Sunday, January 29, 2006 

Superfood: Yogurt

posted by Kamil


Yogurt:
L. acidophilus, L. bulgaricus, L. casei, S. thermophilus, L. reuteri and B bifidus. (most yogurts contain at least one or more of these bacteria; you want to look for brands that specifically say "Live Active Cultures" )

Ever since I was a young boy, I have always loved yogurt. I try to eat yogurt everyday, and often find myself taking a spoonful, while making breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I always picture the bacteria in the yogurt like a clean up crew in my gut fighting off the bad species of bacteria (namely Staphylococcus aureus). Yogurt seems more like desert than anything else, but recently we have been experimenting with various plain yogurts in different recipes. Thats tonights desert, yogurt and strawberries...yum!

Why is yogurt a superfood?
  • It is a complete protein
  • It is prebiotic and probiotic
  • It can help reduce the incidence of the following
  • allergies
  • hypertension
  • ulcers
  • IBD
  • Lactose Intolerance
  • Cancer
  • Cholesterol
I always wondered where yogurt came from, until a few years ago on an internet binge, I looked up yogurt and found out it was nothing more than curdled milk. Special bacteria are introduced into the milk and it is then incubated, which helps the bacteria breakdown the milk sugars (lactose) into lactic acid. Yogurt also contains, Riboflavin, Vitamin B12, Potassium, Magnesium, and Zinc.

So, you should eat yogurt, and eat it alot, because it tastes good and does alot for you.

7:38 PM | |

Friday, January 13, 2006 

Superfood: Black Tea

posted by Kamil

Black Tea:
Camellia Sinensis and Camellia Assamica (with over 250,000 varitals)

This is the first of a series on superfoods, foods that can improve your health just by eating them, and they are more than just blueberries and yogurt. Superfoods, are foods that contain high levels of antioxidants, phenols, flavinoids, soluble fiber, and fatty acids.

Why is tea a superfood?
  • It contains no calories
  • It contains Fluoride (the same fluoride that prevents cavities)
  • It contains Flavinoids (this is where tea gets its antioxidant properties)
  • It contains Phenols
According to Pratt (SuperFoods Rx) , tea is supposed to help in a lot of ways such as lowering blood pressure, risk of stroke, preventing, skin damage, cataracts, osteoporosis, and it is antiviral, anti-inflamtory, anticavity and anti-allergy.
I used to drink tea everyday, however, lately I have been drinking coffee instead. With the raging debates about the benefits of tea vs. coffee it makes for a difficult choice about including or excluding one or the other. So instead of chosing, we try to include both, if not by drinking it then by cooking with it.

This week, we will attempt to make our own tea based recipe. The tea we have selected is Lapsang Souchong (above), a black tea from the Fujian province of China, also called Russian Caravan tea, named after its long journey from Chinese to Russian markets; getting its smokey flavor from the campfires it endured along the way.

This tea is no doubt very smoky, not sure i would want to drink it, rather it will be used in creating a BBQ sauce for a chicken recipe posted later this week.




7:31 PM | |