Healthy Bytes

Most folks these days are mineral deficient. Minerals, as in: calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, iodine, sodium, zinc, selenium, etc….What’s the big deal you may ask? Minerals are needed not just for our bones but for our muscles to contract and relax, for all enzymes to function properly, nearly every physiological process involves a mineral.

One of the best ways to get minerals is to eat lots of vegetables and some fruits. If you want a mineral packed source – turn to the sea. Sea vegetables or seaweed are actually algae.

Sea Vegetables contain nearly all the minerals needed by humans. These mineral include: calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, iodine, iron, zinc and numerous trace minerals. Sea vegetables also contain important vitamins: beta carotene, B1, B2, B6, niacin, vitamin C, pantothenic acid and folic acid. It also, contains varying amounts of protein depending on type with the some red algae having amounts comparable to legumes.

Common sea vegetables are brown algae: arame, hijiki, kombu (aka kelp), wakame, agar-agar; red algae: dulse, irish moss (carrageen) nori (aka laver).

Of note hijiki contains high amounts of calcium; kelp or kombu contains high amounts of magnesium; dulse is high in B6, iron and potassium.

Health Benefits include aiding in detoxification of the body (binding to heavy metals), source of minerals, support digestion, support the immune system, beneficial for bone, anemia, aid with hormone balance, may aid with weight loss by induce fat burning, lowering cholesterol, stabilizing blood sugar, reducing blood pressure and reducing risk of metabolic syndrome.

One study showed the ability of iodine or iodine-rich seaweed to inhibit breast tumor development: Smyth PPA. The thyroid, iodine and breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res. 2003;5:235-238.

Sea vegetables are also a source of lignans (also found in flax seed) which are thought to play a role in preventing certain types of cancer, particularly breast cancer.

Here are some easy ways to incorporate sea vegetables into your diet

· Add a piece of kombu or kelp in a pot of beans, soups and stocks
· A pinch to a handful of most any sea vegetable to any long cooked dishes such as lentil & bean soups, stews, chilis, etc
· Sprinkle flaked or cut up pieces of sea vegetables on salads, over rice or other grains.
· Use flaked sea vegetable as a seasoning in place of salt
· Add a small amount into baked goods
· Add to a sandwich
· Dry into snack chips

This is a favorite soup recipe which features laver or nori:

Laver Egg Drop Soup
4 servings

3 eggs
4 cups chicken stock
4 sheets of nori, torn into small pieces
1 Tbs corn starch
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs shaoshing wine or sherry
3 scallions, sliced
¼ tsp ground white pepper
¼ tsp toasted sesame oil

Stir together 1/2 cup of chicken stock with the cornstarch, set aside.

Lighty beat eggs.

In a medium size pot, heat together remaining chicken stock with ginger,
soy sauce, pepper and wine with the nori pieces. Bring to a boil, stir in the
cornstarch slurry. Let simmer. Add the scallions.

Turn off heat. While stirring the soup in a clockwise direction, slowly
add the egg in a thin stream. Garnish with a few drops of sesame oil.
Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

read time: 127 words, under a minute

This seems crazy to me…
The Chocolate Manufacturers Association is petitioning the FDA to allow a couple of changes in chocolate.

They want to replace whole milk powder with whey, and cocoa butter with vegetable fat.
Why?
To reduce costs… by about 2/3rds on each ingredient.

But it WILL taste different (not as good).
For the most part, people are mighty picky about their chocolate.
I don’t think they’ll accept a “taste” difference.
It could be New Coke all over.

Meanwhile, heading in the other direction…
Hershey is adding two new products to its premium/”healthy” chocolate line of flavanol (antioxidant ) rich dark chocolate.

Chocolate – specifically, cocoa beans – have health benefits. It’s the added sugar and milk that wins candy a spot on the list of no-no’s.

Today is the Chinese New Year…
the year of the pig.

Don’t take that as a license to “eat like a pig” for the next 12 months.

read time: 195 words, about a minute

As you likely know, the Super Bowl “event” was this past Sunday in the U.S.
Because ad slots are so expensive during the Super Bowl, advertisers go all out and the ads tend to get quite a bit of attention.

A 30 second slot this year costs $2.6 million. That’s just the air time, not the cost of producing the commercial.

At the UCLA Ahmanson Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, they scanned brains of 10 volunteers as they watched the 33 commercials.

According to neuroscientists Dr. Joshua Freedman who was involved in the study:
“Fewer than 20% of the ads triggered nerve activity in the reward and satisfaction areas of the brain — those areas that are known to be involved in making associations and forming connections with people or things.”

So basically… not too many warm fuzzy feelings, and, folks may remember the commercial – but not the product.

Dr. Freedman continues…
“The majority of this year ’s commercials, on the other hand, predominantly activated anxiety regions of the brain, centered around the amygdala, the hub of our fear and emotional responses.”

Oh yea, last year over 50% of the commercials stimulated the reward and satisfaction area.

read time: 119 words, just a minute

Do you believe your thoughts have as much – if not more – power as drugs?

Of course you have heard the term “placebo effect”.
This is when a person receives an inactive pill or treatment, yet experiences results similar to folks who receive an active pill or treatment.

Many dismiss it as being “all in their head”. Funny thing is, placebos tend to illicit the desired result 30-60% of the time. Active medications seldom do dramatically better.

And some people are paying attention. In fact, people are actually studying the brain-body connection… you know, in a SCIENTIFIC way.

Research is showing that the brains of placebo receivers in clinical trials have nearly identical neurochemical changes as the drug taking folks.