A Healthy Recipe

We are an elderly couple of 70 years and 65 years old. My wife has been suffering from the type II diabetes since many years. She has inherited it from her father. Despite this she is quite active and looks after the household chores. She is a frugal eater. I have developed diabetes and high blood pressure some years back when I was about 58 years old. Now with passing of every year, newer health complications are arising. I rise early, go out in the fields nearby our home for walking and wildlife photography. I also do some cycling although not in the intense manner.

We rarely eat outside food. Mostly our diet is not very rich in energy. We also consume very less non-vegetarian food. We also eat the fruits and salad regularly.

Despite all this, of late I have become diabetic and developed high blood pressure. So the other contributing factor may be related to the stress. Due to some financial worries and other issues, I have become very sad and stressful. This is my nature. Although I try to recite the religious writings daily but age and the habit of analysing the things has made me immune to the effects of the calmness and peace.

Now we have even altogether stopped eating sugar and sweets and intake of carbohydrates in the form of chapati and rice. We try to cook the food in the mustard or olive oil. I have stepped up the walking speed and cycling to compensate the slow pace during the spotting of the birds and general wildlife. Although I get cramps and pain in the legs and groin area after the workouts.

We try to make innovations in the food to make it more healthier. The aim is to take more proteins, fibrous, vitamin and minerals and antioxidants rich food which help in keeping Blood pressure and blood sugar levels in check. Only factor i can’t control is the stress and overthinking.

Few days ago we tried a recipe. My wife made it. Ingredients are broccoli, french beans, pepper bells of green, yellow and red varieties, cottage cheese or Paneer. Just made frolrets of broccoli, cut beans in a inch size, cut the cheese in small cubes. Just stirred them in olive oil for 7-8 minutes. Sprinkled with a dash of pink rock salt and black pepper powder.

It is rich in vitamins C, B12, A, K, Fibre, protein, antioxidants, minerals like Potassium, Calcium and Magnesium. It is very low in fat and carbohydrates. It is hopefully good for immunity and keeping the blood pressure and blood sugar levels in check.

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Benefits of eating coarse grains

Coarse grains are good for health. They are a good source of fiber, protein, vitamins, and minerals. Coarse grains can help to lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels. They can also help to promote weight loss and improve digestion.

Another benefit of growing the millets is that they are very sturdy crops requiring very less water and any kind of soil. These crops are disease resistant and don’t require the use of insecticides and fertilizers. In India, the millets were very popular in older days but Green Revolution replaced them with Rice and Wheat. This necessitated the unwise move of pressing the underground water usage and resulted in depletion of underground water resources. 

Here are some of the health benefits of coarse grains:

Lower blood pressure: Coarse grains are a good source of fiber, which can help to lower blood pressure. Fiber helps to bind to cholesterol and bile acids in the intestines, which prevents them from being absorbed into the bloodstream. This can help to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart disease.

Lower cholesterol: Coarse grains are also a good source of soluble fiber, which can help to lower cholesterol levels. Soluble fiber dissolves in water and forms a gel-like substance in the intestines. This gel-like substance binds to cholesterol and bile acids, which prevents them from being absorbed into the bloodstream. This can help to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart disease.

Lower blood sugar levels: Coarse grains can help to lower blood sugar levels by slowing down the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream. This is because coarse grains are high in fiber, which slows down digestion. Slowing down digestion helps to keep blood sugar levels stable.

Weight loss: Coarse grains can help with weight loss by helping you to feel full. This is because coarse grains are high in fiber, which takes longer to digest than other types of carbohydrates.

Improved digestion: Coarse grains are a good source of fiber, which is essential for digestive health. Fiber helps to keep the digestive system running smoothly and can help to prevent constipation, diarrhea, and other digestive problems.

Here are some examples of coarse grains:

Millet: Millet is a type of grain that is native to Africa and Asia. It is a good source of protein, fiber, and vitamins. Millet can be used to make a variety of dishes, such as porridge, flatbreads, and soups.

Jowar: Jowar is a type of grain that is native to India. It is a good source of protein, fiber, and vitamins. Jowar can be used to make a variety of dishes, such as rotis, bhakri, and khichdi.

Jowar: Shorgum

Bajra: Bajra is a type of grain that is native to India. It is a good source of protein, fiber, and vitamins. Bajra can be used to make a variety of dishes, such as rotis, bhakri, and khichdi.

Bajra

Ragi: Ragi is a type of grain that is native to India. It is a good source of protein, fiber, and vitamins. Ragi can be used to make a variety of dishes, such as porridge, flatbreads, and soups.

If you are looking for a healthy and nutritious way to add more coarse grains to your diet, there are a few things you can do.

First, try to include a variety of coarse grains in your diet. This will help you to get the most nutrients from these grains.

Second, look for recipes that use coarse grains. There are many recipes available online and in cookbooks that use coarse grains.

Finally, talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian about how to incorporate more coarse grains into your diet.

Some good internal Links Related to the subject:

Herbs for Good Health 

Natural ways to Detox 

Salads

Some good external Links Related to the subject:

Coarse grains better than rice for health, environment

7 Health Benefits of Ragi & 6 Easy Ragi Recipes

International Year of the Millets 2023

Plantains and Bananas!!

Banana is the most consumed fruit in the world. It is very easy to eat. Just peel and eat. It is an instant source of energy. Sportsmen love it. It can be eaten in the form of milkshakes or as such. It is any time fruit.

Banana and Plantains look very similar. But in fact they have some subtle differences which make them suitable for different food recipes. Nutritionally there is not much difference between them. Plantains grow in Central Africa, the Caribbean, and other tropical regions, and they’re commonly used in Latin, African, and Caribbean cuisine.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/health-benefits-bananas/amp

As the bananas and Plantains begin ripening their colours start changing from green to yellow to black. Sweetness also increases in the same way.

Plantains are longer in size than Bananas. A plantain is almost double (12″) as compared to a banana (about 6″). Plantains are used mostly as a vegetable rather than as a fruit. When raw, both bananas and Plantains are bland. Sweetness increases as they begin to mature. When fully ripe, Plantains are more sweeter than Bananas.

https://www.bonappetit.com/story/all-about-plantains/amp

Sugar in the Plantains comes from starch. As starches take longer to breakdown into simple sugar they are initially less sweeter than Bananas. But since starches are complex sugars, they yield more simpler sugars.

Because ripe bananas are sweet, they are usually used in dessert recipes or baked goods, including banana bread, muffins, and cupcakes, often with chocolate chips thrown in. Chips are eaten as snacks.

Bananas are richer in many vitamins and minerals but due to their sugar base rather than starch base, user especially people with diabetes cannot overindulge in their consumption.

Eggs: A concoction of Chemicals

Eggs are a convenient food item. It is easy to make a number of recipes. They can be scrambled, boiled, fried, or poached. In fact eggs are used in a variety of recipes.

Eggs are used in custards and cakes and so many other confectioneries. The versatility of eggs is a reflection of their intricate chemical makeup. Eggs contain a number of chemicals including proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water.

Seemingly eggshells look impervious. Eggs do have micro holes. A single eggshell is perforated by 9,000 pores, on average. The shell forms the egg’s container, protecting it and acting as a permeable membrane for air and moisture to pass through.

Eggs

Eggshell is made mainly of calcium carbonate which is insoluble in water and is also major constituent of limestone. Calcium carbonate content is about 95% and rest  5% is a mix of other minerals, such as calcium phosphate and magnesium carbonate, as well as soluble and insoluble proteins.

These components strongly influence the strength of the shell. A hen on a diet low in calcium or vitamin D, for example, lays eggs having thin, soft shells, or no shells at all.

Generally the shell of egg is white or brown but chickens lay eggs of other colors, from pink to green to blue. The colors of eggs come from pigments that are secreted by the hen and deposited on the eggshell’s outer layers during formation in the chicken’s oviduct, the canal that eggs travel through from the ovaries to the outside world.

Egg color is a genetic trait, so colors vary from breed to breed. Brown eggshells contain the pigment protoporphyrin, a breakdown product of hemoglobin. Found only on the shell’s surface, the brown pigment can be dissolved by vinegar or rubbed off with sandpaper. Blue and green hues are caused by the pigment oocyanin, a by-product of bile formation. White eggshells are devoid of these pigments.

Surrounded by the eggshell, the slimy, clear fluid of the egg is the albumen, or egg white—the egg’s cytoplasm. It consists of 90% water, seven major proteins, and no fat. Main protein present in the albumen is called ovalbumin and it accounts for 54% of the white.

In a fresh egg, the albumen contains carbon dioxide, which diffuses out of the egg as it ages. With the loss of CO₂, the egg white becomes more alkaline and thins. Because of CO₂ loss through the shell pores, an egg a few weeks old will be easier to peel after boiling than a fresh egg with a higher CO₂ concentration, although the cause of this phenomenon isn’t completely understood.

Yolk makes up one-third of the egg’s weight,  is the near-opposite of albumen in chemical composition. It contains all of the egg’s fat and cholesterol, half of its protein, and four times the calories of the white. A yolk’s golden yellow color is due to the diet of the hen. A diet rich in the yellow and orange plant pigments called xanthophylls leads to a yellow yolk. If the hen’s diet is low in these pigments, the yolk can be almost colorless.

Yolks contain all of the vitamin content in the egg, including six B vitamins, as well as vitamins A, D, and E. The yolk also contains the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin and trace amounts of β-carotene, phosphorus, iron, magnesium, and other metals.

The freshness of an egg can be determined from the appearance of its yolk. A fresh egg has a round, firm yolk and a tight surrounding membrane, called the vitelline membrane. As the egg ages, the yolk absorbs water from the albumen, which distends the membrane and results in a looser, flattened yolk.

The greenish gray ring that can form around the yolk of a boiled egg comes from overcooking. The iron and sulfur in the yolk form ferrous sulfides, creating the green ring at the yolk’s surface. Although the color is unappealing, the research proves that the ring does not affect an egg’s flavor and nutritional content.

Contributing to an egg’s normal odor are a number of volatile constituents, including hydrocarbons, phenols, indans, indoles, pyrroles, pyrazines, and sulfides, including hydrogen sulfide. Dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl trisulfide in small amounts contribute to the characteristic odor and flavor of eggs, even fresh ones.

A truly rotten egg is formed when bacteria penetrate the shell and produce foul-smelling hydrogen sulfide.

The complexity of eggs puts them in the spotlight of health debates. Although eggs are high in protein and vitamins and low in fat and sugar, they’re heavy on cholesterol, which could raise a person’s risk of heart disease. An egg can contain up to 250 mg of cholesterol, which is 83% of the U.S. recommended daily allowance of 300 mg.

Eggs: A concoction of Chemicals

Chicken eggs are convenient food item. It is easy to make a number of recipes. They can be scrambled, boiled, fried, or poached. Eggs are used in custards and cakes and so many other confectioneries. The versatility of eggs is a reflection of their intricate chemical makeup. Eggs contain a big list of chemicals including proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water.

We wrongly think that eggshells are impervious. Eggs do have holes. A single eggshell is perforated by 9,000 pores, on average. The shell forms the egg’s container, protecting it and acting as a permeable membrane for air and moisture to pass through.

Eggshell is made mainly of calcium carbonate which is chemical insoluble in water and is also major constituent of limestone. Calcium carbonate content is about 95% and rest  5% is a mix of other minerals, such as calcium phosphate and magnesium carbonate, as well as soluble and insoluble proteins. These components strongly influence the strength of the shell. A hen on a diet low in calcium or vitamin D, for example, lays eggs having thin, soft shells, or no shells at all.

Generally the shell of egg is white or brown but chickens lay eggs of other colors, from pink to green to blue. The colors of eggs come from pigments that are secreted by the hen and deposited on the eggshell’s outer layers during formation in the chicken’s oviduct, the canal that eggs travel through from the ovaries to the outside world. Egg color is a genetic trait, so colors vary from breed to breed. Brown eggshells contain the pigment protoporphyrin, a breakdown product of hemoglobin. Found only on the shell’s surface, the brown pigment can be dissolved by vinegar or rubbed off with sandpaper. Blue and green hues are caused by the pigment oocyanin, a by-product of bile formation. White eggshells are devoid of these pigments.

Surrounded by the eggshell, the slimy, clear fluid of the egg is the albumen, or egg white—the egg’s cytoplasm. It consists of 90% water, seven major proteins, and no fat. Main protein present in the albumen is called ovalbumin and it accounts for 54% of the white.

In a fresh egg, the albumen contains carbon dioxide, which diffuses out of the egg as it ages. With the loss of CO₂, the egg white becomes more alkaline and thins. Because of CO₂ loss through the shell pores, an egg a few weeks old will be easier to peel after boiling than a fresh egg with a higher CO₂ concentration, although the cause of this phenomenon isn’t completely understood.

Yolk makes up one-third of the egg’s weight,  is the near-opposite of albumen in chemical composition. It contains all of the egg’s fat and cholesterol, half of its protein, and four times the calories of the white. A yolk’s golden yellow color is due to the diet of the hen. A diet rich in the yellow and orange plant pigments called xanthophylls leads to a yellow yolk. If the hen’s diet is low in these pigments, the yolk can be almost colorless.

Yolks contain all of the vitamin content in the egg, including six B vitamins, as well as vitamins A, D, and E. The yolk also contains the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin and trace amounts of β-carotene, phosphorus, iron, magnesium, and other metals.

The freshness of an egg can be determined from the appearance of its yolk. A fresh egg has a round, firm yolk and a tight surrounding membrane, called the vitelline membrane. As the egg ages, the yolk absorbs water from the albumen, which distends the membrane and results in a looser, flattened yolk.

The greenish gray ring that can form around the yolk of a boiled egg comes from overcooking. The iron and sulfur in the yolk form ferrous sulfides, creating the green ring at the yolk’s surface. Although the color is unappealing, the research proves that the ring does not affect an egg’s flavor and nutritional content.

Contributing to an egg’s normal odor are a number of volatile constituents, including hydrocarbons, phenols, indans, indoles, pyrroles, pyrazines, and sulfides, including hydrogen sulfide. Dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl trisulfide in small amounts contribute to the characteristic odor and flavor of eggs, even fresh ones.

A truly rotten egg is formed when bacteria penetrate the shell and produce foul-smelling hydrogen sulfide.

The complexity of eggs puts them in the spotlight of health debates. Although eggs are high in protein and vitamins and low in fat and sugar, they’re heavy on cholesterol, which could raise a person’s risk of heart disease. An egg can contain up to 250 mg of cholesterol, which is 83% of the U.S. recommended daily allowance of 300 mg.