Look at this wonderful scene, it's no wonder that South America produces some great little culinary treasures. When I was at Whole Foods I found a package of roasted Sacha Inchi seeds. What really drew me to the package was the word omega written really big on the front (and we all know that I'm all about Omega-3s- hello fish oil!) Anyway I bought some to try. They definitely had a different taste, (I admit at first I didn't like them), but the more I tried the more they grew on me. I think they have potential in a trail mix (like with nuts, some unsweetened coconut flakes, and some cacao nibs, which I'm about to talk about). They're not going to be for everyone, but they're interesting and have good numbers, plus it's great to have variety and be able to add spice to your daily eating rountine. As I tried to find out more about these little seeds, I discovered cacao nibs. I figured we could discuss both since they both come from South America, plus everyone loves chocolate (and where does chocolate ome form- cacao duh). 
Sacha Inchi is believed to be used pre-Inca and Inca, more than 3,000 years ago. It's high in protein- 27%. The greatest part is it's omega fatty acid content, which is more omega-3 (48%) to omega-6 (36%).They're also a good antioxidant (with high numbers of vitamin A and E). What do these things do for you health wise? They reduce triglyceride levels and hypertension, regulate blood sugar, regulate nerve transmission and nerve communication, and reduce arterial inflammation. You can also find it in oil form. With all these benefits, they can't hurt to try, can they? 
Cacao- Warning this is not your traditional milk chocolate, it is extremely bitter and is probably mixed with something than eaten solo. We've all heard about the benefits of dark chocolate right? Let's check it out them out then. Cacao has a long history. Since the 16th century there have been no less than 100 medicinal uses for cacao listed in medical texts. The Maya, Olmec, and Aztec used the whole cacao plant, and it's use spread further after the Spanish conquests of the 1500's. Above all, I think its most redeeming quality is its high antioxidant level (which is higher than wine, most vegetables and fruits, and 4 times the concentraion of green tea!) They're a rich source of: magnesium (stress relief, plus it relaxes muscles, while building strong bones and teeth), calcium, iron, zinc, copper, manganese, and potassium; plus a good source of: vitamin A, B1, B2, B3, C, and E. They also contain two chemicals (phenylehtylalamine and andamide) which elevate mood and increase focus, by stimulating the production of serotonin and endorphins. The flavanol epicatechin in studies has shown promise in preventing stroke damage. What are some other benefits? Cacao may: lower blood pressure, anti-inflammation, anti-platelet function, higher HDL, decreased LDL oxidation, greater insulin sensitivity, stimualte nervous system, improve digestion and elimination, and improve endothelial function in overweight adults. In addition the antioxidants may help with arteriosclerosis and may lower the oxidative stress of strenuous activities (therefore helping athletes recover). Once again I'm not encouraging you to go out and mow down on some chocolate bars. The health benefits come from the raw, unprocessed beans or nibs.
Yesterday we discussed some of the hunting and eating habits of South America's indigenous people, but today we'll look at what everyone else is eating. Generally South Americans tend to eat 3 large meals and 1-2 snack meals. They consume fruits, vegetables, and nuts in abundance. They don't tend to drink milk, only in their coffee (which is very popular, Brazil alone produces 1/3 of world's coffee). Coffee is drank heavily in Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, and Argentina. They generally serve it concentrated and then diluted with evaporated milk or water. In Chile and Uruguay tea is the preferred drink. In Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and southern Brazil they drink yerba mate. It's a tea-like drink renowned for its medicinal properties and known as the "drink of the gods." 
They believe that it energizes the body, stimulates mental alertness, strengthens the immune system, and aids in weight loss. It contains 24 vitamins and minerals, 15 amino acids, 11 polyphenols, caffeine, and is in antioxidants. It is drank out of a special metal straw (as you can see in the picture). The general cuisine tends to be a blend of cultural backgrounds (Spanish, African, East Indian, Portuguese, etc), cooking styles, and foods of colonial Europeans. Grilled meats (like beef, hogs, lambs, and goats) slowly cooked for hours are popular throughout. One popular method cooking method is an oven pit. 
In Peru they refer to them as pachamanca (picture to the right), where a young pig or goat is cooked under a layer of hot stones, leaves, and herbs. A popular food (that is quite trendy) is quinoa. It has been a staple for millions of native inhabitants, although production declined after the Spanish conquests, and at times it has only been grown by peasants (although it's popularity again is rising and it's appearing in health stores throughout the world). Quinoa is a relative of spinach and swiss chard. It is a complete protein (with 9 amino acids) and is a source of manganese, magnesium, iron, copper, and phosphorus. Many turn to quinoa when they are starting a grain-free lifestyle, be heady though, because it is a little carb heavy (53 according to the glycemic index). There are better options in my opinion, but it is better than eating bread. Let's explore these regional cuisines:
* Colombia and Venezuela: Spanish influenced. Meals tend to be served with olive oil, cheese, parsley, cilantro, garlic, and onions. Hot chili peppers are served on the side with most dishes. Local fruits and veggies are eaten in abundance. A speciality meal in Colombia is hormiga, or toasted fire ants (picture to the left)! *Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Paraguay: major beef producers. Argentina are famous for their specialty barbecue and grilled meat restaurants, called asados. Beef is definitely the main source, although lamb and other meat varities are popular as well. The national dish of Argentina is called a matambre (and I'm actually anxious to try this one, it's pictured to the right). It's a herb seasoned flank steak rolled around a filling of spinach, sliced or whole carrots, and whole hard boiled eggs that is either poached or baked. This region enjoys hearty soups and stews daily (fish is a popular soup choice in Chile, whereas Argentinians tend to like theirs with meats, vegetables, and fruit).
*Peru and Ecuador: cuisine styles differentiate between the Andes highlands and the coastal low lands. In the highlands they tend to eat a lot of potatoes (bad!), whereas the lowlands make a lot of ceviches. Ceviches are a way to prepare seafood marinated in either lime or sour orange. Also popular are chile's (which are abundant). They make salsa de aji, which is chopped chili, onion, and salt usually served with meat.
along with alcoholism. Those who live in isolation have a better quality of life. Poorness or richness have no relevance because they don't recognize land property or monetary systems. Their health is linked to a healthy ecosystem, transmitted knowledge (practical information, beliefs, and religious practices), and health practioners (shamans). Extinction of indigenous groups have resulted in a loss of rich information on medicinal plants and their eco-systems. There are still many groups today (mostly able to live through government protection because some have encountered land disputes with miners and deforestation). In Brazil many tribes in Brazil can be found in the Javari Valley. Some other groups include the Nanti and Nahua of Peru, the Nukak of Colombia, the Ayoreo of Paraguay, and the Huaorani of Ecuador (some of these we'll look at closer). So how do these tribes live today? The Nukak are nomadic hunter-gatherers with seasonal 
Offal is a reference for what consider to be the animal leftovers (organs and such). Examples of offal would be brain, liver, kidneys, spleen, heart, pancreas, stomach, tripe (stomach lining), thymus (sweetbreads), tongue, intestines, blood, intestines, and ox tail. Why would you possibly want to eat any of these things? Like all the other featured foods we've had they have many benefits. They tend to be high in iron (red blood cells deliver oxygen) and this iron provides a source of zinc (important for growth, tissue repair, and for proper reproductive function). Also a good source of B vitamins (like B12 that is vital for the production and function of red blood cells and for an efficient nervous system), selenium (work with antioxidant enzymes), and protein (growth, repair, and energy). Let's look at some of these individually now:
Since Friday we'll be talking about animals guts and such, I thought we'd cover the human gut. There are between 300 and 1000 different kinds of bacteria (or flora) that live in the gut. Most people think of bacteria as bad, but these flora play an important part of human health. Let's look at some of the functions of bacteria. Through a fermentation process called saccharolytic fermentation they turn carbs into short chain fatty acids (SCFA). This produces acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid. All of these provide a useful energy source and help to absorb minerals (such as calcium, magnesium, and iron). Acetic acid is used by the muscles. Propionic assists in ATP production. Butyric acid provides energy to gut cells. This fermentation process lowers pH in the colon, which prevents proliferation of harmful bacteria. Bacteria have also been associated with helping prevent allergies (those with allergies tend to be lacking in a certain bacteria strand). All of this is developed at birth. Flora isn't something your born with, it starts to develop right after birth (by the age of two flora is the same as an adult). It helps with immune function as well by fighting harmful bacteria, but leaving alone healthy bacteria. Foods (such as fiber, fruits, and vegetable skins) encourage growth of flora. Also eating a wide variety of foods and experimenting (not just eating raw but cooking in different styles) will help to expose you to more bacteria and gut flora.
First off the US government recommends a ridiculous number of grain consumption daily. Most who consider themselves healthy think that they're benefiting by switching from refined grains to whole grains (we know already how grains are for you though). Really though whole grains are not any better. I'm going to list some of the negatives of whole grains that I found in Going Against the Grain.
I've talked about the benefits of adequate sleep before, but proper sleep is even more important for kids. Kids are growing and developing and they need sleep to restore hormones. Their brains are growing until they're about 21 and a lot of their development occurs while sleeping. A lack of sleep can lead to loss of up to 2 years maturation (so basically a 6th grader who is only as mature as a 4th grader). They have a hard time recollecting things they've learned because their neurons lose plasticity, and become incapable of forming new synaptic connections to encode the memory. Their prefontal cortex are affected, which orchestrates thoughts to fulfill a goal, predict outcomes, and perceive consequences. Sleeping restores information learned during the day for efficient long term learning. This basically explains why sleep is more important than that late night cram session (especially I think for college students- constantly pulling all-nighters to study). Staying up and studying for that test is actually digressive from what you want and you don't store the information past that test (you're not retaining the information). For younger kids though the issue tends to be staying up with all the wonderful technological inventions of the last few decades. Kids watch and average of three hours a day, and usually veg out in front of the tv or computer screens before bed. Besides staying up later, the light from the screens actually keeps them up longer and promotes restless sleep. The light delays the drop in core body temperature and melatonin production, so that sleep is harder to come by. Twenty-five percent of kids have some kind of sleep problem (from restlessness to actual disorders); while 40% of adolescents have significant sleep complaints. What are the repercussions of reduced sleep? Sleep deprivation can cause: memory deficits, impaired performance and alertness; while loss of REM (intense sleep cycle) can result in increased irritability (and people wonder why teenagers are so groggy and moody), anxiety and depression, decreased socialization, reduced concentration (which leads to poor school performance), and decreased ability to handle complex tasks and be creative. In addition kids are growing and sleep is vital to growth hormone production and restoration. What can be done? We'll start with the most dramatic: schools could start half an hour later. This gives kids more time to sleep, plus studies show that performance is better in the afternoon (actually over 50% of kids said they aren't fully alert until after 3 PM and 20% of high schoolers sleep in class). One study showed that afternoon reading instruction produced greater reading scores, compared to morning instruction (this is important to note for tests like the SAT and ACT, which tests in the morning, so wouldn't it make sense to test in the afternoon?). Schools that have moved class times have seen better performances and focus, plus the kids tended to eat a better breakfast and were less tense at home. For most though, getting our school system to change class time isn't going to happen soon, so what can you do now to help? For a starter get the electronics out of the bedroom and reduce usage time before bed. Get kids on a regular sleep time. This includes the weekend. Having a regular sleep schedule has shown to produce greater hours of actual sleep time (less restless and able to fall asleep better). Childhood is an important part of development and sleep is vital for this development. Help your kids get more sleep so that they'll have better concentraion and restored hormones!
I figured that we'd start out back to school look at what they're feeding kids at schools these days. One third of US children are overweight (that's one in three) and the obesity rate has more than tripled the last thirty years. What's worse is obese children are more than 80% likely to become obese adults. Most would blame fast food from a fast paced life and sedentary laziness (from video games and t.v. and a complete lack of physical activity). All of this is part of the problem, but are kids getting better choices at school? I think not, potentially worse, with an array of non-identifiable meats, french fries, and utter lack of vegetables and fruit! School food is an over processed mess that is loaded with fat (the bad kind- polyunsaturated), sodium, and fructose corn syrup. Thirty percent of schools rarely offer (which doesn't even mean they serve it, it's the kids choice whether to grab the broccoli!) vegetables that does not include potatoes. The food is so over processed! A typical grilled cheese (which is still bad- refined flour and dairy) has 30 ingredients, including high fructose corn syrup. Beef and cheese nachos has 24g of fat and almost 1,500 milligrams of salts (seriously?). One slice of pizza and 20 fries contain 801.8 calories and 44.8 grams of "bad" fat (a typical diet is 2,000 calories or less, this is almost half!). Just look at this meal above. First you have the beyond greasy (it would probably take at least 2 napkins to soak up all the polyunsaturated fat) traditional rectangle pizza, with corn (high sugar grain), pretzel and cheese (refined flour, sodium, and abnormally yellow and over processed cheese), and chocolate milk (I don't promote milk period, but flavored milk have an added 4 tsp of sugar, so if you drank two of these it would be like drinking 16 oz. pop. There is fruit there you say, but it's syruped-sugary fruit that spikes your insulin even more than the pizza, corn and pretzel. You have a tray loaded with sugar and refined flour, with a high concentration of carbohydrates and virtually no protein. You almost better off eating fast food! McDonalds and Burger King have more rigorous meat checks and KFC won't even use the chicken that they serve in schools (how sad is that?) Not only is the school bad but the other food sources they have aren't any better. Nine out of ten schools offer a la carte which don't even have to follow government regulations. Kids can load up on popcorn chicken, pretzels and cheese, nacho and cheese, mozzarella sticks, and more.Worst still is the presence of vending machines loaded with pop, candy, and potato chips! What's disgusting is schools don't want to band them because of the funding they provide. So kids are getting fatter at the cost of school funds. Vending machines provide 98% of money for public high schools, 74% of middle schools, and 43% of elementary schools. Still worse is that 75.8% allow advertising of candy, fast food restaurants or soft drinks on school property. Think of those scoreboards with the Pepsi logos (disgusting)! So if kids choose to eat school food their healthy options are limited. A lunch could be comprised of a pretzel and cheese with a pop and candy bar. What is good about this? The pretzel is refined carbohydrates that will spike insulin (plus all the sodium), then you dip it in over processed cheese (probably with a higher concentration of omega-6). Then you wash it down with cups of sugar to raise your insulin even more and you top it off with a sugary desert (and we wonder why diabetes rates are skyrocketing in kids!). They are getting virtually no protein in this meal (at least not any complete sources of protein), so they have nothing to feed or fuel their growing bodies and growth hormones. This is sick (it literally makes my stomach turn at thinking that this is what are kids are eating). School is supposed to be a place of learning, but really it's counterproductive, when they're being fueled with junk! Malnutrition actually compromises intelligence and academic performance. So pumping them with all this toxic poison is making them do worse in school. The long run is worse. Being overweight puts them at risk later on in life (and now because they're susceptible now to diabetes) for cancer, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, hypertension, gall bladder disease, liver disease, sleep apnea, and high cholesterol. What to do? Start your kids young! Don't feed them grains, starches, and sugars (how can you crave something that you've never had, eating sugar after not having it for awhile, it is violently sweet and these kinds of food would probably make you sick). Start at home, though, don't have it in the house and teach them the right way to eat. Prepare lunch ahead of time (just like you would prep your own food ahead of time). It takes just a little bit of time to plan and pack meals ahead of time.What to pack? Saturday we'll post some sample menus and examples. If you want to take it further, challenge your school system (whether locally or at higher level like state). The first step is to be aware of the poisonous cafeteria food!
