Purslane: Annoying weed or Nutricious Herb?

The internet is amazing. I am astonished at my find today! Do you struggle with this 'weed' in your garden?

Pronounced "perslen," this common garden weed happens to have the most heart-healthy omega-3 fats of any edible plant. One nibble and you'll discover that its stems and leaves are crisp and succulent, with a mild, lemony flavor. 1

Purslane comes from India, where it was a food crop centuries ago. It was Gandhi's favorite food. Now it also grows across America, and around the world. It has a wonderful survival tactic: The succulent (juicy) stem, keeps it from drying out. If someone decides purslane is a "weed" and uproots it, it uses the water in the stem to make seeds before it dies, and soon there'll be even more purslane. 2

Have you ever thought that a weed could be edible? I haven't, and my mind is officially blown. I am trying to research to see what else is edible, and I can't wait to find some Purslane so I can try it!

Warning: Make sure that any wild plants you eat do not have chemicals sprayed on them! With everyone thinking these are weeds there is probably a lot of spray being used!

Some books I may get to help my research:

1 http://www.womenshealthmag.com/nutrition/7-foods-everyone-should-eat

2 http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Purslane.html

Acid - Alkaline Eating

It's really important that we take care of our bodies. I believe that many diseases can be avoided with proper eating & exercise. Not only that, but we need to drink lots of water, laugh everyday, and BREATHE.

I have always felt out of balance. I am often very tired and grumpy. I've never taken the time to actually think about WHY??

Acid & Alkaline

I don't want to label this a 'diet' because I don't think that is correct. It is a way to understand how food has an effect on our body, and hopefully it will help you to make changes towards better health!

Basically, there are foods that are acidic and there are foods that are alkaline. The goal is to balance your diet between these two opposites. Our blood needs to be around 7.3 pH to function properly. When our body doesn't function properly it will cause disease, stress, lack of energy, overall poor health.



From what I have read, if you are too acidic, you can't lose weight. Once you balance yourself out by eating less acidic food and more alkaline food, you will lose weight. Well, I am going to try it!



Find out more



You can go to your local drugstore or natural health food store, and get a pH strip. You can actually test your pH to see where you are at!



Genuine Health is a nutritional brand that you can find at a drug store or health store. They have lots of good information online & brochures at the stores (look under weight loss). They have one brochure right now that has a free pH strip!

Spirulina: This is a super food that my friend and I have recently found out about! Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirulina_(dietary_supplement) and here: http://www.spirulina.com/ or ask a customer service representative at your health store about this product. This is a great way to help increase your alkaline intake. I have been taking it for a week and so far so good! I can't stand the taste so I mix it with juice, or just plug your nose until you drink it all. Some people might like the taste, you never know. They do have tablet forms as well, but I think that having the powder is better because your body doesn't have to break down the tablet first.

Do your own research online! Go to your favorite search engine and type in "acid alkaline eating". This will bring up lots of great information. I will let you know how everything goes in this new discovery!



Food Chart & information: http://www.rense.com/1.mpicons/acidalka.htm

Alkaline Acid Diet: http://altmedicine.about.com/od/popularhealthdiets/a/alkalinediet.htm

A Review of Nestle's Carnation 60% fewer calories Hot Chocolate

Kids don't try this at home.....

Pass the Real Salt!

"Pass the REAL SALT!!!

Pass the salt and pepper please!

Natural, unprocessed organic sea salt contains 84 valuable nutrients and trace elements. The table salt you buy in the store has only 2 minerals (sodium and chloride); the other 82 have been removed in processing. ALL 82 of the removed minerals and trace elements are essential for good health. Sounds wild doesn't it?

And what about this? Regular table salt is coated with aluminum hydroxide so that it will not stick to your salt shaker. But this coating of aluminum hydroxide also makes it insoluble in your body.

Natural organic sea salt can be safely eaten in any amount because it is completely soluble in your body.

This is reason enough to ONLY use sea salt in your diet."

This article was taken from the Edmonton Sun March 22, 2000

A Fungi Fable

Has anyone ever said to you "Mushrooms have no nutritional value"?

Well people have said that to me, and while eating mushrooms as a snack the other day I decided to look it up!

I love mushrooms and when I was little I used to eat them right out of the bag without washing them.. ewww.... I wash them now

Here are some interesting facts that I found:

Selenium

Out of all the produce you can chomp, Mushrooms are the best source!(1) Observational studies indicate that death from cancer, including lung, colorectal, and prostate cancers, is lower among people with higher blood levels or intake of selenium.(2)

Potassium

Did YOU know that one medium portabella mushroom contains more Potassium then a Banana or a glass of OJ?? I didn't!! I also did not know that Potassium helps lower blood pressure and the risk of stroke. (6) Regular button mushrooms also contain lots of potassium!

Vitamins

Mushrooms contain 3 essential B-vitamins: Riboflavin, niacin and pantothenic acid. (3)

Medicinal & Edible

While there are over 14,000 mushrooms, only about 3,000 are edible, about 700 have known medicinal properties, and fewer than one percent are recognized as poisonous. (4)

Weight Loss

Mushrooms are mostly made of water (just like us!), they also contain lots of fibre and are low in calories. (5) Like most produce, mushrooms make a great addition to any diet.

No Shiitake!

Apparently, Shiitake mushrooms have been used for centuries by the Chinese and Japanese to treat colds and flu. Lentinan, a beta-glucan isolated from the fruiting body of shiitake mushrooms, appears to stimulate the immune system, help fight infection, and demonstrates anti-tumor activity. (7)


There are many more benefits to Mushrooms, research it yourself! You will be surprised to see just how many websites are dedicated to the Nutrition of Mushrooms. Thank you Google for the ability to find answers! And thank you God for providing everything we need, even when we don't realise it!

PS next time someone tells you that mushrooms have no nutritional value, please stick up for our Fungi Friends!


(1)http://health.learninginfo.org/nutrition-facts/mushrooms.htm; p. 1

(2)Russo MW, Murray SC, Wurzelmann JI, Woosley JT, Sandler RS. Plasma selenium levels and the risk of colorectal adenomas. Nutr Cancer 1997;28:125-9. [PubMed abstract]

(3)http://health.learninginfo.org/nutrition-facts/mushrooms.htm; p.4

(4)http://www.vegetarian-nutrition.info/updates/mighty-mushrooms.php p.1

(5)http://www.vegetarian-nutrition.info/updates/mighty-mushrooms.php p.6

(6) http://www.vegetarian-nutrition.info/updates/mighty-mushrooms.php p. 7

(7) http://www.vegetarian-nutrition.info/updates/mighty-mushrooms.php p. 11

Kale & Smoothies

I purchased some Kale from the local farmer's market and wasn't too sure what to do with it. I had some leftover chili so I chopped and steamed some to put in there because I wasn't sure what it would taste like. I don't like Spinach so I was afraid. But surprisingly it wasn't too bad!

I told my friend about a smoothie that I had made this morning for my husband and I. Here is my recipe:

1 c frozen blueberries
2 frozen bananas
1 tbls Udo Oil
1 tbls fresh ground flax seed
1 c chopped raw kale

This made a green mixture that tasted pretty good and I knew it was nutricious. I got the idea from this article: http://ezinearticles.com/?Green-Smoothies---My-Kids-Eat-Kale-For-Breakfast&id=2220465

My friend asked what Kale was and I wasn't completly sure so I looked it up on good old wikipedia. Here are some good facts I found:

Kale is considered to be a highly nutritious vegetable with powerful antioxidant properties and is anti-inflammatory.

Kale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and reasonably rich in calcium. Because of its high vitamin K content, patients taking anti-coagulants such as warfarin are encouraged to avoid this food since it increases the vitamin K concentration in the blood, which is what the drugs are often attempting to lower. This effectively raises the effective dose of the drug.

Kale, as with Broccoli and other brassicas, contains sulforaphane, a chemical believed to have potent anti-cancer properties, particularly when chopped or minced.

I found out also that it is a part of the cabbage family, not spinach related! Which is happy news for me!

I put Udo Oil in lots of things. It is best not to cook it at all so I add it before I serve something. Here is a link for information on this product: http://www.florahealth.com/flora/home/canada/products/R7980.asp

So that is my nutritional advice for the day! Try out the recipe and I would always love to hear more smoothie recipes