Sep 30, 2012

health nut

 Yes, that's me. I don't know since when I became so health conscious. I always remind myself "You are what you eat". But I try not to go too far with it because I know too much "healthy" is also not healthy and some impurities are necessary (which reads "I can't deny fastfood") 
 Around 5 years ago, the word "superfood" was heard from the media and I became curious about it. According to the media, superfoods are foods with high nutrients that are expected to have good health benefits. So what kind of foods can be "superfoods?" I checked some; any kind of berries, avocados, pomegranates, nuts, oats, broccolis, spinaches, soy beans, seaweeds, honey, cacaos etc. And even oranges and tomatoes are in too. It seems most of dark green vegetables and fruits are likely to be superfoods. I've tried avocados, oats, nuts, soy milk, fermented soy beans (which is "natto"), honey (especially, manuka honey), 80% cacao, and even kimchi. And now I'm into açai and barley leaf juice.

 Açai (sometimes people say açai berry because of its appearance but it's not a kind of berry at all!!)  is a fruit found in the Amazon and is often called "miracle fruit" or "natural supplement" because of its vast nutrients. Especially the amount of polyphenol contained in it is around 18 times than blueberries. Polyphenol of açai is mostly anthocyanin; a red  pigment known for antioxidant effects, which is good for eyestrain, liver function and anti-aging. Moreover açai has essential fatty acids like omega3 and omega9. I could only find açai products in certain cafes until I found I could buy a pack of  Sambazon's frozen açai pulp at Costco. 


And since I started buying it there, I make a smoothie with it everyday. When I make a smoothie, I also add powder barley leaf juice. I always felt I eat less vegetables than the optimum amount I was supposed to eat, which is 350g a day based on the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in Japan. 




This green juice tastes terrible if you mix it with water or milk (it tastes much better though) so i decided to mix it up with açai. Barley leaves are rich in iron (20 times than prunes), vitamin K, potassium and of course fiber. Fresh barley leaves also have SOD; superoxide dismutase, which is believed to have anti-cancer qualities.
 I make a smoothie with soymilk, açai, powder green juice and protein for breakfast. You might think I don't get full but I actually do. So it also might be good to lose weight.
 Just in case; those people who get dialysis or have circulatory disease should be careful for taking too much vitamin K or Potassium so ask your doctor before you have those kinds of smoothies.

 This is my smoothie. It looks ew but the taste is not so bad. It's a bit too sweet though. Sambazon has unsweetened frozen pulp so I just hope Costco will have it too. Oh and you might wonder if it really brings any health benefit. For me, I think so.



 Açai and barley leaves juice. what will come to me next? I give an eye to coconuts and moringa. Coconut water is a big trend in the US now. A lot of celebrities such as Madonna, Lady Gaga and Rihanna drink it when they jog or work out. What is so special about coconut water? coconut water, which is the clear liquid inside a young coconut shell (this is different from coconut milk which is produced by extracting the coconut meat), contains rich minerals and potassium and is often  more preferred than sports drink like Gatorade because coconut water has more electrolyte, which promotes proper rehydration. In addition, it has no fat, low calories and 100% natural. I can even drink it instead of water!




 And moringa. This plant is normally seen in tropical or subtropic regions and has other names like "tree for life", "miracle herb", or "malunggay in filipino." It is said that moringa is the only plant that has all the essential amino-acids that human beings need and also GABA and other minerals are contained. Not only are the most parts of moringa edible but also you can produce oil from moringa seeds. The oil from moringa seeds can be used for cooking, cosmetics, machine-oil and potentially biofuel. The leaves are the most nutritious part with rich vitamin A, which even WHO expects to help the children in the poor countries from malnutrition. And interestingly, moringa seed powder has the potential power that can clean up the water by absorbing the pollutants. It sounds much like earth-saving plant, right?

 I'm quite interested in both of them but it's hard to find them here in Japan and even if I can, it's much expensive. Hmmmmmmmmmm, smells business?
 Anyways, I'll stick with açai and barley leaves now. And I'll check how I can import those stuff.


Sambazon's açai http://www.sambazon.com/

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