Olwen Anderson's Blog

Recipe: Spiced beetroot soup

Tue, 15 May 2012 00:31:00 GMT

Makes two large bowls of rich, thick soup.

Ingredients:

One bunch beetroot, about 500g

1 tablespoon olive oil

½-1 teaspoon ground coriander

½-1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 onion, finely diced

500ml salt-reduced beef stock

Method:

Saute the onion and spices gently in the olive oil while you peel and dice the beetroot.

Add the beetroot to the saucepan along with the stock.

Simmer gently for about 20 minutes until the beetroot is tender.

Puree until smooth.

How mindful eating can improve your health

Tue, 15 May 2012 00:29:00 GMT

How’s your relationship with the food in your life? Distant? Non-committal? Functional? Mindful? Do you know that how you relate to your food could be having a big impact on your health?

Here’s one of the ‘Big Questions’ in nutrition. Why, despite increased availability to a vast range of foods, especially fruits and vegetables, is our population more vulnerable than ever to obesity and chronic illness? One theory is that our relationship with food has changed drastically in the last 60 years.

Prior to WWII, it was customary for one person in each household to manage the family’s meals. Breakfast would normally be cooked, large enough to set you up for the day. The evening meal would be eaten together (TV and the internet weren’t around then). As women began to participate more in the workforce, nutrition management time became scarce. The cooked breakfast was abandoned in favour of fast, convenient breakfast cereal. TV emerged about the same time, so meals transitioned from a social event to something that was ingested in front of the TV. Now, it’s possible to eat every meal with your mind somewhere else (like the internet, or the TV, or driving)

Although we can’t turn the clock back (and in many ways we don’t want to), there are important aspects to the way we used to relate to food then that we can return to, and gain the benefits. If you want to lose weight, simple changes in the way you relate to food could be all you need to make a difference.

The mindful approach to eating means becoming aware of your food, it’s texture and flavour; and becoming conscious of how your body feels about the meal.

- Most religions and spiritual groups include the practice of acknowledging the meal and giving thanks. You don’t have to subscribe to a particular spirituality to do this; just take the time to acknowledge the food you have, before eating.

- When you’re eating, just be eating. This means sitting at a table, without distraction from TV, internet or phone. If you are part of a family, eating with other members of your family can help you re-connect after a busy day and strengthen your relationships.

- Put your cutlery down between each mouthful. This slows you down, giving your stomach time to help you recognise when you’re full. When you’re distracted it’s possible to eat much more than you intended without more enjoyment. (Ever noticed how an entire packet of biscuits can somehow evaporate when you eat while watching TV?)

- Through eating mindfully, you may find it easier to hear messages from your body about how nourished it feels with your choice of food; what suits, what doesn’t.

As you become more connected with what you’re eating, you may find you’re naturally drawn towards more nourishing foods, and easily reduce your intake of less healthy foods.

Recipe: Banana bread grain free and dairy free

Fri, 18 May 2012 02:20:00 GMT

This recipe was inspired by Juli's version at www.paleomg.com Juli includes a method for creating french toast from this banana bread. I confess to not being brave enough to include frying this bread as well (it already has a high fat content).

Ingredients (for one loaf tin)

3 large over-ripe bananas (total about 500g bananas before peeling)

1.5 cups raw unsalted cashews (about 175g)

1 cup almond meal

30mls macadamia oil

2 eggs

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon bicarb soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch salt

Method

1. Grind cashews, either in your blender or in a masticating juicer (I have a Champion juicer and use the nut butter attachment).

2. Stir in the macadamia oil

3. Slice bananas and mix in well, or use a food mixer.

4. Whisk eggs and stir in well, along with remaining ingredients.

5. Pour into a loaf tin lined with baking paper.

6. Bake at 180°C for about 40 minutes. The loaf will brown easily, so turn the temperature down if you need to.

7. Leave in tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool. Eat as it, or 'toast' in a frying pan

8. Try not to eat too much at once!

Recipe: Asian style char-grilled kangaroo

Thu, 10 May 2012 01:18:00 GMT

Kangaroo is a rich source of iron. Serve this dish with a crisp fresh salad, rich in vitamin C that will help you absorb the iron in the meat.

Ingredients for one:

Kangaroo fillet, about 100g

One tablespoon salt reduced tamari or soy sauce

30mls lime juice

One tablespoon sesame seeds

Half teaspoon sesame oil

Method

Mix the tamari, lime juice, seeds and oil together. Reserve half separately for your salad dressing.

Marinate the kangaroo fillet while you heat up the char grill or BBQ.

Cook the fillet quickly over high heat, about 2-3 minutes each side. Move to a warmed plate to rest for a few minutes, while you create the salad.

Enjoy.

Iron: The mineral for energy and oxygen

Thu, 10 May 2012 01:18:00 GMT

There is an important mineral for maintaining good energy levels, that’s easily available in our diets, but whose absorption is also easily blocked. It’s iron. This mineral has two major roles; to help you feel energetic, and to create haemoglobin which carries oxygen around your body. Iron is also part of many enzymes that produce energy within your cells. No wonder iron deficiency brings on fatigue.

WHY NOT JUST REACH FOR A SUPPLEMENT?

It used to be fashionable to reach for an iron supplement if you were feeling run down; particularly if you were a menstruating female. However now we know how important it is to test your iron status before reaching for a supplement. Not just because there could be other reasons you’re tired; but because if you possess the haemochromatosis gene, supplementing with iron can cause more problems for you.

Haemochromatosis is an inherited disorder that can cause your body to relentlessly store iron, damaging your liver. This is why you will rarely see iron included in an adult multivitamin. (But you will almost always see iron included in a children’s multivitamin, as toddlers easily become deficient in this vital mineral.)

CONSIDER ABSORPTION POWER AS WELL AS YOUR DIET

When considering whether you need an iron supplement, look not just at how much is in your diet, but also consider whether other foods are actively blocking absorption, and whether your digestive tract is healthy enough to absorb nutrients.

Iron absorption happens mostly in the duodenum, just after food leaves your stomach, so the environment is still somewhat acidic. Like many nutrients, the right pH is needed for the biochemical reactions to take place that carry iron across your bowel wall. Once in your bloodstream, a careful balance is maintained between ‘free’ iron available for use, and iron held as ferritin, the storage form. A little is also stored in your liver, spleen and bone marrow.

GOOD SOURCES OF IRON

The best source of iron in your diet is red meat. This is a very ‘bio-available’ source of iron; meaning that it’s delivered in a form that your body can easily absorb. The presence of animal protein boosts the absorption of iron. Plant foods like green leafy vegetables, dried fruit and legumes are also good sources, but there’s a catch: Iron easily ‘binds’ to their phytates and fibre, reducing absorption.

WHAT CAN BLOCK IRON ABSORPTION

There are other substances that reduce iron absorption too: The tannins in tea bind iron easily, restraining absorption. Antacids and other medications that block stomach acids reduce the absorption of iron by reducing digestive acidity.

To make the most of the iron in that red meat dish, eat it with a food rich in vitamin C, which will help boost absorption. Raw capsicum is a great source of vitamin C. And for best results, avoid drinking tea with your meal.

Recipe: Vegetable stew with spiced seafood and yoghurt sauce

Tue, 01 May 2012 01:01:00 GMT

This recipe may look complex, but this is actually a simple fast meal to produce. It includes two of my favourite ingredients for good health: seafood and legumes. Present this dish well, and you could impress the socks off your dinner companion.

Ingredients (for one - modify quantities for more people)

Olive oil

¼ Spanish onion, diced

1 small carrot, diced

1 stalk celery, sliced

1 garlic clove, crushed

Pinch turmeric

½ teaspoon ground coriander seed

½ teaspoon ground cumin

1 medium tomato, diced

1 cup salt reduced chicken stock

50g cooked chickpeas

¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped

One fillet of white fleshed fish, like snapper.

1 tablespoon plain unsweetened yoghurt

1 teaspoon finely chopped mint

½ garlic clove, well crushed

Squeeze lemon juice

Method

In a pan, sauté onion, carrot, celery and garlic for five minutes, until softened.

Add the turmeric, ¼ teaspoon of the cumin and ¼ teaspoon of the coriander and sauté for one minute.

Then, add the tomato and the stock, simmering gently for 5 minutes. (Note: At this point, I cheated. To save using another pot, since it was a weeknight, I threw in my greens as well: some green beans and zucchini).

Add chickpeas, simmer gently 3 minutes and set aside, keeping warm. (If you cheated, like I did, you may want to simmer longer so that the greens cook.)

Coat the fish with the remaining coriander and cumin, and fry in a little oil until cooked.

While the fish is cooking, stir the mint, garlic and a squeeze of lemon juice into the yoghurt.

Just before serving, stir the parsley into the vegetable stew.

Serve the vegetable stew in a deep plate, topped with the fish and then the yoghurt sauce.

How to relieve menopausal symptoms, naturally

Tue, 01 May 2012 01:03:00 GMT

For some women, the time of menopause can become a living hell. Hot flushes, accelerated aging, weight gain, mood swings and low libido. Fortunately there are many natural therapies on hand to help you, and a lot of relief you can arrange yourself, through simple changes to your diet and lifestyle.

The unpleasant symptoms of menopause can be traced back to the reduction in just one hormone: Oestrogen. This powerful hormone, which has played a major role in your reproductive system, was produced largely by your active ovaries. When ovulation becomes more erratic a few years before menopause, and then ceases completely, your main source of oestrogen is gone.

Oestrogen is the hormone of youth and growth. It was promoting muscle and bone development, as well as youthful skin tone. In menopause your metabolism shifts, so that energy taken in through food is more likely to be shunted directly to fat storage. Worse, the fat storage is more likely to increase around your tummy, hips and thighs, and reduce in areas where you want it, like your breasts and just under your skin.

Natural therapists often use herbs to reduce your symptoms and enable you to make the transition more smoothly into complete menopause. Different combinations of herbs are used for each person, as everyone has a slightly different hormone profile. This is why you will often hear that a specific over-the-counter product worked well for one person but not for others. A salivary hormone profile can reveal just how much effort will be needed to relieve your symptoms.

The foods you eat, and your lifestyle, can have an equally powerful effect in relieving your symptoms. Some foods can act as weak estrogen mimics. They’re known as phytoestrogenic foods (phyto=plant, estrogenic=estrogen promoting). Basically, phytoestrogens are estrogen imposters. Their molecular structure is similar to estrogen; they can latch on to and fool estrogen receptors on your cells, while producing only a weak estrogenic response.

In their natural form (unprocessed) and in moderation, they’re a safe addition to your treatment plan. Green leafy vegetables are a good source of phytoestrogens, as are legumes. You could enjoy a green smoothie as a snack to promote your intake of greens. (A green smoothie is just a banana blended with water and a handful of baby spinach leaves). Aim for half a cup of cooked legumes in your diet every day as well. Perhaps baked beans for breakfast; or chick peas in your salad; or a rich lentil soup. Use soy based foods too, in moderation.

Daily sweaty exercise helps moderate your menopausal symptoms too, as does plenty of fibre in your diet from vegetables. Taking time out for yourself through meditation, yoga or just walks on the beach will reduce your stress levels, easing your symptoms further.

Recipe: Beetroot and sesame dip

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 02:21:00 GMT

Ingredients:

3 medium beetroot

1 orange, peeled

3 tablespoons tahini

Pinch salt

Method:

First, roast the beetroot. Cut the ends off, wrap each in foil, and bake at 200°C for 60-90 minutes. When they cool, you’ll find the skin peels off easily.

Place in a blender with the orange, tahini and salt. Blend to a smooth paste.

Add some special extras if you like: Perhaps a couple of cloves of roasted garlic, or a teaspoon of ground cumin seeds, or a teaspoon of finely grated ginger.

Now, clean up your kitchen and scrub your hands: Beetroot juice is a potent dye!

Selenium: The valuable mineral you can have too much of.

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 02:16:00 GMT

Can you have too much of a good thing? It seems that our modern diets are deficient in valuable minerals, partly due to what we choose to eat, and also from modern agricultural practices. And yet selenium is unique as a mineral you need to be careful with when supplementing, because it can build up in your body. The toxicity of selenium has been known since horses in certain parts of China and the USA became fatally ill, after a long period of eating grains grown in soil with a very high selenium content.

Actually, selenium is a difficult mineral to pin down in lots of ways. How much selenium is contained in your food depends on how much was in the animal, or the soil the plant you ate was grown in. Some foods, particularly Brazil nuts and brassica vegetables (garlic, onion and broccoli) can accumulate selenium. Brazil nuts harvested in different parts of Brazil have been found to contain up to 10 times more selenium, simply due to the different selenium content of the soil. To complicate matters, the biochemical process your body uses to absorb selenium, although efficient, is still unclear. There are different forms of selenium too, which can affect how much is absorbed from your food.

If you take in too much selenium (only likely if you take too much as supplements) you can experience symptoms of toxicity, as your body will continually accumulate it. Because of this, there are often warnings on supplements containing selenium, that list the safe upper limit for dosing.

Although it can be dangerous in large quantities, it’s still a valuable nutrient. Selenium acts as an antioxidant, actively helping slow the ageing process by soaking up free radicals, and promoting healthier DNA reproduction in cell division. Selenium is also part of the enzyme that helps convert your thyroid hormones to their active form; this helps keep your metabolism ticking over at the right speed.

As with all other nutrients, the most efficient way to supplement selenium is with food, unless your health professional has identified that you really do have a deficiency. The best food sources of selenium are Brazil nuts, vegetables in the brassica family, tuna, oysters, chicken livers, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and whole grains. How much selenium is in your food will vary; so for best results, choose as wide a variety of foods as possible.

Avoiding 'modern malnutrition'

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 01:00:00 GMT

The range and quality of food available to us now is simply amazing. Visit any supermarket and take in the cornucopia of foods to choose from, fresh or processed. And yet a new trend is emerging: modern malnutrition. It happens where a person’s diet is technically adequate, and yet they develop the chronic diseases of modern society.

I suspect that modern malnutrition comes from eating too much food that has been processed beyond recognition. Breakfast is a great example. You can now eat breakfast on the run, with biscuits or as a drink, or at the drive-through takeaway. You can even have all your food for the week prepared by a commercial kitchen and delivered to your door in separately packaged meals.

It’s easy, that’s true. You don’t have to make time to chop and cook vegetables, or shop, making sure that you use them before they perish. No cooking time. No need to plan your meals. Really convenient.

But with each stage of processing, food loses some of its nutrition, especially water soluble vitamins like C and the B Group, which are depleted by light, heat and time. Minerals are lost too, and elbowed out of the food by empty fillers and taste enhancers. For example, the most nutritious strawberry is one which you pick off the bush and eat immediately. Leave it for a few days and its lost a lot of vitamin content. Process that strawberry into jam, and only the taste reminds you that it was once a very healthy fruit.

Each stage of processing also removes a little more of the ‘life force’ of a food; the term naturopaths refer to as the health-promoting power of a food.

If you have slipped into eating too much of your food in its processed form, here are some simple steps to get your nutrition back on track.

First, eat real food for breakfast (boiling an egg takes just three minutes); or heat up some leftover savoury mince. Yes, you will need to get out of bed a few minutes earlier; so turn off the TV and switch off the internet earlier to get enough sleep.

Next, switch to the ultimate fast snack foods: Fresh fruit and fresh nuts. Toss some into your bag for when hunger pangs strike, and keep a stash of dried fruit and nuts in your desk drawer. They will save you from the highly processed snack bars.

Dust off that slow cooker to have a home cooked hot meal ready for you in the evening. All you have to do is steam some greens to go with it. Even better, cook double and freeze a meal for another evening when you get home feeling “too tired to cook”.

Planning works: Take 30 minutes once a week to outline what you’ll eat for the coming week; take the list with you to the supermarket.

Try eating just real food for a few weeks and see how much your sense of wellbeing improves.

Recipe: Flaxseed crackers

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 05:27:00 GMT

This is a really easy recipe that the kids can help you make. They taste great spread with hummus.

Ingredients:

½ cup linseed

1/3 cup water

3/4 cup quinoa flour

¼ teaspoon salt

25mls olive oil

½ teaspoon baking powder.

Method

Soak the linseed in water for 15 minutes. Do not drain.

Add the remaining ingredients, stir to mix.

Line a baking sheet with paper. Wet your hands and a spatula, spreading the mixture out to make one large sheet. Score into individual crackers if you like. Bake at 200°C for 15 minutes.

Easy noodle omelette for breakfast or lunch.... or a picnic

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 01:54:00 GMT

Making dinner? Chop a few extra vegetables and create tomorrow’s breakfast while you’re there

Ingredients:

Rice noodles or vermicelli (bean starch noodles) soaked in water for 15 minutes. You don't need to cook these.

A selection of vegetables: spring onion, capsicum, mushroom, steamed pumpkin, whatever you have on hand.

Spice it up with some finely chopped fresh herbs, or a couple of olives, or both.

One egg per person, beaten with a pinch of salt.

Method

While the noodles are soaking, toss the vegetables in a hot pan to cook. Then add the drained noodles. Pour over the beaten egg, turn the heat off and cover. It will set within a couple of minutes. Refrigerate for the next day.

If you’re making enough for several people, vary the quantity of ingredients.

A close encounter with the food police

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 01:51:00 GMT

Did you enjoy a little chocolate over Easter, without guilt? A little of the food your hosts offered if you ate out? I hope you did.

A recent close encounter with a member of the ‘food police’ provided inspiration for this week’s column. I sometimes cross paths with a member of this brigade. They may pull me aside to warn me of the dangers of eating a specific food – ever; or wax lyrical about the purported benefits of a specific diet where a particular food group is excluded completely. Always. They have a rigid attachment to their beliefs. Sometimes they’ve become sick as a result, but can’t acknowledge a potential connection with their diet.

The latest encounter for me was actually in the pages of a book. Over Easter I read the biography of a recently deceased famous person. He was reputed to have rejected modern medicine completely, and I was keen to learn whether this was actually the case. He hadn’t, but what surprised me was his rigid approach to his diet. His strong beliefs around nutritional ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, and his admonishment of others eating differently, made dining with him really unpleasant. You wouldn’t have been able to share an Easter egg with him. I believe it’s healthier to strike a balance between eating well and enjoying a little of the special foods too.

It’s true that some people don’t tolerate certain foods well, or are allergic. Some people don’t eat specific foods from an ethical standpoint; that’s fine. It’s when I encounter food extremism that I become uneasy. A rigidly restrictive approach to food can make life more stressful. Social events can become a nightmare, as you try to control all aspects of the food on offer. And you can become unwell if you exclude important nutrients for long periods of time.

Sometimes a certain food gets an unfair bad reputation, and then it’s branded as ‘bad for you’ until redeeming evidence emerges. Eggs are a great example. They used to be tagged as the food to exclude completely, because they would cause high cholesterol. Now we know that it’s actually high amounts of pro-inflammatory saturated fat, and low intake of dietary fibre that causes high cholesterol, not the cholesterol content of the food. For many years people excluded eggs completely, despite their high nutrient value. I recall friends refusing the offer of a dozen home grown free range eggs because they were convinced that eating them would clog their arteries, instantly.

The reality is, there are very few foods that are intrinsically ‘good’ or ‘bad’, that you should ‘never’ eat. Just food you need more of and food you should enjoy in small portions. You can avoid food extremism by eating as wide a variety of possible, eating with the seasons, and avoiding processed food. And try to be understanding with members of the food police when you encounter them. They’re missing out.

Recipe: Chicken Leek and Mushroom Stew

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 00:17:00 GMT

As the weather cools, we all naturally gravitate to warmer, ‘comfort’ foods. But you don’t have to eat pies or other fatty foods. This stew cooks quickly, becoming an effective comfort food when served on a bed of mashed sweet potato. Even better, it’s ready within 30 minutes.

Ingredients for one person.

1 clove garlic

1 spring onion

Finely sliced leek, about 25g

1 chicken thigh fillet

One tablespoon cornflour

50g fresh mushrooms

1 cup chicken stock, heated separately.

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

Method

Cut the chicken into large bite-sized pieces and roll in the cornflour.

Heat a little olive oil in a saucepan and brown the chicken pieces with medium-high heat. Remove to a clean plate.

Turn the heat to low, saute the leek, garlic and mushroom in the remaining oil until soft.

Return the chicken to the pot, add the chicken stock and spring onion and stir.

Simmer gently for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce will thicken.

Add the parsley and serve on a bed of mashed sweet potato, with plenty of steamed green vegetables.

B Group Vitamins (or, how vitamin supplements gained an unfair reputation for creating expensive urine)

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 06:04:00 GMT

“Take as much as you need, and let the rest go”. This sums up your body’s approach to absorption of B-Group vitamins, and could be how vitamin supplementation gained an unfair reputation for creating expensive urine. These important nutrients aren’t stored by your body, so you need to take in more each day. There are quite a few of the B’s, with a myriad of roles, but they’re especially important for maintaining your nervous system, and in helping digestion and energy production take place in cells.

Your body is actually quite clever in the way it approaches B vitamin absorption. It checks first to see how much you already have in circulation. If your body stores for the day are low, extra B-absorbing molecules are produced by your intestines to actively seek out and enthusiastically absorb as much as needed to bring body stores back to normal. If your body already has enough of that B vitamin, it will allow a little of it in, but won’t work hard at making it happen. Unabsorbed B vitamins simply leave your body with other waste products. Perhaps this is how vitamin supplementation gained an unfair reputation for creating ‘expensive urine’.

The B vitamins have been grouped because they’re so inter-dependant in biochemical reactions. Many body processes, particularly those that create energy, rely on the right raw materials (like vitamins) being present at the right time, in the right quantity, to make things happen. A shortage or absence of raw materials can mean the process happens only slowly, or not at all. This is why your body puts so much effort into absorbing the right amount of B vitamins. It’s also why some people find they have more energy when they eat better or take a B vitamin supplement.

People most at risk of B vitamin deficiency are those on medication, because some medications, especially those that treat stomach disorders, may interfere with your body’s ability to absorb certain vitamins. If you eat too much processed food (unlikely if you’re reading this column) then you’re in danger of becoming deficient too. People with irritated or inflamed intestines are also at risk, because unhealthy intestines don’t absorb nutrients as efficiently as they should.

Unprocessed food is a great source of B Vitamins – especially meat, seafood, vegetables, eggs, nuts, seeds and legumes. Processed food like bread is often fortified with B Vitamins because they were destroyed in processing. Yet another reason to enjoy unprocessed food; you’ll receive a wider range of B vitamins in their natural form.