Cliff’s Notes to Salk’s Art and Science of Cuisine
Guests at the sold-out Salk Institute lecture and dining event last night ate delicious food, drank nutrient-rich cocktails from Snake Oil, and learned about the virtues of eating local, seasonal, and organic. Here are the top quotes from participating food experts and scientists:
“When you look at food, ask yourself, ‘Will this add to my life, my energy, my strength?’ It’s really hard to apply that to McDonald’s—he aliveness of the food goes away.” —Deborah Szekely, Rancho La Puerta
“The Slow Food Movement means you eat slowly, grow slowly, look at food slowly, think about it slowly, chew slowly.” —Deborah Szekely
“My kids ate their vegetables [without complaining] because their taste buds weren’t polluted by fast food. My grandkids? Ugh.” —Deborah Szekely
“Our genes adapt to our diet. Our bodies love nutrients, and our genes register every calorie, every nutrient. If we eat healthy, we adapt to a low-inflammatory state. If we eat lots of fat and calories, you overcharge the battery, and that’s not so good. We have to eat good food to be in our best genetic state.” —Ronald M. Evans, Gene Expression Laboratory at Salk
“[In a recent study,] they found that eating five portions of fruit and vegetables per day, plus exercising daily, reduced the recurrence of breast cancer by fifty percent.” —Geoffrey M. Wahl, Gene Expression Laboratory at Salk
“How do you avoid buying the same things at the grocery store? Get a CSA box delivered to you. It’ll force you to google [uses and recipes].” —Michelle Lerach, Cups Organic
“Get yourself in balance before you can listen to your body [and assess your food needs].” —Nathan Coulon, True Food Kitchen
“The way to get into healthy eating is to start with a healthy dessert [with substitutions like raw cacao], or something you like. If you love Dorritos, start with kale chips. Or make macaroni and cheese with broccoli and quinoa. You can’t just go [cold turkey]. It’s important to satiate your needs.” —Joy Houston, Delicious Revolution
“Learn how to cook!” —Isabel Cruz, Isabel’s Cantina
“Understand the difference between hunger and craving… A craving, you must have experienced it before, to know what you want…. Cravings come from stress and boredom. And of course, the way to reduce stress and boredom is through exercise.” —Geoffrey M. Wahl, Gene Expression Laboratory at Salk
