Reflection on traditional diet

Traditional diet is messed up because it is based on compulsive eating of meat. It is as if we are paralyzed and fear got the best of us. No one can argue, that traditional diet is very effective and energetic. It can provide most of the energy we need and require little effort on our part. So why we should dismiss something, which requires little sacrifice on our part?

The first sign we are in trouble is when our common sense flies out the window. It is when we start accepting side effects of wrong diet, such as bloating, gas, heartburn, as something normal, because it affects so many. So later other symptoms appear and then again we think that all is OK. We start having problems with gluten, we develop IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), allergies, diabetes, obesity and others. But we do nothing and our paralysis gets the better of us, because we cannot resolve the messages of certainty and doubt. Everyday we come across new information and there is no consistency to what is healthy and nutritious anymore. So why change? Why not stick to something, that we know and grew up to trust it?

Why not look for evidence? The best way to do so, in my mind, is to examine personal diet from vitamin and mineral standpoint. Even though it seems reasonable, it was only recently, when I realized, that this should be the first thing we do, if we want to be healthy. If you are like me, then you also took for granted, that adding healthy food to your diet will automatically transform your life and improve your health. However, what nutrition analysis showed me was that few extra things, which are in fact very nutritious and delicious, do not magically make it right, but in order to get proper nutrition, we should follow a well-balanced diet. Selecting food based only on amount of carbs, protein, fat and sugar is not longer a viable option. In my mind we should switch to vitamin- and mineral-rich produce and by doing so we will incidentally take care of other nutritive aspect of diet.

So let's analyze diet based on daily allowances for each nutrient. To give you an example of such exercise, I have prepared a list of produce used in a traditional diet and let's analyze them together. Let's assume, that our weekly traditional diet consists of the following:

800g meet, 200g fish, 300g cottage cheese, 4 eggs, 400g cheese, 200g yogurt. 100g tomato paste, 7 tomatoes, 200g carrots, 200g beets, 300 g broccoli, 400g green-leaf vegetables, 14 slices of wholewheat bread, 300g rice, 200g quinoa, 800 g potatoes, 200g oats, 300g dark chocolate. I did not include fat, sugar and processed food into calculation.

RESULTS:

By regularly consuming above mentioned produce we become deficient in vitamin E, B2, B5, B6, B12, as well as Ca, Fe, K, Zn and omega 3 (you can get your own results by using the tables listed here). The extent of those deficiencies also depends on health status of our gut. So imagine, if we have regular problems with intestines, ... we miss out even more.

TIPS:

1. To avoid those deficiencies we should incorporate the following food products:

100g nuts, 100g peanuts, 100g sunflower seeds, 100g pumpkin seeds, increase amount of yogurt to 700g, decrease meat and increase the amount of fish to 400g, 200g legumes (the best would be lentils) and 7 servings of fruit (eg., banana, apples, avocado, tomato, watermelon). It is also highly recommended that we consume as much olive oil as possible, since it is one of the best sources of vitamin E.

2. To enhance absorption of vitamins and minerals we should practice the proper combining of food every day. It may be hard at the beginning, but it will become better, as days progress.

3. Always think about fermenting legumes, nuts, and grain not to lose unnecessarily any minerals, due to the presence of phytic acid (see here).

Are you still confused? I hope not. Making few adjustments to eating habits may seem daunting at first, but I believe, that in time we will find ways, and ideas to create new routines. Changes are not easy, but they teach us to slow down a little and with that we find a new appreciation for the power of food.

Nutrition charts

You can find nutrition facts for some of the most nutritious food products below. Data is for selected food items, 100g each, expressed as percentage of daily allowance. Using below listed data, you can determine the health status of your diet and determine, if you need re-adjustments:

	beans (kidney)	chickpeas	lentils	sunflower seeds	pumpkin seeds
vitA	-	3	1	1	1
vitC	65	3	7	2	-
vitE	-	-	-	166	-
vitK	-	18	6	-	-
vitB1	25	48	58	99	2
vitB2	15	13	12	21	3
vitB3	15	14	13	42	1
vitB5	4	18	21	11	1
vitB6	4	9	27	67	2
vitB12	-	-	-	-	-
folic acid	15	69	120	57	2
Ca	2	6	6	8	6
Fe	5	25	42	28	18
Mg	5	29	31	81	65
P	4	37	45	66	9
K	5	28	27	18	26
Zn	3	20	32	33	69
Co	8	43	26	90	34
Se	1	2	12	76	77

	walnuts	almonds	peanuts	hazelnuts	macadamia
vitA	-	-	-	1	-
vitC	2	-	1	6	1
vitE	4	131	35	76	3
vitK	3	-	-	-	-
vitB1	23	14	6	23	47
vitB2	9	60	5	7	5
vitB3	6	17	69	10	11
vitB5	6	5	12	9	6
vitB6	27	7	23	31	18
vitB12	-	-	-	-	-
folate	25	12	30	22	2
Ca	10	26	6	12	7
Fe	16	21	8	24	15
Mg	40	67	44	43	29
P	35	48	40	31	20
K	13	20	21	22	10
Zn	21	21	22	17	9
Co	79	50	27	88	28
Se	7	4	5	6	17

	yogurt	Gouda cheese	Ricotta cheese	eggs	Chocolate (dark)
vitA	-	11	8	24	1
vitC	2	-	-	-	-
vitE	-	-	-	-	-
vitK	1	3	1	-	9
vitB1	4	2	1	8	2
vitB2	16	18	11	60	3
vitB3	1	1	-	-	4
vitB5	8	4	2	28	4
vitB6	3	4	1	12	2
vitB12	12	26	5	38	3
folate	3	5	3	22	-
Ca	25	65	27	10	6
Fe	1	2	2	14	35
Mg	6	7	4	4	43
P	18	54	18	34	26
K	9	4	4	8	16
Zn	9	26	9	14	16
Co	8	2	2	2	62
Se	1	21	24	88	12

	tuna	sardines	mackerel	salmon	chicken breast
vitA	1	3	3	1	-
vitC	-	2	1	6	-
vitE	2	7	8	-	1
vitK	-	-	6	-	-
vitB1	2	3	12	23	5
vitB2	4	14	18	8	7
vitB3	66	21	45	40	69
vitB5	2	7	9	15	10
vitB6	18	6	20	32	30
vitB12	50	150	145	47	6
folate	1	6	-	8	1
Ca	1	24	1	1	1
Fe	9	13	9	2	6
Mg	7	8	19	8	7
P	16	37	22	25	23
K	7	10	9	11	7
Zn	5	9	4	3	7
Co	3	14	4	2	2
Se	115	58	63	59	39

	bread wholewheat	potatoes with skin	buckwheat	millet	quinoa
vitA	-	-	-	-	-
vitC	-	16	-	-	-
vitE	3	-	-	-	21
vitK	10	2	-	-	-
vitB1	24	4	15	28	41
vitB2	13	3	16	17	32
vitB3	24	7	26	24	13
vitB5	7	4	12	8	13
vitB6	10	16	18	19	41
vitB12	-	-	-	-	-
folate	12	7	10	21	78
Ca	11	1	2	1	8
Fe	13	6	14	17	43
Mg	21	7	55	29	84
P	20	7	32	28	78
K	7	15	9	6	27
Zn	12	2	16	11	35
Co	19	6	31	37	50
Se	58	1	12	4	21

	avocado	broccoli	tomato paste	banana	romaine lettuce
vitA	3	12	30	1	174
vitC	17	149	36	15	40
vitE	14	10	21	1	1
vitK	26	127	14	1	128
vitB1	4	5	4	2	5
vitB2	8	10	9	4	4
vitB3	9	3	15	3	2
vitB5	30	11	1	3	1
vitB6	13	12	11	18	4
vitB12	-	-	-	-	-
folic acid	20	34	3	5	34
Ca	1	5	4	1	3
Fe	3	4	17	1	5
Mg	7	5	10	7	3
P	5	7	8	2	3
K	14	9	29	10	7
Zn	4	3	4	1	2
Co	9	2	18	4	2
Se	1	4	8	1	1

	prunes	dried apricots	raisins	dried figs	olive oil
vitA	16	72	-		-
vitC	1	2	4	2	-
vitE	2	22	1	2	96
vitK	74	4	4	19	-
vitB1	3	1	7	6	-
vitB2	11	4	7	5	-
vitB3	9	13	4	3	-
vitB5	4	5	1	4	-
vitB6	10	7	9	5	-
vitB12	-	-	-		-
folic acid	1	2	1	2	-
Ca	4	6	5	16	-
Fe	5	15	10	11	-
Mg	10	8	8	17	-
P	7	7	10	7	-
K	21	33	21	19	-
Zn	3	3	1	4	-
Co	14	17	16	14	-
Se	-	3	1	1	-

Reflection on “living with phytic acid”

"Living with phytic acid" is one of those cases, where importance of culinary tradition comes to the forefront. As society, we act boldly, and we are not afraid to try new things, almost like children. In order to do so, we discard years of experience accumulated by older generation, so we can experiment with new things. This has been seen through history and the recent revolution is a very good example. With the advent of new technology we have created a “better world” for ourselves. And in many aspects, it is a better world, but we became also more alienated and started to rely on processed food to be able to work harder, harder and harder...

As the case of “living with phytic acid” shows us, a closer inspection of our traditions is needed, before decisions to abandon some of them can be made. As it turns out, we cannot always rely on the assumption, that when it comes to food “faster is better”. Food teaches us to slow down from time to time, in order to put our interest ahead of any other. We failed to do so with phytic acid and more precisely with food that contains it, grain, seeds, nuts and legumes. As a result, the society we live in, has become profoundly sick, because it is nutrition deficient.

It comes as a surprise to us..., because we strongly believe in our abilities and potential. And it is nothing wrong with that. Thankfully, we slowly acknowledge, that the root cause of our chronic health problems come from our diet and our attitude to life in general. What “living with phytic acid” teaches us also is, that adding few healthy food to our diet does not necessary mean, that we will automatically be healthy. Instead, we should re-examine our culinary tradition and re-visit the culinary process of our ancestors again.

Phytic acid, by some is called the mineral thief and by others a potent anti-nutrient. Its reputation comes from the fact, that it is present in most nutritious food known to man. As I mentioned above, it is present in grain, seeds, nuts and legumes, the food that man grew up to rely on for nutrients. However, when processed incorrectly the food, that is nutritious, becomes its worst enemy. Phytic acid, as any other acid, has the tendency to bind minerals to form salts. What this means for us is, that all minerals found in food containing phytic acid will be eliminated from our system..., as waste. Precisely, it binds to magnesium, iron, calcium zinc and copper, so by consuming such food, we become deficient in those minerals. Nature, however, comes in different colors and shapes, so it also provided us with an antidote, an enzyme called phytase. When activated, this enzyme breaks down, or in other words neutralizes the acid, hence frees the minerals for absorption. The trick is to know, what to do, to activate the enzyme to do the dirty work for us. 

 

Things to keep in mind when “living with phytic acid”

1. THE MOST IMPORTANT TRICK TO HAVE UP YOUR SLEEVES: Phytase is activated in acidic environment. Food containing phytic acid should be “fermented” in acidic water for at least 20 hours. Ideally it is recommended to add yogurt to water, because it contains whey plus bacteria, which can produce additional phytase needed to neutralize phytic acid found in our food. Our ancestors somehow knew about that and they fermented legumes, or even sprouted them, before they processed them for consumption. This trick has been lost and hopefully will come back again.

2. Adding onion, garlic or carrots to food containing phytic acid can have neutralizing effects and can enhance absorption of minerals.

3. It has been shown that people with healthy gut bacteria can tolerate phytic acid better than those who have gut problems. Part of the reason is attributed to healthy bacteria, which produce phytase to neutralize phytic acid. Thus, including yogurt into diet consisting of legumes will help you with digesting phytic acid containing food and absorption of minerals.

4. There is also evidence showing, that phytic acid can act as powerful anti-oxidant in our gut, so staying away from food containing it should not be our prerogative. Instead, we should ferment it, to enhance our chances of absorption of minerals, and what is not neutralized can be then used to keep our gut healthy.

If you want to read more about phytic acid I strongly recommend the following link. It is a comprehensive description on the topic and provides some basic information about our mineral thief (but I have to warn you, it is actually quite scientific):

http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/living-with-phytic-acid/

Pumpkin seed hummus

I think, that I became a hummus lover from the first time, I tried it. It has been a long time ago now, so I am not sure anymore. Back then I was going to the special market to buy hummus. It was in a big barrel of freshly prepared hummus, and everyone was buying according to needs. I was not a Health Nut back then, but still enjoyed it a lot, especially in summer with a piece of pita bread. Things changed drastically, when I learned, that it is insanely easy to make it yourself, and after that, there was not turning back. I never looked back and never even considered store-bought hummus anymore. I realized, that it can be made, not only from chickpeas, but also from beans, lentils, and the one made from frozen green peas is something else, the bright green color is simply not from this earth. I hope you get the message, I experiment a lot. And with my new-found passion for healthy food, I started thinking about nutritious meals, and how to make them.

I have to admit, that I was worried a little, when I tried this hummus for the first time. I was motivated, because I do not eat seeds enough as snacks, and really wanted to incorporate them into my regular menu. So there you go... This recipe is simply amazing: it tastes great, it is extremely healthy and it is very easy to make. Just give it a try.

Have you ever came across saying, that pumpkin seeds are "good source" of magnesium and zinc? I checked my nutrition charts and have to say, that "good source" is understatement. They are as good source of iron as chickpeas, but better source of magnesium and zinc than common ingredient of hummus. And they are the best source of zinc of all food products known to man. Given that both magnesium and zinc are the two elements, which most likely to be deficient in any diet, we should include food rich in those elements in our diet. This is why pumpkin seeds are important and this is why I am so proud of myself creating this recipe. Now it is easy for me to make sure, that I eat approx. 100g of them each week. 

 

Tips:

1. Remember, that all seeds, including pumpkin seeds contain phytic acid, the mineral thief.
2. There are several ways to de-activate phytic acid and make minerals accessible to us.
3. Ways to limit activity of phytic acid are: ferment seeds in acidic water, include carrots, garlic or onion into the recipe.
4. Some say, that small amounts of food containing phytic acid is well tolerated by us, however I could not find specific information, what that actually means. 
5. Typically we eat this hummus as tortilla roll-ups with home-made tomato sauce and salad, but you can also use it as "pate" to make a sandwich or you can enrich your soup by blending-in some of that hummus into it.

ENJOY!

Reflection on reinvention

Our altered egos come forward without warnings, they demand attention and our compassion. We have responsibility to ourselves to nature them and give them outlets for expression. Strange, but I am ready for a fresh burst of energy. I have been writing a blog for over 2 years and now another me struggles to break free. A case of reinvention, or maybe forging ahead. I am still THE HEALTH NUT and still want to talk about those issues, but another me wants to explore some new uncharted territories. Why not do it with a second language? I am not sure if you also noticed, but we assume different personalities, if we speak another language. We become another version of ourselves. So yes, this one will be in English, and I will also talk about different issues relating to our health.

I think, that we grow up believing, that life is linear, from point A to B and then hopefully progressing to Z. Hmm...What about forbidden fruit? Doesn't it teaches us, that eating it from time to time allows us to break free from the paradigm of life and show us another perspective on things? Quantum theory tells us, that the observable world is the result of probabilities, that came into existence. So this would mean, that life most likely is not linear, and that maybe the forbidden fruit is a meme of unpredictability game, we call life. It is the inescapable fabric of life, which manifests itself from time to time to remind us, that chaos and order exist on the same level.

Some people argue, that reinvention is a myth, and it has its roots with preoccupation with youth. It seems, that we tend to associate reinvention with something new, unwritten, a blank page, that we assume, that the past, or in other words our accumulated life experience is baggage, to be discarded and disregarded. But shouldn't it also be associated with notion, that the seeds of change are always within us, that we can never escape ourselves? Change does not appear out of nowhere, all is connected and depended on previous experiences. So if you thought that my reinvention is about letting go of the past, I correct you immediately. Reinvention for me is looking at things from another angle or perspective, trying to see the same in different ways.

So what is old and the same? I am still vegetarian and still hope, that we stop eating meat compulsively. I believe, that it is about time. We have created a world for ourselves filled with suffering of animals, that feed us, and we forgot, that nutrients can also come from different sources. My intent is to show you on the pages of this blog, why it is important and fun to include plant-derived dished into your daily menu. They are always a combination of colors and textures, which overflow with fresh vegetables and fruit, and you do not need to be vegetarian to simply enjoy them.

I have always been attracted to diversity, maybe part of it comes from my background – I studied genetics and one of the lessons I learned is, that diversity is pro-life. In pursuit of tomorrow we experiment and try different things. I heard someone say, that the success of meat diet is partly attributed to quick access of energy. So meat-based diet allows us to focus on personal growth, because we do not need to spend too much time thinking about food. Maybe this is one of the reasons, why we are consistently resisting changing our habits, eventhough more and more evidence shows us, that continuing on this path is risky, to say the least. It is risky, because it is monotonous and with that, it dismisses other excelent food sources. As I said above, diversity is pro-life, then sameness would be against life, wouldn't it? As an extension of this attitude would be our experience with GMO food, for me it is the elimination of diversity from life and this is extremely dangerous, because it is like playing with fire.

It is not too late to change that. We are wiser, so we can now move on to the next level. We have created many wonderful things, and now we can use them to our advantage. We have learned how to quickly access energy and now we can start thinking how to convert the energy into health. Definitely the old paradigm is not working, we are getting sick and suffer from many health related problems, and we slowly acknowledge, that this is attributed to what we eat. The only pro-life choices we can make are those, which are based on diversity and this is true for everyone on this planet. I believe, that by selecting a diet based on diversity of food we can, not only stay healthy, but we can also take care of the environment and others that live in it. The results of my research are overwhelming, our health has roots in diversity, and it is time to reinvent ourselves on a personal and global level.