Rip Esselstyn's My Beef With Meat + Recipes

Rip Esselstyn's new book, My Beef With Meat, is hitting the shelves tomorrow, and I couldn't be more excited to share some information about it! I first saw Rip at the end of the Forks Over Knives movie, and I knew I would be hooked. The Engine 2 Diet was a great way to kick off my own plant-based journey, and I've even had my copy signed by Rip himself during an Engine 2 Potluck at his home here in Austin, Texas. When I heard he was coming out with his new book, I was more than happy to spread the word.

I'm giving away one free copy of the book, as well as receiving my very own copy for hosting this great giveaway (thank you, Engine 2 Diet team)! Want a chance to win? Comment on this post below and tell me what your beef with meat is! The winner will be picked on Friday, May 17th after 7 p.m.

My [Own] Beef With Meat: Throughout my plant-based journey, I learned so much more about nutrition that I ever thought was possible. All of the things I thought I knew about food and eating animals was turned upside down when I started to research the rates of disease and chronic illnesses so many people I know and love are facing right now. After following the principles in The Engine 2 Diet, I lost 30 lbs. within six months, my cholesterol dropped by 80 points, and I regained my health. I'd love for more people to realize the benefits of eating this way, and really learn the truth behind eating animal products, and how it affects your health.

About the book:
For the millions who are following a plant-based diet, as well as those meat-eaters who are considering it, My Beef With Meat is the definitive guide to convincing all that it's truly the best way to eat! New York Times Bestelling author of The Engine 2 Diet and nutrition lecturer Rip Esselstyn, is back and ready to arm readers with the knowledge they need to win any argument with those who doubt the health benefits of a plant-based diet.

Esselstyn reveals information on the foods that most people believe are healthy, yet that scientific research shows are not. Some foods, in fact, he deems so destructive they deserve a warning label. Want to prevent heart attacks, stroke, cancer and Alzheimer's? Then learn the facts and gain the knowledge to convince those skeptics that they are misinformed about plant-base diets, for instance:

• You don't need meat and dairy to have
strong bones or get enough protein
• You get enough calcium and iron in plants
• The myth of the Mediterranean diet
• There is a serious problem with the Paleo diet
• If you eat plants, you lose weight and feel great

My Beef With Meat proves the Engine 2 way of eating can optimize health and ultimately save lives
and includes more than 145 delicious recipes to help readers reach that goal.

You can order the book on Amazon

Why did you write this book?
I’ve discovered that there is a HUGE disconnect between what people think is healthy and what medical science knows to be healthy; for example, people have been bamboozled into believing that olive oil, Greek yogurt, chicken, and fish are healthy. Many people think the diet of the day is salmon, low fat dairy, and olive oil, washed down with a glass of red wine and a Lipitor pill for good measure. This is how confused, distracted, and off-course we have gotten--because this is NOT a good diet!

This book explains to plant eaters and meat eaters alike why a whole food, plant-strong diet rocks on a jillion different levels, hence the subtitle: The Healthiest Argument for Eating a Plant-Strong Diet. The primary driving force behind the book was to delve deeper into the major myths that keep surfacing about eating plants, such as: “You won’t get enough protein”, “You won’t get enough calcium”, “Eating plants is too expensive”, “Real men (and women) eat meat”, “Olive oil is heart-healthy”, and “Moderation in everything.”

The book shows how wrong each of these myths is. It gives the reader real science, not fad-diet talk. One of the titles we thought about was “How to Win an Argument with a Meat-eater” and believe me, after reading this book, you will never lose another argument with a carnivore again.

By the way, once you’ve won the argument, you can start cooking up any one of the 140 lipsmacking, rib-sticking outrageously good recipes to prove your point with food as well as with words.

There are some controversial things you tackle in this book, like The Paleo Diet. Why did you decide to address that specific diet?

The two big dueling diets right now are paleo and planteo. I believe that the paleo diet is just a good gimmick. The paleo people have taken the South Beach/Atkins diets and put a little spin on it. There are some positives with paleo, such as no refined or processed foods, and no dairy products. But any diet that promotes animal products with saturated fats, and animal protein isn’t promoting health. The consensus among the researchers who have studied the diets of humans in paleo times have said that at least 80 percent of their food was plant-based. Yes, they ate some animals, but we've evolved since then, we're smarter; we do not need, want, or get healthy from animal products. Back in the day, you would do anything you could to get calories into your body--it was a matter of survival. But in this day and age, you can go down the street to any grocery store and get all that you need without resorting to animal flesh.

An interesting article in US News & World Report in 2011 reviewed many different popular diets and decided that the one people should avoid is the paleo diet.

What about the people who say that they get results from a paleo diet? That’s because the Standard American Diet (SAD) is such an abomination you will get good results when switching to any diet that is even remotely healthier. If you want to get to the next step, cut out the meat!

There are a couple of chapters that talk about how plant-strong can make you stronger in the bedroom. Why do plants help in that department?

Plants help in a number of ways. When you are eating meat/dairy/processed foods, your arteries clog up. Believe it or not, the smallest artery men have is the artery to the penis, so it's not surprising that one of the first signs of heart disease is erectile dysfunction (ED). When you start eating a plant-strong diet, you begin to metabolize away some of the fat/cholesterol that you've built up, and you start to restore your endothelial lining. As my dad (Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn) likes to say, “Endothelial cells are the life jacket of your vascular system.” They are the inner lining of our 65,000 miles of vessels. When you bring them back to life, they produce nitric oxide. Nitric oxide allows those vessels to open up. When that happens, it allows for more blood flow, which is key to a great erection.

Interestingly, the one area that we have more endothelial cells per unit volume is the male penis. It’s amazing how many guys e-mail us and tell us about their ED going away.

Likewise, women experience similar success. When they cut out the animal products and processed junk foods, they have increased blood flow to the clitoris and surrounding tissues, which creates lubrication. We’ve also received hundreds of e-mails from women telling us about their new, healthier sex life as a result of going plant-strong.

So remember guys and gals plant-strong makes you pant-strong!

Do your kids like eating this way?

My kids, Kole and Sophie, do not like eating this way--they LOVE eating this way! They have no interest in eating anything from animals. If they find out that cake and ice-cream offered to them has things like eggs, butter or milk they politely decline. Kole and Sophie love mangoes, grapefruit, brown rice, baked tofu, peanut butter on whole grain bread, whole grain pasta, cheese-less whole grain pizza and banana ice-cream. Kole was hungry, and I told him I'd give him anything he wanted. Guess what he asked for.... he asked for broccoli!

What about athletes--can they be plant-strong?

Yes, they can and should be plant-strong. It is the absolute dope when it comes to taking your athletic performance to the next level. When I was a full time triathlete, I was guilty of taking performance enhancing…… foods. They are nature’s legal performance enhancing drugs! Plants give you an abundance of protein, water, phytonutrients, vitamins, and minerals that support your body after training. Plants are loaded with clean, unprocessed carbs that will replace depleted glycogen stores in your muscle and liver--allowing you to train harder, adapt faster, and improve quicker.

Plants give you a dose of alkaline, and anti-inflammatory substances that protect you from the stresses of long training days. Plants give you a clear head that will allow you to focus like a laser beam. Plants give you youthful arteries that will improve blood flow to all of your working muscles for maximal oxygen uptake. Plants strengthen your immune system and keep you healthy and free from illness. Plants give you a lean and muscular body that doesn't carry excessive weight.

When you are eating plant-strong, you are getting unprocessed carbs, healthy fats, plant-proteins, fiber and anti oxidants -- all of the things that your body relishes and craves and takes your performance to the next level.

What else do you have a beef with?

The huge disconnect with what people think is healthy and what we actually know to be healthy.
This creates confusion and distraction. The answer is so incredibly simple. Eat more whole plant-based
foods!

I have a beef with dairy.
I have a beef with processed/refined foods.
I have a beef with the Mediterranean diet.
I have a beef with drinking your calories.
I have a beef with olive oil and ALL other extracted oils.
I have a beef with supplements.
I have a beef with the belief that carbs are the devil.
I have a beef with the myth that soy is evil.
I have a beef with “everything in moderation.”
But -- I have no beef with plants!

To give you a little taste for what's in the book, here are a couple of recipes that are sure to be hits in your home!

Banana Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tablespoon vanilla
¾ cup natural chunky peanut butter
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 cups old fashioned oats
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt (optional)
½ cup non-dairy chocolate chips or raisins

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper
3. Mix bananas, vanilla, peanut butter and maple syrup into a creamy consistency in a large bowl
4. In another bowl, combine oats, flour, baking powder and salt
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until they are well combined--the batter
should be slightly sticky
6. Fold in the chocolate chips or raisins
7. Place rounded, heaping tablespoon-sized balls of the batter onto an ungreased baking sheet
8. Bake for 15-18 minutes
9. Gobble these up while they are still warm

©Engine2Diet

Spicy Southern Grits

Ingredients:
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
¼ cup green chilies, diced
1 chipotle pepper, chopped
2 cups veggie stock
½ cup grits, yellow
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
½ lime, juiced
½ tsp salt (optional)
1 teaspoon black pepper (optional)

Directions:
1. Sautee the onions, garlic, green chilies and chipotle pepper with 2 tablespoons veggie stock for 5
to 7 minutes
2. Add the rest of the stock and bring to a boil
3. Wisk in grits and cook on low heat for 5 to7 minutes
4. Stir in nutritional yeast and lime
5. Adjust seasoning to your liking and serve

©Engine2Diet