If you don't know who Rip Esseltyn is, you should! He is the mastermind behind the Engine 2 Diet and his family has contributed SO MUCH to the plant-based diet community. He has created an entire line of plant-based, oil-free and delicious products that are available at Whole Foods and there are even plant-based and oil-free items at the salad bar and hot bar as well. Jack and I eat them every weekend for lunch when we go get groceries! His family played a huge role in the movie
Forks over Knives (streaming on Netflix and Amazon), which is what ultimately convinced me to fully follow this lifestyle.
About 2 years ago, Trevor and I went to see a screening of FOK with my friends Heather and Margaret and Rip was there. We were able to meet him and get our copy of his first book,
The Engine 2 Diet, signed. Additionally we were able to participate in a Q&A session with Rip and local firefighters that had had success with this diet. It was a great motivator for Trevor. Since then we have been following the Engine 2 Diet
Facebook page,
blog,
Twitter,
Pinterest and Instagram (@engine2diet) and also watched his short film, Kitchen Rescue, on Netflix.
We were so excited to learn that Rip was coming out with a new book,
My Beef with Meat, to knock down all of the myths out there about being plant based. Sometimes people question if what we are doing is healthy, and I struggle with putting what I know into words. This book helps with that issue...and then gives us all new recipes to try out! Needless to say Rip is a huge inspiration and I am so happy to be able to be part of the blog tour for his new book.
SO, THE BOOK, WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
For the millions who are following a plant-based diet, as well as those meat-eaters who are considering it, MY BEEF WITH MEAT, is the definitive guide to convincing all that it's truly the best way to eat!
New York Times Bestselling author of The Engine 2 Diet and nutrition lecturer Rip Esselstyn, is back and ready to arm readers with the knowledge they need to win any argument with those who doubt the health benefits of a plant-based diet. Esselstyn reveals information on the foods that most people believe are healthy, yet that scientific research shows are not. Some foods, in fact, he deems so destructive they deserve a warning label. Want to prevent heart attacks, stroke, cancer and Alzheimer's? Then learn the facts and gain the knowledge to convince those skeptics that they are misinformed about plant-base diets, for instance:
-You don't need meat and dairy to have strong bones or get enough protein
-You get enough calcium and iron in plants
-The myth of the Mediterranean diet
-There is a serious problem with the Paleo diet
-If you eat plants, you lose weight and feel great
MY BEEF WITH MEAT proves the Engine 2 way of eating can optimize health and ultimately save lives and includes more than 145 delicious recipes to help readers reach that goal.
WHY DID YOU WRITE THIS BOOK?
I've discovered that there is a HUGE disconnect between what people think is healthy and what medical science knows to be healthy; for example, people have been bamboozled into believing that olive oil, Greek yogurt, chicken, and fish are healthy. Many people think the diet of the day is salmon, low fat dairy, and olive oil, washed down with a glass of red wine and a Lipitor pill for good measure. This is how confused, distracted, and off-course we have gotten--because this is NOT a good diet! This book explains to plant eaters and meat eaters alike why a whole food, plant-strong diet rocks on a jillion different levels, hence the subtitle: The Healthiest Argument for Eating a Plant-Strong Diet. The primary driving force behind the book was to delve deeper into the major myths that keep surfacing about eating plants, such as: “You won’t get enough protein”, “You won’t get enough calcium”, “Eating plants is too expensive”, “Real men (and women) eat meat”, “Olive oil is heart-healthy”, and “Moderation in everything.” The book shows how wrong each of these myths is. It gives the reader real science, not fad-diet talk. One of the titles we thought about was “How to Win an Argument with a Meat-eater” and believe me, after reading this book, you will never lose another argument with a carnivore again. By the way, once you’ve won the argument, you can start cooking up any one of the 140 lip smacking, rib-sticking outrageously good recipes to prove your point with food as well as with words.
THERE ARE SOME CONTROVERSIAL THINGS YOU TACKLE IN THIS BOOK, LIKE THE PALEO DIET. WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO ADDRESS THAT SPECIFIC DIET?The two big dueling diets right now are paleo and planteo. I believe that the paleo diet is just a good gimmick. The paleo people have taken the South Beach/Atkins diets and put a little spin on it. There are some positives with paleo, such as no refined or processed foods, and no dairy products. But any diet that promotes animal products with saturated fats, and animal protein isn’t promoting health. The consensus among the researchers who have studied the diets of humans in paleo times have said that at least 80 percent of their food was plant-based. Yes, they ate some animals, but we've evolved since then, we're smarter; we do not need, want, or get healthy from animal products. Back in the day, you would do anything you could to get calories into your body--it was a matter of survival. But in this day and age, you can go down the street to any grocery store and get all that you need without resorting to animal flesh. An interesting article in US News & World Report in 2011 reviewed many different popular diets and decided that the one people should avoid is the paleo diet. What about the people who say that they get results from a paleo diet? That’s because the Standard American Diet (SAD) is such an abomination you will get good results when switching to any diet that is even remotely healthier. If you want to get to the next step, cut out the meat!
THERE ARE A COUPLE OF CHAPTERS THAT TALK ABOUT HOW PLANT-STRONG CAN MAKE YOU STRONGER IN THE BEDROOM. WHY DO PLANTS HELP IN THAT DEPARTMENT?Plants help in a number of ways. When you are eating meat/dairy/processed foods, your arteries clog up. Believe it or not, the smallest artery men have is the artery to the penis, so it's not surprising that one of the first signs of heart disease is erectile dysfunction (ED). When you start eating a plant-strong diet, you begin to metabolize away some of the fat/cholesterol that you've built up, and you start to restore your endothelial lining. As my dad (Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn) likes to say, “Endothelial cells are the life jacket of your vascular system.” They are the inner lining of our 65,000 miles of vessels. When you bring them back to life, they produce nitric oxide. Nitric oxide allows those vessels to open up. When that happens, it allows for more blood flow, which is key to a great erection. Interestingly, the one area that we have more endothelial cells per unit volume is the male penis. It’s amazing how many guys e-mail us and tell us about their ED going away. Likewise, women experience similar success. When they cut out the animal products and processed junk foods, they have increased blood flow to the clitoris and surrounding tissues, which creates lubrication. We’ve also received hundreds of e-mails from women telling us about their new, healthier sex life as a result of going plant-strong. So remember guys and gals plant-strong makes you pant-strong!
DO YOUR KIDS LIKE EATING THIS WAY?
My kids, Kole and Sophie, do not like eating this way--they LOVE eating this way! They have no
interest in eating anything from animals. If they find out that cake and ice-cream offered to them
has things like eggs, butter or milk they politely decline. Kole and Sophie love mangoes, grapefruit, brown rice, baked tofu, peanut butter on whole grain bread, whole grain pasta, cheese-less whole grain pizza and banana ice-cream. Kole was hungry, and I told him I'd give him anything he wanted. Guess what he asked for.... he asked for broccoli!
WHAT ABOUT ATHLETES--CAN THEY BE PLANT-STRONG?Yes they can and should be plant-strong. It is the absolute dope when it comes to taking your athletic performance to the next level. When I was a full time triathlete, I was guilty of taking performance enhancing…… foods. They are nature’s legal performance enhancing drugs! Plants give you an abundance of protein, water, phytonutrients, vitamins, and minerals that support your body after training. Plants are loaded with clean, unprocessed carbs that will replace depleted glycogen stores in your muscle and liver--allowing you to train harder, adapt faster, and improve quicker. Plants give you a dose of alkaline, and anti-inflammatory substances that protect you from the stresses of long training days. Plants give you a clear head that will allow you to focus like a laser beam. Plants give you youthful arteries that will improve blood flow to all of your working muscles for maximum oxygen uptake. Plants strengthen your immune system and keep you healthy and free from illness. Plants give you a lean and muscular body that doesn't carry excessive weight. When you are eating plant-strong, you are getting unprocessed carbs, healthy fats, plant-proteins, fiber and anti oxidants -- all of the things that your body relishes and craves and takes your performance to the next level.
WHAT ELSE DO YOU HAVE A BEEF WITH?The huge disconnect with what people think is healthy and what we actually know to be healthy. This creates confusion and distraction. The answer is so incredibly simple. Eat more whole plant based foods!
I have a beef with dairy.
I have a beef with processed/refined foods.
I have a beef with the Mediterranean diet.
I have a beef with drinking your calories.
I have a beef with olive oil and ALL other extracted oils.
I have a beef with supplements.
I have a beef with the belief that carbs are the devil.
I have a beef with the myth that soy is evil.
I have a beef with “everything in moderation.”
But -- I have no beef with plants!
Rip was also kind enough to share a recipe from the book with me. Last night we made the Reuben's and they were delicious! Even better they were inexpensive and super quick...just what we needed after spending the night outside with Jack at the playground by us. We served them with oil-free home fries.
Prep time/Cook time: 30 minutes
Makes: 4 sandwiches
Ingredients:
8oz. tempeh or for lower fat version, use portobello mushroom slices.
½ cup tamari
8 oz. silken tofu
1/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup pickle relish
1 cup fresh spinach
1 jar sauerkraut, your favorite
Rye bread, one loaf or for gluten free version use brown rice bread or millet bread.
Instructions:
Preheat over to 350 degrees
Slice tempeh in half vertically and then horizontally, thus making four, thin square patties
Pour tamari over tempeh and marinate for a few minutes, time permitting
Place tempeh on a no-stick pan or on parchment paper and cook for 15 minutes
In a bowl, mix tofu, ketchup and relish until it looks like a tofu-based 1000 Island dressing
Toast rye bread until desired crispiness
Spread with tofu-based 1000 Island dressing
Add a layer of sauerkraut, tempeh, then spinach
Cut in half and serve
©Engine2Diet
I really hope you consider purchasing this book and becoming healthier. My readers are my family and friends and I would love nothing more than to see everyone healthy and happy and live long and disease free lives. I have a beef with how non-plant-based foods hurt my loved ones, animals and our planet. I hope eventually you all do as well.
