Healthy Food

A healthy diet is a useful and effective tool in preventing cardiovascular damage and slowing your progress along the cardiovascular continuum. Healthy eating should focus on reducing the three main risk factors: high salt, which can lead to hypertension; high blood cholesterol, which can lead to atherosclerosis; and high caloric content, which can lead to excess weight and further stress on the cardiovascular system. Start by reviewing all the foods you regularly consume during the course of a week, and rate the items for their nutritional value. By doing so, you can make decisions about how best to change and improve your diet. In general, processed and fast foods are poor choices as they are high in salt, calories, triglycerides, and saturated fats - a form of fat that is usually solid at room temperature. All animal fats are saturated and can increase blood cholesterol levels. It is always a good idea to read the packaging labels and be more aware of your choices; most brands offer low-salt, low-sugar, and/or additive-free options. Alternatively, use fresh ingredients and prepare the food yourself so that you can control the portion size and the nutritional content. Instead of getting protein from red meat, which is high in cholesterol and saturated fats, consider substituting poultry, legumes, soy products, or fish. Fish such as trout, salmon, tuna, are high in omega-3 fatty acids, which make blood less likely to clot, thus lowering the risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems. Omega-3 fatty acids also lower blood pressure and triglyceride levels, and increase "good" HDL cholesterol levels.

thevisualMD.com -

Papaya Cut in Half Revealing Black Seed

Photo of a papaya cut in half to show off its distinctive blacks seeds. Papaya is rich in Anti-oxidants, the B vitamins, folate and pantothenic acid; and the minerals, potassium and magnesium; and fiber. Together, "these nutrients promote the health of the cardiovascular system and also provide protection against colon cancer." In addition, papaya contains the digestive enzyme, papain, which is used like bromelain, a similar enzyme found in pineapple, to treat sports injuries, other causes of trauma, and allergies. Vitamin C and vitamin A, which is made in the body from the beta-carotene in papaya, are both needed for the proper function of a healthy immune system. Papaya may therefore be a healthy fruit choice for preventing such illnesses as recurrent ear infections, colds and flu.

Ethical Eating

Draft SOC Ethical Eating: Food & Environmental Justice

Food is essential for our survival and an important element in family and cultural life. Religions have devised food rules and rituals to promote group solidarity, to ensure human health, to hallow sentient life, and to provide food for the stranger and the poor. Religions have called for fasting as a spiritual discipline and prayers of petition and thanksgiving to God or gods for provision of food. In keeping with these religious traditions, we are called to address our relationship with food. All of our seven principles call for recognition of and respect for the other—other people and other organisms. Ethical eating is the application of that perspective to food. What and how we eat has broad implications for our planet and our human society.

Food production involving growing, processing, transporting and distributing has become an increasingly large industry worldwide. The mass production of food often maximizes production while minimizing cost. This mass production has greatly increased food supply, but can result in overuse of fertilizers and pesticides with crops and mistreatment of food animals and workers in food production. The concept of ethical eating calls on us to seek compassion, health and sustainability in the production of food we raise or purchase. Ethical eating requires us to respect the organisms we eat and to choose foods produced in humane ways, protective of the environment, consumers and all those involved in production. We share with the organisms we eat common ancestors and the miracle of life. Yet, we, like all animals, must take the lives of plants or animals to live. We should do that mindful of the care due the interdependent web of life to which we belong.

Selective breeding of crops and animals has greatly increased their productivity over many years. Recently, genetic engineering has allowed the introduction of specialized genes into food organisms to provide new attributes. Cloning of animals has also been achieved with some species. These developments may offer great promise, but must be evaluated for unintended consequences.

Many people do not have adequate food supplies, while others have a surplus. Some locations on earth are much more suitable for plant growth and animal production than others. Weather conditions and armed conflicts can also expose many people to starvation. Many people in this world live in poverty, which can lead to hunger. We believe everyone should receive enough food to meet their needs. Paradoxically, the lack of access to healthy food in poverty can lead to obesity with its health problems.

More food calories are available worldwide the lower on a food chain food is harvested. Food chains usually start with plants, which are eaten by herbivores, which are then eaten by carnivores. Large amounts of energy are lost going up each level of a food chain. Eating lower on a food chain will leave more calories for the human population. But, there are some nutritional benefits for an individual eating meat. Eating a pound of meat provides more calories and nutrients than does a pound of grain. Some of us believe that it is ethical only to eat plants while others of us believe that it is equally ethical to eat both plants and animals. All of us agree that food animals should be treated humanely. We do not call here for a single dietary approach. Rather, we encourage a knowledgeable choice of food based on an understanding of the health effects of a particular food and the consequences of production, worker treatment, and transportation methods. We commit to putting this reflection into action, recognizing that for many people this will entail a dramatic change in eating choices.

As individuals, and as assembled congregations, we face complex choices in selecting our food. Often all of our ethical eating values cannot be fully realized in a single instance. These values include: taste, selection, cost, human health, benign environmental effects, humane treatment of food animals, and fair treatment of farm and food workers. We are obligated to advance these values. Examples of these value trade-offs are:

Taste versus Price—Large-scale farming may need to sacrifice some taste to allow products to arrive in a saleable state at reasonable cost.

Selection versus Environmental Impact—Food distributors can purchase out-of–season products from foreign countries to improve selection, but must transport the product long distances, generating more carbon dioxide that contributes to global warming.

Price versus Health—Food producers can increase crop yields and animal weight gains using fertilizers, growth-promoters, pesticides or antibiotics to keep prices low, but residues of these treatments can be damaging to human health.

Price versus Pollution and Mistreatment of Animals—Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) can produce large quantities of food animals at low cost to the consumer, but their high volume of animal wastes often pollute surrounding waters.CAFOs for cattle, pigs, chickens and turkeys also produce large amounts of market-ready animals, but mistreat the animals to minimize costs.

Price verses Worker Welfare—Food distributors can provide low-priced food by paying farm workers and food-processing workers low wages with poor working conditions.

One common element to the negative consequences of large-scale food production is the effort to minimize costs. One solution to lessen the incentive to minimize costs is to provide a market for ethical foods where consumers are willing to pay more for food that tastes good and is good for animals, the environment and workers.

Classism, racism, sexism and other forms of oppression are deeply connected to economic justice which is a prime determinant of access to food. Some of us will not be able to pay more for ethical food. Others of us will. Yet, all of us can have a role in improving the ethics of food. We affirm that to fight for environmental and economic justice is inherently a fight against all forms of oppression. As a result, ethical eating requires different ways of thinking about these issues that reflect their interconnected nature, and understand that this work will require creativity, patience and resolve.

T O N G U E T I C K L E R S......: Cow is a mother indeed!

Cow is a mother indeed!

A well known 'weight-loss clinic' runner recently wrote an article lauding the properties of cow's milk. Most of the so called benefits seem to belong to an era when it was believed that human beings needed milk throughout their lives in order to survive the cycle of life. I am neither a nutritionist nor a doctor - just a sensible person who trusts her instincts and basic scientific understanding to make her own informed decisions. Ask yourselves a few questions and you will find that there is no end to which the Government, the dairy industry, doctors, manufacturers of milk powder and other milk products, and nutritionists will go to fool you. Sometimes of course it may be a case where they have been fooled into thinking the way they do.

Starting today onwards I am going to spend some time each week discussing the myths and facts about cow's milk.

Let's start at the very beginning.

The BIG MYTH
"The cow has been given the status of mother in our culture"

FACT
Indeed it has! Why our country? The whole world thinks of the cow as a 'mother'! Only no one thinks of weaning themselves from her milk and the poor animal ends up being just that - a mother who will spend her life feeding everyone except her calf.

These days the only life a cow lives is that of a lactating mother! A cow is a mother who is injected and impregnated. Once the calf is born and found a male, it is useless to the dairy industry, so it is left to die. Meanwhile the cow is used for her milk. A few months later like all mammals her milk supply slows down. Nature supplies only as much milk as is required by a mammal to triple the birth weight of her progeny. Once the cow shows signs of reduced milk supply it is time for her to be impregnated. Why bother about the mating season at all? After three such cycles of impregnation and lactation, the cow can no longer stand the torture. It is time for her to die. Who decides? The cattle masters do. The cow is sent on a death march.

The act of milking

Next time you watch a cow being milked, if you are a woman picture yourself and if you are a man, picture your mom. It is hard to watch or feel a mother whose breasts are pinched and pulled and she is constantly raped so that a billion people can feed themselves. Calling the breasts 'udders' does not change the act. When women suffer it we call it groping, raping or molestation. Is there a difference? No! Milking is molestation.

Odd that we treat the holy mother cow in the same manner and think of it as appropriate. So much for the holy mother!!

The simplest DIY I ever did. So proud of myself. Why didn't I think of this years ago? - Imgur

The simplest DIY I ever did. So proud of myself. Why didn't I think of this years ago? - Imgur

A taste of home-made bread

A taste of home-made bread

A taste of home-made bread

by Harini Prakash on 02 21st, 2011 | Comments (5)

Baking Focaccia, the final result. - Photo by Harini Prakash

Myth: I cannot make bread at home

Fact: Well, you definitely can and it is easier than baking a cake and, if you are going to make an excuse that your oven is small – think again. Breads can be made in small sizes too.

Myth: Breads should turn out soft

Fact: Not always. Artisan breads, loved the world over, have crusty tops and chewy insides.

Myth: I am not sure whether I can find the right ingredients

Fact: That’s one excuse no one is buying. All you need is flour, water and yeast, unless you are looking for something a little extra special. These are usually available in any kitchen.

So what is stopping you?

Now that you have geared up, let me warn you: you need love and patience. The bread dough needs to be handled like a baby to keep those yeast bubbles intact, and needs lots of time to rise. Another word of precaution: after eating home-made bread you might never again want store bought bread! I like to challenge people because it often brings out the best in us. Why not take a virtual trip to Italy with a tasty and simple Focaccia? I have added tips, notes and observations wherever possible but if you still have doubts, we have the comment box below where you can ask me more about the making of this bread.

Focaccia is flat bread from Italy and resembles a pizza, but is quite different. It has generous doses of olive oil and herb toppings which impart a strong flavour to the bread and this is what sets it apart from others.

My recipe below is adapted from the methods followed by two master bakers – Peter Rhinehart and Julia Child. There are many ways to make a quick Focaccia but the one I am sharing, is time consuming. However in the end this will prove worth the wait. Quick rise Focaccia can never match the flavour or texture of a pre-fermented one. ‘Poolish’ is the term used to describe the starter dough that needs to be made the night before. You can use room temperature water for the poolish, but since the weather is cold I prefer using lukewarm water during this season.

Focaccia Bread
Recipe adapted from Peter Rhinehart and Julia Child
Yield: 12 pieces measuring about 3 inches each

Ingredients:

For the poolish or pre-ferment (to be made the night before)

1.5 cups all-purpose flour (refined flour)
¾ cup lukewarm water (room temperature in warm climate)
¼ tsp. active dry yeast

For the bread (to be mixed the next morning)
The poolish from the night before
2 cups all-purpose flour
1.5 tsp. salt (I use pink salt but any salt is fine)1 tsp. active dry yeast2 or 3 tbsp. olive oil
½ cup lukewarm water (since the temperatures are cooler in winter)

For the herb oil:

¼ cup olive oil
Finely chopped sage leaves and chives – 3 tbsp.
You can use herbs of your choice such as rosemary, thyme or even coriander. I use fresh herbs as they are very easily available but dried ones work well too. If using dried herbs reduce quantity by half the measure.

For topping:
7-8 cloves of garlic, cut laterally and then cut into thin slivers (optional, but highly recommended)

Method:

Day 1: Make the poolish

Mix the yeast in three tablespoons of warm water (if you dip your finger in the water it should feel more than warm but not very hot) and set aside until the yeast mixture froths. I cover a hot cooking pan with plate and keep the yeast on top of this during winters to froth. In warmer temperatures, it will easily activate in room temperature as well.

Take the flour in a medium-sized bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour the frothy yeast mixture.

Mix the rest of the water and oil together. Pour over the yeast mixture. Mix the two liquids well with a wooden spoon, making sure that the ‘well’ remains intact.

Stir in the flour from the sides of the bowl little by little into the centre until all the flour is incorporated. If the consistency is very thick, add two tablespoons of water and mix gently to get a uniformly thick and sticky batter.

Cover and rest overnight to ferment.

Next morning the poolish will smell fermented and look very bubbly. If you mix it gently and try to lift the batter, it will be very adhesive and strong.

Day 2: Making the bread

Use the ingredients listed for the bread now.

Froth the yeast as you did before.

Mix the flour and salt in a wide mixing bowl or platter. Add the poolish, yeast mixture and water.

Start by stirring the ingredients together until well combined. Now beat in a clockwise direction for two minutes. Gather the flour stuck on the sides and stir in an anti-clockwise direction for another two minutes. Repeat in clockwise direction again, gathering the dough on the sides of the vessel into the centre. After 7-10 minutes you will find that the batter will become more elastic, leaving the sides of the vessel but still sticking to the bottom. It will still not be firm and will be a little drippy.

Leave it covered with cling film for one hour in a draught free area. This will be the first rise.

After one hour remove the cling film. The batter will not be firm but easier to handle. Bring the batter in a rectangular shape with oiled palms. Pour two tablespoons of olive oil around the batter. Place the bowl so that the longer side of the rectangle is in front of you. Slowly place both your hands on either side of the dough and gently stretch it away from you. Be careful not to poke or tear the dough as this will damage the yeast bubbles that have formed. Stretch it as far it goes without tearing. Fold it back over the dough. Now turn the bowl 180 degrees and repeat the stretching and folding. Cover the bowl with oiled cling film and let rest for 30 minutes. This will be your second rise.

Bring the batter in a rectangular shape with oiled palms. - Photo by Harini Prakash

After 30 minutes, repeat the stretching and folding but this time the stretching should be done on the opposite sides of the batter. After each rise you will find that the dough has become firmer and offers more resistance to stretching. This is normal and is exactly what you want to achieve. Cover with an oiled cling film and leave to rest in a draught free spot for 30 minutes. This will be the third rise. Handle carefully and see that your palms are well-oiled.

In between the rises you should have your herb oil ready. Simply heat the oil and add the finely chopped herbs. When the colour of the oil changes slightly, take it off the stove and let it cool.

On the fourth and final time of folding, leave the batter to rest for one hour. Handle carefully and always use oiled palms.

After one hour, the batter will be firm, with bubbles on the sides and the surface also. It should be about an inch thick. These are the signs of a good Focaccia. Do not burst those bubbles; they must be intact if you want to form a well-textured Focaccia. At this stage you can bake it immediately or refrigerate the dough for three days and use it as and when you need. You can cut the dough into two and refrigerate one part. Again, handle carefully and with well-oiled palms.

If refrigerating, use individual containers with oiled base and cover with oiled cling film. If not, go to the next step directly. I like to refrigerate and bake the bread a day later as this gives a sour flavour.

On the day of baking, pre-heat your oven for ten minutes to 250 degrees Celsius with the rack placed in the centre of the oven.

If you are baking on the same day, the dough will already be at room temperature. Oil your baking tray well. Lift the dough very carefully and lay it on the tray. Spread your palms and hold your fingertips directly over the dough. Quickly but gently dimple the surface of the dough, flattening it as you go, so that the dough fills the tray (not necessary except for the aesthetic value) and has an surface. If the dough has been refrigerated, then let it thaw for two to three hours naturally until it reaches room temperature.

Pour the herb oil all over the surface and use a pastry brush to cover it evenly so that the herb fills the whole area. The oil may form little pools over the dimples which is exactly what you want. Sprinkle slivered garlic evenly over the bread. Again, be very careful with the yeast bubbles.

After placing the tray in the oven, reduce the temperature to 230 degrees Celsius. Let it bake for 20 minutes or until the surface is evenly brown and the garlic is roasted to a golden colour. If your oven works unevenly, rotate the pan after the first fifteen minutes by 90 degrees and continue baking until done.

Every oven has a different temperature setting, so, if after 20 minutes the surface has not browned, increase the temperature by ten degrees and check every five minutes until done.

Remove and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. You can cut it into squares in the pan itself and serve or remove the entire Focaccia out of the pan carefully and then cut into squares. Do not leave it in the pan for very long as the underside will sweat and turn soggy.

You can serve this as a snack, cut it and fill like a sandwich or serve it for lunch or dinner with a soup.

I said it requires patience. Now you know why! But one bite into the crisp crust, and the chewy interior full of holes and you will never regret making this!

Harini Prakash aka Sunshinemom, is an amateur vegan food writer and photographer who is always keen to learn more. She blogs at: TONGUE TICKLERS

Speaking of Science: Why are chillies hot?

Speaking of Science: Why are chillies hot?

WHY ARE fruits pleasant to smell and nice to taste? It is an evolutionary survival strategy. The smell entices birds and animals to come and eat the fruit. The seeds within are properly packed so that they are not all eaten but dispersed through the plumbing line of the eater. In so passing through the animal, the seed gets ever-so-lightly processed by mechanical and enzymatic means, so that when it is dropped on the soil, it is ready for germinating and generating a new plant. The sweetness of the fruit pulp and its attractive smell are the "come hither" signals in the self-propagation game played by the "selfish gene" of the plant.

Yet there is a seeming paradox that we encounter in the case of some fruits. The jackfruit has a forbiddingly thick skin, which needs to be taken care of first. The fibre netting covering the fruit needs to be pried open next, and the pleasantly pungent smell of the pulp enjoyed (or tolerated) before the pulp is eaten. The seed that you dig out of all this labour is hard; more a nut than a seed so that it can be roasted, or dried and powdered, and consumed. Having been so endowed by nature, the jackfruit has to adopt a propagation strategy very different from the grape. And it does. The case of the resinous fruit of Ramphal or the Vilva tree, with fruits hard and round as cricket balls, is equally paradoxical. Sir Isaac Newton was lucky not to have sat under one of these trees, and to have chosen an apple tree. The gravity of the consequences would have led to a delay in our understanding of the phenomenon of gravity, and even other aspects of physics such as the laws of motion and the nature of light.

There is a remarkable tree called Ginkgo biloba, also called the Chinese Yew or the maidenhair tree. Botanists believe that it might be the oldest living species of trees in the world. It is so sturdy and resilient that apparently it was the first vegetation to return to the soil of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the atom bomb devastated the land there. The fan-like leaves of the ginkgo tree are a veritable pharmacopea of substances that are beneficial to human health. But take care not to go too near a female ginkgo tree when she fruits! They fall on the ground below, crack open and emit an odour that is nauseatingly reminiscent of human excrement! The landscape gardeners of the city of Washington DC were keenly aware of this, and took care to plant only male ginkgo trees to line the avenues making up Lafayette Square near the White House. The avenues are majestic, the trees are dark and deep, and the only stink you experience around there comes from the politics of the neighbourhood.

It is clear that the plant scientists have an interesting puzzle on their hands. The fruit of a tree is meant to facilitate seed dispersal by the consumer (The use of this word here is technical. Scientists also classify seed predators and dispersers among the consumers). Yet the fruit in several cases seems not to it this easy, and throws a googly. The chilli plant is a case in point. The fruit looks nicely coloured, has a mildly attractive scent but take a bite {frac12} it bites you back with its spicy "heat"! How is an animal or bird supposed to disperse its seeds, if the fruit intimidates and repels the consumer with its heat? Drs. Joshua Tewksbury of the University of Florida and Gary Nabhan of the Northern Arizona University in the US got together to crack this paradox, and report their findings in Nature (26 July, 2001).

The substances responsible for the spicy hotness flavour of the chilli is called capsaicin. Four years ago, Dr. David Julius and associates at the University of California at San Francisco showed that capsaicin goes and sits at one of the taste receptor protein molecules inside our mouth, and generates a sensation of intense heat and some pain. Laboratory studies by Drs. J. R. Mason, L. Clark and associates had shown that capsaicin has the property of repelling or poisoning mammals but not birds. (On an aside, we humans are so quirky. Capsaicin is meant to repel us. Yet we desire it and find vicarious pleasure in eating it, and spicing our food with it. Such acts of living dangerously, or machismo, is a mild form of showing off, or advertising to the opposite sex that you are so strong and healthy that you can withstand such punishing acts. The conclusion you would like drawn out of this is that your genes are superior and that it is worth breeding with you). This selectivity in toxicity has been explained by ecologists as a form of survival strategy termed "directed deterrence". Capsaicin deters animals that tend to eat off the whole fruit-pulp, seed and all. On the other hand, birds eat the fruit and drop off or disperse the seeds. This is precisely what the chilli plant would like {frac12} disperse its seeds so that propagation can occur. If the seed were not dispersed but predated, it is the end of the line for the plant. Directed deterrence operates in a manner that selectively discourages seed predators, and lets beneficial seed dispersers do their job! After all, the function of a fruit is to facilitate seed dispersal. The role of capsaicin may be understood then as a selective deterrent: Mammals no, Birds welcome!

Drs. Tewksburry and Nabhan planned and conducted a series of experiments to verify the features of the directed deterrence hypothesis. First, they investigated a grove of about 150 chilli plants (for those who are finicky about which plant, the chillies they used were the ones that grow in the wild. The pods are very small and very spicy; they have lots of capsaicin), using video cameras. During the day, it was only birds that came over to feed on the plant. Of the birds, it was the Curve-billed Thrasher bird that polished off most of the chillies. No animals, bingo! But then, the animals that feed on such plants in the Arizona desert where the experiments were conducted, are nocturnal ones such as the cactus mice and the packrat. A truly complete experiment would be one that looks at these night- raiders as well. In order to do so, the scientists offered fruits of both chilli and desert hackberry (the most common fruiting plant of the area) on the experimental sites. They found that during the day, both fruit types were removed in equal amounts. At night, only hackberry fruits were eaten and the chillies left alone. What do these observations mean? During the day, the mice and rats do not come out and the birds eat both the berries and the chillies, with no special preference or deterrence. At night, the birds are gone and the mammals feast of the berries and avoid the chillies.

Is it the capsaicin that deters the animals? Will they eat capsaicin-free chillies? Happily enough, such a toothless tiger is available. One particular variety of chilli, called capsicum chacoense, is known which is similar in size, shape, colour and nutritive content to the more common C. annuum, but is nonpungent because it is a capsaicin-free mutant. (See how useful mutants can be in studies of this kind? Also, as one who likes the smell, taste and flavour of chillies but cannot handle their pungency or `heat', I shall write to Dr Tewksbury and get hold of C. chacoense to grow in our backyard, after obtaining my fire-eater wife's permission). When the sites included all three fruits- the hot, non-hot chillies and blackberries, birds polished all the three with no special preference At nights, rats and mice went for berries and the non-hot chillies; but once they tasted the pungent variety (could not tell ahead of time, since they all look alike) they stopped eating all chillies- hot or not! The capsaicin that they bit on stimulated their sensory receptor and caused them to quit and cool off. Thus, capsaicin selectively influences the feeding preferences of consumers.

There is a further twist to the story. The directed deterrence idea holds that the rats and mice (deterred species) should be seed predators. They should destroy the seed and make it unfit for germination, whereas the undeterred species (the birds) should be seed dispersers. They would be expected to drop the seed unhurt, or even aid it by chemically preparing it and priming it better for germination, and also deposit it in a spot favourable for germination. The scientist{frac12} duo tested this point by looking at the germination profiles of the pungent and the harmless chillies and the berries. What they found was that the chacoense pepper seeds that came thorough the rats did not germinate at all, but the ones that came through the thrashers did as well as control seeds (those planted directly from fruit). Also, even the pungent chilli seeds that came through the gut of the thrasher were seen to be able to germinate just as well.

Thrasher birds seem to do one other quid-pro-quo to the chillies. They drop them often under the shades of other shrubs. Such an environment increases the survival of the seedling. We thus have a case here of not only directed deterrence by the plant but also directed dispersal by the consumer. This is an example of the "made for each other" type mutual help between animals and plants. To be sure, neither of them is deliberately altruistic. Each has evolved to benefit itself in the game of life. Selective deterrence of the capsaicin in the chilli keeps the predator away, but not the bird. The bird tends to benefit from this since it can eat more chillies without being bothered by the capsaicin. The dispersal strategy of the bird happens to benefit the plant; the birds fly to the shrubs looking for food there and happen to drop the chilli seeds in the germination- helpful soil there. Interaction between the two species ends up benefiting both. And what do we humans do? First of all, we no longer disperse seeds in the wild or the open. This is a distinct disadvantage to the plant. Secondly, we select and breed seedless fruits such as grapes and oranges {frac12} "directed consumption". (I wonder what the anti-GM-food and nature-food people have to say about this practice).

Talking of evolution and co evolution, different mutants of the chilli and so on, it occurs to me that the ancestor chili plant, the mother of them all, would not have had capsaicin in it. This molecule and its associated pungency would have been the result of one or more mutations that let the mutant plant deter predators and gain survival advantage. In time, mutants of this kind would have flourished while the ancestral and capsaicin-free variety would have been sidelined. Dr. Tewksbury tells me that the molecular ancestry of the chilli is being worked out using DNA analysis. It appears that capsaicin-like molecules may have evolved twice, and that they have been lost at least that many times, all within the familiy of plants loosely called capsicum peppers. There is a closey allied species that is also not pungent, and it may be very close to the most ancestral chilli, without the heat. He is going over this winter to Bolivia to seek it out.

D. Balasubramanian

L. V. Prasad Eye Institute

Hyderabad 500 034

Changes in the Indian menu over the ages Changes in the Indian menu over the ages

Date:21/10/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/seta/2004/10/21/stories/2004102100111600.htm Changes in the Indian menu over the ages IT WAS two years ago that we lost the eminent food scientist Dr. K.T. Achaya. His books — Indian Food, A Historical Companion, The Food Industries of British India, and A Historical Dictionary of Indian Food (all published by Oxford University Press, India) — are a scholarly fund of the history and development of India cuisine. Occasional shock They educate as they enlighten and entertain, and occasionally shock us. For example, he points out authoritatively that while Dosai and Vadai have a hoary two-thousand-year history in Tamil country, Idli is a foreign import. The earliest reference to something of a precursor to Idli occurs in the Kannada writing of Sivakotyacharya in 920 AD, and in the subsequent Sanskrit Manasollasa (1130 AD). But the three elements of modern Idli making are missing in these references: use of rice grits along with urad dal, the long fermentation of the mix, and steaming the batter to fluffiness. Indeed, the Chinese chronicler Xuang Zang (7th century AD) categorically stated that there were no steaming vessels in India. Achaya writes that the cooks who accompanied the Hindu Kings of Indonesia between 800-1200 AD, brought fermentation and steaming methods and their dish Kedli to South India (Thirai Kadal Odiyum Tinpandam Thedu!) Happily enough, ancient Indian literature left a lot of information on extant vegetables, pulses, meat, spices, fruits, cooking methods, and even an occasional recipe or two. The history of Indian cuisine can be divided into several stages or periods. The earliest period is before 1500 BC or the Vedic period. The Harappan civilization was known to have rice, barley, wheat, oat, amaranths, jowar, sesame, mustard, chickpeas, masoor, mung and horsegram (kulti, ulavulu), dates, pomegranates, and perhaps bananas. Bones of numerous animals attest to meat (and fish) eating. The large granaries of Mohenjodaro, Harappa and Lothal attest to a sophisticated, aerated, rodent-free storage practice. But, as of date, no recipe has been discovered so that we do not know what a typical Indus valley supper menu contained. Vedic period We are more fortunate when we turn to the Vedic period (approximately 1700 BC). The Rig Veda mentions rice, cereals and pulses (masha (urad), mudga (moong) and masura (masoor)) green leafy vegetables (spinach), melons, pumpkins and gourds and in particular lotus stem, cucumber, bottle-gourd, water chestnut, bitter gourd (karavella), radish, brinjal, some aquatic plants (avaka, andika), and fruits such as mangoes, oranges and grapes. Spices such as coriander, turmeric, pepper, cumin, asafoetida, cloves, sesame and mustard were well known, and at least the first four ones are thought to be Indian in origin. Meat eating was prevalent. Pigs, boar, deer, bovines and peacocks were eaten, though chicken (which, though originated in India) was not that desirable. They seem to have been forbidden or discouraged from eating eggs of any kind and in any manner. As we move further down to the period of the Ramayana and Mahabharata (probably around 1400 BC, though Valmiki and Vyasa are regarded to have written them around 400 BC), we find a far richer fare. Lords Rama, Lakshmana and Devi Sita ate a vast menu that contained fruits, leafy vegetables, rice and meat. Achaya quotes a book stating that Rama and Lakshmana, while in exile at Dandakaranya, hunted animals for the pot, and that a favourite of Sita was rice cooked with venison, vegetables and spices (the dish called Mamsabhutadana). Of course, Lord Rama enjoyed eating the fruit ber (zizyphus) that Sabari tasted and gave him. Turning to Mahabharata, a graphic description of cooking at a picnic has been provided on roasting large pieces of meat on spits, cooked with tamarind, pomegranates and spices with ghee and fragrant leaves. King Yudishtira is said to have fed 10,000 scholars with pork and venison, besides preparation of rice and milk in ghee and honey with fruits and roots (Payasam). It was after this time that a change in our food habits occurred. The Dharma Sutras, Manusmriti and related texts of 500-300 BC began forbidding and proscribing food items based on their `temper' (sattvik — peaceful and ascetic, rajasik medium, energetic that can be either positive or negative, and tamasic or coarse, rough and not all that nice), and prohibiting as many as 54 items (in particular a variety of animals) from the `proper' kitchen. The teachings of Buddhism and Jainism against meat eating had taken hold by this time, and a turn towards preferential vegetarianism began to be expressed in Hindu texts as well. These, plus the diktats on satvik, rajasic, and tamasic practices changed the face of Indian gastronomy already around 300 BC. Ancient Tamil food The earliest Tamil writings are traced to about 300 BC, but references to edibles and food habits abound in literature between 100 BC and 300 AD (Idaicchangam). Dosai and Vadai, as said above, were popular. Tamils ate meals of all kinds, as well as fish. Condiments, spices, vegetables and pulses mentioned here are the same as those in contemporary `northern' literature. The three great Tamil fruits were of course, mango, jackfruit and bananas. Tamarind rice figures extensively, as also a drink made with tamarind and nellikai (gooseberry). Leafy greens (keerai), gourds, drumsticks and the three pulses were widely used. So were rice and curd, and vadai soaked in curds — no wonder we are still known as Thayirvadais. It was only when immigrants entered Tamil country (ca. 700 AD) that vegetarianism seems to have taken hold here. Not mostly vegetarian Contrary to popular belief, India is not a predominantly vegetarian country. But a quarter of the population is reckoned, based on census data, to be vegetarian. 69 per cent of Gujarat is vegetarian, 60 per cent of Rajasthan, 54 per cent of Punjab-Haryana, 50 per cent of Uttar Pradesh, 45 per cent of Madhya Pradesh, 34 per cent of Karnataka, 30 per cent of Maharashtra, 21per cent of Tamil Nadu, 16 per cent of Andhra Pradesh, 15 per cent of Assam, while but 6 per cent in Kerala, Orissa and West Bengal are veggies. While part of this vegetarianism is economic, a more compelling force is ethical and even religious. Jains avoid meat totally while many Buddhists in India are vegetarians. Brahmins, Saivite non-Brahmins of South India and several Vaishnavite sects across the country avoid meat. Interestingly though Brahmins of East India, Kashmir and the Saraswats of the Southwest are allowed fish and some meat. Even among meat-eaters, beef was and is taboo. This practice seems to be at least 2000 years old (Achaya quotes DD Kosambi, who quotes the Vedic sage Yagnavalkya as preferring it. Vasishta, Gautama, Apasthamba and Baudhayana, in their Sutras (ca. 300 BC) prohibit killing cows and oxen and eating beef. It had become prevalent by 1100 AD across India, since Al-Biruni wrote that while beef eating was prevalent earlier, it was not allowed later. He gives economic, ethical and respect for its use as reasons. Emperor Humayun (16th century) is quoted as saying "beef is not a food fit for the devout" and avoided it. Akbar too was similarly respectful. And while Tamils of the Sangam period relished beef (Perumpanooru describes it), it became taboo or discouraged after the advent of people from elsewhere. As a result, much of India and certainly many Hindu communities avoid beef eating. Debate meaningless To my mind, debate about this issue today is meaningless and only inflammatory. We respect people and adore gods not for what they eat but what they stand for and teach us. To think and act otherwise is immature and infantile. (To be concluded) D. Balasubramanian dbala@lvpei.org

Learn the ten principles of intuitive eating (Opinion)

Friday, February 18, 2011 by: Elizabeth Walling


(NaturalNews) Intuitive eating is a process that helps you learn how to listen to your body`s cues for hunger and satisfaction. Basically, it means eating when your are hungry and then stopping when you are full. But it also means enjoying food without feeling deprived or guilty.

Developed by dietician Evelyn Tribole and nutrition therapist Elyse Resh, intuitive eating teaches people to create a healthier relationship between their minds, bodies, and the food they eat. It is based on studies of the eating habits of children, who seem better able to regulate their eating habits in a healthy manner.

Tribole and Resh have developed ten principles for intuitive eating:

1. Reject the diet mentality. Get rid of diet books. Abandon the idea that new diets will work and instead rediscover the body`s true need for nourishment.

2. Honor hunger by responding to the body`s first signal that it needs fuel. Once identified, hunger should be sated with the right foods, allowing the mind to rebuild a sense of trust between itself and food.

3. Make peace with food. It`s okay to eat any food that is desired. Depriving oneself of a particular food leads to cravings that bring on overeating and, subsequently, guilt that destroys any trust you`ve developed between you and your body.

4. Challenge the food police inside your mind. These internal monitors are the ones that make you feel like a bad person for eating certain foods. Food police actually do more harm than good, generating a never ending cycle of cravings and guilt.

5. Respect your fullness. That means listening to the body`s signals that indicate it`s no longer hungry. This takes time to develop and works best when you slow down and eat mindfully.

6. Discover your satisfaction factor. Choose foods that you truly enjoy eating, and eat them in a pleasant environment (no standing in front of the refrigerator eating food right out of the container). This satisfying experience allows one to recognize when one has eaten enough.

7. Honor your feelings without using food as your sole device of comfort. If food is the only way you comfort yourself when you experience negative emotions, then your relationship with food will be distorted. Find a variety of ways to deal with your emotions to prevent you from using food as a crutch.

8. Respect your body. Each person has her own genetic disposition to size and shape. Accepting what cannot be changed will make a person more successful at managing food intake. Hating your body is a stress that will impact your appetite and your health in a negative way.

9. Exercise and feel its effects. People who focus on how their bodies move instead of on burning calories will be more motivated to keep moving. Learn to enjoy being active because it makes you feel strong, free and energetic. Forced exercise is not the answer, but the desire to move is instinctual and will return naturally when you allow yourself to feel it without pressure.

10. Honor your health with gentle nutrition. It`s okay to learn about nutrition and allow this to affect your food choices. However, it`s important to avoid the obsession of trying to follow a perfect diet. Perfection will not result in true health. Instead, keep in mind that balance is a vital key to healthy living.

Further Reading:

http://www.intuitiveeating.org/cont...

http://www.healthieroutcomes.com/wh...

https://www.diet.com/store/facts/intuitive-...

Does eating junk food give one a low IQ does one eat junk food because of a low IQ..?

Junk food diet linked to lower IQ | Raw Story

By Agence France-Presse
Tuesday, February 8th, 2011 -- 8:21 am

PARIS – Toddlers who have a diet high in processed foods may have a slightly lower IQ in later life, according to a British study described as the biggest research of its kind.

The conclusion, published on Monday, comes from a long-term investigation into 14,000 people born in western England in 1991 and 1992 whose health and well-being were monitored at the ages of three, four, seven and eight and a half.

Parents of the children were asked to fill out questionnaires that, among other things, detailed the kind of food and drink their children consumed.

Three dietary patterns emerged: one was high in processed fats and sugar; then there was a "traditional" diet high in meat and vegetables; and finally a "health-conscious" diet with lots of salad, fruit and vegetables, pasta and rice.

When the children were eight and a half, their IQ was measured using a standard tool called the Wechsler Intelligence Scale.

Of the 4,000 children for which there were complete data, there was a significant difference in IQ among those who had had the "processed" as opposed to the "health-conscious" diets in early childhood.

The 20 percent of children who ate the most processed food had an average IQ of 101 points, compared with 106 for the 20 percent of children who ate the most "health-conscious" food.

"It's a very small difference, it's not a vast difference," said one of the authors, Pauline Emmett of the School of Social and Community Medicine at the University of Bristol.

"But it does make them less able to cope with education, less able to cope with some of the things in life."

The association between IQ and nutrition is a strongly debated issue because it can be skewed by many factors, including economic and social background.

A middle-class family, for instance, may arguably be more keen (or more financially able) to put a healthier meal on the table, or be pushier about stimulating their child, compared to a poorer household.

Emmett said the team took special care to filter out such confounders.

"We have controlled for maternal education, for maternal social class, age, whether they live in council housing, life events, anything going wrong, the home environment, with books and use of television and things like that," she said.

The size of the study, too, was unprecedented.

"It's a huge sample, it's much much bigger than anything anyone else has done," she said in an interview with AFP.

Emmett said further work was needed to see whether this apparent impact on IQ persisted as the children got older.

Asked why junk food had such an effect, she suggested a diet that was preponderantly processed could lack vital vitamins and elements for cerebral development at a key stage in early childhood.

"A junk food diet is not conducive to good brain development," she said.

The paper appears in the peer-reviewed Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, published by the British Medical Association (BMA).

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The function of the appendix seems related to the massive amount of bacteria populating the human digestive system, according to the study in the Journal of Theoretical Biology. There are more bacteria than human cells in the typical body. Most are good and help digest food.

But sometimes the flora of bacteria in the intestines die or are purged. Diseases such as cholera or amoebic dysentery would clear the gut of useful bacteria. The appendix's job is to reboot the digestive system in that case.

The appendix "acts as a good safe house for bacteria," said Duke surgery professor Bill Parker, a study co-author. Its location _ just below the normal one-way flow of food and germs in the large intestine in a sort of gut cul-de-sac -- helps support the theory, he said.

Also, the worm-shaped organ outgrowth acts like a bacteria factory, cultivating the good germs, Parker said.

That use is not needed in a modern industrialized society, Parker said.

If a person's gut flora dies, it can usually be repopulated easily with germs they pick up from other people, he said. But before dense populations in modern times and during epidemics of cholera that affected a whole region, it wasn't as easy to grow back that bacteria and the appendix came in handy.

This is consistent with what I heard about the homologue of the appendix in the beaver. In the beaver, the organ is called the caecum, and it houses symbiontic bacteria that transform wood into sugar. Although humans appear not to have special symbionts living only in the appendix, it seems reasonable for the appendix to have a function related to symbiotic bacteria.

Chefs Who Love Cabbage - NYTimes.com

Chefs Who Love Cabbage - NYTimes.com

Cabbage’s Sweet Side

By ELAINE LOUIE

CHEFS praise cabbage. They embrace its sweetness. They delight in its crunch in raw slaws and its melting smoothness in cold-weather braises.

More often than not, their customers do not share this love.

“I personally love cabbage,” said Floyd Cardoz, who was the executive chef of Tabla in Manhattan until it closed last month. He offered lightly caramelized cabbage wedges that had been spiced with cloves, black mustard seeds, shallots, garlic and ginger. Mr. Cardoz brought out the sweetness of the cabbage, and in the plating of it, its beauty. But few people ordered it.

“They have eaten overcooked cabbage so often, they begin to hate the mushiness and the smell,” he said.

Cabbage is often an unloved, homely vegetable. It’s smelly. It’s cheap. It’s the food of the poor. But those who can get past this initial aversion know it as one of winter’s quiet overachievers.

Right now, when green beans are selling for $4 a pound, and baby spinach for $9 a pound, red and green cabbages from local farms can be had for around 75 to 99 cents a pound. The low price is in part a reflection of cabbage’s longevity. It stays fresh in the refrigerator from two to five weeks, and even longer in farmers’ bins.

The winter cabbage is a “storage cabbage,” said Joe O’Brien, the owner of Healthway Farms in Highland, N.Y., who sells red and green cabbages at the Union Square Greenmarket after stripping off their outer leaves and trimming them down. “They’re bred for flavor, and picked in the fall,” he said. “These are harder and more dense than summer cabbages, which are softer.”

The cabbage is also a sturdy ball of healthfulness, since it is high in vitamin C and in dietary fiber. It has also been linked to protection against cancer.

All those virtues do not make it an easier sell. Marcus Samuelsson, the chef and an owner of Red Rooster Harlem, said, “Cabbage always reminds people of poverty, when people are limited by food.” Optimistically, he suggested that this may be changing. “We’ve come so far with food, we’ve gone full circle; that the fried chicken, the meatballs, are comfort food,” he said. “And cabbage is also comfort food.”

Mr. Samuelsson, who was born in Ethiopia, makes a dish traditional there that he calls simply warm cabbage and green beans. In Ethiopia, braised cabbage is “poor man’s cooking,” he said. “For fine people, the big pieces of meat and fish came later.” Despite its humble roots, the braise is quite rich, with a subtle and harmonious use of spices.

Clarified butter is simmered with ginger, fenugreek, cumin, cardamom, oregano and basil. More spices are added: garlic; mustard seeds; turmeric; berbere, the Ethiopian spice mix; cardamom; ginger; and nigella sativa. In this profusion, no spice stands out. All meld.

The dish is usually eaten with injera, the slightly sour, spongy Ethiopian flat bread, but it is perfectly good with rice. (It also tastes even better the second day, and the third.)

Zoe Feigenbaum, executive chef at The National on the Lower East Side, says cabbage’s ubiquity hurts its reputation. “Because it’s so plentiful and accessible and cheap, people seek things that are more rare and glamorous, like artichokes, morels and kabocha squash,” she said.

At the restaurant, she pays homage to her late grandmother, Bess Feigenbaum, who served her stuffed cabbage with a sweet-and-sour sauce made of tomatoes, brown sugar, lemon juice, raisins, tomatoes and ketchup. Ms. Feigenbaum transforms her grandmother’s sauce into a cabbage soup with a deeply traditional Jewish flavor.

Because the United States does not have a strong cabbage culture, “people don’t recognize its potential,” Ms. Feigenbaum said. “But as far as my Jewish family is concerned, cabbage soup is a year-round delight.”

Celery Root, Potato and Apple Purée - Recipes for Health - NYTimes.com

Celery Root, Potato and Apple Purée - Recipes for Health - NYTimes.com

Celery Root, Potato and Apple Purée

By MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN

Classic celery root and potato purées combine two parts potatoes with one part celery root. I’ve reversed the proportion here for a lighter purée that also incorporates apple — the “secret ingredient." Rather than milk, I usually use the broth from the celery root and apples.

1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into large pieces

2 large celery roots, about 2 pounds, peeled and cut into large pieces

1 large or 2 small tart apples, such as a Granny Smith, peeled, cored and quartered

1/2 cup, approximately, warm milk or broth from the celery root

2 tablespoons butter or walnut oil (or a combination)

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Place the potatoes in one saucepan and the celery root and apples in another. Add salt to taste to each, about 1/2 teaspoon. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

2. Drain the potatoes, and return to the pot. Cover tightly, and allow to sit for five minutes to steam and dry out. Drain the celery root and apples through a strainer set over a bowl. Purée all of the produce using a food mill or a potato ricer. Stir together, and whisk in the milk or the broth until the mixture is fluffy. Add the butter or walnut oil to the hot purée, stir until the butter melts, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Yield: Serves six.

Advance preparation: You can make this up to an hour before serving. Make sure to have some extra broth or milk on hand to thin out the purée, as it will stiffen as it cools. Reheat gently on top of the stove.

Nutritional information per serving: 185 calories; 5 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 11 milligrams cholesterol; 34 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 192 milligrams sodium (does not include salt to taste); 5 grams protein

Slow-Baked Beans With Kale - Recipes for Health - NYTimes.com

Slow-Baked Beans With Kale - Recipes for Health - NYTimes.com

February 1, 2011

Slow-Baked Beans With Kale

By MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN

Beans baked very slowly for several hours develop a creamy texture, while the liquid they cook in, which thickens to a syrup, acquires a caramelized flavor. The kale practically melts in this casserole, going from bitter to sweet. I love using lima beans in this dish because they’re so big and their texture is so luxurious.

1 bunch kale, stemmed and washed in two changes of water

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 rib celery, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 2/3 cups white beans (3/4 pound) or dried lima beans, picked over and soaked for at least four hours and drained

1 6-ounce can tomato paste, dissolved in 1 cup water

3 cups additional water

A bouquet garni consisting of 4 parsley sprigs, 2 thyme sprigs and a bay leaf

1 teaspoon herbes de Provence

Salt and a generous amount of freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt generously and add the kale. Blanch for two minutes, then transfer to a bowl of ice water. Drain, squeeze out water and cut into ribbons. Set aside. (I blanch the kale to extract some of the bitterness, but you can skip this step if you wish).

2. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat in a large ovenproof casserole. Add the onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring often, until the onion is tender, about five minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds to a minute. Add the dissolved tomato paste, and bring to a simmer.

3. Add the drained beans, the remaining water, the bouquet garni, herbes de Provence and salt and pepper.. Stir in the kale, bring to a simmer, cover and place in the oven. Bake three hours until the beans are tender and creamy. Taste and adjust salt.

4. Mix together the remaining olive oil and the bread crumbs. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the beans, and continue to bake another 30 minutes to an hour until the bread crumbs are lightly browned. Remove from the heat and serve; or allow to cool slightly and serve.

Yield: Serves six.

Advance preparation: You can make this recipe through Step 3 and store it in the refrigerator up to four days ahead of serving. Top with the bread crumbs, and reheat in a 350-degree oven for 15 minutes until the beans are bubbling and the bread crumbs lightly browned.

Nutritional information per serving (six servings): 370 calories; 8 grams fat (1 gram saturated fat); 0 milligrams cholesterol; 58 grams carbohydrates; 12 grams dietary fiber; 191 milligrams sodium (does not include salt to taste); 19 grams protein

Martha Rose Shulman is the author of "The Very Best of Recipes for Health."

Dr. Dean Ornish: Atkins Diet Increases All-Cause Mortality

Dr. Dean Ornish: Atkins Diet Increases All-Cause Mortality