Category Archives: Wholefoods
Chickweed (Stellaria media) is a delicate, inconspicuous herb that you find growing about the shady parts of the garden amongst the other weeds. It is the colour of grass with small, white, star-shaped flowers and slender green stems. The whole plant can be used fresh in a salad together with other greens from the garden such as dandelion, sow thistle and sheep sorrel.
(more…)Flax (Linum usitatissimum) is a slender plant with narrow leaves and vivid blue flowers. The fibre has long been used to make cloth, rope and sails, while the oil (linseed oil) is added as an ingredient to furniture polishes and house paints. The seeds are very nutritious containing fibre, healthy fats, B-vitamins, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and zinc.
(more…)Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) seed was highly valued in ancient Egypt and Greece as both a vegetable and a medicine, as it still is in India, Asia, Eastern Europe and The Middle East. It can be used much like cod liver oil as a nutritious supplement for supporting treatment during illness, for children with bone disorders, or simply to nourish the constitution.1 A flour made from the seeds contains good amounts of fibre, fatty acids, amino acids, alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, lecithin and iron, and if added to wheat flour improves its nutritional value significantly. When sprouted, the seeds are a good addition to salads just like other seeds or legumes.2,3
(more…)The seeds of the Acacia (Acacia spp.) have been gathered for food by Indigenous Australians for tens of thousands of years. Also called wattle, the Acacia is a genus of plants in the legume family known also in Africa and the Mediterranean since the time of Herodotus, where the wood was harvested for shipbuilding, the bark for ropemaking, the leaves as an animal fodder and the branches for firewood.1 In Australia, Acacia is the second largest genus of plants containing over 700 species and many of them produce an abundance of seeds that were valued in some parts as a staple crop.2
(more…)Whether eaten as a vegetable or taken in the form of a herbal tincture, kelp is nourishing to the body. Kelp is rich in many minerals particularly iodine, magnesium, potassium, calcium, sulphur, iron, zinc and copper because these minerals are available to the growing weed from the sea, just like other nutritious sea vegetables (nori, kombu, dulse, wakame). While low in protein and fats, kelp has plenty of fibre and good levels of important vitamins (A, B2, B12, C, D, E, K).1
(more…)The avocado tree (Persea americana) originated from Latin America where it has been cultivated since around 500 BC . The tree can reach a height of 10-20 metres and there are cultivars available to suit different climates such as Bacon, Fuerte, Hass and Reed. The fruit is a large berry with a single seed, providing a valuable source of nutrients for poor people subsisting in countries such as Mexico.
(more…)Chili (Capsicum annuum) is a small plant of about one metre height, with lush green leaves and angular branches that bear white flowers followed by purple, red or yellow fruit. Chili has been cultivated in South America for thousands of years and was discovered by Christopher Columbus on his voyages to the New World in the 15th century. He introduced it to Europe before Portuguese and Spanish traders took this new spice to India and Asia, where it has since become an integral part of the cuisine. Despite its heat, chili is a nutritious fruit containing vitamins A and C, β-carotene, magnesium, potassium and iron.
(more…)Protein
We live in a time when meat is abundant and vast tracts of wilderness and rainforest are rapidly being converted into ranches. Indeed, for decades we were encouraged by food industry lobbyists to eat meat three times a day, that is, until the advent of Dr Keys and the ‘lipid hypothesis.’ This great urban myth, fostered by pharmaceutical industry lobbyists and the participating health care industry, put an end to guilt-free meat consumption with dire warnings that saturated fat and cholesterol were ‘villains’ responsible for the early demise of legions of sedentary urban people.1–3
(more…)The soybean (Glycine max) provides a cheap and nutritious alternative to animal protein in populous countries such as China, Korea and Japan. There are many cultivars available and a crop of soy is highly productive, producing large amounts of beans. The beans are usually pressed for their oil and the remaining meal used for animal feed, or included as an ingredient in vegetarian meals and baked goods. Traditional methods of preparation of soybean included boiling to make soymilk and tofu, roasting the beans, and fermentation to make tempeh.
(more…)There are many potential benefits from regularly eating oily fish such as sardines. They contain protein to build and repair the body, fibre to support the digestive system, and omega-3 fatty acids for heart, skin and brain health. Then there are the vitamins A, B, D and E, as well as important minerals including calcium, magnesium and potassium, because we eat the bones. And don’t forget iodine for the thyroid, zinc for the immune system, and on it goes—more than we may find in a multivitamin pill.
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