Polymeal Recipes

There’s a great article over at Convenience Store News about the health benefits of almonds, and how they can keep your heart healthy, your body fat low, and your blood sugar stable.

Link: What a Nut: Studies Crack Almonds’ Health Benefits

Lifehacker has a great post today with a new trick for cutting onions.

I’d never heard this one before, and I’m looking forward to trying it out!

If you’re looking for a technical overview of the chemistry of hearth healthy compounds in garlic, look no further.

Garlic Festival Foods has a great interview with Dr. Eric Block, an expert in garlic chemistry.

You can read the interview here: http://www.garlicfestival.com/Rx/garlicchemistry.html

Raw garlic cloves contain a sulphur compound called alliin that, when combined with an enzyme also found in garlic, starts a cascade of chemical reactions that produce heart healthy compounds.

Alliin is very unstable, and it is kept separate from the enzyme in the garlic clove. To start the chemical reaction, the garlic needs to be crushed or chopped and then left to sit for a few minutes to allow the beneficial compounds to fully develop.

So you’ll see a lot of waiting times in the garlic recipes on this site. Don’t skip the waiting time unless you want to skip out on the health benefits of garlic!

References:

• http://www.sciencenews.org/pages/sn_arc98/5_23_98/food.htm
• http://sheknows.com/about/look/3648.htm

You can find the full text of the Polymeal Study at:

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/329/7480/1447

It was published in the Dec. 18th, 2004 issue of the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

If you’re concerned about mercury contamination in your fish, you might like to check out the FDA Consumer Report on Mercury in Fish.

There is a chart comparing domestic and imported fish near the bottom of the FDA report that you might find helpful in making decisions about what kind of fish to eat.

The FDA currently sets the acceptable level of mercury in fish at 1 part per million (ppm). Most fish are well below that, but there are a few larger fish (such as shark and swordfish) that may be over or come close to the limit. Pollock, salmon and flounder are great choices, as they have very low levels of mercury.

There’s an interesting article on eDiets.com about why almonds are such a great food.

Read it here: http://www.ediets.com/news/article.cfm/cmi_1108873