Alternative Perspective
Summer Foods and Other News
By Tammera J. Karr. PhD
As summer gets into full swing with graduations, weddings, potlucks, and picknicks, we reach for favorite foods, that add flavor to summer. What is a picnic without potatoes salad or a crisp, refreshing cob salad topped with slices of eggs and flavorful ham? As I was scanning through research articles, I came across this tidbit about the health benefits of egg’s on salads.
The article title – Top salads with eggs to better absorb vegetables’ carotenoids
Released June 5th, 2015 from Purdue University, the article goes on to say: “Adding eggs to a salad with a variety of raw vegetables is an effective method to improve the absorption of carotenoids, which are fat-soluble nutrients that help reduce inflammation and oxidative stress, according to research.” “Most people do not eat enough vegetables in their diets, and at the same time, people are consuming salad dressings that have less fat or are fat-free,” said Jung Eun Kim, a postdoctoral researcher in Purdue’s Department of Nutrition Science. “Our research findings support that people obtained more of the health-promoting carotenoids from raw vegetables when cooked whole eggs were also consumed. Eggs, a nutrient-rich food containing essential amino acids, unsaturated fatty acids and B vitamins, may be used to increase the nutritive value of vegetables, which are under-consumed by the majority of people living in the United States.”
Now this is just one of many articles available illustrating the synergistic benefits of food combining; Over the last fifty years we have been encouraged to do one diet or another, stop eating this food or that, all the while our health as a nation spirals downward. Summer as rural kids, we may have spent hours outside grazing off fresh fruits and vegetables that were readily at hand in a family members garden or growing wild. When summer vacation came, so did the outdoor activities of branding, softball, rodeos, 4-H events, camping trips and countless other activities. Along with these activities came foods easy to fix on hot days, or eat off the tailgate.
A fresh organic salad, hard boiled eggs, fresh berries and veggies are real food that creates health, not those foods that are limp, overcooked or from bags, boxes, cans, and jars, loaded with refined ingredients. There is a simple elegance to a colorful salad and on hot days, it is refreshing and easy to digest if it isn’t swimming in fake goo. And now we have a group of scientists reporting what your grandmother already knew….
Up Next: FDA Fires Direct Shot at Small, Local, Artisanal Food Producers. Now this headline caught my attention because of all the small businesses in my state that are food based. The budding entrepreneurs provide revenue and jobs in their local communities. Many of the food products they produce are higher quality than those made by large food manufacturers, who pay little or nothing into local communities.
The Alliance for Natural Health reported June 2, 2015 the following information: “The FDA is proposing a new regulation that could shutter the doors of your favorite artisanal food producers. An amendment to the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in 2010 by Sens. Jon Tester (D-MT) and Kay Hagan (D-NC), exempted producers making less than $500,000 a year in sales who also sold most of their food locally.
However, the FDA has simply ignored the intent of the Tester-Hagan amendment in a new rule it has proposed. In interpreting the amended FSMA, FDA determined that only food produced on a farm and then sold locally at a farmer’s market or roadside stand would qualify. This interpretation leaves out artisanal food producers who make bread, cheese, oils, or other prepared foods to be sold locally. These producers will now be responsible for complying with the complicated and burdensome FSMA rules, which could lead to many of them having to close down their business.” This bothers me, the draconian rules imposed by overreaching government regulatory agencies, on honest individuals trying to build a business is a violation of personal freedoms. This isn’t about food safety; it is about profits and market shares for large companies potentially not even located within your state.
So while you enjoy that deviled egg or potato salad remember there is still mischief a foot in Washington DC, while we are occupied with summer fun.
To your good health and food freedom.