Brown rice is believed to have first been cultivated in China about 9000 years ago. Arab travelers brought the grain to the Middle East and subsequently rice traveled throughout the world. The whole grain is known as brown rice – it contains the inner grain, the hull and the germ. Together, they are a rich source of minerals, vitamins, and proteins.
Algae is all the rage. After being named a superfood for its amazing nutrient profile, fertilizing vegetables, acting as an anti-aging cream for our skin, feeding astronauts, and potentially becoming the fuel of the future, it’s hard not to be impressed with this microalgae.
So why aren’t people eating it by the spoonfuls?
More often than not, the first thing that comes to many people’s minds when they hear the word hops is a cold beer. Did you know hops is actually a medicinal plant? Hops can help you with some very common ailments.
Olives are another of the ancient fruits that have been used throughout the centuries as food and healing aids. Some olive groves are the oldest living plants in the world. The tree originated in Asia Minor and Assyria as a bush, where it was cultivated by using the root or branches (not the seed) and developed into trees.
Now that the holidays are long gone, I’m gettin’ a little tired of this whole winter thing. I’m more than ready for springtime to warm up the frozen tundra that lies right outside my front door. Okay, I live in California. So, that may or may not have been a bit of an exaggeration. However, in all seriousness, I truly cannot comprehend how people even survive the subzero winters outside of California; I salute y’all.
Admittedly, the rutabaga is a homely vegetable with a fun-to-say name. You’ve probably seen them in the produce section, and quickly walked by, avoiding a direct look at them in case they might turn into fairytale trolls out to get you. So call them by their other name, swedes, and keep reading.
The idea of consuming spirulina, let alone growing your own, might be off-putting. But hear me out: spirulina is widely considered the most nutrient dense food on the planet. With high levels of protein, B-vitamins, antioxidants and other nutrients like copper and iron, spirulina is like the whole foods version of your daily multi-vitamin.
But, at close to 50 cents per serving, it’s certainly not what you might consider economical.
So what can you do instead?
I used to get really bad headaches all the time (I’m talkin’ tons of tears). Thankfully, I only suffer from headaches occasionally now, and I’m convinced the improvement has to do with diet.
Shrimp shell broth is the new bone broth. Take your shrimp shells — something you would have thrown out anyway — and turn them into liquid gold.
Tahini is ground sesame seeds – it’s a product which is rich in nutrients and has been used in recipes and as a healing agent for centuries. The sesame plant is native to India and was found growing naturally from northeastern Africa to the far east. The seeds were primarily used for their oil, as a base for perfumes and as a seasoning. The name sesame is derived from the ancient Egyptian word sesemt and later from the Greek word sesamon.