Beaming Broccoli

Past Saturday,at the BAPS mega health fair,I was asked to do a presentation as part of public health lecture series.

As I favour Vegetarianism,I had to think of something that would be so good that people would implement it on a regular basis to benefit their health.

Guess what?

Cruciferous vegetables top the list!

All my research came to one conclusion,3 day old Broccoli sprouts are healthiest and contain 20 to 50 times higher sulpforaphanes than mature broccoli heads.

One can use these sprouts in a salad or on a slice of bread or a croissant with some cream cheese and avocado.

I had a live demonstration of banana,blueberry,broccoli sprout smoothie.3 B smoothie

The ingredients are apple juice,banana,cup of blueberries,1/2 cup of broccoli sprouts,ice and blend.

Almond milk can be used instead of apple juice or even coconut water or plain filtered water.

Enjoy!

Healthier and sustainable diet

I had always suggested my patients to eat more fruits and vegetables and legumes and grains.

Here are some benefits,as I  downloaded from Meatlless Mondays.

http://www.meatlessmonday.com/%5D

 About 1,850 gallons of water are needed to produce a single pound of beef.5

To grow one pound of vegetables, it takes 39 gallons of water.

Beef produces a total of 30 kg of greenhouse gas (GHG) per kg of food, while carrots, potatoes and rice produce .42, .45 and 1.3 kg GHG per kg of food, respectively.6

It takes 25 kilocalories of fossil fuel energy to produce 1 kilocalorie of all meat based protein, as compared with 2.2 kilocalories of fossil fuel input per 1 kilocalorie of grain based protein produced.7

If we used grain to feed people following a vegetarian diet, instead of using it for animal feed, it would be enough to feed about 840 million people.

Stroke prevention with frolic acid and B.P medicine

Just a day ago,a very informative article appeared in Journal of American medical association,also called JAMA.

Folic acid / folate supplementation along with bp medication reduces risk of stroke!

The Harvard researchers state further that this holds true even for people without high B.P

We carry excellant quality Active Folate and B vitamin combination.

Healing soups

Hippocrates healing soup

This is a healing soup.

1 big or 2 small fresh organic leeks

1 pound fresh organic potato or several small ones

1 1/2 pounds organic fresh tomatoes

1 large organic onion or 2 small onions

1 sm/medium organic celery knob (I have found that

the smaller, fresher knobs are more delicately flavored)

or 3/4 stalks organic celery

1 small parsley root (if unavailable, can substitute

3/4 sprigs of organic parsley)

Instructions:

Don’t peel any of the vegetables as many of the minerals and nutrients are stored directly beneath the skin. Scrub carefully and cook SLOWLY at low heat for 3 hours with a small amount of clean pure water, then mash and eat.

You can add small amounts of fresh organic parsley and fresh pressed raw organic garlic to taste.

Healing soups

I am going to be giving you nice recipes for healing soups and broths.

Kidney cleansing broth

KIDNEY CLEANSING BROTH.

This kidney-cleansing vegetable broth is a very much  healing broth.The main ingredient in this broth is celeriac.

Celeriac (a.k.a. celery root) is a winter root vegetable and many people have not seen it, let alone try it. 

Celeriac is a nutrient-dense root vegetable that is very healing for the digestive system. Due to its excellent analgesic and antiseptic properties, celeriac is antibacterial, antifungal and can be used therapeutically for healing of digestive disorders including peptic ulcers, gastritis, indigestion and constipation. As with most root vegetable, celery root juice can be very healing for the internal organs especially liver and kidneys and help boost the immune system.

 

Method:

To make this broth I use a crock pot (slow cooker) as it is not only easy and economical, it also retains all the nutrients and flavors from the vegetables. If you don’t have a crock pot, you may also cook over the stove. The method will be very similar to when cooking using a slow cooker.

 

What You Need:

This portion serves four. You may substitute these ingredients with other hardy vegetables that you fancy.

Use a large crock pot or non-aluminium 4-quart/liter pot and fill with the following cubed vegetables:

1 medium celery root/celeriac – remove skin

(You may use 4-5 potatoes in place of celeriac but leave the skin on)

1 bunch of celery (about 10-12 ribs)

4-5 medium-sized carrots

4 large onions (or more if desired)

4-5 cloves of garlic

Seasalt to taste (the soup tastes good even without salt, but when adding salt, the soup actually tastes even “sweeter”)

Note: Use smaller quantities if you are cooking in a small pot. I always make more and store the balance in the fridge for later.

 I add a tsf of fenugreek seeds and a half of jalapeño if you desire spicy broth.

Fill your broth pot or crock pot with 2 quarts/liters of water to boil over high heat. While waiting, wash and scrub the vegetables well with a vegetable brush. Cut them up into small cubes.

Put all your cut vegetables into the boiling water. In a crock pot, I put it on high heat yet it doesn’t dry out the water. If you are cooking over the stove, you will have to put it on lower heat, have the lid on and check every now and then to be sure it doesn’t boil over or dry up.

I put the slow cooker to cook on high for about six hours, until all the vegetables turned soft.Otherwise, use a blender and blend till you get a smooth consistency. Do this while the soup is warm, NOT when it’s hot or cold. Then add the pulp back into the broth and drink as a thick soup. 

Serve hot to warm.

Let the soup cool before storing. Keep in air-tight container in the refrigerator and consume in no more than 48 hours. To reheat, simmer over stove, do not use microwave oven.

Sodium content of Us packaged foods

A very interesting article on Sodium content of packaged foods appeared in American Journal of clinical nutrition.

It is said that higher salt intake was associated with High B.P

  Meat dishes and canned soups had highest  amounts of sodium.

The recommended daily intake of sodium is 2500 mg and in African Americans with B.P and kidney disease is even lesser like 1500 mg.

Salad dressings,pasta dressings and pasta dishes had very high sodium.

Benefits of nut consumption

I was reading the American Journal of Clinical nutrition and found an interesting study on nut consumption and incidence of cardiovascular disease.

Nuts are rich in nutrients like folate,niacin,vitaminD,vitB6.They are rich in Macronutrients such as unsaturated  fatty acids,dietary fiber,phytoestrogens,phytochemicals,andmicronutrientssuch as essential minerals including Copper,magnesium,potassium and zinc.

Nut consumption reduces risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

     magnesium was shown to decrease BP by acting as caLcium channel  blocker.

Nut intake improved lipid profiles,increasd fiber intake.

Nut consumption reduced inflammatory markers like CRP"    IL6,fibrinogen.Overall reduced mortality in males with nut consumtion.