Yellow Watermelon!

Fourth of July is coming up, and I love watermelon.  Last year I also wrote about watermelon around this time.  This year, the message remains the same - gentlemen, eat your watermelon!  It has lots of lycopene which helps to prevent prostate cancer.  Ladies, eat your watermelon because you need lycopene too!

However, the surprise I have for you is that from our garden, we tried to grow heirloom yellow watermelon.  Check out my pictures!

Sliced Yellow Watermelon

There it is, it's really yellow!  It does taste like watermelon, this one was not as watery but still tasted just like watermelon!  I would think the nutritional qualities are slightly different, but otherwise, tastes like watermelon!  Though when I eat it, I am thrown for a loop, I must say...

Yellow Watermelon

In case you feel unsettled and you just need to see the familiar red watermelon, I have included a picture of our 'mini' watermelon from our garden.  You can't really tell it's minature - but the size of the seeds are kind of big for the fruit, and there is a slight rim around the right, along the peel.  It fit perfectly in a bowl :).

Seeded Watermelon

Breakfast for Champions

Hello! SUMMER!  Can't believe we are already in June, and I have a feeling this month is going to fly by!

Summer is ALL about eating more fresh vegetables and fruit because so much of it is in season, flavorful, and just makes life so immensely enjoyable.  Speaking of which, I snapped a picture of my fruit plate, which I call a breakfast for champions!

I eat in order of least sweet (or not 'as' in season) so that I can end on the most naturally sweet.  Here I started with the blueberries, apricot, kiwi, and ate the pineapple and watermelon interchangeably (but I think in the end the watermelon won, it was just so good.  The blueberries are now coming into season, but the ones we recently bought from Costco were not as sweet and plump as they have been in the past).

In addition, I have been starting breakfast with a plate of fruit.  During summer months with abundant fruit, it's a good time for me to change up my breakfast routine, which is usually oatmeal as I write in past posts.  I also read about a theory that eating fruit BEFORE your meal increases your enzyme absorption from the fruit.  Over the last couple of months, I have been trying this out.  At the very least, it does open up the palate and is very refreshing in the morning.

However, I do eat whole grains or something like oatmeal afterwards, as I have had stomach aches in the past when I only eat fruit for a meal.  Perhaps I am healthier these days, since my stomach is not as queezy when I consumer only fruit, but thought I would just note that for any wary eaters.

Up close picture of my yummy fruit :)

Pom Power

If you haven't seen, right now is pomegranate season.  The pomegranates are so juicy, so sweet, ruby red, and plump.  The fruit is shiny and, in many ways, just tantalizing.  I know that many western books depict the apple as the fruit of temptation in the Garden of Eden.  But, seriously, I think it was the pomegranate.  Have you ever eaten one that is in season?  It's ruby red, jewel-like parcels contain 100% juice.  They burst in your mouth with their refreshing sweet flavor, and the seeds have fiber.

I have been eating so many of these delicious fruits, that the other fruits can't keep my attention like a perfectly ripe pomegranate.  If it were really the pomegranate in the Garden, Eve, I don't blame you.

Pomegranates are packed with antioxidants.  "Pomegranate juice contains the highest antioxidant capacity compared to other juices, red wine, and green tea," said Professor Michael Aviram at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa.  There was one study presented in San Antonio at the American Urological Association Annual Meeting in which 48 men who had been treated for prostate cancer drank 8 ounces of pomegranate juice daily.  Drinking the juice lengthened the time it took for the disease to develop.  Doesn't stop disease, but the results indicated there may be chemicals in the juice that have cancer-fighting benefits.

Pomegranate juice also has been shown to inhibit the oxidation of LDL ("bad" cholesterol).  And at least five studies have demonstrated a beneficial effect of pomegranate juice on cardiovascular health.

A study published in the Journal of Urology examined the long-term intake of pomegranate juice on erectile dysfunction (in an animal model).  Results suggest that free radicals (oxidative stress) are a contribution factor in erectile dysfunction.  In response, antioxidants protect your cells from free radicals, and is an important part of the daily diet.  It may be time to get your pomegranate on!

Our collection of pomegranates:

Source: 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth by Jonny Bowden

Macaroons vs. the Mini Watermelon

Today is Random Picture Day at FindingFoodorLove.  It's a battle between partially eaten macaroons from my absolute favorite French bakery, Vanille in Chicago (my taste of Paris), and our organic, miniature watermelon from the garden.  No philosophical insight here, just total randomness.  I think the watermelon looks like it has some inherent advantage, don't you think?  Interesting that the colors of my macaroons (red velvet, passion fruit with a hint of coconut, and pistachio *so tantalizing*) are the same colors as my watermelon!  Guess I was thinking 'watermelon' when I was buying the macaroons or more probably, I subconsciously like this color combination.

The watermelon, by the way, was so incredibly awesome.  It was juicy, crisp, sweet, and personal (I consumed 1/2 of the entire thing since it was so small).  I have to admit, the thirst quenching watermelon got me eating it more and more, but left my macaroons half eaten.

Cold Feet and Hands

Cold feet and hands.  Most everyone has experienced this to one extent or another, especially when the weather starts to turn cooler.  I know in the last few weeks, my feet were cold even with wool socks on and it is only September!  But for some, the condition can happen in all seasons and during the winter months, it is really frigid and make a person more prone to getting sick.

Cold feet and hands are often due to poor circulation.  And as we get older, particularly when we become elderly, we need to do things to help our circulation (it just doesn't flow like it used to, haha).

I actually do a hot foot spa at night that really helps get the blood flowing.  All our main blood vessels flow through the feet, so if you feel cold, get some hot water and sink your feet in, you will feel an almost immediate difference.

What we eat makes a big difference for our circulation. 

1) Drink warm fluids and eat hot foods.  I remember how once I was feeling so cold but ate a salad and ice cream.  Dumb.  It takes energy to warm up what we consume to our body temperature.  This is why drinking cold water (with ice) when you feel cold is like taking the long, unnecessary route to work.  Drinking water is absolutely necessary and helps your circulation, but why make your body work harder to use it?

2) Eat arginine-rich foods.  Arginine, an amino acid, is suppose to help produce nitric oxide, which is said to expand diameter of the vessels, allowing more blood to flow.  Foods rich in arginine include peanuts, almonds, walnuts, Brazil nuts, soybeans, pork, beef, chicken, turkey, oats, wheat, barley, chickpeas, salmon, tuna and mackerel.

3) Eat fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices.  Food rich in antioxidants (particularly flavonoids) have been shown to improve the health of blood vessels.  Some of these foods include pomegranates, concord grapes, raspberries, strawberries, cranberries, cherries, apples, kale, broccoli, parsley, celery, onions, and chiles.  The herb thyme and cinnamon are also beneficial.


Source: 101 Optimal Foods by David Grotto
Related Posts: Cold Remedy II - How to Stay Warm

Genetically Modified: It's all in the numbers

You're at the grocery store and looking for some fruit.  Hey, these apples look and feel pretty crunchy, bet it's fresh.  Wait a sec, you eye those juicy, plump white peaches.  Oh actually, across the way, I can just taste that sweet and drippy mango!  Drool. 

Welcome to Summer!!!  Summer heat just draws us (or I should say, me) to eating fruit all the time.  Sweeter and juicier, the better.

Awesome to see all this fruit, but if you are like me and want to avoid eating genetically modified all the time, well actually, eat it never the time, you might want to know that the numbers on the little sticker actually mean something and tell you how that piece of fruit came into existence.  That is, how it was reared. 

The little sticker helps with the checkout process, but the numbers also represent the PLU code, or price lookup number in the U.S.  Here's how the system works:

For conventionally grown fruit (grown with chemical pesticides), the PLU code consists of four numbers.
For organically grown fruit (which also may have pesticides but not as much), the PLU code consists of five numbers, prefaced by the number 9.
For genetically-modified (GM) fruit, the PLU code consists of five numbers, prefaced by the number 8.

If that was too hard to follow (don't worry, I felt the same at first too), here are visual examples.

Take a banana for instance.

Conventionally grown banana would read: 4011
Organic banana: 94011
Genetically modified or engineered (GMO, GE, GM) banana: 84011

So the next time you are at the grocery store, take a look, and decide how your fruit should grow up...  Just remember, don't eat the stickers!

Source: www.plantea.com