Low Fat, Low Sugar: Essential vegetarian collection. Rose Elliot

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      HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?

      A completely fat-free diet would be unhealthy. Our bodies need to take in 4–6 per cent of calories as fat in order to be able to synthesise the essential fatty acids necessary for health. If you kept strictly to the Pritikin diet, Dr Dean Ornish’s diet or indeed the recipes given in this book, you would be getting about 10 per cent of your calories from fat; this being derived from the small amounts naturally present in whole grains, pulses, fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy produce. The good news is that although these ingredients are low in fat, they contribute the vital nutrients which your body needs to heal itself and to function at its peak.

      There are some practitioners who advocate supplementing our general diet with Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s) either in the form of oil or capsules. A diet which is very low in fat allows you the leeway to include these valuable oils if you wish. They could be particularly beneficial to vegetarians, who are not getting any of the omega-oils from fish. Look for ‘Udo’s oils’ in health food stores, or ask the staff for advice. These oils need to be kept in the refrigerator and used up quickly.

      CURING CANDIDIASIS

      The recipes in this book are, like those of Dr Pritikin and Dr Ornish, based on the ingredients mentioned above. However, because I wanted this book to be useful for those suffering from yeast-related problems – the effects of an overgrowth of Candida albicans (candiasis) – I have also excluded other ingredients. There are no fruits or artificial sweeteners in the recipes; also excluded are yeast and products containing it; vinegar and fermented products, including soy sauce; malted products; anything containing mould, such as cheese; and mushrooms. Milk and most products made from it are also unsuitable because they contain lactic acid, which is a form of sugar. The exception is yogurt, which is allowed because most of the lactose has been digested by the bacteria present in the yogurt. So low-fat yogurt is suitable, even though other milk products are not.

      Stimulants – tea, coffee, chocolate and cola drinks – also have to go because they cause the adrenal glands to trigger the release of the body’s sugar stores into the bloodstream, ‘feeding’ the candida in the same way as sugar in the digestive system. Caffeine is also banned from the Pritikin program, and by Dr Ornish. If you go to a nutritional therapist the first thing they will do, most likely, is tell you to give up coffee (and some will ban tea, too). Although it’s the caffeine which is the main problem, many practitioners recommend you avoid both normal and de-caffeinated coffee.

      Having loved both tea and coffee, particularly the latter, dark and strong as could be, I could never imagine myself not drinking them. However, I have now given them up and I would not have believed how much better I feel. I mainly drink rooibosh tea, made from the seed of the redbush tree, in place of both tea and coffee. It has a flavour not unlike tea and although it took me a while to like it as much as I used to like tea, I can now say that I do. (But not as much as real coffee. My body likes it a lot better, though.) If you do come off tea and coffee, be prepared for some withdrawal symptoms – probably headaches – in the first few days. Take painkillers for these if you need to, but make sure that these do not contain caffeine.

      If you suspect that you may be suffering from candida, symptoms of which range from chronic fatigue to aching joints and muscles and a weakened immune system, you can cure yourself by keeping to a strict diet and taking vitamin and anti-fungal supplements. I recommend Erica White’s Beat Candida Cookbook published by Thorsons for more information on this subject.

      a personal note

      When I write a cookery book I generally put on a pound or two in weight – an inevitable side-effect of all the tasting and testing which has to be done. It’s irritating, and a nuisance having to lose the weight afterwards; in fact it’s the one aspect of recipe writing that I don’t enjoy. During the writing of this book, however, it was different. When I’d finished I found that not only had I not gained the usual weight but I’d actually lost over half a stone without thinking about it or trying. The food was delicious and I had lots of energy. I hope it’s the same for you.

      low-fat, low-sugar ingredients

      After all my comments about foods which are not used in this book you’re probably wondering what on earth you can eat. Actually it’s surprising how many ingredients are suitable:

      Fresh vegetables: all kinds can be eaten – raw or cooked, in soups, salads, main courses and, in the case of some of the sweeter ones such as butternut squash, as the basis for desserts and cakes. Choose organic if possible to avoid the risk of chemical residues. If you can’t manage to go completely organic, do choose organic carrots, lettuces and soya (also bananas, strawberries, milk and chocolate if you’re eating these). I’d also like to add organic potatoes to that list and hope that it won’t be very long before organic produce is the norm rather than the exception in all our food shops.

      Frozen and canned vegetables: some of these are useful but make sure that they do not contain added sugar. Look for organic tomatoes canned without citric acid, particularly if you’re on the diet to combat candida. Canned sweetcorn without added sugar or salt is useful; also frozen sweetcorn, peas and broad beans.

      Lemons: the only fruit permitted, apart from a little lime rind and juice which I’ve used very occasionally. Lemon juice is used instead of vinegar in dressings and a squeeze at the end of cooking is a useful flavour-enhancer in many dishes. Buy unwaxed, preferably organic lemons, especially if you’re going to use the skins as well as the juice.

      Pulses: dried beans and lentils are wonderful, virtually fat-free sources of protein, fibre, minerals and vitamins. Many recipes in this book include these in either their dried or canned form. Again, buy organic if you can. Canned organic pulses are now available from large supermarkets and health food stores and are very handy, though dried pulses are easy to prepare.

      To prepare pulses, cover with cold water and soak for 8 hours, or bring to the boil and leave to soak for 1 hour. Rinse and cover generously with fresh cold water. Boil rapidly for 10 minutes before reducing the heat and letting them boil gently until tender: usually 1–1¹/₂ hours. Lentils and split peas cook in 20–60 minutes, depending on the type – they don’t need soaking before cooking although if you do soak them they cook more quickly. All pulses freeze well. For convenience, cook a 500g/18oz bag, divide into 5 portions and freeze – each portion will be the equivalent of a 425g/15oz can of beans.

      Whole grains: this group includes brown rice, quinoa, millet and flaked brown rice, as well as brown rice flour and polenta (maize flour). Couscous is a refined, not a whole grain; bulgur wheat is a more nutritious alternative and is just as easy to prepare. Wholewheat pasta is also very useful in the diet. If you can’t eat wheat, non-wheat pastas made from vegetables, corn, millet and rice are available from health food stores.

      Tofu: this useful and nutritious ingredient is used in quite a few of the recipes. It’s particularly important to buy an organic type to ensure that it hasn’t been made from GM soya beans.

      Low-fat plain organic yogurt: If you can’t tolerate any dairy produce, use an unsweetened soya yogurt instead. You can buy this from health food stores, or it’s easy to make your own (see page).

      Soya milk: unsweetened organic soya milk is used in recipes instead of dairy milk.

      Organic free-range eggs: egg whites are used in a few of the recipes in this book.

      Cold-pressed organic olive oil: this is used only СКАЧАТЬ