SORRY CLEAN FAM, NO POST THIS WEEK.

I apologise and promise that next week I'll have something new and interesting for you. Till then, have a blessed weekend.  Eat clean, stay healthy and alive.

WEEK 4: LET'S GO NUTS FOR PEANUTS

Hello clean fam. Hope you all had a lovely week. Thank God the weekend is here again. I love weekends except when I have a clients wedding, birthday or any event, then I know my weekend's gonna be crazy. I happen to be one of those chefs that has a hard time leaving a job for her workers, no matter how many they are or how competent they are, I just have to be in the center of it all and everything has to go my way. I know I sound like a control freak but that part of me is dominant only in the kitchen.
So today I'm going to tell you about my favourite nut in the world  the Peanut or groundnut, whatever name suits you. There's just something about peanuts that keeps me coming back for more. Some say it's the culprit behind the horrible acne experience they've suffered, others say it isn't. Well I think one man's food is another man's poison. I happen to belong to the first category of people that think it aggravates acne because whenever I eat peanuts,  I wake up with a greasy face but that hasn't stopped me from eating peanuts. If you're one of those who read the bible like me, there's a scripture in the book of Job where Job  said to God "though you slay me, still will I trust you", well that's kind of how I'll describe my relationship with peanuts, though it greases up my face, still will I eat it. Now I'll give you a brief history of peanuts and peanut butter.

BRIEF HISTORY

The peanut plant originated in South America,  probably Peru. There are no fossil records to prove this but people in South America made pottery in the shape of peanuts as far back as 3, 500 years ago. I guess archaeologists are too busy digging up dinosaur fossil and searching for king Solomon's mines, to even worry about peanut fossil. The Incans of Peru in Brazil used peanuts as sacrificial offerings and entombed them with their mummies to aid in the spirit life. Picture a mummy, still wrapped in grave cloth, sipping a beer and eating peanuts or doing it the way we do in Nigeria, soaking garri( cassava flakes) and  groundnut.
Peanuts were grown as far North as Mexico when the spanish began their exploration of the new world. The explorers took peanuts back to spain, and from there traders and explorers spread them to Asia and Africa. Africans were the first people to introduce peanuts to North America beginning in 1700s. No wonder they thought it was slave food, little did they know what they were missing out on and that in a few years down the line they will be one of the world's largest consumers of peanuts. Records show that it wasn't until the early 1800s that peanuts were grown as commercial crop in the United States.  So they missed out on 100 years of peanut delight, ignorance is such a terrible thing. They were first grown in Virginia and used mainly for oil, food and as a cocoa substitute.  At this time peanuts were regarded as a food for livestock and the poor and were considered difficult to grow and harvest. Peanuts remained unpopular in the U.S until someone by the name of PT Barnum travelled across the country, selling roasted peanut in a circus wagon. Soon other street vendors joined the trade. They sold roasted peanuts in carts and it also became popular at baseball games.
Like peanut by itself wasn't good enough, a Canadian by the name of Marcellus Gilmore Edson, in his God given wisdom decided to invent Peanut butter. God bless his soul and God bless the Maple leaf country. He first developed it as a delicious and nutritious staple for people who could hardly chew on solid food. Afetrwards other people got into the peanut butter making business.
Peanut has become such a big deal around the world especially in the U.S. For people who didn't think much of it in the first place the North Americans sure love it a great deal. There are six cities in the U.S named peanut, can you believe that? They have Peanut, California; lower Peanut, Pennsylvania; upper Peanut, Pennsylvania;  Peanut Pennsylvania; Peanut Tennessee; and Peanut West Virginia. That's a lot of peanuts. They even have a whole month dedicated to peanuts, yeah! The month of March. I heard a funny but true story about a man named Tom Miller who pushed a peanut to the top of Pike's peak which happens to be 14, 100 feet high, using his nose. I admire his passion and dedication to peanuts but I think he needs a day job, preferably one that he'll have to work during the weekends too or else one day he'll push a grain of rice to the top of mount everest using his left eye lid. There's already enough craziness in the world.

HEALTH BENEFITS

Unlike other nuts, peanuts belong to the Legume family along with beans and peas  which makes it quite rich in protein and other wonderful nutrients. A serving of peanuts contain 207 calories and it ranks low on the glycemic index or GI (blood sugar level) which makes it super healthy unlike refined or processed foods which have high GI values, hence making them unhealthy. Peanuts are rich in biotin, copper, manganese, vitamin B3, molybdenum, folate, vitamin E ( my beauty vitamin), phosphorus, vitamin B1 and protein. Wow! No wonder the americans are nuts for peanuts.

-Peanuts make your heart go nuts
Peanuts are rich in monounsaturated fats. If you have being following my posts, you'll remember when I talked about HDL ( high density lipoproteins) and LDL (low density lipoproteins) and how HDL is a friend to your heart and LDL is the enemy that makes things go bump in the night. What does this have to do with monounsaturated fats? Well I'll tell you. Monounsaturated fats reduce LDL cholesterol,  while possibly increasing HDL cholesterol.  Studies of diets with special emphasis on peanuts have shown that this legume is a big ally for a healthy heart. In a study involving 22 subjects, a high monounsaturated diet that emphasised peanuts and peanut butter decreased cardiovascular disease risk by an estimated 21% compared to the average diet.

-Peanuts vs Fruits as a source of antioxidants
In my previous posts I explained what antioxidants are but for the benefit of new readers who skipped straight to this post, I'll give a brief explanation.  Antioxidants are chemicals(both naturally occuring and man made) that can prevent or slow cell damage caused by oxidation. Any substance that can counteract free radicals ( cancer causing monsters) is an antioxidant. Peanuts might not compete with fruits like pomegranate or cranberries when it comes to their antioxidant content but its antioxidant content is higher than that in apples, carrots, beets, strawberries and blackberries. The antioxidant content of peanuts increase when they are roasted. The antioxidant content of peanut was also discovered to be the reason behind its cardiovascular disease preventing property. In the Iowa Women's Health study in which risk of death from cardiovascular and coronary heart diseases showed strong and consistent reductions with increasing peanuts/ peanut butter consumption.  Total death rates decreased 11%  and 19%  for peanut butter intake once per week and 1-4 times per week,  respectively. So to lower your risk of cardiovascular and coronary heart disease, enjoy a handful of peanuts or other nuts, or a tablespoon of peanut butter, at least 4 times a week.

-Reduce risk of stroke
Stroke has become a leading cause of paralysis and death in some cases. It is a common but avoidable ailment. I call it 'avoidable' because our lifestyle and 'foodstyle' contribute a great deal to the wear and tear of our bodies. What causes stroke? Well I'll tell you. A stroke occurs when there is shortage of blood supply to the brain. The severity of the stroke depends on the severity of the blood flow shortage. A phytonutrient called Resveratrol was first studied in red grapes and red wine, but now also found to be present in peanuts. Studies done on animals showed that Resveratrol improved blood flow to the brain by as much as 30%, thus greatly reducing the risk of stroke. Although the resveratrol content in peanuts is far less than that in red wine, regular consumption of peanuts and peanut butter might turn out to be significant in terms of the resveratrol provided by this food.

-How pickled food increase risk of colon cancer and peanuts prevents it
Colorectal cancer or colon cancer is the second most fatal malignancy in developed countries and the third most frequent cancer world wide.  Taiwanese researchers examined peanuts' anti-colon cancer potential and the study carried out showed that the risk of colon cancer was greatly lessened in subjects who included peanuts in their daily diets and the risk increased in subjects who included pickled foods in their daily diet. It was also discovered that the risk of colon cancer was much higher in women who ate pickled foods than men. Eating peanuts just 2 or  more times each week was associated with 58% lower risk of colon cancer in women and a 27% lower risk in men.

-Help prevent Gallstones
Firstly, what are Gallstones? Gallstones are hard, pebble-like deposits that form inside the gall bladder. Gallstones may be as small as a grain of sand or as large as a golf ball. These stones develop because cholesterol and pigments in bile sometimes form hard particles. They are usually yellow-green in colour, yuk!! All you need to keep gallstones at bay is to incoperat peanuts or peanut butter in your daily meal. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich is a fun way to get your daily peanut fix or you can take 2 tablespoons of peanut butter at least 3 times a week although doubt you'll be able to stop at 2 tablespoons after having the first taste.

-Protect against Alzheimer's and Age-related Cognitive Decline
Research published in the journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery amd Psychiatry indicates regular consumption of niacin-rich foods like peanuts provide protection against Alzheimer's disease and age-related cognitive decline. This reminds me of the tv series 'Grey's Anatomy'. If you're a tv series junky like me then you'll know what I'm talking about. So Meredith Grey's mother Ellis Grey was a brilliant surgeon who died a slow and painful death from Alzheimer's.  I'm guessing she didn't know much about peanuts or else she might have lived and made Meredith's life hell on earth. It's not enough to be a brilliant, you've got to eat right.

-Eating nuts lowers risk of weight gain
Contrary to belief that eating peanuts contribute to weight gain,  a study published in the Journal Obesity shows such  beliefs are groundless. People who eat nuts at least twice a week are much less likely to gain weight than those who almost never eat nuts. If you eat peanuts and you keep gaining weight, don't blame it on the peanuts.

FUN WAYS TO INCOPERATE PEANUTS/PEANUT BUTTER INTO YOUR DIET

1) We all know the legendary and delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwich a.k.a PB &J.

2) In Nigeria we use peanuts or as we like to call it groundnut, in so many ways. My favourite is soaked garri (cassava flakes) and groundnut. Just saying it makes me crave it. On those hot afternoons when you get home and you're almost sun roasted, just mix garri, groundnut amd cold water, you can add sugar if you like. Oh heavens, you'll suddenly realise that life isn't so bad afterall. All your worries will slip away with the first spoon of garri and groundnut. We also eat groundnut with banana, garden eggs (not the same as egg plant), tapioca. We grind groundnut and mix it with ground corn, pepper and a little bit of sugar or so, I'm not quite sure about the last ingredient, then they are shaped into golf size balls and eaten as a snack. It's called 'Dankuwa' in northern Nigeria and in the south south region of Nigeria precisely Edo state where I come from, it is called 'Emumu'. In my tribe we also use groundnut to make a soup simply called groundnut soup and it is delish to say the least.

3) Another fun way to eat peanut butter is to add a tablespoon to your morning smoothie.

4) Enjoy a handful of hand roasted peanuts with a glass of tomato juice as an afternoon snack. I like to add peanuts to a glass of thick strawberry yoghurt so they just float around in the yoghurt and I eat it with a spoon, I just love it.

5) Combine peanut butter, coconut milk, and thai red or green curry paste for a quick, delicious sauce. Pour over healthy sautéed vegetables. This just gave me an idea for another recipe.

6) Toss cooked brown rice with sesame oil, chopped peanuts, scallions, sweet red pepper, parsley and currants.

When purchasing peanut butter be sure to read the label. Hydrogenated (trans-) fats and sugar are often added to peanut butter.  Buy organic and choose brands that contain peanuts and salt and nothing else.

Now for the downside;

SIDE EFFECTS OF EATING TOO MUCH PEANUTS

- Weight gain
I know I said earlier that peanuts do not contribute to weight gain but in life too much of everything is bad. Even though most of the fat in peanuts are healthy, cholesterol lowering unsaturated fats, over consumption that leads to extra weight may offset this benefit and contribute to heart disease. Moderation is key.

- Nutrient deficiency from unbalanced diet
When you get full from consuming large amounts of peanuts, you may eat smaller amounts of other healthy foods. A nutritionally unbalanced diet may result in you having a deficiency of nutrients, which can negatively affect your health.

- High blood pressure
As long as you buy unsalted nuts, you won't have to worry about their impact on your blood pressure because peanuts are naturally sodium free. Consuming too much sodium boosts your blood pressure,  which increases your risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke.

That's all folks. Hope you enjoyed reading the post and most importantly I hope you will join the Ravineux Eat Clean Stay Healthy Campaign. Your life and well being matters to me and to all of us at Ravineux Catering. Till next week, eat clean, stay healthy and stay out of the doctor's office. Have a great weekend!!

GINGER: THE AWESOME ROOT

BRIEF HISTORY

Ginger dates back over 5000 years. The Indians and ancient Chinese considered it a tonic root that could cure all ailments. It was used extensively by the romans but alamost disappeared from rome when the Roman empire fell. Hmmm! I'm surprised the Egyptians didn't try to worship this one.
The botanical name for ginger is Zingiber Officinale. You know how I always give cool names to the super foods, well I've tried to come up with one for ginger or zingiber officinale and I can't think of anything, so we'll just have to stick with plain ol' ginger. Like the onions and garlic, ginger also belongs to a family but not a family of stinkers like the garlic family but a family of sweet smelling spices. It belongs to the same family as cardamom and turmeric. We don't use cardamom and turmeric in a lot of Nigerian dishes but ginger is a local favourite. Turmeric has a beautiful rich yellow colour and cardamom has a nice aroma but we're not talking about these guys today. Today we're all about ginger.
Ginger is an ancient spice that is coveted for its uses both as a healing plant and as a spice in cooking. It is a beautiful plant that grows to about 4 feet in height and has clusters of flowers in pink and white. It is even used in landscaping in some tropical homes. However the root or rhizome, which is the light brown knobby part we all know, is the most commercially relevant part.

HEALTH BENEFITS

Ginger contains essential oils and as it ages, the amount of essential oils increases, so the intended use of the rhizome or ginger root is determined when it is harvested. If it is for use as fresh or preserved ginger, it might be harvested when it is about 5 months old. At this time the plants have not yet matured. The rhizomes are still tender and not quite as pungent. If the ginger is going to be dried, then  it calls for a more pungent aroma so those plants might be harvested at 8 to 9 months. Ginger, like fine wine, gets better with age. For dried ginger, the rhizomes are boiled or scraped and then dried. The dried ginger are pulverized into ground ginger and that's how we get the powdered ginger in our kitchens. Ginger oil can be extracted from either fresh or dried rhizomes and is usually extracted with a steam distillation process but I'm not going to get into that process because it's a lot of chemistry and frankly it might bore you into a deep sleep. Now let's get down to the meat of the matter.

- Cancer
Several studies have demonstrated  ginger's ability to defeat several types of cancer cells. Now if you've being following my weekly blogs, I'm sure you might have noticed a trend by now- these super foods kick cancers behind to the curb. Onions and garlic have cancer preventive properties but ginger plays by a whole different set of rules. Ginger don't take no prisoners, whoop! Whoop!!. Ginger defeats ( emphasis on 'defeats') several types of cancer cells, including some of the most aggresssive and difficult to treat: lung, ovarian, colon, breast, skin carcinoma, prostrate and pancreatic.

-Diabetes Prevention
Studies have shown that diabetes may both be prevented and treated, along with related abilities to lower blood sugar, cholosterol, and blood fats.

- Antibiotics
Here I was thinking garlic was the ultimate when it comes to bacteria destruction but research has proved me wrong. A study compared the effect of ginger extract in Staphylococcus Aureus and Staphylococcus Pyreus, both of which are mean bacterias of the same strain, and it was discovered that ginger was superior. So garlic is great but ginger is better. Ginger has been shown to have an antibacterial effect on respiratory and periodontal infection.

-Antifungal
Just saying the word 'fungi' gives me goose bumps. I loath fungal infections and I'm sure everyone shares this feeling. Fungal infections are among the most difficult to treat and to make it worse, drug resistant fungi have been developing. However, ginger is here to save the day because it has been found to have antifungal capability, including to drug resistant forms. Take that fungi!!

-Ulcers
Intestinal ulcers can be prevented with ginger. Contrary to what people believe about avoiding ginger if a person has ulcer because ginger is a warm spice and might have the same effect on ulcer patients as hot chilli pepper, the oppoosite is the case. At least one study has shown that a derivative of ginger has been shown to inhibit Helio pylori bacterium. I'm sure you remember mean helly from my post about onions, if you don't then I'll refresh your memory. Helio pylori bacterium a.k.a mean helly is an ulcer causing bacteria. One study has shown that ginger can inhibit existing ulcers too.

-Diabetes Complications
Complications of diabetes like increased protein level in the urine, water retension, nerve damage and increased blood fat levels, may be limited by ginger. It's been shown to increase aldose reductase inhibitors, which reduce damage done by diabetes.

-Inflammation
Inflammation is a serious problem with many chronic conditions, both in terms of causing them and causing pain and ginger can be highly effective in managing it. It's anti-inflammatory abilities may be helpful in arthritis, cancer prevention, prostrate disease, general inflammatory processes. In my last post about garlic, I told a brief story about how garlic helped my mum when she had issues with arthritis but I neglected to mention that ginger was also involved because the post was all about garlic and I didn't want ginger stealing its shine. So she used to add garlic and ginger to her tea or warm water and she saw great results in no time.

-Gastric Diseases
Ginger's ability to ease gastric distress is superior, and it does more than simply ease pain. In a study, ginger capsules were taken orally in people suffering from dyspepsia (indigestion) with slow emptying of the stomach's content. That can't be fun. Ginger stimulated the emptying of the stomach without any negative effects. Ginger has been found to be an antispasmodic (cramps or pains) agent, which helps explain some of its beneficial effects in the intestinal tract. It also protects gastic mucosa (the mucose membrane of the stomach). One of the most uncomfortable things in life is being unable to fart. Your tummy gets bloated, the pain is annoying and terribly uncomfortable and in some cases the gas simply refuses to come out the rear end. Well do not despair my good people, ginger helps get rid of gas, there'll be a little farting involved of course but that isn't so bad, it's just a natural phenomenon,  enjoy it.

-Toxicity
Ginger helps prevent the effect of a wide array of substances, like pesticides, insecticides,  monosodium glutamate (MSG) which happens to be a major ingredient in a lot of processed foods. I remember one time when my  mum declared war against MSG, it felt like the dark age had come upon our kitchen. My mum is a great cook and I'm not just saying that because everybody thinks their mum can cook, she's literally a great cook, I mean come on, she taught me most of what I know and I'm a chef and I rock the kitchen world. So my sweet mum got this conspiracy theory into her head that something or someone was trying to wipe us out using processed food, so she declared war on all stock cubes (maggi), spices and seasonings that come in a jar, sugar, she even banned all types of oil except olive oil, salt, she even placed a ban on palm oil and my nigerian people know how important palm oil is to our kitchen, I mean there's hardly any nigerian soup that is cooked without palm but that didn't shake mama one bit. Then she did the abominable, she used vegetable oil to cook egusi soup (also a nigerian delicacy), no maggi, very little salt infact almost nonexistent and she was so proud of herself.  I wept! I tried to explain to her that cooking a healthy meal doesn't mean the meal has to taste awful but she wouldn't heed my advice. So I decided to wait patiently, I knew she wouldn't be able to keep this war up for long because if there's one thing my mum loves more than eating clean, it's eating a delicious meal. Finally she surrendered and gradually eased back into her tasty food self, she still eats clean and her meals remain delicious.  It was a bloody war, I still have nightmares about it. So if you insist on eating processed food, do yourself a favour and include ginger in your diet but be warned, eating processed food is not eating clean and you know we're all about eating clean at Ravineux catering. The cancer drug doxorubicin damages kidneys, but ginger has been shown to help alleviate the harm. Brombozene is highly toxic, used in chemical reactions, and can rapidly damage the liver and nervous system. Ginger has been shown to alleviate its liver damage. Ginger extract has been shown to protect against MSG nerve damage.

-Non alcholic Fatty liver disease (fructose damage)
Non-alcholic fatty liver disease (NFLD) has a variety of causes but it's now on the increase because of  the prevalence of fructose sweetener. NFLD is known to be associated with dyslipedemia ( abnormal amount of cholesterol in the blood)  and excess fat in the liver. Ginger may help this condition although in the early stages, by lowering serum cholesterol.  Research showing this is very new, so it's hardly definitive.

-Heart Worms  in dogs
I love dogs. I had one for about 15 years and it died in 2008, it still makes me a little sad because it was like a member of the family. I'm sure I have some dog lovers  reading this post and we dog lovers always want our pets to stay healthy and strong. Dirofilia immitis are little monster worms also known as heart worms and are common canine infection. The standard medical treatment are risky, frequently causing neurological disorders amd circulatory collapse. It's therefore quite fortunate that ginger has been shown to be effective against heart worms. The treatment that's been tried is injection of the extract and it does take time. However, after 55 days, an average 83% reduction, up to a maximum of 98% was found. About half the dogs exhibited lethargy early in the treatment, but it's believed to be a result of their body's need to dispose of the worms as opposed to the adverse effect. There's a saying "whoever says diamonds are a girl's best friends, never had a dog". True, but I'd rather have a dog and the Hope diamond any day #JustSaying.

-Menstrual Pains
A study of young women suffering from mentrual pain compared with mefenamic acid,  ibuprofen,  ginger powder in capsules, and a placebo was performed. Ginger was found to be as effective as mefenamic acid and ibuprofen. Who needs pain killers when you've got ginger?!

-Nausea and Motion sickness
Morning sickness, nausea during pregnancy causes misery for a lot of women. Women suffering from morning sickness were given beverages with ginger during the first trimester of pregnancy and compared with women given a placebo. Ginger alleviated the nausea in a highly significant percentage of the women. A trial of taking ginger and protein after chemotherapy demonstrated that patients were able to lessen their intake of anti-emetic medications.

-Bacterial Diarrhoea
The primary cause of death in young children in developing countries is bacterial induced diarrhoea.  The bacteria don't cause it directly rather the toxins they release do. Zingerone, a compound found in ginger, binds the toxins so that it cannot interact with the gut, thus preventing diarrhoea and resultant death. Antibiotics and electrolyte replacement (oral rehydration therapy) are the 'go to' when treating diarrhoea but the long term effects of of antibiotics  are known to be disastrous and antibiotics are expensive. This makes ginger the safer, less expensive treatment for bacteria diarrhoea in children.

Ginger has shown so many health benefits that are too numerous to mention but to everything under the sun, there's an up side and there's a downs side. We've talked about  most of the up sides of ginger, now I'll tell you about the down sides, though not as many as the up sides but they are there and it is important you know them.

ADVERSE EFFECTS OF GINGER

Ginger is almost completely safe. It is possible, though extremely rare, to experience an allergic reaction associated with anaphylactic shock (a life threatening type of allergic reaction) but if that occurs, I think it would be wise to stay away from ginger. Ginger has the tendency to interact with many drugs but in most cases the effect is additive not contradictory. You will probably be adviced by your doctor not to take ginger with these drugs but if it were me, I'll ask the doctor why I can't start the treatment with ginger and then add the drugs if need be but that's just my opinion. Here are some drugs involved;
-Any heart medication
-Diabetes medication, including insulin
-Warfarin
-Aspirin or other NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), diclofenac (Cataflam, Voltaren), piroxicam (Feldene) and others.
-Blood thinners , usually used for deep vein thrombosis (often during surgeries), including ardeparin (Normiflo) and others.

Of course if you take other herbs with ginger, be sure to check if they're blood thinners e.g garlic. If so, you may need to stop either the ginger or the other herb.
In general, for personal use, there are two forms of ginger: extract and raw. Extracts may be purchaed of course but beware that there are two forms of extracts, water and alcohol based. With many herbs, water based extracts are fine. However, alcohol based ginger extract has proven to be superior over and over. Therefore if you're plannimg to use ginger extract medicinally,  you should take the alcohol based variety.
You can buy ginger teas in tea bags, but they're generally not as beneficial as making your own. It's not difficult.  Just peel about a cube inch of ginger. You may either slice or grate it. Boil it in about 1 and 1/2 cups of water for about 10 minutes.  If you wish, you could add a bit of lime or lemon juice. If you want it sweetened,  add some honey. Pour into a cup and enjoy!

So that concludes it for ginger today. Remember if you want clean and healthy food, Ravineux catering is your best bet. Till next week, eat clean, stay healthy, alive and happy. Have a lovely weekend.

WEEK 2: GARLIC, THE STINKING ROSE

A BRIEF HISTORY

Garlic is a member of the lily family, which also includes onions, leeks, shallots and chives. Amongst all the members of this family, garlic happens to be by far the 'stinkiest' if there's a word like that. You think you're the black sheep of your family, try walking a mile in garlic's shoes.
Dating back 6000 years, garlic is a native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent seasoning in Asia, Africa and Europe. Here I was thinking my friend the onion was really old, little did I know it had  a stinky older sibling. The irony is they both belong to the same family as the lily flower, so pretty  delicate and smells nice. So imagine if this was a real human family, there'll be the super stinky older brother(garlic), the semi stinky sister (onion), the mildly stinky triplets (chives, leeks and shallots) and the beautiful sweet smelling last child (lily flower) who looks like Chrstiano Ronaldo and likes to stare at himself in the mirror a lot and likes combing his shiny hair. If you were a lady and you had let one of them take you out on a date  who would it be? As for me, it'll be garlic the super stinky big brother and I'll tell you why in a bit. So back to our history lesson.
Egyptians worshipped garlic and placed clay models of garlic bulbs in the tomb of king Tutankhamen ( the boy king). What's with these egyptians and their  need to worship stinky super foods?  Oh well, I guess that was the only way they could express appreciation for the good things the super foods did in their bodies. At that time anybody who had the knowledge of what these foods do in the body, would probably have thought the foods were omnipotent. Garlic was so highly prized in Egypt, it was even  used as currency. Imagine walking into a bank to ask for a loan and instead you get a year's supply of garlic. Folklore holds that garlic repelled vampires, protected against the Evil Eye, and warded off jealous nymphs said to terrorize pregnant women and engaged maidens. Okay I just have to pause for a bit cause I'm cracking up here. Let me break it down a little. Garlic a.k.a Stinking rose a.k.a stinky gally was believed to get rid of side chics. If you don't know what a side chic is  I'll explain.  A side chic is the girl or lady as the case maybe, that keeps stealing your man's attention, so since she sits on the side lines (outside your relationship),  she's the side chic and you are the main chic. So the Egyptions, God bless their souls, believed that garlic warded off side chics. So if you're a side chic and you're reading this, firstly you gotta give the Egyptians some credit for the name 'Nymph', which just sounds like a more refined name for 'side chic'. Also you have to beware because all the main chics reading this just added a new weapon to their arsenal. If they find you any where near their man  you are going to be stoned, sprayed, bath, incinerated,  blown up and to top it off , buried in a garlic farm so your side chic ghost doesn't come after their man (ROTFL). I'm just kidding though, you know I love you all.
Garlic is also an alleged aphrodisiac. Ohhhhh I see I got your attention now. Its aphrodisiacal powers have been extolled through the ages. I know that now I've mentioned garlic as an aphrodisiac some guys are running to the market, shoes in one hand money in the other. Please do not eat garlic and attempt to kiss her because you might get slapped and don't hang garlic in hidden places in your house like a talisman, hoping she would smell it and swoon into your arms, dude that ain't happening. I don 't know how the egyptians managed it as an aphrodisiac but if I see one from 800BC, I'll be sure to ask.
Garlic was also known to give a lot of strength, so people that engaged in strenous activity ate a lot of it and it gave them super energy. Research proved that when the isrealites were in captivity in egypt, they ate a lot of garlic in order to have enough energy to build the pyramids. Of course the Greeks weren't left out of it. Greek athelets consumed large quantities of garlic for strength and energy. I guess garlic was the Red bull of the old days.

HEALTH BENEFITS

In the famous words of Hippocrates a.ka the father of modern medicine,  "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food". Garlic was first known for its medicinal purposes before it was discovered to be a rather wonderful ingredient in cooking. Just like onions, garlic adds a dept of flavour to any dish. It is a great flavour enhancer although I wouldn't advice you to use it as an ingredient when cooking our local Nigrian soups, it would alter the taste in a manner that is out of this world and I don't mean that in a good way. So here is a break down of a few of the health benefits of garlic.
Garlic contains a compound called Allicin. You remember how Quercetin a.k.a Super Q is a major compound in onions, that's how allicin is one of the major compounds in garlic and for the purpose of this post, Allicin will henceforth be known as 'Guy Al' and I'll refer to the other major compounds as his 'pals', kind of like Sylvester Stallone and his pals in  the movie 'The Expendables'. If you thought Super Q was cool, wait till you get a load of what Guy Al can do, he makes Super Q look like a learner. Guy Al and pals are responsible for everything that  makes garlic a super food. They are responsible for its distinct smell.
Guy Al and pals are activated when a  clove of garlic is chopped or crushed.  Guy Al and pals happen to be sulfur compounds and anybody with basic knowledge of chemistry know that sulfur doesn't smell nice at all. I remember back then in secondary school when we used to carry out some chemical experiments and someti es we combined some chemicals that ended up emitting Hydrogen Sulphide gas, the stench was terrible, it smelled like rotten egg, yuk!!! So now you understand why garlic is also known as the stinky rose. Just have it at the back of your minds that almost everything that contains sulfur or a sulfur compound would have a weird pungent smell that is less than pleasant in  most cases.

Studies have shown that Garlic  may cut the incidence of prostrate cancer risk in half, and other research links garlic to a lowered incidence of stomach, colon and possibly breast cancers.
John A. Milner  Chief of Nutritional Cancer Institute says that the cancer preventing abilities of garlic is dependent on the preparation. Garlics active agents- allyl sulfide compounds ( Guy Al and pals) are produced when the clove is chopped or crushed. This breaks the cell walls (remember plant cells and their cell walls In  biology class) and starts a cascade of chemical reactions  leading to the desired sulfides. But Milner found that heating the garlic immediately after chopping inactivated a  crucial enzyme in the chemical chain. Let  me explain in simpler terms.  When a clove of garlic is untouched  Guy Al and his sulfide friends aren't formed yet. Now the chopping or crushing of the garlic clove causes various chemical reactions to occur and each of these chemical reactions occur subsequently, so reaction 'A ' happens and the end of of reaction 'A' forms the beginning of reaction 'B', and the end of reaction 'B' forms the beginning of reaction 'C' and it goes on and on hence the term "chain reaction". Now what Milner discovered is that when the garlic is chopped or crushed and immediately Introduced to heat, a very important enzyme that is needed In the chemical chain that produces Guy Al and pals,  is inactivated and this leads to a break in the chain so Guy Al and pals can't be formed. Chopped garlic tossed directly into hot oil, or whole barlic cooked without crushing or at least chopping off the top, will still impart the desired taste but little or no cancer fighting benefits. However these compounds (Guy Al and pals) are quite stable and will withstand the heat of cooking if the garlic is left to sit for at least 10-15 minutes after chopping or crushing. As for me, if garlic is going to be one of the ingredients in my sauce or whatever it is I'm cooking, I chop the garlic before  I start working on any other ingredients so my garlic has enough time to sit and Guy Al and pals can come out and play. Trust me, you want those cancer preventing dudes in your body. While our great scientists are still working on a cure for cancer, we'll  be on our side of the field munching on some garlic, our breaths might stink but it'll keep the cancer away.

Garlic doesn't have so many calories but each of its very few calories are incredibly nutritious. A 28g serving of garlic contains manganese, vitamin B6, vitamin C  selenium, and fiber and trace amounts of calcium  copper, potassium, phosphorus, iron, and vitamin B1. Infact it contains a bit of everything we need.

- Antibacterial and Antiviral
Garlic is  most well known for its antibacterial and antiviral properties. They help control bacterial, viral, fungal, yeast and worm infections. Fresh garlic is thought to play a role in preventing food poisoning by killing bacteria like E.Coli, Salmonella enteriditis. Salmonella is the bacteria that causes typhoid. I've had typhoid and it is not a plight I would wish on my worst enemy. It has actually led to a lot of deaths especially in Africa. If you eat a lot of street food especially my wonderful Nigerian people who like suya, I'm so guilty of this one, please sanitize your stomach and intestines with garlic as often as posssible, it will do you a world of good. I had a friend who studied microbiology and she was supposed to grow a bacteria in a petri dish for her project, I think it was E.coli I'm not sure but anyway she prepared her bactria infested petri dish and she was supposed to leave for a few days in the laboratory incubator and due to insufficient space, her petri dishes had to share the incubator with someone else's project work which happened to be garlic. After the required number of days, my dear friend whistled joyfully to the lab expecting to see her petri dishes covered in fully grown bacteria but to her amazement and disappointment her dishes were the same as she left them. She was confused and frustrated and I don't know how she did it but she found a way to get her desired result. Little did she know that the reason her bacteria didn't grow was because it was kept very close to her classmate's garlic project work. Wow!! You see how amazing garlic is? The garlic probably rose up at night and went on a bacteria killing spree.

- To treat skin infection
This part is not about Gug Al, it's about one of hks pals called Ajoene. Research shows that Ajoene may help treat fungal skin infections like ring worm and athlete's foot.

- Blood thinning
Ajoene also has anti-clotting properties which means it prevents the formation of blood clots in the body. Hence, it may also increase the risk of bleeding after surgery. So if you are planning on undergoing any kind of surgery, please lay off the garlic.

- Reduce blood pressure
We were all thought in biology class that blood vessels contract and relax depending on various factors. There is a protein responsible for the contraction of blood vessels and this protein is called Angiotensin II and when blood veseels contract, blood pressure increases.  Guy Al blocks the activity of angiotensin II and helps in reducing blood pressure. Like I mentioned earlier, Guy Al and pals are all sulfides present in garlic , in the body and these sulfides are converted into a gas called  Hydrogen sulfide gas (remember that stinky gas I told you about earlier)by red blood cells. Hydrogen sulfide dilates our blood vessels and helps control blood pressure.

-Protect Heart
Garlic protects our hearts against cardiovascular problems like heart attacks and arthersclerosis (hardening of the arteries). First onion now garlic, hmmm! These bulbs sure love the human heart. This heart protective properties can be attributed to various factors. With age the arteries tend to lose their ability to stretch. Garlic may reduce this and may also protect the heart from damaging effects of free radicals ( remember those mean cancer causing agents from our last post). Guy Al and pals also prevent our blood vessels from becoming blocked and slow the development of arthersclerosis. The anti-clotting properties of ajoene help prevent clots from forming inside the blood vessels.

-Reduce Cholesterol
Garlic has the ability to moderately lower our total cholesterol and reduce arterial plaque formation.  So if your doctor informed you that your cholestrol level is climbing up that dangerous ladder and you're looking for a way to lower it without popping pills because you hate taking pills like I do, garlic is your best bet.

-Combat Allergies
Garlic is known to have anti-inflammatory properties. It can help the body fight against allergies. It also has anti-arthritic properties. My mum used to have serious issues with arthritis and some pills were prescribed for  her by her doctor but the problem was although the pills relieved the pain, they had serious side effects and dehydration happened to be one of them, I'm talking major dehydration. So she had to discontinue the pills and bare the excruciating pain. Until one day she was adviced by a friend who used to suffer the same ailment, to take healthy dose of fresh garlic everyday.  It wasn't fun at all because she had to eat raw garlic, add it to her tea, drinking water and food but it worked like magic. This was two years and she hasn't complained about it ever since. She doesn't take the garlic as much as she used to but the effects haven't changed.
Garlic has been shown to improve allergic airway inflammation (allergic rhinitis). Raw garlic may be used to immediately stop the itching due to to rashes and bug bites.

-Remedy for respiratory problems

Daily use of garlic might reduce frequency and number of colds. Its antibacterial properties help in treating throat irritation. Garlic may also reduce the severity of upper respiratory tract infections. Its benefits in disorders of the lungs like asthma, difficulty of breathing etc make it a priceless medicine. Its ability to promote expectoration makes it irreplaceable in chronic bronchitis. Wow! It stinks but it can help you breath better. The irony of life.

-Diabetes
Garlic increases insulin release and regulates blood sugar levels in diabetes.

-Effective against warts and corns
Applying fat dissolving garlic extracts to corns on the feet and warts on the hands is thought to improve these conditions.

-Cancer Prevention
Like I mentioned earlier, daily intake of garlic has been found to lower the risk of most types of cancers and what team is responsible for this  Guy Al and pals a.k.a The Expendables. I love these guys, they've got swag for days. PhlP a type pf heterocyclic amine, has been associated with increased incidence of breast cancer among women. This dude is so mean, its full name isn't even mentioned, it's like voldermot in harry potter movies but Guy Al and pals inhibit the transformation of "the one who's name cannot be mentioned" (PhlP) into carcinogens or cancer cells.

-Improve iron metabolism
As women we need a lot of iron in our bodies because we lose some of it  during "that time of the month". So Ferroportin is a protein which helps in iron absorption and release. Guy Al and pals increase production of ferroportin and help improve iron metabolism.

-Stir up Passions (Stinky aphrodisiac)
Garlic's aphrodisiac property is due to its ability to improve circulation. Remeber I told you earlier that garlic has blood thinning properties and when blood is thin it means free and easy flow through the vessels.  So this free and easy flow of blood runs through the body and you know what happens when warm blood rushes through the brain, the genitals and all over through the body ( don't worry,  I'll keep it 'PG 18'), so when warm blood rushes through, passions get heightened and then you start hearing Barry White's baritone voice singing in your head and you start getting ideas . So that's basically what happens.

-Toothaches
Due to garlic's antibacterial and analgesic (pain killer) properties, it has become a good remedy for toothaches but beware that it can be irritating to the gum. Simply put some crushed garlic clove on the affected tooth. Well I guess the smell of garlic beats the smell of a bad tooth.

-Reduce Weight
According to recent research, garlic may help to regulate the formation of fat cells in our body. Fat cells are also known as adipocytes but before they are convreted to adipocytes, they are first Pre-adipocyte. Pre-adipocytes are converted to adipocytes or fat cells through inflammatory system activity. Remember I told you garlic has anti-inflammatory properties, well this is one of its functions. The anti-inflammatory property of garlic is called 1, 2- vinyldithiin, I know it's a mouth full so we'll just call it 1,2-DT. 1, 2-DT  helps inhibit or prevent the conversion of pre-adipocytes to adipocytes and this may help prevent weight gain. I had this classmate in university who wanted to shed some weight so bad, so she heard about garlic and its wonders and she gave it a try. Every night she steeped some garlic in a glass of warm water and she drank it and in about a month, she was down to a size 12. I forgot to mention she was a size 14 bordering on size 16.  I was so impressed but not enough to drink it like a cool glass of wine like she did. So I started adding lots of garlic to my sauces, marinades, salads, stews etc and I could see changes. That's not to say you should eat ten cloves of garlic and then chow down on a double cheese burger or starchy food like fufu, if you do that, then just know that your weight will become the rock that cannot be moved.

In conclusion, you see why garlic would have been the brother than I allowed to take me out on a date. He stinks but he's got swagger and  he knows how to treat a lady right and keep her healthy. Like my guy Hippocrates said "Let food be thy medicine.....blah blah blah". Good, clean, healthy food will always be your safest bet f forkr healthy living. Eat well, live well and you'll stay out of the hospital. Till next week, have a blessed weekend people.

WEEK 1. SO WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH ONIONS?

Today we're going to be talking about one of my very good old friends,  Onions. This gal and I go waaaaay back. So I'll give you a brief history of this dear friend of mine. She's a lot older than I am but like they say " age is nothing but a number". I promise not to bore you with all her scientific make up, I'll just keep it simple but interesting and I promise you that when you're done reading, you'll want to be friends with her too and she's got a big heart that can accomodate everybody. Enjoy!!

ONION ORIGIN

Researchers belive that onion originated in central Asia while others believe that it originated in West Pakistan (she's got multiple nationalities). Well where ever she originated, she was definitely a staple prehistoric diet because most researchers agree the onion has been cultivated for 5000 years or more. I told you she's a lot older than I am, I guess I should have mentioned she was around during the dinosaur era.
Now prehistoric man or "stone age" man liked the onion a lot because they were less perishable. You know how you keep onions in your kitchen pantry and they stay fresh for weeks, well that was one of the reasons our fore fore fore fathers liked them. They also liked onions because they were easy to grow and could be grown in a variety of soils and climates. They were useful for sustaining human life  meaning they had medicinal purposes (in the absence of modern medicine, there were onions). They prevented thirst and could be dried and preserved for later consumption when food might be scarce.

In ancient Egypt, onions were considered to be an object of worship. So she was a world traveller and she was also considered a deity, akward but understandable. The onions symbolized eternity to the Egyptions who buried onions along with their pharoah. The Egyptians saw eternal life in the anatomy of the onion because of its circle-within-circle structure.  Some Egyptologists (the weird dudes that study everything about Egypt *eyes rolling*) theorize that onions may have been used because it was belived that their strong scent and/or magical powers would prompt the dead to breath again. Wow! Talk about stinking back to life. Naaah, what ever dies needs to stay dead.
The Greeks noted several medicinal uses of onions. The Greeks used onions to fortify athletes for the Olympic games. Before a competition, athletes would consume pounds of onions, drink onion juice and rub onions on their bodies. I don't know about you but that's got to be cheating because who on earth wants to race or swim or do any sport next to someone who smells like an onion farm? No offence onion but you don't exactly smell like a bouquet of roses.
By the middle ages, the three main vegetables of European cuisine were beans, cabbage and onions. In addition to serving as a food for  both the poor and the wealthy, onions were prescribed to alleviate headaches, snake bites and hair loss. They were also used as rent payments and wedding gifts. Try paying your rent in onions today,  I'll leave  that to your imagination.
Now let's get to the meat of the matter.

NUTRITIONAL FACTS

Onions are high in vitamin C, a good source of fibre and add abundant flavour to a wide variety of food, oh yeah I second that. A lot of people don't know this but onions is actually one of my secret ingredients in most of my dishes. I like it cause it has a way of adding the right flavour to a particular dish, notice how I didn't say its own flavour?  That's because its flavour changes with every dish, for example the flavour it'll add to stew isn't the same flavour it'll add to soup. Moving on, Onions are sodium, fat and cholesterol free. They are rich in minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, zinc, manganese, potassium and flouride.

HEALTH BENEFITS

Onions not only provide flavour  they also provide  important nutrients and health promoting phytochemicals.
Onions contain Quercetin which for the purpose of this post will be referred to as Super Q and you'll know why it's Super as you read on. Super Q is a flavonoid ( one category of antioxidant compounds). Let me digress a little to explain in simple terms what antioxidants are. Antioxidants are compounds that help delay or slow the oxidative damage to cells and tissues of the body.  When cells are oxidized they are referred to as free radicals and these free radicals cause cancer. So generally, plants or foods that contain antioxidants prevent cancer by getting rid of free radicals in our bodies. So back to super Q.  Super Q contained in onions is an antioxidant and it helps to eliminate all the pesky stubborn free radicals. One cheer for onions, hurray!!
Super Q not only kicks cancer causing free radicals hiney, it also inhibits low-density-lipoprotein oxidation. Okay I have to digress again. So I'm assuming we all know what cholesterol is, now cholesterol can't dissolve in the blood stream, it must be transported by carriers called lipoproteins, which got their name because they are made up of fat a.k.a lipid and proteins. So basically lipoproteins are the vehicles that carry cholesterol to the cells. There are two types of these lipoprotein vehicles namely Low-density-lipoprotein aka LDL or as I like to call it "the  bad guy" and High-density - lipoprotein aka HDL or as I like to call it "the good guy". This LDL cholesterol is considered "bad" because it contributes to plaque, a thick , hard deposit that can clog arteries and  make them less flexible. This condition is known as Arthersclerosis. If a clot forms and blocks a narrow artery  heart attack or stroke can result. Another condition called Peripheral artery disease can develop when a plaque build up narrows an artery supplying blood to the legs, and when there's shortage in blood supply to the leg, you can imagine what happens. HDL is considered "good" cholesterol because it removes LDL chlesterol from the arteries. HDL acts as a scavenger, carrrying LDL cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver  where it is broken down and passed from the body.
So how does all this connect with Super Q contained in onions? I'll tell you how. Super Q inhibits the oxidation of LDL because oxidized LDL causes all thkse terrible diseases such as Arthersclerosis and coronary heart disease. LDL is such a mean little monster that needs to be put down, thank God for Super Q.
That's not all Super Q does. It also protects and regenerates vitamin E. I know all the ladies love vitamin E because of what it does to our skin so these days every good cosmetic product has a bit of this awesome vitamin in it. Left to me, I'll drink, eat, bath and sleep  vitamin E every day so that when I step out of my house, the sun in all it's glory will be no match for my skin glow. Yeah, I'm vain like that. But our dear vitamin E ain't all about beauty. It also happens to be an antioxidant, which means it beats the crap out of free radicals ( forgive my french). Super Q also inactivates the harmful effect of Chelate metal ions. If you ask me I think Super Q deserves an award.
Super Q also has other sources such as apples and tea but the absorption of Super Q from onions is twice that from tea and more than three times from apples. Didn't I tell you onions are awesome?
Consumption of onions may prevent ulcers by scavenging free radicals and by preventing the growth of the ulcer- forming micro organism, Heliobacter pylori  a.k.a Mean Helly. Researchers also found that the more pungent or strong smelling onions exhibit strong anti-platelet activity. Platelet aggregation is associated with arthersclerosis, cardiovascular diseases, heart attcack, and stroke. A recent study at the university of Bern in Switzerland showed that consumption of one gram of dry onion per day for 4 weeks increased bone mineral content in rats by more than 13% compared to animals fed a control diet. This data shows onion consumption has the potential to decrease the incidence of Osteoporosis.  So show some love to grand ma and grand pa this Christmas,  send them a hamper full of dry onions, they'll probably be able to walk 10 miles without bone pains by new year.  Just  kidding.
Super Q has beneficial effect against  many diseases and disorders including cataracts (which is a disease of the eye), cardiovascular disease as well as cancer of the breast, colon, ovarian, gastric, lung and bladder.
In conclusion, I am a strong believer that prevention is better than cure. A lot of us believe that it doesn't matter because when we fall ill, we show up at the doctor's office and we're given some pills to pop and we feel better and I'm not saying that pills aren't important, if your doctor prescribes pills for you please by all means follow the prescription. All I'm saying is that there's a way to live a longer, healthier life and what you eat plays a big part in it. I hope you enjoyed this story about the life of my friend the Onion. Till next week, eat clean, stay healthy. Cheers!!