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

Alright, I may be a lot of things, but a coward isn’t one of them. After all, just look at all of the standard American nightmares I’ve braved over the past year: Carino's Italian Grill, Huddle House, Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café, Indigo Joe's, Don Pablo's, Fazoli's, and Denny's.

I feel battled tested to say the least. And I’m going to need all my skills to tackle this week’s restaurant, Lonni’s Sandwiches. I mean come on! Any restaurant with the word sandwich in the title is a major asterisk for the fickle Eat to Liver—hell hath no fury like bread’s scorn.

Upon brief inspection, a lot of the menu is bad news, but, I’m sure I can find something—just in case I’m duped, bonked on the head, tied up, thrown into the back of a Cadillac, and revived by a bucket of cold water, only to find myself chained to a table in Lonni’s Sandwiches. So, lets have at it!

No surprise here, the menu is packed with sandwiches. Okay, no egg salad for me—I actually just threw up in my mouth a little. Yuck, ham and cheese! And I’ll definitely pass on Cecil’s Sunrise. This heart attack bomb is made with egg slices, ham, Swiss cheese, cheddar cheese, and potato bread—eek! What to order, what to order? Here are a couple ideas.

First is the Custom Vegetarian. It can be made with Swiss cheese, cheddar cheese, cream cheese, cucumbers, alfalfa sprouts, sweet onion, lettuce, tomatoes, mayonnaise, black olives, sunflower seeds, and dressing. Well, that is a lot of veggies. If I were ordering this thing, I’d start with whole wheat bread—the grainer the better—and I’d take everything but the cheese and the mayo. So that would make my concession the bread, the salty olives, and the tiny bit of dressing I’d use. I’m not too worried about—that’s a ton of plant matter!

The only other sandwich I’d entertain would be the Mango Breeze, but, I’d first do some renovations. Here’s why. It comes with brie, avocado slices, dried mango chutney, alfalfa sprouts, mayonnaise, and wild rice bread. Even after ditching the brie and mayonnaise, I still think it’s a pretty interesting meal. Oh, and the concession here would be the bread…again.

In addition to sandwiches, Lonni’s Sandwiches also offers soups, salads, desserts, and drinks. Well, the soups aren’t looking too Fuhrman-friendly. Maybe the Wild Rice Soup, but who knows if it’s made with chicken broth or not. If it isn’t, it’d be a solid an option; wild rice, tomatoes, carrots, celery, and corn. The only concession would be the rice—no biggie.

Okay, the desserts and drinks aren’t worth it—onto the salads! I like two of them, but despite their high veggie count, they’ve both got plenty of undesirables that need to be dealt with. Let’s start with the Chef’s Supreme. It’s made with Romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce, tomato, egg slices, cucumber, radishes, celery, summer squash, sweet onion, ham, turkey, Swiss cheese, and cheddar cheese. I know, what a way to ruin a good thing! The egg, meats, and cheeses are toast—no thank you! Now provided I go easy on the dressing or omit it altogether, this salad is looking pretty good.

The next salad is the Very Vegetarian, which is funny, because the Very Vegetarian comes with cheese and egg—what the heck is vegetarian about that? Anyway, it’s made with Romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce, tomato, egg slices, cucumber, radishes, celery, black olives, Swiss cheese, cheddar cheese, sweet onion, alfalfa sprouts, garbanzo beans, artichoke hearts, and sunflower seeds—certainly a lot of veggies! Like I said, the cheese and the egg are getting the boot. After that, the only concession would be the black olives and maybe some salad dressing.

You could also give the Wild Rice Salad a try. It’s prepared with wild rice, sliced almonds, celery, onion, green peas, lettuce, egg slices, sweet mustard dressing, and a poppy seed muffin. Once you ditch the eggs and the muffin it’s a little more Fuhrman-friendly, but, that’s too much rice for me. I’d prefer one of the other salads in stead. Personally, I’m leaning towards the modified Very Vegetarian—how about you?

So, is Lonni’s Sandwiches as bad as I originally thought? I mean I was able to find a handful of dishes that an Eat to Liver could sneak by with. The answer is yes. It is still a rough place for a health concession person. In my humble opinion, the menu is way too bogged down with standard American ooey-gooey junk foods, but what do you think? Check out Lonni’s Sandwiches’ menu and let me know how you handle Eating to Live on the Outside. Make a comment or shoot me an email at diseaseproof@gmail.com.

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I’m a city guy. I’ve always been fascinated by the culture, architecture, and general dynamic of big cities—growing up near NYC has that effect—and one of the places I’ve always wanted to visit is Chicago. Well, I kind of get to do that today. This week Eating to Live on the Outside examines Chicago’s Samba Room.

At first inspection Samba Room looks pretty middle of the road. Not outstanding, but not terrible. The dishes are relatively basic and have a fresh feeling. I’ve found from doing all these reviews that being basic and fresh usually up a dish’s chances of being Fuhrman-friendly. So, let’s see if it holds true. Time to rock and roll!

Alright, first up are the Plantain Chips. They’re an appetizer and served with a black bean and tomato salsa. Provided the chips aren’t fried, I’d order them. If they are—heck no! Not just for health reasons. Fried foods have always grossed me out. That yucky feeling greases your whole mouth and throat—gag!

Okay, next up are two salads—surprise-surprise—the Latin Chopped Salad and the Caesar Salad. The Latin salad needs a little work; it comes with grilled chicken, tomato, red onion, avocado and bacon-cabrales dressing. Cabrales is a type of cheese, so I’m ditching that. Also, the chicken has got to go. In the end you’re not left with much, but hey, it’s still an option!

The Caesar is a lot better—well maybe. According to the menu it comes with chipotle-lemon mojo and toasted pumpkin seeds. I’m not sure what mojo is in food terms, but I have a hunch it’s veggie-based. Clearly the pumpkin seeds are cool. Now here’s the catch. I can't tell if this is like a regular cheesy Caesar salad just mixed with all this stuff or not. So, before I’d order it, I’d ask the wait staff. Cheese, gross!

Next in line is the Marinated Heart of Palm and Jicama, served over sliced tomatoes and fresh citrus. Well, provided that palm and jicama aren’t marinated in bacon fat—which I doubt they are—this looks like a good one. Another option worth trying is the Brazilian Black Bean Soup. If it’s not made with animal broth—cool-cool!

Now, even though I’ve kicked all meat. I still eat fish. Not often, but I do enjoy it. My favorite fish is mahi-mahi—how lucky for me that it’s on Samba’s menu! The Plantain Crusted Mahi-Mahi is prepared on coconut rice, mango-mojo, and with maduro salsa. Well, the rice is a concession, but I can deal with it, especially since mahi-mahi is an Eco Best. Sweet! Also on the menu is Chilean sea bass and red snapper, two words—Eco Worst.

Another thing to try is the Grilled, Mashed & Crisp Vegetables—the title kind of says it all—it includes yuca, marinated onions, portabella mushrooms, and potatoes. I’m not sure you can go wrong with all this. Mushrooms are great. I know Dr. Fuhrman recommends them as a nice chewy substitute for meat. I grew up on mushrooms. I love them, even if they do grow on poop.

It might have been a short—imaginary—trip to Chi-Town, but certainly not uneventful. I’m pretty confident in saying that Samba Room has real potential. Outside of the dishes I mentioned the menu is rough, but if you keep it tight, you can have yourself a decent—healthy—meal. But tell me what you think. How do you handle Eating to Live on the Outside? Check out Samba Room's menu and make a comment or send an email to diseaseproof@gmail.com. In the meantime, go eat some lettuce!

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A name can say a lot about a restaurant. For example, The Heart Attack Grill; home of the single, double, triple, and quadruple bypass burgers. That is standard American restaurant for—DON’T EAT HERE! Luckily Harvest Thyme’s name is a little more inviting.

Harvest Thyme is certainly an upgrade over abominations like The Heart Attack Grill, but, it’s not without its own problems. Harvest Thyme does offer plenty of enticing veggie-based options, but the menu is also tempered with lots of typical ooey-gooey standard American favorites. Let’s check it out.

I’ll start with the breakfast menu. Ham and cheese omelet—no! Bacon, egg, and cheese bagel—pass! Fruit cup—now we’re talking! And Mom’s Oatmeal also looks good. Mom prepares it with bananas and raisins. So, provided there’s no milk in it. I’m cool with the oatmeal. Okay, breakfast was easy.

The lunch menu is a little tougher, but workable. The Favorites, Wraps, and Deli Sandwiches are out—too much cheese and meat—but, the Soups & Salads, Veggie Lovers, and Fresh Fruit are another story. Personally, this is where I’d focus all my efforts. So that’s exactly what I’ll do!

For starters, I like the Harvest Thyme Salad; includes greens, tomatoes, sprouts, carrots, cucumbers, onions, and homemade croutons. I’d limit the dressing and axe the croutons. That’d leave me with a nice wallop of phytonutrients—what do you think?

Next up is the Mother Nature’s Best. It’s a big fruit plate and nice a mix of banana, pineapple, granny smith apples, cantaloupe, honeydew, grapes, strawberries, granola, and frozen yogurt. Minus the frozen yogurt, it’s a solid option. Although sometimes I think I eat too much fruit—I love fruit!

There’s another neat option under Veggie Lovers. The Homemade Hummus Pita; prepared with lettuce, tomato, sprouts, carrots, and cucumbers. The concession here would be the pita bread and the oil used in making the hummus. I’m okay with it, but I still like the fruit plate the best.

Lastly the Farmers Market Pita could work. Just like the hummus pita it’s made with lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts, carrots, and cucumbers, but, also includes melted jack and cheddar cheese. If you ditch the cheese, the only concession would be the pita—focus on the veggies!

Do you dig shakes and smoothies? Harvest Thyme has a whole slue of them, but there are a few glitches. Some of them contain milk and protein powder—no thank you! Although, the Berrylicious looks tasty; a blend of orange juice, bananas, strawberries, and pineapple.

Now, I’m not a big juice guy—with the exception of my morning sip of pomegranate juice—but I do like the Later Gator. This one’s made with mandarin papaya, strawberries, banana, and coconut. Eating the whole fruit might be better, but man, these look good!

Okay, that wasn’t too bad, especially after last week’s horrible excursion through Carino's Italian Grill. But now the responsibility is in your hands, check out Harvest Thyme’s menu and let me know how you handle Eating to Live on the Outside. Make a comment or send me an email at diseaseproof@gmail.com.

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The Darth Vader theme song should be playing. Because get ready! Here comes another standard American restaurant. Now, without even getting into it, I can sense that Carino’s Italian Grill is going to be a commercialized-Italian food nightmare for even the most liberal Eat to Liver.

That being said, I’m not surprised. Just look at Fazoli’s faux-talian food and Carrabba's Italian Grill. These pseudo-Italian restaurants really annoy me. Io sono Italiano and I can tell you first hand, I’ve never sat down to eat a plate of my nonna’s “Italian Nachos” and “Skilletini.”

To paraphrase comedian Nick Di Paolo, these places call Baloney Alfredo authentic Italian cuisine—mamalukes! But be that as it may. With out any further ado, let’s crack open Carino’s menu and see what it’s got to offer—biting my tongue.

Well, the appetizers are tutto male—all bad. Something about the aforementioned Italian Nachos just doesn’t do it for me. Maybe its the oodles of cream and cheese? I wonder. The Sicilian Fire Sticks are another abomination; bacon, sausage, cheese—oh my! 

Moving past the appetizers brings me to a familiar menu section, the salads. My old adage holds true yet again. Salads are a bastion of hope for an Eat to Liver. Granted, most of Carino’s salads are more than iffy, but, there are a couple options worth running to.

The first is the house salad. It doesn’t say what’s in it, but I’m assuming it comes with lettuce, tomato, and onions—nothing wrong with that. Plus, Carino’s offers one of those never-ending salad deals; which is good, because if you’re like me you can plow through salad like a ruminant.

I might be persuaded into ordering the Honey-Pecan Salmon Salad; salmon with a honey-pecan crust, romaine lettuce, sun-dried tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, red onions, and lemon-caper vinaigrette. Truth be told, this isn’t a horrible dish; especially since salmon is on Dr. Fuhrman’s list of less-contaminated fishes. If I limit the dressing, I’d escape this meal relatively unscathed.

Okay, time to leave the comfort of the salads. Onto the rest of the menu—oh boy—well, if you’re feeling fishy you’ve got a couple more options. I’m talking about the Jalapeno Garlic Tilapia and Salvatore’s Fish Positano. Together they include tilapia, garlic, Roma tomatoes, jalapenos (how Italian), spinach, lemon butter cream sauce, pasta, green olives, black olives, capers, and white wine lemon sauce. To make these work I’m ditching the sauces. But even with those two unsavories gone, they’re not perfect. The salty olives and capers are a big concession and the pasta is a rough mission too. I’d opt for a salad. Oh, and Dr. Fuhrman recommends Tilapia as a safer fish as well.

You probably guessed by now. Even though I’m Italian, I rarely eat pasta—non mi piaciono gli alimenti raffinati. Making these next two dishes a big waste of time, but, maybe you’re more liberal than me. So, here goes. The Stuffed Roasted Vegetable Rigatoni includes rigatoni stuffed with portabella mushrooms, red peppers, yellow peppers, onions, asparagus, spinach, squash, and a creamy-cheesy marinara vegetables sauce. Ciao creamy-cheese sauce! Insert regular sauce. That’s what I’d do, but I’d still be left with the pasta concession. Now, given the amount of veggies in this dish, there’s a slight chance I’d order it, which would mean extra gym-time for me—bad Gerry, bad!

And finally, the Angel Hair with Artichokes has some potential. It’s made with artichoke hearts, Roma tomatoes, garlic, capers, basil, black olives, parmesan cheese, and angel hair pasta. Yup, a few problems here! First the capers are going bye-bye, then the olives, and then the cheese. What are you left with? Some veggies, pasta, and probably a bunch of olive oil—eh, if I went with pasta, I’d prefer the Vegetable Rigatoni. But again, a regular-old salad is probably the safest bet.

So there you have it—un dolore nel collo! Yet another standard American restaurant sliced and diced. There’s actually a Carino’s Italian Grill close to my house, but I doubt I’ll be visiting it anytime soon. But in the odd chance that I do, rest assured, I’ll be primed and ready to squawk about it. As for right now, check out Carino’s menu and let me know how you’d handle Eating to Live on the Outside. Shoot me an email at diseaseproof@gmail.com, or, make a comment. Until next time!

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Alright, this week Eating to Live on the Outside hits the west coast—the way west coast! We’re heading to Hawaii to chow down at Veg Out. With a name like that, it should be good. Let’s hope so, because after enduring Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse, I could use a breath of fresh nutrient-dense vegetable-based air. Okay, synch up your grass skirt and let’s crack this menu open!

I’ll start with the appetizers and beverages first. Veg Out has a bunch of juices that might interest you. Personally, I’m not a big juice guy. I drink a little pomegranate juice every morning and that’s about it, but, I might try the Carrot Juice with beets. As for the appetizers, I’m either going with the Edamame beans or the Steamed Veggies—can’t go wrong with these!

Next up are the salads. Well, they all look good to me, but, there’re a couple alterations to be made. Take the Greek Salad for example. It’s prepared with Romaine lettuce, cucumber, tomato, red onion, Kalamata olives, and feta cheese. As usual, the cheese gets the axe. I’m also ditching the olives because they’re salty. So, after dropping these two things, I’ve got a pretty decent meal in front of me. The Veg Out Salad is an even better option; made with Romaine lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, cabbage, mushroom, tomato, red onion, and sprouts. You really can’t complain about this one. And finally, the Etsalada Salad; includes Mexican beans, seasoned tofu, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, cheese, olives, salsa, and guacamole—wow, that’s a lot of stuff! Okay, I’m killing the cheese and provided the guacamole—AVOCADO!—isn’t made with sour cream, I’m keeping everything else. Not to shabby if you ask me. Oh! And as always, I'm keeping the salad dressing to a minimum.

Now, onto the Sandwiches and Wraps, this stuff is a little more hit or miss. For those of you that like garden burgers or veggie burgers, Veg Out has got a couple of them—they’re not really my thing—but, the Falafel Wrap looks pretty cool; prepared with lettuce, tomato, green onion, tahini sauce, hummus, and wrapped in a tortilla. Clearly, the concession is the tortilla. I can live with it. I hardly ever eat bread anymore, so I’d consider it a treat—hey, at least it better than downing a gallon of ice cream! Veg Out also makes an Avocado Wrap, but apparently it isn’t always available. So I’m not sure what’s in it, but remember I’m an AVOCADO FREAK. Meaning there’s a real-real good chance I’d order it. Sorry, I’m an addict.

Diversity should be Veg Out’s middle name, because there’re all sorts of different foods on this menu; including pasta, Mexican, Far East, and pizza entrees. But here’s the problem. None of these are all that Fuhrman-friendly. I’m bailing on the pasta dishes because there aren’t enough veggies to compensate for the pasta. Pizza is obviously out. I don’t do dairy, period. Now, the Old Mexico Entrees and the Far East Entrees are a little better. I like the Fajitas; made with sautéed bell peppers, onion, tofu, beans, rice, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and flour tortillas. Again, the cheese is out and the flour tortillas and sautéed peppers are concessions. I'd really prefer a salad over this. I feel the same way about the Yellow Curry; it’s prepared with tofu, seasonal vegetables, and your choice of rice, noodles, or flatbread. The noodles or the bread would be the concession here. I still want that salad.

While not perfect, Veg Out could work for an Eat to Liver. I admit, given Hawaii's love affair with spam, I was a little worried, but, Veg Out has potential. If push came to shove, you can make it work. I just find it interesting that week after week, the best options are almost always a salad—go figure. Okay, it’s your turn. Check out Veg Out’s menu and let me know how you handle Eating to Live on the Outside. Make a comment or send an email to diseaseproof@gmail.com.

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