Posts Tagged ‘folate’

Mmmmm Cabbage!

One of the first recipes we posted on our site was our Spicy Red Cabbage Raw Slaw, which for us, started our love affair with this amazing vegetable. And what’s not to love? Sturdy, abundant and inexpensive, cabbage is a longstanding dietary staple throughout the world and is so widely cultivated and stores so well that it is available throughout the year. However, it is at its best during the late fall and winter months when it is in season. Cabbage is round in shape with layers of superimposed leaves with the inner leaves often lighter in color than the outer leaves because they are protected from the sunlight. They belong to the Cruciferae family of vegetables along with kale, broccoli, collards and Brussels sprouts.

There are three major types of cabbage: green, red and Savoy. The color of green cabbage ranges from pale to dark green while red cabbage has leaves that are either crimson or purple with white veins running through. Both green and red cabbage have smooth textured leaves. The leaves of Savoy cabbage are more ruffled and yellowish-green in color.

Because cabbage’s inner leaves are protected from the sunlight by the surrounding leaves, they are oftentimes lighter in color. Red and green cabbage have a more defined taste and crunchy texture as compared to Savoy cabbage’s more delicate nature. Bok choy as well as Chinese (Napa) cabbage are other varieties of cabbage available. Bok choy has a mild flavor and a higher concentration of vitamin A. Chinese cabbage, with its pale green ruffled leaves, is great to use in salads.

Let us educate you in the nutritious ways of the cabbage.

Health Benefits:

• Cabbage is an excellent source of vitamin C. It is also a very good source of fiber, manganese, folate, vitamin B6, potassium, and omega-3 fatty acids. Cabbage is also a good source of thiamin (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), calcium, potassium, magnesium, vitamin A, and protein.
• Consumption of cruciferous vegetables, such as cabbage, is known to reduce the risk of a number of cancers, especially lung, colon, breast, ovarian and bladder cancer.
• Cabbage helps to optimize your body’s cleansing/detoxing abilities. Phytonutrients work as antioxidants to disarm free radicals before they can damage DNA, cell membranes and fat-containing molecules such as cholesterol. Phytonutrients in crucifers, such as cabbage, work at a much deeper level. These compounds actually signal our genes to increase production of enzymes involved in detoxification, the cleansing process through which our bodies eliminate harmful compounds.
• indole-3-carbinole (I3C), sulforaphane, and indoles are additional phytonutrients found in cabbage. These compounds help activate and stabilize the body’s antioxidant and detoxification mechanisms that dismantle and eliminate cancer-producing substances
• Raw cabbage juice is well documented as being remarkably effective in treating peptic ulcers, which are open sores or erosions in the lining of either the duodenum (duodenal ulcers) or the stomach (gastric ulcers). That’s right! You can juice a cabbage!

How to Select and Store Cabbage:

Choose cabbage heads that are firm and dense with shiny, crisp, colorful leaves free of cracks, bruises and blemishes. Severe damage to the outer leaves is suggestive of worm damage or decay that may reside in the inner core as well. There should be only a few outer loose leaves attached to the stem. If not, it may be an indication of undesirable texture and taste. Avoid buying precut cabbage, either halved or shredded, since once cabbage is cut, it begins to lose its valuable vitamin C content.

Keeping cabbage cold will keep it fresh and help it retain its vitamin C content. Put the whole head in a plastic bag in the crisper of your refrigerator. Red and green cabbage will keep this way for about 2 weeks while Savoy cabbage will keep for about 1 week. If you need to store a partial head of cabbage, cover it tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Since the vitamin C content of cabbage starts to quickly degrade once it has been cut, you should use the remainder within a couple of days.

Recipes:

• Spicy Red Cabbage Raw Slaw
• Cabbage Carrot Slaw
• Tom’s Fruity Medicine Chest Smoothie
• Alkaline Special (see last recipe in post)

Resources:

The Nutritional Profile of Cabbage is featured on WHFoods: Cabbage

Bell Peppers: Sweet, Tangy, Good For You!

A wonderful combination of tangy taste and crunchy texture, bell peppers are the Christmas ornaments of the vegetable world with their beautifully shaped glossy exterior that comes in a wide array of vivid colors ranging from green, red, yellow, orange, purple, brown to black. Although peppers are available throughout the year, they are most abundant and tasty during the months of August and September.

Sweet peppers are plump, bell-shaped vegetables featuring either three or four lobes. They usually range in size from 2 to 5 inches in diameter, and 2 to 6 inches in length. Inside the thick flesh is an inner cavity with edible bitter seeds and a white spongy core. Bell peppers are not ‘hot’. They contain a recessive gene that eliminates capsaicin, the compound responsible for the ‘hotness’ found in other peppers.

Here are the health benefits of these amazing bell peppers:

• They are GREAT for your health! One cup of raw, chopped red peppers provides over 100% of the DV for vitamin C and vitamin A. Red peppers are also an excellent source of vitamin B6. Green peppers are a very good source of fiber, folate, and vitamin K as well as the minerals molybdenum and manganese. In addition to beta-carotene, red peppers contain the beneficial phytonutrients lycopene, lutein and zeaxanthin.
• Bell peppers are colorful protection against free radicals. Brightly colored bell peppers, whether green, red, orange or yellow, are rich sources of some of the best nutrients available. To start, peppers are excellent sources of vitamin C and vitamin A (through its concentration of carotenoids such as beta-carotene), two very powerful antioxidants. These antioxidants work together to effectively neutralize free radicals, which can travel through the body causing huge amounts of damage to cells.
• They also reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. For atherosclerosis and diabetic heart disease, peppers also contain vitamin B6 and folic acid. These two B vitamins are very important for reducing high levels of homocysteine, a substance produced during the methylation cycle (an essential biochemical process in virtually every cell in the body). High homocysteine levels have been shown to cause damage to blood vessels and are associated with a greatly increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
• Bell peppers are easy on your eyes! They appear to have a protective effect against cataracts, possibly due to their vitamin C and beta-carotene content.

How to Select and Store:
Choose peppers that have deep vivid colors, taut skin, and that are free of soft spots, blemishes and darkened areas. Their stems should be green and fresh looking. Peppers should be heavy for their size and firm enough so that they will gently yield to slight pressure. Avoid those that have signs of decay including injuries to the skin or water-soaked areas. The shape of the pepper does not generally affect the quality, although it may result in excessive waste or not be suitable to certain recipe preparations. Peppers are available throughout the year but are usually in greater abundance during the summer months.

Unwashed sweet peppers stored in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator will keep for up to one week. Sweet peppers can be frozen without first being blanched. It is better to freeze them whole since there will be less exposure to air which can degrade both their nutrient content and flavor.

Recipes:
We’ve got some recipes featuring bell peppers if you want to get more in your diet. Check out:

• Raw Tacos
• Rawmazing Gazpecho Soup

Resources:
Bell Peppers, WHFOODS, http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=50#descr

Rich and Creamy: The Avocado

Introduction:

The avocado is known also as the alligator pear, because of its shape and the thick, leather-like appearance of its skin. The avocado is a very versatile fruit in that it can be added to everything from salads, to dips and salsas.  There is a common misconception that you shouldn’t eat avocados because of their high fat content. The fat oils in avocados are nature made, unsaturated and unhydrogenerated. In fact, it has been found that the oil of an avocado is one of the most valuable of the unsaturated fatty acids. Of the 30 grams of fat typically found in an average size avocado, 20 of those grams are health promoting monosaturated fats, especially oleic acid. So don’t fear, they are good for you, and yummy too!

Nutritional Info:

• Avocados contain oleic acid, a monosaturated fat that may help to lower cholesterol.
• Avocados are a good source of potassium, a mineral that helps regulate blood pressure.  They are actually higher in potassium than a medium sized banana. One avocado contains 24% of your daily value (DV) of potassium.
• This fruit is jammed packed with nutrients! Avocados are a good source of vitamin K (36% DV), dietary fiber (29% DV), vitamin B6 (20% DV), vitamin C (19% DV) and copper (19% DV).
• One cup of avocado has 23% of your DV for folate, a nutrient important for heart health.
• Avocados are sodium and cholesterol free.
• The avocado, pound for pound, has more energy than unprocessed meat. (aren’t you glad you’re going raw?!)

How To Select the Perfect Avocado:

So you are at the supermarket and you see a crate full of alligator pears. They all pretty much look the same, how do you know which one to choose. We hope the info in this section will have you selecting avocados like a pro! A ripe, ready to eat, avocado is slightly soft but should have no dark sunken spots or cracks. So pick up the avocado that catches your eye, hold it in the palm of your hands and use your fingers to gently press around it to get a feel for its softness. Then also give it a look over to check for dark spots and cracks.

Firm avocados will ripen in a paper bag or in your kitchen fruit basket at room temperature. If you are planning to eat the avocado later, you should consider buying them firm. As the fruit ripens (varies between 2-3 days), the skin will start to turn darker. Place your ripe avocado in the fridge.

How Do I Get Inside?

No worries, if you’re new to avocados and haven’t experienced them past guacamole, this section is for you. Here’s how to get to the wholesome goodness that’s inside the avocado:

• First, cut the ripe avocado lengthwise around the seed. Rotate the halves to separate.
• Remove the seed by sliding the tip of a spoon gently underneath and lifting it out.
• You can peel the fruit by placing the cut side down and removing the skin with a knife or your fingers starting at the narrow end. Or, you can simply scoop out the avocado flesh with a spoon.
• Sprinkle the avocado chunks with lemon or lime juice to preserve and prevent discoloration

Resources:

The Nutritional Value of the Avocado: http://www.avocadosource.com
Avocados: Hand Grown in California: http://www.avocado.org
The World’s Healthiest Foods – Avocados: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=5

Take the Beets to the Streets

Introduction:

We think beets are misunderstood. They have such a rough, tough appearance that they are often mistaken for being undesirable, but in actuality they have a unique sweet  flavor all their own and are very good for you. Did you know that even the green leaves attached to the root are edible? Indulge us as we unlock the amazing nutritional value of beets.

The Taste:

The sweet taste of beets reflect their high sugar content (side note: beets’ value grew in the 19th century when it was discovered that they were a concentrated source of sugar, and the first beet sugar factory was built in Poland). Raw beet roots have a crunchy texture. The beet leaves have a lively, bitter taste similar to chard. The greens attached to the beet are also incredibly rich in nutrients, concentrated in vitamins and minerals as well as caratenoids such as beta-carotene and lutein zeaxanthin. The quickest way to add beets into your daily routine is to simply grate them raw for a colorful addition to a salad or garnish for raw soup.

What You’ll Find When in the Grocery Store:

Look for medium sized beets with firm roots. Pick them up to feel them. Their skin should be smooth and deep in color. Avoid beets that have spots, bruises or soft, wet areas, all of which indicate spoilage.  Also avoid beets that look shriveled, as this is a sign that the roots are aged, tough and fibrous. As for the leafy portion, if you plan on eating this part of the plant too, make sure they are green and look fresh. Once you get home, if you can’t consume right away, you can store beets for about 2 weeks or more in your fridge. Cut the greens at the roots so they don’t pull moisture away, and leave about 2 inches of the stem attached to prevent the roots from “bleeding.”

Nutrition Info & Health Benefits:

• Beets are a good source of maganese and potassium.
• 1 cup of beets has 10% DV of Vitamin C.
• Beets are rich in color. Betacyanin is the name of the pigment that gives beets their rich color. Aside from being aesthetically pleasing, betacyanin is also a powerful cancer-fighting agent. Here’s a reason to consume them in the raw, studies show that beets’ anti-cancer activity is diminished by heat.
• Beets are an excellent source of the B vitamin folate (about 34% DV in one cup), which is essential for normal tissue growth.

References:

Beets by WHFoods, http://www.whfoods.com
Nutritional Data, You Are What You Eat, http://www.nutritiondata.com

Broccoli: Go Ahead, Sneak It In!

Introduction

A member of the cabbage family and the more colorful relative of the cauliflower, broccoli is the amazing vegetable that you can add to just about anything. Because of it’s various components, broccoli provides an eclectic array of tastes and textures, from soft and flowery to fibrous and crunchy. One reason for the recent jump in broccoli consumption is its growing reputation as a nutritional power house. It is not only rich in vitamins, minerals, and fiber, but it’s also loaded with antioxidants and protective phytochemicals as well. Not to mention, broccoili  contains some of the highest levels of vitamin A and C than in any food.

Nutritional Breakdown

Some of the figures expressed below are based upon 1 cup of broccoli or 1 medium sized stalk

• 1 cup only contains 45 calories.
• Broccoli contains natural substances that may help the body fight certain cancers.
• It also helps heal kids’ cuts and wounds and is a particularly good source of vitamin C.
• Broccoli helps to build strong bones and teeth. It is one of the best non-dairy sources of calcium. In fact, 1 cup of broccoli contains 74 mg of calcium (take that, dairy products!)
• 1 cup of broccoli contains 205% of your daily value of vitamin C, 194% of vitamin K, 45% of vitamin A, and 25% of folate.
• Broccoli has been singled out as a vegetable that contributes to the significant reduction in the risk for heart disease.
• Just 1 cup of broccoli fortifies your immune system with a hefty 1359 mcg of beta-carotene, and a small but useful amount of zinc and selenium (two minerals that act as cofactors in numerous immune defensive actions).

Selecting and Storing

The next time you are in the fresh produce section of your grocery store, look for stalks that are four to six inches wide with tight heads and a rounded dome. The tops should be deep green with tightly closed buds and stalks that are crisp and fresh looking. Be sure to avoid any heads that are limp and rubbery as this could mean the broccoli is old or has not been maintained at proper temperature.

When storing your broccoli, if it is prepackaged in sealed plastic it is good to go. If not, wrap unwashed broccoli in plastic wrap or a plastic bag and store ina fridge until you are ready to use. Although it is best eaten fresh, if you store it as mentioned above, it will keep five to seven days in your fridge.

Sneak it in

Broccoli does not have to be the main ingredient in your meal in order for you to reap the benefits. A cup of broccoli can easily be added to your already green juice, or as a flavorful edition to any salad. Happy chomping!

Did You Get Your Blackberry Yet?

Introduction:

Did you think we were talking about the cell phone? Nope, but we are talking about this amazing little fruit that is great for your body! Blackberries are nature’s sweet tart. Blackberries can be a bit sour unless they are ripe, however once ripe they are sweet and the perfect addition to any recipe. Store brought and frozen berries are okay, but if you want a party in your mouth, wait until they are in season and pick them fresh.

Nutritional Value:

1 cup of blackberries equals 144 grams. Within 1 cup of blackberries, you’ll get 75 calories (what? that’s practically nothing!), 1 gram of protein, 18 grams of carbohydrates, .6 grams of fat and 7.6 grams of fiber. Blackberries are also a good source of folate (49 mcg – micrograms).

Folate is necessary for the production and maintenance of new cells and is especially important during periods of rapid cell division and growth. Folate is needed to make DNA and RNA, the building blocks of cells. Both adults and children need folate to make to make normal red blood cells and prevent anemia. The recommended daily allowance for folate is 400 mcg. If one cup has 49 mcg, imagine how much you could get with a breakfast smoothie.

How to Buy and Store:

When you are in the grocery store in search of the perfect blackberries, look for the ones that are plump and have a shine all their own. Fresh blackberries are best when eaten immediately, but if you have store them, use a non-air tight container and place them in the refrigerator. Make sure that you rinse them thoroughly before eating. Eating a handful of blackberries makes a great on the go snack.

If frozen berries are more your thing, blackberries have a tendency to bunch up and stick together in the freezer. To prevent this from happening, spread them out evenly on a cookie sheet so that they are not touching each other. Then place them in the freezer for about an hour (time varies based on freezer so use your judgement). Once they are completely frozen place your berries in a sealable bag. Then take as many as you want for smoothies and other frozen delights.

Resources:

The A to Z of Health, Beauty and Fitness http://health.learninginfo.org
PCC Natural Markets http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/health/3588006
Folate http://healthlinkmcw.edu

Arugula: That’s One Powerful Leaf!

A Little Background Info:

Arugula is a Mediterranean-type of green leafy vegetable that grows in the wild across the country. Their leaves are very similar to that of a dandelion in shape.  It is a very popular choice for salads but can also be used as a topping or garnish in other dishes. While wild arugula is preferred amongst many raw food enthusiasts, this plant can also be grown at home. It grows best in the late spring into summer. Don’t worry if there is no space for plants in your home. You can purchase organic arugula at various grocery stores. It is known best for its lemon-peppery flavor.

Nutritional Information:

Arugula is highly alkaline. In fact, it neutralizes acidic waste throughout the blood and lymphatic system. It is also said to be rich in Vitamin A, C and K, as well as folate and calcium. It is a great source of beta-carotene, which is great for skin (including acne, and protecting the skin from sun damage). Because of the high sulfur content, arugula is an excellent internal skin cleanser. Please see our recipes for some delicious salads that contain arugula.