Tag: beta-carotene

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Mar. 2017 Book of the Month – Eat the Yolks

On my first day of nutrition consultant classes at Bauman College, as we were going around and introducing ourselves, one of my classmates had mentioned that Diane Sanfilippo had attended Bauman College and wrote the forward to the book Eat the Yolks. I was still a bit of a newbie in the Paleo/ Nutrition world, at least when it came to “celebrities”, so I hadn’t heard of the book yet, but I added it to my ever growing “to read” list on Goodreads. At some point, I was able to find enough time to read Eat the Yolks by Liz Wolfe, and boy was I glad that I did!

First, Liz is funny! No seriously funny! She has a section titled, “Let’s talk about fat, baby!”. I mean talk about a girl after my own heart. How wouldn’t I love a book with references to 90’s R&B culture!?!? Liz does an amazing job of breaking down the complicated science of nutrition into easy to understand chunks and incorporating humor into it all the while.

She goes over the three macronutrients in DETAIL, dedicating a chapter to each. In the chapter on fat (and therefore cholesterol), she states, “This is me beating a dead horse: Lower cholesterol doesn’t prevent heart disease, because cholesterol doesn’t cause heart disease (Wolfe, 2013, p. 59)”. Wolfe debunks the myth that animal proteins are bad for us in the chapter on protein. She refutes The China Study,  that is often used to argue against the consumption of animal foods.

Then, Wolfe details important nutrients that we can only get from animals. If you’re a vegan, she gets it. I get it. But the science of why we need animals in our diets for optimal nutrition is clear. She goes on to illustrate many of the lies of the nutrition industrial complex. Wolfe teaches that Vitamin A can only be obtained from animals. I know, you’re thinking, wait what?? Hello, um, carrots??  The thing is that plants contain beta-carotene, which is a precursor to vitamin A. As Wolfe explains, “…it can, in some circumstances, through a series of chemical conversions within the human body, be converted into true vitamin A (Wolfe, 2013, p.202)”. There are many more mind-blowing gems like this one throughout this book.

Needless to say, I HIGHLY recommend this book. It’s actually one of the the few books that I recommend to nearly all my private nutrition clients. It’s just THAT GOOD. Oh and it’s on Audible. 😉

 

 

 

Want to see what else I’m reading and loving (or not loving)?? Let’s connect on Goodreads!

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The 52 New Foods Challenge – Persimmons

Persimmons are not a “new” food for me, however, I’m not a big fan of them. This is probably the only fruit that I don’t really like. From what I gather, if you grew up eating them (probably because you had a tree in your yard – at here in silicon valley), you like them, if you didn’t grow up eating them, eh, no so much. You guessed it, I didn’t have a tree in my yard or in any of my relatives’ yards. And while I don’t have many recipes for using persimmons, I have made a seasonal salad at Thanksgiving that included persimmons, and it was delish!

Jennifer Tyler Lee recommends baking persimmons, making a persimmon cake, or making persimmon chips.

Food Facts:

  • Persimmons are a relative of the apple and the pear.
  • Good source of vitamins A, C, B6, E, and K,  maganese, potassium, and copper.
  • Good source of fiber.
  • Persimmons contain antioxidant carotenoids, including: lycopene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin, and phenols.
  • Because of the nutrients they possess, persimmons are heart protective.
  • Studies have also shown that persimmons have an anti-viral effect.
  • In season in late fall and early winter.
  • A new study shows persimmons being used to combat breast cancer cells while not harming regular breast cells. This is due the content of fisetin, a flavonoid.
  • Originally from Asia.
  • There are two types of persimmons, astringent and non-astringent. The astringent persimmons are bitter when eaten raw.
  • Fuyu are best peeled and eaten raw and can be eaten while the fruit is still firm.
  • Hachiya are best used for baking. They are also commonly dried by hanging them from a string and allowing the sun to “candy” them.
  • Hachiya have an elongated shape and the Fuyu are short and stout.

From:

The 52 New Foods Challenge by Jennifer Tyler Lee, Superfoods by Tonia Reinhard, http://blog.outoftheboxcollective.com/recipes/glorious-persimmons/ and http://foodfacts.mercola.com/persimmon.html.

 

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The 52 New Foods Challenge – Pumpkin

It’s not surprising that I love pumpkin, it seems like most people do. However, I’m not a fan of pumpkin flavoring. I’ll be honest, that stuff is crap, and I avoid crap like the plague. So that means no Pumpkin Spice Latte or any of the other pumpkin flavored BS out there in the stores. I know, some of you are probably hating me right now. You’re entitled to your love of whatever you want, but just be real with yourself as to what’s in it and what effect it has on your body.

I like pumpkin savory dishes as well as pumpkin sweet things. We had the MOST EPIC pumpkin and seafood soup on our Honeymoon in Puerto Rico. I have made a few attempts to recreate the soup, but haven’t been able to do so. I LOVE pumpkin curry from Jasmine Thai, our local joint. My favorite sweet pumpkin treat surprisingly isn’t pumpkin pie. I KNOW! I have a recipe for pumpkin cookies that is AMAZING! So bread-like and scrumdiddlyumptious. I’m in the process of trying to paleo-ify the recipe. STAY TUNED!

Jennifer Tyler Lee recommends pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie with a ginger spiced crust, and roasted pumpkin seeds with two different flavor profiles. I should also say I’m a huge sucker for homemade pumpkin seeds. It’s like crack to me.

Food Facts:

  • Member of the cucurbitaceae family.
  • Because of the thick skin, winter squashes, like pumpkin, can last in cold storage for up to six months.
  • The deep orange coloring is a sign that it contains high levels of beta-carotene, a vitamin A precursor.
  • Of all the winter squashes, pumpkin contains the most beta-carotene.
  • Foods rich in carotenoids, like beta-carotene have been shown to be protective against many cancers, especially lung cancer.
  • Carotenoid rich food is also protective against heart disease and the development of type 2 diabetes.
  • Good source of fiber.
  • Good source of vitamins B1, B5, B6, and C, and folic acid, niacin, potassium, and manganese.
  • Pumpkin has been shown to enhance immune activity in rodent studies.

Sources:

The 52 New Foods Challenge by Jennifer Tyler Lee, Superfoods by Tonia Reinhard, and Encyclopedia of Healing Foods by Michael Murray, Joseph Pizzorno, and Lara Pizzorno.