Nicole Astra: We are talking with Dr. Mario today, host of the TV show, Health, Spice, and Life with Dr. Mario. We've gotten a lot of great tips on what a plant-based diet can do for your health. So I have a simple question for you. I don't think it's going to be a simple answer, though, because there's so many great ones out there, but what are your go-to powerhouse proteins? Those tips we can pass along to our listeners. Dr. Mario E. Torres-Leon: You know, this is a great question, and I have to say, it is not a complicated one. I'm actually choosing to make it a fun one. One of the challenges that we have in medicine when we're dealing with our patients is that if we are attempting to support them in ultimately making and taking the right steps so that they can see effects in their lifestyle and really changing things for the better, it's really about habit forming. And I can tell you from 26 years of doing this, that is almost impossible, unless, and here is a clincher, somehow the [inaudible 00:01:03], in this case, a patient or whoever we're really talking to, feels that there's something in it for them, and in fact that they can get out of the proverbial seat and basically walk in the direction that we want to take them to. So there are four things that I want to talk about today, which I consume on a regular basis in my particular diet, in my family's diet. So my children and my wife, as well, very conscious about this, which I have chosen, because number one, they're fun. This whole notion is like, oh my God, I'm just, you know, people think of plants and they think of greens. And if they don't like their broccolis and their kale and their spinach, they're already losing before they're starting. Right, Nicole? Nicole Astra: There's so many great options. See, we have to educate people. Dr. Mario E. Torres-Leon: That's exactly right. However, these choices, perhaps for most, as you're watching this, you may be thinking, wow, I really didn't consider that that was a great source of protein for my diet, and it's actually not something that doesn't taste good. So let's start with the first one. I love this one, because being Latino, I love rices. Well, this one has a little bit of a rice flavor. The texture is different, and it's actually a fun dish that you can actually even bring to your breakfast. I would never consider actually having rice and beans for my breakfast. Although in some countries like Costa Rica, they do it. And this one is quinoa, and quinoa, which is a whole grain, people think of this such, but in fact, it's actually a seed. This is a very interesting distinction. Many people may not know that. It's considered a seed. It actually has the richest protein content per weight out of any seed that we can think of. For example, you can actually have eight grams in every cup, compared to, let's say five grams, if you're thinking about maybe a cup of brown rice, or maybe you are thinking about a cup of oatmeal. So this is incredibly rich. And something that I love about this powerhouse is the fact that it can take flavor so well. So it's really flexible, if you will, for your habits in terms of what you'd like to see some things with, because it's really moldable to that. It really [inaudible 00:03:12] you take whatever you put on it. And like I said, there's a clincher. Let's say that you want to have something a little bit crunchier, maybe just a little bit different that you can put your cinnamon on it. Maybe you like to put some dry fruits. Maybe you like to put some nuts, or even if you like to sweeten it with some organic maple syrup, just a little drizzle, somehow now quinoa has become part of your breakfast repertoire for your family. Nicole Astra: Breakfast. Dr. Mario E. Torres-Leon: So love that one. The second one, this is actually a great one. And I remember when I started doing this over 20 years ago, and there has been, as you know, Nicole, such an evolution in the products in this category. And it's a milk. Now, obviously we're not talking about dairy-based milk. We're talking about the unsweetened plant-based milks, such as the ones that we can actually make, or we can buy them already made, with almonds, or we can actually have that with cashews, or in some cases, and this is one of my favorite, macadamia nut based milk. Nicole Astra: Ooh, I haven't tried that one before. Dr. Mario E. Torres-Leon: Oh, it's so great. And this area has actually exponentially grown in terms of how accessible it is. The flavors, they're really there. And when you actually look at the containers, essentially what you're going to have is purified water, in some cases, Himalayan salt, which is super healthy, and then the organic base nuts that are being used to produce the unsweetened plant-based milk. So this is a super powerhouse. Absolutely love it. The third one, which is actually another unsweetened one, and I love that, again, because we have tremendous challenges with glycemic indices or sugar indices here in the United States and some other developed nations, as well, is actually almond butter. Let's say that our audience, they like peanut butter, which some of them are actually very healthy, as well. Almond butter has a fantastic rich taste, and you can really spread it in so many different things. It doesn't take away from the flavor. It actually enhances it. And you're taking all the nutritional value with it. In our home, for our kids, and even for the not-so-kids, I have to confess, we absolutely love the unsweetened almond butter products. And lastly, this is another one that I absolutely love. And this is going to be a bit of a bonus, if you will, in this conversation, Nicole, and it's actually the plant-based meats. This is an area that has been poo-pooed by many people, like, oh, please don't tell me that we can actually have a plant-based meat. That doesn't really taste great. The fact of the matter is there has been tremendous developments in the flavor of these quote-unquote meats that are plant protein based sort of meats. And in 2021, what a great opportunity, especially now that we've been dealing with a pandemic and eating a lot at home, to give something a different spin, a different try, and to bring it into your kitchen and treat it as such that we're actually cooking anything else that is a meat based product, because the flavor, the natural flavors are there. But most importantly, as we had discussed in other segments here in the channel, you can actually have all the benefits of consuming the protein without the negative effects that can come from the animal based proteins. So those are my actual go-tos. And I think, like I said, that probably as you're watching this, you're thinking, well, that was actually fun. And the idea of just thinking of spinach and kale completely went away with these powerhouses. Nicole Astra: That's right. And if you put spinach in front of your kids, they might wince a little bit, but if you put your almond butter on a sandwich in front of them, they're going to go for it. Dr. Mario E. Torres-Leon: Just two words for that. Nicole Astra: I think we're going to have to have a cooking segment in our future, Dr. Mario. I like the way you describe the food. Dr. Mario E. Torres-Leon: And when we think about this, two words should actually be left in our minds. Why not? Nicole Astra: Why not? I like it. All right, so the challenge today will be to try some of these alternative proteins that maybe you didn't hear about until today with Dr. Mario. Thanks again. Dr. Mario E. Torres-Leon: Thanks for having me.