Is convenience depleting your health and your bank account?

Coming up on this mini episode of the Doctor's Pharmacy.

I can make dinner in much quicker time than I can go to a restaurant, order the meal, and eat it. No doubt about it.

And save yourself a lot of money. Yes.

Hi, I'm Kaya Perowich, one of the producers of the Doctor's Pharmacy podcast. Many of us shy away from cooking, opting for the convenience of pre-prepared foods. Yet this convenience is costing us greatly. In this mini episode, Dr. Hyman explores this topic with restaurateur and chef Marco Canora and co-founder and CEO of Food.

Revolution Network, Ocean Robbins. Well, you think about it, you know, in the United States, we spend probably 9% of our income on food. And in Europe, it's 20%. In some countries, it's 50%. We don't prioritize it. We'd rather buy our fancy stuff or.

Have our flat-screen TVs or computer. Whatever. And we give up so much for convenience, too. You know, I've heard you say that before. It's like, convenience comes at a cost to our health and we have to start realizing that.

What's your view on this whole food waste issue and how do we do it and how do you work with it in your restaurant?

It's obviously a very complicated issue. A lot of people want to kind of like force this idea of it's elitist to say this or think that but like one of my beliefs is we need to spend more money on food and once you start spending more money on food you have more focus and attention to get the most out of the food. And I understand that the zip code drives like the people who need it the most, and that's true. But, you know, I think part of the problem is we're producing so much cheap food that it's pretty easy to throw it away because we don't perceive a lot of value. It's like, you know, you could liken it to anything. Like you buy the great leather jacket that you spend a lot of money on and you take care of it. and you have it for 25 years of your adult life, right? Or you could just buy crappy leather jackets and buy 15 of them. I think that there's an interesting conversation around, and I saw it happen at Hearth when we decided to shift everything to a better version of the thing. One of the big conversations I had with my cooks early on was like, listen, we're only getting grass-fed butter right now, so guess what? You better be really careful about where you use it, what you're basting with it, don't put too much, and you create more attention and you put more value on things, and then you're gonna waste less of them. I think part of our problem with food waste is we're producing so much bad food. So many things boil down to education, right? And one of the things around food waste is people have to understand, and I learned a lot in the past couple of years growing the broth company, but it's like you have to understand why things spoil, and then what to do to mitigate against that spoilage. And, it's things like acidity levels and water content. These are all things you look at that add to shelf life or take shelf life away. And, just learning and educating yourself around some simple traditional preserving techniques, whether it is cover it in vinegar or put it in the oven overnight at 180 degrees and dehydrate all the water out of it if you have some beets that are going bad. Slice them up and put them in the oven overnight at 180 and you're gonna get the water out and you're gonna dehydrate them and you're gonna have this cool little beet gummy bear that you could, that'll have, you'll extend the shelf life. Yeah. And you know, it smells good. Cooking. Yeah, beet gummy bears are amazing. It's one of those things where it's so important that you need to figure out a way to learn to like it and learn to deal with like, yes, it means dishes, but it's like, guess what a lot of people do instead of cook. They watch TV and they watch cooking shows. And there's such a payoff, right? There's such a payoff to your health, there's a payoff to your palate. There could be a great payoff to your pocketbook.

I think the thing about people don't realize about cooking is that it's modular. And that if you understand the building blocks of how to cook food, you need to have knife skills and how to chop stuff. You need to know how to saute, how to roast, how to bake, what timing you need for different foods so they come out at the same time. You don't want to stir fry vegetables and then cook your meat, which is going to mean your vegetables are soggy and dead after. So it's really some Basic modular simple skills that are kind of lost. It's a lost art. And I think if you teach people those simple things, then they can use recipes, but they don't necessarily need them. They can just make simple food. And I can make dinner in much quicker time than I can go to a restaurant, order the meal, and eat it.

No doubt about it. And save yourself a lot of money.

Yes.

And it's probably gonna be better for you 'cause you're gonna use, likely you're gonna use a better oil. and you're gonna get something at the green market. And obviously not everyone has access to the things that we have access to living in New York. But still, like, you know, shop in the produce section no matter where you are.

The average American family weighs $2,000 a year in food that literally goes bad in the fridge. So one of the keys is to have shopping lists, plan ahead, cooking quantity on the weekends, clear out your cupboards, clear out your fridge.

Cooking big soups, right? That's right.

Yeah, I'm a big fan of cooking big soups and freezing containers in the freezer and sharing with neighbors and cooking in quantity and saving up because most of us don't have tons of time on our hands during the week and we get busy so it's nice to plan ahead. And you can also avoid impulse purchases. A lot of people, half their shopping is impulse purchases and it's usually the least healthy half. So if you can plan ahead and really decide on what you want to get, then that can help a lot. And then when you feed your body right and are nourishing your body well, you actually may find that you crave calories less. because many of us are calorie gluttonous, but we're actually nutrient-starved. We're actually not getting some of the critical nutrients we need, and so we're constantly hungry. And when you really base your diet around whole natural foods, you can get rid of some of the cravings. The average American is eating 500 calories too much per day, maybe even more, and you end up saving money that way too. And then I also am interested in the real superfoods. We talk about Himalayan goji berries for 30 bucks a pound, and we think that's a superfood, but really, Real superfoods are super because they can do the most good for the most people. You know, cabbage doesn't cost that much. Carrots, onions, mushrooms are a superfood in my book.

I made a delicious vegetable dish with red cabbage, which was pretty cheap. Sliced apples, a few raisins, lemon, salt and pepper, cooked it on the stove. I mean, it was just delicious. And I don't know, probably cost me $3 or $2 for that. It's a beautiful dish.

Yeah, and I think legumes are a superfood. They're sometimes called the poor man's meat. But actually, I don't think we should. Beans. Penalize them. Beans, yeah. We shouldn't penalize them just because they're affordable. The reality is they provide about a third of the world's protein for human beings and they are vastly more efficient from a resource standpoint, ecological standpoint, than meat is. And they're more affordable. And I know there's controversy in the paleo world about them or whatever, but my view is when I look at the studies, generally for most people, legumes, which are mostly beans, are associated with a lot of positive health benefits.

Benefits and they're pretty darn affordable.

Yeah, minerals, vitamins, yeah, it's great. When it comes to cooking, preparation is the key to success. And in the end, it makes life easier. By purchasing real foods and cooking them yourself, you're not only going to improve your own health, but you're also helping to improve the health of the planet. I hope you enjoyed this mini episode of the Doctor's Pharmacy.

Thanks for tuning in.

Hi everyone, I hope you enjoyed this week's episode. Just a reminder that this podcast is for educational purposes only. This podcast is not a substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. This podcast is provided on the understanding that it does not constitute medical or other professional advice or services. If you're looking for help in your journey, seek out a qualified medical practitioner. If you're looking for if you're a functional medicine practitioner, you can visit ifm.org and search their find a practitioner database. It's important that you have someone in your corner who's trained, who's a licensed healthcare practitioner, and can help you make changes, especially when it comes to your health.

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