“Observing the food and therefore changing the notion of food preservation, we could find the answer to current situations such as the overuse of energy and food wastage. My design is a tool to implement that knowledge in a tangible way and slowly it changes the bigger picture of society. I believe that once people are given a tool that triggers their minds and requires a mental effort to use it, new traditions and new rituals can be introduced into our culture.”
Been juicing mandarin oranges lately and it is glorious will be moving on to naval oranges next
“I want to know what I put in my body. My body has to last.”
Padma Lakshmi (via fuckyeahyoga)
(Source: symphonyofawesomeness)
(Source: rawlivingfoods)
(Source: logoffandgorun)
Save The Food From The Fridge by Jihyun Ryou
HOW AROMATIC HERBS AND SPICES HELP PREVENT CANCER
According to specialists, one-third of deaths caused by cancer is due to bad food. This means that what we eat is closely linked to our state of health: food can bring on illness, health or can heal our bodies too.
Dressing with aromatic herbs and spices our favourite dishes could be a smart and tasty occasion to increase their anticancer qualities. As a matter of fact, several scientific researches are confirming that spices are rich in antioxidant and antinflammatory properties that can neutralize the effect of free radicals on the cells and protect us also from cancers caused by different factors, i.e. pollution.
Let’s now meet the most important herbs we can learn to love in our diet.
Ginger: it’s a powerful antioxidant! Nowadays we know about 50 different species. Research has shown the presence of lots of anticancer properties in it, especially thanks to “gingerolo” (the essence that gives to this rhizome its particular taste) which can halt breast and colon cancer cells from spreading.
Fenugreek: contains diosgenin with proven anticancer properties.
Saffron: this red spice is tipically known as a cure-all for almost 90 diseases! Very expensive and desirable above all for the Italian yellow rice recipe. Tested on lab rats it showed anticancer properties, reducing, and sometimes stopping, the spreading of colon, skin and other soft tissues cancers.
Chilli Pepper: famous its capsaicine which has been tested on laboratory mice showing to be able to inhibit pancreas cancer. Another research on this substance made on animals and cells, has demonstrated the total inhibition of the prostate cancer and reduction of PSA. It happens because capsaicine can induce apoptosis that is cellular self-destruction.
Javanese Long Pepper: Some studies carried out on mice showed an important anticancer activity for mouth cancer and an empowering action on other spices as it helps their absorption. Also an antiangiogenesis property has been demonstrated.
Black Pepper: Testing it in lab showed anticancer activity, strengthening the immune defence system and with antioxidant properties. Indeed, its component, piperazine, stops the cytokines actions which are involved in the inflammatory process and are produced from cancer cells. It acts breaking communications among these cells and reducing cancer growth. Black pepper empowers other spices action facilitating their absorption and availability. Together with curcuma makes a synergic strength.
Nutmeg: contains lignans, essences which demonstrated, in laboratory tests, antioxidant, immunomodulating and radioprotecting activity.
Cinnamon: tested in labs has shown powerful antiproliferative effects on lymphoma and leukemia human cells.
Garlic: this is one of the most important and studied herbs. It has a lot of therapeutic qualities and one of these is anticancer effect. It has been demonstrated that, wherever garlic is heavily used, colon, stomach, breast and womb cancers are less present. This anticancer action is due to sulfide substances (which give the particular flavor to garlic, onions and leek) able to destroy cancer cells, to stop their growth and to inhibit their way toward their goal. Eated often, onions and garlic can reduce the risk of colon and stomach cancer by 50-60%, and a recent research said that eating garlic once a week can reduce prostate cancer by 44%.
A chinese research compared people eating garlic, onions and leeks frequently, and people eating the same herbs only sometimes and they found that stomach cancer was less present in the first group by 40%.
An American research highlighted a 32% reduction of colon cancer risk among people eating a lot of garlic.
Mint: Popular in Mediterranean cuisine, mint, thyme, marjoram, basil and rosemary are all rich in essential oils, above all in terpenes that is aromatic molecules which give them their specific aroma. But terpenes are not only aromatic, they can also inhibit cancer presence by fighting the action of many substances involved in the growth of cancer cells.
For example, some terpenes as the carvacrol and the thymol, are able to stop the growth of cancer cells up to their death.
This family of herbs also contains ursolic acid, a multi-function molecule which can attack directly all malignant cells, prevent angiogenesis and alleviate inflammation. They also contain luteolin, a polyphenol highly present into thyme and mint which can act as an anticancer in many ways.
Rosemary is able to increase the activity of the detoxifying enzymes living in our body. One of its component, carnosol, was tested on lab rats demonstrating to be able to inhibit the development of breast and skin cancers. Peculiarly, breast cancer was reduced by 78%.
Apiacee: this family has a vast assortment of species highly used for cooking: parsley, coriander, fennel, cumin and celery which contain a polyphenol, called apigenin, rich in anticancer properties.
Apigenin is most present in parsley and celery and, tested in lab, showed an important inhibitory action against all the most popular cancer found in all the industrialized society such as breast, colon, lung and prostate cancers. It acts directly on cancer cells and angiogenesis. Indirectly it prevents malignant transformation by its anti-inflammatory action.
We’ve shown you all the wonderful of spices and herbs in order to protect our health but it’s important to underline that spices, such as black pepper or Javanese long pepper, have a stronger and warmer nature than aromatic herbs (lamiaceae and apiacee) and, if overeaten, could create irritation and facilitate ulcerative processes, especially to sensible people. That’s why it’s highly recommended to know how your general health is before deciding to use these incredible ingredients frequently in your diet.
(Source: adoreann)
(Source: eatforhealth)
The answer is NO.
The “fact” that junk food is cheaper than real food has become a reflexive part of how we explain why so many Americans are overweight, particularly those with lower incomes. I frequently read confident statements like, “when a bag of chips is cheaper than a head of broccoli …” or “it’s more affordable to feed a family of four at McDonald’s than to cook a healthy meal for them at home.”
(via sunfoundation)
this bullshit fills me with a very specific kind of rage. so, TIME TO DEBUNK!
- that meal from mcdonalds takes virtually no time to acquire AND is available almost anywhere.
- the second meal? that “salad” is lettuce … with nothing else, not even dressing unless its just olive oil or some milk i guess? gross.
- also thats the price of each serving, not an entire loaf of bread, a bottle of olive oil, etc. that stuff adds up which means you have to have a lot of money at one time to buy it all.
- that meal probably took an hour and a half to make, which is a long fucking time when you work multiple jobs or are caring for a lot of people or dont have help! seriously, if you are a single parent of three who works, is spending an hour and a half every night preparing a meal a likely option?
- same with beans and rice! also, you know whats a fucking bummer? eating beans and rice every night because you are poor. ask any person who has done it and they will tell you (you can start with me).
- there is a “nutrition” argument here that lacks a follow up: poor people are more likely to be doing physical labor and need more than 571 calories per meal.
- you know who is less likely to know how to bake or prepare a chicken? people without access to the internet, or libraries, or who werent taught how to by their parents because their parents worked all the time. access to healthy foods is a classist issue and classism is cyclical, you fucking morons.
- seriously, these sorts of infographics make me want to fucking flip tables. do you know why people don’t eat more fresh fruits and vegetables? because fresh fruits and vegetables are expensive, because they take a long time to prepare, because they dont live near a grocery store that has a decent produce section, because they dont have reliable transportation to get groceries to and from the grocery store, because they dont have the energy to plan all of the shit that is involved in making healthy, intentional, filling, balanced meals. basically: poor people get fucked, and then we get BLAMED for being lazy.
- eating “healthy”, aka access to fresh fruits and vegetables, is a privilege, first, foremost, always. so fuck you new york times and your ignorant goddamn infographic.
- there are SYSTEMATIC REASONS that we do not have equal access to fresh fruits and vegetables. they are very REAL problems. besides, you know, systematic poverty in america, the total mis-distribution of farm subsidies is a perfect place to start. read about that, then either get bent or start working on the actual problem.
YES YES YES YES YES
I am so fucking tired of seeing these misleading as fuck infographics about how “healthy eating is cheap!” No. No it is fucking not.
AND where the FUCK are you getting your food that salt and pepper are 5 cents?!??! or bacon for $1.85? or a CUP of oil for 55 cents? FOUR pieces of bread for 75 cents? 3 cups for rice for 50 cents?
this stuff just doesn’t make sense, is extremely shaming, and is extremely misleading.
Making homemade food affordable and healthy is very important to me, but let’s just point out a few things.
1. If you have very little money, you will *not* be eating Big Macs. You will be ordering off of the dollar menu. Off the dollar menu, that $28 is going to buy me two cheeseburgers, a fries, and a Coke for a family of SEVEN.OK, six, really, because tax, and the double cheeseburgers are actually $1.19 now, but still. The point remains that I just bought 12 double cheeseburgers, 6 small fries, and 6ea. 16 oz. “small” sodas for about $26 plus tax. Trust me, I’ve actually done this…many times. Hell yes, I’ve dug under the seats of my car for that last nickel to get a $1 double cheeseburger when I had nothing else. Oh, wait, we were serving only four people? OK, so now we’re down to only $18 plus tax. Plus, I get free salt, pepper, ketchup, mustard, barbecue sauce, straws, napkins.
Now remember, each person in the family got TWO double cheeseburgers (that’s four small meat patties, four slices of cheese, and four slices of “bread” (sic), with onions, pickles, ketchup, and mustard, a side of french fries (or *two* apple pies), and two cups (16 oz.) of Coke, because I asked for no ice. No one is going hungry here, and as things go, there are a whole lot of much more unhealthy things they *could* have eaten, instead.
2. And I don’t have to clean up. No soap, no hot water, no dishwasher, no sponges, no dishes, no nothing involved that would be necessary to serve the equivalent at home. You forgot to add the prices of all those things. All the remains get binned.
3. Which means I didn’t have to pay for gas or electricity for my stove to cook this stuff, I didn’t have to pay for power to run the refrigerator, I didn’t have to go shopping for it, I didn’t have to cook it…the list goes on. I think you’re getting the point. And you forgot to add all the prices of those things into the cost of your homemade meal.4. Do you actually know how much a chicken costs? Let’s say $1.69/lb, which is pretty average in my area for a factory-farmed chicken. Now, the chickens you find out there rarely exceed about 7 lbs, which will be called a “roaster”. Anything you see above that is kind of freakish and is probably going to taste like it grew in a vat, not in a battery cage, but you get my drift. In any case, that’s the size chicken I’m going to need to feed a family of six, and that 7 lb bird is going to cost me…$11.83, not $5.96, as the illustration shows. OK, so the chicken you picked is for four people, so I guess I can get a 4.5 lb bird, instead, for $7.60. Wait, that’s still more money than $5.96. Oh, and can we spice it up with something besides salt and pepper, and *maybe* a squeeze of lemon? That’s pretty boring. For Goddess’ sake, pick up a box of Bell’s Poultry Seasoning, and a head of garlic!
5. That salad? Does it contain anything other than lettuce? I guess I have to make a vinaigrette out of oil, lemon, salt, and pepper, too? Good thing for you, I know how to cook. It’s still going to be a pretty boring salad…but whatevs, I’ll let you slide on that one.
6. One quart of milk? That’s half the volume of drinks I got at Micky D’s, hon. Better make it two quarts. Wait, scratch that, I’m Asian, and my family is lactose intolerant. Try again.
OK, I think you’re starting to get the picture. There’s more to food security, cooking, health, nutrition, food access, and money than meets the eye. I forgive you. After all, I’ve got actual experience at doing all of these things, so I have a visceral understanding of all the processes involved. Maybe now you have a little bit more insight into it, as well.
Why do people who have never been poor not understand any of this shit ever.
reblogging because quality discussion and excellent points that are overlooked way too often.
and lol @ the new york times for being the elitists they are. I do like reading the newspaper, but they totally are. Seriously, someone over there approved that diagram of a “fancied-up” rice and beans?? B|
I call bullshit on this so hard. It’s like when elitist ceo’s look down on the unemployed and say “Just go out and get a job…”
now I want mcdonalds
I don’t have a family to feed, thank goodness, but yeah… eating healthier isn’t exactly as cheap as this picture shows. Buying all the ingredients separately can work, but it does require spending a lot of money in one burst, when sometimes you just don’t have that extra money. …Also it doesn’t help that I don’t know how to cook very well, and don’t have the time to learn or do much else besides stick something in a microwave (or throw together a quick sandwich) anyway. ;
Just to weigh in here:
While it’s true that eating healthier is more expensive, you have to also consider the long-term consequences of eating crap. I am personally in this piss-poor-student boat where I’ve been eating nothing but ramen noodles and scrambled eggs for years, and I have seen it dramatically impact my health. I feel significantly worse when I eat crap for days at a time, than when I actually have a little extra money and make an effort to eat well. You’d be surprised how many common health complaints are due to the shit food we eat.
Eating healthy is not easy in America, because we are not really given a solid understanding of what “eating healthy” means. My roommate is from Europe, and he informs me that they had classes in primary and secondary schools that taught proper nutrition as well as home economics. In the US, there are a lot of politics involved in our food; corporate lobbyists get the FDA to approve an additive that’s actually a neurotoxin, look the other way regarding pesticide levels in “organic” foods, and release a food pyramid that tells you to eat more grains than you eat fruits and vegetables.
Lack of funds, lack of knowing what is healthy, lack of transportation or easy access to healthy foods, these are all understandable But after looking through the above comments, I would like to remind everyone that “It doesn’t taste good” or “I don’t like veggies” is not a good excuse to avoid healthy food. Do what you can, when you can, to eat the healthiest food that’s readily available to you, and be proactive in educating yourself about what you put into your body.
The infographic is misleading, yes. But don’t use that to justify baseless reasoning behind poor nutrition.
Don’t usually reblog stuff like this, but I gotta say that I totally agree with protoskank. If you look at the short term, yeah it’s technically cheaper to buy crappy crap junk foods, but it WILL take its toll sooner or later on your body. I’ve been relatively poor for the last few years I’ve been living on my own, and I’ve fallen into the trap of junk food at times, but then I discovered that certain veggies are pretty inexpensive. That, and there are ways, if you take a little time and effort digging into some resources, to eat healthier. I’ve found that I prefer to make a little extra monetary sacrifice to put actually GOOD shit into my body instead of processed food, but that’s my choice to do that. Here are some suggestions that might help give people more choices to eat healthy stuff without too much trouble that I’ve found work for me:
Get yourself a rice cooker. Yeah, eating rice all the time sucks, but pasta and beans are also not that too much, either. Rice cookers with steam baskets allow you to make a super healthy and balanced meal (yeah you can throw sausages in there if you want, too) without having to prepare much. All it requires is cutting up veggies and tossing them in the basket and pressing a button.
In some places, there’s another thing called CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture. The way most of these works is expensive up front—you usually pay for a whole share or half share, but some have free slots for low-income families, and the one that we’re on (in the middle of a city, I might add, so location doesn’t necessarily matter—you don’t have to be out in the country, man) actually delivers to us once a week or once ever other week—our choice. A lot of times you have a “basket” you can fill by going to a designated farmer’s market, or have a “box” to pick up at a designated market or other such place. Which is usually inconvenient, I realise, to most working families, but if you can find something that delivers to your door, it is most assuredly well worth it. We lucked out and found a “pay-as-you-go” one, which you can cancel or pick up anytime. There are more than likely more like that out there, and I highly recommend it. It’s all fresh (and usually locally grown) veggies and eggs and stuff, and a lot of times several recipes are included.
I realise also the complaint about having to spend time to cook and all that, and gods know I don’t always feel like cooking when I get home late after a shift at work, but again, look up things like rice cookers with steam baskets. Crock pots, where, again, all it takes is prep time and then you set the thing to low and it cooks all day.
Point being, there’s almost always a way where there’s a will, and I truly believe it’s more worth the effort and slightly extra money (at times and/or up front) to put good stuff in your body. You can literally feel the difference after you eat well for a little while, and then eat something bad.
Dinner—asparagus, spring onions, shiitake mushrooms, chives—all fresh—and whole wheat pasta in a teriyaki and orange-mango sauce. And orange-mango mimosas. Delisssshhh.
Also Dragon Age 2 fanfic.
Tea (by Simply Stardust)
