Amazing Artichokes

Artichokes deserve their very own post!  Simply because artichokes are the detox powerhouse.  However, many people, including myself don't *really* like to buy them because they look at the vegetable and think, how would I eat this thing????  Don't worry, I used to think that way too...and here is my attempt to debunk your hesitations.

First, let me talk about the incredible properties of artichokes.  They are a liver-cleansing food, in other words detoxification.  Detoxification is important for battling diseases and keeping a healthy body.  Artichokes are a good source of silymarin, which helps protect and nourish the liver.

According to herbal experts Joe and Teresa Graydon, Ph.D. (authors of The People's Pharmacy), patients with chronic gastrointestinal (GI) upset who were given artichoke extract showed incredible improvement.  Another study showed patients experience relief from stomach pain, nausea and vomiting.  [Remember, findingfoodorlove.com does not provide medical advice, please consult your physician--but what awesome results!]

Second, how to consume whole artichokes.  After you buy a artichoke from the store, you will want to peel the outside layers by the stem, remove any fibers or small leaves at the bottom of the artichoke.  Next, cut the spikey tips of the artichoke leaves.  After you go around cutting all of them, cut off the top where all the leaves start to bunch up so you end up with something that looks like my picture.

Steam the artichokes for about 15-20 minutes.

That's it!  Now eat.  Just pull the leaves off and scrape the base of the leaf with your teeth.  When you get down to the heart of the artichoke, remove the hairy 'choke' (inedible fuzzy part).

I can eat with no dip.  It's really healthy.  It does take some work to eat, but in my opinion, when we have to work for our food, I think we eat better portions.

Source: The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth by Jonny Bowden

Inflammed?

Toxins inflame.  Obesity inflames.  Sugar inflames?  A ravaging beast of the 21st century: inflammation.  Inflammation is our bodily reaction to harmful stimuli, protecting our body by removing injurious stimuli and initiating healing (taken from the Wikipedia entry on inflammation).  Without inflammation, our wounds would not heal.  We need the response.  But longer term, chronic inflammation leads to unnecessary "bystander" damage to tissue when the initial "removal" response is no longer needed.  Why is this important?  Because what we eat can either propagate the occurrence of inflammation or what we eat can help fuel our anti-inflammatory body reaction.  Without an anti-inflammatory response, cellular destruction results, and disorders and disesases like cancer follow.  And, I read in an abstract (I pasted the link below) that obesity (read: extra fat) represents a state of chronic low-level inflammation.  Which explains why studies are linking obesity to major diseases.

I want more anti-inflammatories!  What should I eat? (btw, I made up that term anti-inflammatories)

A top contender on the anti-inflammatory list is turmeric.  It is the yellow powder used in curry.  Turmeric is a powerful anti-inflammatory, and has been used for generations in India.  Eat curry!  I make it in chicken, potatoes and carrots - yum - in a Chinese curry sauce.  Other anti-inflammatory foods include garlic, onion, cruciferous vegetables, fennel, ginger, raspberries, blueberries, goji berries just to name a few.

I typically saute the vegetables - eat them fresh and eat them often. 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1783744/