Posts Tagged ‘drink’

Sweet vegetable drink

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

Vegetable drink with strong sweet taste - macrobiotic recipe

How to prepare sweet vegetable drinks, when to drink sweet drinks, what vegetables are needed for this sweet macrobiotic drink?

If you like sweet (and who doesn’t), it’s best if you cover your sweet cravings with natural sources. There’s nothing more natural than fruits and vegetables if we talk about the sweet taste. But fruits are so sweet that they are not recommended for regular eating. Instead of them, use vegetables any time you want. And maybe you would be shocked how strong sweet taste can you achieve with simple cooked veggies (at least I was myself). I always craved for chocolate, honey, sweet biscuits, just anything with sugar. But after starting macrobiotic cooking, it has changed completely. Not that my sweet craving taste would be gone. But I can cover 80% of my sweet taste needs with very natural, hence completely healthy foods, without any side effects.
Sugar is completely wrong product for your body. It’s devastating all your organs, whole system is shocked by the strong massive energy that comes together with sugar. It’s totally chemically refined foodstuff. You couldn’t find it in the wild nature, if the science wouldn’t bring it to your homes. It lacks all minerals, trace elements, vitamins. It’s just simple energy to be burned. But it comes with consequences. Because it lacks minerals, these minerals are needed for the processing of sugar by your body. It takes calcium from your reserves like bones. Yes, that’s why your teeth are getting bad. That’s why you have fragile bones. It takes many other minerals too.
It’s giving so much pure energy, that body can’t handle, if you are not marathon runner or very much active sportsman. This energy is getting into the blood stream and if not used, it’s going to be stored somewhere in the form of fat.
If you start eating macrobiotic, your body is starting to clean all your stored wastes. The sugar comes out as first. Usually in the form of zits on your face and other skin problems (eczema, skin itching).
The best natural substitute for the simple sugar is vegetable sweet drink. For the transition phase is recommended honey also, but try to switch to complete polysacharids (whole grains, vegetables, fruits) as fast as you can (but don’t be stressed by it).
Sweet vegetable drink is made of sweet vegetables. There are many of them, but these are basic: onion, carrot, cabbage, turnip, pumpkin, sweet potato, celery, parsley. How do you prepare sweet vegetable drink? It’s really very simple. Choose any of these vegetables, switch them often, use any of them together with any other, it’s up to you, there are no rules, all vegetables can be used together. Important is to chop them on very small pieces, so they release a lot of their sweet taste. If you have them chopped all, put them into the pot and pour water over them. I usually use ratio of 1:1 (vegetable:water). But it’s really up to you. Try to experiment and use 1:2 for example. Just don’t measure it exactly, do it by intuition. Ok, you are nearly done, because all you need to do is to turn the heat to the full flame and when it boils, lower the heat and let it simmer for 30 minutes. And you are done. Really simple, isn’t it?
Now, because after 30 minutes of boiling, the vegetable is completely out of any taste, you can try it. Strain the drink and throw off all the vegetables (preferably to your compost). I prepare this drink in a bigger amount, so I can store it into the fridge and drink 1-2 cups every day, for the length of 3 days. So I am making new sweet vegetable drink every 4 days.
Use this drink when you are a little hungry, or you have low sugar in your blood (hypoglycemi). It will make you wake up nicely and give you fresh energy. Of course, you this drink any time you know you will like it and if you have real taste for something sweet.

Caffeine

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

CAFFEINE
Caffeine, the active ingredient in coffee, tea, soft drinks, cocoa, chocolate, and 2000 nonprescription drugs, is the world’s most consumed drug. Eighty percent of adults in the U.S. consume it daily in one form or another. Globally, tea is the world’s most popular beverage, followed by coffee and soft drinks. One cup of tea contains about half as much caffeine as a cup of coffee. A 12-ounce can of Coke or Pepsi contains about as much caffeine as a cup of tea or half a cup of coffee. See Coffee, Infectious Disease, Tea.

• Multiple Effects of Caffeine - Caffeine is not a direct stimulant, reports health researcher Stephen Braun. “Instead, it works indirectly by interfering with one of the brain’s main chemical ‘brakes.’ Like a car with a sticky brake pedal, the brain speeds up because it can’t slow down.”
Metabolically, it takes the liver about 5 hours to break down half a given amount of caffeine. Absorbed quickly in the intestine, caffeine crosses all cell membranes and is rapidly diffused into the saliva, semen, breast milk, and amniotic fluid. Caffeine revs up the brain, stimulating mental focus, productivity, and physical performance.
However, in large amounts, caffeine produces the opposite effect, inhibiting neuron firing and acting as a depressant. Caffeine causes the heart to beat more rapidly, constricts some blood vessels and dilates others, and stimulates some muscles to contract and others to expand. Caffeine can curb the appetite, cause weight loss, and serve as a laxative. It increases urine production and can stress the kidneys.
While caffeine releases fat stored in cells, “caffeine may actually make it harder to eat a balanced, healthy diet.” In medical studies, it is associated with increased binge eating, premenstrual syndrome, and possible birth defects and impaired development of children. Decaf, meanwhile, is weakly linked with raising cholesterol, and the solvent processing method, using strong chemicals like methylene chloride or ethyl acetate, may pose risks, though it has been approved by the FDA. Habitual coffee drinkers commonly suffer from withdrawal symptoms, including tiredness, irritability, and grogginess in the morning before they have their first cup of coffee. Caffeine dependence, withdrawal, and addiction were not recognized until recently.
In writing his book, Braun concludes that he has become more conscious of caffeine’s strong, potentially harmful effects. While he still drinks coffee, he is more mindful and takes periodic “caffeine holidays” of one or two weeks at a time.
Source: Stephen Braun, Buzz: The Science and Lore of Alcohol and Caffeine (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996).