Cucumbers with Wasabi

We graciously received a bag of garden fresh cucumbers.  I often just slice the cucumbers and dress lightly with seasoned rice vinegar.  Here's a delicious variation.

3 small garden cucumbers or 2 larger cucumbers from the store
1/2 tsp wasabi powder (or more if you like it spicy)
1/2 tsp warm water
2 Tbl rice vinegar (not seasoned)
1 Tbl. sugar
1/4 tsp salt or soy sauce
1 Tbl. sesame seeds

If the cucumbers are from the store (and not the unwaxed english type), they should be peeled.  Slice the cucumbers.  Make the dressing by dissolving the wasabi powder in an equal amount of water.  Add the vinegar, sugar.and salt.  Pour over the cucumbers.  Lightly toast the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan.  Sprinkle on the cucumbers right before serving.

Too Much Calcium Can Be Dangerous

While calcium is vital for strong bones, too much puts you at risk for hypertension and kidney problems.  The current recommended daily allowance (RDA) for calcium is 1,000 mg for women between the ages of 19 and 50 and 1,500 mg for women over age 50.  The average diet already contains about 250 mg of calcium - not including dairy products.  A serving of dairy from milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc adds another 200-300 mg calcium.  Most calcium supplements supply a full day's supply of calcium so adding in the calcium from your diet, it is quite easy to have too much calcium.  The excess calcium floats around in the blood and can accumulate in the arteries causing them to "harden".  Excess calcium increases a women's risk for a heart attack by a whooping 30%!

Eating calcium-rich foods such as kale, spinach, low-fat dairy, sardines and Chinese cabbage may be better for your bones.  Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis found that women who ate a calcium-rich diet had stronger bones than women who received most of their calcium from supplements even though the women who did not supplement took in less calcium overall.

So what to do?  Eat your kale (see recipe below), get daily sun-exposure (for vitamin D production) and look for foods that are rich in calcium and vitamin D.  Check out http://www.nutritiondata.com/, a website that makes it easy to search for foods based on their nutrient content.

Kale Royale

Members of Hight of Wellness have generously been sharing their garden's bounty (thanks Deb & Kathy!).  Here's an easy recipe to introduce kale to your family.

1 cup brown rice
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 bunch kale
1/4 or more cup of sun-dried tomatoes, softened in hot water
1/4 walnuts, chopped
parmesan cheese, grated

Prepare rice in the chicken broth.  Slice kale into thin ribbons, discarding the woody stems.  Steam kale until wilted.  Be careful not to overcook.  Lightly toast the walnuts in a dry skillet.  When the rice is tender, add the kale, sun-dried tomatoes, and walnuts.  Serve topped with parmesan cheese and ground black pepper.

High Triglyerides? Examine your sugar intake.

While we know that eating too much sugar is bad for our waistline, now new research shows that excess sugar can also cause high cholesterol.  Research published in the April 21, 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association strongly associated high sugar intake with elevated triglyceride levels and reduced HDL ("good" cholesterol) levels.  Excess triglycerides contribute to "hardening" of the arteries which then can result in high blood pressure and overtaxing the heart. 

So while the medical community focused on fats in the diet to control cholesterol levels, this new research demonstrates how excess sugar can also contribute to high cholesterol.  When sugar is processed in the liver, the extra sugar is converted to fat.  Sugar forms the backbone of triglycerides. 

Amercians get nearly 16% of our total calories from added sugars, significantly up from 10.6% in 1977-78.  To give you an idea of how much sugar that is, the average sugar consumption is 90 grams of added sugar or 21.4 teaspoons per day.  Much of the rise is due to the hidden sugars in processed foods.

There is some good news in all of this and that is triglyceride levels can come down relatively quickly just by reducing the amount of sugar consumed.  There's hope that new packaging is on the horizon that will separate out added sugars from sugars found naturally in foods (such as fruit and milk). In the meantime, read the ingredient list on foods and look for these added sugars:

• high fructose corn syrup
• corn syrup
• dextrose
• maltodextrin
• fruit juice concentrates
• malt syrup
• molasses
• brown sugar
• invert sugar
• honey
• sorphum
• cane sugar

Finally, the optimal way to control your sugar intake is to limit foods with added sugars.  Here are some ideas that you may want to incorporate into your life.

• Instead of sugar in your cereals or on top, use cut-up fresh fruit
• Sweeten your oatmeal with mashed up banana, cinnamon, and/or raisins
• Look for bottled spaghetti sauce without added sugars
• Swap out soft drinks for iced tea, diet sodas, sparkling water, etc.
• Switch from regular jelly to low-sugar or all-fruit varieties.

New App

A new app for smart phones allows you to check calories on the go.  The app is an extension of mypyramid.gov.  Just type in a food and the app will give you nutrition information as well as how that food contributes to the recommended daily servings from the pyramid food groups.

Find the calories and MyPyramid food groups for a food, or compare two foods.

myfoodapedia.gov

Currently, the government apps work with Blackberry, Android and iPhones.

Broccoli Rabe

If you've seen broccoli rabe in the store or farmer's market, here's a great way to serve it.  I grudgingly share it with my husband who likes it much more than regular broccoli.  Broccoli rabe looks like long thin stalks of broccoli.  I'm sure you can easily substitute regular broccoli.

Lemony Broccoli Rabe

1 bunch broccoli rabe

2-3 garlic cloves, chopped finely

1/2 lemon

1/2 tsp salt or kosher salt

Wash broccoli rabe and slice longwise into smaller pieces if desired.  In a saute pan, add one swirl of olive oil.  Over medium heat, add broccoli rabe and stir fry for about 2 minutes.  Add choppped garlic cloves and salt.  Continue stir frying until broccoli rabe is al dente (tender but still firm to the bite).  Squeeze half a lemon over the top and serve.  This dish keeps well and is just as good at room temperature or cold.

For extra lemony flavor, add some lemon zest. at the end with the lemon juice.