Dr. Funfack’s Fun Facts - Slow Food Movement
One of the special features of the metabolic balance plan is that it brings your metabolism back to its natural balance. To accomplish this, it’s best to use fresh, natural high quality foods ideally from bio and regional producers and to avoid processed foods and food additives.
At the same time, the creed from metabolic balance® is that a healthy diet does not mean that you have to forget about good taste! metabolic balance® agrees with the slow food culture’s ideology and is an active member of slow food movement in Germany.
Metabolic balance likes that slow food, a worldwide association of responsible consumers has taken on the challenge to cultivate and promote this way of eating and drinking. Slow Food, like metabolic balance®, avoids synthetically produced flavors and flavor enhancers which we know are all artificial additives and considers themselves a lobby for natural good taste.
Both metabolic balance® and the slow food movement look for products from responsible agricultural producers and fisheries, which preserve biodiversity and traditional food production which is the only way to permanently preserve the regional flavors on our earth.
The slow food movement works to bring together producers, traders and consumers and help make information about the quality and nutritional value of foods produced more transparent.
If you would like more information about the slow food movement, please visit their website here. For more information about metabolic balance, please visit our homepage here and read about the different phases of the metabolic balance plane here , and here .
In the News - Mediterranean Diet
There are some very good articles about the Mediterranean diet and how it helps improve your health. Here are some links we wanted to share with you today.
Brain - An article discussing how the mediterranean diet helps your brain.
Heart - An article discussing how the mediterranean diet may help your heart.
Kidneys - An article discussing the mediterranean diet and kidney disease.
Prostrate Cancer - An article discussing the mediterranean diet and prostate cancer.
Cancer (general) - An article discussing an Ohio study which focuses on the Mediterranean diet and cancer.
Diabetes - An article focusing on diabetes and the Mediterranean diet.
[photo used with cc permission from duygu agar ]
metabolic balance Monday Recipe - Spiced Sweet Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
Ingredients:
1 serving size garbanzo beans, drained
1 serving roasted red peppers
1 portion lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions:
Blend all the ingredients together in your food processor or with a hand blender until the ingredients are smooth as shown in the photograph. Take your time and make sure to check to see if a chunk of pepper or a chickpea is hiding in the hummus mixture.
Note: Part of eating what makes sense is realizing what you are eating and how it looks like when it is on your plate. Depending on how many peppers you use, this recipe will include your protein, fruit and vegetable portions.
Note: Try spreading the hummus mixture on your daily allowance of rye bread or use the rest of your vegetable serving to dip into this tasty mixture… or do both!
Note: Remember that the lemon will be considered your fruit. If you do not have lemon on your plan, just remove it from the recipe and make sure you eat it soon after making it. If you use lemon, the hummus should keep in the refrigerator for a few days without changing color.
(recipe altered from a version found on allrecipes.com)
Christoph Egel’s Friday Blog: The Mediterranean Lifestyle
A couple of weeks ago, McDonald’s in Italy was capitalizing on the excitement surrounding the Mediterranean Diet – with a pasta salad, dubbed McPasta. While neither the calorie count, nor the nutrition content have been published, it is hard to imagine that a McDonald’s pasta salad will actually meet the standards of a Mediterranean Diet – even when garnished with “a balanced and skillful mix of tuna, tomatoes, peppers, capers and olives, seasoned with a pinch of oregano and salt”.
Although the Mediterranean Diet is more a dietary framework than an actual diet program, its popularity has steadily increased since it was first recognized back in 1945 by the American doctor Ancel Keys. According to WikiPedia, this “modern nutritional recommendation is inspired by the traditional dietary patterns of southern Italy, Greece, and Spain” and the “UNESCO recognized this diet pattern as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Italy, Greece, Spain and Morocco.”
Since the Seven Countries Study, which demonstrated the relationships between lifestyle, diet, coronary heart disease and stroke in different regions of the world, a number of newer studies have pointed at many more health benefits. It is important to understand, though, that the “mediterranean dietary pattern” represents more than a diet - it is a lifestyle that incorporates relaxed family style meals and lots of physical activity!
Since there are many similarities between the traditional mediterranean diet and metabolic balance® we will dedicate a number of blogs next week to these findings. In the meantime, you may want to compare your daily diet with the typical mediterranean foods: a “proportionally high consumption of olive oil, legumes, unrefined cereals, fruits, and vegetables, moderate to high consumption of fish, moderate consumption of dairy products (mostly as cheese and yogurt), moderate wine consumption, and low consumption of meat and meat products.”
So, how does your diet compare?
Sylvia Egel’s GMO/GE Primer
Sylvia Egel, head of education for metabolic balance USA, researched the topic of GMO/GE and organised the following information to share with you.
First the US has no GMO / GE labeling rules or law. A very interesting web-page and nice visual (on labeling GMO / GE) can be found here.
Interestingly, the USDA organic seal needs to be non-GMO / -GE by law! You can find some interesting information on this topic here.
The US government has an official page created by the GPO (US Government Printing Office] which states that for an item to be organic certain methods are excluded.
“ A variety of methods used to genetically modify organisms or influence their growth and development by means that are not possible under natural conditions or processes and are not considered compatible with organic production. Such methods include cell fusion, microencapsulation and macroencapsulation, and recombinant DNA technology (including gene deletion, gene doubling, introducing a foreign gene, and changing the positions of genes when achieved by recombinant DNA technology). Such methods do not include the use of traditional breeding, conjugation, fermentation, hybridization, in vitro fertilization, or tissue culture.“
When it comes to products that are of high risk and those which are non-GMO the web page of the non-GMO project is a valuable resource.
If you would like some help shopping, you can use the following downloads found here and here.
If you have more time, here are a few more links for you to review:
Dr. Funfack Fun Facts - Rhubarb Fruit or Vegetable?
That is the question! Although we see it used as a fruit in jams, chutneys or cakes, Rhubarb is a vegetable and part of the Polygonaceae family. (In the US rhubarb is labeled a fruit by regulators even though it is a vegetable.)
Rhubarb is incredibly healthy and fits perfectly with the metabolic balance’s ® motto “Eat what makes sense.” It contains large amounts of vitamin K and C and has plenty of potassium and calcium. Rhubarb also contains citric and malic acid, various glycosides, tannins, essential oils, and friendly intestinal pectin.
Rhubarb also contains anthraquinones which stimulate the digestive system and act as a natural laxative which is perfect for a cleansing.
For constipation, drink Rhubarb twice a day as a tea. Simply add 1 to 2 g of finely crushed, dried rhubarb root (about half a teaspoon) to 150 ml of boiling water and strain after 10 to 15 minutes.
Recipe: Spring Soup
Eating what make sense during this time of year means eating spring vegetables! For this recipe, I decided to take my leftover asparagus and use it to make a soup.
Ingredients:
1 serving vegetables (zucchini, bell pepper, green asparagus, onion)
1 serving Feta cheese
vegetable broth
olive oil
herbs and seasoning to taste
Instructions:
Saute all the vegetables together with a little olive oil in a pan. When the vegetables are soft, add the vegetable broth. Blend the vegetables and add the seasoning.
Place the soup in a bowl, add the feta cheese and serve.
Note: If you are in the strict phase of metabolic balance, eliminate the oil.
Note: To make the soup a bit more interesting, keep the asparagus tips and add them to the soup after you puree the vegetables .
Note: If you are using fresh asparagus (not leftovers) don’t forget to cook it. Fresh Asparagus takes much longer than the other vegetables to soften.
Meaning of GMO/GE
Here are two abbreviations used to describe genetically altered food products:
GMO = genetic modified organism
GE = genetically engineered
We are focusing on GMO/GE this week and will be sharing more links and information about genetically modified organisms and genetically engineered food products.
Christoph Egel’s Friday Blog: Buy Clean Produce
As we approach summer more and more fruits and vegetables are available fresh. Earlier this week we posted numerous links about seasonal produce availability. The Seasonal Ingredients Map from epicurious provides an interactive guide to locally harvested fruits and vegetable in your state.
All major dietary guidelines emphasize the importance of fruits and vegetables in our daily diet. At the same time it is imperative that we consider the amount of toxic pesticides that are involved in growing the produce we buy and that, as a result, will end up residing in our bodies. Many studies have demonstrated that even small doses of pesticides and other chemicals can cause lasting damage to our health, especially during fetal development and early childhood.
The Mayo Clinic has published a very good article that explains the difference between organic foods and their traditionally grown counterparts when it comes to nutrition, safety and price.
More useful when shopping than this general guide to organic foods are the Dirty Dozen™ and Clean Fifteen™ lists that are published as a part of the EWG’s 2013 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides™. Annually, the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit focused on public health, analyzed 28,000 produce samples tested by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to determine the pesticide contamination in our food. The Dirty Dozen™ list includes fruits and vegetables that, you should either avoid or try to buy organic, because of their high residual pesticide levels. The fruits in the Dirty Dozen™ are apples, strawberries, grapes, peaches, imported nectarines and teh vegetables are celery, spinach, sweet bell peppers, cucumbers, potatoes, cherry tomatoes and hot peppers.
For the second year, the EWG has expanded the Dirty Dozen™ with a Plus category to highlight two crops – domestically-grown summer squash and leafy greens, specifically kale and collards. These crops did not meet traditional Dirty Dozen™ criteria but were commonly contaminated with pesticides exceptionally toxic to the nervous system.
EWG’s Clean Fifteen™ for 2013 – the produce least likely to test positive for pesticide residues – are pineapple, papaya, mango, kiwi, cantaloupe, grapefruit, corn, onion, avocado, frozen sweet peas, cabbage, asparagus, eggplant, sweet potatoes and mushrooms. Consequently, you can buy these 15 fruits and vegetables non-organic and they should top your shopping list.
The Mayo Clinic Staff also provides some Food Safety Tips that are worthwhile remembering:
Whether you go totally organic or opt to mix conventional and organic foods, be sure to keep these tips in mind:
Select a variety of foods from a variety of sources. This will give you a better mix of nutrients and reduce your likelihood of exposure to a single pesticide.
Buy fruits and vegetables in season when possible. To get the freshest produce, ask your grocer what day new produce arrives. Or check your local farmers market.
Read food labels carefully. Just because a product says it’s organic or contains organic ingredients doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a healthier alternative. Some organic products may still be high in sugar, salt, fat or calories.
Wash and scrub fresh fruits and vegetables thoroughly under running water. Washing helps remove dirt, bacteria and traces of chemicals from the surface of fruits and vegetables. Not all pesticide residues can be removed by washing, though. You can also peel fruits and vegetables, but peeling can mean losing some fiber and nutrients.
Coach Certification in Philadelphia June 22, 2013
Are you interested in becoming a metabolic balance coach? Our next coach certification seminar will be in Philadelphia on June 22, 2013. To sign up for the seminar, please fill out this form here.
Interesting Fact From Dr. Funfack - Anthocyanins
A study started in 1989 with 93,600 nurses (the Nurse’s Health Study) aimed to show the protective effect of anthocyanins against heart attacks.
Anthocyanins can be found in produce such as berries, cherries, apples and eggplants. Anthocyanin gives the fruit its dark color, protects agains UV radiation and exposure to oxygen in the air. The antioxidant effect provided by anthocyanins is passed on to you when consumed.
Eric Rimm of Harvard School of Public Health has found, through long term observation of participants in the study, that participants who had at least three servings of blue or strawberries per week were 32 percent less likely to have a heart attack compared to the women who ate berries less than once per month.
metabolic balance encourages you to eat what makes sense and as part of a healthy and balanced diet, eating fruits and vegetables that have anthocyan several times a week makes sense.
[photo by Galina-NB]
Eat Vegetables That Are In Season
Check out this website which gives links to produce by State. Some links provide charts while others provide information about local produce.
Another website has a PDF you can download which maps out which vegetables are in season and how long the season lasts.
If you just want to find a place where you can buy fresh local produce, check out this website that allows you to find local providers of fresh produce in your area. (detailed lists with map and contact information)
metabolic balance Recipe - Zucchini and Carrots with Egg
1 portion grated zucchini and carrots
2 whole eggs (protein portion)
1 TBSP of coconut oil
Grate zucchini and carrots, fry about 50g in modest amount of oil until browned. Whip 2 eggs, add to zucchini, let simmer until done. Enjoy with crispy rye crackers and a side salad made with the remaining vegetables.
[photo used with permission by De La Matre]
Recipe from our metabolic balance recipe blog.
