Food of the Week

Garlic

Although garlic may not always bring good luck, protect against evil or ward off vampires, it is guaranteed to transform any meal into a bold, aromatic and healthy culinary experience.

Fresh, dried and powdered garlic are available in markets throughout the year, however, fresh varieties from California are in season from June through December.

Garlic is arranged in a head, called the "bulb," averaging about 2 inches in height and diameter consisting of numerous small separate cloves. Both the cloves and the entire bulb are encased in paper-like sheathes that can be white, off-white or pinkish. Although garlic cloves have a firm texture, they can be easily cut or crushed. The taste of garlic is like no other-it hits the palate with a hot pungency that is shadowed by a very subtle background sweetness. While elephant garlic has larger cloves, it is more closely related to the leek and therefore does not offer the full health benefits of regular garlic.

Romaine

WHFoods on Romaine

The food of the week (actually last week, I'm just late) is Romaine Lettuce. I love Romaine and would gladly eat it anyday and will when it is looking good and not all wilty.

Romaine lettuce

Not all lettuce is created equal, but if you start your meal with a salad made of romaine lettuce you will be sure to add not only a variety of textures and flavors to your meal but an enormous amount of nutritional value. Most of the domestic U.S. harvest of romaine lettuce and other salad greens comes from California and is available throughout the year.

Lettuce is synonymous with salads as they are predominantly made from crispy green lettuce leaves. Most varieties of lettuce exude small amounts of a white, milky liquid when their leaves are broken. This "milk" gives lettuce its slightly bitter flavor and its scientific name, Lactuca sativa derived from the Latin word for milk.

Replacing junk foods in our schools

I really hope that our lawmakers do something about this. There is no reason to NOT offer healthy food to growing children. It is truly sad when the snack food industry is competing for spots at schools around the nation and the schools are taking them up on it to get more money.

Panel Urges Schools To Replace Junk Foods

Federal officials recently proposed raising the nutritional standards for school lunches or breakfasts, but the recommendations issued yesterday are the first national attempt to address the healthfulness of "competitive" school foods -- snacks and drinks that often are sold to raise money for schools.

Lycopene-just what is it

So what is lycopene you ask.

Lycopene is a strong antioxidant, which can help to combat degenerative diseases such as heart disease. It was found that increased concentration of lycopene gives an increased protective effect, so the most concentrated food sources, like tomato puree and ketchup, are better protectors against these diseases. The human body cannot produce lycopene and needs to obtain it from the foods in our diet. High lycopene foods are the most effective against degenerative diseases.

The deep red color that is present in tomatoes, pink grapefruit, guava and watermelon is caused by lycopene, a carotenoid. Other carotenoids include beta-carotene and alpha-carotene, which give carrots their orange color. Carotenoids are fat soluble so they are found in fatty tissue and transported by lipoproteins. They assist Vitamin A and aid the immune system.

There have been many recent studies into lycopene so that it can be used to its fullest potential in fighting diseases. A heart study measuring lycopene in fatty tissue of 1,374 men showed that it could reduce the risk of a heart attack by 50%. But wait, lycopene does more than that.

It is an anti-carcinogen, greatly reducing the risk of some cancers. In a 6-year study of 47,000 male health professionals Harvard Medical School found that eating tomato products more than twice a week was associated with 21-34% reduced risk of prostate cancer. In 1995 Harvard School of Public Health studied further into this and found that those men who ate more than 10 servings of tomato foods a week were 45% less at risk to prostate cancer; those with only 4-7 servings were 20% less at risk. The University of Illinois found that comparing woman with the highest levels of lycopene and those with the lowest showed that the highest levels were five times less likely to have cervical cancer. Tomatoes are therefore a very important part of our diet and if tests are conclusive then this could be a serious step towards combating other cancers.

The following has more on Lycopene in addition to some of the most lycopene rich foods along with total mcg for each item. In addition to that site, I can't stress enough how wonderful WHFoods truly is.

Food of the Week

Onions! One of my favorite things.





http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=45

Health Benefits
Onions, like garlic, are members of the Allium family, and both are rich in powerful sulfur-containing compounds that are responsible for their pungent odors and for many of their health-promoting effects. Onions contain allyl propyl disulphide, while garlic is rich in allicin, diallyl disulphide, diallyl trisulfide and others. In addition, onions are very rich in chromium, a trace mineral that helps cells respond to insulin, plus vitamin C, and numerous flavonoids, most notably, quercitin.