Nutrition Fridays

FOOD COMBINING

Last Friday I began the discussion on food combining. I used the Mayan diet as one example. Another example would be the diet found in the Middle East.  They combine bulgur wheat and chickpeas (or garbanzo beans), or humus and pita bread (humus is the combination of chickpeas / garbanzo beans with sesame seed…which is creamed like peanut butter). (Lappe, 161)

In India you find chapaties with dal (lentils).  You find in Asia the food combination would be soy foods with rice (China, Japan, and Indonesia), or soy with barley (Korea and Southern China). (Lappe, Ibid.)

In all of the examples the combination is 70-80% whole grains and 20-30% legumes (beans).  Ironically, this ratio has been proven by nutritionists to contain complete Amino Acids and allows for “maximum protein useability (Lappe,Ibid.)

Yes, you do have to learn how to cook each of these types of food.  It is not really difficult to learn how to cook them.  No, they are not as simple as microwaving a meal for 5 minutes that is purchased pre-made / pre-packaged.  But, definitely more healthy!

Lappe states “with three important exceptions, there is little danger of protein deficiency in a plant food diet (162)” These exceptions are: diets that depend upon fruits as the main source, or diets that use mostly sweet potatoes or cassava, and lastly Lappe points to junk food.  I would include with “junk food” any diet that mostly uses refined sugar and refined flour.

Continued on next Friday…

 

REFERENCE:

Lappe, Frances Moore.  Diet for a Small Planet, 20^th anniversary edition. Ballantine Books, 1991

Nutritional Fridays

FOOD COMBINING

 What is it? Food combining is the use of vegetable proteins, grains, and nuts in combination to allow for the body to digest nutrients that will make a complete protein.

Our human bodies need complete proteins, and nitrogen.  There are 22 Amino Acids that make proteins, 8 of them are essential for good health.  Meat and dairy are not necessarily the only source of proteins!  Although, the dairy and beef industry would like to convince you that these are necessary!  They advertise this and donate to politicians inn order to have the backing they need to "push" the idea of their necessity.

But, not that we know that the beef and dairy industry has been using hormones in the cow's feed, and genetically modified grains are also used, lets now take another look! Is meat the main source to look to for protein? NO.

Did you know that grains, vegetables, nuts, and legumes (beans) have proteins?  They also contain many vitamins our bodies need, as well! Do we need to supplement these in our diet, in order to get the 8 essential Amino Acids? No.

Ancient cultures knew instinctively what foods to eat to have inexpensive and yet tasty, nutritious diets.  The Mayan meal of beans, rice, tomatoes, and bits of chili contains everything necessary for all 8 essential Amino Acids and vitamins from the vegetables. 

I will discuss next Friday how this all works....

Herbal Mondays

In doing my research I have discovered that some people believe fresh leaves and bark are better for use as herbal remedies than dried.  I don't think it really matters for most herbal use. Keep in mind, if you use fresh herbals, and wish to obtain the qualities of the herbal than you should use it within 48 hours of harvesting.

Not everyone has access to herbs in the wild, or even a garden in which it is grown.  Frequent trips to wildcraft may not be practical.  Wildcrafting can be time-consuming.

You should consider how much you need and do not gather excessive amounts of herbs.  Be careful to not over-harvest what is available in the wild.  A rule of thumb would be to take from 1 of 4 plants, if gathering leaves and buds.  Don't pull up the plant by the roots, and leave some top growth for later harvesting.

My usual amount is a bundle about 3 inches in diameter.  I rinse the material thoroughly before doing anything with the plant.  I use kite string to tie it into a bundle and hang the plant by the stem. Drying time varies, depending on the plant, temperatures, and humidity. I have had plants take upwards of four months to completely dry.

Two ways to preserve herbs longer than just dry material are as a vinegar or as a tincture. Vinegars can last around six months.  A glycerine tincture is about the same and should be refrigerated, whereas vinegars do not seem to need refrigeration. 

Alcohol tinctures last much longer, and depending on the alcohol percent they can be stored from a year to many years.  You can use wine, or brandy. The life of these two are shorter than Vodka. They should be stored in a cool, dry spot.

When tincturing you would use half as much dry herb than fresh. First, because of the need to reconstitute the herb, and secondly when dried the herb has concentrated constituents. I usually use a quart mason jar filling it about 1/3 with dry herb and covering with alcohol to about two inches below the rim.

Tincturing usually takes around 2-4 weeks. Again the duration depends upon temperature, humidity, and also the kind of herb being tinctured. 

Roots and bark take the longest to dry.  These should be air dried, and can take quite some time. Care should be taken to not overdue harvesting in order to not diminish the available supply.

You can tell what herbs will be needed for the following year by observation. As a rule of thumb, when certain plants grow abundantly and others do not, those herbs that are ample usually are the ones that will be needed.

More on preserving and using herbs next Monday.