Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Top health issues of 2008 | Health & Fitness | Reuters

Top health issues of 2008 | Health & Fitness | Reuters: "Photo
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By Terri Coles

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1 of 1Full Size

By Terri Coles

If 2007 was the year of the toy recall and mental gymnastics over what we eat, then what will 2008 hold? Raw milk, melting fat, the end of cheap food... the crystal ball is still a little cloudy but here are some of the stories to watch.

1. Raw Milk

People will go to extreme lengths to get it, farmers will risk their businesses to sell it, and most state governments want nothing to do with legalizing it. Raw milk -- milk that hasn't been pasteurized or homogenized -- was one of the most talked-about foods of the year.

Its fans say that pasteurization removes proteins, enzymes and healthy bacteria from milk, making it less nutritious, and that the taste of raw milk is incomparable. Those opposed to raw milk consumption -- including health agencies like the Centers for Disease Control -- argue that the harmful bacteria are of primary concern, and that the dangers posed by E. coli, salmonella and listeria are not worth the risk.

The debate is sure to continue in 2008 as raw milk goes mainstream, governments try to make it unappealing and people find more creative ways to get their hands on it.

2. Melting Fat

It sounds too good to be true: a non-surgical cosmetic treatment that can melt away fat. The verdict is still out on whether or not it is. Mesotherapy treatments like LipoDissolve involve the injection of a customized chemical cocktail just under the skin, with the aim of reducing fat by causing the cells to explode and be released through feces and urine. But the treatments are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for this use, which also means they aren't standardized.

They were outlawed in Kansas this year, with the exception of clinical trials, though the state then decided to regulate use of the injections instead. They are not allowed in Canada or Brazil. St. Louis-based fat-injection chain Fig recently filed for bankruptcy, but the FDA is studying the treatment's safety and effectiveness, with results expected this year.

An investigation by Allure magazine charged that the injections constitute "human experimentation" and featured interviews from patients who say they experienced serious side effects, such as swelling, numbness and nodule formation, from the treatments. The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery has warned against them. But rumors about celebrities slimming down quickly with fat-melting injections will likely keep interest high while the wait for the FDA's results continues.

3. Food and Farm Bill

The 2007 Food and Farm Bill narrowly avoided becoming the 2008 Food and Farm Bill, and it passed so late in this year that the impact won't be realized until the next. But the Farm Bill that got passed is not the Farm Bill some politicians, food activists and bloggers were hoping for, and the end result was criticized in several newspaper editorials. The Senate dropped the school nutrition standards -- actually backed by food manufacturers like Coca-Cola and Mars -- that would have pulled soft drinks out of elementary schools and forced cafeterias to offer meals lower in fat and sugar.

Subsidies to large farms were largely untouched, and small family farms didn't get the help they were hoping for. Other activists pointed to a few victories, including livestock reforms and funding for research into biofuels and organics. And proponents of cloned foods also got a surprise: an amendment that stopped the FDA from approving food from clones until more studies are done went through with the bill.

4. What's Natural?

Rules for the labeling of organically grown meat are pretty strict in the United States, but when it comes to naturally raised, it's something of a free-for-all.

As things stand, meat or poultry with a "natural" label must be minimally processed and mean what the marketer says it does. But nobody is really checking, and there is some debate over what constitutes "minimally processed". Should injecting chicken with sodium solution or binding agents take away its natural status, for example? What about treating red meat with carbon monoxide in order to make it look fresher? The FDA will attempt to settle these and other questions in 2008 as it reviews the use of the "natural" label for fresh meat. The public comment period on the review ends Jan. 28.

5. Food Labels

If you're already addled by the many labels and symbols on your food, prepare to be even more flummoxed in 2008. Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center, created the Overall Nutritional Quality Index, which rates foods on a scale from one -- the least healthy -- to 100 -- the most healthy. It should start showing up on some grocery store shelves this coming summer. Grocery retailer Hannaford will begin licensing their Guiding Stars rating system to other grocery chains next year, which could see their starred rating system spread across the country. And University of Washington nutritionist Adam Drewnowski is also working on a food scoring system. It remains to be seen if one of these systems will really grab consumers and help them make healthier choices, or if they'll leave everyone even more confused.

6. Michael Pollan

It was difficult to discuss food this year without bringing up Michael Pollan, whose bestselling book "The Omnivore's Dilemma" hit a nerve in the debate about our food system. By the end of 2008, we could be saying the same of "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto". Set for release on Jan. 1, Pollan's newest book follows up on a New York Magazine article from 2007 and argues that we're focusing too much on individual nutrients and losing site of the value of -- and delight in -- real food. Pollan's American paradox -- "the more we worry about nutrition, the less healthy we seem to become" -- is made all the more interesting by the increasing popularity of functional foods, or foods that are said to have added health benefits, with consumers and the food industry.

7. The End of Cheap Food?

At the start of 2007, ethanol seemed like a great idea. By the end of the year, it was looking about as good as oil. The problem is that it's made with corn, a heavily subsidized monoculture crop that's so cheap it's found in everything -- and not just as the much-maligned high-fructose corn syrup either. Corn tied into what we eat in a new way when demand for ethanol increased crop prices, which increased tortilla prices in Mexico and, less directly, pasta prices in Italy. The Economist charged that the prices North Americans pay for foods at the supermarket -- not just the processed ones made with the crop, but also diet staples like milk and vegetables -- might also start going up. Americans spend only about 10 percent of the household income on food, according to the USDA -- a proportion that has steadily decreased over time -- and last week, The Today Show's food editor Phil Lemptert argued that an increase might not be unwarranted.

8. Fixing the FDA/USDA

This month, a Food and Drug Administration committee said in a report that funding shortages had put the FDA in crisis mode, to the point where public safety was at risk.

It pointed to hand-written safety inspection reports, food plant inspections occurring as infrequently as once a decade and a full-time pet-food safety staff of two as signs of a widespread, serious problem at the federal agency in charge of regulating 80 percent of the food sold in the United States, as well as cosmetics, drugs, vaccines and medical devices -- the products the agency oversees account for about a quarter of every consumer dollar spent by Americans, the FDA says. The agency has seen its responsibilities increase as its budget decreased, and the globalization of food has changed the playing field and added new concerns to its long list. To hear that the FDA is in trouble likely comes as little surprise: between contaminated pet food, meat recalls, warnings on the popular diabetes drug Avandia and accusations of politically motivated appointments, the agency has had a bad year in the court of public opinion. What remains to be seen for the year to come is whether the FDA will get the money it says it needs to fix itself -- and if that will be enough to do the job.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Recipe - West Indian chicken curry - Recipe sofeminine


Recipe - West Indian chicken curry - Recipe sofeminine: Ingredients :
6 chicken breasts
4 tbsp curry powder or paste
8 tbsp coconut milk
200g onions
1 apple
1 banana
Salt,
pepper,
oil Basmati rice
Recipe :
1. Brown onions in oil in a frying pan over high heat.
2. Slice chicken and add, cook until golden.
3. Add curry and coconut milk, cook for a further 5 minutes.
4. Add 1/4 litre water and chopped fruit. Season.
5. Cover and leave to cook over a low heat for 30 minutes.
6. Cook rice until fluffy then serve.
Advice : This dish is even better if prepared the day before and reheated. Try serving with a little desiccated coconut and chopped banana to decorate."

Monday, October 29, 2007

Chicken Fried Pieces



Ingredients:
Chicken one kg ( cut in to 8 Pieces )
Soya sauce - one table spoon
Ginger paste – one table spoon
Garlic paste – one Teaspoon
Green chilli paste – one teaspoon
Lemon juice – Half lemon
Vinegar – one tablespoon
Preparation:
Marinade comprising vinegar, Soya sauce, ginger garlic paste, green chilli paste, and lemon juice.

Thoroughly apply the marinade to the chicken pieces, piercing them with a fork to enable the marinade permeate deep inside. Cover and keep for a few minutes to an hour [the more time the better]. You can marinate the chicken in the morning before you go to work and keep in the fridge and you can cook the moment you return.

Now, depending on your taste, you can either directly stir fry the marinated chicken pieces till done in hot oil. Eat it as a meal, by itself, or with chapatti, bread or rice. Pour in the marinade juices while frying if you want it a bit more succulent

Monday, July 16, 2007

Kadai Chicken Curry Recipe-Kerala Style


Chicken curries have gained a lot of popularity the world over and one such flavorful curry is Kadai Chicken, a North Indian traditional chicken dish which is rich, creamy and spicy gravy cooked in a blended paste of tomatoes, onions, ginger, garlic, green chillis, cashewnut paste and Indian spices.We can prepare this in kerala style, please try


Ingredients:

Chicken - 1 kg

Onion - 5

Tomato - 3

Green Chilly - 10

Ginger - 1 piece

Garlic - 1 bulb

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Chilly powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - ½ tsp

Salt - As required

Oil - 1 desert spoon

Coriander leaves for garnishing.

Procedure:

Heat oil in a kadai

Add chopped onion, green chilly and sauté until golden brown

Add ginger, garlic paste and sauté for 2 minutes.

Add coriander powder, chilly powder, turmeric powder, garam masala, salt and sauté well.

Add tomatoes and sauté until tomatoes are half done and gravy becomes thick.

Add chicken pieces and little water and mix well.

Cook for 15-20 minutes on low flame.

Garnish with Coriander leaves

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Beef Dry Fry Recipe Kerala style




This Beef fry from VKN’s My Dhaba is a typical Keralite dish with those sliced coconuts in it.This is one of my favorite recipe for Beef fry,and I think i’ve prepared it more than 3 or 4 times.Thanks to My Dhaba ,for such a simple and fail-proof recipe.As he says,this can be made with both beef and mutton.Next time i’ll be trying it with Mutton.

Anyway,here goes the recipe…

Ingredients:-

Mutton/Beef - diced into small pieces
Sliced Onion - 2
Finely crushed Ginger - 1 inch piece
Finely crushed Garlic pods - 6-8
Sliced Tomatoes - 2
Green chillies slit - 3-4
Coriander POwder -2 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste

For grinding:-
Fennel seeds - 3tsp
Black peppercorns - 8-10
Cinnamon - 1 inch size piece
Cloves - 4
Cardamom - 4
Bay Leaves - 3
Grind the above together to a fine masala powder .Keep it aside.

For popping:-
Oil - as needed
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Sliced Onion - 1
Curry leaves - 2 sprig
Thinly sliced Coconut pieces - 1 cup
Lemon Juice - 1 tsp

Method:-

Mix together onion,ginger,garlic,chillies,tomatoes,coriander powder,turmeric powder and salt along with meat and prepared ground masala powder.Cook it in a pressure cooker adding a little water,till the meat is well done.Don’t add too much of water,as the meat pieces will shed some water too.When the pressure is released completely ,open the lid and switch on the heat again,cook it till the meat pieces are almost dry.

Heat oil and ghee in another pan and pop the mustard seeds.Add sliced onion and saute it until brown.Add curry leaves and coconut slices into it and fry them for a while.Now add cooked meat and lemon juice.Fry it for some more time stirring frequently,until beef turns dark brown in color.It goes very well with rice.

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Rasam Recipe for Vishu

Method of preparation

tuar dal - 1/4 cup

masoor dal - 1/4 cup

tomatoes - 1 16 oz.can or 4 large tomatoes

tamarind extract - 1/2 teaspoon

black pepper powder - 1/2 teaspoon

saunf (perum jeerakam/fennel seed)- 1/2 teaspoon (optional)

whole red pepper (dry red chilli) - 2 or 3

chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon

turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon

hing powder - 1/2 teaspoon

methi seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

garlic cloves - 3

cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon

mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

coriander and curry leaves - a bunch

salt to taste

Cook the dal well with sufficient water. Add the tomatoes,salt,

chilli powder, turmeric powder and tamarind extract. Crush the

cumin and garlic and add to the rasam with the black pepper.

Simmer for a few minutes and add the hing powder. Heat a little

oil in a fry pan and pop the mustard seeds. Add the methi seeds

saunf and curry leaves after removing the heat source and add to the

rasam. Garnish with coriander leaves.