Jackfruit

“Let food be your medicine.” Hippocrates

Colon cancer is something these days we hear more about, so we should know that one of the natural enemies of this disease is Jackfruit. Jackfruit is the largest fruit tree in the world, sometimes 30 meters tall, which grows in tropical areas and yes, it is sweet! the whole tree is covered with big fruits. The fruits grow even out of the trunk of the tree all the way to the ground. I always thought that jackfruit and durian (the picture with blue background) are the same fruit till I went to Thailand and tried both. They are very different! Both have green spiky outside (durian has more prominent spikes), which turn to light brown and less spiky as they mature. Durian however has a very bad smell, but it is very delicious. How is that possible? I am still in awe! Many hotels forbid bringing durian into their buildings and you can see stop signs with durian picture on them all over the hotels, because this fruit can stink the whole area badly! Jackfruit in another hand has both sweet smell and taste. Its sweetness however comes from simple sugar that gives you immediate energy. It has vitamine A and carotene, which is beneficial for eyesight and vitamine C and antioxidants. Therefore it can detoxify your body and slow down aging rocess. It has lots of fiber and vitamine B complex. So, it helps to reduce depression, mainly because of its vit B6. Jackfruit has seeds with lots of protein, starch and minerals, which can be dried, roasted, and used as snack or in foods such as curry. My friend in Thailand used to make unripe jackfruit curry and she gave me some ripe ones from her garden that I either ate them fresh during day or made some jam for breakfast 🙂 In the US you can find jackfruit bulbs in a can in international stores all year around. If you can find it fresh, it has potassium, magnesium, manganese, and iron as well. Jack fruit shares all these health benefits with durian, but durian is also good for people who want to gain weight. Most girls in Thailand are very sensitive about their weight, so they eat durian in small portions, specially when they serve it along with sticky rice. Good for them, because moderation is a main key to your longterm health! 🙂

“Let’s always eat and drink healthful food and beverages and do it in moderation.” Dr. Sii

 

 

Upside Down Chicken Dumpling & Kabob

Pitta Bread with Lebnah and Home Made Fresh Cream

“Let food be your medicine.” Hippocrates

In recent years and specially in school cafeterias, we see changes in the menu with using more yogurt for sake of its nutritional and health values. There are many articles and research on the benefits of yogurt in media. While raising my kids, I had a nanay, who was ninty years old and she was very healthy. Can you guess what her dinner was almost everynight at 6:00 p.m.? Yes, it was bread and yogurt. Making home made yogurt is a normal custom in middle East countries. After making yogurt, you can drain it in a cheese cloth and then you have lebnah or yogurt cheese. With adding a little bit salt, yogurt cheese can be used for almost ten days, keeping it in the fridge. Instead of ice cream or frozen yogurt, you can mix yogurt with fruits and vegitables of your choice and make your own shake. So, you get more calcium and less fat. You can mix it with cucumber, which in Farsi it is called mast o kheeyar, a delicious side dish. You can mix it with water or carbonated water, salt, and dried mint and make doogh or yogurt drink, which is mainly served with sheesh kabob in Iran. Yogurt has protein, Calcium, Vitamine D, B, Potassium , and Magnesium. When you eat it with fruit or bread you add fiber to it and when you add seeds like flaxeed powder, you also add omega 3 to your nutrition. Yogurt reduces osteoporosis and the risk of high blood pressure. Because of probiotic (means “for life”), which is a group of beneficial live organisms, it is valuable for proper and regular function of gasterointestinal system and for increasing immunity. Yogurt is good for preventing vaginal yeast infection, specially in diabetics, because it reduces the PH in vaginal area and creates a non living environment for yeasts. Yogurt is also a very good snack that makes you feel full longer in compare to other snacks. I like to use yogurt in different food and dressings as a substitute for sour cream.

“Let’s always eat and drink healthful food and beverages and do it in moderation.” Dr. Sii

Organic Ruby Rice Pudding

“Let food be your medicine.” Hippocrates

In Thailand they eat rice as their breakfast, lunch, dinner, and in between as snack and they compare the comfort from eating rice with the comfort that you get from your mother. Rice is truely a comfort food and may be I agree to this, because I was raised in Middle East in a country famous for her rice and for the most elegant way of making it in Persian cusine. However, while I was in Thailand, I learned that according to Chiang Mai University research and science department, ruby rice (khao deng is an ancent whole grain red jasmine rice) is the most neutritious rice among all. I went to the remote villages that grew ruby rice and I realized that this rice is not getting the attention it should and is not produced as much as it should, but while I was there I bought some and made up my own persian ruby rice pudding with cinnamon and milk. It is delicious, specially in a cold snowy day and oh yes, it is a comforting food, just like your Mama comforts you! 🙂

“Let’s always eat and drink healthful food and beverages and do it in moderation.” Dr. Sii

Organic Sugar Apple or Custard Apple

“Let food be your medicine.” Hippocrates

I was introduced to many different apples in Thailand. Rose apple, sugar apple, apple guava, stone apple, and wood apple were a few to name. Sugar apple or custard apple is one of the most delicious and neutricious fruits that I tasted in Thailand. It is very popular in South Asia and it has creamy flesh that has high calories and its nutritional value is similar to milk. Therefore it is a very good subsitute for dairy products for those who have allergies to milk. This fruit helps preventing asthma and airway imflammation for its vit C and B6. For its vit B and potassium, it is heart friendly for healthy heart arteries, regulating blood pressure, and reducing cholesterol. For its Manesium, sugar apple makes your bones stronger and for its copper, promotes your thyroid to be healthier. Pregnant women also can get benefit from this delicious fruit for the its folate content, which reduces anemia and makes nutrition available to the fetus. Because of high calories, sugar apple is good for those who try to gain weight, but the abondance of fiber in this fruit makes it a healthy snack for reducing the risk of developing diabetese 2 for the absorbtion of sugar is reduced by its fiber. The last but not the least is the beleif that this fruit acts as anticancer and has a lot of antioxidants. A few days ago I saw sugar apple in an international store in my neighborhood in the US and that made my day! 🙂

“Let’s always eat and drink healthful food and beverages and do it in moderation.” Dr. Sii