WHY ARE ALL THE YUMMY FOODS BAD FOR YOU?

We all get to choose what we put in our mouths, right? We all ‘know’ that the plate of veges is a better option than the battered scallops and chips, but we also know that ‘bad’ food tastes soooo good! Why why WHY can’t we meet our health needs with juicy burgers, crumbed and deep-fried everything and a nice slice of sugary goodness? It really does seem unfair on a universal scale.

Your body and your brain are to blame (traitors!). For starters, your body is subject to something known in research as the ‘Caveman’s Curse’, -our bodies and brains are wired to store fat and gorge on available nutrients. Even the tip of your tongue is in cohoots, loaded with receptors for ‘sweet’ foods. This would have served us well in the savannah, but less so in suburbia. Your body doesn’t realize it’s 2017. It wants to store fat ‘just in case’. Your brain’s circuitry sparks like a Katherine wheel when given sugar, but then adapts and requires more sugar for the same dopamine rush.

Our poor food choices are very rarely due to a lack of knowledge, and ‘hunger’ and ‘appetite’ are related, but very different. Appetite trumps hunger every time. Your ‘need’ for a brownie after dinner has nothing to do with hunger, and everything to do with appetite. We form our appetite associations around food from a very young age. That sponge cake at Grandma’s was less about the cake, and more about how safe and loved you felt (+ dopamine drug rush), hot chips in paper may take you back to carefree childhood beach holidays. Your brain is a mess of quivering excitement before your taste buds even get a look-in. 

These brain patterns regarding foods are deeply entrenched and extremely hard, even upsetting to modify. Going on a ‘diet’ can involve a genuine grief in many people, going against the tides of your childhood and messing with soporific memories. There’s a reason they’re called “comfort foods”…

Being aware of your complex relationship with food can go a long way to helping you enjoy “comfort foods” on fewer occasions, while your knowledge of nutrition will help you to better food choices on a regular basis. Stress, exhaustion, and heightened emotional states will make the choice harder, and your inner caveman will likely come to the rescue. Honestly, just being aware of your emotional food triggers is a great place to start, as is stocking your ‘cave’ with fewer comforting options, -if it isn’t available quickly, at the whim of your appetite, it doesn’t get eaten. Having said all that, my inner 3-year-old is still screeching “It’s not faaaaiir!!!”. No, it’s not J

AN APPLE A DAY…

What could be humbler and simpler than the apple? The sweetness and juicy crunch of a fresh Gala, the silky spiced smush of a Granny Smith in shortcrust pastry, the jaw-breaking delight of the childhood toffee apple, not to mention the beauty and sensual nature of an apple tree loaded with scarlet orbs in the early mists of autumn.

The apple as we know it originated in the Tien Shan mountains of Kazakhstan and was ‘discovered’ there by Alexander the Great in 328 BC. Throughout human history apples have had nutritional, religious and mythological significance in every culture that utilised them. Apples began the Trojan war, were lauded by the great poets, and everyone from Caravaggio to Magritte painted them. Heracles picked golden apples from the Tree of Life, and we all know what happened to Eve…If you bury treasure under an apple tree it will never be found, and bobbing for apples at Halloween puts you in touch with the fairy kingdom. Cutting an apple sagitally reveals the 5 pointed star that alchemists used to represent the conjunction of heaven and earth. Did you know that the laryngeal protrusion in the make throat is called the ‘Adam’s apple’ because of a notion that it was caused by the forbidden fruit remaining in the throat of Adam? Or that wages were often paid in Cider until as late as 1917?

In the scientific world, apples more than live up to their ‘magical’ historical hype. Their polyphenol content stops blood sugar spikes and decreases glucose absorption, their soluble fibre (pectin) lowers blood fats and alters intestinal metabolism by impacting bad bacteria, their regular consumption lowers the risk of asthma, lung cancer, macular degeneration and alzheimer’s. and lowers total and LDL cholesterol levels.

Why do we need to know all this? We need to change the way we think about food. The cure for unconsciousness is consciousness. In order to adjust our mindless consumption of the ‘permanent global summertime’ perpetuated by the food industry, and to fight the predictable blandness of reduced variety, we should strive to learn more about what we’re eating; where it comes from, how it’s grown, and its role in the story of humanity. All over the world people still celebrate harvest and maintain a ‘reverence’ for food; a visceral understanding of our absolute reliance on the earth and its fruits. Next time you bite into an apple, I hope you experience it a little differently. In a very real sense, you’re consuming history J

“GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD…”

Eating and food choice has become a secular religion, with all the benefits and downfalls that go with it. If you utilize social media, you’d be hard pressed to go a single day without one of your friends or acquaintances posting an attractively designed meme relating to food. People, having been ‘illuminated’ into a particular ‘food-religion’ feel compelled to proselytize, to help others that have not yet been enlightened.

So why are we turning food into our new Church?

Limitless choice and apparently conflicting ‘evidence’ is an ever shifting sea with no horizon, it is unsettling. Religion helps people make sense of a chaotic world: Suddenly, there is order and there are instructions. All you have to do is follow them. No wonder media nutritionists are routinely described as “gurus”, a word meant to denote a spiritual leader.

It’s understandable, inevitable even, that amidst this sea of shifting dietary recommendations, people will pick a pre-defined way of eating and stick to their guns, -it gives them the feeling of ‘solid ground’. Interestingly, there seems to be no need for the aforementioned dietary ‘religion’ to have a positive message. Why would you follow a dietary message from someone telling you that the world is full of evil toxins, chem-trails and ‘deathly’ industrial additives? But then, why would you want to believe in a world where humans (even newborns) are inherently sinful and must be ‘saved’? It sounds like an upsetting notion, but it’s not: It’s comforting. The only thing scarier than a world full of toxins is a world in which you don’t know what the toxins are. Clear-cut certainty is far more attractive and comforting than a world of shifting understanding, nuance and complication.

The “Past as Paradise” paradigm is another idea that seems almost woven into our DNA. We ate the “wrong” or “forbidden” food in paradise and subsequently fell from Grace. The notion that everything ‘past’ (and therefore ‘purer’) is best can be seen in the fear and anger displayed at the marriage of technology and food (‘Organic’, ‘Non-GMO’): Anger that comes from primarily from fear, and fear is usually associated with a lack of understanding.

Aligning yourself with a particular ‘food religion’ also confers a sense of belonging, -a community of people just like you, and we humans have an innate need to feel that we belong. The trick is not allow this investment in personal identity get in the way of critically processing information.

It has been said by many that sugar is addictive. Health information, it seems is also addictive. The only ‘detox’ I would ever recommend is this: Try a week without reading the blogs, clicking on the headlines, and absorbing the memes. Instead, focus on preparing meals that you enjoy, and that provide your body with the nutrients it needs. You don’t need to be in fear of food.

VIBRANT WINTER HEALTH…it’s easier than you think!

Ah winter! As temperatures plummet it’s tempting to indulge your inner bear, - crawl into your cave, stock up some fat layers and sleep. In order to avoid meeting spring as grumpy and out-of-condition as the proverbial though, here are some human winter-survival essentials:

Get outside every day

Winter sunshine doesn’t just feel great, it tunes up your brain. When the brain detects natural light, melatonin is inhibited, making you more energetic during the day, and enabling a better night’s sleep, -re-setting the body’s natural circadian rhythms. Fresh air and mild exercise will also boost endorphins (the body’s natural pain-killers) and serotonin (feel-good neurotransmitters). Even 10 minutes will substantially boost your mood! All that sun and exercise will also allow your body to produce more Vitamin D, which helps your body absorb calcium, and reduces your likelihood of developing the dreaded flu.

Don’t Hibernate

Being socially isolated puts you at far greater risk for depression. Recent research suggests that loneliness can be as great a health risk as smoking and obesity. We humans have an intrinsic need to connect with others. Rather than stay home tonight because it’s freezing cold, pop around to a friend’s for a cuppa, or head into town and hear some live music, or accept that social invitation. As my Grandma said: ‘No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up’.

Fit your diet to the season

Don’t feel like salad? It’s OK. Food is far more than a plate of nutrients, and winter may not be the best time to start a raw food/juice regime. Comfort food needn’t be unhealthy, and eating seasonally encourages us to tune into Nature’s cycles and those of our own body. Winter is the realm of the nutty, earthy root vegetable. Love potatoes? –eat them! Roast them, mash them, bake them!. Who could say no to maple and walnut roasted pumpkin? Fill up on stews, casseroles and hearty soups. Think back to ‘root cellar’ days. Dried beans and legumes in the pot for protein and fiber, sweet potato, parsnip, turnip, potato, pumpkin and carrot for vitamins, a ham bone or beef shin for minerals and flavour, winter herbs for that extra zest. Thicken things up with starches like rice, barley, buckwheat and oats. Serve sautéed silverbeet or brussels sprouts with garlic and a knob of butter as a side. Try your hand at making crusty sourdough to mop up the flavourful gravy.

 Real people need real food, avoid the processed stuff. And don’t forget that how we eat is as important as what we eat. Eat with family or friends at a dining table, rather than in front of the TV. Light a candle and put on a nice tablecloth, enjoy flavours and textures and good company!

Catherine Lockley is an associate member of the NAA & a student of Food & Nutrition at Charles Sturt University.

FORAGING: THE NUTRITION IN YOUR GARDEN

I think we’re all aware that being on a student budget (read: ‘broke’) and maintaining optimal nutrition is, for want of a better word, tricky. We’ve probably also all heard of the wonders and benefits of the famed ‘Mediterranean Diet’ on physical and mental health; a diet based on consumption of minimally processed fresh, seasonal, local foods. Unlike many of the ‘diets’ offered to the paying public’s desire for the holy-grail of ideal food consumption however, the Mediterranean diet has been extensively studied and is accepted by the [holy] DAA and Nutrition Australia as an undeniably good thing. (Itsiopolous 2016, Serra-Majem 2006, Garicio-Toro et al. 2014, Martinéz-González et al. 2015).

So, we all know that Extra virgin olive oil, small quantities of meat and fish, leafy greens, legumes, yoghurt and wholegrains and cereals should make up the majority of what we stuff into our pie-holes now. But what you may not know is that many of the health benefits attributed to the Mediterranean diet come down to the type of veggies. These centenarian descendants of the gods  wandering around the shores of the Aegean and the Iberian peninsula in vibrant good health ( it turns out), eat a lot, a whole lot of wild greens (Trichopolou et al. 2000, Martins et al. 2011, Dogan, 2012). It turns out that wild plant foods generally contain much higher concentrations of essential vitamins and minerals than our commercially grown supermarket fare, as well as being general powerhouses of antioxidants (Salvatore et al. 2005, Powell et al. 2014).

The good news, is that you don’t have to eschew buying textbooks for the next 2 years in order to fly to Mount Olympus for your wild greens. Many of them will be springing up merrily in the lawn you should have mowed 2 weeks ago, or hiding in plain sight about campus.

Here’s 3 little nutritional wonder-bombs that you’ll find pretty easily: Dandelion greens (Taraxacum officinale), Mallow leaves (Malva parviflora) and white clover (trifolium repens). Before you wrinkle your nose up and tell me you’d rather chomp on some nice bagged kale from Woolies, let’s have a look at them and then see if we can’t whip up a nice super-cheap recipe to tempt you…

DANDELION GREENS (Taraxacum officinale)

Now available for purchase at hipster farmer’s markets, they are rich in Vitamins A, C, E and K, Folate, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorous, Potassium and Omega 3 & 6.

You don’t want the dark green tough and hairy ones, look for bright green, vibrant plants with similar colour and texture to lettuce. You can steam them, stir-fry them, or choose young leaves and pop them in a salad. Honestly, the taste is very much like a romaine lettuce. They get more peppery with age, so choose the young ones if peppery greens aren’t your thing.

MALLOW (Malva parviflora)

Total weed. It’s everywhere. But it’s really packed full of pectin, fibre, Vitamins A & C, calcium, magnesium, iron, selenium, and potassium.

Bigger leaves can be added to soups (the pectin will thicken the soup) and small leaves can be roughly chopped and added to salad.

CLOVER (trifolium repens)

Yes, clover. Not ‘special’ clover, just the stuff that ruminants and chooks love to munch on. It’s rich in protein, calcium, chromium, magnesium, phosphorous, thiamine and vitamin C

Grab really young leaves and just chuck them in your salad. They’re quite sweet in flavour but with a definite ‘green’ quality (definition: iceberg lettuce would have a ‘white’ quality on the same scale).

So, just to show that I walk the talk, -here’s my garden forage from this morning:

Top left and moving clock-wise: Flat-leafed parsley, second-growth silverbeet (don’t take the roots out when the plant seems ‘finished’…it isn’t!), dandelion greens, white clover, mallow leaves and a bit of remnant basil. Wash and throw in the salad-spinner, roughly chop and add chick-peas, fetta, red onion, cucumber, finely sliced granny-smith, chopped walnuts and your favourite dressing! Wealthy students and CSU staff with y’know, a salary: some strips of semi-dried tomato wouldn’t go astray, and a few pitted kalamatas would make this the true Gods-of-the-Mediterranean experience J

I estimate that this utterly delicious ‘forage salad’ cost me about $2.50 in ingredients and serves 2. Plus we have a whole world of protein, vitamins, minerals, healthy fats and antioxidants. I have to admit, the dressing does rather ‘top it off’, but you can have it as is or add your favourite dressing. Let’s not get too hung up on the details. It’s food, not a religious experience J

MOUTHGASM SALAD DRESSING

½ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

½ cup Apple Cider Vinegar (but any form of food-grade acetic acid will do!)

Juice of 1 Lemon

3 garlic cloves (or 2 tsp dried garlic granules)

1 tsp salt

2 tsp mixed Italian herbs

½ tsp ground black pepper

1 ½ tsp sugar (it’s OK. You’re allowed. It’s not a mortal sin)

Go on, be brave and try something new!

REFERENCES

Photos by Catherine Lockley (final year B.Hsc [Food & Nutrition]) CSU

Dogan, Y. (2012). Traditionally used wild edible greens in the Aegean Region of Turkey. Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae, 81(4) doi: http://abo.doi.org/10.5586/asbp.2102.037

Garicio-Toro, M., Gilli, M., Ibarra, O., et al. (2014). Metabolic syndrome improvement in depression six months after prescribing simple hygenic dietary recommendations. BMCRes. Notes, 7. P 334

Itsiopolous, C. (2016). Mediterranean Diet Presentation. Retrieved from daa.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Catherine-Itsiopolous-Mediterranean-Diet-Presentation.pdf

Martínez-González, M.A. et al. (2015). Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet: Insights from the PREDIMED study. Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases, 58. Pp 50-60

Martins, D. et al. (2011). Nutritional and in vitro antioxidant properties of edible wild greens in Iberian Peninsula traditional diet. Food Chemistry, 125(2). Pp 488-494

Powell, B., Ouarghidi, A., Johns, T., Tattou, M.I. (2014). Wild leafy vegetable use and knowledge across multiple sites in Morocco: a caste study for transmission of local knowledge? Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 10(34).

Salvatore, S. et al (2005). Antioxidant characteristics of some Sicilian edible wild greens. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 53(24). 9465-9471

Serra-Majem, L. (2006). X Anniversary of the Foundation of the Mediterranean Diet (1996-2006). Public Health Nutrition, 9(8a). 1071-1072

Trichopolou, A. et al. (2000). Nutritional composition and flavonoid content of edible wild greens and green pies: a potential rich source of antioxidant nutrients in the Mediterranean diet. Food Chemistry, 70(3). 319-323

The Wolf in Yak's Clothing: Exploiting the Tibetan Body Snatchers

Sometimes I get a little 'involved' in my Uni subjects, especially where traditional Herbal remedies are concerned. The scientist in me leaps to reductivism and isolating active compounds/constituents, the artist in me can at least grudgingly admit to the potentially synergistic qualities of the whole plant, -an orchestra of compounds if you will, operating together utilizing pathways we may not yet have discovered. The Human in me is saddened and perplexed by the greed of Capitalism and the unthinking, profiteering maelstrom that it unleashes upon some of the world's poorest and most vulnerable Indigenous communities. As a result, I have spent 2 days answering a relatively simple question.

In case you're wondering, this little dude is the Tibetan Body Snatcher .

Cordyceps Sinensis is a parasitic fungus that attacks the larvae of the Ghost Moth and basically devours it over a 5 month period. After the spring rains, said fungus pops out of the (now dead) larvae's head with its fruiting body. This macabre little fungus has been called 'Tibetan Viagra', and it claims to cure pretty much everything. It sells for US $10 million a tonne.

Rural Bhutanese and Tibetans gather the fungus annually, and in some provinces, the sale of Cordyceps accounts for 80% of the economy, so to say that habitat preservation, regulation of gathering rights, sustainability of infrastructure and harvest, and availability to local indigenous gatherers is important, may be the understatement of the millenium.

The question: Follow this link to see one example of this medicinal food being sold commercially.  Do you think indigenous knowledge of medicinal foods should be commercialised like this?

THE ANSWER...

In 400BC Hippocrates recommended a brew made from Willow for labour pains. In 1763 an English clergyman observed the therapeutic effects of ground Willow bark on parishioners with rheumatic fever. Fast forward to 1897, -acetyl salicylic acid is isolated and aspirin is born ^[1]. Similarly. Cordyceps has been known and utilised for 2000 years, from the Tang Dynasty, through reductive scientific constituent research ^[2] to laboratory culturing ^[3] and finally to world-wide availability and the questionable marketing that goes with it ^[4][5]. To me, the key phrase in the question posed is ‘like this’. Dragon Herbs, for example, include an ‘educational video’ (music composed by the store owner) of beautifully attired Bhutanese reverently extracting cordyceps amongst wildflowers and mist ^[6]. Quite apart from the fact that elsewhere on the site it is stated that the company uses laboratory cultured mycelium, it is part of a $15 billion US industry (AU $1.8 billion) ^[7] that is largely concerned with profiteering and that does not take into account the indigenous people, ecology or sustainability of continually increasing harvest due to skyrocketing demand. Although the annual harvest of Cordyceps has provided the rural people of Tibet with an enormous economic boost ^[8], it has come at great cost. C.Sinensis biomass has declined over the last 20 years by 70-97% ^[9] and despite Tibetan Government regulation, retailers, brokers and poachers still make 5-10 times more profit than the indigenous Cordyceps gatherers ^[8]. In addition, lack of infrastructure for sustainable harvesting may result in environmental degradation, long-term negative economic impact ^[10] and sociocultural devastation, up to and including looting and murder ^[11]. So, although I am not against development of indigenous medicinal foods per se, I fail to see how the kind of ‘magical bucolic purity’ pedalled by Dragon herbs does any kind of good for the Bhutanese or Tibetan Cordyceps gatherers, their environment or their country. What I see is blatant wolfish Capitalism wearing Yak’s clothing.

1. 1.    www.aspirin-foundation.com/what/100.html

2.2.     Lull, C., Wichers, H.J., Savelleoul, H.F. (2005). Anti-inflammatory and immunodilating properties of fungal metabolites. Mediators of inflammation, 2. 63-80

3. 3.    Kunwar, A.M., Burlakoti, C., Chowdhary, C.L. & Bussman, R.W. (2010). Medicinal Plants in Farwest Nepal: Indigenous Uses and Pharmacological Validity. Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Science and Biotechnology, 4(1), 28-42

4.4.     http://www.dragonherbs.com/prodinfo.asp?number=506

5.5.     purica.com/products/cordyceps

6.  6.   httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p08kpTrAGWY

7. 7.    The health benefits of traditional Chinese plant medicines: weighing the scientific evidence: a report for the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation. By Graeme.E.Thomson. Barton, A.C.T, RIROC 2007

8. 8.    Winkler, D. (2008). Yartsa Gunbu (Cordyceps sinensis) and the Fungal Commodification of Tibet’s Rural Economy. Economic Botany, 62(3), 291-305

9.9.     Stone, R. (2008). Last stand for the body snatcher of the Himalayas. Science 322: 1182 doi: 10.1126/science.322.5905.1182

110..  http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/tk/en/resources/pdf/medical_tk.pdf

111.  http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/08/tibetan-mushroom/finkel-text

Gobal Warming/Climate Change is a crock....

apparently. Honestly, right now I don't much care whether it is or isn't. I am not a climatologist. Hell, I'm not even a real-and-proper scientist. Nay-sayers are screaming at the Greens for fear-mongering because apparently october is well into fire season historically.
http://www.csiro.au/Outcomes/Environment/Australian-Landscapes/Fire-Season-Months.aspx

And while everyone's looking for someone to blame, everyone has missed the most important thing. 

People in crisis are magnificent! Honestly, my newsfeed alone this afternoon got me all choked up. Elderly ladies folding and sorting donated clothes, someone sold someone a car six months ago, -happened to have their number and offered the entire family refuge. So many local businesses offering free food and shelter.

Labour candidate for Macquarie, Susan Templeman lost her home. She was on the news the same day supporting the local community and offering solace and strength to her fellow evacuees...how did this woman NOT get elected?. I would have been a sobbing mess. She rallied and found the strength to lead and comfort. As for her competitor, Louise Marcus..nowhere to be seen. The fact that she doesn't actually live in the electorate may have helped. Guess she was watching the news and thinking "Oh, those poor people!", but she wasn't there. Susan was.

I would imagine that the woman who had lost her home, who had lost all her belongings, who had lost precious emotional ties forever would be LESS able to comment, to support, to encourage....and yet, it was the woman who lost everything who came to the communities' aid. She was the one on the ground. Where, exactly was Ms Marcus??.

While I'm at it , -Mr O'Farrell...was cutting funding for fire services a really good idea?. No, I mean, -was it REALLY a good idea?...I'd like to meet with you in a Pub (the Oriental, Springwood?) with those members of the Rural Fire Service and State Fire Service that aren't collapsed from exhaustion to discuss it.

While we're at it Tony Abbott, could we discuss the fact that your/my country/world is at the tipping point?, could we discuss what the future will look like for my tiny son?.

I imagine not. I suspect you wouldn't see me in the first place (I'm an average citizen with an Arts qualification...gahhhhh!), I also imagine that you (or more likely your junior, -nay trainee, staffers)  would barrack me off at the gates.

Oh, and just by-the-by, The Greens Party do NOT discourage back-burning. Even if they *did* (which they don't) do you (my various right-wing 'friends') imagine that they suddenly took hold of your electorate and overcame state policy? . The Greens encourage fire and native forest management via many means INCLUDING back-burning. They DO have the nerve to ask for enquiries into child-asthma and respiratory disorders as a result. I guess that makes them crazy...

Finally, to everyone in my community that derives their livelihood from mining, - I am NOT against you. I fully appreciate your skills/qualifications/worries. I  understand that you are frightened of losing jobs/income. 

I absolutely agree that the current Government infrastructure does not help you. I agree that a 60 yr old Mining executive may not have the the time nor ability to 'retrain' and that any national 'Green' initiative will only hurt you and your family.

Here's the thing. The Federal Govt has only so much $$ to distribute.  Under Abbott's Govt., the $$ will be distributed to Industry. I mean 'profitable' Industry. Yep. The mighty dollar. 

That's all well and good if you happen to be in that industry (well, at least until the fossil-fuel resources run out...hey, by then you'll be dead!), but not so good for anyone *not* in the industry..like 94%?

There was a quote today on Facebook that 'Greenies were to blame for the fires..and that they were always 'the first to run'.

Firstly, why do you think a minority political party has any say in actions on a State level? Ask Barry!

Secondly, Yes. There are 'Greenies' in your electorate.

I am one.

I didn't 'run'. I did not, and will never "hide". 

There actually is a median that we can all work towards.