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I’ve always loved eating onions, even before I knew they were good for me! In the old days (my teenage years on), I would love nothing more than a fry-up of potatoes, onions, and a juicy red steak. That’s before I learned about the food-combining principle that says high starch (e.g. potatoes) and high protein (e.g. red meat) should not be eaten together, because they require different digestive conditions from each other and so neither gets digested properly and they end up making us gain weight. Now, while a little weight is good, a lot of weight … well, you know!
My enhanced knowledge of nutrition has morphed my early love of a fry-up into a love of water-sautéed foods. Water-sautéing onions is so easy, yielding absolutely delicious, guilt-free caramelized onions, without going near the harmful process of frying.
 before and after water-sautéing All that’s required is to slice or chop a couple of red onions, put about a quarter of an inch of filtered water into a deep frying pan, add the onions, and water-sauté at medium heat, stirring frequently, until they’re translucent – and delectable. It takes from 5 to 10 minutes.
Some people are bothered by increased acidity when they eat raw onions, so knowing how to cook them beneficially can be a great bonus.
All the members of the onion family – the allium genus includes white and yellow onions, green onions, garlic, garlic scapes, leeks, chives, Welsh multiplier onions – are prebiotic. This means to say that they provide the terrain in the large intestine for beneficial bacteria to grow in. And, in turn, the beneficial bacteria break down the complex carbohydrates (polysaccharides) in the diet – the brown rice, whole grains, legumes, and starchy vegetables – into glucose for brain and muscle energy. The complex carbohydrates are the ones that provide us with a steady supply of energy, and help us avoid high blood-sugar spikes and crashes.
I admire the virtuous onion family. In providing great terrain for healthy bacterial activity, and thereby promoting the improved digestion of our complex carbs, onions actively support healthy digestion. They act as one of the links in our chain of digestive health.
For some reason, this made me think of cycling and recycling our food groups and so I had some fun making this onion-cycle. Okay, just sit far back from your computer and squint a bit, and maybe it will look more like a bicycle!
According to studies carried out through the Iowa Women’s Health Study, the National Cancer Institute, and many other research groups, the sulfides, flavonoids, and other compounds in vegetables of the onion family are particularly beneficial against colon and prostate cancers. These plant compounds protect against the creation of cancer cells and even destroy them. The quercetin in onions – a type of flavonoid – inhibits the inflammatory response that’s typical of an asthma attack. Quercetin is also an anti-oxidant and so protects against free radicals. Onions are also able to thin mucous, so think of having a large side dish of water-sautéed, baked, or boiled onions if you’re suffering from sinusitis.
Last week, I made a really large potato salad with water-sautéed red onions for one of the potluck dishes at a gathering for sixty-plus people. This was just before the local potatoes had come in, so I used organic Yukon golds. Here’s the healthy recipe I created.
Potato and Onion Salad
Ingredients
7 lbs organic Yukon gold potatoes
2 large red onions
a bunch of fresh chives
a bunch of fresh basil
sea salt
½ cup good quality mayonnaise
¼ cup unpasteurized sauerkraut juice with live culture
Method
Scrub but don’t peel the Yukon gold potatoes and cut into halves or thirds. (The skins offer good nutrition, and no one will find them in the end product, so don’t waste them.) Bring to the boil in a large saucepan and then simmer for 15 minutes or until almost tender (they’ll continue to cook as they cool). Drain and save the potato water, and leave the potatoes to cool. They can be left overnight in the fridge at this stage if you can spare the time waiting for them to cool. This way, they’ll be firmer and make a better salad.
Chop and sauté the red onions in the potato water until translucent and fragrant. Allow them to cool. Cut the cooled potatoes into smallish cubes and put in a large mixing bowl. Snap all the leaves from the bunch of basil and chop them up. With a pair of kitchen scissors, cut the fresh chives into inch-long pieces, dropping them directly on to the potatoes. Add the cooked onions.
The dressing is a mixture of a good mayonnaise made more liquid by adding the juice from a jar of unpasteurized sauerkraut in a 2:1 ratio. Whisk it up until smooth. Put out a teaspoon (for tasting) and your serving dish(es), and prepare to use your hands. Pour the dressing over the vegetables in the mixing bowl and hand mix it all together, making sure that the potato cubes have separated and everything is well coated with dressing. Taste test and add sea salt to your taste. Hand scoop and arrange the potato and red onion salad in the serving dish. Serves a large group.
WholeFoodology Nina RHN™
My friend, Kelly Kiss, a Registered Holistic Nutritionist™ who also trained at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition, has written a great article and recipe about Heart Healthy Spinach and Basil Pesto in the Royal City Farmers Market blog.
Basil is one of my favourites, too.
Way to go, Kelly!
WholeFoodology Nina
My first encounter with alfalfa was when I lived at Douglas Lake on the Douglas Lake Cattle Ranch all through the 1970s. As a member of the fabulous Fabaceae or Leguminosae of flowering plants, which includes peas and beans, alfalfa is cultivated for several reasons. Alfalfa is a wonderful forage crop for cattle, being high in protein as well as carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamins, and it is capable of accomplishing nitrogen fixation.  This rather magical term refers to the ability of the bacteria that thrive on the root nodules of legumes of converting inert nitrogen gas into the plant-usable form of nitrogen: ammonia (NH3). Ranchers and farmers often plant a crop of alfalfa in new fields because of its many favourable attributes, and then plow it under as a natural fertilizer. On other occasions, a forage crop of alfalfa mixed with other annual grasses is grown for cattle and horse feed.
Because of my familiarity with alfalfa as animal feed, I was rather surprised, when I first started carrying Green Foods in Savings, Naturally and WholeNina Healthstore, to find out that alfalfa is just as good for humans as for horses! The benefits of alfalfa powder are the same:
“It is 20% protein and 15% fiber; plus it contains 16 amino acids, 13 trace minerals, and 13 vitamins. Alfalfa Powder is a whole food supplement highly valued for its nutrition.”
Its ability to soak up trace minerals that other plants don’t reach is due to its really deep root system. No wonder alfalfa is considered to be a superfood!
Alfalfa Powder is the mature plant quite finely ground. It smells really green and mixes well with juices, smoothies, and porridge to increase dietary protein.
Interestingly, despite their early popularity with the health food movement, alfalfa sprouts are not as desirable as the mature plant. Sally Fallon has this to say about them:
Unfortunately, it seems that all the praise heaped on the alfalfa sprout was ill advised. Tests have shown that alfalfa sprouts inhibit the immune system and can contribute to inflammatory arthritis and lupus. Alfalfa seeds contain an amino acid called canavanine that can be toxic to man and animals when taken in quantity. (Canavanine is not found in mature alfalfa plants; it is apparently metabolized during growth.)
Fallon, Nourishing Traditions, page 113.
How discouraging!
Fortunately, Paul Pitchford is not quite so discouraging:
Caution: Alfalfa sprouts and seeds, rich sources of the amino acid canavanine, should be avoided in rheumatoid diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. Canavanine can ignite inflammations in these conditions. Alfalfa leaf, however, is not a source of canavanine and may be used in rheumatoid diseases.
Pitchford, Healing with Whole Foods, page 569.
Considering both these pieces of advice, I feel quite safe in occasionally eating alfalfa sprouts in a salad or a sandwich, as I don’t have any inflammatory joint conditions. It’s a personal choice. In fact, here’s one of my favourite sandwich mixtures – alfalfa sprouts, avocado, and grilled red peppers. Mmm-hmm!
WholeFoodology Nina
 If I ever buy fresh pod peas actually in the pod, it strikes me that I’ve done something rather old-fashioned. And challenging.
First, there’s the challenge of how many of these podded legumes to buy. They look so bulky in the bag, but when you get them home and in a bowl, they don’t look nearly so many.
The next challenge is how to shell them efficiently. From one bowl to another and then have a third bowl for the empty pods?
This time, I set up a contraption of a large sieve between my knees, the bowl with the unpodded peas on my lap, and the basket for the empty pods on the table on the left. The empty pods would go straight into the compost, if only I had one!
 The podded peas go into a large sieve so it’s easy to wash them. As though they were dirty! coming straight from the pod! But sometimes, little maggots have had a pea-feast first and so it’s good to be careful.
Then what to do with this precious bounty? That’s the final challenge, but they’re so versatile, it’s no problem.
Being so fresh, peas straight from the pod are best not cooked for very long. In fact, not only does a long cooking time harden the protein and turn them into little bullets, but it also completely destroys most of their goodness in the way of vitamins and enzymes. So just eat them raw, straight out of the pod, or tossed into a salad (though they tend to fall to the bottom!), or simmer them for two or three minutes and serve them with water-sautéed fish or a small pork chop. You can also add them to rice that still has just a few more minutes to cook. This adds both colour and good nutrition to the dish. 
Pod peas offer lots of nutritious benefits. They’re high in protein, high in carbohydrates, high in phytonutrients such as carotenoids, Vitamins B, C, and E, and quite high in minerals. They are soothing to the digestive tract, and are mildly laxative, so can ease constipation. They are even effective at removing residues of fat and cholesterol from the arteries.
So much goodness, packed into each little green seed.
If you haven’t time to shell peas, or can’t find a source of podded peas, buy frozen peas. They’re far preferable to the canned variety, which are really only good as filler starch or a bulking agent, having lost all their nutrient values during manufacture.
Sally Fallon provides a little known fact about peas in her cookbook that’s far more than a cookbook, Nourishing Traditions: peas “contain antifertility agents” according to research carried out by Indian scientist Dr. S.N. Sanyal (page 394).
I shall leave you with that tasty tidbit.
WholeFoodology Nina
I love to eat fruit with a fork – especially something as slippery as a mango. That way, it doesn’t slide off my spoon and get wasted enroute to my mouth! And it is so delicious, I don’t want to miss a single mouthful.
As mango is a tropical fruit, I only eat it in the summer, when the sun is at its hottest where I live. Here’s why.
When I became a patient of Dr. Jonn Matsen, ND in 2005 and read his book, Eating Alive II, I was impressed by his explanation of the importance of eating foods according to the seasons.
His rationale was that one of the main ways our kidneys know what the weather is outside is by the foods we are eating. Salty food means it’s winter; less salty food means it’s summer. Lots of fruit means it’s summer; and less fruit means it’s winter.
And if it’s summer, then our skin is probably absorbing Vitamin D through our skin. And if our skin is absorbing Vitamin D, then the kidneys don’t have to convert stored Vitamin D into its strong form. And one of the reasons it’s essential for our kidneys to convert sufficient Vitamin D when/if we’re not absorbing it through our skin is because it facilitates calcium absorption, and calcium gives strength to our intestinal valves between one part of our intestine and the next. Without sufficient Vitamin D to absorb sufficient calcium, these intestinal valves weaken. And if these intestinal valves weaken, then the bacteria in the one area can migrate to the other area and cause havoc.
For instance, the ileo-cecal valve between the ileum (the last section of the small intestine) and the cecum (the first section of the large intestine) stops the Candida albicans bacteria from travelling from the acidic large intestine into the more alkaline small intestine. But a weak valve allows the passage of the Candida albicans bacteria into the small intestine where the alkalinity allows it to flourish. Fifteen percent of the bacteria in our gut is Candida albicans bacteria and that’s a healthy balance, between breakdown bacteria and buildup bacteria. But when it’s in the wrong place, this bacteria becomes harmful and starts to cause systemic problems throughout the body, such as troublesome skin conditions, and Oral candidiasis, which is known as thrush.
I feel as though that explanation was rather like the song, “the shin bone’s connected to the knee bone, the knee bone’s connected to the thigh bone, the thigh bone’s connected to the hip bone, Now hear the Word of the Lord!”
To continue with Matsen’s explanation, if we eat lots and lots of fruit in the winter, we’re going to weaken the ileo-cecal valve, for one, and allow Candida albicans to move into the small intestine and cause havoc, in the form of gas, bloating, burping, and a great deal of discomfort.
 Which all goes to show why I eat far less fruit in the winter, especially tropical fruit, and really enjoy it in the summer.
 When I first encountered mango, and that wasn’t very many years ago, I didn’t even know how to prepare it. Now, I peel it and slice the luscious yellow flesh off the very large pit in the middle. And eat it with a fork with pleasure!
Mango is very high in powerful enzymes, providing our body with an additional source of enzymes to the ones we manufacture. Nutritionist Paul Pitchford, author of Healing with Whole Foods, writes that mangoes are “generally beneficial” (page 420) in the case of deficiency diseases such as cancer and AIDS, unlike more watery fruit such as watermelon, peach, pear, and citrus.
Pitchford also says that, being both sour and sweet, mango can be eaten alone, with sweet fruit such as bananas and dates, or with sour fruit such as citrus fruit, strawberries, and kiwis.
Food combining principles stress that fruit should only ever be eaten alone. So don’t be tempted to add mango to a fish dish or to a rice dish or to yogurt and granola. Always eat fruit on its own, either three hours after or one hour before all other foods.
My preference when I get up and have time in the summer is to drink a litre of lemon water, wait an hour, then have a large bowl of fruit, and then wait another hour before having anything else. This morning, the bowl of fruit was a sliced mango. Yes!
WholeFoodology Nina
 As a blueberry U-picker, I am full of admiration for the fresh-market blueberry growers in this province. Blueberries for the fresh market are all hand-picked!
I’m also the proud owner of a blueberry bush that had loads of beautiful pink and white flowers when I bought it but not a berry in sight now – I gather the problem was not having another blueberry bush (Vaccinium sect. Cyanococcus) nearby for the bees to cross-pollinate the flowers. Or maybe there weren’t any bees – that’s another story!
 These small dark-blue berries that burst with flavour in your mouth and are so good for you (being high in Vitamins A and C, antioxidants (in the colourful anthocyanins), and fibre) are big business in British Columbia. In fact, BC is one of the top three highbush-blueberry-producing regions worldwide, growing about 95-97% of Canada’s production, most of it (about 99%) in the Fraser Valley, in places like Richmond, Surrey, Delta, Langley, Matsqui Prairie, Mission, and Abbotsford.
 I talked to Balwant Rangi of Paul’s Produce in Abbotsford, one of the 650 blueberry growers growing 80 million pounds of blueberries in this province. I’d stopped by their stand at the West End Farmers Market on July 3rd to admire their early blueberries. Balwant told me the season starts in late June/early July with the late-flowering, early-ripening Duke variety. These plants grow about waist-high and the berries are all hand-picked for the fresh market. Bluejay is another early season variety.
Mid-season, from the third week of July until late August, the taller Bluecrop variety comes into its own. And when it gets going, Balwant and her husband Paul add to their regular staff of six or seven people with extra pickers to help them keep up with the heavy crop. Bluecrop blueberry bushes are trees rather than bushes and at seven-feet tall, they lend themselves to machine picking; that produce goes to the processed market.
Late season, which carries on until late September, is when the Elliot’s Blueberry matures. Its fruit are more tart and tangy.
Knowing all the claims that are made for these juicy beauties – the vitamins and antioxidants boost memory and protect eyesight; the fibre prevents constipation, moderates blood sugar levels, and lowers “bad” cholesterol – you’ll want to eats lots of blueberries fresh and have more in your freezer year-round. Balwant says that the mid-season Bluecrop variety is the best for freezing. And that’s easy. You can spread them on a cookie sheet and then keep them in zip-lock bags once they’re frozen, or you can just pop a 10 lb box straight into the freezer, inside a protective plastic bag.
The Vancouver Farmers Market is hosting its first-ever blueberry festival at the Main Street Market on July 14, celebrating this wonderful crop with a Best Blueberry Muffin Bake Off. Bring some blueberries home!
Okay. So now you’ve got all these blueberries, how are you going to eat them?
- Fresh, straight out of the box;
- Drop half a dozen on to each hot cake, just after the batter hits the pan; when you turn it over, the blue juices start oozing, all ready to mix with the maple syrup;
- Blend with strawberries, raspberries, and almond milk for the most colourful and nutritious smoothie you’ve ever had;
- Simmer 2 cups of washed blueberries in a saucepan; don’t add anything! In no time at all, you have the best purple sauce for pouring hot or cold over ice cream or oatmeal porridge or toast.
I’ll leave the last word to the daughter of Dr. Daniel Amen, guru of brain health, who calls blueberries “God’s candies,” because she knows, being her daddy’s daughter, that they’re great for her brain. Pass the blueberries!
This article by Nina Shoroplova, Registered Holistic Nutritionist™, was also published in Market Share July 2010.
Online Resources About Blueberries
http://www.welcometobc.ca/vanmarkets/index1.html lists blueberry U-pick farms.
http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/aboutind/products/plant/blueberry.htm is the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands’ rather out-of-date information on blueberries.
http://www.npsbc.org/ is the home of the organization, Native Plant Society of British Columbia, which lists retailers and wholesalers of native plants such as blueberries.
http://www.bcblueberry.com/site/find_bc_blueberries/farm_gate_sales.html lists farm-gate blueberry sales.
http://www.bcblueberry.com/site/find_bc_blueberries/organic_blueberries.html lists organic blueberry farmers.
http://www.eatlocal.org/farm.html lists the blueberry farmers who sell their produce through Vancouver farmers markets.
The simplest and most nourishing herbal tea ever is rosemary leaf tea. All that’s required is boiling water, a good handful of fresh, stiff green rosemary leaves and a teapot. Drop the leaves into a big teapot, cover with boiling water, pop in the lid, and steep for 5 minutes or more. Serve, smell, drink, and relax.
If you pour off the liquid into a jar and keep it in the fridge, it becomes a herbal tea infusion. I’m happy to drink it warm, straight from the teapot and call it a tea.
Considered a pungent herb, rosemary is extremely beneficial for moving liver qi (energy), which benefits kidneys and increases blood circulation. Like all herbal teas, rosemary leaf tea is an alkaline-forming drink, because of the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients it offers. These qualities also cause it to be a breakdown food, which means that it causes a gentle cleanse over time.
Rosemary strengthens the nervous system, provides clarity to one’s thinking, and calms one’s emotions. As an aromatherapy essential oil, rosemary retains and actually strengthens these beneficial calming qualities for clear thinking. So much so that the aromatherapist in our class at the Vancouver branch of the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition would bring in her essential oil diffuser to our classroom for all our exams, and add some rosemary essential oil.
Make yourself some rosemary leaf tea, wait for it to steep, pour some in your favourite mug, and go sit in the sun to plan your day.
WholeFoodology Nina
 The cold-water oily fish that are known as mackerel in Canada are so rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids – as well as in monounsaturated and saturated fats – that they can turn rancid within one day of being caught. This is why, most of the time, they are cured in some way, either by smoking, pickling, or canning in brine. Among mackerel’s polyunsaturated fatty acids are the Omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFAs) EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid – a precursor of DHA) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid – required for brain health). Recent studies have shown that EPA is often low in depressed and suicidal individuals. A member of the tuna family, mackerel is also a good source of selenium and Vitamin B12.
 Your local grocery store will probably stock a couple of brands of mackerel in brine or pickled mackerel. The other day, I chose some John West and now, I see, it’s a product of Scotland! That’s a long way to ship a small fish, especially when we already have mackerel off the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, but perhaps not enough to create a commercial fishery. Though there are certainly enough to irritate the sports fishermen, because mackerel eat salmon fry.
Now that I have this can of mackerel fillets in brine, I’ll spread the fillets on a healthy bread, put some chives on the side for a bit of heat, and there’s lunch … as well as my requirement for EFAs for a day or two.
WholeFoodology Nina RHN™
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