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Posts Tagged ‘Food Matters’

Veggie Nut Burger and Jicama "Fries"

By Laura Weldon

Ever heard the word “locavore?” This was the New American Dictionary word of the year for 2007. A locavore is a person who chooses to eat food that has been grown and produced locally.

Why go to all that trouble?

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by Jerome Burne, as featured in ‘Food Matters’

What’s the best way of telling if you are at a raised risk of heart disease? Most people would probably say their cholesterol level, because too much can block your arteries. That’s why the NHS spends more than £1/2 billion a year on statins to treat high cholesterol. Coronary heart disease is the UK’s biggest killer, responsible for more than 115,000 deaths every year. Preventing it is clearly a hugely important task. The heart of the matter: Preventing inflammation could be the key to avoiding heart disease. But this relentless focus on cholesterol could mean that we are missing out on the wider picture – and more effective, cheaper ways of protecting ourselves (without the risk of side-effects from drugs). We all know that old age, smoking, raised blood pressure, lack of exercise and poor diet are significant – but what’s not so familiar is that these factors are linked. And that link is inflammation. Inflammation in itself is not a bad thing – its associated swelling, redness and pain show that your body is working hard to ward off a threat – inflammation is why you don’t die from a cut finger or a bacterial infection. However, chronic inflammation makes heart disease more likely by damaging the lining of blood vessels. This, in turn, lowers production of the nitric oxide that keeps blood vessels flexible; when that happens there is a raised risk of high blood pressure. Damage to the vessel lining also makes it easier for fatty deposits to build up – these can later break away and cause strokes and heart attacks. Smoking, lack of exercise and a poor diet all keep inflammation going. Scientists have known for years that long-term inflammation is a feature of most chronic diseases, including arthritis, diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, and Alzheimer’s; heart disease is no exception. There’s a simple blood test that tells you if you’ve got a high level of inflammation – it checks for CRP (c-reactive protein). So could a CRP test help you protect yourself more effectively against heart disease than knowing your cholesterol levels? ‘CRP is far from perfect as a biomarker, but I think it is probably a useful warning that you have early signs of disease,’ says Dr. Ian Graham, professor of epidemiology and public health at the Royal College of Surgeons, and a cardiologist at Trinity College, Dublin. ‘Knowing about it could encourage people to start taking better care of their health earlier. Having your levels tested certainly makes sense.’ This would mean you could treat inflammation before it allowed the furring up of your arteries. Being aware of inflammation also brings the focus of fighting heart disease back to lifestyle measures instead of drugs. ‘What worries me about statins is that they make people less likely to take responsibility for their own health,’ says Dr Graham. ‘They encourage the idea you can sit on the sofa, eating dreadful food but you’re safe because your cholesterol is coming down.’ So how do you go about beating inflammation? Losing weight helps because the extra fat you’re carrying around your belly isn’t just a storage depot; some of the chemicals it produces cause inflammation. Cutting out sugar and refined carbohydrates from your diet also reduces inflammation because high levels of blood glucose and the extra insulin it triggers can inflame and damage arteries. Fish oils have been found to reduce the risk of heart failure patients dying or being hospitalised. Making sure you get a good daily intake of omega 3 fatty acids is a way of damping down the inflammatory response. One trial reported in the summer found that fish oils reduced the risk of patients with heart failure dying or being hospitalised by nine per cent. And then there are statins – the main drugs being tested as a way of tackling inflammation. That’s because as well as lowering cholesterol, statins also target a protein that’s involved in immune reactions. A major trial called Jupiter reported recently that giving a statin to people with high CRP levels but who are otherwise healthy improved their chances of surviving the next four to five years. But critics have pointed out that the benefits of statins were small – for those on the drug, the chances of surviving was 94.9 per cent and if you weren’t on this drug, it was 94.3 per cent. And then there are the potential side effects- – while doctors usually say that muscle pain (myopathy) from statins is rare, a new Canadian study suggests it can affect 10 per cent to 15 per cent of patients. Many of the ways inflammation and heart disease tie up are still controversial and more research is certainly needed. ‘Inflammation is a key player in events triggering a heart attack and also in setting the conditions that lead up to it,’ says Professor Peter Weissberg medical director of the British Heart Foundation. ‘When you use a drug such as a statin it is hard to separate out the effect it has on inflammation from its effect on cholesterol.’ But possibly one of the reasons that trials of lowering CRP haven’t proved very effective is because they have been targeting the wrong thing. ‘CRP just tells you that there is inflammation,’ says Dr Kilmer McCully, Chief of Pathology at the Veterans Hospital in Boston. ‘There is evidence going back a long way that bacteria and viruses are involved in heart disease. They certainly trigger an immune response that would raise CRP but if you don’t get rid of them you are not going to have much of an effect.’ So how do you get rid of these bacteria and viruses? ‘The best defense is an effective immune system and the best way to get that is a highly nutritious diet.’ And CRP is not the only sign of inflammation. An amino acid called homocysteine can contribute to inflammation in the blood vessel walls and research has linked high levels of it with an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. Homocysteine is produced when we eat meat and dairy products. Normally, the body quickly turns it into other useful chemicals, but sometimes that process goes wrong and levels start to rise. ‘There is no dispute that raised homocysteine is a good predictor of future disease events and death from cardiovascular problems,’ says David Smith, professor of pharmacology at Oxford. ‘If you are otherwise healthy, high homocysteine is a sign your system isn’t working as efficiently as it should be.’ Finally, there is another vitamin that is emerging as a leading player in the fight against inflammation. ‘We could all do with more vitamin D,’ says Dr Oliver Gillie, one of the leading authorities on it in the UK. ‘As many as 90 per cent of us are deficient by the end of winter because we can’t make any from exposure to the sun for about six months of the year this far north. We now know it’s not just used for building bones. ‘It’s involved in many processes, including boosting production of chemicals that calm down inflammation and cutting back on the pro-inflammatory ones.’ By: Jerome Burne, Medical Health Journalist Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Sprouting takes a nut or seed that is dormant and brings it to life. You can watch as a food that has been sitting in a bag on a shelf for months begins to grow a little sprout and transforms. One of the easiest foods to sprout is buckwheat. Buckwheat becomes packed with live enzymes and vital nutrients when sprouted.

Sprouted buckwheat is an amazing food because it tastes like a grain but is actually gluten and wheat free and not a grain at all. It is one of the most complete sources of protein on the planet, containing all eight essential amino acids. This makes it perfect for diabetics and those who want to cut down on their sugary carbohydrates and to balance their blood sugar levels. It is also known to lower high blood pressure.

Sprouted buckwheat also cleanses the colon and alkalizes the body. Buckwheat is a wonderful super food for people who have varicose veins or hardening of the arteries. One of the reasons is that it is full of rutin, which is a compound that is known as a powerful capillary wall strengthener. When veins become weak, blood and fluids accumulate and leak into nearby tissues, which may cause varicose veins or hemorrhoids.

This healing food is also rich in lecithin, making it a wonderful cholesterol balancerbecause lecithin soaks up “bad” cholesterol and prevents it from being absorbed. Lecithin neutralizes toxins and purifies the lymphatic system, taking some of the load off of the liver. Sprouted buckwheat is also a brain boosting super food. 28% of the brain is actually made up of lecithin. Research suggests that regularly consuming foods rich in lecithin may actually prevent anxiety, depression, brain fog, mental fatigue and generally make the brain sharper and clearer.

Buckwheat is high in iron so it is a good blood builder. It also prevents osteoporosis because of its high boron and calcium levels. Sprouted buckwheat is high in bio-flavonoids and co-enzyme Q10. It contains all of the B vitamins, magnesium, manganese, and selenium, as well as many other health giving compounds.

How to Sprout Buckwheat

Place 1 1/2 Cups of buckwheat groats into a bowl and cover it with 2- 3 times as much room temperature water. Mix the seeds up so that none are floating on the top. Allow the seeds to soak for about an hour. Drain the water in a colander and let them stand, rinsing 3 times per day with cool water for 2 days. You will notice a gooey substance on the buckwheat, which is starch. Make sure that you wash this off thoroughly. Spouts will form after a day or two.

Sprouted Buckwheat Breakfast Cereal

(serves 4)
2 cups of sprouted buckwheat
1 tablespoon of cinnamon powder
1 cup of chopped seasonal fruit (apple, orange, banana etc)
1/2 cup raisins
1 or 2 tablespoons of honey to taste
Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and serve chilled.

Article Source: www.naturalnews.com

Over a period of months or years, our food is shaped by the sun, wind and precipitation.  Then as soon as we eat a meal, our intestines go about the arduous task of breaking it down so everything in it can be absorbed by our bodies. They sort out which components are allowed to stay and which aren’t.  This determines how we feel  later, as well as what we accomplish and even what we think.

Our intestines’ essential allies in this process are millions of bacteria that help break down our food. We can help our intestines if we occasionally give them something that has already undergone a degree of bacterial conversion: fermented food. Or better yet, food that still contains live fermentation bacteria, such as pickles. A word of caution however; pickled foods from a jar or can like gherkins or sauerkraut, are usually pasteurized and no longer contain fermentation bacteria.

Thankfully sauerkraut and pickles are easy to make! Slice an organic cucumber and toss into a bowl with half a head of thinly sliced Chinese cabbage (wombok). Sprinkle with salt and mix until vegetables are damp. Add a dash of vinegar, then cover the bowl with a dish and place something heavy on top to seal. Allow to sit at room temperature for a day, out of direct sunlight. Rinse the mixture if the pickled vegetables are too salty. Enjoy.

Source: www.odemagazine.com

The popular herbal extract St. John’s wort is more effective at treating the symptoms of depression than any antidepressant drug, and has fewer side effects, researchers from the Centre for Complementary Medicine in Munich have concluded.

“Overall, the St John’s Wort extracts tested in the trials were superior to placebo, similarly effective as standard anti-depressants, and had fewer side effects than standard anti-depressants,” lead researcher Klaus Linde said.

In a study published by the Cochrane Library, the researchers compiled the results of 29 prior trials, involving a total of 5,489 participants who were randomly assigned either St. John’s wort, a placebo, tricylclic antidepressants or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) to treat mild to moderately severe depression. All studies were double-blind, meaning that neither patients nor researchers knew what kind of treatment each participant was receiving.

St. John’s wort was found to be more effective than a placebo and at least as effective as both tricylics and SSRIs, but with fewer side effects. Patients receiving the herbal treatment were significantly less likely to drop out of studies due to negative side effects than those assigned to take tricyclic antidepressants.

The researchers called their study the most thorough to date, and possibly the first to show that St. John’s wort is effective at treating not only mild, but also severe depression (also known as major depression). St. John’s wort, known officially as Hypericum perforatum, is a native European perennial herb with distinctive yellow flowers and now grows wild in many parts of the Americas as well. It derives its common name from the tradition of harvesting its flowers on St. John’s day (June 24). Also known as Klamath weed or Tipton’s weed, the plant has been used for centuries as an herbal remedy for depression and sleeping problems.

In recent years, the popularity of the herbal antidepressant has soared as new concerns continue to emerge over pharmaceutical antidepressants, especially SSRIs. In Germany, doctors regularly prescribe it to children and teenagers. In the United Kingdom, it is currently used by two million people.

SSRIs have been shown to significantly increase the risk of suicide in those under the age of 18, and evidence suggests that they may have a similar effect on adults, as well. Recent evidence has also linked use of the drugs by pregnant women with an elevated risk of oral and heart-related birth defects.

With Western health care systems emphasizing drugs for the treatment of mental illness, however, many doctors feel they have no alternatives but to prescribe tricyclics or SSRIs, in spite of the risk. The new study may lead more doctors to prescribe St. John’s wort instead.

Another recent study, conducted by St. James’ University Hospital in Leeds, England, found that St. John’s wort was the only herbal supplement effective at treating depression, in contrast to cat’s claw, ginseng, gingko biloba, liquid tonic and royal jelly.

Researchers remain unsure precisely how St. John’s wort works, in part because the plant contains chemicals from at least seven different families. The most favored explanation is that the herb acts much like an SSRI, slowing the rate at which the neurotransmitter serotonin is removed from the brain. The chemical hyperforin is posited by some as the most active chemical agent in the herb, and has been linked to slowed uptake of not only serotonin but also the neurotransmitters dopamine, noradrenaline, GABA and glutamate. St. John’s wort extracts from which hyperforin has been removed, however, have still been shown to function as effective antidepressants.

Source: www.naturalnews.com

“Food Matters is a must see for those looking to take control of their health.”
- John Gray, PhD, NY Times Best Selling Author of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus

“Outstanding”
- John Robbins, author of Diet for A New America

“Anyone who is serious about their health needs to see this stunning film.”
- Christiane Northrup, MD, author of Mother-Daughter Wisdom, The Wisdom of Menopause and Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom

“This eye-opening documentary is important to anyone who has ever taken the safety of our nation’s food supply for granted. ‘Food Matters’ is destined to be a classic.”
- Jordan Rubin, NY Times Best Selling Author of The Maker’s Diet

“Food Matters has a very inspirational message to everyone. It will transform your approach to your food and to your life.”
- Marie Diamond, Feng Shui Master featured in The Secret, www.MarieDiamond.com

“If you’re looking for a way to treat disease naturally, then Food Matters is a great place to start”
- Marci Shimoff, NY Times bestselling author of Happy for No Reason and featured teacher in The Secret

“YES! Food Matters! This riveting, inspiring film is a giant step forward in awakening people’s consciousness about what we are putting into our bodies and how we are nourishing ourselves and our planet.”
- Alissa Cohen, Author of Living on Live Food

“What you put into your mouth is more important to your health and well-being than most can possibly realize. Food Matters is a riveting and informative film that will help you understand just how important whole foods really are to your well-being.”
- Mike Anderson, author of The Rave Diet & Lifestyle

“Food Matters makes it very clear that we have to clean up our dirty act!”
- Jeff Nelson, VegSource.com