The Simplicity of Berries / Plums & 26 Vegetables
My patients get into trouble dietarily because of the combination of too much imagination and creativity. Therefore, I have simplified things so that it's easy for my patients to remember just "fruits, vegetables, and beans." That's why the most recent adaptation of my weight loss program is unlimited berries/plums, vegetables (26 with nothing fried), and beans.
The big change is that you can have as much as you wish of beans or other proteins if we agree to this. This "simplified thinking" is more comprehensible and more "digestible" (pun intended) than allowing patients to decide for themselves that they can have so much of this or so much of that.
That latter process - creative thinking about what they can and cannot eat is precisely what created the overweight problem in the first place. Now you can have unlimited amounts of berries/plums, 26 specific vegetables and all beans - but that's all unless I specifically permit (unlimited) fish, lamb, veal, fresh goat, pork, buffalo, or ostrich--but not hamburger, beef, ham, or hot dogs.
The 26 Vegetables:
| broccoli | collard greens | mustard greens | snow peas |
| bok choy | cucumbers | onions | string beans |
| burdock | daikon | parsley | summer squash |
| cabbage | green beans | pumpkin | tomatoes |
| carrots/carrot tops | kale | radishes | turnip greens |
| cauliflower | leeks | scallions | winter squash |
| celery | mushrooms |
H. Robert Silverstein, MD
Hartford, CT