Category Food

Include these locally-available foods that are rich in fibre, antioxidants, essential vitamins, minerls and healthy fats in your diet.

GOOSEBERRY

Few can resist the joy of eating a gooseberry preserved in brine. Offering a delicious mix of salty, sour and sweet after tastes, the gooseberry has always had a place in our hearts. Had as pickles or plucked directly off the tree and eaten, this every-day berry has a number of health properties. It is a natural blood purifier, boosts immunity, helps in weight management and is good for the skin and hair. Next time you find gooseberries, make sure you eat them.

MORINGA

Packed with anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals, the moringa is a powerhouse of nutrients. Containing seven times more Vitamin C than oranges and 15 times more potassium than bananas, in addition to iron and amino acids, it helps build muscle and helps the body heal. Eat it as a simple curry or add it to a salad. You could even add moringa leaves to your pasta.

JACKFRUIT

The humble jackfruit is today celebrated for its multiple health benefits. It is considered more nutritious than other fruits because consuming a small cup of sliced jackfruit can give you carbohydrates, protein, fibre, Vitamin A and C, riboflavin, magnesium, pottassium. copper and manganese that your body needs. It helps prevent diseases, especially diabetes. You can eat it ripe or cook raw jackfruit into a stir-fry. Jackfruit is used to make chips, too, and its flour is now used to make cakes, biscuits and even papads.

RAGI

Also known as finger millet, ragi is a cereal rich in protein and minerals. Known for its anti-microbial properties, ragi helps boost immunity and bone health. Ragi is also known for its ability to prevent cancer. Normally had as a porridge or dosa or steamed like an idli or mudde, ragi ncan be had in fancy forms too – it can be added to cookies, muffins, and even in cakes.

BANANA BLOSSOM

A rich source of vitamins, minerals and fibre, the banana flower helps in development of a healthy body and mind. It has the power to cure infections, too and aids digestion. If you don’t want to have it as a traditional stir-fry, you could make an interesting salad out of it, by adding other vegetables or fruits, as the banana blossom can also be had raw.

TURMERIC

Many of us started consuming more of turmeric during the first wave of COVID-19. This is because turmeric can help build immunity against viral infections. It contains curcumin, a substance that helps reduce inflammation. In addition to turmeric’s anti-spectic and anti-bacterial properties, it can also help relieve pain. So, next time you have your favourite curry, add an extra spoon of turmeric to it.

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Bananas are versatile fruits and are eaten all over the world. But did you know they are radioactive? Bananas are rich in potassium, and this makes them slightly radioactive. Potassium-40 (or K-40), a radioisotope, is naturally occurring and can be found in plants and animal tissue, and accounts for 0.012% of the potassium in bananas. Is it safe to eat bananas then? Yes. If at all one were to die from radiation poisoning by eating bananas, then he will have to eat 10,000,000 bananas at once, according to an estimate. In fact, you are radioactive too! A typical adult contains around 140g of potassium, of which about 16mg is potassium-40-making you 280 times more radioactive than a banana!

Everything in the world is composed of elements, (remember the periodic table?) which in turn are made of atoms. Some of these atoms are unstable and decay, or break apart. When this happens, they emit what we call “radiation” that can take the form of subatomic particles such as electrons, alpha particles and neutrons, or electromagnetic waves known as gamma rays. All of these carry energy and are capable of breaking down, or “ionizing,” molecules they encounter. It is damage to important biomolecules such as proteins or DNA that can trigger radiation sickness or cancer. As with chemical toxins, extent of exposure is critical and that is dependent on the nature of the radioactive element in question, the amount of the element, the distance we are from the radioactive material and the presence of shielding substances that may be between us and the source.

Potassium (K) is a widely encountered element with a very small fraction of its atoms, about 0.012%, being radioactive. These K-40 atoms spontaneously decay, releasing electrons (beta radiation) as well as gamma rays. Both of these are capable of doing damage to tissues. However, K-40 is not very radioactive, having a half-life of 1.3 billion years, meaning that only a few thousand atoms decay each second The question is how much damage can this do? What is the actual risk of eating a banana? That can be determined by the dose of the radiation that is absorbed by relevant human tissues as measured in “rem,” a unit that takes into account the amount of radiation absorbed and the medical effects of that radiation.

Rem measurement is complex, suffice it to say that a 10 millirem (mrem) dose increases an average adult’s risk of death by one in a million. (That is said to be an increase of 1 “micromort,” with the understanding that 1 mort means certain death.) A banana contains about 450 mg of potassium, and when eaten exposes the consumer to about 0.01 mrem due to its K-40 content. For comparison, a chest x-ray delivers 10 mrem. A quick calculation (10/.01) shows that it would take an ingestion of at least a thousand bananas  to result in an exposure of 10 mrem, which would then increase the risk of death by 1 in a million. In other words, for death to ensue, a million times a thousand, or a billion, bananas would have to be consumed. And that would have to be at one sitting. Quite a challenge.

But what about the risk of eating bananas over a lifetime? Cumulative damage? That doesn’t happen since our bodies contain potassium as a natural component (about 120 grams), and the body maintains the amount of potassium at a constant level (homeostatic control). Some potassium is always taken in via the diet, and some is always excreted, meaning that there is no buildup of radioactive potassium. So, while bananas are indeed radioactive, the dose of radioactivity they deliver does not pose a risk. There is a greater, but still insignificant, exposure to radioactivity by sleeping next to someone. And if they are breathing heavy, exposure is increased due to C-14 in their exhaled carbon dioxide.

Credit : Mc Gill

Picture Credit : Google 

Ingredients :  Large banana, sliced: Apple, cored and chopped: ½,  Honey: 1/2 tbsp, Milk: 1, 1/2 cup

Method: Combine banana chunks, apple pieces and honey in a blender jar. Add milk. Blend it all to a smooth puree. If you feel that it’s too thick, then add more milk to dilute it and blend it again for a few seconds. Pour into serving glasses, garnish with banana wheels and serve immediately.

Picture Credit : Google