Breakfast of Champions

According to the International Food Information Council Foundation’s 2009 Food & Health Survey, 93% of Americans say they consider breakfast to be an important meal for a healthy lifestyle, but only 44% say they actually eat breakfast seven times a week.

People tend to think that skipping breakfast will help them lose weight when in fact the opposite is true. According to a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, a person is five times more likely to be obese if breakfast is skipped on a regular basis. Skipping a healthy breakfast in the morning will make a person snack more often during the day and consume larger portions.

Having breakfast within a few hours of waking up is also a good way to boost your metabolism. While you sleep your body begins to conserve extra calories because it believes you are in a state of fasting. Eating in the morning snaps your body out of this state and allows your metabolism to function normally.

Healthy options at breakfast can be as simple as a bowl of a high-fiber cereal (with skim milk), a bowl of instant oatmeal, or a cup of nonfat yogurt topped with fruit or nuts. If the meal contains bread or a bagel, choose the whole grain options and go with light cream cheese instead of butter. Donuts, high-fat muffins and most foods at fast food restaurants should be avoided.

Sources:
1. http://www.livestrong.com/article/376562-how-does-breakfast-boost-metabolism/
2. www.foodinsight.org/Resources/Detail.aspx?topic=2009_Food_Health_Survey_Consumer_Attitudes_toward_Food_Nutrition_and_Health
3. http://www.breakfastpanel.org/breakfast-and-weight-control/
4. my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/prevention/askdietician/ask11_01.aspx
5. http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/treatment-and-care/ask-the-expert/ask-the-dietitian/what-foods-should-i-eat-at.html

For healthy breakfast suggestions check the “Breaking the Fast” chapter in Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., M.D. (Penguin Group, 2007)

Here’s my favorite breakfast idea from the book:

"Banana French Toast (5 servings):

½ cup oat, almond, or nonfat soy milk
1 ripe banana, cut up
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of ground nutmeg
5 slices whole-wheat or whole-grain bread

1. Whirl first five ingredients in a blender until smooth, then pour into a shallow bowl
2. Dip both sides of bread in mixture
3. Cook on a preheated nonstick griddle until browned on both sides or on a nonstick baking sheet in a 400-degree oven, turning once, until golden on both sides.

Note: These are good alone, with fruit, with maple syrup, or sprinkled with a little powdered sugar and cinnamon. For variety, leave out the banana and blend 2 tablespoons of flour with 1 full cup of the “milk.”"

-Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., M.D.

Will Morelli

The Body's Internal Clock

Due to requests from Dorel Rotar's patients, here is a look at the body's internal clock:

The ancient Chinese observed that the body's internal organs have peak activities during two-hour intervals.

Forks Over Knives

Forks Over Knives is an upcoming documentary that focuses on the idea that heart health can be obtained by consuming a whole foods, plant-based diet. The main storyline in the documentary details the respective works of researchers Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn.

Dr. Campbell co-authored with his son, Thomas M. Campbell II, M.D., the best-selling book, The China Study, which follows a twenty-year study on the effects of eating habits in rural China. Based on the results, he concluded that a diet devoid of meat was a healthier choice to decrease the risk for health problems such as heart disease, obesity, and cancer.

Dr. Esselstyn shares a similar plant-based diet mindset in his book Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. Esselstyn was motivated after growing tired of colleagues treating patients with drugs and surgeries instead of devising methods of prevention for these diseases. A major turning point for Dr. Esselstyn was finding that many of the diseases he treated were unknown in parts of the world where meat was rarely consumed.

Forks Over Knives also follows the effects of a whole foods, plant-based diet on patients with chronic problems who were advised to make a change.

Unfortunately urban areas in China see an alarming increase in obesity due to the abandonment of a traditional plant-based diet. Even first generation immigrants from Asia became vulnerable to the metabolic syndrome, which includes high blood pressure, high triglycerides, high cholesterol, high glucose levels, high BMI and large waistline, as a result of adopting fat-meat diets and sedentary lifestyles. Needless to say, the second generation, like any typical group of U.S. kids, is into the fast food culture. We highly recommend this documentary film.

Forks Over Knives begins its theatrical run in May, including parts of the Bay Area on May 13th and May 20th. For more information on the documentary, visit www.forksoverknives.com.

Nearby showtimes for Forks Over Knives:
Bridge (Landmark), 3010 Geary Blvd. at Blake, San Francisco, CA 94118 (Begins May 13)
Shattuck Cinemas (Landmark), 2230 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, CA 94704 (Begins May 13)
Regency 6 (Cinemark), 280 Smith Ranch Rd, San Rafael, CA 94903 (Begins May 20)
Cinearts @ Pleasant Hill (Cinemark), 2314 Monument, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523 (May 20)
Santana Row (Cinemark), 3088 Olsen Drive, San Jose, CA 95128 (UPDATE (5/20): Viewings at this theater have been POSTPONED)




Pictured above: T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. (Left), and Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., M.D. (Right)

PCMC Participation in Tzu Chi Community Health Forum on April 17, 2011

The theme of Tzu Chi's Community Health Forum is Total Health - Body, Mind and Environment. PCMC's contribution is on our effort to prevent and reverse diabetes and other chronic diseases through lifestyle changes, including diet and exercise. Shown here are pictures of Dr. Yi-po Anthony Wu introducing Diabetes Mellitus, Teresa Chen discussing traditional Chinese dietary remedies for diabetic symptoms, and Dorel Rotar talking about the benefits of yoga and breathing exercise.