I actually did it. Made mozzarella in my kitchen.
When I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by B. Kingsolver, I was intrigued by the act of making cheese in her kitchen. I went to the website www.cheesemaking.com which is the home of the New England Cheesemaking Company and ordered a mozzarella kit. It was simple enough - citrus acid and rennet tablets along with a dairy thermometer. All I needed was a gallon of whole milk (not ultra-pasteurized) and some non-chlorinated water. A half hour later i had cheese!
My husband asked me why I would want to make my own cheese. I mean, it's in the store right? Wasn't it a lot of trouble for a little over a half pound of funny looking mozzarella balls? I smiled and said - well, the market's full of jam too, but you like the homemade stuff better, true? It's kind of the same thing. I know exactly what went into those slices of mozzarella that I served tonight with fresh basil and tomatoes (with some balsamic vinegar and olive oil sprinkled on top). I ate some of the cheese while it was still warm. It is like a loaf of bread right out of the oven. There is something simple and delicious about the act of creating something from scratch that makes the act of eating conscious and special.
And yes, it was kind of strange watching the curds separate from the whey with just the addition of an enzyme that once was only found in cows stomachs (now it is man made). It is odd cutting through the curds and then kneading them like dough. Then it stretches like taffy and gets shining and you know you are done.
The kit came with enough rennet and citrus acid to makes pounds of mozzarella and I look forward to doing this again. I'll play with different kinds of milk and won't it be divine when I can serve it with my own tomatoes and basil from the summer garden?
2.22.2008
2.16.2008
Inflammation
I went to another class at PCC this past week and the subject was ‘Cooling Inflammation with Food.’ I was particularly interested in this subject after hearing about it in a biopsychosocial course. It appears – due to current scientific research – that a great deal of disease is actually the body’s response to chronic and systemic inflammation. What is fascinating to me is the link that they are making between certain kinds of foods with inflammation in the body. It doesn’t surprise me that the increase in heart disease, diabetes, allergies and other known diseases are linked to inflammation of arteries and organs. Wouldn’t it naturally follow that a diet high in foods that cause inflammation would possibly be part of the problem?
Pro-Inflammation Foods: Corn fed meats; saturated fats (shortening and meat fats); fried or grilled foods cooked at high temperatures; partially hydrogenated fats; cooking oils that are exclusively corn, safflower, sunflower or soy based; soft drinks; excess sugar (High fructose corn syrup); white flour; and known allergenic foods.
Well right there we have the typical American diet, right? Highly processed foods contain a lot of the above ingredients. Anything that helps a product stay on the shelf indefinitely probably has some of these things.
Anti-Inflammatory Foods: Fish (omega 3 fatty acids-DHA and EPA); flaxseed, hempseed and walnuts; onions; garlic; homemade broths (both beef and chicken); dark green vegetables, healthy fats (olive oil, virgin coconut oil, avocado oil – cook with refined oils, toss with unrefined oils); herbs (turmeric, oregano, green tea and ginger); Vitamins E and C; Vitamin D; supplements such at Probiotics.
What I took away from the class was a better understanding of what current research is beginning to debunk about older research. It surprised me to learn that coconut oil is actually quite healthy compared to other oils. The link between cholesterol and heart disease is giving way to the link between inflamed arteries and how cholesterol reacts to that situation in the blood.
And so, while the recipes were not really all that fabulous – the information was awesome for me. I have to add that while the focus of the class was on a dietary response to inflammation, it was also said more than once that stress is a huge factor in our bodies inflammation levels. I know more about that link now than I ever did but I certainly appreciated having my dietary choices validated as being good for me right now.
It makes me wonder, really, how anyone can doubt why Americans are suffering from that national eating disorder. How can anyone not wonder about the correlation of our current state of health and the amount of processed foods that permeate our diet? How can any scientist scratch their head and wonder why Italians – or the French – who eat such lower levels of processed foods yet seem to eat quite rich - don’t suffer from the same levels of heart disease or obesity that we do here in the states. We have received such different messages about how and what we should eat. It is confusing. It is also disquieting that the newer research is not receiving the press that other health messages receive.
Pro-Inflammation Foods: Corn fed meats; saturated fats (shortening and meat fats); fried or grilled foods cooked at high temperatures; partially hydrogenated fats; cooking oils that are exclusively corn, safflower, sunflower or soy based; soft drinks; excess sugar (High fructose corn syrup); white flour; and known allergenic foods.
Well right there we have the typical American diet, right? Highly processed foods contain a lot of the above ingredients. Anything that helps a product stay on the shelf indefinitely probably has some of these things.
Anti-Inflammatory Foods: Fish (omega 3 fatty acids-DHA and EPA); flaxseed, hempseed and walnuts; onions; garlic; homemade broths (both beef and chicken); dark green vegetables, healthy fats (olive oil, virgin coconut oil, avocado oil – cook with refined oils, toss with unrefined oils); herbs (turmeric, oregano, green tea and ginger); Vitamins E and C; Vitamin D; supplements such at Probiotics.
What I took away from the class was a better understanding of what current research is beginning to debunk about older research. It surprised me to learn that coconut oil is actually quite healthy compared to other oils. The link between cholesterol and heart disease is giving way to the link between inflamed arteries and how cholesterol reacts to that situation in the blood.
And so, while the recipes were not really all that fabulous – the information was awesome for me. I have to add that while the focus of the class was on a dietary response to inflammation, it was also said more than once that stress is a huge factor in our bodies inflammation levels. I know more about that link now than I ever did but I certainly appreciated having my dietary choices validated as being good for me right now.
It makes me wonder, really, how anyone can doubt why Americans are suffering from that national eating disorder. How can anyone not wonder about the correlation of our current state of health and the amount of processed foods that permeate our diet? How can any scientist scratch their head and wonder why Italians – or the French – who eat such lower levels of processed foods yet seem to eat quite rich - don’t suffer from the same levels of heart disease or obesity that we do here in the states. We have received such different messages about how and what we should eat. It is confusing. It is also disquieting that the newer research is not receiving the press that other health messages receive.
2.11.2008
When the weather is mild...
...I get out and clean some garden beds.
It was great. Really.
Playing in the mud and realizing later that my gloves had holes in the fingers. ah well. The work felt good. I planted strawberries last summer and underneath all the leaves from fall I found all the little offshoots that they have been happily putting out this winter. I have twice as many plants as I did six months ago. That should make for some fun eating come late June. My herbs all needed trimming back of dead wood. Oregano and bronze fennel are coming up everywhere and I found a lone catnip plant that somehow grew underneath my sprawling rosemary bush. I love catnip in the summer - it gets three or four feet high with lovely white flowers that the honey bees love. It also makes a great addition to calming the nerves tea. I'll hve to make sure my cat doesn't find it for the next few months.
There's a lot of work ahead but the beauty of visiting the garden here in February is that nothing quite stops over winter. There is evidence of the abundance that is just around the corner.
It was great. Really.
Playing in the mud and realizing later that my gloves had holes in the fingers. ah well. The work felt good. I planted strawberries last summer and underneath all the leaves from fall I found all the little offshoots that they have been happily putting out this winter. I have twice as many plants as I did six months ago. That should make for some fun eating come late June. My herbs all needed trimming back of dead wood. Oregano and bronze fennel are coming up everywhere and I found a lone catnip plant that somehow grew underneath my sprawling rosemary bush. I love catnip in the summer - it gets three or four feet high with lovely white flowers that the honey bees love. It also makes a great addition to calming the nerves tea. I'll hve to make sure my cat doesn't find it for the next few months.
There's a lot of work ahead but the beauty of visiting the garden here in February is that nothing quite stops over winter. There is evidence of the abundance that is just around the corner.
2.06.2008
Pollan's Eater's Manifesto
I just finished reading Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food. In my opinion, it was an Omnivore's Dilemma lite which turned out to be a bit disappointing. Many of the subjects of this little volume are covered in his other book - down to some of the same examples - with less detail and finesse. It feels hurried, frankly, which seems ironic, given the subject of the book.
On the downside, the book feels like a rant and a rehash of a conversation that he has already had with his audience. And it lacks the sense of inquiry that I loved in OD. He is disgusted with the fallout from our industrial agricultural society - whether that be with the scientists who support it; the journalists who make headline news out of every fad and the companies that take advantage of the American public by feeding them more and more processed foods. Confusion and chaos reign at the consumer level as we numbly shop for food that is prominently labeled with health benefits as opposed to reaching for an apple.
The other thing that bothers me about his arguments are that he has to resort to the reductionist method of looking at food - in order to take issue with the 'reductionist' school of scientists out there who study "nutritionism" in its components not the totality. This is basically the act of analyzing an isolated nutrient like saturated fat or an antioxidant like Vitamin C. Pollan vilifies this type of research in the first part of his book and then proceeds to utilize the same tactics to support his own position. Doesn't he therefore make his own arguments faulty? According to him, the answer is no. Because his position is the right position. Hmmm.
What I liked about this book actually had more to do with Systems theory. If we look at each nutrient in relationship to the whole plant or animal, it does seem the the sum is greater than the parts. There is a synergy of nutritional value found in a carrot as opposed to taking a beta carotene supplement. If we take this up a level and look at the carrot as food and what my relationship is to it, again, something else emerges: a relationship of my body to the bounty of this earth. I mean, really, isn't this what has been true since humans first grab a tool or gnawed on a root? I am a biological creature that is geared to eat the plants and animals of this planet. And the things I don't metabolize well I either cook or eat what eats it (like the cow that eats the grass that my stomach won't digest.)
Pollan does continually point out what a complex system food and diet is. And I appreciate his dedication to bringing to my attention all the holes in the current nutrition research that is going on. I believe that it is good to question the research and ask the questions that he is asking - but to me, the issue with diet is not just about the industrial food complex - it is also how we, as American Society, have allowed the food industry to serve us such junk while we run around like the proverbial chicken with its head cut off.
Pollan gets to this towards the very end of his book but I think I would have liked to have seen more on this cultural movement towards moving through life at sixty miles per hour. There isn't time to cook anymore - why not? There isn't time to sit down and eat - why not? We have moved indoors as a nation and into a much more sedentary lifestyle then any previous generation of homo sapiens. We drive everywhere instead of walking. We shop at Costco in our Suburbans. We don't know what a 'normal' portion is anymore let alone when we are really full.
Let's add to that cultural picture with a dose of the psychological. How many people use food as a way to handle emotional issues? Do we use food as a way to give ourselves a sense of abundance? Is food a way to fill ourselves up or a way to disconnect? And what are we 'filling?' And what about the neurobiological component: the dopamine effect that is being explored in certain research. I don't think we can ignore how many eating disorders inflict millions of Americans. It is a phenomenon that bears some attention in this conversation - and Pollan remains mute on that subject.
I bring all of this up because I think that Pollan began to hit on something huge when he labelled America as suffering from a "national eating disorder." And while he comes back to this on and off in his writing, he tends to stay with delivering information to us about the evil empire as opposed to really addressing the more prevelant anthropolocial themes of WHY we have allowed ourselves to be lulled into this lifestyle and the costs to our physical health are just a part of it. Yes, we wanted to believe that margarine was the best alternative - yes, we like to get 'more for the buck' - but I don't think I have ever believed the MacDonalds was a worthy substitute for a home cooked meal. I ate it because it was convenient and I was making convenience a priority in my life.
When my mom had her first heart attack we all switched to a more heart healthy diet. Pollan tears the low-fat diet apart as hogwash, but I don't think I agree with him. We watched our fat intake and noticed that when we ate at home - meals prepared simply and from scratch - a low fat diet emerged all on its own. It was in the eating out where I know I discovered truly rich, high fat and high sodium food existed. It's easy to make MacDonalds into the Darth Vadar (might as well keep with the evil empire theme) of industrial food - but what about all the teriyaki, pho, thai, chinese, fat burgers, indian restaurants that populate every strip mall? We're back to the notion of convenience, aren't we?
I've probably gone on long enough and I'm left with some interesting questions. I can look at what I eat - but I think it is just as important to look at HOW I eat. Pollan's books have been a great diving board into this subject and it is only fitting to move forward from where he has left off.
Blog spot's spell checker is not working - so if you notice more spelling errors than usual :)
On the downside, the book feels like a rant and a rehash of a conversation that he has already had with his audience. And it lacks the sense of inquiry that I loved in OD. He is disgusted with the fallout from our industrial agricultural society - whether that be with the scientists who support it; the journalists who make headline news out of every fad and the companies that take advantage of the American public by feeding them more and more processed foods. Confusion and chaos reign at the consumer level as we numbly shop for food that is prominently labeled with health benefits as opposed to reaching for an apple.
The other thing that bothers me about his arguments are that he has to resort to the reductionist method of looking at food - in order to take issue with the 'reductionist' school of scientists out there who study "nutritionism" in its components not the totality. This is basically the act of analyzing an isolated nutrient like saturated fat or an antioxidant like Vitamin C. Pollan vilifies this type of research in the first part of his book and then proceeds to utilize the same tactics to support his own position. Doesn't he therefore make his own arguments faulty? According to him, the answer is no. Because his position is the right position. Hmmm.
What I liked about this book actually had more to do with Systems theory. If we look at each nutrient in relationship to the whole plant or animal, it does seem the the sum is greater than the parts. There is a synergy of nutritional value found in a carrot as opposed to taking a beta carotene supplement. If we take this up a level and look at the carrot as food and what my relationship is to it, again, something else emerges: a relationship of my body to the bounty of this earth. I mean, really, isn't this what has been true since humans first grab a tool or gnawed on a root? I am a biological creature that is geared to eat the plants and animals of this planet. And the things I don't metabolize well I either cook or eat what eats it (like the cow that eats the grass that my stomach won't digest.)
Pollan does continually point out what a complex system food and diet is. And I appreciate his dedication to bringing to my attention all the holes in the current nutrition research that is going on. I believe that it is good to question the research and ask the questions that he is asking - but to me, the issue with diet is not just about the industrial food complex - it is also how we, as American Society, have allowed the food industry to serve us such junk while we run around like the proverbial chicken with its head cut off.
Pollan gets to this towards the very end of his book but I think I would have liked to have seen more on this cultural movement towards moving through life at sixty miles per hour. There isn't time to cook anymore - why not? There isn't time to sit down and eat - why not? We have moved indoors as a nation and into a much more sedentary lifestyle then any previous generation of homo sapiens. We drive everywhere instead of walking. We shop at Costco in our Suburbans. We don't know what a 'normal' portion is anymore let alone when we are really full.
Let's add to that cultural picture with a dose of the psychological. How many people use food as a way to handle emotional issues? Do we use food as a way to give ourselves a sense of abundance? Is food a way to fill ourselves up or a way to disconnect? And what are we 'filling?' And what about the neurobiological component: the dopamine effect that is being explored in certain research. I don't think we can ignore how many eating disorders inflict millions of Americans. It is a phenomenon that bears some attention in this conversation - and Pollan remains mute on that subject.
I bring all of this up because I think that Pollan began to hit on something huge when he labelled America as suffering from a "national eating disorder." And while he comes back to this on and off in his writing, he tends to stay with delivering information to us about the evil empire as opposed to really addressing the more prevelant anthropolocial themes of WHY we have allowed ourselves to be lulled into this lifestyle and the costs to our physical health are just a part of it. Yes, we wanted to believe that margarine was the best alternative - yes, we like to get 'more for the buck' - but I don't think I have ever believed the MacDonalds was a worthy substitute for a home cooked meal. I ate it because it was convenient and I was making convenience a priority in my life.
When my mom had her first heart attack we all switched to a more heart healthy diet. Pollan tears the low-fat diet apart as hogwash, but I don't think I agree with him. We watched our fat intake and noticed that when we ate at home - meals prepared simply and from scratch - a low fat diet emerged all on its own. It was in the eating out where I know I discovered truly rich, high fat and high sodium food existed. It's easy to make MacDonalds into the Darth Vadar (might as well keep with the evil empire theme) of industrial food - but what about all the teriyaki, pho, thai, chinese, fat burgers, indian restaurants that populate every strip mall? We're back to the notion of convenience, aren't we?
I've probably gone on long enough and I'm left with some interesting questions. I can look at what I eat - but I think it is just as important to look at HOW I eat. Pollan's books have been a great diving board into this subject and it is only fitting to move forward from where he has left off.
Blog spot's spell checker is not working - so if you notice more spelling errors than usual :)
2.05.2008
PCC Cooking classes
I went to my first PCC cooking class today.
PCC - for anyone who doesn't live in the Seattle area - stands for Puget Consumer Co-op. I've been a member of PCC for years and was really excited when they finally opened up a store in Redmond. I left them for awhile, enamored by the glamour of Whole Foods, but I'm back to my old flame now and am really happy with the way this market is run. Anyway, I digress, but anyone who is interested in organic and sustainable choices should check out their website for articles and resources.
Okay, so back to the class. It was Taste of Thailand and it was good. Not only was it tasty thai - it was easy thai. That might be because Pranee Halvorsen, the chef instructor, just has a great way of utilizing fairly straight forward ingredients and creating some fabulous dishes. It wasn't a hands on class - meaning that I sat in the back (got there just a bit late) - but I still learned alot about traditional thai cooking methods. Pranee is wonderful about bringing her heritage into the classroom.
Did you know that tumeric is a rhizome from the ginger family? It is also an important fresh ingredient for the Tom Yum soup she made. There was also pan seared halibut with three sauces; green curry fried rice and bananas in coconut milk that has to be comfort food in any culture that it is served in. Being a PCC class - the class was organic and low on the processed food meter.
The best part of the class is that I got a copy of the recipes - covered with notes by the end of the class on everything from how to store galangal to the finer points of making chili powder - and a coupon for shopping in the store. I bought the ingredients for the soup and made it tonight. It turned out perfectly spectacular. The complex flavors of sweet, sour, spicy and salty all rolled into a soup filled with mushrooms, shallots, chicken, lime, lemongrass and assorted other little goodies. I hid the leftovers in the back of the fridge. (They are MINE!)
ahem. sorry. My family liked the soup too.
Pranee will be doing another class in the fall that will have a whole new set of recipes. This was certainly a fun way to learn about an ethnic food that I love.
PCC - for anyone who doesn't live in the Seattle area - stands for Puget Consumer Co-op. I've been a member of PCC for years and was really excited when they finally opened up a store in Redmond. I left them for awhile, enamored by the glamour of Whole Foods, but I'm back to my old flame now and am really happy with the way this market is run. Anyway, I digress, but anyone who is interested in organic and sustainable choices should check out their website for articles and resources.
Okay, so back to the class. It was Taste of Thailand and it was good. Not only was it tasty thai - it was easy thai. That might be because Pranee Halvorsen, the chef instructor, just has a great way of utilizing fairly straight forward ingredients and creating some fabulous dishes. It wasn't a hands on class - meaning that I sat in the back (got there just a bit late) - but I still learned alot about traditional thai cooking methods. Pranee is wonderful about bringing her heritage into the classroom.
Did you know that tumeric is a rhizome from the ginger family? It is also an important fresh ingredient for the Tom Yum soup she made. There was also pan seared halibut with three sauces; green curry fried rice and bananas in coconut milk that has to be comfort food in any culture that it is served in. Being a PCC class - the class was organic and low on the processed food meter.
The best part of the class is that I got a copy of the recipes - covered with notes by the end of the class on everything from how to store galangal to the finer points of making chili powder - and a coupon for shopping in the store. I bought the ingredients for the soup and made it tonight. It turned out perfectly spectacular. The complex flavors of sweet, sour, spicy and salty all rolled into a soup filled with mushrooms, shallots, chicken, lime, lemongrass and assorted other little goodies. I hid the leftovers in the back of the fridge. (They are MINE!)
ahem. sorry. My family liked the soup too.
Pranee will be doing another class in the fall that will have a whole new set of recipes. This was certainly a fun way to learn about an ethnic food that I love.
2.04.2008
Really, I do want comments!
I didn't realize that I had comments turned off here on my blog. The problem has been corrected - so now you can write all those things that you wanted me to know :)
2.03.2008
How much did you say that ham steak is?
Yesterday morning found me and my husband wandering the University District's farmer's market. I had come on a mission: to buy some organic, local and pasture raised meat. Having spent some time researching a couple of farms in our area that used these more sustainable practices, I found Seabreeze Farms and Skagit Valley Farms. Both of these farms bring in their meat to be sold at - you guessed it - the U-district market. Skagit also sells in bulk - but that was getting a little ahead of myself.
What I didn't realize was that while this meat is clearly a better health choice - it is also twice as expensive as regular organic fair that I can find at Whole Foods or PCC. And when you consider how much more their meat and poultry cost then conventional - it was a bit of a shock. A new york steak at 18.99 per pound. Leg of lamb priced at 14.99 lb.. A ham steak - 10.00 lb. Fresh eggs - 7.00 a dozen.
We still wanted to try these products and simply bought smaller portions then we normally would. But it was a lesson in shopping that I haven't had to think about in a long time. How to ask about the cost before I ask for the amount of meat that I want. How to reconfigure my thoughts on what the meal will look like - not only the recipe but also what else I will need to serve in order to flesh out the meal. I don't mind these rusty skills coming back into play - because that's what they are: a way of thinking about food that I had to use back when money was tight and I had young children to feed.
Still, we payed out a lot of money for approximately four standard american meals. What do I mean by that? I'm talking about the way in which I learned growing up that the meat was the central component of the meal. Everything else revolved around the meat. The bigger cut of meat - or the more pieces of chicken - was a clear sign of abundance and not to be taken for granted. Eating until one was stuffed was a compliment to the chef. Pretty straightforward food beliefs, right?
I'm looking at the ham I bought and wondering if I can use half of it for split pea soup and the other half for a wonderful tortellini recipe that I love. And that leg of lamb could be the center peice for a dinner with friends - or again, I could cut it in half. One half as a small roast and the other used to make Indian spiced kebobs. The pork loin roast will make great chili verdi served hot with tortillas and spanish rice - and also happens to make great left overs. I just get to be a bit more creative. I'll also be thinking about what I can use the leftovers for.
Our trip to the farmer's market was eye opening and we walked away more thoughtful about how to make this shift to eating - what we both have come to see - as a better quality of meat and poultry. It's easier now that we don't have five mouths to feed and yet there are old food rules that we need to really examine. I don't think I can purchase meat like that every week - but I'm not sure where my old way of meal planning is going to hit the limit of change. My limits. I haven't quite figured that out. All I know is that it is shy of owning cattle and chickens and pigs.
What I didn't realize was that while this meat is clearly a better health choice - it is also twice as expensive as regular organic fair that I can find at Whole Foods or PCC. And when you consider how much more their meat and poultry cost then conventional - it was a bit of a shock. A new york steak at 18.99 per pound. Leg of lamb priced at 14.99 lb.. A ham steak - 10.00 lb. Fresh eggs - 7.00 a dozen.
We still wanted to try these products and simply bought smaller portions then we normally would. But it was a lesson in shopping that I haven't had to think about in a long time. How to ask about the cost before I ask for the amount of meat that I want. How to reconfigure my thoughts on what the meal will look like - not only the recipe but also what else I will need to serve in order to flesh out the meal. I don't mind these rusty skills coming back into play - because that's what they are: a way of thinking about food that I had to use back when money was tight and I had young children to feed.
Still, we payed out a lot of money for approximately four standard american meals. What do I mean by that? I'm talking about the way in which I learned growing up that the meat was the central component of the meal. Everything else revolved around the meat. The bigger cut of meat - or the more pieces of chicken - was a clear sign of abundance and not to be taken for granted. Eating until one was stuffed was a compliment to the chef. Pretty straightforward food beliefs, right?
I'm looking at the ham I bought and wondering if I can use half of it for split pea soup and the other half for a wonderful tortellini recipe that I love. And that leg of lamb could be the center peice for a dinner with friends - or again, I could cut it in half. One half as a small roast and the other used to make Indian spiced kebobs. The pork loin roast will make great chili verdi served hot with tortillas and spanish rice - and also happens to make great left overs. I just get to be a bit more creative. I'll also be thinking about what I can use the leftovers for.
Our trip to the farmer's market was eye opening and we walked away more thoughtful about how to make this shift to eating - what we both have come to see - as a better quality of meat and poultry. It's easier now that we don't have five mouths to feed and yet there are old food rules that we need to really examine. I don't think I can purchase meat like that every week - but I'm not sure where my old way of meal planning is going to hit the limit of change. My limits. I haven't quite figured that out. All I know is that it is shy of owning cattle and chickens and pigs.
2.01.2008
Organic produce is better for you
So here it is - a study by Carlo Leifert, a professor working with the Nafferton Ecological Farming Group in the UK, has concluded after a four year study set in the European Union that organically grown vegetables have 40% more antioxidants than conventionally grown food crops. "The results of this largest project to date is welcome news, as scientists believe that increased amounts of antioxidants cut the risk of heart disease and cancer. Professor Leifert said the differences were so marked that the organically grown produce would increase the nutrient intake of people who don't eat the recommended five portions a day of fruit and vegetables." (Tom Johns, President of Territorial Seed Company)
I've read in other books about why plants raised organically have more antioxidants - of course they would. These plants have to have a better immune system in order to fight off disease and infestations. By being more hardy, the level of antioxidants goes way up as opposed to plants raised with chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Studies on antioxidants have been going strong for the past few years. It's one of the new buzz words in nutrition and for good reason.
Speaking of buzzwords...
I'm beginning to wonder about our American culture and how we, as a product of groupthink, grab hold of certain words. One minute something is good for you - the next it is bad. Look at what's happened to carbohydrates for instance or different kinds of fats. So while all the news about antioxidants is great, I can't help wondering if there will be some kind of odd backlash - like adding synthetic antioxidants into a protein bar.If a word means 'good for you' and it appears on the label of a highly processed food source then we look no deeper. Omega 3 fatty acids is a good example of this. Do I buy the eggs that are from pastured chickens or the ones that have Omega 3 in big bold letters across the top. I've often done the later without looking any farther. I believe the reason salmon has become ultra popular is because of it's Omega 3. Now the fish case is full of previously frozen salmon all year round in every market I go into. That is a lot of fish and we wonder why our salmon populations are decreasing? It ain't because of the sea lions at the Ballard locks (but's let's kill them anyway).
Latching on to a life ring of health means that we often just pay attention to what we want to hear and let the rest fall away as less than important. I'm wary of that tendency and even when I hear something that supports my viewpoint I would like to be very clear on why.
What I did find out about Professor Leifert's study also goes way beyond antioxidants. Read on if you are interested....
Here are some of the links that I found about this study:
Medical News Today
Science Network
I've read in other books about why plants raised organically have more antioxidants - of course they would. These plants have to have a better immune system in order to fight off disease and infestations. By being more hardy, the level of antioxidants goes way up as opposed to plants raised with chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Studies on antioxidants have been going strong for the past few years. It's one of the new buzz words in nutrition and for good reason.
Speaking of buzzwords...
I'm beginning to wonder about our American culture and how we, as a product of groupthink, grab hold of certain words. One minute something is good for you - the next it is bad. Look at what's happened to carbohydrates for instance or different kinds of fats. So while all the news about antioxidants is great, I can't help wondering if there will be some kind of odd backlash - like adding synthetic antioxidants into a protein bar.If a word means 'good for you' and it appears on the label of a highly processed food source then we look no deeper. Omega 3 fatty acids is a good example of this. Do I buy the eggs that are from pastured chickens or the ones that have Omega 3 in big bold letters across the top. I've often done the later without looking any farther. I believe the reason salmon has become ultra popular is because of it's Omega 3. Now the fish case is full of previously frozen salmon all year round in every market I go into. That is a lot of fish and we wonder why our salmon populations are decreasing? It ain't because of the sea lions at the Ballard locks (but's let's kill them anyway).
Latching on to a life ring of health means that we often just pay attention to what we want to hear and let the rest fall away as less than important. I'm wary of that tendency and even when I hear something that supports my viewpoint I would like to be very clear on why.
What I did find out about Professor Leifert's study also goes way beyond antioxidants. Read on if you are interested....
Here are some of the links that I found about this study:
Medical News Today
Science Network
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
