with Lemon Sage Cream also got my mojo going. It comes with black truffles, haricots vert (green beans), and arugula apricot salad. Okay, I’m sure the mention of pasta spooked you, but Howard talked about this on the air and explained that it’s called pasta, but it really isn’t. Of course it can’t hurt to ask the wait staff for further clarification. Again, can’t you just feel the phytonutrients?

Now the Third Course of the menu is all desserts. Desserts are a tricky thing for an Eat to Liver. More often than not I just skip over that section of the menu—it’s usually loaded with sugar and dairy products—Dr. Fuhrman would surely hit me over the head with a large melon if I suggested eating something like that. But, Pure Food and Wine states that refined sugar and dairy products are omitted from their food preparation. So, I’m eyeballing the Apple Napoleon. It’s made with spiced apple wafers, apple compote, lemon pineapple sauce, Asian pears, and yuzu (Asian citrus fruits). How about you, which dessert would you order?

What really intrigued me about Pure Food and Wine is when Howard mentioned that after eating there he didn’t have the heavy full feeling you often get at other restaurants. Anyone who’s ever eaten at a Friday’s or Houlihan's can relate. Speaking of heavy and full feeling, Howard really needs to get Artie eating better and exercising. Because continuous trips to the vending machine for Famous Amos cookies isn’t cutting it. Take a look at the sad state of Howard Stern’s sidekick Artie Lange—get help Artie, we don’t want you to die.

As always, you know the drill, we want your feedback! Scope out Pure Food and Wine’s menu and let us know how you Eat to Live on the Outside? Leave a comment or email us at diseaseproof@gmail.com.

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Yeah, so with a name like Salad Creations, it’s got to be good, right? It is, well, sort of. At a glance, it’s about a zillion times better than typical standard American restaurants like IHOP and Boston Market, but believe it or not, it’s got issues. What kind? The standard American salad variety, not sure what I mean? Okay then, let’s just cut the chitter-chatter and get right down to it.

If the name didn’t give it away, I’ll enlighten you, Salad Creations is all about salads, so we’re definitely off to the right start. In fact, last time we examined a restaurant with the word salad in its name we discovered New York City’s own Just Salad—one of the best restaurants to date. Salad Creations and Just Salad have another thing in common too. As great as their offerings are, they still have some undesirable menu items; like bacon, cheese, and croutons for example. So, like Just Salad, in order to get the best out of Salad Creations I’ll have to be careful where I step. And not to behave like every fat American who claims to be on a diet, but yet loads their salad with bacon bits, croutons, shredded cheese, and then drowns it in “light” ranch dressing.

Okay, first up are Salad Creations’ Featured Salads and Chopped Salads. The Chopped “Boca” Veggie is by far my favorite; it’s prepared with lettuce, green bell peppers, red bell peppers, red onion, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, corn, chickpeas, vine-ripe tomatoes, and croutons—obviously the croutons are getting the boot and, you know me, I’m going easy on the dressing too. In the end, I think you’re left with an excellent veggie-based phytonutrientful meal, full of biodiversity. Oh, and as for the dressing, Salad Creation boasts a bunch of homemade dressings. In my opinion the basic Balsamic Vinaigrette probably does the least amount of damage, especially if you’re only using a little bit. What do you think?

Now the other salads on the menu are tougher and require more alterations if you plan on walking away from your meal with as few concessions as possible. So, if I had to pick, I’d probably say the Farmhouse Salad and the Santa Fe Chicken Salad have the most potential, but again, you’ve got to do some nitpicking. Together they come with garden fresh lettuce, vine-ripe tomatoes, red onions, carrots, cucumbers, corn, green bell peppers, and sunflower seeds. Not bad, right? Here’s the problem, they also come with croutons, cheddar cheese, and chicken. But, if you ditch these undesirables you can certainly resurrect either salad into decent meal. Sometimes a little hard work pays off. Actually, if you think placing a special order is hard work, you probably shouldn’t leave your house, ever.

What makes Salad Creations different from Just Salad is they offer more than just salads—look a pun—Salad Creations also serves wraps, soups, and smoothies. So, if you walk into a salad place, and you DON’T feel like salad—why the heck are you in there in the first place—uh, I mean, you have plenty of other options instead of a salad. The menu doesn’t tell you what type of soups they have, so you’ll have to ask on that one, but we can certainly take a look at the wraps and smoothies. The only wrap to catch my eye was the Boca Veggie; it’s loaded with green peppers, carrots, onions, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, corn, tomato, chickpeas, croutons, Romaine lettuce, and topped off with balsamic vinegar—now that’s a lot veggies. Again, the croutons are history. Once they’re gone you’re left with a good looking sandwich. And of course you’re concession will be the wrap, but given the amount of vegetables, I can live with it. Now if the wrap is too much for, I’d advise you lighten up—kidding—no, seriously, take a chill pill. And as for the smoothies, they all look good, but I’d definitely ask if they’re dairy-based because if they are, I’m staying far-far away from them.

Finally, if all else fails and I was in a serious panic about what to order—I’d just make my own salad. Salad Creations gives you that option, and believe me, it’s a luxury. For example, doesn’t a salad comprised of Romaine lettuce, red onion, carrots, beets, corn, cucumbers, artichokes, and sunflower seeds, sound good to you?

Let me know what you think. Check out Salad Creations’ menu and let us know how you Eat to Live on the Outside? Leave a comment or email us at diseaseproof@gmail.com.

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So a funny thing happened today. I sat down at my desk to start concocting this week’s Eating to Live on the Outside and while I perused the menu I realized—I’m not all that into meat anymore. I’m just not. When I first started doing this series I was okay with the occasional piece of chicken, but now I look at grilled chicken the same way I do a bloody steak, I don’t want it. Now I’m still okay with fish, like tilapia or flounder, but honestly, if I’m eating out, I’d prefer to keep it veggie-based. Isn’t it funny how things change?

Okay, enough of that, what about this week’s restaurant? Well, Samurai Sam’s is trying really hard to be healthy, and comparatively speaking it is. Compared to standard American restaurants like Friendly’s and Sizzler, Samurai Sam’s is a few rungs up the ladder, but, it’s not without its own set of problems. For starters, most of the dishes are meat-based and—perhaps the biggest issue of all—the food is very salty. Some menu items have as much as 2,050 milligrams of sodium—ouch! Alright, enough prognosticating, let’s see what we’ve got.

The specialty at Samurai Sam’s seems to be bowls, and there’s a bunch of them. Each one is some conglomeration of chicken or steak, miscellaneous stir-fried vegetables, and brown or white rice, topped off with either teriyaki or sweet & sour sauce—oh, and there’s these noodle thingies too. So, what to order? Well, you can pretty much take your pick. They’re all basically the same. As for me, the Teriyaki Bowl looks good. Of course I’m ditching the chicken and ordering it with brown rice instead of white. That’d make my only the concession the aforementioned salt and the rice. Also, you might want to ask the waiter what kind of veggies it’s prepared with because the menu doesn’t say, but from the picture it looks like broccoli, carrots, zucchini, and snow peas—although it can’t hurt to double-check.

If you’re not feeling the bowls, the salads have potential, but, they could use a little tweaking, especially if you’re not looking to eat meat. The Sesame Garden Toss is made with chicken, sliced cucumber, snap peas, fresh julienne carrots, Yaki Soba noodles, and a fresh lettuce blend. And the Oriental Chicken Salad is prepared with chicken, cucumbers, wonton strips, lettuce, and oriental or ginger dressing. Either one of these is cool with me. That’s after I drop the chicken, wonton strips, and noodles of course. Not to mention going easy on the salad dressing. So, what am I left with? Lots and lots of phytonutrients—behold the phyonutrients, kneel before they’re power!

Well if the bowls or the salads don’t suit your fancy, give this a whirl. It’s an all too familiar and all too basic approach to Eating to Live on the Outside—just order a Side Salad as your main dish. I would. And why would I do that? That’s an easy one. It kicks my meat eating problem and Samurai Sam’s salt predicament square in the butt. Judo-chop!

And remember, if you’ve got an interesting Eating 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 Samurai Sam’s menu and email us at diseaseproof@gmail.com.

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