A Little History about Me

Later today I will tackle Milk and Eggs (really this time I really will).

Before I do I want to tell you a little bit about my history and why I have such a passion for healthy eating. First of all I am the youngest of 4 siblings - they were 7, 9 and 11 when I was born - so quite a gap. My mom was at that time what you would call a health nut. We never had sodas in the house, never had sugar cereals or even white bread. I always remember my mom ordering a half of sandwich and maybe a cup of soup when we went out to lunch and always eating cottage cheese and lots of fruits and vegetables. My friends will corroborate that when I would visit them, I would just shovel in the chips, bagel dogs, Tab and licorice as fast I could before anyone could stop me. I was always thin and played sports in High School, but of course in college I put on a few pounds especially when my friend and I went to Sonoma State in Northern California for a "semester away". We would help out friends on their Vineyard tying up the grape vines and would in turn be fed pasta. Needless to say we ate lots and lots of pasta and drank lots and lots of wine. Well at that age we basically ate and drank everything and anything - especially if it was free!

While I was in college, my mom got Breast Cancer which I thought at the time she would just miraculously beat and that would be it. She did beat it for a while and we all thought we dodged that huge scary bullet, but it came back in the form of Bone Cancer. This was a very aggressive form of cancer and her life expectancy was not very long. I was about 27 at the time and my sister Carol and I decided to get very radical with our own form of treatment which was going to be a "macrobiotic" diet for my mom. My mother was already juicing a ton - she would make herself carrot, beet, parsley, ginger, celery cocktails everyday. Carol and I read about a woman named Christina Pirello who cured herself of terminal cancer through a "macrobiotic" diet. So we bought her book back in 1997 called "Cooking the Whole Foods Way". We would make her miso soup for breakfast because according to the author miso's natural fermentation process creates a combination of enzymes that strengthen and nourish the intestinal tract. The best quality misos are fermented for over two years. We went out to a specialty market to find "wakame" which is an edible seaweed that has "life giving properties" - proponents of raw foods and macrobiotic diets use this sea vegetable a lot. There was no "raw foods" revolution when my sister and I embarked on this type of cooking, so it was very hard to find the ingredients we needed such as "kombu", another healthy Asian seaweed chock full of minerals, Azuki Beans, Burdock, a vegetable that is known to clear the bloodstream of toxins and can also be used as a topical cream for eczema, acne and psoriasis. This book had cooking methods such as "kinpira" and "Nabe" and ingredients such as Mochi, Kasha, Quinoa, Tempeh. We were to say the least overwhelmed and way over our heads, but we cooked quite a few dishes for our mom and as we watched her eat the Miso Soup or Pressed "Raw" Salad with Chinese cabbage and umeboshi vinegar we really felt we were healing her. Unfortunately she died a year later and we lost a very sunny, positive force in our lives. I just pulled out that food stained book this morning and can't wait to try a recipe or two again - 10 years (or so) later and it feels like it was just yesterday my sister, mom and I were shuffling through that book!

My family and I also had the great misfortune of loosing my brother Doug Pellicano a year and a half ago to a heart attack. He was only 49 years old and died instantly from a blood clot. I believe life style was part of the reason for his death. Although he was an amazing, selfless, happy, positive person he wasn't the healthiest eater and he was a smoker. I do think his death could have been prevented if he had made healthier choices. I hate that my brother is a statistic but Researchers at Harvard School of Public Health and University of Toronto have studied premature and most likely preventable deaths - this is what they concluded for annual deaths caused by various factors:

• smoking: 467,000 annual deaths
• high blood pressure: 395,000
• overweight-obesity: 216,000
• inadequate physical activity: 191,000
• High blood sugar: 190,000
• high LDL cholesterol: 113,000
• high dietary salt: 102,000
• low dietary omega-3 fatty acids (seafood): 84,000
• high dietary trans fatty acids: 82,000
• alcohol use: 64,000 (some from drinking and driving)
• low intake of fruits and vegetables: 58,000
• low dietary poly-unsaturated fatty acids: 15,000

Although he died way before his time, my brother had a great life is whole heartedly missed everyday!

But being raised in a healthy household and learning "raw" cooking methods out of survival instincts and realizing what big food corporations put in food that can cause premature deaths has definitely contributed to my journey here today.

TAKE AWAY:

Our bodies are beautiful machines, every body part has a function and really must work together seamlessly for a healthy, disease-free, pain-free life. We really can control everything we put in our mouths. It takes work, like everything else. We cannot rely on convenience. They say the kitchen is the heart of the home - it truly is in so many ways. Not just a gathering place for family and friends, but a place to gather the best ingredients to help our family thrive. We spend a lot of money on houses, cars, education, vacation....all of that means nothing without health and vitality! Spend the extra money on free-range organic chicken, grass-fed beef, buy organic fruits, vegetables, milk...

I will cover all of these foods in depth and as promised will hit on eggs and milk later today - I am learning as I research as well I'm not liking a lot of what I'm reading!

A few years ago I did the entire Dr. Perricone 28 day cleanse and learned a ton from his book about "Super Foods". His book is called "The Perricone Promise". The recipes are simple, healthy and easy to follow. It is a very user friendly book and a great launching pad to start eating a healthy diet.

still snowed in......