From the Author...

"Ever since I was a kid I gained weight easier than my larger, older, stronger, faster siblings. I was a chubby kid, not good at sports, and felt that getting into competitive shape was a mountain too high for me to climb. I would start trying again and again, after hearing “fatso” or “tub ‘o lard” and feeling another bout of humiliating shame, only to experience physical pain, frustration, and hopelessness and no visible progress. I came to believe that something was wrong with me, I had been fated to be fat, and there was nothing I could do about it, while at the same time the message kept getting through that it was my moral failing and I should be ashamed of myself.

I was.

My adolescent growth spurt eased the situation somewhat, but my lack of childhood athletic prowess left me with an ongoing disadvantage of poor muscular tone compared to the majority of my peers, even during times when I lost enough weight to look relatively healthy.

I was a natural candidate to become a musician, having an inclination to do so. I became attracted to the visceral sound of the bass fiddle, and started playing and writing music around the time I started getting interested in girls.

The bass eventually brought me into the orbit of people who were aware of the role of food in health. After reaching a peak weight of 220 pounds (5’10”) while on Buddy Rich’s band (1976-77) from eating steak after the gig then riding the band bus, I started to learn seriously about the role of food; the first one to talk to me constructively about the issue was my roommate on Buddy’s band, the great saxophonist Bob Mintzer. Prior to that I had been on Metrecal lunches in Junior High, taking my lunch in the Principal’s office to avoid bullying and teasing, but that, and the admonition of the family pediatrician, were the only information I had been exposed to about nutrition and its role in weight control prior to this. All I knew was that I was supposedly a glutton, I was lazy and ate too much. Bob was the first to tell me about the importance of composition in diet. I began to realize it was my ignorance about food that was contributing to the problem.

Later on I worked for the great pianist/composer Horace Silver, who told me about Arnold Ehret’s “Rational Fasting” and the concept of “Natural Hygiene.” These books led me eventually to the “Fit For Life” diet, in a later attempt to regain control. Through these influences I was able to get my weight under control for a while, but always drifted back into old habits, finding stringent regimens hard to sustain on the road and also finding it difficult later in married life with a small child and a carbohydrate-loving spouse. (Note to vegans: pasta is not a health food! It can lead to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome as easily as coke and potato chips!) The influence of TV advertising on my small daughter was really troubling, as was our tendency to give in to a trip to McDonald’s in the face of our young daughter’s insistence. We tried to keep healthy foods at home, but I always felt I was facing a losing battle. The sheer omnipresence of advertising and cultural influences made healthy choices difficult.

In the year 2000, I was diagnosed with cancer, probably on the base of my tongue (they never found the primary site definitively). After eight weeks of radiation, treatment was successful, but left the aftereffect that my salivary glands didn’t work very well, leading to a problem digesting starches. I began to experience painful acid reflux under certain conditions, which I began to observe and study. I didn’t want to have to live on antacids; I must have consumed a truckload of Pepcid before finding a way to eat that not only eliminated the reflux problem, but made weight control effortless.

I’ve always enjoyed cooking and experimenting with taste. My life in jazz and composition has led me to think like an improviser; a jazz musician learns how to compose while playing, making his ideas fit into the larger picture of the music as its happening. A chef can be an improviser; recipes are useful but not essential once the interrelationship of tastes and the ingredients that create them is understood. There are principles of food chemistry that need to be learned, much as an improvising musician has to understand the underlying laws of harmony, and without getting too scientific about it, we try to lay out some of these ideas in this book.

Continuing research and curiosity about how food works in our bodies has led me to the findings shared here, resulting in a sustainable lifestyle-based approach to nutrition that is as enjoyable as it is effective. As of this writing, my weight is 162.2 lbs, my waist is 32” (not since a sophomore in high school!), and it’s been that way for almost a year—and I really enjoy cooking and eating. I hope you can find the same kinds of benefits!"

- Jon Burr