Food

Food For Life – Protein and Health: Fact Or Fantasy

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Accepted as a nutrient class in 1838, protein, it was discovered, was necessary for all forms of life. This started a fascination with protein and its role in the health and strength of man.

Protein is the building block of every cell of the body and is critical for cell growth and repair. It is essential for energy and is also needed in the manufacture of hormones, antibodies, and enzymes. In addition, it helps maintain the proper acid-alkali balance in the body. Is it any wonder that we are encouraged to eat the protein food source on our plate? The questions, though, are: How much protein do we need? Are there times our protein requirements increase? Is too much protein harmful? What is the best source of protein?

Authorities differ on how much protein is needed for the average adult. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) states that an individual needs 56 grams of protein a day. The United States National Research Council recommends a protein intake of one gram of protein per kilogram of body weight. The World Health Organization recommends 0.45 to 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of ideal body weight. Using these figures and an ideal weight of 150 pounds, between 31 and 55 grams of protein per day would be recommended. (It should be noted that both agencies have been adjusting the requirements for protein downward despite objections from the meat and dairy industries.) The average American is ingesting two to four times as much protein as is recommended.

There are clearly times when the protein intake needs to be increased, such as during times of growth in infancy, childhood, and pregnancy; during times of injury when the body needs to repair cells; and during times of extreme exercise when muscle cells are being built. However, many studies on health and disease have linked too much protein, especially animal-based protein, to numerous health problems.

The standard American diet provides too much protein. One of the primary reasons for this is the large consumption of meat and animal products. Many diseases are greatly reduced when the protein source is plant based. Plant-based proteins are better for the body; most are a good source of fiber and protein, and plant-based proteins are much more economical to produce. Likewise, plant-based proteins do not contain the growth hormones that are so typical in animals sold for consumption. Plant-based proteins can provide all of the essential amino acids needed by man. Even the person on a totally vegetarian diet tends to get more protein than is needed for health.

If you have not already replaced animal proteins with the more healthful plant proteins, you need to consider doing so now. The recipe below can be used alone or in combination with brown rice as the main protein source for many dishes, including tostados, burritos, tacos, enchiladas, nachos, Chimichangas, tortilla casserole, chili, and many others.

Recipe – Baked Onion Blossom

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Ingredients

  • 2-4 medium red or sweet onions
  • 2-4 Tbsp. coconut oil
  • dash salt
  • herbs/spices: dried rosemary, thyme, parsley, paprika, garlic granules or fresh minced, etc.

Process

  • Slice onion ends; peel. Using a knife, make 4 vertical cuts in each onion; cut each quarter two more times, leaving root end intact. Gently pull onion “petals” down, separating segments.
  • Line a baking dish with parchment paper. Arrange onions root end down.
  • Drizzle oil into and around onion petals. Sprinkle with salt. Repeat with herbs/spices.
  • Bake at 400˚ F for about 30-40 minutes or until onions are tender and edges are crispy.
  • Delectable served as a side dish with a green salad.

 

Food – Onions

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Onions may make you cry, but they certainly don’t give you any reason to be sad. On the contrary, onions offer a bounty of health benefits along with the tears.

A member of the allium family—like garlic, leeks, and chives—the onion has been appreciated for thousands of years. Egyptian slaves building the pyramids were fed a diet that included onions, and onions were a prized food of the well-to-do in ancient China.

During the Civil War, Union general Ulysses S. Grant showed how essential onions were by sending a message to Washington that read, “I will not move my armies without onions.” He got the onions—and his side won the war.

Coincidence? Maybe not. Thanks to the powerful flavonoid quercetin and a host of sulfur compounds, onions can make anyone a winner. Onions, which also have some potassium, vitamin C, and B vitamins, kill germs, help your heart, and fight cancer. Plus, they add great flavor and a pleasant aroma to almost any dish.

Even when applied to the skin, onions have healing powers. Onions have been used to kill funguses, yeasts, and parasites, soothe the sting of insect bites, and even to ward off infection from stingray wounds.

Why the tears? Crushing the cells of an onion releases a sulfur compound. When this compound reacts with the moisture in the eyes, it turns into sulfuric acid which irritates the eyes. The eyes then produce tears to flush the sulfuric acid out.

When you think of the onion’s delicious taste and mighty health powers, the only tears you’ll cry will be tears of joy.

Eat and Heal, © 2001, 266–269.

 

Baked Onion Blossom

Ingredients

  • 2-4 medium red or sweet onions
  • 2-4 Tbsp. coconut oil
  • dash salt
  • herbs/spices: dried rosemary, thyme, parsley, paprika, garlic granules or fresh minced, etc.

Process

  • Slice onion ends; peel. Using a knife, make 4 vertical cuts in each onion; cut each quarter two more times, leaving root end intact. Gently pull onion “petals” down, separating segments.
  • Line a baking dish with parchment paper. Arrange onions root end down.
  • Drizzle oil into and around onion petals. Sprinkle with salt. Repeat with herbs/spices.
  • Bake at 400˚ F for about 30-40 minutes or until onions are tender and edges are crispy.
  • Delectable served as a side dish with a green salad.

 

Recipe – Sprouted Sunflower Seed Pate

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Soak 3 cups sunflower seeds 12 to 24 hours. Make sure they are sprouted. When they are sprouted, they will look like the open beak of a bird. When sprouted, blend with

1 cup lemon juice

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup Bragg Liquid Aminos

Blend in a blender by continually pushing the mixture down into the middle of the blender. Continue to process until well blended and smooth. You may top the pate¢ with fresh parsley. Use as a bread or cracker spread or as desired. Other ingredients may be used to add variety to the flavor such as onion, tahini, cilantro, cayenne, and other herbs of choice. The possibilities are endless.

Food For Life – Sprouting and Health

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The sprouting of seeds, beans, grains, or nuts has been used as early as 3,000 b.c. in China. It has received various periods of use, growth, popularity, and disfavor.

There are many reasons why one should sprout. Sprouts are inexpensive and easy to grow. They require only a small amount of space and inexpensive “equipment.” They are an edible plant food that can be grown indoors in any climate. Unlike fruits and vegetables, which take 50 to 130 days to mature and be ready to eat, sprouts are ready to eat within a few days. They also afford the consumer one of the most concentrated but truly natural sources of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and protein.

All raw, unsprouted seeds, beans, grains, and nuts are biogenic-alive and capable of transferring their life energy to your body. When you eat sprouts, you are eating a tiny, easy-to-digest plant that is at its peak of nutritional value. The seed releases all of its stored nutrients in a burst of energy, as it attempts to become a full size plant. You then receive this energy and the nutrients when you eat the sprouts.

Several methods can be used to begin home sprouting—jars, sprout bags, trays, or an automatic sprouter. Regardless of how you grow your sprouts, there are four basics steps: the initial soaking and draining of the seeds, rinsing and caring of the growing seeds, harvesting of the seed, and using the seed as food.

To start sprouting, use the jar method, as it is the simplest and most reliable method. A wide-mouth, glass, half-gallon jar is best. In addition to the jar, you will need a lid ring or rubber bands and cheesecloth or nylon mesh to cover the jar opening yet allow air to circulate within the jar. Measure the appropriate amount of seeds into the jar, cover the jar with cheesecloth, and then fill it halfway with water. Allow the seed to soak for the required time and then invert it at a 45-degree angle, with the jar opening down. Once drained, rinse the sprouts in running tap water until the bottle overflows. This removes the waste products created by the seeds. Drain the seeds again, and then return the jar to its upright position and continue sprouting. Most seeds should be rinsed twice daily. Sprouts need to be rinsed more frequently in warm weather and will sprout quicker.

Recipe – Lentil Burger

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2 cups sunflower seed, soaked 8–12 hours, sprouted 4 hours

4 Tablespoons chopped parsley

4 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice or to taste

1 1/2 cups sprouted lentils

2 Tablespoons Bragg Liquid Aminos or 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

4 carrots, finely grated

1 small onion, cut in chunks

1 Tablespoon chicken-like seasoning

4 stalks celery, coarsely chopped

2 teaspoons fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried oregano

2–3 cloves garlic, chopped

In a food processor, combine all of the ingredients. Process until the ingredients are thoroughly mixed and broken into very small bits. (Depending on the size of your food processor, you may have to process this recipe in batches.) Form the mixture into 1/2 to 1-inch thick patties. Dehydrate 8 to 12 hours or leave them in the sun or warm them in a very low oven (below 118 degrees Fahrenheit). Makes 9 to 10 patties. These burgers are great served between cabbage leaves, with bread and Vegenaise, or on a plate with warm mushroom gravy.

Food For Life – Sprouting and Health Pt II

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When it is time to harvest and use your sprouts, a little time and care will increase your eating pleasure. Adzuki, alfalfa, cabbage, clover, fenugreek, mung, and radish taste better with their hulls removed. The sprouts can be put into a sink filled halfway with cool water, then agitated gently with your fingers to remove the hulls, which will either fall to the bottom of the sink or begin to float. Push the floating hulls to one corner of the sink, and then gently remove the sprouts, being careful to not stir up the hulls on the bottom of the sink. The harvested sprouts can be transferred to a covered clean glass jar or placed in a sealable plastic bag and stored in the refrigerator. The sprouts will continue to grow slowly in the refrigerator until use.

Although this is an easy process, sometimes things can go wrong. The most common problem is spoilage. Contributing to spoilage may be one of the following factors: bad or cracked seeds, inconsistent rinsing—remember this removes the seeds’ waste, too much heat, and inadequate ventilation. So be sure to inspect your seeds for cracked seed, rinse on a regular basis, monitor the temperature and rinse more often if needed, and, lastly, use a fan to circulate the air. One other thing that can affect the enjoyment of your sprouts is poor texture or a bitter taste. This can be avoided by following the sprouting chart* carefully—do not over soak and do not grow the sprouts too long.

Sprouts can be used in salads; on bread; in bread recipes, dried breads, and crackers; blended to make spreads or juice; in loafs and dressings; in milks, cereals, and soups. Begin your sprouting journey and see where it takes you. Enjoy better health as you add sprouts into your diet.

*For a copy of the sprouting chart, e-mail your request to: historic@stepstolife.org, or refer to The Sprouting Book, by Ann Wigmore, Avery Publishing Group Inc., Wayne, New Jersey, 1986.

Recipe – Sunflower Almond Cereal

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Ingredients

Soak overnight:

2 Tbsp. raw almonds,

2 Tbsp. raw sunflower seeds

1 Tbsp. raw walnuts or pecans (optional)

½ cup fruit of your choice:

apple, banana, kiwifruit, berries, mango, peach, etc.

Process

Strain the first three ingredients and then add ½ cup of your favorite, chopped or sliced, fresh fruit. Add your favorite milk (almond, rice or soy) and enjoy!

OR, you can add all to a bowl of hot cereal!

Food – Kiwifruit

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I love kiwifruit. They are so delicious, and I discovered recently that the peelings are also nutritious. Though not yet courageous enough to eat the peelings because of their texture, I do put the whole fruit into my smoothies.

“A study conducted at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, evaluated the nutritional value of twenty-seven different fruits to determine, ounce for ounce, which provides the most nutrition. The results? Kiwifruit, with an index of 16, was found to be the most nutrient dense of all fruits. (Second place was papaya at 14, and third place was a tie between mango and orange, which both scored 11.) Kiwi has the highest level of vitamin C, almost twice that of an orange, and is also a decent source of magnesium. Two medium kiwifruits have almost 5 g of fiber. And kiwi—along with papaya and apricot—outranked bananas and oranges as the top low-sodium, high-potassium food!

“Another study in the Journal of Medicinal Food examined nine different fruits and fruit juices and reported that eight of them—including kiwi—exhibited significant ability to reduce oxidative stress (damage from free radicals) in human plasma. This ability of kiwi to protect against cellular damage was confirmed in yet another study in Carcinogenesis that was even more promising: In the carcinogenesis study, not only did the kiwifruit limit the amount of oxidative damage to DNA, but it also stimulated cellular repair of the damage that did occur! Even better, the effect of kiwifruit on DNA damage and repair was seen when it was simply added to a normal diet, and the effects were seen across a whole group of volunteers and in a very short time!

The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S., pages 122, 123.

If you like raw crunchies in the morning you will like the cereal recipe below.

 

Sunflower-Almond Cereal

Ingredients

Soak overnight:

2 Tbsp. raw almonds,

2 Tbsp. raw sunflower seeds

1 Tbsp. raw walnuts or pecans (optional)

½ cup fruit of your choice:

apple, banana, kiwifruit, berries, mango, peach, etc.

 

Process

Strain the first three ingredients and then add ½ cup of your favorite, chopped or sliced, fresh fruit. Add your favorite milk (almond, rice or soy) and enjoy!

OR, you can add all to a bowl of hot cereal!

Recipe – Nut Roast

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2 1/2 cups celery, chopped

3 medium onions, chopped

3 Tablespoons oil

3 Tablespoons water

3/4 cup walnuts, chopped

3/4 cup pecan or sunflower meal

3 cups dried bread cubes

3 cups soy milk or whizzed tomatoes

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/4 teaspoons sweet basil

1/2 teaspoon sage

Sauté together the first four ingredients. Combine well all ingredients and place in oiled loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Cover loaf while baking except for the last 20 minutes. Serve with gravy.