Fresh Garlic - Press it and Rest it
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You may have heard that garlic has anti-cancer properties. But did you also hear that it depends on how it's prepared? Garlic needs to be pressed in order for the cancer fighting compound to develop.
Here's what I learned from a recent Science Friday interview with author Jo Robinson, "Eating on the Wild Side."
"Ira FLATOW: What about, we hear all the time about garlic. Does that deserve the praise it's gotten over the years?
Jo ROBINSON: It really does. It looks now that garlic is one of the most potent cancer fighting fruits or vegetables known, but we learned in 2001 that it matters a great deal how we prepare garlic, and if we don't do it right, all we get is the flavor and none of those cancer-fighting properties. The problem is, is that the medicine - I call it the medicine in garlic - is a compound called allicin.
And in a fresh clove of garlic, there's actually no allicin. There's just the two ingredients that have to be combined to make allicin and if we take that garlic and immediately slice it or press it and throw it in hot oil, one of those ingredients required to make allicin, which is an enzyme, is destroyed immediately. So we don't have the allicin.
But this same study that showed us what goes wrong with conventional ways to cook it also showed us what to do. Next time you use garlic, I advise that you press it, slice it, and set it aside for about ten minutes before you put it into anything hot. And during that time, those two ingredients, an enzyme and a protein, work together and create maximum amounts of allicin, which itself is tolerant to heat.
So now you can throw it in that shimmering hot oil and you get all the benefits."
Click here to listen.
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Okay, so I love to listen to Science Friday. Here's another good resource. No more excuses!
Click here for the story.
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Karen O'Donnell Clarke
www.yogahealsus.com
Karen@yogahealsus.com
Thriving after diagnosis and treatment for multiple sclerosis and cancer. You can, too!
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Dear friends,
My intention for this newsletter to focus on health and wellness content including lifestyle, plant based food and nutrition, the latest research, cooking tips, and more. If you are interested in receiving this quarterly newsletter, be sure to subscribe and update your preferences to include "Nourishing the Body."
And, if you come across content that may be of interest to other readers, please send it to me.
In health - body, mind, and spirit,
Karen O'Donnell Clarke
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2 cups each: Kale, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower (try other greens – asparagus, zucchini, collards, etc.)
Veggie broth or water to cover (4+ cups)
1 cup each: onion or leeks (light green and white parts only), shallots, scallions, celery
1 T coconut oil or EVOO
6 – 8 garlic cloves (crush, mince, and let rest for 10 minutes)
1 – 2 T dried parsley or ¼ - ½ fres parsley
1 – 2 tsp curry powder or to taste
1 tsp kosher or sea salt
Pepper to taste
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Chop everything first. Place the first 4 ingredients into a pot and cover with veggie broth or water. (Veggie bullion okay instead of broth.)
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On medium to medium low heat, sauté the next 4 ingredients in oil until onion soft and translucent. About 8 minutes. Add minced garlic cloves and continue to sauté for 2 minutes.
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Heat veggie / broth mixture to a boil then reduce to simmer. Add onion mixture. Simmer until cauliflower stalks are soft (not mushy!)
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Remove from heat. Puree small batches in a blender or use an immersion blender. (If you like purees, an immersion blender is a must have!)
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Add curry powder. Salt and pepper to taste.
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Tip: This is the kind of soup that you can drink. Once cool, portion out into mason jars. Easy to store in the fridge. Reheats easily in a water bath (hot water in a pan.) And transports easily if you need that, too.
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Another tip: Use this as a basic recipe to create your own combinations. If I don’t have shallots, I use twice the onion.
Yummy. Enjoy.
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Minding My Mitochondria by Dr. Terry Wahls
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Here's the gist - eat your veggies, lots of them! Especially green leafy ones. 3 cups a day. And mushrooms/onions/garlic. One cup a day. And brightly colored - reds, blues, blacks, and oranges. Both fruit and veggies. 3 cups a day. Nuts, nut butters, tofu, tempeh, grass feed meats and eggs, wild caught fish, beans, EVOO and coconut oils, gluten free grains, no dairy.
This is an alkaline forming diet that reduces inflammation and promotes health. Dr. Wahls attributes her remission from multiple sclerosis to this diet as well as her exercise regime. Exercise is also anti-inflammatory.
I have adopted this way of eating during the course of my recovery. First to go was the dairy. Not that hard. I use almond / coconut milk instead of cow's milk. Tastes great and I use it in recipes that call for milk.
Next to go was meat of all kinds. I rarely have fish but when I do it's wild caught. I especially like it if it's caught by one of my fisherman friends. Sometimes I have free range eggs that have flax meal in their diet (omega 3s).
The most recent thing that I mostly eliminated is gluten. That was causes me lots of problems, especially after surgery and chemotherapy. It can happen.
So, if you think that this is too much of a change, try adding more green veggies to your diet. There's a concept called "crowding out" where you focus on adding things that you want rather than subtracting things that you don't want. In essence, you crowd out the things you don't want by adding in what you do want.
Come to think of it, “crowding out” can be applied to other areas of our lives, too.
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