Peppy Pepper!

by Francine

photo via 21food.com

It's safe to say, say I, that most people like pepper. The amount that we use varies from person to person, obviously, but other salt, it's also safe to say that it is the most widely used spice there is. I never thought of it as having much health value until I started to realize how many health benefits were found in all herbs and spices. But for some reason, the old standby just didn't seem like a great source of anything other than fantastic flavor. I was wrong!

Think digestion. And think other benefits as well. Here you go:

As we know, black pepper (Piper nigrum), stimulates the taste buds. That stimulation isn't just for our enjoyment. It's the body's method to send an alert to to the stomach to increase hydrochloric acid secretion, which aids in digestion. Don't undermine the importance of hydrochloric acid, btw. Without sufficient quantities, food may sit in our tummies for too long. This can turn to heartburn or indigestion, or go through the intestines, where gut bacteria uses it. The results being gas, irritation, and/or diarrhea or constipation.

Along with antioxidant properties, black pepper has another surprising quality: the outer layer of the peppercorn helps stimulate fat cells, which in turn help keep us slim.

Here's an interesting factoid about black pepper, according to McCormick.com: "[Black pepper]  once was used as money to pay taxes, tributes, dowries, and rent. Peppercorns were weighed like gold and used as a common medium of exchange. Black pepper was even used as ransom when the Visigoths captured Rome in 410 A.D."

In the same article, McCormick tells us that Vasco de Gama and Christopher Columbus, sought India’s Malabar Coast in hopes of gaining access to pepper’s source. And later American clipper ships traveled to far away tropical lands to buy black pepper (and other spices) to meet the rapidly increasing demand back home.

As with everything that is grown or raised, try to stick with organic. This offers you the greatest assurance that it has not been irradiated. Black pepper that has been irradiated may lead to a significant decrease in its vitamin C content and irradiation is linked to a host of other unwanted side effects as well.

Like with so many other herbs and spices, best to add black pepper toward the end of the cooking process--to maintain its wonderful and inimitable flavor.

Keep in mind that TofuYu has a tofu that is teeming with black pepper. Like our other packaged tofus, we offer it in a block, ready to be sliced, cubed, or whatever else. Pepper tofu is fantastic on its own (sauteed, for instance), or mixed with veggies, seafood, chicken, etc. You'll love all those specks of black and even more--you'll enjoy the incredible flavor!

Sources:
McCormick.com
whfoods.com

Mountain Joy

by Francine

photo via thekitchn.com

When we think of an herb to add to something Italian, a salad, veggies, so many things. . . we usually think of oregano first.  It means 'Mountain joy' and in many parts of the world, it is known as wild marjoram. But keep in mind it is NOT the same as sweet marjoram.

Super high in vitamin K, Dr. Andrew Weil on his Dr. Andrew Weil website has this to say: "Vitamin K is an essential nutrient necessary for blood clotting - it regulates normal blood clotting by helping the body transport calcium. Vitamin K may also be helpful for bone health: it may reduce bone loss, and decrease risk of bone fractures. It also may prevent calcification of arteries and other soft tissue."

Oregano has anti-bacterial properties. It contains thymol and carvacrol, two oils known to have substantial bacteria-fighting power. As discussed in an article on whfoods.org, Mexican researchers have compared oregano to tinidazol, a commonly used prescription drug to treat infection from the amoeba Giardia lamblia. The same researchers have reported that oregano is a better treatment for giardia than the prescription drug commonly prescribed to treat the illness.

The herb is also a powerful antioxidant as well as a good source of fiber. 

Oregano, either in its fresh or dried form, should be added toward the end of the cooking process. Heat can easily cause a loss of its delicate flavor. 

As for cooking tofu with oregano. Not difficult to get creative. Whether it's a stir-fry, simple saute, or baked, a bit of oregano adds zest and wonderful flavor from the Mediterranean. It's best to add it towards the end of cooking so as not to compromise the delicate flavor. 

Sources:

Dr. Andrew Weil: Dr. Andrew Weil website
Whole Foods: Whole Foods website
Mark's Daily Apple: Mark's Daily Apple website

Come on, cumin!

photo via answers.com

Cumin seeds --tasty, with their tasty nutty flavor, happen to be an excellent source of iron (1 little tsp. provides you with more than 15% of what you need a day! As a comparison, you need a full serving of pork to get the same amount of iron!) By the way, if you've forgotten why iron is important (other than keeping you "strong"), iron plays an important role in our bodies. Iron transports oxygen from the lungs to all body cells, and is also part of key enzyme systems for energy production and metabolism.

Iron also plays an important role in keeping your immune system healthy. But wait. . . there's more! ;-)

Long known as beneficial to the digestive system, cumin has been shown to stimulate the secretion of pancreatic enzymes, compounds necessary for proper digestion and nutrient assimilation.

Cumin seeds may have anti-carcinogenic properties. From the Whole Foods website, "In one study, cumin was shown to protect laboratory animals from developing stomach or liver tumors. This cancer-protective effect may be due to cumin's potent free radical scavenging abilities as well as the ability it has shown to enhance the liver's detoxification enzymes. Yet, since free radical scavenging and detoxification are important considerations for the general maintenance of wellness, cumin's contribution to wellness may be even more farther reaching."

And according to indepthinfo.com, here's a health benefit in a completely different realm: "Cumin is also said to help relieve symptoms of the common cold due to it’s antiseptic properties. . . . you’ll want to boil the seeds in a tea and then drink a couple of times a day. If you also have a sore throat then try adding some dry ginger to help soothe it."

How do you use it in your cooking? So easy. Throw it into salads, rice, veggies, marinades for tofu, chicken, etc. Here's a really interesting recipe for marinated tofu, using cumin. In fact, take a look at the some of the other recipes in this eclectic collection of recipes on the 101cooks site. Well worth considering. . . 


Soures:
http://www.whfoods.com 
indepthinfo.com
http://www.fitday.com

Turmeric - You're More Than Yellow!

by Francine

photo via gardeningblog.net

You probably know that by adding turmeric to tofu (or many other things), the original item turns a bright, mustard shade of yellow. This is fun when it comes to preparing something like "faux" scrambled eggs using mashed tofu rather than eggs themselves (or even the whites of eggs, with the added turmeric for yolk color).

But now let's take a look at some of the many benefits of this amazing yellow stuff. . .


1. Useful as a disinfectant--applied directly to cuts. Also helps wounds to heal and helps in remodeling damaged skin.
2. Can help prevent prostate cancer and inhibit the growth of existing prostate cancer.
3. Tests with mice have shown it has prevented breast cancer from spreading to the lungs.
4. Acts as a natural liver detoxifier.
5. Removes amyloyd plaque buildup in the brain, which may delay or prevent Alheimer's.
6. May prevent metastases from occurring in many different forms of cancer.
7. As a natural anti-inflammatory agent, it works extremely well and without the side effects of many anti-inflammatory drugs. Says Dr. John Mercola, (noted osteopathic physician, who practices a "whole person" approach to wellness) ". . . unlike aspirin or ibuprofen, turmeric's curcumin reduces inflammation naturally, without damaging the liver or kidneys."
8. May aid in fat metabolism and help in weight management.
9. Has long been used in Chinese medicine as a treatment for depression.
10. Promising studies are underway on the effects of turmeric on pancreatic cancer.
11. Has been shown to stop the growth of new blood vessels in tumors.
12. May be significant fighter of colorectal cancer, according to researchers at Tel Aviv University. From an article in Medical News Today: "Dr. Shahar Lev-Ari of Tel Aviv University's School of Public Health at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine and his colleagues have found that curcumin can fight cancer when used in combination with a popular anti-inflammatory drug, alleviating the inflammatory response caused when cancer takes root in the body."
13) Dr. Mercola expounds on the benefits of turmeric in relation to antioxidants in this youtube.com video where he discusses natural sources of antioxidant properties. According to Mercola, turmeric is extremely potent in helping the body protect against free radicals. He suggests using it raw if at all possible and that the quality is high--namely organic. Mercola says this is particularly important with herbal products, because they are not regulated, as prescription drugs are.

An interesting little sidenote about turmeric is that in spite of its prominent appearance, the taste is relatively lowkey, so you can add it to such things as salad without noticing a pronounced flavor.

Resources:
healthdiaries.com
mercola.com 
medicalnewstoday.com
Mercola on youtube.com

On the Eve of St. Patrick's Day

by Francine

photo via en.wikipedia.org

Well sure, you could add a bit of food coloring and make your tofu green, but you could also do an assortment of other things to add a bit o' green to your tofu.

Here's an idea:

Take a bunch of fresh spinach, snap off the stems and put them in the compost.
Wash, drain, and then either put spinach in the food processor or chop, chop, chop by hand (hey grandma did it and she was just fine).

Make a batch of brown rice (I usually make it with chicken or vegetable broth for automatic delicious flavor. . . ).
Now saute some onion and garlic, throw in the finely chopped spinach and mix in with the rice.

NOW--take a package or two of tofu (can be plain or pesto or any flavor you like. Hint: TofuYu pesto tofu is already green). Mash it up OR cube it. Saute it just long enough to get the beginning of a golden brown. Add to the very green rice mixture, and there you have it! Enjoy with some green beer (as in created using green methods and/or the stuff you can get in many bars throughout the U.S. and no doubt Ireland as well. . . )!

And a Happy St. Patty's Day to you.

Some St. Patty's Day fun/facts:

*In Irish legends, green was worn by fairies and immortals, and also by people to encourage their crops to grow. 
- wrdw.com


* St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, although he was born in Britain, around 385AD
- telegraph.co.uk

* Wearing green, eating green food and even drinking green beer, is said to commemorate St Patrick's use of the shamrock - although blue was the original colour of his vestments.
 - telegraph.co.uk 

* Research shows a pint of Guinness helps lower the chance of blood clots that cause heart attacks. Research also shows that six pints of Guinness can make you act like an idiot. It's a fine line. 
- sfgate.com

* The most popular legend associated with St. Patrick — that he drove the snakes from Ireland. This isn’t possible, of course, since Ireland had no snakes — at least not literal ones.

- vancouversun.com

Coconut oil for cooking? Absolutely yes!

by Francine

From a 2011 article in the New York Times:

photo via fatcult.com

"Two groups have helped give coconut oil its sparkly new makeover. One is made up of scientists, many of whom are backtracking on the worst accusations against coconut oil. And the other is the growing number of vegans, who rely on it as a sweet vegetable fat that is solid at room temperature and can create flaky pie crusts, crumbly scones and fluffy cupcake icings, all without butter."

David Wolfe in his book, Superfoods, tells us that coconut oil and cream have been used since the dawn of history. He lists benefits from lessening the symptoms of hypoglycemia and improving the utilization of blood sugar to improving the absorption of calcium and magnesium, supporting healthy cholesterol formation in the liver, and helping to regulate and support healthy hormone production.

Wolfe points out that if you compare coconut oil to other fat sources of the same weight--coconut oil has fewer calories. What's given it its bad name in the past is the fact that it is high in saturated fat. And we've been told by doctors and nutritionist to avoid saturated fat like the plague--especially if we suffer from high cholesterol! But what's important to note is the kind of saturated fat we're talking about here. Coconut oil contains mostly medium-chain fatty acids (as opposed to long-chain as is found so pronouncedly in meat). And that means that the body can metabolize coconut oil quickly and efficiently--converting it to energy.

Wolfe and other nutritional experts, including Marisa Moore, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, have undergone a significant turnaround re: coconut oil in recent years. "The main saturated fat in coconut oil is lauric acid,"says Moore, "a medium chain fatty acid. Lauric acid increases levels of good HDL, or high-density lipoprotein, and bad LDL, or low-density lipoprotein, in the blood, but is not thought to negatively affect the overall ratio of the two."

 The fact that coconut oil is the most stable of any known butter or oil at high temperatures makes it a favorite for cooking. Coconut oil doe not form polymerized oils or dangerous trans-fatty acids and interestingly enough--that is actually because it is a saturated fat. Says Wolfe, "Due to its complete saturation, coconut is superior to even olive oil as a cooking oil."

It is generally recommended that you purchase coconut oil that is packaged in glass, rather than plastic, because plastics may leach into coconut oil dues its solvency. Wolfe urges that the oil is raw, cold-pressed, and he advocates amber rather than clear jars. This is because butters and oils are light-sensitive and can be damaged by light.

So what about canola oil?

photo via mylot.com

by Francine

We've heard it's good; we've heard it's bad. We've seen it labelled as appropriate for 'medium to high heat' cooking, and we've read that it is not fit for human consumption.

OK, let's take a closer look. . .

The FDA includes canola oil on its GRAS list. This means--literally--"generally recognized as safe." But what you need to know about this list is that the wording means that no evidence or not enough facts have come up to counter that assumption. In other words, "innocent until proven guilty." items on the list have not undergone any scrutiny beyond that.

So what's the big deal? Well, those who rail against the oil point the finger at erucic acid. And rapeseed oil, from which canola oil is made, is apparently full of the stuff--at least many species of rapeseed oil. And according to nutritionists and other health professionals who are concerned with diet, an excess of erucic acid is quite harmful to the human body--as in toxic.

But don't make any decisions yet. . . The substance that is sold as canola oil in your local Whole Foods Market, for instance, is not made from the kind of species that is running rampant with the nasty acid. In fact, it was extracted from cultivars of rapeseed oil that were bred specifically to have low levels of erucic acid.

So what are you going to do? Well, our suggestion is to use it, but don't go crazy with it. It happens to be a convenient oil for cooking in high heat (as is coconut oil, which will be the subject of my next post) and the lightness of the oil is another benefit in cooking. It's essentially tasteless and light on cholesterol as well. 

And what, besides the convenience of being able to cook with it in high heat, does canola oil offer? Well, for one thing--omega 6 polyunsaturated fats, along with Omega 3 are essential to human health. The two essential fatty acids that the human body cannot produce are the omega-3 fatty acid and omega-6 fatty acid, which are important for brain development, immune system function and blood pressure regulation. But here's the rub. Omega 6 should be present in a ratio of 2-4 times more Omega 3 ratio. We get both fatty acids from foods including meat, poultry and eggs as well as nut and plant-based oils, i.e. canola and sunflower oils. And this is precisely where the problem arises. The American diet is slanted in the wrong direction re: this ratio. In fact, according to omega-9oils.com, the typical North American diet contains way too much Omega 6--as in 11-30 times more than Omega 3, contributing to the rise in inflammatory disorders in the U.S.--including asthma and cancer, along with dyslexia, hyperactivity, obesity, and other disorders. Including the all-too pervasive arteriosclerosis.

In summation, the proper balance between Omega 6 and 3 is what you're after and canola oil is a great oil to use for high heat (wok, for example) cooking. But "not all canola oil is created equal." As quoted in livestrong.com, Andrew Weil, MD, advocates buying canola oil that is organic and expeller-pressed. "The lower-cost products sold in supermarkets have often been extracted with chemical solvents or high-speed presses that generate heat," says Weil. "Both methods alter the oil's fatty acid chemistry in undesirable ways," which can lead to adverse side effects. The article also states that he warns that high levels of pesticides are used by canola oil producers, opening the way for possible tainting of the finished product.

Sources:
Global Healing Center
livestrong.com
omega-9oils.com
WebMD