Health Promoting Meals From The True North Kitchen
by Ramses Bravo and Alan Goldhamer
ISBN: 9781570672699
Price: 19.95
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Book Publishing Co.
Publication Year: 2012
Bravo! is a collection of delicious, health-promoting recipes from the TrueNorth Health Center in Santa Rosa, California, whose dietary program has helped more than 7,000 people recover from numerous chronic diseases, including diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity, and hypertension.
Chef Ramses Bravo’s exquisite vegan cuisine combines simple, straightforward ingredients that explode with flavor and texture. Completely SOS-free (salt, oil, sugar), these meals are low in calories, free of harmful saturated fats and cholesterol, and rich in nutrients and fiber. These delicious whole-foods recipes help to regulate appetite and weight while protecting against a host of diseases. Yet your taste buds won't feel like they are lacking the complex flavors our society has grown accustomed to.
Included are tips and guidelines to help readers easily transition to a diet of nutritional excellence, along with 14 days of menus to get them started. Nutritional analyses accompany all of the recipes and menus.
Foreword by T. Colin Campbell, PhD
Bravo! Reviews:
Bravo! made it in the top 4 "Best New Vegan Cookbooks" for the holidays by Vegan Health & Fitness Magazine in their Fall 2012 issue. Two recipes featured.
http://www.veganhealthandfitnessmag.com/Bravo! made it on Elephant Journal in a review for "Mindful Cookbooks for Back To School"
http://www.elephantjournal.com/2012/09/mindful-cookbooks-for-back-to-school/Elephant Journal review below:
"Back to school means back to a more regular routine for most families.I don’t know about you, but for me, routine often becomes rut—especially where cooking is concerned. Breakfast needs to be fast before the school bus and getting to work. Lunch often needs to be portable. Dinner needs to be easy and fit several different eating styles. And I’d like all of it to be healthy, affordable and stuff my kids will eat. Is that too much to ask?
When I was asked to review a new cookbook, I was thrilled. Bravo! ~ Ramses Bravo
I find that many vegan and vegetarian cookbooks are geared for those who like keep an extremely well stocked kitchen with unusual ingredients and have lots of time to cook. While I do love to cook, and like experimenting with new things, on a day to day basis, I need things that are fairly simple and will be well received by my family. Since Bravo was labeled as “SOS Free” or free of sugar, oil and salt, I was a little skeptical.
I was wrong! Bravo would make a great gift for anyone who has health concerns or is looking to add more vegan meals to their week—even my omnivore dad found a few recipes he liked. What I loved about the book was the focus on simple, fresh ingredients and the explanations of how to best prepare different veggies and legumes."
Author Bios
Chef Ramses Bravo:
I have been cooking since the age of 17 years old. I’m now closing in on five years at True North, and although I never had any prior training on vegan cuisine, my time working here has been invaluable. The response to my book so far has been tremendous. What really strikes me is how many people are looking for or have at least thought of a healthier way to eat, even if they are not vegan. This tells me that people are looking to improve their lives. I am very thankful that I can bridge the gap for so many of these people who are looking for a way to be healthier.
I am now hosting a local radio show called the love kitchen. I’m hoping to soon have it both in English and Spanish. Though the focus of the show is not about vegan cooking, it is about a healthier and brighter future. That is the type of influence I want to have on the people I come in contact with.
To this day I still struggle with my identity as a chef. I was classically trained as a chef and have many regular chef friends. Many of whom cook amazing meals. I realize that I too can make these amazing meals which include sought after cuts of meat, butter, cream, etc. But somewhere along my path I realized that these great meals made people happy only until they finished the food in front of them. I want to go beyond that. I want to make food for people which keep them at a happy state on a daily basis day because they realize how delicious it was and afterwards they don’t have to beat themselves up for eating the butter and the sugar and the salt and all the calories that go along with all that. I still work long hours like most chefs, but my schedule at True North is different in that I can reach out to most of my clients on a personal basis and learn their story. Learn what their goals are for trying to switch to a healthier life style. I want them to experience life the way I do.
Eating this diet allows me to be thinner and lighter. The benefits of this are tremendous. I can devote a high energy level and a creative mind to my daughter. Some of the activities I can share with her are training for a triathlon, drawing class, painting, guitar lessons, as well as volunteer in her classroom.
Eating this way for most of the time allows me to be more centered and able to maintain a more positive state of mind.
Alan Goldhamer:
Dr. Goldhamer is the founder of TrueNorth Health Center, a state-of-the-art facility that provides medical and chiropractic services, psychotherapy and counseling, as well as massage and body work. He is also director of the Center's groundbreaking residential health education program.
Articulate, inspiring and energetic, Dr. Alan Goldhamer is one of the most pioneering and dedicated visionaries in health today. An outspoken professional who doesn't shy away from a spirited debate, he is deeply committed to helping people stuck in self-destructive cycles reclaim their ability to change their lives.
Dr. Goldhamer has supervised the fasts of thousands of patients. Under his guidance, the Center has become one of the premier training facilities for doctors wishing to gain certification in the supervision of therapeutic fasting. He is on the faculty at Bastyr University in Seattle, Washington, where he teaches a course on clinical fasting.
Dr. Goldhamer was the principal investigator in two landmark studies. The first, "Medically Supervised Water-Only Fasting in the Treatment of Hypertension" appeared in the June 2001 issue of the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. Its publication marked a turning point in the evolution of evidence supporting the benefits of water-only fasting. The second study, "Medically Supervised Water-Only Fasting in the Treatment of Borderline Hypertension," appeared in the October 2002 issue of the Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine.
Currently, Dr. Goldhamer is directing a prospective study, incorporating random assignment and long-term follow-up on the cost and clinical outcomes in the treatment of diabetes and high blood pressure with fasting and a health-promoting diet. This current study is being conducted in conjunction with the International Union of Operating Engineers, who have made participation in this program a fully covered medical benefit for all members afflicted with diabetes or high blood pressure.
After completing his chiropractic education at Western States Chiropractic College in Portland, Oregon, Dr. Goldhamer traveled to Australia, where he became licensed as an osteopathic physician. He is the author of The Health Promoting Cookbook and co-author of The Pleasure Trap: Mastering The Hidden Force That Undermines Health and Happiness.
