יום שני, 30 בדצמבר 2013

Power Foods for the Brain

Hi everyone,

I know that there's good chance that you the reader are relatively young and you don’t really know what could be in store for you. So let me try to describe it to you. You struggle all your life to raise a family, to pay your mortgage, to gain wealth and just when you are about to retire and it's time for you to enjoy what you saved, just when it’s time for you to enjoy your grand kids, to travel, to live your dreams - just then your brain stop functioning as it should. You forget things. It escalates slowly. While in the beginning you don't remember one word, or forget where you put the car keys - little by little you start slipping away from those surrounding you.  Over the years you become more and more dependent on your family, unable to take care of yourself, exhausting your family’s emotional, physical and financial resources. This is not science fiction - Alzheimer is ranked 6'th in the list of killers and responsible for 3.4% of death cases in the US. 

But that's not all, Cerebrovascular disease is a group of brain dysfunctions related to disease of the blood vessels supplying the brain. This family of diseases is responsible for additional 5.2% of deaths in the united states. I would also include intentional self harm (suicide) as a killer for 1.6% of the population for a total of about 10% brain related deaths.

What these numbers are saying is that if you don't die from a cardio vascular disease or cancer (50% of death cases) then chances are 1 to 5 that you will die from illnesses that are related to the brain. And if you don't die then chances are that you brain function shall deteriorate significantly as you age.






How to combat this?

I just finished listening to the book "Power Foods for the Brain: An effective 3-step Plan to Protect Your Mind and Strengthen Your Memory" by Dr. Neal Barnard. Wow What a book! Dr. Barnard covers all aspects of nutrition and life style impact on the brain. What a treasure chest of information. Dr. Barnard doesn't go round and round and wastes my time - every sentence that he writes is full of new information and everything is explained very clearly. Very good job - I really recommend you to read this book.




I am going to go over the main subjects discussed in this book - but it doesn't exempt you from really reading this important book. Do it for the sake of yourself and your parents.

In his book Dr. Barnard covers several topics:

  • ·         Toxic metals
  • ·         Bad fats
  • ·         Good fats
  • ·         Good food
  • ·         Vitamins
  • ·         Brain exercise
  • ·         Body exercise
  • ·         Sleep
  • ·         Harmful medicines

Understanding Alzheimer & other threats


Dr. Barnard goes over all brain related diseases and their root cause  He also goes into detail about how to identify these diseases and how they are diagnosed. For example in the case of Alzheimer - Dr. Barnard explains that when a patient is diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment - what doctors typically do is take a sample of his spinal fluids. A low level of Beta Amyloid 42 protein indicates that Beta Amyloid that's associated with Alzheimer's disease has been deposited in the brain as plaques that are located between the brain cells. A high level of Tau protein suggests that neurons have been damaged. 

Genes play a role in Alzheimer disease. Most of the cases are the result of a gene called APOE residing in chromosome #19. This gene contains the instructions for generating a protein ApoE that's involved in carrying fat and cholesterol from place to place. This protein has three allelic forms. E2, E3 & E4. The E4 is found in approximately 14% of the population and has been implicated in atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, impaired cognition function, sclerosis and so on. If you get this gene from one of your your parents then the probability that you shall develop Alzheimer triples, if you get it from both parents then your chances are multiplying by 10!!  Death cause of 3.4% of the US population is Alzheimer, but what about those that died from heart attack or cancer ~50% of the population - they too have their share of 3.4% so roughly 6.8% of the population get to the stage where they have a deadly Alzheimer and multiplying your own probability by 10 means you have a chance of 2 to 3 to develop Alzheimer!

The good news is that even if you are genetically prone for developing the Alzheimer's disease - what you eat and how you live your life - has lots of impact on whether you are going to get it or not. My mother had a twin brother. As far as I know he had Alzheimer for years. In the last years of his life he couldn't even recognize my mother when she was visiting. It means that my mother too has the same genes but because she's eating good food and taking good care of herself then she hasn't developed the disease. Not yet, that is!

Toxic Metals



Researches show that people who had lower copper in the blood were mentally clearer. They had fewer memory problems. It applies to Iron and Zinc as well. Yes, the body does need these metals in tiny amounts but having too much is toxic. It seems like copper toxicity becomes harmful when combined with some bad fats (saturated & trans). The RDA for copper is 0.9 mg per day. Dr. Barnard points to a research on which those that took 1 mg copper per day were fine while those that consumed 2.75 developed mental problems over the years. Such a tiny difference combined with bad fats - and you are prone to developing the disease! Hemoglobin levels in the blood indicate how much iron is present. Dr. Barnard claims that 13.7 is the magic number - much above or much below leads to cognitive problems. Let me copy here again my hemoglobin blood test results 



My hemoglobin level is around the optimum at 13.7, but this is located at the far left side of the range according to your my doctors. It makes you think that you don't have enough iron. But the truth is that this range that allows you to have 17.5 is wrong! You should have around 13.7.

Where do these metals come from?


Some come from the water that you drink - if your pipes are made of iron then you get iron in your drinking water. They also come from your kitchenware - some old pots are made of copper.

Some multivitamins contain copper, zinc & iron. I actually checked the one used by my parents and as you can see it contains these metals: 18 mg iron, 15 mg zinc and 2 mg copper!!



If you eat 100 grams of liver then you get 14 mg of copper!! that's 14X of your RDA.

Meat contains iron in heme form. Plants contain iron in a non heme form. The body can easily regulate how much of the non heme iron is absorbed. If the body doesn't have enough iron then it uses the non heme iron and if the body has more than enough then it doesn't absorb the non heme iron. However when you consume meat - all the iron is going directly into your blood and your body can't regulate it. Vegetarians and Vegans have low iron levels not because they don't have enough, but because this is what their body needs. The 13.5 to 17.5 level were invented by stupid doctors who averaged the average meat eaters population and got 13.5 to 17.5 but this is way more than what your body needs.

It doesn't seem like God wanted you to get your metals from animals. Plant eating animals are collecting those metals from the plants they eat, and you are coming and eating the animals and you get the full concentration of metals right in your face. A little fish is poisoned a little by mercury. Then comes a bigger fish and eat it and then there comes an even bigger fish and eats the big fish and you are eating this big fish, focusing on its liver - come on! you get all the metals straight to your blood!!




Aluminum too is toxic and does mental damage. You can find it as emulsifying agents in cheese, especially in frozen pizzas, in baking powders, in foils and cook ware, in spaghetti sauce, tea, and in soda cans.  


 Bad Fats


Over a 4 year period people who consumed ~25 grams of saturated fat per day had at least twice the risk of developing Alzheimer disease than those who ate half as much. Typical vegetable oils on the other hand are reducing the risk of developing an Alzheimer's disease. 

Hydrogenated fat (Trans fat) is an artificial fat that you can find in margarine, pastries, snack foods and french fries and Dr. Barnard points to a research showing that people who are consuming such fat are doubling the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Consuming these toxic fats is causing the body to create more Cholesterol and it in turn helps creating the Alzheimer's Amyloid plaques. The Allelic form E4 of the ApoE protein mentioned above is moving the cholesterol across the brain carrying copper and iron that destroy the brain. Ellsworth in another blog post saying: "If you can keep your Cholesterol under 140 - you chances of developing a coronary heart disease are very small". Your doctor won't start talking with you about your Cholesterol level till you reach 200 - that's regarded still normal. If you go up to 225 then you are adding 25% to the risk of developing Alzeimer's disease and if you go up to 250 then you are adding 50% to the same.

In 2003 researches at the Chicago health and aging project found out that those that were eating 25 grams saturated fats per day had 3 times the risk of developing Alzheimer comparing to those that were eating only 13 grams.  I checked and I eat 8.9 grams of saturated fat. Oh well, I may be taking more now since I can't resist my super healthy and yummy fudge recipe.. But just to give you an idea how you can easily reach those 25 grams of saturate fat I put here the following table:

 

Good Fats


Our body needs a fat called Omega 3 fat (ALA), that is composed of a chain of 18 Carbon atoms joined together. The body links them to a chain containing 22 carbons which is called EPA. Adding 2 more carbons brings us to 24 carbons which is called DHA. It is the DHA that the brain needs.  Omega 3 can be found in trace amounts in various vegetables, fruits & beans and in much higher amount in various walnuts, seeds, flax, flax oil and canola oil. 


The catch is that in order to link these Omega 3 18 carbons into DHA with 24 carbons – the body needs enzymes. Omega 6 fats are competing on the same enzymes because they too need those enzymes for linking with 6 more carbons. These omega 6 fats can be found in sunflower oil, corn oil, soy beans oil and grapes oil. So if you have too much omega 6 then they tie up all the enzymes and as result the body doesn’t get enough DHA.  So while you do need omega 6 fats but if you consume too many of these like in a ‘normal’ diet then they are going to crowd out the omega 3 fats and your body will end up without the DHA molecules that it needs.  





The right ratio is 2-4 grams of omega 6 fats for every gram of omega 3. That is the optimum ratio. Greens and beans contain omega 3 to start with.  It is thus recommended that you cut on all these competing oils – the cooking oils. Fish contains Omega 3 fats and indeed there’s a research that eating fish reduces dementia however eating fish can make you overweight because 50% of them are fats and not only omega 3.  

I think that the following chart is very useful starting to realize how to balance these good fats



Vitamins

Vitamin E



Vitamin E Protects cells against free radicals attack. It’s an anti oxidant – it neutralizes free radicals just like those that are released to the body as result of iron and copper consumption. Unlike muscle cells, brain cells cannot be replaced – they are forever. So if a free radical damages your brain – it’s irreversible. Research indicates that vitamin E reduces the risk of Alzheimer - every 5 mg reduces the risk by additional 25%. Supplementing with vitamin E is not a good idea because it contains only one form of this vitamin and because you have plenty of vitamin E in your food. I know that in my nutritarial diet I get 17.6 mg per day while the RDA is 15 mg. I get 43% of my vitamin E from nuts & seeds.

B6, B12 and folate

Homocysteine is a non-protein amino acid that is created when the body digests protein. This acid is causing damage to the heart but also to the brain. The above vitamins lower Homocysteine in the brain and the research indicate that they contribute to sharper brain and better memory. Alzheimer’s patient’s brain is full of Homocysteine.
The RDA for folate is 400 ug and I check that in my diet I get 1200 ug already. 42% from beans and 24% from greens.
The RDA for B6 is 1.7 and I check that in my nutritarial diet I get 3.0. Whole grains, sweet potatoes, babans, greens & nuts are rich in B6.
B12 supplementation is essential for vegans – they can’t get enough from the food. This vitamin is good for the memory especially for those with ApoE E4 that I described above.

Fruits and Vegetables



Dr. Barnard provides research results according to which those participants that consumed 3-4 servings of vegetables per day reduced their cognitive decline rate by about 40% relative to those that consumed only one serving.
People who consumed an apple a day reduced their chances of getting stroke by 50% or more.

Coffee

In one research 64% less risk of developing Alzhaimer disease!! However only people that drank 3-4 cups per day could enjoy this benefit. However caffeine has its own problems.

Brain Exercises




It wouldn’t be news for you if I tell you that if you exercise your brain then much like training your body – you can improve your abilities. What is interesting to mention here is a company called Lumas lab, a company that worked with scientists in main universities to develop a sophisticated web based teaching tools that strengthen memory, reaction, and problem solving. I registered to this program – it’s silly and fun, I did it mainly for my father who is 90+ and I feel it’s so important that he maintains and even improve is cognitive capability. You should give it a try – the initial calibration is for free and give you an idea of what to expect. Here’s the link: http://www.lumosity.com enjoy J
Speaking more than one language is too a mental stimulation.  Research has proven that it can delay the onset of dementia and reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The more languages one speaks – the better.  One site that is quoted in the book is https://chinese.yabla.com/ where you can watch mandarin TV with translation and you can slow down the audio. Very nice.






Physical exercise



When you have a physical training session, your heart starts pumping blood to all the body parts including the brain providing oxygen. New veins and new cells are built inside the hippocampus part of the brain. Whoever keeps on training over the years has thus lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. It can actually reverse age related shrinkage of the brain.

Exercise (together with a good diet) keeps your artheries clean. It is thus possible for blood to easily carry oxygen and  nutrients into the brain on the way in and clear wastes and toxins on the way out.  Exercise also helps with diseases such as diabetes, metabolic syndrome, etc – which impacts the brain.  The Brain Drive Neurotrophic  Factor (BDNF) is a secreted protein acts on certain neurons of the central nervous system and helps in supporting the survival of existing neurons as well as encouraging the growth of new neurons and synpases.  Aerobic exercise increases the amount of this BDNF in the brain.  Post mortem analysis has shown lowered levels of BDNF in the brain tissues of people with Alzheimer’s disease.


Sleep



                             
Most people don’t get enough sleep – 8 hours of deep sleep is the optimum.  Sleep helps us consolidate memories. If you learned something, read something then initially this information is fragile, it is during the sleep that your brain makes them permanent. Research suggests that the first half of the night is used for consolidating memories, facts and events.  The second part of the night – is when we integrate memories related to new skills and emotions – this is the time when we experience some “dramas” as we are dreaming.

With regard to the beta amyloid plaques that are so prevalent in the brain of Alzheimer’s patients – they have daily tides. During sleep they fall. If you don’t sleep enough then you don’t give a chance for your amyloid plaques to ‘subside’.


Caffeine may stand in your way for a deep and a restful sleep. For some people it does, for some it doesn’t. If you feel that you can’t fall asleep after drinking coffee then you should avoid coffee all together – don’t even drink it in the morning. It’s important to remember that the caffeine half life time is 6 hours. So if you drink coffee at 8 a.m. – ¼ of it shall still be in your blood at 8 p.m.  You may say that it’s a habit that you can’t break – you just need it. All I can say is that habits and addictions can be changed. I used to drink 8-10 cups of coffee per day till 3/July/2013… today I don’t drink coffee. If you really need to cut on your coffee intake and you don’t do it – then it’s because you don’t want to!!




Alcohol is even worse! Yes it does lull you into sleep, but you experience only the first half of the night… ~4 hours after you drink alcohol you wake up because your alcohol molecule changed to aldeheids. These are stimulants!!




If you wake up several times during the night in order to urinate – then drink less during the evening. If it’s because of prostate problems – then treat them! I wake up several times during that night and I know I have to improve on these two fronts. I should eat my soup only at noon and I should check my prostate. I may have cancer, I mean with the way I treated my body up until half a year ago – I wouldn’t rule this option out so quickly.




Serotonin is a mood regulating chemical that helps you sleep.  If you eat carbs then your serotonin level goes up and if you eat proteins then your serotonin level goes down.  Dr. Barnard thus suggests that for dinner you shall eat starches which are a form of carbs that you can find in rice, pasta and bread.  In the morning he suggests that you eat proteins like beans and tofu. Don’t eat this stuff in the evening, he says because the protein shall block your serotonin.  This is not something that I do today… I eat more carbs in the morning and I eat protein and carbs for lunch and dinner. I shall perhaps have to consider changing this.


Dr. Barnard conclusion is that “Sleep deprivation is among the worst things you can inflict on your brain”.

In my experience, I used to deprive myself from sleep, I just had to do so many things during the day, I had to meet impossible schedule at work, I would wake up at 3 or 4 a.m. in the morning daily for YEARS and it made me stressed, angry, depressed and made me sick. Today I sleep, or to be more accurate, try to sleep 8 full hours. Think about it – it requires a decision, you need to really put priorities in your life in order to make this happened. If you work 10 hours a day, commute 2 hours and sleep 8 hours then that’s already 20 hours out of 24! If you exercise and shower for a total of one hour and you prepare your food, laundry, etc – then you really don’t have enough time for reading a book, socializing, watching TV, helping your kids with school tasks (preparing their homework…) etc. That’s why I am saying that deciding that you are going to sleep 8 hours each night – is a big decision and I hope you got the motivation here. Some people claim that sleeping “is such a waste of time” (quoting my special lady here…) – well, let me copy here again the sentence above “Sleep deprivation is among the worst things you can inflict on your brain” – that’s my response!

Medicines



                             
If you have memory problems, for example you start skipping words, then you should take a good look at your medicines. Dr. Barnard lists these medicines by name. We are talking here mainly about common cholesterol lowering drugs, sleeping medications, anti depressants, pain killers, blood pressure medicines & acid blockers.  



What are my "personal conclusions"?



Well, about 2 months ago I came to the conclusion that I should take supplements. My reasoning was that I want abundant amount of nutrients. So as result I decided to take Iron & Zinc supplements. The doctor explained to me that I should take "good quality" iron supplement and she also "explained" to me that iron absorption is greater when the source is hemp iron (when eating meat). Well as result of reading this book I no longer believe I should supplement my body with metals!! I believe that my body gets enough iron and it absorbs the amount of iron that it needs. Also it was quite idiotic to bomb my body with Zinc supplements just because I had 87% of RDA... - My first priority should be to avoid metals poisoning. In addition and not related I supplemented with Choline - which is bad for the health - that supplement too is going down the drain. 

The other decision is to exercise my brain. I registered to Lumosity, and I shall start learning Chinese, I know that from the few lessons that I did take - it was a huge effort for my brain. 

I should also at some point arrange my daily meals such as to consume more carbs & starches in the evening for my Serotonin level. To avoid having to wake up several times in the night I should check my prostate and also drink my soups only at noon.

I should continue with my nutritarian vegan diet, continue to avoid medicines, continue to supplement with B12 & Vitamin D (if there's not enough sun).

As for Omega-3 vs. Omega-6 - I shall have to explore this area and write more about it in future posts.

That's all for now,

Aviel.







יום רביעי, 18 בדצמבר 2013

super healthy and extremely yummy fudge recipe

Hello everyone,

Today I am going to give you a recipe that is not only delicious and super yummy but also very very nutritious. It contains no sugar and no oil at all !!! This recipe was invented by Talia Fuhrman and she gave me her permission to publish it here. Talia Fuhrman has a degree in nutritional sciences from Cornell University. She's vegan and in her blog as well as in her facebook page she demonstrates again and again how nutritious and disease preventing food can also be very delicious. She's the daughter of Joel Fuhrman whose nutritarial diet helped me get rid of almost 40 Kilograms in the last 5 months. but while her father is more focused on the science behind the nutritarial diet, Talia provides a wider view that includes the emotional and psychological aspects of being healthy, for example stress management and positive thinking - and in my humble opinion at least in my case this is exactly what triggered by diabetes and metabolic syndrome

Here's my twist to the recipe (you can see the original one here)

  • 1/2 cup almond butter (חצי כוס חמאת שקדים)
  • 1 cup black beans (כוס שעועית שחורה)
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder (חצי כוס אבקת קקאו)
  • 1/2 cup microwaved sweet potato (חצי כוס תפוח אדמה מתוק רך במיקרו)
  • 12 pitted dates (תמרים מגולענים - 12)
  • 1/2 cup soy milk (חצי כוס חלב סויה)
  • 1 cup goji berries (כוס גוג'י ברי)
As for the beans - you have to either buy them canned or soak them in water for at least 24 hours and then cook them in a pressure cooker for ~20 minutes.

Put all of the above except for the berries in a food processor or a blender and blend till completely smooth.

Pour into a large bowl, add the berries and mix.
Add few drops of oil to a 20 cm x 20 cm baking dish and form with your fingers the tiniest layer.
Pour the mix into the baking dish and spread evenly.
Cover with something and put in the freezer.

After 3-4 hours in the fridge - you can cut 18-20 rectangular pieces using a knife


After that you can place the pieces in a bowl and store in the freezer




What's so good about Cocoa powder? 


It's good for the heart and there are many papers to back up this assertion. For example there's a research showing that triglycerides levels were reduced in healthy women eating Chocolate. Increasing evidence from experimental and clinical studies using cocoa-derived products and chocolate suggest an important role for these high-flavanol-containing foods in heart and vascular protection. Another research is indicating that Cocoa can reduce your blood pressure and also increase your Nitric Oxicde (remember my article aboutnutrition for better sex?).It was demonstrated that intake of low habitual amounts of dark chocolate caused progressive reductions of systolic and diastolic blood pressure in older subjects with prehypertension or stage 1 hypertension without inducing weight gain or other adverse effects. Cocoa powder gives us the benefit of Chocolate, i.e. low blood pressure, low bad cholesterol and high good cholesterol, but without the sugar and without the milk. 

And what's so good about Beans?

Beans are a very important part of the nutritarial vegan diet. They are a quality source of protein, carbs and fiber. The refined carbs that most people eat in bagels, cakes and all sorts of 'good' stuff are consumed immediately by the body and are injected into the blood stream, shocking the body with tons of glucose molecules and raise insulin. This is not the case with beans - it contains slowly digestible starch so you get a constant supply of carbs that feed your body long after you are done with your dinner so it delays the onset of your hunger. But this is not the end of the story - beans contain high quality fiber which moves your bowls and all the yucky poisoning stuff out of your body, and yes - you do want to get rid of this garbage if only to reduce the risk of having colon cancer. Beans also have resistant starch - these are carbs that are resisting digestion until they get to the big intestine where they undergo fermentation by the microbes there and create substances that help us absorbing beneficial minerals like calcium and magnesium.

And what's so good about Goji Berries?





I found my Goji berries in a health store called Eden Teva Market. It was place on one special shelf carrying the title 'super foods' !! It made its way from the himalayan mountains right to my preferred health store. Goji berries are famous for their nutrient values. For example they contain all essential amino acids - which is rare for a fruit. They are very strong antioxidants, they contains vitamin C as well as many minerals such as iron, calcium, zince & selenium. It was discovered by the west only in the last couple of years and there's certainly lots of hype around this super food.


I will write some other time about sweet potatoes and dates but rest assured that these too are healthy foods.

While writing this blog I was running out of this amazing fudge so I had to prepare yet another round but this time I used a silicon dish that I bought in 4Chef located at 11 Karlibach Tel-Aviv.


Sorry for the mess - but this is how a vegan kitchen looks like (you can see the vitamix blender)


Meanwhile do promise yourself that you are really going to prepare this fudge - I think it's a genius invention - it certainly demonstrates how to prepare something both delicious and nutritious.

Cheers,

Aviel.


יום שלישי, 10 בדצמבר 2013

Vegan friendly restaurants in Israel

Hi everyone,

It seems like Israel is evolving into a paradise for vegans. It was Gary Yourofsky that visited Israel in 2012 and the famous video that had such huge impact on so many Israelis. In the last couple of months we witness the opening of more and more vegan restaurants and in addition the old restaurants as well as cafe networks are having special vegan dishes.

I had the fortune of spending a two week vacation in Israel and I used a beautiful web site http://www.vegan-friendly.co.il/ which turned out to be very informative and helpful for Israelis but the problem is that it's all in Hebrew. This site lists restaurants that were found to be vegan friendly, that is, they do know what vegans are looking for, they do have special dishes that are marked as vegan and you can trust them not to fool you with some non vegan food. Some of these restaurants are totally vegan, some are vegetarian/vegan and some are serving animal based food but also vegan dishes.

Just for sports - I ranked the restaurants, sorted the list and I present them from the best to the worst.



Without doubt - this is the best vegan restaurant. It's totally vegan and many of the food carry the name of some animal based foods. For example roast beef. But don't worry - everything is plant based. 

We visited the one in Eilat - it's located in Hemelicha St. - bad location. It wasn't so busy so I don't know if they can survive as a business but what can I say - the food was great.


We also ate in the Tel-Aviv branch @ 21 Yehuda Halevi St. - again very yummy - you can see here the Halva based shake, her goulash and my forgot-what-it-was patties. What you don't see is the Tiramisu desert - well I knew that in order to make my special lady happy I should order something sweet - OK don't look at me this way - I don't eat this stuff, I only helped her a bit till she allowed me to finish what's left...





Located in 31 King George St. Tel-Aviv. It's not a vegan restaurant but sure is vegan friendly. We sat at the counter and could watch how they prepare the dishes. I ate there one of the best soups ever, I think it was tomato soup and also the other dishes were very good. 



Here's the soup - 


And here's the salad - 




Located in 6  Yedidya Frenkel St. Tel-Aviv - Florentin. All the names of the dishes here are american meat products: hamburger, stake, etc, etc. The guy knows how to imitate meat using plant based products, he prepares his own marinades and the result is quite tasty. My special lady was delighted and said it was her best vegan meal ever. Well - I don't think so, it was good, yes but the dishes were small and we needed to ask for more and more dishes just to avoid hunger, but anyway - it's always a good feeling to come to a restaurant and to know that everything is vegan.


Located in 114 Ibn-Gabirol street. It's a young, a modern and a very busy restaurant that is vegan-friendly. I wasn't that hungry so I settled for the following dish with broccoli,quinoa, cauliflower, carrots and patties :



Located in 20 Pinsker St. Tel-Aviv. Run by perhaps 5 waitresses and 2 men in the kitchen - too many employees in my opinion... Food is good, there are special vegan dishes that are marked... very nice.



And this - 




Located in 18 Mapu St. The owner speaks english and seems like some of the customers are either speaking english or Israeli nerds or both. Good music, positive atmosphere and good food.


and the dishes






I visited all 3 of them - the one in Israel, the one in Jerusalem and the one in Eilat and I had very good time eating nutritarial vegan breakfast and dinner in those places. They have a very rich buffet with many vegetable plates. I was piling a mountain of vegetables, topping them with nuts and seeds that I brought from home or that they serve and voilla - a great, nutritious vegan feast where the salad is the main dish. They don't serve  beans so instead I was eating humus and fool. I was also pouring tahini over the salad as a dressing and for the fruit I was eating sliced oranges. I didn't need to eat any of their prepared foods - pancakes, cakes, omlates, chicken breast and all that - this is food for the normal people. In Tel-Aviv I was even given a very yummy dish with cooked vegies and nuts - clearly it was prepared by a chef! It was very yummy, a bit oily but very nutritious.

Here's what I ate in Dan Panorama Jerusalem for breakfast:


And here's another dish that I built on the next morning -


And then on the next morning - more or less same deal


And dinner that day -


And the morning after - see that mountain?



This recommendation applies to any respected hotel - you don't have to even ask for a vegan dish - all you need is right there and at abudant quantities.


This is an Israeli network of cafes and they have distinguished dishes for vegan. the dishes are huge by any standard. I took the roots based veggies and it was very yummy. The only problem is again - the bread - their sandwiches and the bread that comes with the salad are called 'whole wheat' but they are not - they are brownish yes - but they are not whole wheat bread. I ate some, avoided some but I mean what can you expect?




Located in 98 Alenbi St. Tel-Aviv. This is one restaurant 'with character' - all the chairs and tables are old, nothing matches in the mess. The music is Indian or Pakistan which I really love and the food is totally vegan but I ate humus, fool, with lots of oil - not the salad type of a meal.




Humus Abu Hasan

Located in Hadolphin St. Jafa. It's not a vegan restaurant, not vegan friendly but the employees are friendly and the humus is good and the fool is great. Yes it's oily but I think every once in a while one should enjoy such good and simple restaurant.




Here they have two cafeterias - a dairy  and a non dairyone. The non dairy had plenty of vegetables, most of them cooked so I formed a mountain of these vegies, added my nuts&seeds and it was yummy.

Druz and arab restaurant in Tiebrius

At noon we were eating in local restaurants were the salad is only a supplement but they always have so many vegetables to choose from so here too was the same drill - a mountain of salad topped with humus, tahini and nuts that I brought from home.


Cafeteria in Bet-Shean

This one was problematic - there was only pita with falafel or pita with meat. I had to ask for pita with salad and of course the amount and quality of the salad was poor and the pita - that's a big sin - it's not a whole wheat pita - it's made of what I call 'instant carbs' that I want to usually avoid, but I was hungry so I settled for this lousy 'dish'.




It's a Japanese restaurant in Eilat Promenade, Full of air, expensive and dishes are so small that if you continue eating them for one month then you become a small Japanese. I still beat myself - why oh why did I chose this restaurant. Yes they do have plant only dishes - here - 



Aviel.