By Land or By Sea, Green Superfoods

Over the last couple months I wrote about a variety of superfoods. Nuts, seeds, berries, and now green stuff that is nutrient-dense for their tiny size. We’ve got nutritious green stuff that we find in the garden and not as familiar green stuff from the water’s depths.

For the landlovers, we’ve got your grasses-alfalfa, barley, and wheat (no relation to the grain) and your leafy green vegetables – to name a few: arugula, beet greens, chicory, collards, dandelion, endive and escarole, kale, kohlrabi, lettuces, mustard greens, parsley, spinach, swiss chard, turnip greens, and watercress.

Some controversy surrounds the benefits of grasses, but grass is a green plant and contains nutrients. I am allergic to wheatgrass but used barley grass throughout a 6 month cleanse several years ago.

Individuals on blood thinners need to eliminate Vitamin K intake because it is a blood thinning vitamin, meaning you will need to avoid most of these lovely greens. But, the flip side is if your doctor allows it and monitors your blood levels closely and you are committed to maintaining healthy diet chock full of green veggies, you can reduce you medication. This can only be done with the full support and guidance of your doctor!

Other than Vitamin K, depending on the leafy greens you consume, you will be taking in more calcium than you’d get from dairy, Vitamin A, C and E are up there too, magnesium, obviously fiber, inulin, chlorophyll – what I call the “blood” of the plant (a must for vegetarians!)

Yes, greens taste bitter and pungent. Our standard American diet is quite sweet and salty and oily, so the pungent and bitter tastes of veggies will be amplified until you are accustomed to them. This can be like feeding a baby new foods. It takes more than a few tries to not have it thrown back in your face! A little experimenting, a little help from cookbooks or blogs or wherever you collect recipes, will help you find the perfect way to eat your greens. Some I eat raw and some I eat steamed or sautéed. I like the flavors, and am overly sensitive to what most people enjoy, sweet and salty.

If you are going to try ANY superfood, try the grain-like seeds of quinoa and amaranth and then greens. It is easier to try a spin on something you already eat than to implement an additional food. Truly packed with nutrients, my clients with sugar-cravings or chocolate cravings soon lose the urge to OD on sugar when increasing their intake of green vegetables. I have noticed that chocolate cravings are a mask for the body’s need for magnesium, a stress relieving mineral which helps with sleep and muscular tension.

For the waterlovers, we’ve got your algae- wild blue green, spirulina, chlorella and your seaweeds.

I suggest talking to a nutritionist with a Chinese Medicine bent. With a consultation we can assess which green is best for you. Some people have strong, hot digestive systems which can handle the cold natured/temperature spirulina, whereas others need to nourish their yin and need one a little more subtle like chlorella, or, not a seaweed but, a grass that is warm natured like alfalfa. I myself stick with chlorella to nourish my waning yin and Wild Blue Green for all of its neurological attributes. A great supplement that I’ve seen work wonders with kids’ development is BioAge. I am taking the supplement now. I will let you know what I notice!

Sea veggies contain many times more calcium and iron than milk or beef. Brown wakame can be used instead of lettuce in a sandwich. Arame, brown stringy strands, I like to mix with hot pepper sauce, sautéed kale, and a few other vegetables in a cold salad. Kombu is a food tenderizer. I toss a large piece into the boiling water with dry legumes. It begins the process of breaking down fiber reducing the gaseous effects some people experience. Dulse is a red/purple color and available as sheets and flakes. It is nutty and mild. I shake it onto foods and grains as others would salt. No cooking or reconstituting needed. Green nori can be used to wrap something other than sushi.

Here are well-known healthy sea vegetables worth considering:

• Irish moss seems to contain 15 of the 18 essential elements that make up the human body. This includes great amounts calcium, iodine, sulphur, and potassium as well as Vitamins A, D, E, F and K. This definitely makes it a superfood, plus it was the main food source during the time of famine in Ireland!
  It has expectorant, demulcent, anti-inflammatory actions. It is beneficial for the skin, connective tissue, for an array of lung conditions, for peptic and duodenal ulcers, for urinary bladder inflammation, and for diabetic maintenance.
  I soaked this in water and kept in the fridge and added to smoothies. When blended with 3 times the water, it makes a paste and will add a creamy fluffy texture to recipes.
  

Other sea veggie options:

• Arame , a mild, almost sweet brown kelp is a great place to begin if you’re unaccustomed to eating sea veggies. It's usually found in thin dried strands. Soak a small handful in water until soft, add to your favorite salad then toss on your favorite salad dressing. Your salad becomes even more nutritious. I usually combine with shredded carrots and shredded broccoli stalks, sesame seeds, steamed cool kale, and thai chili paste and veggie mayo. It’s really good!
• Dulse is packed with protein and iron. I sprinkle the flakes on many things.
• Kombu, a popular ingredient in miso soup and other Japanese dishes. Just put a small strip in water and simmer for 45 minutes or longer on low heat. Now you have a wonderful mineral-rich broth. Now, simple cook veggies, soups, or your grain-like seeds in this broth. I add a small strip of kombu to a pot of cooking beans to soften and increase digestibility.
• Wakame – Closely related to kombu, this variety was found to have fat burning properties that could fight obesity, according to research from Japan. I add this to my smoothies. I soak a week’s worth in water and keep in the fridge.
• Laminaria Japonica - This miracle cleanser of heavy metals. It’s rich in vitamins and minerals that help support your thyroid, detoxify your body from heavy metals and ward off disease.
• Kelp – A brown algae, kelp grows in nutrient-rich ocean water and is packed with vitamins, minerals and iodine. Kelp is thought to be especially useful for prostate, pancreas and digestive health. It is recommended for a gamut of thyroid disorders. Your thyroid needs minerals (like the ones found in ocean veggies) and certain fats to work well.
• Nori – the common sushi wrapper, as “seaweed sheets” use them as wraps or they taste delicious when toasted. Nori in Japan is used like injerra in Ethiopia as implement to convey food like rice to mouth.
• Hijiki – Makes a great natural beauty aid. It needs more cooking than arame.
• Agar – Agar is wonderful for creating delicious sugar-free desserts. It is a vegetarian alternative to gelatin. It can be used in both sweet and savory dishes and has mild laxative properties...so can be helpful for those who suffer from constipation.

Nutty, Seedy Superfoods

Hemp Hemp is big right now. It is more alkaline than most proteins, and more easily digestible. Our bodies need to be more alkaline, and it also needs protein. Hemp is a complete protein containing all 10 essential amino acids our bodies don’t produce. When muscle repair and reduction of inflammation is paramount, hemp would be the protein of choice as it contains anti-inflammatory properties for speeding soft-tissue repair.

The athletic community will swear by animal protein stating treat like with like -eat muscle to treat muscle. I have swallowed my tongue a few times because I just can’t expend too much energy on brainwashed, sore-muscled athletes! My gym experience speaks for itself. I have experienced little to no muscle soreness, and quicker recovery than my meat-eating workout partner (She’s great but a staunch believer in treat like with like).

I believe in eating an array of foods, and our bodies like diversity, so you don’t need to make hemp your only protein! There are plenty of nuts, grains, oils that are equally beneficial in combination. Hemp is very easy to add to a smoothie for protein, more easily digested as a powder than possibly adding ground seeds to a smoothie. Whichever form you choose Thrive states to “look for a deep green color, pleasant smell and sweet, nutty taste” free of pesticides and herbicides.

Quinoa Here’s one of those protein alternative to hemp. Is it a grain? is it a seed? No matter, it is cooked like a grain, pulverized into a gluten-free flour, sprouted in the raw tradition. I’ve been eating quinoa since the mid-90’s. I didn’t like it initially since I was used to rice and pasta, but soon it became a staple. I started eating it as a cooked grain, then as flour in my gluten-free creations, and most recently as a sprouted raw ingredient. The profile of quinoa? It contains twenty percent protein, is packed with lysine, iron and potassium and B vitamins. It does contain a high fat profile but its good fat.

Amaranth is another high protein (17%) grain/seed but lower in fat (8% in the form of Vitamin E) than quinoa. It is not as readily available in grocery stores, but easily found online. I started using this as a gluten-free grain in the beginning of 2002 as the easily digestible protein in my Power Puff muffins for my triathlete friends. It has a 90 percent digestion rate so it is easy on the digestive system and a high net food meaning you get lots of nutrition in this one seed! It is high in calcium, iron, potassium, phosphorus, and vitamins A and C. Amaranth contains THREE times the fiber of wheat and FOUR times the iron.

Twister Powder Superfood Blend contains Hemp, Cacao, and Maca providing antioxidants, omega fatty acids, and protein. Mix your hemp that is high in protein and omega 3 oils; your antioxidant rich cacao and maca for the endocrine system creates an energizing nourishing easy blend that is also easily digested and absorbed. (see previous post for info on Cacao and Maca)

Navitas Naturals, the maker of Twister Powder provides organic power foods that increase energy and enhance health. You can easily add this to cereals - I like it with oatmeal, or use in smoothies, or as a flour substitute.

Coconut Tried coconut water? The water of the young Thai white coconut is sweet, cooling, refreshing and chock full of potassium, magnesium and calcium. The potassium makes it a great supplement for some forms of hypertension. Magnesium is beneficial for stress reduction and easing muscle tension. Coconut contains lauric acid which can ease digestive issues during pregnancy. It contains antiviral properties and is said to improve the immune system.The electrolyte content makes it perfect for replenishing and rehydrating the body after a workout or a day in the heat. If you need serious replenishing after a workout, you may need to add a little sodium to your post workout intake since coconut water doesn’t have as much as commercial sports drinks. Coconut water is available commercially, but I prefer to purchase cases of coconut at Asian markets to avoid any processing.

You can also use the water to make coconut kefir. Kefir consists of healthy bacterial strains like yogurt but at higher concentrations. Adding kefir starter to the naturally sweet coconut water creates a fizzy, sour, champagne-like drink, like a spritzer. The bacteria feeds on the natural sugar and your body won’t suffer from the long term effects of consuming too much sugar. Those unwanted effects are any conditions resulting from a too acidic environment: joint pains to skin and intestinal issues to cancers.

How about coconut meat? If you mix the meat with the water, you have the creamy coconut base for Thai curry. Coconut oil and therefore the meat are a saturated fat. Use of saturated fats in moderation is beneficial; coconut oil specifically can aid is weight loss as it boosts the metabolism. Of course it is most beneficial used in conjunction with a whole plant-based diet. I personally still promote the primary consumption of olive oil, flax and hemp oils.

Next, By Land or By Sea, we will find the Green Superfoods.

SuperBerries SuperRoot SuperBean

A warning to superfood-lovers, my profiles on superfoods may seem a little sobering. I am providing the beneficial and the cautionary. Some are non-indigenous items and therefore maybe not eco-conscious or green or maintain their superfood profile once they get to our kitchens, while others are medicinal according to Chinese medicine. The medicinal aspect is why different ways of eating work for different people. Goji berries may create some intestinal issues for one person, but create noticeable improvement in energy for others.


SuperBerries
Acai, a berry like others, is packed with antioxidants, but unlike North American berries is high in essential fatty acids and fiber, higher than your average berry in trace minerals and phytonutrients. On the flip side, this berry is indigenous to the Amazon so there is processing and packaging involved and sometimes considerable sugar. With any produce, my feeling is one should consume it as close to its natural state, not processed and sugared. I would rather eat a local berry chock full of its goodness and add other ingredients high in essential fatty acids, fiber and minerals. If local berries are out of season, the powdered or liquid form of acai is the perfect choice to add to smoothies or other treats.



Goji berries have been talked about the last few years; it is second after cacao and cocoa in antioxidant levels. This tiny pinkish red dried berry is a mild tonic herb in Chinese medicine. Specifically we say it “builds blood”. Goji to some, fructus lycii or wolfberry to others, and gou qi zi to the Chinese herbalist, it is sweet in taste and neutral in temperature; energetically influences the Liver, Lung, Kidney acupuncture meridians; moistens the fluids or yin aspect of the body. Examples of what this berry can treat are sore back and legs, low grade abdominal pain, impotence, diabetes, consumption (when caused by a weakened state of the liver and kidney meridians or lack of yin fluids). It benefits essence and brighten eyes, aids dizziness, blurred or diminished visual acuity, enrich fluids/yin and moisten lung for consumptive cough. Not used for externally contracted excess heat patterns (infections) and cases of weak digestion with damp and loose stool.

In research this berry shows to reduce damage to hepatic cells in mice long term, ingestion in rats resulted in increase in serum and liver phospholipids; reduced blood pressure and labored breathing in rabbits when administered intravenously. A few things it contains: betaine, carotene, physalien, thiamine, riboflavin, vitamin C, beta sitosterol, and linoleic acid.

In the raw community goji is touted as this amazing energy source. In my opinion and experience as a Chinese herbalist if someone experiences a great energy surge ingesting gojis then some serious energy or blood or fluids need regeneration in that person. Yes, goji is beneficial, it is a lovely medicinal, and being mild it is beneficial for most everyone. I often receive samples of medicinal from herbal companies. A few years back, bringing my mail upstairs, my salivary glands were a little extra active. Odd, yes? I opened the package to find a sample of gou qi zi. Obviously I needed a little gou qi zi in my life. That walk up the stairs was a blind kinesiology experiment! In Chinese herbology we don’t even eat the berry, we decoct it in a herbal tea with other roots, rhizomes and leaves! It is used in Chinese cooking – I’ve had trout with goji and other green herbs and I now make energy bars (and smoothies) with gojis.



SuperRoot
Maca is a starchy root vegetable from Latin America – Peruvian Ginseng. You might know ginseng as the sexual tonic you can pick up behind the counter of some gas stations! Most if not all varieties of ginseng (Siberian, Chinese, Peruvian) are adaptogens and increase qi or energy. Maca, a medicinal, is a general endocrine tonic and used in my clinic to treat reproductive, fertility, and adrenal imbalances.

Maca contains the precursors for serotonin. If you suffer from sugar cravings this might be for you. The brain trying to calm your stressed body knows it needs to increase serotonin levels; sugar is the brain’s attempt to do that. Maca contains the precursors so the body can process the maca into serotonin and truly aid in adapting to stress. It is also rich in sterols for quick muscle regeneration. It repairs damage on the adrenal glands: damage from nutritional stress (caffeine), environmental stress (pollution), emotional stress, and life stress. Americans adrenals are tapped out from a lifestyle of performing at a high level for long periods therefore self-medicating to rev up and come down. When the adrenals are not performing, hormones decline causing signs of premature aging, excess body fat and impaired ability to build muscle and recover from stress, among other ailments.



Coconuts. (though it is a fruit will be discussed in the next post on nuts and seeds)



SuperBean
Cacao. The bean of the cacao fruit/pod, the food of the gods, contains the highest concentration of magnesium and antioxidants of any source – more than red wine, green tea, goji berries, or green vegetables. It is a good source of other trace minerals the majority of Americans are lacking like chromium.

Magnesium, the most powerful stress relieving mineral, relaxes muscles and builds strong bones and teeth. I usually recommend a magnesium supplement for clients who have sleep issues, palpitations from anxiety, and muscle soreness especially at night.


Antioxidants, anti-aging chemicals in whole plant foods, add a layer of protection to cells and fight free radical damage (cause of disease). Cacao is an excellent source of tryptophan, an essential amino acid converted to serotonin, think stress relief and mood elevation. It contains 1/20th of coffee’s caffeine and, unlike caffeine, does not spike blood sugar and contains no sugar. It is touted as a weight loss food and I would say because it is a high net food – adding many essentials a body needs so your body needs to take in less quantity of food.

Cocoa is the processed cacao meaning takes most of good stuff out except the flavor. Liken cocoa to white bread, devoid of all the nutrients of the wheat kernel, cacao bean. Adding dairy to cacao or cocoa cancels out the antioxidant effects, sorry!

Raw cacao is quite expensive when compared to your tin of Hershey’s cocoa powder. A little goes a long way and you can always use half cacao and half cocoa in recipes!





Next, the nuts and seeds of superfoods.

The Superheroes of Food

They” call them superfoods or next level foods, I call them seeds and berries and algae. I do add to my smoothies seaweeds and other superfoods. Items within this category of power-packed foods vary depending who is making the list!

Gillian McKeith, controversial nutritionist, divides superfoods into 5 categories: Green, Bee, Herb, Sea, and Leafy. But she doesn’t include Brendan Brazier’s or living foods/whole plant food enthusiasts or most of the raw foods community favorites on her list: cacao, acai, goji berries, quinoa, hemp, maca, among others.

Essential qualities in my opinion for a living thing to be deemed superfood be it from a bee, the sea, a tree, or a leaf are:

• Contains a higher concentration of vitamins, minerals or trace minerals than others in its grouping of food coupled with either essential fatty acids, protein, fiber, a more alkaline profile, and possibly some sort of “anti-“ properties anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-aging…

The idea is consume high-net gain foods – nutrient dense foods - therefore less food. Get more nutrient bang for your buck and effort! We don’t need all the food that we eat, our bodies need a certain daily allowance of building blocks to maintain homeostasis. If the body doesn’t meet that allowance, the specific cravings (I need cheese or chocolate) or vague cravings (I want something I just don’t know what) start.

So if I am making a green smoothie today containing 3 veggies, 1 fruit, and 2 superfoods that contain these high concentrations of good stuff, I am giving my body premium fuel and all it needs to run optimally. I obviously eat other meals throughout the day, but I am satiated longer, eat smaller quantities, and have no cravings.

The body will use less effort compensating for a lack of essential amino acids and lack of electrolytes and other good stuff for all the muscles (heart and brain and other organs included!) creating more energy available to get through your day. Believe me, I tested it. Months of green smoothies, green smoothies with superfoods, a few days of no green smoothies, days with more fruit based smoothies, and back to green smoothies. Once you are accustomed to a certain energy level and multi-tasking ability, when it wanes you notice.

Yes, I used superfoods in meals that did not require a straw. Sprouted quinoa is a favorite in combination with veggies and legumes. Hemp seeds or powder satiated hunger for hours! Seaweed salad and nori-wrapped creations are right up there too. I suggest slowly introducing foods and those that seem more palatable. If you haven’t soaked seaweeds and combined them with other ingredients, ask someone or get a recipe or check out pre-made salads at your natural grocer. You don’t want to thwart your progress before you begin!

Next up profiling berries, seeds and algae!