What is the World's Healthiest Food?

Hi there! Great to see you today! How’s it going? Fill that mug in your hand, liberate a treat from the top shelf and sit yourself down. Yesterday, I mentioned Kiwi and how healthy it was. Well, it got me to wondering about what the healthiest food in the world might be. Food for thought, eh? Turns out to be a little blue-green Algae that you may have seen in your nearest health food store. It is called Spirulina.

Spirulina is a simple, one-celled form of algae that thrives in warm, alkaline fresh-water bodies. The name "spirulina" is derived from the Latin word for "helix" or "spiral"; denoting the physical configuration of the organism when it forms swirling, microscopic strands.

Spirulina is being developed as the "food of the future" because of its amazing ability to synthesize high-quality concentrated food more efficiently than any other algae. Spirulina is 65 to 71 percent complete protein, with all essential amino acids in perfect balance. In comparison, beef is only 22 percent protein. 

Spirulina provides high concentrations of many other nutrients - amino acids, chelated minerals, pigmentations, rhamnose sugars (complex natural plant sugars), trace elements, enzymes - that are in an easily assimilable form.

Spirulina beta carotene is ten times more concentrated than carrots. So even if you don't eat the recommended 6 servings of fruits and vegetables every day (most people eat only 1-2, including French fries), get your natural beta carotene insurance from Spirulina to help support your body's defenses.

Its protein is an easy-to-digest vegetable form without the fat and cholesterol of meat. Spirulina is the highest protein food with all the essential amino acids and has only a few calories to keep your waistline where you want it.

A rare essential fatty acid is a key to health. Gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) in mother's milk helps develop healthy babies. Studies show nutritional deficiencies can block GLA production in your body, so a good dietary source of GLA can be important. Spirulina is the only other whole food with GLA.

Iron for women and children's health. Iron is essential to build a strong
system, yet is the most common mineral deficiency. Spirulina is rich in iron,
magnesium and trace minerals, and is easier to absorb than iron supplements.

High in Vitamin B-12 and B Complex. Spirulina is the highest source of B-12, essential for healthy nerves and tissue, especially for vegetarians.

Unusual phytonutrients for health and cleansing. Scientists are discovering the benefits of polysaccharides, sulfolipids & glycolipids, and the rainbow of natural pigments that give spirulina a deep green color. Green (chlorophyll), blue (phycocyanin) and orange (carotenoids) colors collect the sun's energy and power growth. Chlorophyll is a natural cleanser.

Holy Bananas! I’d better get me some of that, don’t you reckon? Sounds like that, coffee and a couple doughnuts (because you do need some fat in your diet) might be all you need to keep you going through the day!

See ya!

Bob

Stop by my other blogs...

Trim the Fat

My Business English Club

Teach Overseas

Love Working at Home!

Benefits of Eating Kiwi Fruit?

Hey now…good to see you today! What’s movin’ and shakin’? Pour yourself a nice fresh cup of Arabica juice and grab one of those Kiwi muffins. I was just reading about Kiwis and boy they are loaded with stuff that’s good for you…but I eat them anyway!

Kiwifruits, or kiwi, is an edible berry about the size of a chicken egg. It features a fuzzy peel that surrounds a green fruit with black seeds and a creamy white center. Kiwis taste slightly sweet and tangy with a creamy texture. It is available year-round in most grocery stores and is often eaten alone or as part of a salad, on fruit tarts or in smoothies. In addition to counting as 1/2 cup, or one serving, of fruit, kiwis offer a wealth of nutrients.

One cup of sliced kiwifruit provides 5g of fibre. The Institute of Medicine recommends most adult women consume at least 25g of fiber daily and men, 38g. Fiber can help fill you up, keep your digestive system running well and may help lower cholesterol.

In 1 cup of kiwi, you get over 270 percent of the recommended dietary allowance for vitamin C. Vitamin C acts as an antioxidant, scavenging free radicals in your body to help prevent disease. It is also essential to the formation and repair of tissue, particularly cartilage, blood vessels, tendons and skin. Kiwi is also a source of vitamin K, with 1 cup offering 89 percent of the RDA. Vitamin K helps with blood clotting and absorption of vitamin D. Kiwi also provides 13 percent of the RDA for vitamin E and 11 percent for folate in a 1-cup serving.

Potassium is a mineral that helps keep your body's fluids and other minerals in balance. Too little potassium may lead to weakness, stroke and irregular heartbeat. One cup of kiwi contains 552mg of potassium, more than the 467mg found in a small banana.

Choosing kiwifruit as a snack in lieu of higher calorie fare can help you control your weight. One medium-sized fruit has just 46 calories, and a full cup of kiwi slices contains 108 calories, about the same amount as a medium banana. Use kiwi to replace half of your morning cereal to save calories; add it to cottage cheese for a high-protein, low-calorie snack; or blend it into a smoothie with mint leaves and strawberries.

So there you go. Why Kiwis are so good for you, you probably get healthier just thinking about them! You’re a better person for knowing that…unless you knew it already, I mean. Have to put Kiwis on the Saturday shopping list! Nong? Where’d that list get to?

See ya!

Bob

Stop by my other blogs...

Trim the Fat

My Business English Club

Teach Overseas

Love Working at Home!

Chicago-style Pizza

Hope you’ve recovered from all that fatty food we chatted about the other day. Ready for a second helping? How about a slice of original Chicago-style Pizza with your coffee today? This is a picture Paul (Tokyo Paul) sent in and a note: “As I think I told you, Chicagoans are chauvinistic about their pizza and this is why.  This photo shows my sister's family at the place in Chicago to get pizza, Giordano's.  They always order the same thing, so I know what they are:  one is a stuffed cheese and sausage pizza and the other is a stuffed spinach pizza.  

I have to say that I have enough Chicagoan in me that I wish I had been there.”  

I’ve watched them make it and it’s something to see. I’ll tell you. Unless your insurance is paid up, don’t plan on a same-day outing to Fogo de Chão and Giordano’s, where this deep-dish style of pizza was first made.

The way they slather on the cheese and tomato sauce is a thing to behold. My ability to wolf down a good-sized pizza is long gone, I’m afraid… probably for the better, Nong and my doctor would say.

Thanks for the picture, Paul! What was that you mentioned about a ¾ pound hotdog?

Bob

Paul just sent me a sad story from a local Chicago paper:

Stuffed pizza chain the latest big Chicago restaurant operator to seek Chapter 11 protection

Giordano's, known for its "world famous Chicago stuffed pizza," won court approval Thursday to use a portion of its $36 million bankruptcy loan to continue operating.

Giordano's operates six company-owned stores in the Chicago area, four joint-venture stores and 35 franchisee locations, according to its court filing. Giordano's also sells frozen stuffed pizzas via overnight delivery.

The pizza chain and 32 affiliate businesses filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization Wednesday in federal court in Chicago. It owes $45.7 million to its main lender, Fifth Third Bank, according to the filing.

Bob’s Reply:

If the price of cheese in Chicago is anywhere near what it is here in Thailand, that would account for it!

Comment from Wayne in Quebec:

Well for all you guys out there with tarmacs on the top of your heads, eating the bull testicles should help to grow some more hair but I'm afraid eating the Turkey testicles would grow feathers and that I would like to see.

Wayne from Québec, the province on wheels.

Bob’s reply:

Gotta stop drinking that Quebec White Lightning, there Wayne!


Stop by my other blogs...

Trim the Fat

My Business English Club

Teach Overseas

Love Working at Home!

Horse "Shots" Sure to Give You Zizz

Today’s post is compliments of Paul in Tokyo who said, “Since you like articles about food, I will send you the whole thing…

Makes raw fish here in Japan perfectly sane.”

Thanks, Paul. Pick your choose from the top shelf next to the coffee machine… on the house! 

We've discussed weird foods in Bizarre News before. There was the bull testicle festival in Montana and the turkey testicle festival in Illinois. We've talked about deep fried tarantulas and chilled monkey brains, but in New
Zealand, at this year's Wildfoods Festival in the South Island town of Hokitika, they have taken things to a whole new level.

The festival began 22 years ago as a way of allowing city folks to "get out of their comfort zone" and sample foods enjoyed by rural dwellers in the "outback" as they call it. Foods like raw scorpions, chocolate-covered beetles and deep-fried grubs, as well as more mainstream staples such
as venison and wild boar.

But this year for the first time New Zealand epicures will be able to satisfy their appetite for the unusual with shots of horse semen. This little delicacy is the brain child of racehorse breeder Lindsay Kerslake.

"The idea is you'll have as much zizz as a stallion for a week afterwards," said Lindsay.

I'm not sure what zizz is, but if it's what I think it is then Lindsay might have a problem!

He said the shots being sold at this year's festival would taste like a milkshake and be washed down with an energy drink chaser.

So you won't have to deal with the salty taste the shots will be available in vanilla, strawberry and chocolate.

Hmmm…what if they added some icing sugar and used it as a glaze on doughnuts. You might not get much work done in the day but , zowie…you’d be ready for a good time, eh!

Bob… just horsin’ around!

Stop by my other blogs...

Trim the Fat

My Business English Club

Teach Overseas

Love Working at Home!

Why do we like fatty foods so much?

Hey! I was hoping that was you. Couldn’t be anyone else, could it? Got a topic for you today that’s near and dear to out hearts… so fill your coffee mug and let’s chew the fat! Speaking of fat, do you ever wonder why we love them? We all do. Bacon double cheese burger… pizza with everything, devil’s food cake with chocolate ice cream, and the occasional Bavarian cream doughnut, eh! Oh, and let’s wash it down with a Caramel Mocca Latte! But why? Why do fatty foods taste so good? (I’m not going to mention Christmas pudding with brandy sauce because my sister may be listening!)

Fats help you enjoy the taste of food because they’re able to dissolve and concentrate flavor and odor chemicals. These chemicals are released into the air by the heat of cooking. That’s why you can taste sizzling bacon even before you eat it – because some of the flavor molecules are already in your nose and mouth.

Fats, also called lipid, play a vital role in promoting healthy cell function, maintaining body temperature and maintaining healthy skin and hair. Fats also serve as energy stores for the body, containing 9 kcal per gram of fat which is double the amount of calorie you can get from proteins or carbohydrates (4 kcal/gm). It is also essential for brain development and production of cholesterol in the liver.

Fats also help distribute salts and other seasonings throughout foods – such as salad dressings – so that they make more contact with your tongue and give a deeper flavor.

And fatty foods have a special mouth feel. Chocolate, custard, and peanut butter all melt at body temperature. When chocolate melts in your mouth, it creates a smooth, full, coating sensation that most people agree is pleasant.

Finally, our bodies absorb fatty foods at a slower pace than proteins or carbohydrates. Fat makes us feel full. And when we feel full, our brains trigger the release of hormones that also make us feel relaxed and content. The close tie between fat, flavor, fullness, and happiness might be an evolutionary adaptation. Because fat provides more calories by weight than either sugars or proteins, in the past fats might have helped protect the body against starvation and exhaustion. 

However, when fat level in the body exceeds the normal level, it is associated with health complications such as obesity, high blood pressure and heart disease.

As the T-shirt says, “Thin may be in but Fat’s where it’s at! Oh, and in case you don’t recognize the second picture, it’s a Grilled Cheese Birthday Cake!

Bob

Stop by my other blogs...

Trim the Fat

My Business English Club

Teach Overseas

Love Working at Home!