Friday Give-Away!

Congrats to our latest scub winner, Cindy Evans! Way to go Cindy!!

Doc Radio

Please mark your calendars, wake the kids and phone the neighbors! We will be airing our new radio program, Code Delicious, on Sirius XM, Channel 98 the Foxxhole, September 2 at 7-9pm. It is a call in  show ( 855-369-9898) all about Great tasting food, healthful eating and anything encouraging food for thought. We want to hear from YOU, so be part of the fun and call in to chat, ask questions or have your opinion heard. I look forward to talking to y’all then!

-Doc

Japanese Hybrid

Thinking about an upcoming visit with a great friend coming over from Japan got me in the mood for some Japanese cuisine. Yet the pantry yielded a few sparse Japanese ingredients, some bits and ends of Chinese fixings and the refrigerator was a reminder I needed to go to the market. Solution:A Japanese Hybrid; a basic miso with somen noodles flavored with some Chinese elements to make it a bit hot and sour. A Nippon-Sino fusion worthy of the Buddha himself!

We took some home made stock and added a little water and brought it up to a boil to dissolve some red miso paste to form our soup base. Quickly turning down the heat we added some somen noodles, chopped veggies (water chestnuts, bamboo slices, carrots, straw and enoki mushrooms, fresh daikon, sliced Chinese cabbage, Chinese woodear, firm tofu and a small serving of pork marinated in soy sauce, ginger, garlic and sake). The soup was finished of with a blend of Srirachi sauce for heat and rice wine vinegar for a bit of tang.

Itadaki-masu!!

Got Milk, Lose Meds

Okay, so it’s not quite that dramatic. But a recent study did examine the use of milk and soy proteins in reducing blood pressure[i]. Previous diets high in protein had suggested a reduction in blood pressure. This recent trial examined the effect of soy and milk protein supplementation in patients with mild hypertension. They were compared to a group that used carbohydrate supplementation as a control. The study was recently published on line in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Although the study looked at both systolic (the top blood pressure number) and diastolic (the bottom blood pressure number) the effects were only seen in terms of a reduction of systolic blood pressure. The study looked at 352 adults with mild hypertension. The participants were subject to a 3 weeks washout period and then given 40 grams/day of soy protein, milk protein or carbohydrate for 8 weeks. The washout was repeated twice so that all participants had an eight week period on all three treatment regimens. There was no difference in blood pressure reduction between the soy or milk protein arms, both of which showed about a 2mmHg reduction in systolic blood pressure

 While that may not seem like a lot, a 2 mmHg reduction is  estimated to translate into a 6% reduction in stroke death, a 4% reduction in cardiac death and a 3% reduction in all cause mortality. The soy group had an increase in their HDL (good cholesterol), but otherwise there was no significant difference between the soy and milk groups. Soy protein is high in dietary phosphorus; high levels of dietary phosphorus have been correlated with lower blood pressure readings. Milk protein is rich in Angiotensin-I-converting enzyme inhibitory peptides, including casokinins and lactokinins, which have been shown to reduce blood pressure. In fact Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (commonly known as ACEI or ACE) are a popular class of anti-hypertensive medications and have demonstrated a significant benefit in helping people who have suffered heart muscle damage after a heart attack or who have congestive heart failure.

Now we just need the study on fine French cheeses and a glass of Bordeaux….

---

[i] (He, et al., 2011)

Basil Magazine

Join Dr. Mike on Basil Radio as Chef  Jennifer’s guest this evening at 6:30pm Eastern tonight. ! Call in number : 347-637-2315 . Hope to hear from you then!. You can listen on-line at this link:

Basil Radio on-line listening link

 

 

Give-Away Friday!

Congrats to our winner of today’s scrub top give-away, Nancy M! Way to go!

With A Little Help From My Friends

Sometimes bad things happen to you and it really is not your fault. You just happen to be the monkey at the end of the string. But the wheel of karma, like the wheel on the bus tends to go round and round. So sometimes great things happen to you and you really did not do anything in particular to deserve it; you were simply the monkey with the lucky lotto ticket. A recent set of circumstances from several friends put an amazing dish into my kitchen. First was my friend Nancy at the seafood store. She was cleaning and filleting some incredibly fresh Florida flounder and hooked me up with some as well as some succulent fresh blue crab. Hhhhmmm, what to do with this…. Then my good friend Joumana, from Taste of Beirut (www.tasteofbeirut.com)  gave me inspiration (and not a little bit of technical info) with her amazing cauliflower dish. Finally, in moving a box to look for something else, I came across the box of Kaniwa (pronounced can-yi-wah) my good friend Lisa had given me. Thus we consumed Kaniwa Crusted Flounder Stuffed with Tropical Crab served with a Batata and Cauliflower Coconut Puree and topped with a Spicy Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Coulis. It was yummy.

The fresh flounder was stuffed with a crab mixture. The crab consisted of fresh lump blue crab, red pepper, red onion, cilantro, a dash of cinnamon, a dash of allspice, salt, pepper, lemon juice, pepino melon and piquanté peppers for a tropical treat with a tad of sweet and a little heat. The cauliflower and batata were boiled in a mixture of coconut water and coconut milk. The batata is also known as a Cuban sweet potato; they are white fleshed and as sweet as yams, although a little starchier. Spiced with a little garlic, salt, pepper and a dab of butter the mashed batata was mixed with the cauliflower purée to provide a most receptive coconut scented bed for our pan fried treasure box.

Amazing Kaniwa Crust and Spicy Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Coulis

The most interesting component of this repast was the kaniwa. I used an absolutely spectacular version from Roland Foods (available at most markets). Kaniwa hails from South America and was a staple food of the Incas. Able to grow where wheat, barley, corn, rye and quinoa cannot, it provided a dependable source of food. Although it looks like a cereal grain, it is actually the seed of a broad leaved goosefoot plant related to quinoa. It is a great source of protein, fiber, calcium, zinc and iron. In fact it is about 16% protein. It is also rich in antioxidants and certain types of amino acids. For those to whom it matters, the approximately 1mm dark seeds are gluten free. We took the seeds from the box and ground in a spice grinder. The stuffed filets were dipped in seasoned rice flour, egg and then the ground kaniwa was used to coat the flounder. It provided a dark brown, earthy and slightly nutty crispy crust. Stay tuned for further adventures sure to sprout from this delectable South American seed-and remember where you heard it first!

Doc’s Chili Powder

This is for my new friends who got an impromptu cooking class in the check out aisle while I was purchasing my chilis to make some chili powder. I make my own because I use it fairly frequently, making it yourself is incredibly easy, it costs a fraction of the prepared version and is 1000 times better. I find the prepared version are often pale in the flavor department. In addition, because they often grind the stems along with the flesh of the peppers, to me they can have a bit of a bitter taste. This version is a flavorful, mildly spicy version. Feel free to experiment with the world of dried chili peppers (easily found in most markets or Latin groceries).

Doc’s Chili Powder:

• 2 oz each of the following chilies:
  • Chipotle  or Pasilla (The chipolte is a smoked jalapeno, the pasilla is a dried chilaca pepper)
  • Ancho (The ancho is a dried poblano pepper)
  • California (The California is a dried anaheim pepper)

Remove stems and seeds. Weigh out 2 ounces of each. Place all the chilies in a food processor or spice mill and grind until the consistency is that of a fine powder. Using a medium sieve, run the powder through to remove any large parts that remain.

To Salt or Not To Salt; Perhaps It’s the Ratio

Recently there has been a lot of press about the role of salt, or sodium, as a risk factor for the development cardiovascular disease and subsequent events. A recent meta-analysis looked at salt intake and found that higher levels of salt intake were associated with a modest increase in blood pressure. This increase did lead to an increase in the absolute number of cardiovascular events, but this did not reach statistical significance. This follows on the heels of another study that examined normotensive (those without hypertension) individuals and found that the highest mortality risk was in the group with the lowest sodium intake, as measured by sodium excretion. These findings have reignited the debate of the role of sodium in the development of heart disease and levels of appropriate sodium intake; even as the new guidelines call for the consumption of lower amounts.

What do we know? The data seem clear that increasing levels of salt, or sodium, are associated with increases in blood pressure and contributes to or worsens hypertension. Hypertension is a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease and a potent risk factor for stroke risk. Treating underlying hypertension has been demonstrated to reduce both cardiovascular and stroke risk. The operative hypothesis to this point has been that the communicative property applies here: that reducing salt intake would reduce the blood pressure and thus translate into a reduction in cardiovascular risk. Unfortunately, as Dr. Yusuf, DPhil from McMaster University and a cardiovascular expert on meta-analysis notes the direct evidence linking high dietary salt consumption and cardiovascular disease is “weak and inconsistent.” We also know that in the body, sodium exists in a ratio related balance with potassium. Potassium is another element necessary for proper bodily functioning and is especially important from a cardiovascular perspective.

A recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine sheds some new light into the reason why we have seen these apparently contradictory results (Yang, Liu, & Kuklina, 2011). As one of the study investigators, Dr. Kuklina, notes, “This is the first large, nationwide study where we followed a pretty big cohort of people and looked at sodium and potassium at the same time.” The examined over 12,000 people for all cause and cardiovascular risk as part of the Third National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES III). What they found over a 15 year period was that the highest risk group had a very high ratio of sodium to potassium in their diet. Previous analytic concentration focusing on only half the equation would explain the dichotomous findings over the years. As sodium increased, risk increased about 20% for every 1000mg/day. However, for every 1000mg/day increase in potassium, the risk decreased about 20%. Thus, based on these findings what is of paramount import is maintaining a sodium/potassium ratio less than 1.

What does this mean? It means even more evidence to be following our Grassroots Gourmet™ principles. Firstly, Fast/Junk food is often loaded with sodium, which is why we strive to be aware and avoid the call of the junk food fast food siren. Second we want to be fresh-but no adultery! Over 75% of our intake of sodium each day is derived from pre-packaged, processed and prepared food. When using sodium to season and create a perfectly balanced and delicious meal, we add only about 5% of what is our daily intake. Not only that, but processing adulterates and alters the composition of our food in a potentially detrimental way. As noted by the study authors, a 100g (about 3 ½ ounces) serving of natural wholesome fresh pork contains roughly 60 mg of sodium and about 340mg of potassium. But if you industrially process that into the average deli ham you end up with 920mg of sodium and only 240mg of potassium. Avoiding fast food and preprocessed adulterated food will help reduce sodium intake. Consuming foods rich in potassium such as fruit (apricots, bananas, avocados, tomatoes, cantaloupes and oranges for example), vegetables (like beets, brussel sprouts, lima beans, winter squash, potatoes and spinach) and legumes like peanuts as well as yogurt will contribute to increasing potassium intake. As with all things in Nature, it’s about the balance.

The Doctors

No, it’s not those Doctors (boring!!). It’s Dr. Mike and Dr. Mitch- A Pair O’ Docs is always so much more fun. Join me onThe Dr. Mitch Show Sirius Radio, The Foxxhole,  Channel 98., 11 am (ET). Check it out and call in!