Vegetarian Food for Good Health - Ikaria
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| Balck eyed peas - Lobia beans |
A vegetarian diet, especially one that includes eggs, milk/
milk products has been described as a healthy diet in many articles of this
blog. It was given the name lovegan food as different from a vegan one that
does not include eggs and milk.
While leafy green vegetables such as spinach are great for providing many of the nutrients a human needs for good health, when meat is completely or largely eliminated from one’s
diet, it is necessary to replace it with other food items that will provide protein
in order for the diet to be a balanced and healthy. Milk products and eggs
are some of the sources from which this protein can come. However
it becomes necessary to include other sources of protein too. One problem with
eggs is that although one or two a day is great, a larger consumption per day
appears to be bad for health. Milk products such as cheese and yoghurt or just
plain milk can provide the rest of the protein active healthy humans need.
However, just by themselves these foods do not offer enough variety. A third source for
vegetable protein is lentils and beans.
Although I do consume meat or fish on occasions, especially
when entertaining, the occasions are rare. On a regular basis, besides some
yoghurt and an egg a day, sometimes two, my regular lunch is rice and lentils
with some yoghurt and a green salad. The daily egg is reserved for breakfast. I do not drink milk straight because I am
one of those humans that cannot digest milk easily. A large percentage of
humans will fall in this category but cheese and yoghurt is digested easily
because the latter do not require the same enzyme that is required for
digestion of milk.
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| Lentil Beans |
Some of the most delicious and nutritious lentils are chick peas
(garbanzo beans or hummus) and black eyed peas (lobia beans) however just
cooked straight they can make a human phart like a cow. Therefore, I have been
avoiding these most times even though they taste good. Instead my favorites are washed split
mung beans and red lentils. These latter are easily digested and if they are
pre-soaked and the froth removed during the cooking process then they are
flatulence free for most. Traditionally in India these were cooked over a wood
fire in a narrow necked pot called a Handi. The froth just boiled over into the
fire during cooking. Nowadays, when that sort of cooking is not feasible in a
modern kitchen, one can easily remove the froth with a spoon while they are
being boiled.
Recent news items about Ikaria,
a Greek island, have however caused me to begin including both Hummus and
black-eyed peas once again in lunch, albeit after a process that removes the
flatulence causing properties of these two beans. I shall presently describe
the process but first about Ikaria. It is a
100 square mile Greek
Island with a population
of around ten thousand. The University
of Athens concluded that people on Ikaria were, in fact, reaching the age of 90 at two and a
half times the rate Americans do. (Ikarian men in particular are nearly four
times as likely as their American counterparts to reach 90, often in better
health.) But more than that, they were also living about 8 to 10 years longer
before succumbing to cancers and cardiovascular disease, and they suffered less
depression and about a quarter the rate of dementia. Almost half of Americans
85 and older show signs of Alzheimer’s. On Ikaria,
however, people were sharp to the end.
Dr. Christina Chrysohoou, a cardiologist at the University of Athens,
School of Medicine, teamed up with half a dozen
scientists to organize the Ikaria Study. She found that her subjects consumed
about six times as many beans a day as Americans, ate fish twice a week and
meat five times a month, drank on average two to three cups of coffee a day and
took in about a quarter as much refined sugar — the elderly did not like soda.
She also discovered they were consuming high levels of olive oil along with two
to four glasses of wine a day. The beans most often consumed in Ikaria are hummus and black-eyed peas.
I am reminded that this diet is very similar to the diet in
my father’s family in India.
They too were long lived and sharp to the end. On the other hand my mother’s flatulence-free family was regular meat eaters.
Unfortunately they did not live as long.
As mentioned, I have discovered a way to cook hummus and
black eyed peas that makes them flatulence free. Although some nutrients are
lost in my method the proteins are preserved. It is a small loss, I believe,
for enjoying these wonderful beans that have been a part of a healthy and
delicious human diet for centuries from the healthy parts of our world that
includes West Africa for the black eyed peas and North
Africa for hummus. These beans must be soaked overnight and next
day they should be boiled with just salt and lots of water until soft. These
are hard beans, especially hummus, and may take hours to soften. A pinch of soda or baking powder
helps but ruins the taste. However all one requires is a pressure cooker and
they are wonderfully softened in just half an hour. After cooling down, drain
and throw away the water and out goes the flatulence causing starches. The
drained and cooked beans can then be stir fried or added to a sauce in the same
way as one might add hamburger meat to a meat sauce. Both these beans are just
great with a little salt or butter but even better as a gourmet dish with
any or all of tomatoes, garlic, ginger, onion and spices. The interested reader can find many
recipes for them by a google search on the net.
However, cooking beans does consume time. Those who are in a hurry just go for an egg and a handful of mixed nuts from a tree or a coconut and you shall be just just fine if there is a good carbohydrate source like wheat or rice and frequent servings of salads/fruit and leafy green vegetables in your diet.
More on Vegetarian foods and the strongest of humans from another part of the world who are pure vegetarians here:
http://someitemshave.blogspot.in/2014/10/healthy-proteins-for-vegetarians-vegan.html
However, cooking beans does consume time. Those who are in a hurry just go for an egg and a handful of mixed nuts from a tree or a coconut and you shall be just just fine if there is a good carbohydrate source like wheat or rice and frequent servings of salads/fruit and leafy green vegetables in your diet.
More on Vegetarian foods and the strongest of humans from another part of the world who are pure vegetarians here:
http://someitemshave.blogspot.in/2014/10/healthy-proteins-for-vegetarians-vegan.html
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| Sushil Kumar, strongest man in the world has been a pure vegetarian all his life |
Photo adapted from
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