Natural News for Women » Ingredient Spotlights

Ingredient Spotlight: Kale

Marilyn — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 00:10:17 +0000

Kale is a member of the brassica family of vegetables. They are not only packed with health-boosting vitamins and minerals but are full of anti-carcinogenic phytonutrients, mostly in the form of the organo-sulphur compounds that give them their slightly bitter taste.

Kale’s sulphurophane, for example, interferes directly with tumour growth, as well as stimulating the body’s own defences against disease to create an antioxidant effect that lasts long after the kale has been eaten. Recent research has found…

Ingredient spotlight: Peas

Marilyn — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 00:20:37 +0000

Food in season: Peas

The pea is a type of legume which has been grown by man since the Bronze Age. Historically, legumes have been associated with cultures within which people regularly attained great ages (such as the Japanese, with a soya and tofu-rich diet), and a recent study conducted under the auspices of the World Health Organisation found that eating legumes such as peas was the most important dietary predictor of survival in old age, with a 7-8% reduction in mortality hazard ratio for every 20g increase in daily legume intake.

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Ingredient spotlight: pears

Marilyn — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:10:03 +0000

Pears are full of fibre, with 100g – roughly half of one large pear – providing 3.g, which is a generous 17% of your daily recommended amount. Fibre-rich diets have been shown to lower the risk of diverticulitis, an inflammation of the intestine that is extremely common as we get older, and epidemiological studies have identified an inverse correlation between vegetable, fruit and whole-grain intake, plant-food intake and the risk of rectal cancer. The soluble fibre, pectin, found particularly in the peel also helps to reduce ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol and can lower the risk of dying from heart disease by around a third.

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Ingredient Spotlight – Sweet Potatoes

Marilyn — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:10:33 +0000

Sweet potatoes are one of the oldest vegetables known to be consumed by humans and research dates this vegetable back to prehistoric times.

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Ingredient spotlight: tomatoes

Marilyn — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 01:10:47 +0000

The humble tomato has been at the centre of a whirlwind of scientific activity for several years, mainly because of its high lycopene content. Lycopene, a carotenoid compound which is found in relatively few foods, gives tomatoes their deep red colour and is a potent antioxidant which can protect cells and DNA from free-radical damage. Significantly, cooked tomato products are even higher in lycopene than the raw fruit – 100g of canned tomato paste, for example, contains an astonishing 28,764mcg, which is more than any other food tested so far.

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Ingredient Spotlight: Leeks

Marilyn — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:10:30 +0000

A member of the allium family, leeks share many of the health benefits of their onion and garlic cousins, including an ability to lower levels of cholesterol, so helping to prevent atherosclerosis and heart disease. In one study, rabbits fed an extract of leek for three months had lower levels of both total fats in the blood and of ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol at the end of the trial

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Ingredient Spotlight: Coconut

Marilyn — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 01:20:25 +0000

The word coconut refers to the fruit of the coconut palm which is a large palm that can grow to up 30m tall. The coconut grows throughout the tropical world and it is an extraordinary plant in that nearly every part of it can be used for some purpose either for cooking or otherwise eg door mats etc.

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Ingredient Spotlight: Beetroot

Marilyn — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 01:10:37 +0000

The beetroot is from the Goosefoot family and both the leaves and the easily recognised bright red root can be eaten as a vegetable. The leaves can be steamed or used in stir fries and the root is either eaten raw or as a hot or cold cooked vegetable. Often vinegar is added when eaten cold. A popular dish from Eastern Europe is cold borscht which is cold beetroot soup.

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Discovering herbs: Ginger

Marilyn — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:20:24 +0000

This hot and pungent root can be used fresh or dried and has been cultivated since ancient times. In Ayurvedic medicine, ginger is known as the ‘universal medicine’ and it’s not difficult to see why. The root and its essential oils have traditionally been used to calm the digestive system and treat rheumatic conditions, nausea and respiratory tract infections, and modern research can confirm many of these uses.

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Ingredient Spotlight: Oats

Marilyn — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 01:10:01 +0000

Oats are a cereal and come from the grass family. Oats are sold in a number of different ways and the name can vary depending on the country. Porridge oats in the UK is known as oatmeal in America, but in the UK oatmeal is ground oats.

Oats are mainly carbohydrate but they contain higher levels of both protein and fat than other cereals. The protein from oats is said to nearly equal to that of soya which has been shown by the World Health Organisation to equal meat, milk and egg protein. Oats provide good amounts of zinc, magnesium, calcium, iron, and the Bvitamins, B1, B2 and B6.

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