Christine (Cheffactor winner 2010) started in the Cookery School in January, find out how she is getting on over at her blog.
Eat Whole-foods not Refined Foods!
Most people know that foods contain Vitamins and Minerals. But does the food we eat, after growing, refining, cooking and packaging still actually contain these compounds? Growing and processing food in the ‘modern’ way removes a lot of these essential constituents of food. Did you know that:
The process of changing a baby’s diet from only milk to food takes quite a few months. But if you are strict with their diet in the first year it will pay dividends on their health for the rest of their life. Most infants are weaned too early, some as early as 3-4 weeks. Ideally it is best to begin weaning when the baby is about 6 months old. At 6 months your baby needs more iron and other nutrients than milk alone can provide.
Legend has it that tea was discovered by the Chinese Emperor Shen Nung around 2750 BC. One day, while boiling drinking water, some leaves from an over hanging tree fell into a pot. The infusion tasted good and was slightly stimulating, so it continued to be a Chinese custom until about 800AD, when it was introduced to Japan. The Europeans then started growing it in their tropical colonies as a ‘cash-crop’. Along with China and Japan it is now widely grown in India, Sri Lanka, Africa and Georgia. It first came to Europe in the 17th century and in its early days it was a highly prized luxur
Irradiation of foods
In many countries food irradiation is now being used during food production. It keeps food fresh longer by inhibiting the sprouting of vegetables (like onions and potatoes), slowing down fruit ripening, killing moulds and insects, and decreasing the incidence of food poisoning (like Salmonella). It is also a “clever” way to use nuclear waste but leaves no radiation in the food itself.
Nutrition in Traditional Chinese Medicine # 2
Foods are constantly being put in different categories. They may be meat or vegetable, organic or non-organic, carbohydrate or protein, local or foreign, heavy or light…the categories are endless. But in China there is one category that they have had for thousands of years that we are only beginning to understand, and that is Yin and Yang foods.
Should one splash out and buy organic? According to the British Organic Governing Body, the ‘Soil Association’, we definitely should. Organic Food has…
- More Nutrients, Less Water…Artificial fertilisers increase the water content of food. This produces a bigger yield but dilutes the nutrient content. One study showed a 90% mineral increase in organic food compared to non-organic. Plants take about 60 different minerals out of the soil and in commercial farming only 3 are put back in. There is a higher ratio of polyunsaturated fats to saturated fats in organically reared meat.
Constipation affects at least 4 million Americans each year! They spend at least $725 million a year on laxatives! And I’m sure the Irish are following (proportionally!) close behind.
There are references to watercress in many early Irish manuscripts. It formed part of the diet of hermits and holy men who valued its special properties. Legend has it that it was watercress that enabled St. Brendan to live to the ripe old age of 180!
