The Plant Paradox Cookbook: 100 Delicious Recipes to... (PDF) (2024)

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ContentsCoverTitle PageIntroductionPART ONE: WHAT IS THE PLANT PARADOX?One: Lectins and Your HealthTwo: “So What Exactly Can I Eat?!”Three: The Plant Paradox ProgramFour: The Plant Paradox KitchenPART TWO: RECIPESFive: Appetizers and SnacksSix: Morning MealsSeven: Soups and StewsEight: Noodles and BowlsNine: Main DishesTen: Vegetables and SidesEleven: Sweet Bites

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Twelve: DrinksThirteen: Sauces, Condiments, and DressingsAcknowledgmentsResourcesEndnotesIndexAbout the AuthorCopyrightAbout the Publisher

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IntroductionThis cookbook has been a long time in the making. Soon after I began giving mypatients a now-infamous list of “just say no” and “yes, please” foods and sentthem on their way with about ten recipes, I recognized the need for a morecomprehensive resource that could help them maintain their new way of eating.And so for years, I’ve been collecting recipes from friends and patients anddeveloping my own repertoire. It’s taken a lot of trial and error, tasting andtesting, and plenty of dirty dishes, but I’ve finally been able to compile thecollection of tasty, healthy, and diverse recipes that my patients—and youreaders—deserve.But let me back up a bit. If you’re just coming to this book without havingread The Plant Paradox, you may be thinking: what is this list you’re talkingabout, and why do I need it? For the past seventeen years, I’ve been treatingpatients with a combination of nutritional therapy and conventional medicine.People generally come to see me when they’re struggling with a chronic diseaseand just can’t seem to get better. They arrive at one of my clinics—in PalmSprings or Santa Barbara—on a personal journey to regain their health or theirloved one’s health, or to take their “good enough” health to robust, vibranthealth.As my patients and regular readers know, I saw and continue to see dramaticreversals of diseases I once thought impossible to manage; changes that we cantrack with sophisticated blood work and that my patients can feel and see. Manyof these changes are directly linked to nutritional alterations we’ve made to theirdiets. And so I wrote The Plant Paradox to explain the philosophy behind thelist: the idea that proteins called lectins found in many common “health foods”—including fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans—can damage the gut, causeinflammation, and contribute to disease. Removing major lectin-containingfoods from the diet, combined with minimizing exposure to environmentaltoxins, are the practices at the core of the Plant Paradox program.The Plant Paradox Cookbook is written first and foremost for all of you whohave applied my “rules” and regained your health, but keep finding yourselvesasking that immortal question: “What the heck can I eat?” I know that you livein the real world of two-job families, commutes, after-school practices, andsocializing, and that relatively few of you reside as I do in Southern California,

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where beautiful, fresh produce is available year-round. And I know that thinkingabout going lectin-free can seem impossible, or at least impractical, when youalready have too many things to manage on your to-do list. That’s why I’vewritten a cookbook with simple recipes anyone can master and accessibleingredients (and substitutions for less-accessible ingredients) you can sourceeasily. I’ve also incorporated your feedback and suggestions for the types ofdishes you most wanted to see. No eating plan that encourages deprivation orsacrifice has ever worked, and for good reason: eating is pleasurable! I of allpeople understand and appreciate that point—I love a good meal and am notimmune to the temptation of my old favorites. That’s why you’ll find PlantParadox–approved versions of all of your most-loved foods in this book, frombagels and pancakes to pizza and pad Thai, spaghetti and meatballs to browniesand ice cream. I know it’s hard to believe, but you can reap the benefits of theprogram while indulging in all of these seemingly forbidden dishes.That brings me to the second reason for The Plant Paradox Cookbook: thePlant Paradox program works! It’s just that simple. I’ve documented it inthousands of patients in my clinics and I’ve reported my results at major medicalconferences, but the real joy I get is when I receive an email or a letter, or read areview online, saying that this program has positively impacted someone’s life.Whether it’s finally losing weight after many failed attempts; lowering bloodpressure and cholesterol markers; improving heart health; reducing or going offof immune-suppressive drugs or thyroid medications; resolving MS or lupus(and the attendant painful symptoms); or slowing or reversing the progression ofcancer or dementia, you’ve shared so many incredible successes with me that Iam truly humbled. Your stories are why I get up and go to work each morning,and why I write books like this one: to make available to everyone the healingpowers of the Plant Paradox program.And lastly, this book is written for you “holdouts” who may have heardabout this crazy Plant Paradox thing, but are reluctant to give up your belovedgrains and favorite foods. This cookbook was written maybe most of all for you,to make it easier for you to find out what all the fuss is really about and to givethis lifestyle a try in the easiest possible way: by making delicious meals.So, even if you haven’t read The Plant Paradox, you can jump right in withthis book and join the lectin-free (or at least lectin-light) club. Over the next fewchapters I’ll offer a brief overview of the Plant Paradox plan so that all of us—old hands or newbies alike—will be up to speed and ready to dive into thekitchen!In case flipping through these pages and catching a glance of the gorgeousphotos hasn’t persuaded you, let me assure you: I’ve got incredible dishes from

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James Beard Award–winning chefs, contributions from my recipe contest atGundryMD.com, and a bunch of out-of-this-world recipes from patients andfollowers that I know you will love. And they were all made with you, yourhealth, your busy life, and your taste buds in mind. I can’t for you to try them.Welcome to The Plant Paradox Cookbook!

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Part OneWhat Is the Plant Paradox?

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Chapter OneLectins and Your Health