Heart Healthy Pizza: Guest Post: Dr. Greger's Review of "Heart Healthy Pizza"

Dr. Michael Greger, M.D.

"Michael Greger, M.D., is a physician, author, and internationally recognized professional speaker on a number of important public health issues.Currently Dr. Greger proudly serves as the Director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at the Humane Society of the United States. His recent scientific publications in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Biosecurity and Bioterrorism, Critical Reviews in Microbiology, Family & Community Health, and the International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition, and Public Health explore the public health implications of industrialized animal agriculture. Dr. Greger is also licensed as a general practitioner specializing in clinical nutrition and was a founding member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. He was featured on the Healthy Living Channel promoting his latest nutrition DVDs and honored to teach part of Dr. T. Colin Campbell's esteemed nutrition course at Cornell University."

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"It's not often that a "first of its kind" vegan cookbook arrives on the scene, but here it is: "Heart Healthy Pizza: Over 100 Recipes for the Most Nutritious Pizza in the World" is the very first cookbook devoted solely to making plant-based pizzas.

Inspired by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn's ground-breaking research in reversing heart disease ("Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease"), Mark Sutton has put together a comprehensive guide showing anyone how to make healthy vegan pizzas, without all the salt and fat common from using commercial dairy and or meat-based ingredients. Considering the number of chronic diseases associated with the consumption of saturated fat, trans-fat, and excessive sodium, that these recipes avoid the use of such ingredients is quite significant.

Using whole food ingredients such as quinoa, barley, millet, legumes, and a variety of vegetables, there are some 60 "cheese-like" topping sauces available in this unique cookbook to create your own vegan masterpieces. There are also Chapters on making your own dough (some recipes are "gluten-free"), "bottom" sauces, and complete "Powerful Pizza Possibilities." Each Chapter contains a list of "Tips and Techniques" to guide the Heart Healthy Chef to success, and there are also appendices expanding on various topics of interest, including a primer on cooking grains and legumes.

A sampling of "topping" sauce recipes:

- Barley, Carrot, Sunflower Seeds, and Chili Garlic Sauce

- Millet, Black-Eyed Peas, and Ginger Sauce

- Quinoa, Sweet Potato, and Corn Sauce

- Chickpeas, Oats, and Pimentos Sauce

Although it might seem arrogant and pretentious to call these the "most nutritious pizzas in the world," one would be hard pressed to think of any others that would be as healthy and beneficial to one's diet. Mark takes full advantage of the abundance of phytochemicals in fresh vegetables and whole grains in these recipes to raise the bar on vegan cooking and demonstrates a unique and creative approach to making one of the most popular foods in the American diet not only a nutritious experience, but a enjoyable and tasty one as well.