Feel Better, Live Longer by Reducing Inflammation in Your Diet

Jim Lange: “Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.” This classic quote, attributed to Hippocrates, is finding renewed significance with evidence-based science. Lauri Lang, a licensed nutritionist, believes what we eat has a profound influence on preventing diseases, improving our quality of life, and influencing longevity. Her information is evidence-based, and in the next half hour, Lauri will provide you with guidance and information to help you reduce inflammation by choosing the right foods.

Jim Lange: My name is Jim Lange. I’m a CPA and an attorney, and the financial advisor who helps IRA and retirement plan owners get the most of what they’ve got. You might be thinking, why am I talking about nutrition? Well, I had a client appreciation event, and I invited some of my clients to my house for dinner, and an informal but I think very informative talk with Lauri Lang, presenting information about how important it is to reduce inflammation, and how you can do that through diet. She provided us with some eye-opening information, and I wanted to provide clients, business friends, anybody who was interested in improving their health with this, I believe, critical information. So, we shot this short video, where I’m going to share, again, with clients, business friends, etc.

Jim Lange: As a disclaimer, I claim no medical expertise, but interestingly, there were actually two physicians at the dinner and talk, and I thought that they would be really skeptical. Lauri was spouting out some statistics, and how 40 percent reduced chance of certain diseases, and all these things. And I thought, man, these guys are going to really go to town, and say that she isn’t evidence-based, and she really isn’t on top of her game. And I really thought that they were going to shoot this talk, but they really liked it. In fact, they actually supported what she was saying, and I was really that much more impressed with the talk, because it sounded good, but I thought, can it really stand up to, I call it, scientific evidence and scientific minds by some people I will tell you who are not necessarily easy, and they are cynical by nature.

Jim Lange: I refer many clients to Lauri, for nutrition and diet consulting, and it has always worked out well for anybody that I referred. Lauri has consulted with them. She has designed diets for them. She’s actually gone to Whole Foods and kind of helped them go shopping. It has been a long, great association with Lauri, who has designed my, my wife’s, and my daughter’s diet. And I thought it would be great if I could provide some of this information to you.

Jim Lange: As a bonus, eating healthy doesn’t have to be like eating cardboard. It can actually be, in Lauri’s exact words, yummy. So, with that, why don’t we get into the meat of the program.

Jim Lange: Lauri, one of the things that impressed my guests was that you really concentrated on reducing inflammation by diet. Why is reducing inflammation so important?

Lauri Lang: That’s a really great question, Jim, and to answer that, pretty much, medical research is converging on inflammation as the common link in almost all disease, whether we’re talking about heart disease, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis, and even depression. It’s amazing how deep those tentacles go. Inflammation is a common link. In addition to the fact that inflammation totally speeds up the aging process. And I don’t know about you, but I am certainly at the point in my life where if somebody asked the question, what am I willing to do to slow down the aging process? I raise both hands, maybe a leg, and a little bit more.

Lauri Lang: And so, in terms of … I’m going to give you a quote by a recent physician I was reading, who was expounding on the benefits of reducing inflammation, in addition to some ways of doing that, which I will share. But Michael Gregor, who is an MD and a fellow of the American College of Legal Medicine, says, and I love this concise way that he says this, “What we eat is probably the most powerful and pliable tool that we have to attain a chronic and systemic modulation of the aging process.”

Lauri Lang: In terms of how it makes us feel, reducing inflammation in the body can not only reduce the symptoms of a condition, it can prevent various conditions, and I’ll get into some of the disease prevention in just a moment. No doubt, we can look and feel better if we reduce inflammation in the body. Increase energy, vitality. Increase mental clarity, cognitive function. Makes our cells happy. 37 trillion cells, they smile when we reduce inflammation.

Lauri Lang: I’m just going to give you some ideas, and then the general concept that I present to my clients, that almost everybody relates to, and that is that I put food into three boxes. I may be going in the wrong direction, here. But from left to right, there’s one box that is a harmful box. Food that actually does cause inflammation. It can accelerate the disease process, accelerate the aging process, etc. A neutral box, and the neutral box neither hurts nor helps us, so it’s sort of in the middle. And then, there’s that magic food is medicine, or therapeutic, box, that Hippocrates refers to.

Lauri Lang: And depending on where we are in the continuum of health, of life, of aging, we select, because all of this is our choice. The wonderful thing that relates to what this doctor had to say, is this is all about things that we have agency over. There are many things that we don’t have control over. What we put in our bodies, we do. But, so, it depends where we are in the condition process, aging process, as to how much we want to put into that therapeutic box.

Lauri Lang: At this stage of my life, based on my knowledge base, what I know, my age, etc., I’m trying to put almost all that food into the therapeutic box. I work with clients who are dealing with serious conditions. Cancer survivorship, cancer prevention, autoimmune conditions. All of those things. And so, you make a conscious choice as to how much you want to put into that therapeutic box.

Lauri Lang: As an example, I have some beautiful food that I actually have prepared, so that you can enjoy. One of the most wonderful things about anti-inflammatory food is that the colors or the pigments that make it brightly-colored, colors of the rainbow, have antioxidants that help to neutralize free radicals. I’m going to share some definitions of those things with you in just a moment.

Lauri Lang: But this color thing is an amazing treat to the eyes, to the palate, because when you were saying that it doesn’t have to taste like cardboard, that it can be yummy, it can be like art. It smells good, too. People can’t smell it out there. But I have three meals here that I’m going to just give you a little walkthrough, that all have anti-inflammatory components to them. And it’s a little more fun to do it this way, than to just spell the words.

Jim Lange: And these are typical meals for me, and in fact, you’ll think I’m kidding, but the way I eat, is I walk to the refrigerator … I’m not going to walk, because I don’t know if the camera can follow me.

Lauri Lang: Right.

Jim Lange: I open it up. I grab one of these meals. I sit down at the table, often in front of the computer, which probably isn’t great.

Lauri Lang: That’s another topic.

Jim Lange: I don’t even bother to reheat, and I eat. Let me ask you a quick question.

Lauri Lang: Yeah.

Jim Lange: Let’s assume that right now, people are doing some mix of therapeutic, neutral, and harmful. Will adding some therapeutic, and maybe reducing neutral and reducing harmful some, will that have a significant benefit? Because I think you’ll have a hard time telling people, you can’t drink anything, you can’t have that piece of chocolate cake. Although I do happen to be no sugar, no gluten, no dairy. But let’s say that we’re not necessarily aiming for total, complete therapeutic. Will there still be significant benefits by, let’s say, moving the weighting towards therapeutic?

Lauri Lang: That’s an awesome question. This couldn’t possibly be better. Let me, in answer, say that it’s not an all or nothing proposition. Some people who need to really be in that therapeutic box are going to put all their eggs in that basket, so to speak. So, let me go back, and instead, answer the antioxidant and free radical question, because the question that you asked is, does it all have to be great for it to do me any good? And the answer is, absolutely not. Absolutely not.

Lauri Lang: I’m going to give you a little, I think it’s a fun definition of antioxidants and free radicals, because almost everybody out there has heard these terms before. Maybe some of them, especially the science-oriented ones, or the physicians, know the answer to this, but even the physicians and the science people that were your guests appreciated this definition.

Lauri Lang: The free radicals are the bad guys. The antioxidants are the good guys. And so, free radicals, in reality, are unpaired electrons, so single electrons. When electrons are single, they’re nasty, and they rip through your body and punch holes in your cells, which can cause disease, speed up the aging process, etc. Now, bad food has increased free radicals. Something like a puff of smoke, for instance, and I use example, has a gazillion free radicals. How’s that for a technical number? And even some natural processes, like the process of digestion, promote some free radicals. Exercise promotes some free radicals. So, it’s not like we cannot produce free radicals in our body. But we can reduce them by the choices we make.

Lauri Lang: And what happens with antioxidants, which are the good guys, are they are electron donors. So, that means that they have an extra electron. They give it to the free radical. Now it’s a pair. And when they’re paired, instead of being single, they’re stable, and they’re happy, and they don’t damage you anymore.

Lauri Lang: So, again, in answer to that question, let’s say that your stack of free radicals, based on your body processes and the choices that you make is … I’m just going to assign some numbers … is a million free radicals. But in the food that you eat, while you eat some foods like this, as well as having some small amounts of whatever conventional food, and food that doesn’t fit this. If that equals two million, then you’re a million in the black. I mean, it’s a numbers game, too. It’s all good. Does that answer your question?

Jim Lange: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Lauri Lang: So, it all is good. So, now, if it’s alright with you, I’m going to share some of your food with the people.

Jim Lange: Okay.

Lauri Lang: All right. I have an example of three different meals here. I’m going to start with this one. This one, if you can see, this is a purple cabbage that is roasted with dill, garlic, olive oil, scallions and some sea salt. There is also a salad that has arugula, spinach, pomegranate seeds, steamed, organic green beans and almonds. And then, some organic chicken breast that is sautéed in olive oil with a little coconut milk, a lot of turmeric, some cumin, scallions, and some other spices as well.

Lauri Lang: There’s a whole wellspring of anti-inflammatory foods here. There are a few groups represented that I want to expound on.

Jim Lange: And what about that little red guy, because that’s what I really like.

Lauri Lang: That’s the pomegranate seeds.

Jim Lange: Oh, that is a pomegranate seed.

Lauri Lang: Oh my gosh, you weren’t really sure what the heck that little red guy was, right? So, pomegranate seeds … since you asked that question, I’m going to expound on it. You see that there is a rainbow of colors, here, some beautiful colors. And in the pigments, there are extra antioxidants, and now we know what that means. Pomegranate seeds, interestingly, are one of the really highest ORAC foods, and ORAC is an acronym that stands for oxygen radical absorbance capacity. So, since we just had our little example, what that means is that it really knocks out a bunch of free radicals. Oxygen radical absorbance capacity. So, as you eat that beautiful, red, juicy, sweet pomegranate seed, it’s really doing a lot of work for you.

Jim Lange: All right, and a quick question about the source of the ingredients.

Lauri Lang: Yes?

Jim Lange: You go to Whole Foods, I take it, and get the organic that was harvested during the full moon with the coyotes howling, and the whole bit, I assume. And I assume that the core ingredients are really critical, and the quality of the ingredients.

Lauri Lang: That’s another excellent question. The answer is, yes, although it’s not always the full moon. But the answer is yes. The question that I’m going to answer is about organic foods. Of course, the source is important, but if it’s a choice between eating organic produce or not eating produce, you eat the produce, because it still has some magical, helpful, therapeutic nutrients. But I’m going to answer the question in two ways, about organic foods.

Lauri Lang: There are some organic foods that are more contaminated … or, excuse me, some foods in general, where the percentage of contamination or damage is higher, that it’s important to buy organic, and some that have some protection themselves. And so, the Environmental Working Group, which is www.EWG.org, you can look this up, has a framework that’s called the Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15.

Lauri Lang: The Dirty Dozen are the 12 most contaminated produce items, and it’s really important, if you have the money, if you have the availability, to buy them organic. If you don’t, still eat them, okay? But so, there’s 12 that are the dirty dozen. You want to look at them and try to buy those organic. They include spinach, apples, strawberries, most berries, peaches, other greens, celery. Go ahead and look at the list. You can look it up.

Lauri Lang: And then, the Clean 15 is the 15 least contaminated produce items, which it’s not as important to buy organic. And that’s going to lead into another…

Jim Lange: Quick interruption.

Lauri Lang: Sure.

Jim Lange: All right, so, here’s the deal, guys. So many of my clients, I’m trying to encourage them to spend more money. I’m trying to tell them to go on family vacations. And they always say, “What should I spend the money on? I’m happy.” And I’m not saying get a new car, and I’m not saying get a new house. But maybe one thing that you can do is buy organic. And yes, it’s more expensive, and yes, it might be something that you don’t really get the value of, but let me just put it to you, let’s assume for discussion sake, that spending an extra couple thousand dollars a year on the source of your food was not really going to be much of a factor in your life, and it might be the difference between you dying with $2.4 million and $2.5 million if you do it for 30 years.

Lauri Lang: Right!

Jim Lange: Is it even close?

Lauri Lang: That’s such a perfect question.

Jim Lange: Now, by the way, I have to tell you, Amazon and I made a deal … No, I’m kidding.

Lauri Lang: That’s so funny. That’s such a perfect question, because I just was turned on to an article by a client. We talk about this stuff. I’m a believer. You’re a believer. But there was this article that was written. Actually, it’s in the Journal of the American Medical Association. They published it recently. This was a study that was done in France, that they weren’t sure what the results were going to be, but they followed, it’s a longitudinal study, and they followed people for five years. And they determined that the people who ate organic had a 25 percent reduction in cancers, especially lymphoma and breast cancers. They were not even expecting results quite as dramatic and measurable as that in a five-year period of time. So, that was done in France. It’s published. I’m sure if you just google “organic French article,” it will probably pop up. I think this was in  The Wall Street Journal, and it was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. So, yeah, a 25 percent reduction.

Jim Lange: Let’s say that all studies could be influenced, or flawed, or whatever.

Lauri Lang: Yeah.

Jim Lange: And I guess I’m now getting away from science a little bit, but is it your gut instinct through the experience that you have? And I understand, if you’re making $20,000, or even $50,000, that the extra couple thousand dollars is tough. But let’s say that you have the means, that a couple thousand dollars in the big scheme of things … Is it even close? Or should you really be … And I understand about the 15 organic “bads,” which sounds to me like things that didn’t have peels or skin or things like that.

Lauri Lang: I want to address that in a minute.

Jim Lange: But in general, it’s probably just a good idea, if you can afford it, to buy organic.

Lauri Lang: That’s right, it is. Yes. It is. If you have the money, just do it, because … And we’re not talking about exclusively vegetables and fruits. I mean, that’s a lot of it, but this study was also about … And not everybody eats dairy, not everybody eats meat, not everybody eats chicken. But this study included all of those things, as well. And so, if you do eat those animal products, especially because of the way things are raised conventionally, the way that they are filled with hormones, antibiotics, they are not humanely kept, and so their bodies are then filled with stress hormones. It’s just, there’s no doubt about it. And this was shocking to the people who even designed the study.

Jim Lange: Okay. Yeah, because there’s red meats, there’s salmon, there’s chicken. But presumably, these cows were better-taken care of. They weren’t fed the wrong foods. They didn’t have any antibiotics. You have a little bit about the quality of the salmon.

Lauri Lang: Yeah.

Jim Lange: And the same with the chicken.

Lauri Lang: Yeah, yeah.

Jim Lange: And there really is a difference between that, and I won’t mention the brand, because they’re going to …

Lauri Lang: Feedlot raised, conventional animals. The stuff that you’re buying that’s inexpensive, mass-produced, they feed them, generally, growth hormones, so that they can grow big fast, harvest, make money. I mean, that’s just how the model is.

Jim Lange: And I’ll tell you, I don’t do much shopping, but when I do, and I see the organic and the regular because I sometimes go to places that have both, I think, “Boy, do I really want to pay double? It looks like the same. It probably tastes roughly the same.” And the answer is, yes, I want to do that.

Lauri Lang: Yeah, that’s right, it is. Because here’s the other thing. I noticed that you’re a finance guy. But what’s the very best? The very best investment that you can make is, it’s right here. It’s right here, because without this, nothing else really matters, right?

Jim Lange: Mm-hmm (affirmative). That’s a good lesson. Okay, continue.

Lauri Lang: I was just going to go with a tangent … not a tangent … from the question on the Clean 15 and the self-protective nature of some foods. Some of those Clean 15 are indeed foods with peels, like avocados, citrus, bananas, pineapples, and citrus. I already said that. And onions. However, some of them aren’t. One class of vegetable, that’s a very special class of vegetable, they’re in all of Jim’s and his family’s meals, are cruciferous vegetables.

Lauri Lang: Cruciferous vegetables include broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussel sprouts, arugula, kale, collard greens, radishes, horseradish, and turnips. You can look up cruciferous vegetables. A very special class of vegetables that has anti-cancer properties. I mean, they were in on the ground floor of knowing that food really fights cancer. All kinds of cancers, but sex hormone-related cancers in particular, like breast cancer and prostate cancer.

Lauri Lang: And the amazing thing is that all those vegetables that I just mentioned that are cruciferous, none of them have peels, and they are all Clean 15. Isn’t that interesting? It’s just one of the magical things about the food kingdom. This class of vegetables that fights cancer and helps detoxify the liver, and whatever, has natural self-protective qualities, so it doesn’t absorb pesticides in the way that other things do. Isn’t that amazing?

Jim Lange: Okay, so you can get away with non-organic cruciferous vegetables?

Lauri Lang: That’s right. Yep. Another great thing that’s in here is the turmeric. That’s the reason why this chicken is bright yellow, and that’s the reason why this cauliflower turmeric flatbread is bright yellow. Turmeric is a spice that looks like this. This is what ground turmeric looks like. Everything I want is just right around. This is what ground turmeric looks like. Turmeric root looks a lot … I don’t think we have that right now … looks a lot like ginger. It’s in the ginger family.

Lauri Lang: It’s a spice that has gotten a lot of recognition lately for being highly anti-inflammatory. Not only that, all kinds of benefits have been touted, such as anti-cancer, anti-Alzheimer’s, anti-inflammatory, and it helps with autoimmune diseases. And it’s not like the list of foods that are good for all those things are all different. Pretty much, they’re all under the umbrella of anti-inflammatory foods. And so, this is a spice that makes curry yellow.

Lauri Lang: And so, when you look at epidemiological information or health information, and you look at the distribution of it, and sometimes it’s the distribution of cultures and ethnicities, because maybe they have a staple food, like curry, that they eat. And so, in India, it is recognized that they have lower cancer rates, they have lower Alzheimer’s rates because it’s a staple food in their diet.

Jim Lange: I have two questions about turmeric.

Lauri Lang: Yep.

Jim Lange: Number one, I understand that it is better absorbed if it is taken with black pepper.

Lauri Lang: That’s correct.

Jim Lange: All right. That’s the first one. And the second question is, what is the difference between … let’s assume that … and by the way, I’ve heard about turmeric for years, and I’ve had, actually, multiple not only functional, but even relatively traditional doctors recommend it. And I actually not only eat it from the food that you prepare but I actually also take it in pill form.

Lauri Lang: Me, too.

Jim Lange: All right. So, let’s say that you were only willing to do one, that you were going to put it in your food, or you were going to … because it doesn’t really taste wonderful.

Lauri Lang: By itself. But we put a lot of other stuff around it to make it taste great.

Jim Lange: Right. What is the difference in the quality of the nutrition, if you will, between, let’s assume, a relatively high-end supplement, with a good company like Thorne, or one of the better ones, and getting it through your food?

Lauri Lang: Okay.

Jim Lange: This probably applies to a lot of things.

Lauri Lang: It does.

Jim Lange: There’s probably all kinds of good things in here that you could theoretically also just take a pill.

Lauri Lang: Right. Fish oil, selenium. All the stuff that we’ve discussed. So, let me answer that question in an umbrella kind of way, and then maybe a more specific way. If we look at that question as, can I isolate nutrients and just take them in supplement, or do I really have to eat all of those foods?

Lauri Lang: My answer to that question is, if I had to only pick one, I would pick the food. But we don’t only have to pick one. And the reason why I would pick the food is because the food is a synergistic mixture of things that was made by nature. And the reason why we know that it works is because there is epidemiological information, over centuries and sometimes millennia. Like, olive oil is good for you. And why do we know that? Because it’s written about for thousands and thousands of years in Mediterranean cultures.

Lauri Lang: And in terms of fish, the omega-3 fatty acids, which is a highly, highly anti-inflammatory nutrient … Do I take fish oil? Absolutely. Do I eat fish? Absolutely. When you look at different cultures, it’s really interesting. A culture that is otherwise not necessarily that healthy, like Eskimos. A lot of times, they’re overweight. They don’t eat really a balanced diet because of where they live. It’s not like it’s beautiful weather, and they have beautiful, rainbow-colored crops, that they’re eating a ton of vegetables –

Jim Lange: Not a lot of cruciferous vegetables.

Lauri Lang: Not a lot of cruciferous vegetables. They eat a lot of whale blubber and fish, and they still have really low heart disease, because their omega-3 fatty acid ratios are really high. So, my answer to that … And I personally take a handful of supplements, as well, but that’s surrounding food like this. And so, I think we also talked about, for instance, at those dinners, we gave away … you gave away …

Jim Lange: You suggested, I paid.

Lauri Lang: I bought them, and that’s right, you paid. We gave away some Brazil nuts, and we gave away some turmeric.

Jim Lange: By the way, less than $50 bucks, so compliance, don’t worry about it.

Lauri Lang: Okay. So, the reason why we gave away the Brazil nuts are, Brazil nuts are the highest dietary source of the antioxidant mineral selenium. And selenium is a cancer-fighter, and it also supports the thyroid gland. And it’s a trace mineral, so you only need 200 micrograms or so a day. So, you only eat 3-5 Brazil nuts, not a lot of them. Now, I take a supplement that has 200 micrograms of selenium in it, and I also eat 3-5 Brazil nuts every day, and I eat my favorite olives in between. So, for instance, if Brazil nuts aren’t your favorite, you could, if you like … Do you like olives?

Jim Lange: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Lauri Lang: Me, too. My personal favorites are … And here, I should wash my hands before sticking my hand …

Jim Lange: It’s all right.

Lauri Lang: You don’t care?

Jim Lange: No, because I eat food from your hands, anyway.

Lauri Lang: You do. Although I wash my hands all the time. Okay, so this is my favorite olive. This is a Castelvetrano olive. So, I eat Brazil nuts, Castelvetrano olives. And so, the answer is, I would do both. I would just cover all the ground if I can. And with turmeric, for instance, the addition of black pepper makes it more bio-available, so when I’m cooking, I always put black pepper in whatever it is I cook, and in supplements, black pepper is usually an ingredient, as well. But also, it’s a fat-soluble nutrient, so if you …

Jim Lange: Wait, we need to tell something important. If somebody does by a turmeric supplement, they should look and preferably get something that has black pepper as part of the supplement?

Lauri Lang: It usually does. Black pepper and sometimes … the name of it …

Jim Lange: I don’t think mine does.

Lauri Lang: is the … like, for instance, my turmeric supplement is called curcumin. Curcumin is the name of the nutrient in turmeric that gives it the magic. Magical thinking, magical language.

Jim Lange: But that is one of the magical supplements. That, and D, and fish oil.

Lauri Lang: Yeah, absolutely. Right. And part of the reason why fish oil and fish are so therapeutic, as I mentioned, it’s the … if you were going to assign a value, and there’s a book in particular called the Anti-inflammatory Diet Plan, where they took an algorithm and analyzed food for and assigned a value to its anti-inflammatory value. I’m going to give you an example. For instance, if the value was -500 to +500, a Twinkie would be -500, and five ounces of good, fatty salmon, or anchovies, which you also have in your larders, would be a +500. It’s very highly anti-inflammatory.

Lauri Lang: But back in the day, the ratio of how much omega-3, versus omega-6, which is technically a more pro-inflammatory fat, was much higher. The omega-3 ratio was higher. So now, because, if you eat a more varied diet, that’s not so much in that therapeutic box, it will inevitably have more omega-6 in it. So, you want to even up that ratio, to get it to where it is therapeutic, and where you want to be. That’s why you eat it, and maybe take supplements, as well.

Jim Lange: Okay. All right. Do you want to tell us about cauliflower bread?

Lauri Lang: Yeah!

Jim Lange: Which, by the way, that has become one of my staples. I’m no-sugar, no-gluten, no-dairy. People go, “Don’t you miss bread? I love bread. I could never give up bread.” Well, your cauliflower bread actually tastes pretty good.

Lauri Lang: It’s tasty.

Jim Lange: And so, maybe, what are some of the differences in health between, let’s say, a more traditional, even a whole wheat bread, versus a cauliflower bread? Which, I eat, probably, I don’t know, four or five of these every day. And the other thing that I will do with them, is I will put them in a plastic bag and take them, say, on a bike trip or a hike or something. And so, everybody else has food that they’re afraid is going to get rotten, or is going to develop bacteria and stuff like that, because it’s outside, because it needs refrigeration. This is almost like an energy bar, that is easily portable. And I also grab it if I have a long drive. So, for example, I’m going to Cleveland, and that’s why I ordered three of them, because I can eat some on the way up.

Lauri Lang: That’s right.

Jim Lange: Okay. All right.

Lauri Lang: Okay, so

Jim Lange: Oh, and by the way, we just happen to have the recipe in our December newsletter.

Lauri Lang: Awesome. Right. So, I will say that there’s a basic recipe for cauliflower turmeric flatbread on the internet. But so, I have a lot of different bells and whistles in it, so I call it my original recipe. This is a flatbread that has no flour with gluten in it. So, it’s not like eating a baguette or a ciabatta or whatever, or a piece of whole wheat bread. And it’s an interesting thing, because the longer that you stay off of those things, the more … the less craving that you have, and the more satisfied you are with other things. I mean, that’s what I find with whatever you want to abstain from, generally speaking.

Lauri Lang: The ingredients in here, there’s riced cauliflower, so there’s a cruciferous vegetable.

Jim Lange: Isn’t that the new thing, now?

Lauri Lang: Riced!

Jim Lange: Like cauliflower flour, if you will.

Lauri Lang: Yeah. So, this is still a vegetable. I mean, this is, when I say riced, I can also just take the cauliflower and put it in your food processor until it gets into smaller pieces. And I’ve made cauliflower fried rice, where instead of being little white pieces of rice, it’s pieces of cauliflower, to which I’ve added sautéed vegetables, eggs.

Jim Lange: Could this be a potential substitute for some of the things that people would use with flour, for example? So, instead of having flour, traditional white flour, which is either on the neutral or bad list, I assume, that they could substitute, maybe?

Lauri Lang: Cauliflower? No. So, this is an ingredient that’s giving this the body. So, this would be a substitute for rice. But in here, instead of flour-flour, there is almond flour and flax meal. There’s ground flaxseed. And when I say almond flour, the only ingredient in almond flour is almonds. The only ingredient in flax meal is flaxseed. So, these are nuts and seeds that contain all kinds of healthy nutrients, fiber, etc. So, that’s the flour component.

Lauri Lang: There’s eggs in here, and then the flavor agents, in addition to the turmeric, which makes it so yellow, and the pepper to activate the turmeric, are, I add purple onion, ground up olives, scallions, fresh herbs sometimes, cilantro. Sometimes it’s dill, sometimes it’s basil. So, there’s a lot of different flavor agents in here that kind of give it some zip, so that it can taste good by itself. It can also be, I mean, this makes a delicious sandwich. You could put … This isn’t regular steak, this is bison steak, which also has a different…

Jim Lange: Which is really good, by the way.

Lauri Lang: It’s really delicious, yeah. It has a little different nutritional profile. A little higher protein. Lower fat, lower saturated. And more omega-3 fatty acid. It just has a different fatty acid profile. And they’re raised and fed clean, and kept clean. But anyway … kept clean. These are clean buffalo. Clean bison. But so, a sandwich that is these breads with bison steak and arugula, and some pesto, for instance, or some guacamole, delicious. Does that sound good?

Jim Lange: It does.

Lauri Lang: There’s just a lot of positive, yummy things, here. So, really, we’ve talked about cruciferous vegetables, some good fatty acids, omega-3 fatty acids, nuts and seeds, anti-inflammatory and free radicals and organic foods. So, we’ve really covered a lot of ground. And also, the fact that it’s not an all or nothing proposition. That you can, whatever your thing is. I’m also gluten and dairy-free, but I sometimes eat sugar. So, what I want … and sugar, when I say sugar, I mean more realistically honey, or some maple syrup, possibly. But I want that to still be in small amounts, and if there’s some, maybe at the outskirts, some potential health benefit, especially as opposed to regular sugar. It still can be things like glucose and those sorts of things. You still want to keep that small, and offset that with a lot of therapeutic foods.

Jim Lange: Okay, so, why don’t we give our viewers a few resources. One, you mentioned the book. If there was one book that somebody was going to take a look at, you mentioned an anti-inflammatory book, but I don’t think you mentioned the author.

Lauri Lang: Okay. That’s … there are so many books, and I should have really prepared a, what is the one best book …

Jim Lange: Well, by the way, what we could do is, maybe you could put a couple of the books. We can have a link at our website, which would be www.PayTaxesLater.com/Lauri, where you can find this video. Not immediately, but eventually, we will transcribe this and put this up, so people can actually go through it at their leisure, with greater detail. We can include that, let’s say additional sources.

Lauri Lang: Yeah. I can tell you what the name of this book is called.

Jim Lange: Okay.

Lauri Lang: The Inflammation-Free Diet Plan, and the author’s name is Monica Reinagel, who is also, she has www.NutritionData.org online. Monica Reinagel. There’s also many books. Instead of giving you a whole list, we’ll do that online.

Jim Lange: And I will throw in one for those of us, including me, who have autoimmune conditions. And by the way, there’s zero doubt in my mind that I have a much healthier lifestyle, in the things that I can do, because I do eat Lauri’s food. And I do, I have some of the neutral and occasional bad, but basically good, and very frankly, I would be in much worse if I didn’t. I know that with 100 percent certainty. But anyway, one of the books for people with autoimmune problems is a book called The Autoimmune Solution, by Amy Meyers, which I found very good. She’s pretty strict. A lot stricter than Lauri. But she is very good.

Lauri Lang: There’s a whole list of those that we …

Jim Lange: And then there’s a list of those, also.

Lauri Lang: Terry Wahls’ book.

Jim Lange: So, let’s say that somebody is interested in … you know something, maybe I’m interested in the next step. So, for example, for many years, you were our nutrition/diet consultant, and you came in, and you talked with us. And actually, I was surprised at how, let’s call it, medically knowledgeable you were. You actually looked at a bunch of our tests. In one case, you actually attended a meeting with our doctor with us. I have a functional medicine doctor who is kind of your buddy, but it was a great gathering if you will.

Jim Lange: Let’s say somebody is interested in getting some nutritional consulting from you. What would be the next step that they should take? And by the way, I have referred a whole bunch of clients to you. I don’t get a nickel, other than I guess, theoretically, I do, because they’re going to live longer, and if I’m in business longer, I’ll make more money, right? But I don’t get any direct commission. And I’ve heard nothing but good things. So, you have done some consulting with them.

Jim Lange: I know you told us some things that were surprising, like eat Tabatchnick frozen soup instead of this other frozen soup, the this or the that. Things that were very practical. I know in several cases, you actually took people to Whole Foods.

Lauri Lang: Oh, yeah.

Jim Lange: And we could probably do a whole other talk on how to eat at Whole Foods, but we’re going to run out of time and attention. So, it has meant enormous benefits for our family. And by the way, I have a slightly different diet than my wife and my daughter, partly because we like different things, but also partly because we have different needs that Lauri has actually analyzed. What would be the next step for people, if they were interested in moving forward with you? Should they give you a call? Go to your website? What is your website? Why don’t you give people your contact information?

Lauri Lang: Those are great questions, and I’m very grateful for all the referrals. It’s very positive.

Jim Lange: Oh, it is. Everyone has come back great.

Lauri Lang: That’s great. I love it. Okay. So, the best way is to either reach out and call me, or send me an email, or go to my website, and there’s a drop in. And what I generally do with people is talk on the phone a little bit to just hear what their goals are, hear what they’re thinking. And what I generally ask people is to put together is a couple of days of a food journal, so that I get an idea of what they’re currently eating; a list of supplements and medications that they’re taking; and lab reports, if they have them. I mean, I’m a registered and licensed dietician and nutritionist. I went through a clinical program. I’ve worked in hospitals. I’ve worked in nursing homes. I’ve worked…

Jim Lange: For how many years?

Lauri Lang: I’ve been doing this for 20 years.

Jim Lange: For 20 years.

Lauri Lang: Yeah. I’ve been doing all of this for 20 years, and I’ve also, through Highmark, been with … their health place is where I started, so met people with conditions along the whole spectrum. So, in addition to the foundational education that I received at the University of Pittsburgh, second career, because … I was going to say because I’m really 100. That’s how great this is.

Jim Lange: She’s older than she looks, by the way. A gentleman doesn’t say, but I’ll say that.

Lauri Lang: Well, I’m about the same age as Jim. And we’re both very youthful for our age, right? But, so, we’ll analyze all of those things, so it actually paints a picture between the food that they’re currently eating, their meds and their supplements, and their lab values.

Jim Lange: Okay. Why don’t we be real specific. Telephone number, website, email.

Lauri Lang: Yeah, that’s great.

Lauri Lang: Oh, yeah, right. Okay, so, my telephone number is 412-327-3979.

Jim Lange: One more time, please.

Lauri Lang: 412-327-3979.

Jim Lange: And your website is?

Lauri Lang: And my website is www.LauriLang.com. That’s www.LauriLang.com.  And my email, since now you know how to spell my name, my email is Lauri@LauriLang.com.

Jim Lange: Okay. And finally, with one note, I heard an interesting definition of learning recently. And learning is change of behavior. So, sometimes when I give financial workshops, I get some very bright people who are intellectually interested, and they attend, and they say, “Boy, Jim, that was great. I got all kinds of great information.” And then, they just go about their business without doing anything. And I consider that kind of a failure.

Jim Lange: And I would actually say the same thing here. What I really want is some type of change of behavior. Improved lifestyle, improved eating. Potentially looking at some of the books and resources Lauri mentioned, or that we will post on our website. Potentially contacting Lauri directly for services. But I really think that this information can have enormous benefits for your life.

Jim Lange: I will thank you for putting a great talk together, and I will also thank, you can’t see them, but we have a camera crew here who have actually made this whole thing worthwhile and made it much easier for Lauri and me. So, with that, I will thank you, Lauri. Thank you, crew,, which is Eric and Bryan. And that will be it. Change your behavior, take some of this information, and do something.