by Mark Hyman
When both sides of the fennel are golden brown, add the chicken broth and sprinkle with the thyme. Cover the pan and turn the heat down to low. Cook the fennel until it is very tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, another 15 to 20 minutes.
Nutritional analysis per serving (about 1 cup): calories 90, fat 4 g, saturated fat 1 g, cholesterol 0 mg, fiber 5 g, protein 3 g, carbohydrate 13 g, sodium 250 mg
HERBED CAULIFLOWER “RICE”
You will never believe how much like rice this is! In fact, it’s better than rice—and better for you, with no starchy carbs. It’s a great way to get more veggies into your diet. This is a versatile dish that is easily changed by using different herbs and spices, so play with your food and enjoy cauliflower rice with other recipes too. You can grate the cauliflower ahead of time and keep it refrigerated until you are ready to cook it.
Yield: 4 servings
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
1 large head cauliflower (2 pounds)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon coconut oil
1 medium shallot, finely chopped (¼ cup)
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
optional: 2 teaspoons finely grated ginger
½ bunch finely chopped fresh cilantro, parsley, or a combination (½ cup)
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Trim the stem and any green leaves from the cauliflower. Grate the cauliflower on the large holes of a sharp box grater. Do this on a large flat plate or rimmed baking sheet to catch the pieces. You should have about 6 cups of fluffy, rice-size cauliflower “grains.”
Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add the shallots and sauté until soft, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger (if using) and continue to cook another minute. Add the cauliflower and cook, stirring until it is hot and heated through, 8 to 10 minutes longer. Fold in the herbs, season with the salt and pepper, and serve.
Nutritional analysis per serving (1½ cups): calories 110, fat 5 g, saturated fat 4 g, cholesterol 0 mg, fiber 5 g, protein 5 g, carbohydrates 15 g, sodium 220 mg
OVEN CARAMELIZED RED ONIONS
These onions are a sweet complement to many meals. Pile them on steak, chicken, or salads, or add them to simple cooked green vegetables like asparagus or green beans to up your veggie consumption for the day.
Yield: 4 servings
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 jumbo red onions (1½ to 1¾ pounds)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, mustard, red wine vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper.
Cut both of the ends off the onions, then cut the onions in half from top to bottom. Peel the onion halves and lay them flat on a cutting board. Slice the onions into ½-inch widths. Place the onions on a large rimmed baking sheet (10 x 14 inches or 11 x 15 inches), add the red wine vinaigrette, and toss with your hands until all the pieces are well coated. The onions will separate into slices. Spread them out into a single layer.
Place the baking sheet in the oven and roast the onions, uncovered, for about 20 minutes. Stir them and continue cooking for another 15 to 20 minutes, or until they have shriveled up and the edges are starting to brown and crisp. Exact timing will depend on your oven. When done roasting, drizzle onions with balsamic vinegar to finish.
Serve the onions warm, at room temperature, or cold as a side dish or on top of a salad.
Nutritional analysis per serving (about ½ cup): calories 90, fat 7 g, saturated fat 1 g, cholesterol 0 mg, fiber 1 g, protein 1 g, carbohydrate 8 g, sodium 200 mg
ROSEMARY GARLIC SWEET POTATOES
For a starchy vegetable with dinner, here is a sweet and tasty side dish.
Yield: 4 servings
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
1 sweet potato
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground black or white pepper
¼ teaspoon granulated garlic
Peel the potato and cut into small cubes. Place 2 to 3 cups of water in a large pot (4 to 5 quarts) with a steamer insert over medium-high heat. Cover and bring the water to a boil. When steam is escaping from under the lid, add the potatoes and steam until completely tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife, 4 to 5 minutes.
Drain the potatoes and water, then place the potatoes back into the hot, dry pot. Add the butter, rosemary, salt, pepper, and garlic. Whip with a hand mixer until the potatoes are as smooth or lumpy as you like. You can also use a potato masher or ricer.
Nutritional analysis per serving (½ cup): calories 190, fat 10 g, saturated fat 8 g, cholesterol 25 mg, fiber 4 g, protein 2 g, carbohydrate 25 g, sodium 300 mg
LEMONY BROCCOLI SLAW
As cruciferous vegetables are among the healthiest things we can eat, this crunchy raw salad packs a nutritional punch. It’s easy to make with a food processor and comes out light and fluffy. Top it with a small portion (4 ounces) of chilled steamed salmon (Steamed Salmon Fillets with Lemon Aioli, here) for lunch. Raw cashews add more crunch and healthy fat. For another lunch option, try this slaw with a little chopped or shredded leftover chicken. Make the salad ahead and dress just before serving to keep it crunchy. Undressed salad will keep 4 to 5 days in the refrigerator. For vegetarians, this works alone as a satisfying main dish.
Yield: 4 servings
Prep time: 25 minutes
FOR THE SALAD:
1 bundle broccoli with stems (1½ pounds)
½ small head green cabbage (10 ounces)
2 carrots, peeled
optional: ½ cup (about 4 ounces) raw cashews, to make this into a meal
¼ cup chopped Italian parsley
¼ cup chopped chives or scallions
2 lemons, zested
FOR THE DRESSING:
¾ cup organic mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (use the lemons from the salad)
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
To prepare the broccoli, separate the stems from the florets. Peel the stems with a vegetable peeler and cut in half to fit in the narrow feed tube of a food processor. Reserve the florets.
Fit the food processor with the grating attachment with large holes. Place the broccoli stems into the feed tube, turn the processor on, and push the stems through to grate.
Dump the grated stems onto double layers of paper towels and squeeze dry. It will probably take 3 sets of doubled paper towels, as the stems are very wet. Place the grated stems in a large wide bowl. After the stems are grated and squeezed dry, do the same with the broccoli florets. The florets are not as wet, so it won’t take as many paper towels. Add them to the bowl with the stems.
Next, cut the cabbage so it fits into the feed tube of the food processor and grate the cabbage. Grate the carrots. Combine all the grated vegetables in the bowl. Add the cashews (if using), parsley, chives, and lemon zest and toss gently to mix.
Make the dressing by whisking together the mayo, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
Dress as much salad as you plan to use just before serving. Undressed leftover salad will last several days in the refrigerator.
Nutritional analysis per serving (1½ cups, 2½ tablespoons dressing): calories 380, fat 33 g, saturated fat 5 g, cholesterol 70 mg, fiber 8 g, protein 7 g, carbohydrate 19 g, sodium 270 mg
Nutritional analysis per serving (1½ cups, 2½ tablespoons dressing, 1 tablespoon ca
shews): calories 540, fat 45 g, saturated fat 7 g, cholesterol 70 mg, fiber 9 g, protein 13 g, carbohydrate 27 g, sodium 270 mg
RAW ZUCCHINI RIBBON, TOMATO, AND AVOCADO SALAD
Here is another recipe that uses the spiralizer tool. Besides zucchini noodles, you can also make ribbons. Toss with creamy Almond Sauce as the dressing and add tomatoes, herbs, and avocado, and you have a fantastic vegetable salad. It’s a nice alternative to tossed greens. To save time, ribbons can be made the night before and refrigerated.
Yield: 4 servings
Prep time: 20 minutes
4 small zucchini
¼ cup Almond Sauce (here)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon vinegar (white wine, champagne, or unseasoned rice)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
optional: 2 to 3 pinches of red pepper flakes
20 grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and quartered
⅛ teaspoon sea salt
⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
Trim both ends from the zucchini. Install the flat cutting blade in a spiralizer and slice the zucchini into long ribbons. Set aside while you make the dressing.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond sauce, vinegar, oil, parsley, chives, and red pepper flakes (if using) until combined. Add the zucchini ribbons and toss until the ribbons are lightly coated with the dressing.
Divide the zucchini ribbons among 4 plates, add the tomatoes and avocado, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Nutritional analysis per serving (about ½ cup): calories 210, fat 17 g, saturated fat 4 g, cholesterol 90 mg, fiber 7 g, protein 5 g, carbohydrate 15 g, sodium 95 mg
Acknowledgments
Anything I have done in life that truly mattered was done with the support and love of my community—of friends, family, mentors, teachers, collaborators, cocreators, supporters, work family, students, patients. In a thousand ways I am grateful for all those who have touched, inspired, helped, supported, and guided me. The list is almost too long to include everyone, and I fear I will leave many out. You know who you are. Thank you!
There are a few who have stood out in the creation of this book, which is among the hardest I have ever done because the subject of fat is slippery and the margin of error big.
I want to thank my publishing family: Richard Pine, my ever-encouraging cheerleader, agent, and guide. Tracy Behar, my editor from the start, who takes my words and makes them smarter, better, and thankfully fewer. Debra Goldstein, who helps me shape and massage the ideas into a clearer rendition of the truth. Sally Cameron, who created magically luscious recipes with joy. Sarah Jane Sandy, who helped me create a fat bible—a deep dive into the world of fat. Anahad O’Connor, for our early conversations and for helping me dig up the hundreds of studies that uncovered the fat facts. Lauren Doscher, who helped me track down every reference.
And then to my home team, who allows me to be the doctor and teacher while they create magic, helping me share my work with millions online. Dhru Purohit, my partner, who sees the vision better than I do and rocks everything he touches. And my online team, who takes care of me and my community: Laurie Roman, Shibani Subramanya, Kaya Purohit, Farrell Feighan, Ben Tseitlin, John Baldwin, Amber Cox, Holly Stillwell, and Susan Verity. And those who helped me greatly along the way: Lizzy Swick, Daffnee Cohen, and Tina Naser.
I would also like to thank a few very special people who reviewed the manuscript and provided invaluable and thoughtful feedback on how to get the science and the story right, including Jeffrey Bland, Pilar Gerasimo, Carrie Diulus, and Chris Kresser. My deepest gratitude goes out to David Ludwig for his guidance, wisdom, encouragement, and his introducing me to leading experts in the world of fat, but mostly for his friendship.
And, of course, Anne McLaughlin, the glue that holds my world together, and Dianna Galia, who fills in all the cracks and makes my world work better.
The deepest gratitude and love to my dearest friends and spiritual caretakers Alberto Villoldo and Marcella Lobos, at whose house in Chile I dove into the story of fat and wrote a big chunk of this book. And to Lauren Zander and the Handel community, who inspire, support, and love me, no matter what. There is often more “no matter what” than I would like!
To my team at The UltraWellness Center: Donna Doscher, Liz Boham, Todd Lepine, Maggie Ward, Denise Curtin, Jamie Delaney, Susan Wallingford, and everyone there who holds our world together while I am out spreading the wisdom of functional medicine.
There is no way I could have written this book without the tireless work of hundreds of researchers, scientists, doctors, thinkers, teachers, and experts, each of whom has inspired and instructed me, and helped with this book. To Walter Willett, Ronald Krauss, Barry Sears, Aseem Malholtra, Eric Ravussin, Kevin Hall, Joel Fuhrman, Neal Barnard, and Josh Axe. And especially to David Ludwig, an intellectual giant, who has helped me understand the biology of sugar, fat, and weight for decades and guided and protected me throughout all of it.
There is a long, long list of others who have helped me. David Perlmutter, Marc David, Jeffrey Bland, Nina Teicholz, Chris Kresser, Vani Hari, Nick Ortner, Kris Carr, Christiane Northrup, Dave Asprey, JJ Virgin, Tim Ryan, Deepak Chopra, Mike Roizen, Mehmet Oz, Daniel Amen, Rick Warren, Dee and Brett Eastman, Peter Attia, Gary Taubes, Joseph Mercola, Pedram Shojai, Ken Cook, Heather White, Ann Louise Gittleman, John and Ocean Robbins, Alexandra Jamieson, Maria Shiver, Gunnar Lovelace and his team at Thrive Market, Joy Devins, and Ronald Gahler.
And now there is the whole community at Cleveland Clinic and the Institute of Functional Medicine that has allowed my dream to come true: to bring Functional Medicine to more people. Thank you for letting me do what I do! To Toby and Anita Cosgrove, who saw the future of health care and invited us into the center of the party. Thank you! And, of course, to Mary Curran, Linda McHugh, Tawny Jones, and the whole team at the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine. We are building the future together! Without Laurie Hofmann and Patrick Hanaway and Christine Stead and Juliette Rogers, none of this would be possible.
I am very grateful for the love and support of my ever-growing community of family and friends, especially my children, Rachel and Misha, and my bonus children, Sarah and Ben.
And last but not least, this book would not have happened without the love and inspiration and endless conversations and delicious meals with the most magical, wise, and amazing human I know, Jody Levy. Thank you forever.
About the Author
Mark Hyman, MD, believes that we all deserve a life of vitality—and that we have the potential to create it for ourselves. That’s why he is dedicated to tackling the root causes of chronic disease by harnessing the power of functional medicine to transform health care. Dr. Hyman and his team work every day to empower people, organizations, and communities to heal their bodies and minds, and improve our social and economic resilience.
Dr. Hyman is a practicing family physician, a nine-time #1 New York Times bestselling author, and an internationally recognized leader, speaker, educator, and advocate in his field. He is the Pritzker Foundation Chair in Functional Medicine at Cleveland Clinic and the director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine. He is also the founder and director of The UltraWellness Center, chairman of the board of the Institute for Functional Medicine, and a medical editor of The Huffington Post, and he has been a regular medical contributor on many television shows and networks, including CBS This Morning, Today, Good Morning America, CNN, The View, Katie, and The Dr. Oz Show.
Dr. Hyman works with individuals and organizations, as well as policy makers and influencers. He has testified before both the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine and the Senate Working Group on Health Care Reform on Functional Medicine. He has consulted with the surgeon general on diabetes prevention, and participated in the 2009 White House Forum
on Prevention and Wellness. Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa nominated Dr. Hyman for the President’s Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health. In addition, Dr. Hyman has worked with President Clinton, presenting at the Clinton Foundation’s Health Matters, Achieving Wellness in Every Generation conference, and the Clinton Global Initiative, as well as with the World Economic Forum on global health issues. He is the winner of the Linus Pauling Award and the Nantucket Project Award, was inducted into the Books for a Better Life Hall of Fame, and received the Christian Book of the Year Award for The Daniel Plan.
Dr. Hyman also works with fellow leaders in his field to help people and communities thrive—with Rick Warren, Dr. Mehmet Oz, and Dr. Daniel Amen, he created the Daniel Plan, a faith-based initiative that helped the Saddleback Church collectively lose 250,000 pounds. He is an advisor and guest cohost on The Dr. Oz Show and is on the board of Dr. Oz’s HealthCorps, which tackles the obesity epidemic by educating American students about nutrition. With Dr. Dean Ornish and Dr. Michael Roizen, Dr. Hyman crafted and helped introduce the Take Back Your Health Act of 2009 to the United States Senate to provide for reimbursement of lifestyle treatment of chronic disease. And with Tim Ryan in 2015, he helped introduce the ENRICH Act into Congress to fund nutrition in medical education. Dr. Hyman plays a substantial role in a major film produced by Laurie David and Katie Couric, released in 2014, called Fed Up, which addresses childhood obesity. Please join him in helping us all take back our health at www.drhyman.com, and follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.