IYABO AYANDARE asks you to eat healthy, obtain the vitamins and minerals essential for good health with these carefully planned recipes. TODAY, consuming a good diet for maintaining a perfect health is of paramount importance. Particularly, as a result of higher pollution rates, soil degradation, pesticides, sedentary lifestyles and the wide availability of fatty, sugary and processed foods, we need good food now more than ever before.
Without the benefits of key components of a wide variety of natural, fresh foods, we?re likely to suffer from a range of chronic degenerative diseases as well as acute conditions that can make life miserable for one.
But what exactly constitutes a good diet? A person may ask. There are some key components nobody can live without, and they are as follows: vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats, proteins and fibre.
Vitamins are nutrients needed by the body in very small amounts for many of its essential metabolic reactions. Until the 1900s, vitamins were obtained only through food (fortunately we can now get them in supplement form, too). Different food sources contain various amounts of vitamins, so if the only source of vitamins is food, changes in diet will alter the types and amounts of vitamins you consume.
Vitamins are essential for normal growth in children. Even in adults, vitamins are still essential for maintaining healthy tissues, cells, and organs. They enable us to efficiently use chemical energy provided by food, and to process the fats, carbohydrates and proteins fats needed for breathing.
So, extreme vitamin deficiencies happen when we either don?t get enough of a particular vitamin from our food or when we have an underlying disorder that stops us from absorbing a proper amount of the vitamin. It is crucial at this point to note that a person?s lifestyle choices can affect the situation, for example, with smoking, drinking too much alcohol or addiction to drugs. Even athletes and sports people can become deficient in some vitamins due to excess oxidative stress.
Again, restrictive diets can result in often potentially deadly diseases, such as beriberi, pellagra, scurvy, and rickets, as well as more common ailments.
Dietary minerals are chemicals needed by the body for many of its processes. These can be naturally occurring in food or added to the diet separately from food, as mineral supplements.
However, examples of foods that contain minerals are green leafy vegetables (for calcium); table salt and spinach (for sodium chloride); nuts, soybeans and cocoa (for magnesium); red meat, leafy vegetables (for iron); eggs, meat and legumes (for sulfur).
Alongside these, researches have shown that we can often benefit from high quality mineral supplementation. Since vitamins and minerals are interdependent, which means they need the presence of one another to work properly. Taking a multivitamin without minerals is not nearly as effective as taking one with minerals.
Fats on the other hand, comprise a wide group of compounds that are important for human metabolic processes. Examples of edible fats are butter, margarine, cream and lard. They help keep you warm, for example, and play a vital role in maintaining healthy skin and hair. Together with these, they insulate the body organs from shock, maintain body temperature, and promote cell function and also serve as energy stores for the body. In fact, they play a whole host of important and diverse roles in health and nutrition.
The vitamins A, D, E and K can only be digested, absorbed, and transported in conjunction with fats, and fats are sources of essential fatty acids, which enable the body to carry out many of its vital chemical processes. Proteins form an essential part of all living organisms and participate in every process within cells. They cause biochemical reactions to happen, and are vital to metabolism.
Many of these vitamins have structural or mechanical functions, such as building and maintaining bone and keeping cells healthy for good cellular nutrition. They play an important part in the immune system, which keeps us free of disease.
Fibres perform the vital function of holding the body tissues together. Dietary fibres are the indigestible portion of plant foods that help move food through the digestive system. Sources of fibre include corn, wheat, bran, flax seed, and vegetables. Fibre has clinically demonstrated properties of lowering blood cholesterol when it is regularly included in the diet. It also stabilises blood glucose levels, helps synthesize cholesterol, helps with the absorption of minerals, improves immune function, and protects the colon.
Additionally you might like to obtain extra vitamins, minerals and enzymes by regularly juicing an array of organic fruits and vegetables.
Eggs sandwich
Recipe for 3 servings:
1 large whole egg
3 large egg whites
1-teaspoon flaxseed, ground (optional)
2 slices whole-wheat bread, toasted
1 slice Canadian bacon
1 tomato (sliced)
1 green bell pepper (sliced)
Scramble the whole egg and egg whites in a bowl. Add the flaxseed to the mixture. Fry it in a non-stick skillet treated with vegetable-oil spray and dump it onto the toast. Add the bacon and tomato, pepper, or other vegetables of your choice.
Efo riro ati fufu
(vegetable soup & cassava meal)
Recipe for 6 servings:
3 fresh green vegetables (tete) (picked, chopped &washed)
1 large stockfish (tenderly cooked)
1 medium smoked fish (bones removed)
4 snails (properly cleaned)
1-cup crayfish (ground)
3-tablespoon fresh hot chilli (ground)
1 large onion (chopped)
250ml palm oil
1 teaspoon iru (locust bean)
Pinches seasonings & salt to taste
In a medium size pot, boil on stockfish. Season with salt and ground pepper and boil for 10 minutes or until tender. Add snails and cook for another 10 minutes. Remove from heat and place in a clean bowl. In a separate pot heat oil, onions, and chilies, add to the hot oil and fry for yet another 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add crayfish and some more stock if necessary. Simmer for 5-10 minutes and then add vegetable. Cook for 5 minutes. Check seasoning to adjust if necessary and serve efo-riro with fufu or an accompanyment of choice.
Coconut rice with shrimp
Recipe for 5 servings:
3 cups long grain rice
10 coconuts (milk)
1kg shrimp
1 big bulb onion (finely chopped)
1� cups fresh tomato (diced)
2 teaspoons hot chilli pepper
Dashes salt & seasoning
1cup carrot (finely sliced)
In a medium size pot, boil rice with coconut milk. Add no water. Allow boiling on for about 8-10 minutes. Then add shrimp, onion, pepper and seasoning. Cook on for yet another 10-12 minutes or until rice is almost done and add the tomatoes and carrots.
Breakfast smoothie
Recipe for 2 servings:
� cup whole-fat organic yogurt
5 strawberries (cut into small pieces)
5 blueberries
10 ice cubes
Combine all ingredients in a blender, and mix on high speed.
Add water, if necessary, to make a drinkable consistency.
Serve with additional ice cubes.
Chicken wraps
Recipe for 4 servings:
4 cups skinless chicken breast (cooked & chopped) � cup sour cream � cup green onion (finely chopped) � teaspoon fresh parsley (finely chopped)
Cayenne pepper, to taste (optional) � teaspoon nutmeg (freshly grated) � cup toasted sunflower seeds 1 head butter lettuce leaves, separated, washed, and dried (to use as wraps)
Combine the chicken, sour cream, green onion, parsley, pepper, nutmeg, and sunflower seeds in a large bowl. Spoon the chicken mixture into butter lettuce leaves, and roll up. Serve.
Grilled turkey steak
Recipe for 4 servings:
1� pounds boneless, skinless turkey breasts
� cup Dijon mustard
Pinch freshly ground black pepper 1 orange (juice)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1 clove garlic (minced)
1 tablespoon macadamia oil
Place the turkey in a glass-baking dish. Brush both sides of the turkey with the mustard, and sprinkle with pepper. Mix together the orange juice, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic. Pour half the orange juice mixture over the turkey, and reserve the remaining half. Turn to coat evenly. Cover, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Coat the grill rack with the macadamia oil. Preheat the grill to medium, and line it with aluminium foil. Grill the turkey until thoroughly cooked, turning occasionally and brushing with the reserved orange juice mixture for 30 minutes. Let it stand for 5 minutes then, slice diagonally and serve.
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