Coconut water is all the rage as the new sports drink, and companies are very willing to sell it to you. It’s not a bad choice, but its pretty expensive, and packaging-heavy. It does contain a bit of sodium and potassium and a few carbs, so it can replenish these if you are actively sweating for a period of time. But unless you are an athlete undergoing prolonged exercise, it’s probably not worth the expense if you are already consuming plentiful water and eating a healthy diet. In my opinion, this is just another fad product that is fine to consume, but is likely not going to change the average exerciser’s performance in a major way. If you like it and it helps you stay hydrated, then great! Other (free) hydrations options: make your own sports drink in your own not-trash bottle with a squeezed lemon or lime and a sprinkle of salt. Keep adding water when you get about half-way and the citrus flavor will stay perceptible. Also, looking beyond the market where you buy the product is something we should all do. Where are those coconuts coming from? Are the growers being scammed? How much plastic packaging is around this blob of mostly-water? Buying into marketing hype is a great way of buying into increased environmental damage in many ways, so buyer-be-educated!
Black Tea
I just returned from visiting my Grandmother in the UK. All English people drink tea, and lots of it. It’s the time-honored response to almost any life event spanning walking in the door after shopping, to celebrating the birth of a child. You must do it right though; boil the water, warm the pot (very important! Or the cold pot cools the water too much to brew the tea), THEN put the tea in and pour the water on top. THEN, pour the carefully steeped tea into a cup and only after add milk etc. Black and green tea come from the same plant – Camellia Sinensis. Black tea is dried and fermented, whereas green tea is not. There are lots of benefits to drinking black tea. This is due to the amounts polyphenols and catechins (antioxidants) that leach out of the tea leaves into the hot water. Even WebMD is also cautiously optimisticabout black tea (1-4 C a day) which says a lot, as scientific organizations are quite mealy mouthed when it comes to dietary benefits of things. If you wish to be completely overwhelmed with tea, Dobra Tea shop has more tea than you could ever hope to consume, with a tome-like menu of tea. But it’s a lot of fun to sit and choose a variety, and then have tea with a friend in such a lovely environment.
Seaweed – superfood!
It’s worth getting used to the briny flavor of seaweed. Whether its sushi, or toasted nori crumbled onto rice or veggies,seaweed is a low-calorie, nutrient, vitamin and fiber-dense food packed with minerals. (Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Vitamin K, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Riboflavin, Folate, Iron, Magnesium, Copper and Manganese. Also Iodine! (Here’s why you should care about Iodine.)
It’s a huge source of Calcium – one of the reasons Asian folks don’t need to eat dairy products. (Strangely humans are the only animals that drink milk after weaning, even stranger – milk from another animal!) You can get a little can of crumbled seaweed and sesame seeds to sprinkle on things, just like an herb mixture, or make your own seaweed salad.Info and recipe here. A few more ways to put seaweed into your diet.
Another word on vegetarian protein complementation
So I have recently begun eating less animal products. I feel better, feel it has a lesser impact on resources and also it’s easier on my finances. But I wanted to make sure I got all my amino acids. We need 20 of them and must obtain 9/20 from our diet because we cannot manufacture them ourselves. Animal products give us all 20 in one food – meat/dairy/eggs. Vegetable products also give us the 20, but not necessarily all together in high levels (though soy, quinoa, and hemp do). So we complement the right vegetable-based foods within 24 hours and can get it all in. But here’s the thing, I have learned that eating grains + legumes, or grains + nuts gives us the full complement, but recently was mind-blown that green vegetables have the samecomplementation ability as grains, with a much lower energy cost. We need to look at nutrient density. Nutrient density is nutrient per calorie instead of nutrient per weight. This means that a nice BIG green salad with various vegetable toppings and toasted walnuts and pumpkin seeds is quite full enough of complete protein for a meal, with tons of fiber and is quite low on the energy budget. Another plant protein chart. Brussels Sprouts, broccoli and spinach are big powerhouses. Hooray! Oh I just found one more article on the misconception of how much protein we ‘should’ be getting. Seems like as long as we are getting a variety of plant foods to meet energy requirements, protein levels are more than adequate. That’s a LOT of vegetables.
What's good for the heart is good for the brain
This video by a doctor explains the things that benefit your brain and decrease the risk of Alzheimers. Whats good for the heart is also good for the brain. A mediterranean diet (veg, fruit, nuts, olive oil, less meat, more fish), 7-8 hrs of sleep, lots of social interaction, intellectual challenges, learning new things, and stress management are all beneficial for longevity and brain+heart heath.
Core <-> Brain Connections
I found this to be an interesting article about how science may have found the pathway between exercise (namely Yoga and Pilates) and stress levels. A skeptical scientist who doesn’t do anything unless its proven to him discovered that neural connections exist between muscles, adrenal glands and the cortex of the brain. Just doing exercise you love (or love to hate) demonstrates that how we move has a direct effect on how we feel, but the actual neural process hadn’t been elucidated. Researchers used a monkey model to observe that the movement control areas of the brain (motor cortex) directly connect to the adrenal glands (site of the flight/fight hormonal response). Thus, the motor area of the brain not only influences movement, but also the stress hormones.
This connection offered a scientific basis for how mental states and brain-muscle connections can alter organ function and stress levels. (Scientific abstract here.) Well, duh.
Oregano, the oil thereof.
Apart from being all sorts of yummy, oregano has all sorts of great properties. I’ve been using the anti-inflammatory properties this week against a head cold. Carvacrol is its most important component, and is responsible for many of oregano’s health benefits including anti-fungal and anti-viral properties. Carvacrol has powerful antimicrobial properties, and has been shown to help break through the outer cell membranes that help protect bacteria from your immune system. A drop diluted in 4-5 drops of carrier oil like olive, can be used topically for fungal infections or taken internally for about a week for internal infections. You can also put a drop or two in a bowl of boiling water for a steam inhalation .Here are some other uses. Oregano Oil its very expensive, but adding dried or fresh oregano to your food is a cheaper tastier option. Make your own salad dressings, chilis, soups and stuffings with plenty. Heat does not deactivate it’s anti-microbial properties. Plus oregano makes a simple cheesy-toast magically become PIZZA.
Sobering info on beverages.
Well, bummer. I finally get off refined sugar only to find out that my new treat- yummy red wine, anti-oxidants! heart healthy! – has a few nutritional downsides. One is residual sugar – the fruit sugar left over from the fermentation. A dryer wine will have less, and a sweeter wine more (duh), but on average, a 5 oz pour will give you about 50 calories. And then there’s beer and spirits. Every drink, whether it be beer, wine or liquor (a comparison) is some combination of alcohol calories and sugar calories. Unfortunately, alcohol is more calorically dense (7cal/g) than carbohydrate or protein (4cal/g), coming in under fat (10cal/g). Here’s an article comparing caloric values of wine and beer. So that 5 oz pour of wine will also contain about 100 calories solely from the alcohol, for a total of about 150 cal (50 from the sugar and 100 from the alcohol).
Dammit. Moderation is the most appropriate yet annoying answer.
Quinoa – vegetarian protein, pros and cons.
Quinoa has long been touted as an addition to a vegetarian diet. It has the full complement of amino acids necessary for humans – an oddity in the plant world – bearing the name “complete protein”. 2013 was actually the year of Quinoa! It also has manganese, iron, copper, phosphorous, vitamin B2, other essential minerals, and seem interesting anti-oxidant phytochemicals. Dr. Weil likes it, so I do too There are two recipes in the link. I also use it to make a tabbouleh. Cook it like rice: 1 C of Q to 2 C water. Make sure you wash it first to remove saponins in the outer layer. Don’t soak it, the saponins will leach into the seeds.
Of course, there is another side to everything. (A Mother Jones article that’s interesting.) Quinoa has become so beloved and sought-after in North America that it has become less consumed in home markets in South America. The demand outside of producing countries is now huge, and causing the concomitant environmental issues that commodity crops do. The good news? Quinoa can be grown in many different climates and should be soon. Buy your quinoa from organic sources and educate yourself so you are supporting small careful agriculture. Bon appetit!
Magical Mushrooms!
No not those. The ones you cook with. These fabulous fungi have some serious nutritional values. According to Medical News Today, mushrooms have lots of antioxidants (the chemicals that help reduce pre-cancerous changes in your body), selenium (good for skin, immune system and is anti-inflammatory) and vitamin D (did you know that mushrooms produce vit D just like human skin does?) Sunshine mushrooms are going got be a thing. Mushrooms also have quite a lot of fiber (the soluble kind, beta-glucan, like oats) which lowers blood sugars and LDL cholesterol and boosts the feeling of satiety; fullness and satisfaction. They are also very low in calories, though high in nutrients. Here’s a link tostuffed mushrooms.
Devils advocate, some debunking.
Some foods recently have been labelled ‘superfoods’ and touted as the next best thing, mostly because someone wants to make some money. Surprise. Though the nutritional values and effects of many foods are helpful, the marketing can be a bit hyperbolic. The kinda-gullible, silver-bullet-seeking, less-than-stellar-scientifically-educated general public is easily swayed with exaggerated claims to health. This article throws some cold water on all the Superfood hype and scientists tell us to calm down a bit when presented with this kind of hype.
Though apparently apples, blueberries, salmon and red wine are pretty darn good for you. YAY! (And avoid orange juice which is mostly sugar, and gluten-replacement products unless you truly are gluten sensitive as determined by a 2-week elimination diet.)
Fermented foods – what and why?
There are a number of reasons fermented foods (yogurt, sauerkraut, kefir, tempeh, kimchee etc…) are becoming known as superfoods. Where did they come from? One of their properties is that they are harvested foods prepared for storage that can be held safely at room temperature. Fermented foods have bacteria and yeasts in them (known as probiotics), either naturally occurring or inoculated, that have been allowed to eat part of the food to create an acid and some alcohol byproducts. This causes the characteristic flavor and properties of the food. When we consume the fermented food, we not only eat the original substrate, but also the bacteria and yeast population, which have an effect on our internal flora. The probiotics can break down cellulose making the food more digestible and also give off their own byproducts, which we need for good health. We also have an internal microflora in our intestines that provides nutrients and vitamins, and eating certain foods (fiber) keeps them happy. For example Vitamin K which we desperately need for blood clotting, is entirely a product of our gut bacteria.
Curry spices are good for you!
I was having a conversation with a friend of mine who travels to India a lot. He said he was boggled about the fact that they rarely ate fresh vegetables in the district he visits (Chennai), but that people’s health seems to be less impacted than one might think. While we ruminated on the reasons why (as we chomped down local and delicious salad greens) he postulated that they eat a LOT of curries (i.e. spices) and fermented foods, and that might be a major source of their vitamins and minerals instead of plant sources. This week, I’ll focus on spices, specifically those found in curry powders. Firstly lets, define spice: “A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, berry, bud or other vegetable substance primarily used for flavoring, coloring or preserving food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are parts of leafy green plants used for flavoring or as a garnish” – Wikipedia.
I spoke a while ago about turmeric and black pepper, but there are many other spices in curry powders that are in the antioxidant spectrum. One researcher (originally from India) is quoted as saying “…when Indians move away and adopt more Westernized eating patterns, their rates of those diseases rise. While researchers usually blame the meatier, fattier nature of Western diets, other experts believe that herbs and spices—or more precisely, the lack of them—are also an important piece of the dietary puzzle. When Indians eat more Westernized foods, they’re getting much fewer spices than their traditional diet contains,” he explains. “They lose the protection those spices are conveying.” Turmeric, chili pepper, ginger, cinnamon, and black pepper, among other spices found in curry powders all have antioxidant properties, and a little goes a long way. Another idea put forward in this article is that :” adding spices and herbs seems to reduce the harmful by-products formed in cooked meat that may lead to cancer.”
The best idea for curry powder is to make your own, with ingredients bought separately from a bulk spice section. That is a labor of love, but little jars of homemade curry powder do make great gifts at holiday-time. You can also adjust the ingredients to personalize it. It doesn’t have to be hot at all, just simply very flavorful. Another option is to buy curry powders and pastes that are fresh and vibrant and are not near their expiration date. One of my favorite recipes isKitcheree – the Indian vegetarian version of nurturing chicken-soup-like food .
Good news for cheese, glorious cheese – eat the real thing!
Eating real – not fat-reduced (ugh, shudder) cheese is the way to go. Not only is it just plain taster, real full fat cheese has been found not to be the villain it was once portrayed. It had fallen victim to the myth of fat being the causative agent of cardiovascular disease, which is coming around to being disproven by much research. It’s hard not to believe something that has been touted as truth for so long – “fat is bad for you!!” But so many articles are coming out to repoint the finger not at fat, but at sugar as the true culprit in cardiovascular disease. In an article from the American Society of Nutrition, delicious full-fat real food cheese is being led back into the light as a food that is not dangerous – if eaten moderately (as with any food). The study where folks ate 2.5 oz of cheese daily compared with reduced fat cheese or a carbohydrate snack, concluded that regular full fat cheese does not change risky blood markers such as LDL cholesterol, and in a few cases actually raised HDL (good) cholesterol. Another study in rats suggests that a diet containing real cheese decreases fat build up in the liver. One more paradoxical fact – It’s an overabundance of carbohydrate in the diet, NOT saturated fat, that causes hormonal insulin upheaval and increased blood lipid levels associated with diseases like Diabetes-2 and Metabolic Syndrome according to a study in Lipid Technology journal.
YAY! So be able to recognize how much an ounce of cheese is (the size of 2 dice) and enjoy a reasonable 2-3 oz a day.
Açai – how the heck do I pronounce it, and what does it do?
Well, first of all: the word is Portuguese, so say A-sai-ee. The Acai berry comes from central and south America and is reddish purple. Because of their deep pigmentation, they have been touted as the next super-berry, having possibly more antioxidant properties than other berries. There’s not enough research to support that, but they likely are up there with the others. They also contain fiber and healthy oils. There are some warnings about high levels of acai messing with the medications for kidney disease, high cholesterol and diabetes, but then there are others that feel that acai is protective. Web MD is meh about them. Other sources think they are as great as Goji.
Until more research is in, I’d treat it like just another berry. Don’t go overboard and enjoy it a another way of getting more fruits and vegetables into your diet. Also, the more processed it is, the lower the nutrition, so read labels and watch for additives.
Walnuts!
I think I eat some walnuts everyday. The things are amazing (article here). Low GI, full of fiber, minerals, antioxidants, anti-inflammatories and omega-3s, easily available, great for your cardiovascular system, reduced diabetes, cancer and metabolic syndrome risks, and grown in the USA. Buy them in bulk (faster store turn-over, therefore fresher) and smell/taste them before you pay. The oils in raw walnuts can go rancid easily – then YUK. They are also heavenly when toasted – but only toast the right amount just before you use them. Toasting walnuts destabilizes the oils so they’ll go rancid faster. I keep mine raw and in the freezer. Oh, and apparently, the skins are the healthiest part surprise. So don’t discard them, throw them into whatever you’re eating too.
Walnuts are great on top of salads, yogurt, mixed into savory grains or stuffings, thrown into smoothies, trail mixes, part of crumble toppings, muffins etc.etc.etc. and My favorite: eaten raw with apples and a sharp cheese.
Goji Berries – so what’s the big deal?
So as usual, the Chinese have been eating these berries and deriving benefits from their nutritional properties for centuries before us. Gojis, like many berries have lots of fiber, vitamins, iron and carotenoids, but also are the only fruit containing all essential amino acids for humans. They also contain many minerals, and are credited with increasing alertness. They can be eaten raw, dried or reconstituted. Some website articles tout them as the second coming. Othersare more conservative. I found them at Whole Foods, but likely Asian food stores will have them too. They are contraindicated if you are taking Warfarin/other blood thinners (apparently Gojis are a natural anticoagulant), or blood pressure medications. Hmm, that maybe a LOT of Americans. Everything we take in interacts inside us, so if you are on medications, it’s good to ask your medical professional about possible food/drug interactions. A moderate amount of any food won’t make a big difference, but many folks think, well if a little is good, MORE IS BETTER. (Of course, not true.)
But on the whole, it seems like Goji berries are a tasty interesting bigger-nutritional-bang-for-the-buck dried fruit addition and could replace the higher sugar-less nutritious ubiquitous and boring raisin or sugar-coated dried cranberry (try and find a dried cranberry thats not – let me know if you do!)
Big Sugar and the big cover up.
So in the annals of not surprising news….This from NPR: The authors of the new Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) article say that for the past five decades, the sugar industry has been attempting to influence the scientific debate over the relative risks of sugar and fat. Current science has discovered that processed sugar intake is more involved in heart disease than fat, but it took years of sugar business lying and people dying for this to become clear. “Policymaking committees should consider giving less weight to food industry-funded studies,” they write. (Well, duh.)
Kinda like the tobacco industry casting doubt on the toxicity of cigarettes and fossil fuel producers denying climate change. If there is money to be made, a cover up will be created until it is too late and people pay with their lives. The take-home? Educate yourself. Read, don’t take my word for it, explore, challenge and take charge of your own diet and habits. No one really cares more than you do about your own health. There. Rant over. (for now.)
Eat your peels (thats where the goods are)
Did you know that most of the fiber and antioxidant properties of plant foods are found in the peels? (An article here). Colorful outer surfaces of plants come from pigments that are very beneficial to our health (flavonoids, carotenoids). Also, plants cannot run from predators and pests that want to eat them, so they use chemicals and barriers to repel attackers. Fibrous rinds and bitter chemicals are the ones that help us stay healthy: antioxidants, anthocyanins, theobromides and cellulose and are located on the outsides of the plants where pests attack first. So if you remove the peels from the vegetables and fruit, you are removing most of their beneficial qualities. The flesh of the fruit/veggie is not as nutritious.
What? So #1) This means buy organic, because those peels are going to keep you healthier if there are fewer pesticides sprayed on them. #2) How? Throw the whole washed unpeeled fruit into the smoothie. Wash the veggie and leave the peel on before slicing and dicing, or cooking. Make a stock with the outsides of the veggies.
Water (no really)
So ya know, water really is a big deal. In many health programs, drinking water is advocated. No surprise there. I mean, we are 60-70% water so drinking enough keeps us hydrated and in the right biochemical and PH range. But, apparently, drinking 500 ml (2 C) will boost your metabolism for about 30 min by about 30%. here’s the article. When I did the math, this means if you drink about 6′ish C of water a day, you’ll burn approx 50 cal, which by the end of the year is equivalent to the caloric value of of 5 # of fat. That you didn’t store. Hello and goodbye midlife midsection creep.
Hmmmmm. I’ll try and do it. What’s the worst that can happen? (OK, peeing a lot.) I’ll have to put alarms on my iPhone to remind me to drink!