Month: March 2017

About Turmeric

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Hi all,

So this is week 11 of my blog.

I have received some positive feedback regarding my content, which is awesome. Keep the comments coming. I’m glad that you are enjoying my posts and maybe learning something new along the way, just as I am.

Melbourne treasures

Recently we went to Melbourne for a long weekend to visit friends. We were lucky enough to have great weather, so we were able to spend a lot of our time walking around. We averaged approximately 8 kilometres a day, exploring all of the laneways.

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A visit to the Queen Victoria Markets Deli Hall resulted in a stop at an amazing little spice shop. We purchased some Turmeric Latte mix, a Vanilla Chai tea mix and some Vintage Merlot Salt.

I quite like the Vanilla Chia tea, though Scott is not a fan. That leaves more for me.

The Merlot salt is bright pink/purple and can be used in a number of ways. The store assistant advised that it can even be sprinkled on vanilla ice-cream! We are looking forward to trying that. I did however make a block of Raw Chocolate and sprinkled the Merlot Salt on the mix instead of nuts or fruit. It turned out to be quite a nice Dark Salted Chocolate.

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The Turmeric latte was interesting, I think I will have to get used to drinking it. Turmeric is in the health news a bit lately, however it has been used for centuries for reducing inflammation.

A bit about Turmeric

Recently, science has started to back up what the Eastern cultures have known for a long time… it really does contain compounds with medicinal properties. These compounds are called curcuminoids, the most important of which is curcumin.

Curcumin is the main active ingredient in turmeric. It has powerful anti-inflammatory effects and is a very strong antioxidant. However, research has shown that the curcumin content of turmeric is not that high… it’s only around 3%.

Most of the studies on this herb are using turmeric extracts that contain mostly curcumin itself, with dosages usually exceeding 1 gram per day. It would be very difficult to reach these levels just using the turmeric spice in your foods.

Actually, curcumin is poorly absorbed into the bloodstream; however there are ways to improve this situation. It is fat soluble, so it is best to consume it with some healthy fats as this will increase the absorption. Add to this some black pepper, which contains piperine… a natural substance that enhances the absorption of curcumin by up to 2000%.

Chronic inflammation is known to be a contributor to many common Western diseases. Curcumin can inhibit many molecules known to play major roles in inflammation. It turns out that the anti-inflammatory effect is so powerful that it matches the effectiveness of some anti-inflammatory drugs.

Given that oxidation and inflammation are believed to play a role in aging, curcumin may have effects that go way beyond just prevention of disease. (Source -authoritynutrition.com)

There you are, it seems that more Turmeric in your diet, however you get it, will be beneficial.

So, until the next post,

Live Clean n Prosper

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A Breakfast Slice

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I have previously written about smoothies for breakfast and shared my favourite smoothie recipe. However, there are some days when time is short and a takeaway breakfast is ideal. As we are trying not to eat processed foods, I decided to search for an easy, tasty and nutritious option. We are also trying to minimise our wheat intake, so a ‘wheat free’ recipe was preferable.

I found one on Paleo Grubs.com that looked appealing. Then I made a few changes to it to suit our tastes.

It turned out to be quite nice, like banana bread and goes really well with a cuppa.

So I thought I would share the recipe after my changes, (without any health information this time).

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Ingredients

1/2 cup raw macadamias

1/2 cup raw cashews

¼ cup chopped raw macadamias

¼ chopped raw pistachios

1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

2 ripe bananas

1 egg

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

¼ cup no added sugar Orange Marmalade

½ tsp ground ginger

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 190 C. Line a 20cm slice pan with baking paper. Place ½ cup macadamias, ½ cup cashews and 1 cup coconut into a food processor. Pulse to break down. Add the bananas, vanilla, egg, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Blend until the mixture is completely combined. Transfer the mixture to a slice pan and use a spatula to smooth out. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Until the top is golden.

Meanwhile, place the remaining shredded coconut in a fry pan over medium heat. Toast until lightly browned, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Mix in the remaining chopped macadamias and pistachios.

Mix the ginger in with the marmalade. I warmed the marmalade to make it easier to mix.

Remove the slice pan from the oven and spread a thin layer of jam over the banana base. Sprinkle the toasted coconut and nut mixture over the top and press it into the marmalade with your hands. Bake for an additional 5-10 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely before slicing into bars. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving. Best stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

I hope that you enjoy this slice as much as we do. It really is an easy option for a take away breakfast.

 

Until next post,

Live Clean n Prosper

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We bought a Salt Lamp

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Okay, so following on from last weeks post on Positive and Negative ions.

Many of our homes and workplaces are usually sealed off from the natural benefits of negative ions.

While I was doing my research I found several articles on ‘Ionisers’ for the home. An Ioniser is a device that creates negative ions in an indoor space. In fact, every home has a built in natural ioniser — the shower. With its stream of hot water and steam, is a good producer of negative ions. That’s likely part of why so many people need a shower to wake up in the morning.

 

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So, we decided to buy a Himalayan Salt Lamp.

 

Why? you may think/ask.

 

Well, studies have found that

Himalayan Salt Lamps can also

clean the air in a different way.

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Real Himalayan salt lamps are hand chiselled solid blocks of ancient crystal salts. They usually have a pinkish orange colour, due to the high concentration of minerals.

 

Inside the hollowed out middle of the salt lamp is a light bulb to generate both light and heat. This is important for their reported benefits and salt lamps won’t work properly without a heat-producing light.

 

How they work

 

Water vapour is always circulating in the air of any room of your house. This water vapour carries with it allergens like dust, pollen, smoke particles, and even bacteria and viruses.

 

Salt is hygroscopic, meaning it attracts water molecules from the surrounding air. The hygroscopic air cleaning effect is the basic science of water vapour attraction and evaporation.

A large block of rock salt, like a Himalayan salt lamp, is especially attractive to water vapour and its pollutants.

The microscopic compounds, once attracted to the salt lamp, remain there and not floating in the air where you can breathe them in.

As the Himalayan salt lamp slowly becomes saturated with the water vapour compounds, the heat from the lamp inside, dries them. This heat also re-releases water vapour back into the air, thus continuing the hygroscopic effect for as long as the light is on.

Importantly, any airborne contaminants attracted to the salt lamp remain trapped there and will not become airborne again.

 

Salt lamp benefits do include negative ion generation. It appears primarily from the moisture evaporating on the heated rock salt.

Some studies point to the cumulative effect of keeping the salt lamp on at all times. This can slowly generate more and more negative ions and improve the air quality over time. However, as a negative ioniser, salt lamps have a limited range and small output. Instead, it’s best to consider negative ions from salt lamps as an added benefit and position them with their short ionising range in mind.

 

The other health benefit claims of Himalayan salt lamps are based on plausible science. Salt in the air really does help breathing problems, and negative ions really are linked to better moods.

 

At worst, we have an interesting night light!

 

Until the next post,

 

Live Clean n Prosper

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