I’m just catching up from an absolutely, phenomenally awesome weekend in Napa Valley, California about food and health, put on by Harvard and the CIA.

Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives: Caring for Our Patients and Ourselves.

Harvard and the Culinary Institute of America paired up for the second year in a row to bring a program led by medical gurus, public health gurus and food gurus.

No cardboard granola here. Nope. We were feasting on strawberry rhubarb crisp, asparagus frittata, fresh seafood tacos, fruit galore, spectacular whole grain breads, gluten-free pumpkin muffins, a cornucopia of various spices….

Are you hungry yet?

Best of all, everyone got to get their hands dirty in the kitchen cranking out some healthy yet beyond wonderful food. The bad thing about a toque is that it smashes your hair a bit. But, man is it worth it.

Go Green, Live Healthy is about eco-health, so where does the food bit fit in?

Well, besides being healthy and promoting wellness and normal weight, diets full of plant based foods rich in phytonutrients, anti-oxidants, healthy whole grains and fiber help the body work maximally to cope with the insults of toxins in our environment.

The big emphasis from the medical folks was on our huge countrywide runaway train of diabetes and obesity. Dr. David Eisenberg of the Harvard Medical School Osher Institute headed up the effort, along with the folks at the CIA. He even cooked up a couple dishes for us as demonstrations.

And, if anyone really wants a secret on the good Dr. Eisenberg, he prefers a cleaver to a chefs knife. Who new?

Dr. David Ludwig, childhood obesity expert and author of Ending The Food Fight, spoke eloquently about the childhood obesity epidemic and the ability of a low-glycemic load, healthy fat diet and exercise to address the problem.

Dr. Walter Willet, author of Eat, Drink and Weigh Less gave us the scoop on current nutrition research, and his co-author, chef Mollie Katzen, of the Moosewood Cookbook fame, dished up some beautiful fruit and vegetable based ideas. All of the wonderful speakers are just too many to name.

I have a special thanks as well for chef Mark Furstenberg for taking to heart my pleas for some gluten free breakfast alternatives.

He’s a master baker and when I first spoke to him about the gluten free problem he was not very encouraging about alternatives. But, he apparently put his head to it, and by gosh… he delivered! Two days later, during his breakfast workshop, he gave some gluten-free alternatives as he went along and came up with some tips for gluten-free buckwheat pancakes and a scrumptious vegetable rich breakfast pie made with a chick pea flour (from Bob’s Red Mill) crust.

Again, why is this important? Folks with gluten intolerance need to avoid gluten or they can develop a chronically irritated digestive system. That can cascade into chronic inflammation and poor detoxification capacity. Because, a lot of detoxification happens in the digestive system and liver.

So, theoretically, if the gut and liver are already overwhelmed because of poor function, the demand for detoxification of, say, a little extra formaldehyde or pesticide residue can be more than they can adequately handle.

Healthy foods help the digestive system and liver stay healthy and function maximally, which is particularly important for detoxification function.

And, toxins like to store themselves away in our body fat, so eating a healthy diet to reduce excess weight makes a lot of sense.

To add one more incentive, fat stores are just one more source of estrogen. So we can be getting excess estrogen effects from environmental chemicals, animal and dairy food supplies, and our own body stores. Hence, the beauty of organic produce and grass fed, hormone free, organic animal foods. And…beautiful, satisfying healthy foods for maintaining a healthy weight.

Alright then, I’m off to act like a kid again and play in the kitchen….

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