Houston Farmers Market Weekly News

by Glen Boudreaux, Jolie Vue Farms

Last week I reported on the findings that low-fat diets did not reduce heart and cancer rates. An important footnote to that study was the importance of good fats vs bad fats, especially when considered alongside the Harvard weight loss study which found that it was not the quantity but the quality of fats that we consume which determine weight gain and good dietary health.

This week I will try to put the larger picture together, but first, I will make my disclosures. I am not a professional nutritionist by any measure. I base my personal views on experience, observation, and a lot of reading. Take this for whatever you think it is worth.

3 simple rules

I think 3 facts are too often missing from the diet story:
       1) We are complex machines. When we try to isolate one food group and think that we can study it in isolation from the others, we can miss the big picture. Each food group acts in unision with the others to deposit its nutrients where they belong, and when you start eliminating one, you may be short circuiting the digestibility of another. That is why I talk so much about the Jefferson diet plan: eat a wide variety of fresh, locally produced foods in about equal portions.
       2) We have placed great emphasis on fats, largely denigrating them as the cause of many of our ailments. In the process, we have overlooked a much more substantial opponent of good health, sugar. The digestion of historically large quantities of sugar more readily explain our overweightedness and insulin-related disease. Sugars abound in our diet, but are usually hidden from view. Learn about where the sugars are found and avoid them as much as possible. They abound in potatoes, pasta, white rice, and bread (all of these are simple carbs), not to mention desserts and soda pop.
       3) We are consumers of processed foods, and that is a big mistake. Many of these packaged foods have rearranged or eliminated certain food molecules, making them unrecognizable to your digestive system. So they end up being stored on your waistline and in your vascular system. Add to that destructive process the chemical preservatives they add to extend the shelf life, and you have a real smorgasbord of confusion that your body resists. Bad news. Eat fresh food, unprocessed.

Our new motto at the Farmers Market is "Thousands of Miles Fresher". Start the first day of the rest of your life with a new approach to eating. It's for sale at the Houston Farmers Market, every Tuesday evening and Saturday morning.

Glen Boudreaux, Jolie Vue Farms

• 1 lb mixed dried beans
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 jalapeños, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 c. chicken stock
• 12 oz beer
• 14 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 lb ham, cubed
• 2 t. cumin
• 1/4 c. parsley, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• salt and pepper to taste

Soak the beans overnight; drain and rinse. Put in a large stock pot with water to cover, bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes. Add all the other ingredients, bring to a boil again, and simmer an additional 45-60 minutes, until beans are tender.