Birch sap - our very own superdrink

Photo courtesy of www.madaracosmetics.lv

Looks like the rest of the world is going crazy this spring about the "drink" Latvians and other Northern European nations have been using for hundreds of years - birch sap. It is such a common and well known spring cure ritual around here that nobody has even tried to look for a medical or scientifically proved beneficial explanation on that. It is just a common knowledge and tradition - spring comes, when the weather gets warmer it is time to drill a tap in a birch tree and collect the sap, drink it fresh, drink it naturally fermented, make a sparkling wine out of it etc.

Turns out that birch water is very similar to its coconut cousin but with a couple of impressive nutritional extras. It is also infused with natural sugars, protective antioxidant vitamins, hydrating electrolytes (nutrients like potassium that help the body to rehydrate itself) and trace minerals such as copper, calcium, zinc and magnesium. What makes birch stand out from coconut water are the saponins it contains. These can be useful in maintaining healthy blood cholesterol levels as well as immune supportive properties. Birch water has been associated with having anti-inflammatory effects, reducing LDL cholesterol, lowering blood pressure, having diuretic ‘flushing’ and detoxifying effects and as a beauty tonic. The other super-ingredient that birch water boasts and coconut water does not is xylitol - a sweetener with 40 per cent fewer calories than sugar - 18 calories per 100ml.

Latvian organic cosmetics company MADARA uses birch sap as a replacement for water in a range of their products which are GREAT by the way! And another thing - of course birch sap can be used instead of water or any other liquid substance in our beloved daily smoothies.

So off I go to have another glass of birch sap (my friend brought me 10 l from the country side) and say - cheers to you all, spring, nature and health!

Colour For Each Day

As I've been drinking green smoothies each morning for almost 4 months now at some point I just became bored with THE GREEN - the colour I mean. Even though I tried to blend in different colour fruits green always took over, best or worse case scenario it became brown. Not to mention that green was taking up the biggest part of my plate for lunch and dinner as well... Not that I don't like the colour but I desperately wanted MORE colours.

Recently Dr Amy Myers was organising a summit on autoimmune diseases and thus I came across Dr Deanna Minich who advocated so called rainbow diet meaning that one should 'eat as many colours as possible' each day as each colour in plants is there because of certain phytonutrients - natural chemicals which help to protect plants from germs, fungi, bugs, and other threats and have disease preventive benefits for a human body as well. And it rang the bell. My body was telling me the same thing, especially during the detox when I could not eat any of the nightshades which are the typical 'add colours' veggies.

I gave it a thought and came up with these five colourful smoothies for each day of a working week but my only concern is that one should use as organic, as seasonal and as local ingredients as possible. I used celery stalks in almost all of the smoothies but actually it is one of the top vegetables on 'dirty dozen' list for pesticides, at least in US and Israel (here you can find a very thorough list) so try to use organic, I don't think washing really helps...

So here we go

WHITE MONDAY

Serves two

1 celery stalk

1 banana (should be replaced with other if on detox)

1/2 pear

1 glass of water

1 tablespoon of coconut oil (for smoothies I prefer the one with flavour)

1 teaspoon of hulled hemp seeds (great source of protein and omega acids)

A splash of sea buckthorn juice

ORANGE TUESDAY

Serves two

1 persimmon

1 apple

1 handful of soaked raisins

1 handful of cranberries

1 glass of water

1 tablespoon of coconut oil

1 teaspoon of hulled hemp seeds

GREEN WEDNESDAY

Serves two

1 celery stalk

1 handful of spinach

1 pear

1 apple

1 glass of water

1 tablespoon of coconut oil

A splash of sea buckthorn juice

Decorated with hulled hemp seeds

PURPLE THURSDAY

1 celery stalk

1/2 avocado

1 pear

2 big leaves of purple cabbage

1 glass of water

Some dried dates and basil leaves

1 tablespoon of coconut oil

PINK FRIDAY

Serves two

1 celery stalk

1 handful of soaked raisins

1 handful of cranberries

1 pear

1 apple

1 glass of water

1 tablespoon of coconut oil

1 teaspoon of hulled hemp seeds

Well, as for the weekend you have to figure it out yourself :) but I guess I will come up with some ideas. Enjoy!

Pumpkin - The Autumn King

Without any doubt I crown this magnificent, tasty and healthy berry as the king of the autumn. It is also one of the most famous berries in the world.

Did you know that 100 g of pumpkin provides just 26 calories and contains no saturated fats or cholesterol? However, it is rich in dietary fiber, anti-oxidants, minerals and vitamins. Pumpkin is a rich source of minerals like copper, calcium, potassium and phosphorus. It is also an excellent source of many natural poly-phenolic flavonoid compounds such as α, ß carotene that convert into vitamin A inside the body which is a powerful natural anti-oxidant and is required by the body for maintaining the integrity of skin and mucus membranes. It is also an essential vitamin for good eyesight and immunity in general. 

You can benefit from and use every bit and piece of this berry be it a seed, skin or a flower. 

Pumpkin seeds contain a lot of minerals, too, like magnesium, phosphorus, iron, selenium, zinc. You can eat them fresh, dried or roasted. Seeds help to eliminate the intestinal parasites, improve functioning of the joints, disinfects the mouth and protects teeth.

To promote the growth and health of your hair, nails, teeth and bones you can use ground pumpkin skin adding it as a supplement while cooking an omelet, pancakes, soups etc because pumpkin skin is a great source of calcium. 

Pumpkin flowers can be dried and used in teas or soups to improve the immune system, but fresh pumpkin vines will help with different heart conditions. Pulp will improve functioning of your brain, eliminate cholesterol, lower the blood pressure and make you more optimistic in general. 

Fresh pumpkin juice will help to get rid of kidney stones but when adding a honey will help against insomnia. Pumpkin juice is good for facial cleaning and pulp helps to lessen the wrinkles.

I guess there is no need to remind you that any heat treatment reduces the benefits of this wonder berry and superfood. And when carving a pumpkin on 31 October don't throw away anything :)

Wheatgrass juice

Few weeks ago I had a chance to spend a couple of days with a wonderful lady who used to teach raw food classes for five years in Florida and to show her around my beautiful city. Of course we had a lot of discussions on healthy nutrition and not so much on the architecture :) She said that from her own experience the key superfood to a healthy life is a wheatgrass juice. Simple as that. An early pioneer in the use of wheatgrass juice and living foods for detoxifying and healing the body, mind, and spirit was a Lithuanian holistic health practitioner, nutritionist, whole foods advocate, health educator, author and co-founder of Hippocrates Health Institute Ann Wigmore.

So what is this magical elixir? It is a powerful concentrated liquid nutrient. Two ounces of wheatgrass juice has the nutritional equivalent of five pounds of the best raw organic vegetables. Wheatgrass has as twice the amount of Vitamin A as carrots and is higher in Vitamin C than oranges. It contains the full spectrum of B vitamins, as well as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium and potassium in a balanced ratio. Wheatgrass is a complete source of protein, supplying all of the essential amino acids, and more. It has about 20% of total calories coming from protein. This protein is in the form of poly peptides, simpler and shorter chains of amino acids that the body uses more efficiently in the blood stream and tissues. Wheatgrass is also a very powerful detoxifier. The wheatgrass juice must be consumed fresh - within fifteen minutes of juicing for the best results as nutrients quickly begin to oxidize (break down) shortly after juicing. The juice should always be taken undiluted and on an empty stomach so the nutrients can be absorbed more efficiently.

Among other things wheatgrass juice is particularly high in chlorophyll. Wheatgrass cleanses and builds the blood due to its high content of chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is the first product of light and therefore contains more healing properties than any other element. Drinking wheatgrass juice is like drinking liquid sunshine. Chlorophyll carries high levels of oxygen (among other things) which is especially powerful in assisting the body to restore abnormalities. The high content of oxygen in chlorophyll helps deliver more oxygen to the blood. This marker is a key indicator of health recovery for abnormalities, ailments and disease. Oxygen is vital to many body processes, especially for the brain which uses 25% of the oxygen supply.

In Riga you can have a shot of wheatgrass in Raw Garden for only EUR 2,30 (you can also buy a tray of wheatgrass for EUR 9 there and juice it yourself) but sure it is far less expensive to grow your own wheatgrass. Harvest time is crucial and that is typically around one week after you germinate the seeds at what is called the “jointing stage.” Nevertheless you have to buy a special juicer to juice it which is quite expensive but all worth it I guess.

I am drinking a shot of wheatgrass juice a day for two weeks already, I love it, I have no problem with the taste of it, I feel great and energetic. Though I have to mention that I have been doing dr Alejandro Junger's Clean Program for more than a month already (and don't seem to be willing to give up on it) so wheatgrass juice is an additional value and probably I didn't feel the effect of detoxification so drastically as I would if I had not been "on the clean path" for some time in advance already.

So hopefully a wheatgrass juice shot a day will keep the doctor away! :) Cheers and stay healthy!

Information sources: Hippocrates Health Institute
                       "Green for Life" Victoria Boutenko

Kale

I don't think this leafy green needs an introduction as it has officially become one of the world's superfoods (you can read more here). Apparently even more beneficial when steamed for 5 minutes but advised also raw. This is a healthy stand-in for potato chips when cooked in the oven and some of my friends who have kids say it is a great success. Tried it out myself today and it was highly approved :)

So you just take kale leaves, wash them, then remove the thick rib in the center tearing leaves into small pieces. Stems are very hard therefore not to be used. Same thing applies when making a smoothie. Then just put kale leaves in a big bowl, sprinkle with olive oil and salt and mix them for a while so that all the leafy parts get oily. Spread them evenly on baking pans covered with baking paper.

Preheat the oven at 140 C and put those beauties in for around 12-15 min. Some say 7-10 min, but mine came out pretty raw still. Just watch out not to burn them. And that's it! Your healthy snack is ready! There are some variations, some put cheese on instead of salt, some add lemon or lime juice on the top. That's up to you and your taste buds.

You get much more out of that bowl than this though. Sneaky fingers :)

Then another yummy thing to make is a smoothie. I did one with:

•  two handfuls of kale leaves (removing the rib in the center)
• one avocado
• two nectarines
• glass of water
• a splash of almond milk
• little bit of lemon juice

It's good to taste it after adding each ingredient to see what other taste you want to add or strengthen. It made 4 delicious servings.

Enjoy! Stay healthy and be inspired!

mint & berry & Lisboa

mint&berry Spring/Summer 2014 from mint&berry on Vimeo.

Health On A Plate

More than two years ago I came across the concept of Alkaline nutrition. Things I read on it rang the bell and made so much sense for me. Since then I've been giving up on sugar, soda drinks, packed juices and most of the processed foods. Of course it is not a crime to break the rules once in a blue moon but even introducing some of these things in my everyday life has changed a lot (gradually losing 10 kg without much of an effort might tell something). It is true that at the beginning you might think that there is nothing much left to eat, but with time you come down to eating more of simple and whole foods. It is also true that nowadays we are surrounded by so much information often a contradictory one when talking about food (or anything else for that matter) and it becomes hard to understand where the truth is but your own body might tell you a lot as well. Problem is that nutrition science is still in its' diapers (as some clever people say) therefore none of the nutritionists can tell you the absolute truth about anything in a long run, food industry is using and inventing new chemicals to grow and to make their produce. If we look back like 50 years ago some things scientists said were good turned out to be bad and vice versa. And we don't have to look back even that far. As my Chinese acupuncturist said - Listen to your body more often!, (unless you're eating junk food which is full of substances to make you crave for more :)) after I've been drinking at least two liters of water a day which was supposedly a healthy thing to do but not for my body constitution. So it really boils down to fusion of gathering the information and knowledge, analyzing it, trying it out, observing and listening to your body and dropping it or carrying on with it respectively.

My very recent discovery and favourite thing is quinoa but I will have to experiment with it for a bit longer to come to a legitimate conclusion and to become its' advocate :) Grapefruit has been my great friend and immune system booster for at least a year already - having it as a fruit or squeezed in juice, though one has to take care if taking some pills at the same time because it is proven to interact with medication. And then of course avocado which I love and consume a lot. Nevertheless I have to mention that I also believe that eating traditional, organic and locally grown whole food is essential, best if grown by yourself. As I once mentioned in one of my posts - it can be done even on your balcony or windowsill.

This is as local and organic as one can get - bilberries from Latvia's forests :) I think Latvians are one of the few European nations who can still call themselves 'gatherers' as we use our natural food resources a lot be it a wild berry or a mushroom or herb in the meadow. So - go out in the nature more often and benefit from it!

When I am in the shop I always read labels on products and avoid the ones which contain more than five ingredients (and of course checking what those ingredients are) following the suggestion of great Michael Pollan. His book Food Rules is a book to have in your handbag.  In Defence of Food is a more extensive version of Food Rules but as interesting and down to business. He depicts quite clearly the problem of modern society - us that is in many aspects, not just the nutrition.

And in the video below Michael Pollan speaks on his new book, food history and anthropology:

And here is another one which touches upon many important issues: