Monday, August 18, 2014

Grilling in a Pinch on a Semi Raw Diet

August is the pinnacle of summer for us, there's lots of family BBQ's, and late nights spent grilling. Grilling in general can be rather difficult for a person who eats a mainly whole foods, plant based diet. The easy go-to for most non-omnivorous eaters are meat replacements, veggie burgers from brands like Boca, or Morning Star, which are what I like to call "food-like products." Unfortunately, these products are about as on par nutritionally as meat that many Americans now consume, which come from factory farms, and are highly processed as well. To put it simply, these "food-like products" are extremely lacking in nutrients, and many of the ingredients wreck absolute havoc on our bodies. Which for me becomes glaringly obvious because my anxiety almost immediately increases, and my OCD symptoms kick up about 5 notches whenever I used to eat these foods. Mental health is completely intertwined with intestinal health, and many of these foods are highly inflammatory. So when your intestines become irritated, or inflamed, it's going to stimulate a response from the brain.

First off, most of these products contain soy. Roughly 90% of all the soy grown and used in the U.S. is non-organic, and genetically modified. Non-organic soy is extracted using hexane, which is a byproduct of petroleum refining. Hexane has been shown to cause brain tumors, and this chemical is also released into the air through processing, contributing to chemical smog and air pollution, which has been heavily linked to childhood asthma.

My second issue is with the kinds of oils used in these products. When reading the ingredients list you're likely to find one or more of these oils: canola oil, soy oil, corn oil, vegetable oil, sunflower, or safflower oil. The problem with these oils is twofold, one issue is that the plants which most of these oils come from are genetically modified, and non-organic. But more importantly these oils are hydrogenated, or partially hydrogenated, meaning they're highly chemically processed. Processed vegetable oils are also very high Omega-6 polyunsaturated fats, which are known to lead to heart disease, and numerous types of cancer.

But sometimes all I want is a nice veggie burger, slightly charred on the grill. So what's a girl to do in a pinch? Well I've finally found one brand that stands far and above any other, Hilary's Eat Well


The ingredients in these are so pure, and delicious that there's almost no reason to even bother trying to make your own burgers...almost. Hilary's products are organic, certified non-GMO, they're also dairy, egg, soy, corn, and gluten free. But here's the real kicker, they're made with COCONUT OIL. The only ingredients in these little beauties are organic vegetables, organic spices, and organic coconut oil. That's it!

Coconut oil is one of my favorite oils to use because it's made up of medium chain triglycerides, or medium chain fatty acids, which have been shown to have therapeutic effects on brain disorders from Alzheimer's, and epilepsy, to mental illnesses like anxiety & depression. Here's a great post, with citations, about the many health benefits of coconut oil.

So all we did for our delicious burgers was slice up some veggies.


But instead of a bun I decided to use collard greens to wrap it all up in. Collard greens are part of the cruciferous vegetable family, which also includes kale, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage & turnips. They've gained quite the reputation for being serious nutritional powerhouses, and rightly so, but I make it a point to only consume a sparing amount of these veggies in their raw form. Why though? Well because there's now a growing body of evidence which has shown that consuming large amounts of raw cruciferous vegetables contributes to Hypothyroidism. According to the Oregon State University Micronutrient Information site:

Two mechanisms have been identified to explain this effect. The hydrolysis of some glucosinolates found in cruciferous vegetables (e.g., progoitrin) may yield a compound known as goitrin, which has been found to interfere with thyroid hormone synthesis. The hydrolysis of another class of glucosinolates, known as indole glucosinolates, results in the release of thiocyanate ions, which can compete with iodine for uptake by the thyroid gland.

So how can we avoid this? By cooking our veggies. The goitrogenic properties of cruciferous vegetables become dramatically lessened when they are cooked. So in general I like to keep my intake of these raw veggies to a minimum, though I wouldn't be worried about consuming small amounts, especially if you regularly consume seaweed, or any other food that's high in iodine, which has been shown to help counter, or balance the effects of these vegetables on the thyroid.

I bought Hilary's Hemp & Greens, and Adzuki Bean burgers, and they were fantastic! I especially loved the flavor from the green chili's and cumin, not really spicy, but very flavorful. My omnivorous partner in crime was even craving more.



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