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FOOD OF THE WEEK
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Teeny Tiny Seedy Nutrients!
 
Hopefully many of these little healthy nutrients will sit on many tables this week of feasting!
 
Unlocking of the almost unlimited healing power of the foods we eat every day is an uphill battle for those of us in the war against disease. Fast food has so adulterated our eating that we no longer look on foods with the same eye as times past. Today more and more studies are showing the benefits of raw and healthy foods yet we are not seeing enough of it in the mainstream media. And if you think about it, the medical establishment has always known -- and accepted -- that bad foods can make you sick. Yet these "experts" are as slow as molasses in accepting the flip side of the coin, namely, that GOOD foods can make you well! Doctors almost never mention foods unless it in relation to the cholesterol myth.
 
Educating people on good foods in relation to health is a real uphill battle against all the processed and fast foods around. Listen and take note that the old saying, "What you eat is what you are!" is very true!
 
These teeny tiny little seeds are great illnesses preventers and or healers!
 
Even though berry season is past in most areas you can still find them in stores both frozen and fresh. Berries are usually seed bearing and those seeds are important to our health.
 
I keep packages of different kinds of frozen berries in my freezer for my cobbler craving winter days. I grew up eating my grandmother's fantastic berry cobblers and they still remain my favorite. Strawberries make their way onto our table in the form of shortcake in strawberry season and mixed with other fruits as smoothies or pureed and added to fruit punch the rest of the year. Replacing sweets as treats year round. Most kids love berries frozen whole to eat like candy and make for a healthy body and strong teeth.
 
Berries, such as blueberries, boysenberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and the likes, contain these teeny tiny seeds that make up their mystic. These little berries carry a huge portion of antioxidants. The nutrients known to prevent and/or kill cancers of various types. Loaded with minerals and vitamins that are healthy for every body!
 
Blueberries tend to get all the attention these days but other berries are just as nutritious, it's just that nobody has done a lot of berry testing on the others so you don't find them written about as often. I believe one thing that is truly the crux of berries is the tiny seeds within the berry. Berries, most commonly, Blackberries have been used for centuries as a diarrhea and anemia treatment. Leading me to believe they are very important in preventing problems.
 
Horticulturists have always known that a seed holds the embryo of new life. Scientists are confirming that berry seeds contain high levels of life prolonging Essential Fatty Acids or EFA?s, just as effective as other EFA bearing nuts and fish, known to be an effective protection against heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
 
Alternative Medicine has always said that health starts in the Intestinal system with disseminating the nutrients through out the body as well as its ability to move along toxins before they can damage the body, and the faster this happens the better for your health. Speedy removal of toxins and dissemination of nutrients happen when the intestines contain the proper amounts of probiotic bacteria and the proper fiber is introduced, and these tiny little seeds move things along swiftly.
 
EFA's and Your Health
 
Essential fatty acids (EFA) found in berry seeds are linoleic, alpha linolenic and oleic acids. 1997 studies (Johansson et al) found that these EFA's are abundant in the seed oil of 22 common edible wild northern berries. Also is a very rich source of alpha and gamma tocopherol as well as y-tocopherol. This tocopherol or Vitamin E rich composition is said to be important in the prevention of degenerative disease such as diabetes. Previous testing established the presence of ellagic acid, a cancer fighting polyphenolic, found and concentrated primarily in the teeny tiny seeds of the berries. Medical research programs studying ellagic acid and demonstrated its ability to inhibit the number and size of chemically induced tumors of the esophagus of rats. (Stoner and Mukhtar, 1995). Red Raspberries have shown to have the highest levels of ellagic acid but is of sufficient quantity in all tiny seed bearing berries.
 
If you want to get hooked on cobblers here's my grandmother's recipe!
 
Grandma's Berry Cobbler
 
Set Oven to 375º before you start process.
 
Pastry for 1 pie:
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Whole wheat flour
1/2  teaspoon salt
1/2  stick butter at room temperature
1/4  cup olive oil
3 tablespoons ice cold water
 Yield: 6 - 8 servings
 
 Berry Filling:
 
4 cups blackberries or berry of your choice with the exception of strawberries...
1 1/4 cups sugar  or Stevia equivalent
4 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup water
1/4 stick butter
 
Prepare pastry: Put flour, salt, butter, and oil into a bowl and mix with pastry mixer or with fork until shortening is the size of small peas. Add ice water and mix to pastry consistency. Refrigerate while preparing filling.
Wash and cap berries; drain. Combine berries, sugar, flour, and water, and place ? berry mixture in oven-proof 9" x 9" x 2" baking dish. 
 
Roll out pastry on floured board and cut into 3/4" strips. Place small side pieces of pastry into berry mixture add second half of berries. Arrange rest of pastry strips on top of berries in a criss-cross fashion and top with dots of butter or margarine, sprinkle lightly with sugar/Stevia. 
 
Bake at 375º until crust is golden brown. Serve hot with topping of your choice or without. 
 
Enjoy your nutritious little seeds!

Lena

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 HEALTH TODAY
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