Telluride Daily Planet, Friday, February 1, 2024

Once my father, a retired Lt. Colonel in the Army and a mechanical engineer, was let go in the big layoff at Boeing in the 70s, he decided to stay home, much to my mother’s dismay. It was just three of us by then, instead of six, and we got the brunt of his newly tiny command.

His plan was to become an entrepreneur of sorts, a product developer; and after his first go with a NASA recipe he purchased for anti-fog liquid, it was all about health and the human body, with long detours into something called computer technology.

One day he announced he was going to the Seattle Public Library to “familiarize himself” with biochemistry and came away months later, ready to develop a supplement based on potassium and other electrolytes. He was targeting his arthritis via the “health of the cell.” We all, he said, would need this silver-bullet product. It would be revolutionary.

So we started purchasing barrels of potassium and magnesium (I can’t remember what else and there is no one to ask). He fabricated a Lucite tray in his workroom with holes drilled for the hand placing and filling of gel caps; and many a Saturday in high school, that’s where I found myself, filling gel caps, probably seething inside.

He marketed the product, called K+, to a couple of health food stores in the Seattle area (there were not that many), essentially claiming it would result in better overall health. Looking back, it feels like the product was ahead of its time and might have led to something else had he lived a longer life.

During this phase, he also decided it was open season on my mother’s (a Parisian’s) kitchen and started reorganizing all the cupboards, loading up on things like mung beans, soy flour, oat bran and sunflower seeds. She was so not amused! As a follow up, he announced one day that he’d created the “perfect food” and had us all gather round the counter to view the ovoid baked good, a mixture of flours and dried milk (which he seemed to be adding to everything to up the protein ante). We stretched our mouths politely and canined the buns, afraid for our front teeth. Was there butter? Jam? 

Around this time, incipient “bars” – called Space Food Sticks – also appeared, which were also meant to pack everything important – carbs, fats, protein, fiber, energy – into a single rod-shaped food. Inspired by astronaut life in space, this ultra-convenient chocolate, peanut butter or caramel food you could fit through the mouthpiece of a helmet, would boldly lead us into the 21st century. Eventually, what ensued, of course, was a vast universe of protein and energy bars, none of them perfect at all.

Meanwhile, as foods got more and more convenient and pared down, we were being told by the mainstream media that certain vegetables and fruits – like celery, mushrooms and watermelon, for instance – had little or no nutritional value. Despite the fact that my dad had engineered a large home garden, and we had all manner of vegetables and fruits, neither did he really understand the perfection of each singular fruit or vegetable or the perfection in the rainbow variety of all of them.  

Today, research indicates that (aside from sensitivities many of us have developed), we are best off with the opposite of a perfect food – that is, a variety of foods, especially within the plant realm. We are told the largest colorful rainbow of fruits and vegetables (their vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytonutrients) is best for our health. Each one, in a miracle of diversity, is a powerhouse of goodness and offers our generally starving microbiomes (our guts) something different and interesting. 

Take celery. Please, take celery! Celery, with a 95% water content, contains both soluble and insoluble fiber. It is low glycemic (does not spike blood sugar), low salt, contains vitamins A, K, and C, potassium and folate, beta carotene and flavonoids. A compound called apiuman (pectin-based) has been shown to decrease instances of stomach ulcers and heal the stomach lining.  It can alkalize acidic foods with its magnesium and iron content . A compound called luteolin can prevent inflammation in brain cells. Phytochemicals called phthalides can relax the artery muscles and increase blood flow. Bioactive polyacetylenes have the potential to prevent numerous cancer cell formations. And it really does go on and on, in this ordinary vegetable, once thought to offer little by way of nutritional goodness. 

In short, the perfection of nature is worth returning to, every time. It is inspiring, surprising and indicative of an order always slightly beyond our comprehension. We are humbled by plants: Even as an omnivore, I say this wholeheartedly.