Wizard Recipes

Chinese food can be considered a magical key to health. They point to the lower incidence of heart disease and certain cancers among the Chinese. Others state that the average Chinese meal is a disaster because of high levels of sodium, fat and calories. Not surprisingly, both these extreme views overlook a number of important facts and qualifiers.

It’s true that certain Chinese dishes are invariably high in calories, often containing a high percentage of saturated fat. Six fried dumplings, for example, equals about 700 calories, a third of which are in the form of saturated fat. And fried dumplings may be only a portion of the total meal. Add sweet and sour pork or other similar items and the total may well reach over 1,250 calories.

Numbers like that may be fine for those who don’t need to limit their total daily intake. A large, healthy person may consume as many as 3,000 calories per day and still remain at their normal weight and body fat percentage. But for most, especially those on a restricted calorie diet of less than 1,700 per day, that one meal constitutes over 73% of the total.

Nevertheless, there is an enormous variety of Chinese cuisine dishes that are low or moderate calorie, while providing a range of healthy nutritional elements.

Many Chinese dishes are prepared with fresh vegetables. True, they may be stir-fried, adding calories and fat. Or, they can be steamed providing a healthy side dish or component of the recipe. The method is as important as the ingredient in determining whether a particular dish is a healthy option or not.

Wonton, egg-drop, or hot and sour soups provide a modest number of calories. If prepared without large quantities of salt, they also provide a low sodium and satisfying meal, or portion. Chicken that is boiled or steamed, a common method in many Chinese-style preparations, provides needed protein with little fat. Steamed rice, in moderation, is low calorie (200 per cup) and highly nutritious.

Soy is a common ingredient of both dishes and sauces. It is a rich source of plant protein and fiber. It is rich in Vitamin B6 and isoflavones, widely believed by experts to provide nutritional benefits. Vitamin B6 is an important building block for essential amino acids and is used in certain vital neurotransmitters. Isoflavones are reputed by several studies to be an important part of the low heart disease rate in Asian countries. They’re thought to help lower LDL cholesterol levels.

So, as is the case with the cuisine of any other culture, there is no inherent good or bad to all Chinese dishes. The same principles apply here as they do anywhere else. Watch calories, fat percentage and the levels of sodium and other components. That’s the best way, in any instance, to arrive at reasonable dietary decisions

BREADS AND GRAINS

Look for bargains on day-old bread and bakery products. Buy regular rice, oatmeal, and grits instead of the instant and flavored types.

Try whole-grain bread and brown rice to add nutrients and variety to family meals.

VEGETABLES AND SALADS

Look for large bags of frozen vegetables. They may be bargains and you can

cook just the amount you need, close the bag tightly, and put the rest back in

the freezer.

Foods at salad bars can be costly. Some food items-lettuce, cabbage, onions, and carrots-usually cost less in the produce section of the store than at the salad bar. But if you need only a small amount of a vegetable, buying at the salad bar can save money if it reduces the amount you waste.

FRUITS

Buy fresh fruits in season, when they generally cost less.

MILK

Nonfat dry milk is the least expensive way to buy milk. When using it as a beverage, mix it several hours ahead and refrigerate so it can get cold before drinking.

Buy fresh milk in large containers (gallon or 1/2 gallon). These generally cost less than quarts.

Buy fat-free or lowfat milk to cut the amount of fat in your family’s meals. Note that children under 2 years of age should be given only whole milk.

MEAT AND POULTRY

Look for specials at the meat counter. Buying cuts of meat on sale can mean big savings for you.

Buy chuck or bottom round roast instead of sirloin. These cuts have less fat

and cost less. They need to be covered during cooking and cooked longer to make the meat tender. Buy whole chickens and cut them into serving size pieces yourself.

DRY BEANS AND PEAS

Use these sometimes instead of meat, poultry, or fish. They cost less and provide

many of the same nutrients. They are also lower in fat.

BULK FOODS

Buy bulk foods when they are available. They can be lower in price than similar foods sold in packages. Also, you can buy just the amount you need.

TIPS FOR HEALTHY COOKING

Go easy on fat, sugar, and salt in preparing foods. For example, make Oven Crispy Chicken instead of fried chicken or make Baked Cod with Cheese instead of fried fish. You don’t have to leave out all the fat, sugar, or salt-just limit the amount you use.

Flavor foods with herbs, spices, and other lowfat seasonings instead of using rich sauces and gravy. Look for ideas about what seasonings to use in some of the recipes in this booklet, like Baked Meatballs, Baked Spicy Fish, and Turkey Chili.

Make homemade desserts sometimes to save money and serve additional healthy foods to the family. For example, try a fruit crisp, like Peach-Apple Crisp, or a pudding like Rice Pudding.

Remove skin from poultry before cooking to lower the fat content. For example, try Baked Chicken Nuggets, Chicken and Vegetables, or Oven Crispy Chicken.

Always follow food safety rules in the kitchen to make sure that the food you prepare for your family is safe.

KEEP YOUR FAMILY’S FOOD SAFE

Clean-wash hands and surfaces often:

• Always wash hands with soap and warm running water before handling food.
• Always wash cutting boards, knives, utensils, dishes, and countertops used to cut meat with soapy, hot water right away-before you use them for other foods.
• Consider using paper towels to clean up kitchen surfaces. If you use cloth towels, dishcloths, or sponges, wash them often, and every time they have touched raw meat, poultry, or seafood juices. Use hot soapy water or the hot water cycle of the washing machine.

Separate-don’t cross contaminate:

• Store raw meat, chicken, turkey, and seafood in a sealed, wrapped container in the refrigerator.
• Keep raw meat, chicken, turkey, and seafood away from foods that will not be cooked and foods that are already cooked.
• Never place cooked food on a plate or cutting board that previously held raw meat, chicken,

turkey, or seafood.

Cook-cook to proper temperatures:

• Use a food thermometer to make sure meats, chicken, turkey, fish, and casseroles are cooked to a safe internal temperature.
• Cook roasts and steaks to at least 145 F.
• Cook ground meat to at least 160 .
• Cook whole chicken or turkey to 180 F.
• Cook eggs until the yolk and white are firm, not runny. Don’t use recipes in which eggs remain raw or only partially cooked.
• Cook fish until it flakes easily with a fork.

Chill-refrigerate promptly:

• Thaw frozen foods in the refrigerator, not on the kitchen counter. You can also thaw foods under cold water, changing the water every 30 minutes. Or, use a microwave oven.
• Refrigerate or freeze leftover foods right away. Meat, chicken, turkey, seafood, and egg dishes should not sit out at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
• Divide large amounts of leftovers into small, shallow containers for quick cooling in the refrigerator.

• Keep your refrigerator at 40 or below. Don’t pack the refrigerator. Cool air needs to circulate to keep food safe.

In 1874, England increased taxes for the imported sugar, the price has fallen by half, and at the end of the nineteenth century, a part of calories in the British diet came from sugar, and the rest came mostly from refined flour.

Because of the pure and cheap sugar was now accessible to all, the human metabolism must face not only a steady flow of glucose, but also a higher amount of fructose, because sugar or sucrose is half fructose. (The consumption of fructose per capita increased by 25 percent in the last 30 years) In nature, fructose is a rare and precious element, which is found, depending on the season, in the ripe fruit, “wrapped” in a whole food product full of fibers (which slows the assimilation) and important micro-nutrients. No wonder that natural selection has programmed us to be attracted to sweet foods: in form that is found in nature-in fruits and some vegetables - sugar gives us a slow-release form of energy accompanied by minerals and all kinds of micro-nutrients essential to us that we can not get from other sources. (Even honey, the purest form of sugar met in nature, contains some micro-nutrients.)

One crucial change occurred in the American diet after 1909 (when the U.S. Department of Agriculture began to notice the phenomenon) was the increase of the percentage of sugar calories from 13 to 20%. Add to this number the percentage of calories from carbohydrates (about 40%) and it results that at least half of the American diet consists of various forms of sugars -calories which provides nothing but energy. There are two ways that the energy density of refined carbohydrates leads to obesity. First, we are consuming much more calories per unit of food, the removed fiber from the food is the one which would have give us the feeling of fullness, making us so stop eating it. Also, the sudden fluctuations of glucose drives faster to high insulin levels which, after glucose is assimilated drops sharply, creating the feeling of hunger.

If the accelerated spread of western diets has given us immediate satisfaction of sugar for many people-especially for those recently exposed to this system-the speed of this industrial diet overcomes the capacity to process insulin, the consequence being the appearance of type 2 diabetes and all other chronic diseases associated to the metabolic syndrome. As a specialist in nutrition said, “we actually participate in a national experiment of intravenous glucose administration”. And let’s not forget the flow of fructose, which might be a much higher evolutionary novelty, and therefore much more difficult to manage by the human metabolism than glucose. Probably not accidentally the rates of type 2 diabetes are lower in European populations which have had a longer period of time than other groups to adapt their metabolism to the quick release of refined carbohydrates: these changes occurred first in their food environment. The first contact with such food, as it happens in case of ordinary people who have traditional diets and come to America or if the fast-food comes to them is a shock to the body. A shock that is called by experts a nutritional transition and it can be fatal.

This is the first major change in the Western diet which may explain the devastating effects they have on people’s health, replacing the known relationships with whole foods whom we have co-evolved for thousands of years. The Western diet force our body to connect and to face some nutrients that are efficient delivered and snatched from their diet context. Our ancient evolutionary relationship with the seeds of cereals and with the fruit from plants suddenly gave up the place to a rather shaky marriage with glucose and fructose

In 1930, with the discovery of vitamins, scientists have understood what had happened and so the miller men began adding B vitamins to refined grain. So the obvious deficiencies have been corrected. More recently, scientists have recognized that many of our diets contain not enough folic acid, so in 1996 the public health authorities have imposed those from the milling industry to add folic acid to flour. But it will take a long time until the science will understand that this strategy of addition for the “wonder bread”, so as it was called by a nutritionist, will not resolve all issues generated from the refining of grain. Diseases caused by deficiencies are easier to follow and to be treated (the successful medicine in their treatment is an important element for the nutrition prestige) rather than chronic diseases and found that the refinement of carbohydrate is involved in the appearance of some chronic diseases- like diabetes, heart disease and certain types of cancers.

The refined grain story is a parable about the reductionist science boundaries which are applied to something so complex as food. For several years, nutritionists know that a food rich in whole grains reduces the risk of diabetes, heart disease and cancer. (The statement remains valid even beyond the indication that people who eat more whole grains probably have a healthier lifestyle and other point of view) Different nutritionists have attributed the benefits of whole grains to different nutrients: fiber of bran, folic acid and other vitamin B from the germ, antioxidants and various minerals. In 2003, “American Journal of Clinical Nutrition” published a non-reductionist study which demonstrates that benefits of whole grains can not be attributed to a single nutrient. The usual reductionist analysis of isolated nutriments could not explain the health improvement of whole grains consumers.

The epidemiologists David R. Jacobs and Lyn M. Steffen from the University of Minnesota has reread previous research and discovered ample evidence of the fact that a rich in whole grains diet reduces mortality which has different causes. Surprising was the fact that, after adjusting the levels of fibers, vitamin E, folic acid, fitic acid, iron, zinc, magnesium and manganese in food (all the benefits that we know about are found in whole grains) it has been discovered an additional benefit of consumption of whole grains, which couldn’t be attributed to any single nutrient nor their totality. So, subjects receiving the same amount of the listed nutrients, but from other sources were not as healthy as those who ate whole grains, “the analysis suggests that another element from the whole grains protects against death”. The authors concluded, somehow vague, but suggestive that “the various grains and their component act synergistically” and they have suggested to their colleagues to take into account the concept of “food synergy”. So here is an argument for a revolutionary idée in relation to the nutritional standards: it could happen that a whole product is much more than the amount of nutrients that it is made.

It is no need to tell you that the proposal was not enthusiastically received by the food industry and this thing is probably not happening anytime soon. Even while I write, Coca-Cola launches drinks full of vitamins, there is the concept of “wonder bread” for industrial food products in their ultimate state (wonder drink?). Since ever there have been invested large amounts of money for processed food and not in whole food marketing and probably the industry investment in a reductionist approach to nutrition is just one. The problem is that there is something in us that love carbs, and that something is the human brain. Human brain keens on to carbs that are reduced to their essence power, which is pure glucose. Once the industry discovered a way to transform the seeds of cereals in the chemical equivalent of sugar, there was no going back.

Price was heading towards an organic vision of food and health, being much ahead of its time. He understood that by eating we are bounding with the earth and its elements, as well as solar energy. “Dinner that I took tonight,” as he was saying in a lecture that he held in 1928, “was part of the sun with a few months ago. The food industry hides and diminishes these links. By stretching the Tropic chain, so that the population from the big cities can be nourished using far away soil, we violate the “laws of nature” at least twice: stealing nutrients from the soil in which plants were grown and then wasting them trough food processing. Unlike the indigenous populations studied by Price, which endeavored to return nutrients back to the local soils on which their entire existence depended, “our modern civilization returns extremely few nutrients compared to the quantities consumed”. Renner shows us how Price came to the conclusion that the food and health problem is actually an organic dysfunction. Destroying links between local soils, local food and local populations, the industrial system, it can not fulfill the biochemical requirements of the body, which, by not having time to adapt, will collapse.

Regardless whether or not you are willing to follow Dr. Price in his long journey, he and all other researchers of western diets from the twentieth century that have returned to the civilized world with the same simple conclusion, devastating and hard to resist: the human animal is adapted and apparently can prosper on the basis of extremely varied diets, but the Western diet, however you define it does not seem to be a part of them.

But the ecological critic of the industrial civilization that was promoted by Weston Price in 1930 hasn’t survived the Second World War.  The niche of this type of writings-in which Sir Howard and Lord Northbourne from England and the American agrarians took part- closed shortly after Price published “Nutrition and Physical degeneration” in 1939. Soon, people had to turn the back to the attacks on “industrial civilization”, on which their salvation depended in time of war. At the end of the war, the industrial civilization strengthens his position, becoming more confident.

The next consolidation was the agriculture industry (that had a benefit from the transformation of the mountains in soil fertilizers and toxic gas in pesticides) shortly the other types of agriculture disappeared. Weston Price and his colleagues who had studied the western diseases had been forgotten by now. No one was willing to look back or to recognize the wisdom of the primitive groups, moreover, they disappeared or were quickly assimilate, even Aborigines were moving to the city.

In terms of the Western diseases, these didn’t disappeared- immediately after the war the rates of heart disease have exploded-but now they remained to the responsibility of modern medicine and to the reductionist science.          The nourishment became a widely language accepted in discussion about nutrition and health. The industrial food chain would be brought up again late in the 60s along with the rise of organic agriculture.