Amala

"CLEAN, PURE"
Why I Quit My Job
I have serious problems with the direction taken by Canadian policy and politics in the last five years. But as a reporter, I feel like I’ve been holding my breath. Every question I asked, every tweet I posted, and even what I said to other journalists and friends had to go through a filter, where my own opinions and values were carefully strained out. Even then I’m not sure I was always successful, but I always knew at the CBC and subsequently at CTV that there were serious consequences for editorial. Within the terms of my employment at CTV, there was a clause in which the corporation (now Bellmedia) literally took ownership of my intellectual property output. If I invented a better mouse trap, they owned the patent. If I wrote a novel, they got a cut. Rhymes on the back of a napkin? Bellmedia is hip to the jive, yo. And if I ever said anything out of line with my position as an “objective” TV reporter, they had grounds to fire me. I had a sinking feeling when I first read that clause, but I signed because I was 23 and I wanted the job. Now I want my opinions back. [...]

What I need is to better myself spiritually, physically, and intellectually, so I can effect meaningful change in the world around me. I don’t know yet where this impulse will take me, but I know I can’t go back to working parallel to the real problems, hiding my opinions and yet somehow hoping that one viewer every night might piece together what I wanted to say. I thought if I paid my dues and worked my way up through the ranks, I could maybe reach a position of enough influence and credibility that I could say what I truly feel. I’ve realized there’s no time to wait. [...]



Five Reasons Why Detoxifying Swiss Chard Is One Of The Healthiest Greens
[Chatelaine – Jul 11, 2011]

The Mediterranean diet is one of the world's healthiest, thanks in part to the amount of green vegetables it contains including Swiss chard. Red, pink, purple, yellow and white chard are close relatives of beet greens.

When you compare foods calorie for calorie, Swiss chard is a nutritional powerhouse: it has more vitamin A than squash, more vitamin C than citrus and more vitamin E than avocado! Chard also provides essential alkaline minerals, which are needed to balance acid-forming foods such as animal products.

Here are five more reasons to pick up Swiss chard at the farmers' market:

1. Swiss chard can help lower cholesterol: Swiss chard contains betalains, which are also found in beets. Betalains are well known to have powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification properties, but there is also current research that indicates these leafy greens can actually lower LDL cholesterol levels.

2. It's a natural anti-inflammatory: Swiss chard contains high amounts of vitamin K, which reduces cytokines, the chemicals your body releases when it is in a state of inflammation.

3. This green can help prevent hypothyroidism: One cup of Swiss chard contains over 100 percent of your daily requirements of vitamin A. Vitamin A aids in the prevention and treatment of hypothyroidism by improving the rate of iodine absorption. Iodine is necessary for the creation of thyroid hormones and the maintenance of a healthy metabolism.

4. Boost your magnesium with Swiss chard: Magnesium is used as a preventative measure for chronic asthma and has been shown to reduce hospital visits for asthma attacks. Maintaining adequate magnesium can also prevent the onset of headaches and help your body manage stress better.

5. Swiss chard supports healthy liver function: Swiss chard contains a flavonoid called syringic acid, which prevents liver degeneration and lowers liver enzymes in the blood. This makes Swiss chard the perfect tonic after a night of indulgence or have it every day to improve overall liver function!

Swiss Chard Dolmades
This recipe is an adaption of Ezra Title's version, from our show Healthy Gourmet .

Ingredients:
½ cup ricotta cheese (low fat), crumbled
¼ cup black olives, pitted and halved
1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced
1 lemon, juiced
1 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
6 medium Swiss chard leaves, blanched
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
pinch sea salt (optional)

Directions:
1. Cut Swiss chard leaves into six squares, approximately six inches squared.
2. In a shallow pot, bring two cups of water to a gentle boil. Using a slotted spoon or spatula, dip one square at a time in the boiling water for 15 seconds. In a medium bowl, place the freshly blanched Swiss chard into cold water to stop the cooking process. Repeat with other leaves. Let cool.
3. Place a leaf square on a work surface and layer in ½ tablespoon of cheese, a few olives, 2 tbsp of tomato, a sprinkle of pine nuts and one or two basil leaves on top. Squeeze fresh lemon juice on top of mixture.
4. To create dolmades, first fold in the sides of the chard, then roll the leaf up until sealed.
Makes six rolls

Aruna

"REDDISH BROWN"

The Screening Dilemma
Among all the reasons overscreening is taking place, the least discussed — and most disturbing — is money.

Top 30 Superfoods
Dr. Fuhrman: Recipes

Francesca

FORM OF FRANCISCUS
Rawnola Bar

Metromint
We start with the best mint in the world. Real mint. Fresh, flavorful, pesticide-free mint grown in Washington State's Yakima Valley. We treat the mint using a double-distillation process that steams the leaves until we reach the true essence of the mint. We test for taste, and then test again for purity.

Our water is purified using reverse-osmosis, a process that saves all the good stuff and filters out the bad, including salts, impurities, and particles as small as an ion. What's left is a blank canvas, so that we can showcase the taste of mint.

QuinWow

BREADFRUIT
Breadfruit is a staple food in many tropical regions. They were propagated far outside their native range by Polynesian voyagers who transported root cuttings and air-layered plants over long ocean distances. They are very rich in starch, and before being eaten they are roasted, baked, fried or boiled. When cooked the taste is described as potato-like, or similar to fresh-baked bread (hence the name).

Roast Breadfruit: recipe
Roast Breadfuit: Jamaican Style

Breadfruit: Tahitian Style
Breadfruit Tostones

BOILED BREADFRUIT w/SALTFISH, TOMATOES & ONIONS

How Do You Like Your Breadfruit?

Steamed Breadfruit w/Smoked Herring Sauce & Avocado

TARO ROOT
Taro was used by the early Romans in much the same way the potato would later be used by Europeans.

The small round variety is peeled and boiled, sold either frozen, bagged in its own liquids, or canned. The plant is actually inedible when raw because of needle-shaped raphides (calcium oxalate) in the plant cells.

McDonald's sells Taro flavored pies at their stores in China.

Taro chips are often used as a potato-chip-like snack. Compared to potato chips, taro chips are harder and have a more nutty flavor.

Terra Taro Chips

Taro Chips: recipe

Taro Root Dumplings

CASSAVA
Cassava (also called yuca or manioc) is the third largest source of carbohydrates for meals in the world. Cassava is classified as "sweet" or "bitter" depending on the level of toxic cyanogenic glucosides; improper preparation of bitter cassava causes a disease called konzo.

Cassava roots are very rich in starch, and contain significant amounts of calcium, phosphorus and vitamin C. However, they are poor in protein and other nutrients.

The cassava plant gives the highest yield of food energy per cultivated area per day among crop plants, except possibly for sugarcane.

Cassava-based dishes are widely consumed wherever the plant is cultivated. Some of these dishes have regional, national, or ethnic importance. Cassava must be cooked properly to detoxify it before it is eaten.

Cassava Balls

Chili Garlic Cassava Chips

Cassava and Cheese Pies

Roasted Cassava

Cassava Coconut Vietnamese Cake

Cassava Pone

Cassava Chips

PLANTAIN
Plantains tend to be firmer and lower in sugar content than dessert bananas. Bananas are most often eaten raw, while plantains usually require cooking or other processing, and are used either when green or under-ripe (and therefore starchy) or overripe (and therefore sweet). Plantains are a staple food in the tropical regions of the world, treated in much the same way as potatoes and with a similar neutral flavour and texture when the unripe fruit is cooked by steaming, boiling or frying.

Plantain Fritters


Plantain Chips: recipe

Green Plantain Fries


Acidophilus Ultra

Salome

REL. TO SHALOM
Vegan Yum Yum

Easy Weekend Pancakes

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: 75 Dairy-Free Recipes for Cupcakes That Rule

20 More Tasty Vegan Recipes...That Don't Suck!
Vegan Backpacker
Vegan Food: set

How to Get Plenty of Iron As a Vegan
COMMENT
"As far as it goes, this is all OK, but it is basically deceptive in that it implies that vegans have a tendency to be more iron deficient than the average population. This is absolutely not the case. Vegans have no higher rates for iron deficiency than the average population. As the author states, there's plenty of iron in greens, grains, and vegetables. People who are vegetarian, on the other hand, have higher rates of iron deficiency because there is absolutely no iron in milk, cheese, and other dairy products, and so vegetarians who eat lots of dairy products (not a good idea!) have higher rates of iron deficiency. This is all well-known. Anyone can do a little research on the web to discover this. Go to Dr. McDougall for more excellent information on iron and anything about health for vegans, who, by the way, are typically much healthier and longer-lived than the average population. The author points out that if we don't bleed, we never lose iron. This can actually be a huge problem for meat-eaters, because the body cannot dispose of heme iron, the kind in meat. So many meat eaters may have too much iron, which is toxic and damaging to the body. Plant-based sources of iron (non-heme) are easily disposed of by the body through feces and urine, so vegans never get too much iron the way meat-eaters do.

One final note, since the myth that vegans may be deficient in vitamins and minerals persists through these kind of articles, this is information from an excellent book, The World Peace Diet - whereas vegans have been shown to be at risk for deficiencies in three nutrients (calcium, iodine, and B-12), people eating the standard American diet are at risk for deficiencies in seven nutrients (calcium, iodine, vitamin C, vitamin E, fiber, folate, and magnesium). Vegans typically eat more fruits and veggies than the general population and in recent studies have been shown to have higher intakes of 16 out of 19 nutrients, including 3 times more vitamin C, vitaminE, and fiber, twice the folate, magnesium, copper, and manganese, and more calcium and plenty of protein."






BACON DOUGHNUT CHEESEBURGER




Processed People: documentary
The statistics are terrifying.

Two hundred million Americans are overweight and 100 million are obese. More than 75 million Americans have high blood pressure. 24 million people are diabetic. Heart disease remains the No. 1 cause of death for men and women, followed by stroke and obesity-related cancers. Obesity is about to overtake tobacco as the No. 1 cause of preventable deaths in the United States.

60% of bankruptcies are caused by what has become known as “medical debt.”

Fast food, fast medicine, fast news and fast lives have turned many Americans into a sick, uninformed, indebted, “processed” people.

Processed People: trailer
"A lot of us are still undernourished despite the fact that we're overfed."

Dr. McDougall: Curing the Sickest People
"Same thing with food: you change it from grease to starch and people always get better, cause you change it from wrong to right."

Dr. Jay Gordon: No One Needs Meat for Health
"We do know that in a country that has one of the highest dairy intakes in the world, we also have one of the highest incidences of osteoporosis."

John Robbins: Why I Went Vegetarian
"We eat these products from them as if it's the normal thing to do when really there's misery on the menu when we do that."

What Makes You Sick?
"It wasn't inevitable that as you get older you get fatter and sicker cause these people didn't. They maintained their good health and activity into their old age; it was because of their diet."

Dr. McDougall: Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1
"The downside to this is that not only does IGF-1 promote the growth of normal tissues like bones, but it promotes the growth of abnormal tissues like cancer."

What's the Healthiest Diet?
"There's room for differences and there's also room for what's best for each individual."

"A starch-based diet with fruits and vegetables has never failed a population of billions of people."

"We want to get as much variety and nutritional diversity in our diet as possible."

Foods That Kill (Part 1)
"You keep your blood fatty for 40, 50, 60 years, what do you think is going to happen to the arteries carrying all that fat? I'll show you...it's a disaster."

Eat to Live: The Revolutionary Formula for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss