Tofu - Healthy and Delicious (if you make it so...)

I began eating a fair bit of tofu after reading David Servan-Schreiber's Anticancer book. I trust him, because his book is incredibly well researched and he walks the talk. Once I began experimenting with different ways to marinate the tofu I learned to really enjoy it as well. Tofu was discovered over 2000 years ago in China, were it was called doufu. Legend has it, that a cook added seaweed nigari to soy milk and caused it to curdle - voila! Today you can get tofu in various consistencies, from soft or silken to extra-firm. Tofu is very bland, which makes it incredibly versatile and therefore it's up to you to make it tasty. My downstairs neighbors gave me an excellent tip: cut the tofu in slabs, wrap it in a dry cloth and place some weight on it for 20 min to get the moisture out. This will make the tofu more absorbent, allowing it to take on more of the flavor of the marinade. Tofu can also be frozen in the original package, which will alter the consistency and appearance, making it more spongy and absorbent as well as a bit more yellow.
Tofu is an excellent source of protein, with virtually no saturated fats and relatively few calories. On top of that, tofu provides many health benefits. It can help lower LDL Cholesterol levels by as much as 35%-40% and helps other parts of your cardiovascular system run smoothly. For women going through menopause, soy can help alleviate some of the symptoms like hot flashes. Soy contains phytoestrogens, which are basically plant based hormones. In premenopausal women, whose estrogen levels are erratic, these phytoestrogens can dock onto estrogen receptors and act like very, very weak estrogens. When estrogen levels are high, they block out estrogen and when levels are low, they can provide just enough estrogen to reduce uncomfortable symptoms.
While there is an overwhelming amount of research that outlines the numerous health benefits of soy, there has also been some concerns. It seem clear at this point that eating soy is healthy, so long as you are not allergic or have a soy intolerance. The question is, how much is too much. I would suggest that eating everything soy, from soy milk, to soy yogurt, to tofu and soy cheese may be a bit much. But eating tofu on a regular basis is a great way to enjoy a more plant based diet. As a society, we are eating too much meat, and it's not just detrimental to our health but the environmental footprint of this enormous meat consumption is also wrecking havoc.


For more info on tofu, check out http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=111
And check out this link, where some of the concerns you may have regarding soy are addressed: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=154

TED Talk: What's wrong with what we eat.

I watched this TED talk yesterday and I think it's a perfect follow up to the recent discussion about organic food, farming practices etc. So here you go, I highly recommend this 20 min. video. http://www.ted.com/talks/mark_bittman_on_what_s_wrong_with_what_we_eat.html Enjoy!

Eating Organic

The production of synthetic chemicals, among them pesticides, has gone from 1 million ton in 1930 to over 200 million tons today. The amount of pesticides and chemical food additives we are exposed to regularly is staggering. Yet it's easy to forget and not think about. After all these chemicals are odorless, tasteless, have no color and there is not simple way for us to detect them in our food. But ignoring it, doesn't make it go away. In the US researchers have identified 148 toxic chemicals in the blood and urine of people or all ages. And it's not just pesticides that end up in our food, as Dr. Wentz writes in his book The Healthy Home "Every time you eat meat you are likely drugging yourself with antibiotics". In 2008 the US used 35 million pounds of antibiotics, and 70 % of that went to cows, chickens and pigs that we eat. These are the same antibiotics used on humans, which decreases their effectiveness. So eating organically raised meat is very important. If you find that to be a bit expensive, cutting back on your meat consumption might not be such a bad thing anyway. A long term study of 91,000 nurses over twelve years showed that the risk of breast cancer for those who ate red meat more than once a day was twice as high as for those who ate it less than three times a week.
I understand that eating all organic is an ideal, which is impossible to achieve for most people. I know I can't afford to eat 100% organic, so had to do some research to find out which food is most contaminated and therefore important that I buy organic. There are many lists of most contaminated foods available online that can help you decide what to buy organic and what foods are less contaminated. One of these resources is the Environmental Working Group (www.ewg.org) who developed the "Dirty Dozen" and the "Clean Fifteen" (http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary/):

The Dirty Dozen are foods that are most likely to test positive for pesticides and are highly contaminated. As an example, peaches have been treated with more chemicals than any other produce. Tests have shown combinations of 57 different chemicals.
The Clean Fifteen are vegetables and fruits that are least likely to test positive for pesticides and generally show less contamination.

The Dirty Dozen:

Apples
Celery
Strawberries
Peaches
Spinach
Nectarines - Imported
Grapes - Imported
Sweet Bell Peppers
Potatoes
Blueberries - Domestic
Lettuce
Kale/Collard Greens


The Clean Fifteen:

Onions
Sweet Corn
Pineapple
Avocado
Asparagus
Sweet Peas
Mangoes
Eggplant
Cantaloupe - Domestic
Kiwi
Cabbage
Watermelon
Sweet Potatoes
Grapefruit
Mushrooms

Dairy Myth Buster

Growing up you may have been told how important it is to drink milk. If your mom didn't tell you, the dairy industry certainly did. Especially in more recent years, it seems there is an incredible amount of celebrities and athletes asking us if we are 'getting enough milk'. These people are probably told that they are saving the world by promoting milk consumption. After all, milk is a source of calcium and that is what we need for healthy bones! The message is pretty clear: Your crazy not to drink milk, if you are not drinking milk you should probably be really worried about your bones and if you are drinking it then you should still be worried and probably drink more!

That we should drink milk and generally consume lots of dairy for the entirety of our lives to be healthy is a myth! Let me lay out some facts. 90% of Asians, 70 of Blacks and Native Americans, and 50% of Hispanics are lactose intolerant and those people aren't all crippled by rickets and wasting away. The whole notion that a certain amount of dairy is 'enough' is probably based on the amount of calcium present in milk and in reference to the recommended daily intake of calcium. To begin with, milk isn't even as good a source of calcium as it's made out to be. In fact vegetables, especially alkalizing ones, are a much better source of calcium than milk. Arugula, for example, provides over 5 times more calcium per 100 calories than milk. See, if you come pair milk with vegetables in terms of calories, milk comes in near the bottom of the list. Now, if you argue that you would have to eat rediculous amounts of arugula in order to meet the required amount of calories (and calcium), consider the fact that people who eat a plant based diet eat the same amount of calories as a person who consumes dairy products. Also, a cup of broccoli has the same amount of calcium as a cup of milk.

In order to digest milk our bodies produce acids. These acids have to be buffered with calcium, which is taken from the bones. So even though milk provides the body with some calcium, it is cancelled out by the loss due to acid production. You see, osteoporosis is not a result of 'not getting enough' calcium. It is the result of loosing it.

Amazing Zucchini Pasta

A few days ago, one of my roommates said to me, "You eat some pretty weird stuff Flo!". At the time I replied "Well, yeah I know, but I feel all the better for it." But as I thought about it later on it occurred to me, that I am not the one eating the weird stuff! And this isn't so much about my roommate as it is about the majority of people in our society. There is so much food that really isn't food but just looks like it and is genetically and chemically designed to be tasty! I am talking about things like twinkies (for the record, my roommate eats healthier than that).



But you don't really need to go to the extremes of junk food to point out that there is a lot that isn't right with our food supply. If you eat non-organic meat, you are drugging yourself with antibiotics every time. I have already talked about the fact that cows are now feed mostly corn, which makes beef incredibly high in omega-6 fatty acids that cause coagulation of the blood, are inflammatory and cell growth stimulating. I have also talked about the chemical pesticides that get dumped on our food and the fact that our soil has been depleted of essential nutrients.

But I am the one putting weird stuff into my body! ;-)

Anyway, I decided to share a recipe with you today. It is absolutely amazing, one of our favorites and fairly quick and easy. Enjoy!

Zucchini Pasta
Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients
2 zucchini, sliced into thin strips (think thin french fries)
1 cup cherry toms
1 cup snap peas
5 green onions
3/4 cup mushrooms, MARINATED
1/2 cup sundried toms
1/2 cup Cashew Nuts
1 1/2 cups of broth
2 tbsp soy sauce or Bragg
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
2 garlic cloves

Directions:

To marinate mushrooms: cut the mushroom into slices about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Toss with balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, olive oil, garlic and some herbs (you can get creative here) and let sit for at least 1/2 hour. In a blender grind cashews, then add the broth and blend more to make a cashew milk. It helps if the broth is hot and if you only add half, then blend and then add the other half before blending some more.

Sauté the mushrooms for a few min. and then add the zucchini, cherry tomatoes (halved), sun dried tomatoes, snap peas and the sauce. You only need to bring the sauce to a light boil for it to thicken up and this recipe is originally a raw food recipe so you don't have to cook it for more than few minutes.

Enjoy!

Ps: next time I make it I will add pictures here.

Fighting Cancer With Curry

As I was sitting in the kitchen at 7 am, thinking about what to write about today, Jenna shared her excitement with me about the fact that the "The East-Indian Lady" might be at the Farmer's Market today. We don't know the east indian lady's name, but we are huge fans of her and the food she makes and sells. She comes to the Kamloops Farmer's Market every two weeks from Revelstoke a sells pakoras, samosas, chutney and a whole bunch of sauces and dips that you can take home.

So there we go, I have my topic for today: Turmeric! It is the most powerful anti-inflammatory food ingredient there is! It has been written about in medical texts in China, India, Tibet and the Middle-East for over two thousand years. The important molecule in terms of inhibiting cancer is curcumin. Beyond the anti-inflammatory effect, it has several other capabilities that affect different mechanisms of cancer growth. If you want a better understanding of some of these mechanisms or cancer in general, I recommend the book 'Anticancer - a new way of life' by David Servan-Schreiber M.D., Ph.D.
In India people consume, on average, 1/4 to 1/2 a teaspoon of turmeric a day. They are generally exposed to more environmental carcinogens than us , yet here are some surprising stats from the Anticancer book: "...Indians have one eighth as many lung cancers as Westerners of the same age, one ninth as many colon cancers, one fifth as many breast cancers, one tenth as many kidney cancers, and one fiftieth (yes 1/50!) our rate of prostate cancer". Kudos to our brothers and sisters in India!
There was a study done in 2005 on mice who no longer responded to Chemotherapy with Taxol (while Taxol is considered effective against metastatic breast cancer, it actually works in less than 1/2 of cases). In the study, curcumin reduced the spread of metastases impressively and any micro tumors that could still be found did not grow and were therefore no longer a threat.
Here's the deal though: you are actually better off eating delicious indian food than taking capsules of only curcumin. Researchers in Taiwan found out that it's not absorbed by your intestines very well unless it is mixed with pepper or ginger. In fact pepper increases the body's absorption of turmeric by 2000 percent!
Ok, I say it's time for a stroll down to the Farmer's Market. I am ready for some delicious Indian food for breakfast!




The beautiful ladies at Pam's Curry stand at the Kamloops Farmer's Market.


My friend Will and I enjoying delicious pakoras and chutney. Yum!

Omega cont.

Yesterday I talked about the food chain and how what animals eat affects not only them but also the eggs and milk they produce. I mentioned that the omega fatty acids are essential, meaning the body can't make them. This is key because it means our intake of them directly reflects the ratio of them in our bodies and this continues down the food chain. So animals are fed diets high in omega-6s, which are inflammatory, cause coagulation of the blood and stimulate cell growth (be it fat cells or tumor cells). They then produce eggs, milk and meat that is high in omega-6s. Most people in North America eat a lot of meat, consume dairy products, eat a fair bit of eggs and on top of that we fry a lot of our food. Frying unfortunately damages omega-3 fatty acids and you lose the health benefits.
I hope you are beginning to see why this is worth talking about. Between 1970 and 2000 Americans lowered their fat consumption by about 11 percent and even lowered their total calorie intake by 4 percent. Meanwhile obesity went up 31 percent in the same time span. This is referred to as the American Paradox, which is no longer just affecting Americans, but Europeans also.
Another fact that underlines how the whole food chain is affected by our industrial animal feeding practices, is that the amount of fatty tissue in children under one doubled between 1970 and 1990. French biochemist and farming engineer Pierre Weill, who researched this phenomenon, said "Between 6 and 11 months of age, you can't blame McDonald's, snacking, TV and lack of physical exercise!".
So fat and calories alone are not the issue and if you are trying to loose weight but have high concentrations of inflammatory, cell growth promoting omega-6 fatty acids in your body, well it might feel like a bit of an uphill battle!
But enough of the ranting, time for some concrete tips on how to be healthy! Below is a picture taken from the Anticancer book (http://www.anticancerbook.com/) again, which shows the Anticancer plate. Really it could be called the pro-health plate. It's a food guide that gives you the big picture of what might be a pretty healthy way to eat.

This gives a bit of guidance and maybe I'll leave you with a few concrete tips on increasing your omega-3 intake and decreasing the amount of omega-6 fatty acids.
1) The following are high in omega-3s: Flaxseeds and Flaxseed oil, Olive oil, Walnuts, Fish, Beans and Tofu.
You can take flaxseeds, grind them in a coffee grinder and add them to yogurt (preferably organic), a bowl of fruit or even a shake. Use flaxseed oil in your salad dressing but don't use it for frying and keep it refrigerated.
2) Toss out sunflower oil, choose to buy animal products like meat, eggs and dairy from organically raised, grass fed or flaxseed fed animals, don't use margarine (I might have to write a post just about this one).

Here is something I do, but admittedly it's a bit hard-core, I mix about 2 tbsp of flaxseed oil with almond milk, a bunch of Turmeric (has great Anticancer properties), a pinch of cayenne pepper and about 20 drops of cumin oil. I blend it using an electric milk frother and away I go... This might not be for everyone, but for someone with cancer, I think it's perfect.

Cheers!

Omega fatty acids

First off, I tried to come up with a better title! Something witty, smart, with a pun, but then I remembered that it's 5:30 I got dinner on the go and there is big box of apricots that either I will deal with or the fruit flies will. So I got stuff to get done and therefore you will just have to put up with a boring title today.
About six months ago, all I knew about omega fatty acids was that they put the number 3 ones in some eggs and it was implied that this was a good thing! I have since learned a bit more about them and I have come to two conclusions about this topic: 1. It is worth knowing about and 2. It's not all that complicated.
So if you want the skinny on the omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, READ ON!
The omegas are essential fatty acids, meaning the body can't make them and we need them. There are omega 3, 6 and 9 fatty acids and I'll focus on the 3s and 6s. Below is an image from the book Anticancer written by David Servan- Schreiber M.D., Ph.D. It gives you a good impression of the importance of the omega balance.

So omega-6s cause inflammation, coagulation and stimulation of cell growth. All bad news for healthy hearts, losing weight and not growing tumors. Omega-3s balance out these effects and since we need both of these essential fatty acids all is well if we keep the balance intact. In other words a 1 to 1 ratio of the two is perfect.
However, the average North American diet contains 20-30 times more omega-6s than omega-3s! And this is not just because of what we eat, it's also what is eaten by what we eat. Confused? Hang in there! A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that eggs from chickens that were fed a diet of corn, which is a universal practice today, contained twenty times more omega-6s than omega-3s. The same is true for cows, who are fed corn and soy vs. being grass fed, their milk and all subsequent milk products are high in omega-6s and of course their meat is as well. However, if cows are fed a diet that is supplemented with flaxseeds then their milk becomes balanced in terms of omega-3s and Omega-6s. So as it turns out, "what goes around comes around" applies to how we treat our food!
Ok, I think this topic might be suitable for a bit of a mini series. So stay tuned for some more info on this tomorrow. Don't worry I'll give lots of tips to help you get a good balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish!