Good Foods To Eat While Pregnant

Fresh Vegetarian Garlic Soup A Good Recipe To Use Up Your Garlic And Zucchini Harvest Plus Raw Zucchini Ribbon Salad

Sauté smashed garlic cloves and chopped onion.

Peel and chop the zucchini.

Dont throw out your zucchini peels. Make this raw salad!

Its Harvest Time - What to do with Fresh Garlic

Every year I grow way too much garlic. My peak crop was almost 400 heads. This year I controlled myself a bit and only grew about 100 heads. See how easy it is to grow your own garlic in my posts, Growing Garlic In Your Home Garden and Harvesting and Curing Garlic. So what do you do with a bumper crop of garlic? One idea is to make this healthful garlic soup. There is no need to wait until your garlic is cured to make this recipe. It tastes great when you use "fresh", uncured garlic. (Garlic from the store works just fine also). If you simply have too much garlic from your garden to use up, try making your own Garlic Powder.

Why is there Zucchini in this Garlic Soup?

As I was experimenting with different ways to make a garlic soup, I happened to be at my friend Rays house. He is a gardener extraordinaire and always plants way more veggies than one family can possibly consume. This year he exceeded the legal limit of zucchini. One plant is enough for a family, two for the neighborhood but he has over a dozen. Seriously - an entire city can be fed with the amount of zucchini he has coming out of his garden. Lucky for me, I got to go home with an entire bag of it. Hence the 8 cups of chopped zucchini in this recipe. I also added cannellini beans to thicken the soup and provide an extra shot of protein and cholesterol lowering qualities.

Dont Throw Out the Zucchini Peels

Because I wanted a white garlic soup, I peeled the zucchini. As I was peeling them, however, I felt a tug at my heart as the beautiful fresh peels were landing in the sink. I quickly scooped them up, rinsed them off and decided to make a nice raw salad. I just placed them in a bowl, tossed them with my Home made Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing and topped the zucchini ribbons with a few fresh blueberries and chopped walnuts. Using the peels left over from this garlic soup recipe mades about two servings and Doug and I munched the salad while we were waiting for the garlic soup to simmer.

For other raw zucchini recipes, see Raw Zucchini Spaghetti with Walnut Meatballs or Raw Vegan Lemon Basil Pesto on Raw Zucchini Spaghetti. For a raw zucchini soup try Creamy Raw Vegan Zucchini Soup with Crushed Pistachios or Raw Zucchini Soup topped with Raw Goat Milk Feta.

The Benefits of Garlic

Garlic is a true power food. Its phytochemicals include saponins, quercetin and organosulfurs like allicin. To get the most health benefits from garlic, make sure you chop or smash it and let it rest for at least 15 minutes before cooking. Garlic has associated with health benefits such as lowering cholesterol, lowering cancer risk, having antibiotic, anti-viral, anti-parasitic and anti-fungal qualities. It has also been said to have a blood cleansing properties and also the ability to bolster immunity. Its a component of the healthy Mediterranean diet.

Vegetarian Garlic Soup with Zucchini and Cannellini Beans

[serves 4]

1/2 cup peeled garlic cloves, smashed (1 large or 2 small heads)

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion

4 cups veggie broth (home made is better)

8 cups zucchini, peeled and diced

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon fresh thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)

1/2 teaspoon dried sage

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (or to taste)

1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)

1 15 ounce can cannellini beans, drained

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese (omit for vegan recipe)

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Peel and smash garlic cloves and set aside for 15 minutes while the beneficial phytochemicals in the garlic are developing their healthful qualities.

Sauté the garlic and onions slowly in olive oil over a low to medium heat for about 10 minutes. They will become clear - do not brown. Add broth, zucchini, bay leaf, thyme, sage, salt and pepper and cannellini beans. Bring to a boil and then lower heat and simmer, partially covered, for 45 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove bay leaf. Blend the soup until smooth by putting it into a blender or using a hand blender in the soup pot. Stir in the lemon juice, adjust salt and serve topped with fresh parsley, parmesan and some additional freshly ground black pepper if desired.

Per serving: 222.5 calories, 4.8 g fat, 1.0 g saturated fat, 2 mg cholesterol, 11.4 g protein, 36.7 g carbohydrates and 14.8 g fiber.

Vegan Black Eyed Pea And Hominy Enchiladas My Annual New Years Day Recipe For Good Luck!

Eating black-eyed peas on New Years Day brings good luck!

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My Annual New Years Recipe
As many of you know, I always start the year with a black-eyed pea recipe. For many decades, this tradition has brought me lots of luck so I dare not stop now.
This year, Im making enchiladas.


Easy is Good
My son makes the best enchiladas Ive ever eaten. They take hours to make and like most of his gourmet recipes, they are complicated, dirty lots of pots and pans and require far more patience than I have.
My friend also makes excellent enchiladas. One day she told me her secret - Lawrys. OK, I was surprised. Shes half Mexican so I assumed she slaved all day making some family recipe. But I was delighted to know this as I could now make enchiladas without much fuss. I wont say enchiladas made with Lawrys are better than my sons, but they are quite good and I have used this ready-made seasoning mixture in todays recipe. For those of you who love spice, Lawrys is mild so plan on adding some cayenne, jalapeño or chili powder to give it more heat.

A simple way to make enchilada sauce,
Unfortunately it is not gluten free. 

I Love Hominy
I was introduced to hominy while living in Texas - the same great state where I discovered black-eyed peas. Hominy is corn without its hull and germ. When hominy is ground its called "grits". I love hominy in all forms. When whole, it has a wonderful, chewy texture. It combines well with the black-eyed peas and gives a lovely texture to the meatless enchiladas.

White hominy

Vegan Cheese
For those of you who are vegan, lactose intolerant or just wanting to avoid dairy because you just watched "Forks over knives" or read Joseph Keons "Whitewash - The disturbing truth about cows milk and your health", you are probably still searching for a cheese substitute. To be perfectly honest, its pretty impossible to replace the taste and texture of real cheese. But lots of people are pretty excited about Daiya, a dairy, lactose and casein free cheese substitute that is also gluten and soy free. I use the Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds in this recipe. If you are not vegan, you can substitute regular cheddar cheese. If you are trying to wean yourself from dairy, use half cheddar and half Daiya. 

This tapioca based cheese substitute is free of dairy, gluten and soy. 

Black-eyed pea and hominy enchiladas
vegan
[makes 8 enchiladas]


For the sauce
1.6 oz package Lawrys enchilada sauce spices & seasonings
6 ounce can tomato paste
3 cups water
pinch of cayenne, or to taste (optional)
For the enchiladas
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
15 ounce can black-eyed peas (or 1 3/4 cups cooked), drained
15 ounce can white or yellow hominy, drained
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 cup Daiya cheddar style shreds, divided
8 corn tortillas


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Take out a 9"x13"x2" baking dish.

To make the sauce, mix the Lawrys spices, tomato paste, water and cayenne (optional) in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Make the enchilada sauce first and let it simmer while you prepare the filling.

In a frypan, heat oil and cook onions for 5 to 8 minutes or until soft. Add garlic and cook another minute. 
Add drained black-eyed peas, hominy and cumin and mix thoroughly. Cook until heated throughout.
Add half the cheese and stir until melted. 

Stir half the cheese into black-eyed pea mixture.

Pour 1 cup sauce in the bottom of baking dish.
Coat each tortilla with sauce and place 1/8th black-eyed pea mixture in center of each tortilla.
Roll up the tortilla and place seam down in baking dish.

To make enchilada, place filling in the center of tortilla.

Roll up placing seams on the bottom of pan.

Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas and cover with remaining cheese.
Bake uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Bake until bubbly and serve.

Per enchilada: 248 calories, 5.5 g fat, 1.3 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 6.5 g protein, 40.6 g carbohydrates, 6.4 g dietary fiber and 724 mg sodium.


Happy New Year and thanks for following my blog!

Reader Question Are Black Seeds Nigella Sativa Their Oil Ointments More Good For Me What do the Studies Say

Nigella sativa is available in form of seeds, oils and all sorts of ointments and for many of them there are studies suggesting that they work.

SuppVersity reader Amaan Mueen asks on Facebook: "In traditional Oriental medicine its said that blackseed is a cure for everything except death, is there any truth to that?" I probably dont give away too much, when I tell you that blackseed (also "black seed") aka "nigella sativa" is not going to cure everything, but death, but that does not mean that modern Western medicine has not been able to confirm what Oriental "doctors" have known for centuries.

In the following I am going to present an allegedly cursory overview of the existing evidence with a focus on those health benefits that could be relevant for the average and extra-ordinary SuppVersity reader.

Learn more about the effects of your diet on your health at the SuppVersity

Only Whey, Not Soy Works for Wheytloss

Taste Matters - Role of the Taste Receptors

Dairy Protein Satiety Shoot-Out: Casein vs. Whey

How Much Carbs Before Fat is Unhealthy?

5 Tips to Improve & Maintain Insulin Sensitivity

Carbohydrate Shortage in Paleo Land

• General anti-oxidant effects - The complete oil of N. sativa, as well as thymoquinone (the main compound of the essential oil) have been shown to significantly reduce non-enzymatic lipid peroxidation in liposomes (Houghton. 1995). Significant anti-oxidant effects have also been observed for other compounds isolated from N. sativa, uncluding thymoquinone, carvacol, t-anethole and 4-terpineol.
  
  

  

  Figure 1: The tymoquinone rich fraction of blackseed (TQRF-X) has dose dependent (L,M,H) effects on antioxidant enzyems in hypercholesterolemic (Ismail. 2010).

  These compounds were found in a series of other in vitro tests to have variable antioxidant, but no pro-oxidant properties.
  
  Most importantly, though, the different compounds in the oil were found to act in a synergistic manner (i.e. more than the mere summation of the actions of the individual compounds). This stresses the importance of using the whole oil (or the crude extract) of the seeds in pharmacological studies.
  
  As Ali and Blunden point out in their review of the literature, "the antioxidant property of N. sativa is multifactorial, [but] it does not seem to involve iron-complexing activity (Ali. 2003). It rather appears as if its general ability to scavenge free radicals, which may be, at least partially, the basis of many human diseases and conditions, could be at the heart of its ability to protect, for example, against CCl4 hepatotoxicity (Nagi. 1999), liver fibrosis and cirrhosis (Türkdogan. 2000), and hepatic damage induced by Schistosoma mansoni infection (Mahmoud. 2002).
• Antiinflammatory and analgesic actions -Its one thing to scavenge free radicals. Its yet a completely different thing to effectively reduce the inflammation thats often, but not always triggered by the presence of free radicals. Against that background its important to note that an aqueous extract from nigella sativa exhibits strong anti-inflammatory effects, as well (Al-Ghamdi, 2001). Using carrageenan-induced paw oedema as a model of inflammation, and the hot plate reaction time as a model of nociception, the extract was found to possess significant antiinflammatory and analgesic (=pain reducing) action.
  
  As Ali & Blunden (2003) point out, this finding lends some credence to the folk medicinal use of the plant as an antiinflammatory and analgesic substance, and also confirms previous reports on the antinociceptive (Abdel-Fattah. 2000) and antiinflammatory (Mutabagani. 1997) effects of N. sativa oil and its major component, thymoquinone, in mice.
  
  The possible mechanism by which N. sativa exerts its antiinflammatory action has been studied. Thymoquinone has been shown to be a potent inhibitor of eicosanoid generation, namely thromboxane B2 and leucotrienes B4, by inhibiting both cyclooxygenase and lipooxygenase, respectively (Houghton. 1995). Interestingly, it was found that the fixed oil of N. sativa had both antioxidant and anti-eicosanoid effects greater than thymoquinone, which is its active constituent (Houghton. 1995)

Chemical structure of some of the main potentially bioactive compounds in Nigella sativa (Paarakh. 2010).

Whats actually in the seeds? N. sativa seeds contain 36%–38% fixed oils, proteins, alkaloids, saponin and 0.4%–2.5% essential oil (Lautenbucher, 1997). The fixed oil is composed mainly of unsaturated fatty acids, including the unusual C20:2 arachidic and eicosadienoic acids (Houghton. 1995). The hitherto discovered active ingredients of the essential oil are thymoquinone  (27.8%–57.0%), ρ-cymene (7.1%–15.5%), carvacrol (5.8%–11.6%), t-anethole (0.25%–2.3%), 4-terpineol (2.0%–6.6%) and longifoline (1.0%–8.0%).

In addition, it contains four alkaloids and several monodesmosidic triterpene saponins. What? Yeah... unfortunately, we know only of few of the (potentially) active ingredients and even less about what exactly they do.

• Anti-Cancer Effect - In an in-vitro study from the late 1990s researchers from the Tobacco and Health Research Institute in Lexington were able to show that the thymoquinone (TQ) and dithymoquinone (DIM) content of nigella sativa have the astonishing ability to kill several parental and multi-drug resistant (MDR) human tumor cell lines (Worthen. 1997).
  

  

  Figure 2: A schematic diagram showing major molecular targets of TQ. As an anticancer agent, TQ inhibits the activity of CYP enzymes, which are involved in metabolic activation carcinogens, and induces the expression and activities of cytoprotective enzymes by activating Nrf2 signaling. TQ selectively induces tumor cell death in an ROS-dependent manner following both intrinsic and extrinsic pathways of apoptosis. TQ exerts anti-proliferative, anti-inflammatory, anti-migratory, anti-invasive and anti-metastatic effects by blocking the activation of NF-κB- and STAT3-regulated gene products (Kundu. 2014).

  In spite of the fact that there are as of yet no studies that show that humans were cured with blackseed, recent studies have shown that Thymoquinone, a component of Nigella sativa, decreases oxidative DNA damage in a rat model of mammary cancer (Sindi. 2014) and protect the brain, liver and other organs from radiation induced damage during cancer therapy (Ahlatci. 2014; Cikman. 2014). So, even if it were not for its established cytotoxic effects in various human cancer cells (e.g. Liver, Khan. 2014; Kidney, Tabasi. 2014; Prostate & Breast Cancer, Schneider-Stock. 2014; Cervix, Ichwan. 2014; etc.), it would still make sense to use black seed extracts as antioxidants during radiation and as studies indicate also chemotherapy (Pace. 2003; Almog. 2014).
• Anti-allergic effects - In a study from 2003 Kalus et al. observed significant reductions in subjective feeling of allergic symptoms in 152 patients with allergic diseases (allergic rhinitis, bronchial asthma, atopic eczema) who were treated with Nigella sativa oil, given in capsules at a dose of 40 to 80 mg/kg/day.
  
  

  

  Figure 3: The addition of blackseeds at a dosage of 2g/day propels the beneficial effects of subcutaneous allergen-specific immunotherapy on polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) function in 24 patients sensitive to house dust mites with allergic rhinitis (Işık. 2010)

  Other studies confirm that Nigella sativa can reduce the peripheral blood eosinophil count, IgG1 and IgG2a, cytokine profiles and lung inflammation in murine model of allergic asthma (Abbas. 2004) that are equal to the corticosteriod dexamethasone and scientists from the Gaziosmanpasa University Medical Faculty say that "N. sativa display its antioxidant and regulatory effects via inflammatory cells rather than the host tissue (brain and medulla spinalis)" in a rodent model of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (Ozugurlu. 2005). Effects that were also observed in a 2010 human study which indicates that "N. sativa seed supplementation during specific immunotherapy of allergic rhinitis may be considered a potential adjuvant therapy" (Işık. 2010 | see Figure 3).
• Anti-diabetes effects: The volatile compounds in nigella sativa oil have been shown to exert potent glucose lowering effects in healthy and diabetic animals (Al-Hader. 1993). Effects that occured in the absence of changes in insulin levels and are almost unsettlingly pronounced.
  

  

  Figure 4: Reduction in fasting blood glucose in the hours after the administration of 50mg/kg volatile oil extract to normal and diabetic rodents (Al-Hader. 1993).

  For those of you who are hovering around in the netherlands of glucose levels, anyway, the 14% reduction Al-Hader et al. observed in the healthy rabbits in their 1993 could in fact be enough to induce mild hypoglycemia and side effects such as ravenous appetite, feeling cold, cold sweat, being irritable and so on - an effect thats going to be particularly pronounced, because blacksee will at the same time inhibit the production of glucose in the liver that would otherwise compensate the drop in blood glucose (Al-Awadi. 1991).
  
  With comparatively lower doses of only 5ml of nigella sativa oil, Mohtashami et al. have recently demonstrated that the beneficial effects on blood glucose are not rodent specific.
  
  

  

  Figure 5: Blackseed consumed in 2x2.5ml servings everydy improves blood glucose management in healthy humans, too (Mohtashami. 2011)

  In their randomized clinical trial with 70 healthy subjects who received either 2.5 ml Black seed oil or a similarly looking mineral oil two times a day, the scientists observed achieved less pronounced, but still significant reductions in fasting blood glucose and the long(er)-term glucose marker HbA1c within only two months.
  
  In view of the comparatively small reductions in blood sugar (see Figure 5), its also not surprisng that the only side effect was an occasional case of transient nausea. Notable changes in liver enzyme and kidney functional adverse effects, on the other hand, were not observed..
  
  Similar results have been reported for subjects with diabetes (Najmi. 2008), intact and diabetic rats (Hawsawi. 2001; Houcher. 2007) and in several cell models, like muscle cells, where it increases AMPK and GLUT4 expression (Benhaddou-Andaloussi. 2011) or the Langerhans cells (Rchid. 2004) of the pancreas of which Fararh et al. (2002) were able to show that they can partly recover their ability to release insulin in a rodent model of diabetes, when nigella sativa is administered in conjunction with nicotinic acid.
• Cardiovascular effects - The results of a 2014 study by Mohammad et al. indicate that "[t]he use of N. sativa as an alternative therapy for hypercholesterolemia could have profound impact on the management of CVD among menopausal women especially in countries where it is readily available." In the corresponding study 1g of nigella sativa powder consumed after breakfast lead to significant improvements in lipid profiles of menopausal women (decreased total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride, and increased high density lipoprotein cholesterol)within 2 months. Improvements that were lost almost completely after one month without the capped Nigella sativa supplement.
  
  Rather ambigous - at least at first sight - are the effects of nigella sativa on the physiology of the heart, while Al-Asoom et al. (2014a) were able to show that the IFG-1 boosting effects Nigella sativa exerts on exercising rats could make it a valuable tool for the treatment of heart failure with superior advantages to exercise training alone, the same effects are often mentioned as potential unwanted side effects of Nigella sativa.
  

  

  Figure 6: In trained rats, the Nigella sativa induced boost in IGF-1 (left) promotes the exercise induced increase in heart weight (right | Al-Asoom. 2014a)

  Whether thats actually a problem is yet questionable. In view of the nature of the cardiac hypertrophy, its rather an augmentation of the beneficial cardiac remodeling due to exercise similar to the one we call "athletes heart" than a pathological increase in the size of the heart. Whether similar effects can be observed for skeletal muscle has, at least as far as I know, yet not been tested - its yet certainly not impossible.

You have a question? Go to www.facebook.com/SuppVersity and submit your question of the week!

There is more, to Nigella sativa, but I am tired of listing all the references to its beneficial gastropotective effects, its ability to protect the kidneys and the liver from damage, its anti-stress and anti-anxiety effects, its beneficial effects against candida, bacterial infections and fungi, or its use as a post-coital contraceptive (acute high dose) and fertility booster (chronic low dose | Al-Saaidi. 2009) in females & males, respectively. If you want all the details, I suggest the review by Paarakh from 2010 or asking your local oriental medicine practitioner ;-).

The latter may also be a good idea if you want to know how much and which form of blackseed you have to take for whatever you want to achieve, cause unlike the traditional uses most of which are backed by scientific studies, "optimal" dosages still await investigation | Comment!

References

• Abbas, Ayman Talatt, et al. "Effect of dexamethasone and Nigella sativa on peripheral blood eosinophil count, IgG1 and IgG2a, cytokine profiles and lung inflammation in murine model of allergic asthma." The Egyptian journal of immunology/Egyptian Association of Immunologists 12.1 (2004): 95-102.
• Abdel-Fattah, Abdel-Fattah Mohamed, Kinzo Matsumoto, and Hiroshi Watanabe. "Antinociceptive effects of< i> Nigella sativa</i> oil and its major component, thymoquinone, in mice." European journal of pharmacology 400.1 (2000): 89-97. 
• Al-Saaidi, J. A. A., A. L. D. Al-Khuzai, and N. F. H. Al-Zobaydi. "Effect of alcoholic extract of Nigella sativa on fertility in male rats." Iraq J Verterin Sci 23 (2009): 123-8.
• Al-Asoom, L. I., et al. "Effect of Nigella sativa Supplementation to Exercise Training in a Novel Model of Physiological Cardiac Hypertrophy." Cardiovascular toxicology (2014a): 1-8. 
• Al-Asoom, Lubna Ibrahim, et al. "Comparison of Nigella sativa-and Exercise-Induced Models of Cardiac Hypertrophy: Structural and Electrophysiological Features." Cardiovascular toxicology (2014b): 1-6.
• Al-Awadi, Fatania, and U. Shamte. "The effect of a plants mixture extract on liver gluconeogenesis in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats." Diabetes research (Edinburgh, Scotland) 18.4 (1991): 163-168.
• Al-Hader, Aqel, M. Aqel, and Z. Hasan. "Hypoglycemic effects of the volatile oil of Nigella sativa seeds." Pharmaceutical Biology 31.2 (1993): 96-100.
• Ali, B. H., and Gerald Blunden. "Pharmacological and toxicological properties of Nigella sativa." Phytotherapy Research 17.4 (2003): 299-305. 
• Ahlatci, Adem, et al. "Radiation-modifying abilities of< i> Nigella sativa</i> and Thymoquinone on radiation-induced nitrosative stress in the brain tissue." Phytomedicine 21.5 (2014): 740-744. 
• Benhaddou-Andaloussi, Ali, et al. "The in vivo antidiabetic activity of Nigella sativa is mediated through activation of the AMPK pathway and increased muscle Glut4 content." Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2011 (2011).
• Cikman, Oztekin, et al. "Radioprotective Effects of Nigella Sativa Oil Against Oxidative Stress in Liver Tissue of Rats Exposed to Total Head Irradiation." Journal of Investigative Surgery (2014).
• Fararh, K. M., et al. "Isulinotropic properties of< i> Nigella sativa</i> oil in Streptozotocin plus Nicotinamide diabetic hamster." Research in veterinary science 73.3 (2002): 279-282.
• Hawsawi, Zubaida A., Basil A. Ali, and Abdullah O. Bamosa. "Effect of Nigella sativa (black seed) and thymoquinone on blood glucose in albino rats." Annals of Saudi medicine 21.3-4 (2001): 242-244. 
• Houcher, Zahira, et al. "Effects of methanolic extract and commercial oil of Nigella sativa L. on blood glucose and antioxidant capacity in alloxan-induced diabetic rats." Pteridines 18.1 (2007): 8-18.
• Houghton PJ, Zarka R, de las Heras B, Hoult JRS."Fixed oil of Nigella sativa and derived thymoquinone inhibit eicosanoid generation in leukocytes and membrane lipid peroxidation". Planta Med 61 (1995): 33–36.
• Ichwan, S. J., et al. "Apoptotic Activities of Thymoquinone, an Active Ingredient of Black Seed (Nigella sativa), in Cervical Cancer Cell Lines." The Chinese journal of physiology 57.5 (2014).
• Lautenbacher LM. "Schwarzkümmelöl." Dtsch Apoth Ztg 137 (1997): 68–69.
• Khan, Fazal, et al. "Evaluation of the effect of Nigella sativa extract on human hepatocellular adenocarcinoma cell line (HepG2) in vitro." BMC Genomics 15.Suppl 2 (2014): P63.
• Kundu, Juthika, et al. "Mechanistic Perspectives on Cancer Chemoprevention/Chemotherapeutic Effects of Thymoquinone." Mutation Research/Fundamental and Molecular Mechanisms of Mutagenesis (2014).
• Mahmoud, M. R., H. S. El-Abhar, and S. Saleh. "The effect of< i> Nigella sativa</i> oil against the liver damage induced by< i> Schistosoma mansoni</i> infection in mice." Journal of ethnopharmacology 79.1 (2002): 1-11. 
• Mohtashami, R., et al. "Blood Glucose Lowering Effects of Nigella Sativa L. Seeds Oil in Healthy Volunteers: a Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial." Journal of Medicinal Plant 10.36 (2011): 90-94.
• Mutabagani, A., and S. A. M. El-Mahdy. "A study of the anti-inflammatory activity of Nigella sativa L. and thymoquinone in rats." Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal 5 (1997): 110-113.
• Nagi, Mahmoud N., et al. "Thymoquinone protects against carbon tetrachloride hetatotoxicity in mice via an antioxidant mechanism." IUBMB Life 47.1 (1999): 153-159. 
• Najmi, Ahmad, et al. "Effect of Nigella sativa oil on various clinical and biochemical parameters of insulin resistance syndrome." International journal of diabetes in developing countries 28.1 (2008): 11.
• Ozugurlu, F., et al. "The effect of Nigella sativa oil against experimental allergic encephalomyelitis via nitric oxide and other oxidative stress parameters." Cellular and molecular biology (Noisy-le-Grand, France) 51.3 (2005): 337-342.
• Pace, Andrea, et al. "Neuroprotective effect of vitamin E supplementation in patients treated with cisplatin chemotherapy." Journal of Clinical Oncology 21.5 (2003): 927-931. 
• Paarakh, Padmaa M. "Nigella sativa Linn.–A comprehensive review." Indian J Nat Prod Resour 1 (2010): 409-29.
• Rchid, Halima, et al. "Nigella sativa seed extracts enhance glucose‐induced insulin release from rat‐isolated Langerhans islets." Fundamental & clinical pharmacology 18.5 (2004): 525-529.
• Sindi, Abrar, and Karen Carlberg. "Thymoquinone, a component of the Middle East spicy seed Nigella sativa, decreases oxidative DNA damage in a rat model of mammary cancer (693.21)." The FASEB Journal 28.1 Supplement (2014): 693-21.
• Tabasi, Nafise, et al. "Cytotoxic and apoptogenic properties of Nigella sativa and thymoquinone, its constituent, in human renal cell carcinoma are comparable with cisplatin." Food and Agricultural Immunology ahead-of-print (2014): 1-19.
• Türkdoğan, M. K., et al. "The role of antioxidant vitamins (C and E), selenium and Nigella sativa in the prevention of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis in rabbits: new hopes." DTW. Deutsche tierarztliche Wochenschrift 108.2 (2001): 71-73.
• Worthen, David R., Omar A. Ghosheh, and P. A. Crooks. "The in vitro anti-tumor activity of some crude and purified components of blackseed, Nigella sativa L." Anticancer research 18.3A (1997): 1527-1532.

10 Good Reasons To Plant A Garden

My daughter-in-law Karina with her raised bed garden, Portand, Oregon.


Day 19 of our “One Month Raw Food Cleanse”
We’re 19 days into our raw food cleanse and there is no better raw food than that which is plucked from your very own garden. So I thought today I would try to tempt you, assuming you are not already hooked, on growing some of your own food.

OK, I’m pretty lucky, I live in a sunny, warm climate that screams gardening. But it doesn’t really matter where you live, you can plant something to eat. Don’t have a big back yard? Do what my daughter-in-law did. Replace that useless front lawn with raised beds! It beats watering and mowing. No yard at all? Get some pots and find a sunny window.

Here are 10 GOOD REASONS TO PLANT A GARDEN:

1. FRESHLY PICKED FRUITS AND VEGETABLES TASTE BETTER because they are picked when they are perfectly ripe. Food that must travel to the marketplace is picked green and doesn’t have that sun ripened taste (just wait until you experience a tomato that doesn’t taste like plastic!).

2. IT’S CONVENIENT. In the summer months, you would hardly have to go to the store. Ingredients for your dinner are just a few steps away.

3. GROWING YOUR OWN FOOD SAVES MONEY. The price of food is skyrocketing. With a minimal investment, you can saves hundreds of dollars or more on your grocery bills.

4. EATING FOOD THAT’S GROWN LOCALLY not only reduces your carbon footprint but locally grown food has an optimum vitamin, mineral and phytochemical content developed to withstand the specific environment in which you live.

5. IT GIVES YOU ACCESS TO FRUITS AND VEGETABLES NOT FOUND IN LOCAL SUPERMARKETS. One year I planted 13 different types of garlic and this year my husband selected 8 different varieties of heirloom tomatoes.

6. IT’S FUN FOR THE KIDS AND INTRODUCES THEM TO VEGETABLES. You’ll have much more luck getting the kids to eat their veggies if they get to watch them grow and pick them out of the garden.

7. CANNING AND FREEZING YOUR GARDEN’S BOUNTY WILL FEED YOU ALL YEAR ROUND. In our last house, we had beautiful and prolific apricot and fig trees. After eating what we could, we froze the fruit in vacu-seal bags and enjoyed them in fruit smoothies for the next entire year! I also made some delicious low sugar apricot jam.

8. WORKING IN YOUR GARDEN IS THERAPEUTIC. No matter how stressful your life is, spending time with your plants will calm you down and give you a connection with the earth and your food.

9. YOU KNOW WHAT’S IN YOUR FOOD. As the gardener, you are in control of how you fertilize and control pests. You will know for sure that harmful chemical fertilizers and pesticides are not in your family’s food. Also, it has been shown that organic fruits and vegetables have a higher vitamin and mineral content.

10. PLANT A ROW FOR THE NEEDY. If you are concerned with world hunger, start in your own neighborhood. Bring extra fruits and vegetables to a local food bank where fresh produce is greatly appreciated.

So I hope I’ve inspired you to try your hand at home gardening. Even a single tomato plant in a pot is a start so go ahead and give it a shot! I also hope you have been trying this raw food cleanse. A friend of mine who has stumped her doctors at Kaiser with a mysterious ailment was actually told by her physician to consider trying a raw food diet. It’s good to see that even western medicine sees the immense good that could come from eating nature’s bounty in its pure and natural form.

Menu for Day 19
Breakfast is fresh pineapple and cantaloupe with chopped dates and walnuts. Lunch is a large green salad with butter lettuce, strawberries, avocado, cucumbers and pine nuts. For dinner, I’ll be making raw tacos that I posted on May 5, 2009 to celebrate Cinco De Mayo. I’m still working my way through the cherries and watermelon I bought the other day so that will be my dessert.

6 14 2012 Supplemental Good Day Sunshine

Greetings Friends. My Spirits and Energy levels are really good.

I made it or did I? That is up for interpretation. Some will say "Why yes Dave you sure did. Look at all the weight you loss." Some will say "Are you going to gain it all back?" OUCH!!! Ouch INDEED!!!

Hey it is the truth..... OK Dave what is the truth? Not one of his riddles......... AGAIN!

OK folks as promised my Summery of the 5 Bite Diet and my little thoughts of well of just whatever:

Riddle me this: What is the use of losing all this weight if I:

1. Dont achieve good if not great health.
2. Keep it off.
3. If I .... I .... is there a number 3?

Is there a number three (3)? Who knows? Who cares........ well I for one do. So if any of you good folks out there want to throw a few words of wisdom please do so.

Look-it: At the end of the day I am oh so happy with the results. Why wouldnt I? I did rather good at the end of the day. I struggled, stumbled and fell a little. I always got myself up and continued. I suffered through non-related illnesses at the time or were they? Was the restriction of food a trigger? One day all of a sudden I go from eating pretty good to almost nothing. Hmmm.............. makes you think. 

OK so now I am thinking. (DANGER, DANGER, DANGER!) I do agree with the 5 Bite Diet for weight loss and learning about portion control ....... but maybe, maybe.... for about a week or even two I should have gradually cut down my food to the point it was 5 bites instead of bam the very next day. Just a thought. A thought I just may take to heart on my next 30 day challenge. 

Yes my Friends and Family there will be another 30 Day Challenge. Yet, I need a break for now and I will be what is called Maintenance. So what do you do on "Maintenance"? I will do my best to balance the amount I eat in order not to gain weight. I will try to "maintain" my current weight. I really dont want to weigh myself during this period and see if my instinct will prevail. Is that a good idea? 

For those who know me see an "Experiment In-progress" HA!!! Man vs Machine. OK Dave lets not get a big head please lol! No really I do want to be able to live without the scale and this is a good opportunity to see how I fare. I need to learn one way of the other. 

Will I share Maintenance? Well if I dont weigh myself and give updates on that, what can I share? I can share if I am on the straight and narrow, my menu, how much I ate, or what else. Would I just bore you to death. I wont have any results to report for at least a month. So you tell me. What would you like for me to report if I decide to share Maintenance. Please help. It will determine if I do it or not. If I do share it will be more like a Weekly Update with a few Supplemental to report anything else I add or come up with at the time. So you tell me.

OK I know this was not much of a Summery, so let me know whats on your mind and I will answer to the best of my ability. If you have specific questions about my Experience through the 5 Bite Diet or you just have a general question about the diet. I have the book and I will share. If I get enough questions I just might make a Supplemental Post out of it instead of just using the comment box. So it is in your hands. Field your questions and I will reply.

Have a Healthy Day my Friends and Family. Battles have been won, yet the War still rages on.There is no End, Just another Day. At least for now.

My Last BOW (?)

Cheers,

Dave