The Amazing ........

The term "Okra" most commonly refers to the edible seedpods of the plant., also known as "Lady Fingers" and "gumbo", is a green flowering plant.  It belongs to the same plant family as hibiscus and cotton. The term “okra” most commonly refers to the edible seedpods of the plant. Okra contains potassium, vitamin B, vitamin C, folic acid, and calcium. It's low in calories and has a high dietary fiber

Popular forms of okra for medicinal purposes include okra water, okra peels, and powdered seeds. 

100 grams of Okra contains:: (SOURCE: food composition, Table 1997 edition)

 1.5% energy from calories,                                          7.03 gram carbohydrates,                                    
   2 gram protein,                                                             0.1 gram fat and                                                         9% fiber.

 Such fiber content can prove to be very beneficial for the body. Okra is one of my favorite vegetables. Other significant nutrients are

       folates        8mg,

       niacin         1mg,

       Vitamin C   21.1mg,                                      Vitamin E    0.36mg and

      Vitamin K      53mg.

Other than these, Okra also contains

              calcium               81 mg,

              copper                0.094mg,

              iron                     0.8mg,

             magnesium         57mg,

             manganese        0.99mg,

             phosphorous       63mg and

             zinc                     0.6 mg.

When I learned that this okra has  a lot of nutrients, This interests me to try other recipes using Okra as a main ingredient. If I have enough time to prepare our food, I always make sure that Okra is one of the dishes  that i must  serve on the table for all of us in the house with different looks different ways in cooking. While eating, as a Diabetes Educator,  my favorite topic during mealtime is all about food and what spark up  our blood sugar levels since genetically,  Diabetes is in our blood line ,

Okra has a lot of health BENEFITS

CURE FOR DIABETES: 

Okra extract, rich in antioxidant substances, could avoid the excessive consuming of antioxidant enzymes, then, suppresses the oxidative stress and insulin resistance, thereby improving blood glucose level of GDM ( Pregnant Rats)   

Okra Benefit #1: Dietary Fiber

Eight medium-sized pods are estimated to contain 3 grams of fiber. This bulk fiber quality has several benefits. It helps digestion, cuts hunger cravings, and keeps those who eat it fuller for longer. Foods that are high in fiber content are an important part of dietary treatment options for diabetes. Increased dietary fiber intake has been shown to promote better glycemic control and improve insulin sensitivity. 

Increased dietary fiber intake was associated with better glycemic control and more favorable cardiovascular disease risk factors including chronic kidney disease in Japanese type 2 diabetic patients. Diabetic patients should be encouraged to consume more dietary fiber in daily life.

Okra Benefit #2: Anti-Stress Effects

The seed extracts of okra have an antioxidant,(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4221879/)  anti-stress effect in the bloodstream of mice. Managing stress levels is an important part of managing diabetes. Long-term, high stress levels can cause blood sugar levels to spike. Mental health should be a part of any diabetes treatment plan, and using okra and its derivative seeds can be a part of that plan.

RAW SEEDS

         DRIED    SEEDS

Okra Benefit #3: May Help Lower Cholesterol

Okra has been found to lower cholesterol levels, because of its fiber content which binds up the cholesterol and will come out when we deficate.  Foods with high fiber content and antioxidant qualities are recommended for those with diabetes because they lower cholesterol.  The American Heart Associatioon points out that people with diabetes are more likely to have unhealthy cholesterol levels. When high cholesterol levels are combined with diabetes, the outlook is not good. That’s why it’s so critical to make sure that your diet has healthy cholesterol levels.  

How does Diabetes Affect cholesterol level in the blood?

Diabetes tends to lower "good" cholesterol levels and raise triglyceride and "bad" cholesterol levels, which increases the risk for heart disease and stroke. This common condition is called  diabetes dyslipidemia. Diabetic dyslipidemia means your lipid profile is going in the wrong direction. It's a deadly combination that puts patients at risk for premature coronary heart deseae and atherosclerosis.

Okra Benefit #4: Anti-Fatigue Benefit

that recovery times and “fatigue levels” can be improved by use of the okra plant. By including okra in your diet along with a healthy exercise routine, you may be able to work out for longer and recover more quickly from your exercise. Cardiovascular activity is an essential part of preventing and treating diabetes. This means that the okra plant may contribute to a more active lifestyle.

Forms:

Okra Water

Drinking “okra water” is a popular new method of using okra. Some have even suggested that drinking it helps lessen diabetes symptoms. The drink is made by putting okra pods in water and soaking them overnight. Some of the valuable nutrients in the skin and seed pods will be absorbed into the water. If you’re not crazy about the taste of okra, drinking this okra water solution is a quick and simple way to derive the benefits of okra without eating it. 

Some people prefer to cut the okra into thin slices instead of soaking the pods whole. If you are going to prepare okra water this way, be prepared for a drink that is slightly bitter.

Okra Peel and Powdered Seeds

Okra peel is the most traditional way to use okra medicinally. In the preliminary studies done to investigate the benefits of using okra, using shredded okra peel was seen to be the most favorable way to ingest it. You can prepare okra peel yourself by using a handheld kitchen grater or a lemon zester. Though there is no known limit for how much okra peel someone should eat at one time, half of a teaspoon of okra peel should be more than enough for your body to benefit.

Powdered okra seeds are dried out before being ground down. Ingesting the powder from the seeds as a supplement has also been researched and seen to be beneficial. The process of making the powder is a bit time- and labor-intensive. However, you can easily buy powdered okra seeds from health food stores and online suppliers.

Okra Recipe Ideas

The gel inside of okra is a thickening agent, making it a common ingredient in some soups and stews. If you’d like to start to use okra as a part of your diet, you can start with a simple gumbo recipe. 

 

Pickled okra is another popular okra variation that replaces the bitterness of the okra pod with a sour taste. Pickling okra also softens the peel. If you own a dehydrator, drying out okra pods and seasoning them with sea salt makes a tasty snack to satisfy your craving for crunch. 

Safety Concerns

If you are already on a treatment plan for your diabetes, you should let your doctor know if you are looking into holistic treatments like okra. ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3263724/)  it was shown to block the absorption of metformin. Metformin is a drug that is used to help manage blood sugar levels. If you are taking metformin currently, okra is not something you should experiment with.

Takeaway

There is no conclusive medical research that proves that okra is a natural cure for diabetes. It’s important to understand that okra is definitely not an insulin replacement. However, with so many possible benefits for those that have diabetes, it may be worth trying alongside traditional treatment if your doctor agrees. Make sure to keep your medical professional up to date with any tweaks or additions to your diabetes treatment plan.

\

ARTICLES TO READ: 

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4632455/

https://draxe.com/okra-nutrition/
https://www.journals.elsevier.com/the-journal-of-nutritional-biochemistry
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3878841/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26706676)    and   https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24079173

Miracle Fruit

The Miracle fruit is an evergreen shrub that grows in West Africa.  I am so thankful to my sister Grace who introduced this to me. She tasted this miracle berry fruit in Angola, Africa where they lived that time. One time when we had a chance to roam around Shoe Mart Cebu City, she found this in one of the stalls for sale which happened to be on the plant exhibits in SM.  She was amazed because she was aware that this plant will grow only in areas with a temperature like those in Africa. And Ohhhhh! it costs 3,500 for a 9 months old plant which was not yet bearing fruit but she dared to buy it.
It grows amazingly nice like a live Christmas tree. Everyone was too impatient to wait and see its fruit  but it took 3 years after it bore fruit. Everybody is eager to taste but as per instruction of my sis who happened to have left the Philippines to go back to Angola with her husband Bruno on that year, we had to wait it until the fruit turns Red and ripe.
When we saw dozens of fruits, full of curiosity,  I personally tasted it right away with unripe, green mango .  I took a small bite of the ripe mango and swallowed it. Then I ate  one (1) piece of the miracle berry fruit, eating it like candy playing it with my tongue including the peeling, spitting out the seed. Then I ate the remaining sliced unripe mango again and was surprised . It tasted very sweet as sweet as table sugar.  My curiosity triggered me to taste other food items around the kitchen and found out that everything that tastes sour turns sweet. Even vinegar, lemons, lime, tomatoes, green gardensalad sprinkled with italian dressing turns so sweet. 

The 'Miracle' Berry That Could Replace Sugar **

Miracle fruit contains a protein called miraculin  that tastes sweet enough to replicate the effect of sugar. A chemical that affects taste receptors in the  tongue . This chemical makes the tongue register sour tastes as sweet tastes. The chemical itself has no taste at all. 

Until then, It became the best entertainment for our visitors to have it tested. My brother Chee Dee decided to propagate it since a lot of people is asking for seedlings but I found it hard to propagate that only my brother knows the technique based on his experience.  So if you wish to have one like this, just let me know :-)

My curiosity brings me to research about its amazing characteristics and found out that it can be used to treat DIABETES. Being a Trained Diabetes Educator, I come to realized featuring this here in my blog to share the goodness of this fruit which can be grown locally here in our place in Dumaguete City.  

How does it work?

The berry of the miracle fruit plant is used as medicine.* 

> In foods, miracle fruit is used as a low-calorie sugar-free sweetener.  ***

> People take miracle fruit to treat DIABETES and correct CHEMOTHERAPY-related taste disturbances.

 Why isn't it widely used as a healthy sweetener?

Eat The miraculin berry and for the next hour, enjoy a "flavor-tripping" experience as sour turns to sweet in their mouths.

The surface of your tongue is covered by a multitude of different receptors to detect tastes from sweet to umami. Just like sugar and artificial sweeteners like aspartame, the miraculin in the berry binds to your sweet taste receptors, but far more strongly. ****

The acid present in sour foods sparks a chemical reaction that causes miraculin to temporarily distort the shape of these taste receptors, enhancing them and making them so sensitive that the powerful sweet signals they are sending to your brain completely drown out the sour ones. ***

Other Names: 

Bakeriella dulcifica, Bumelia dulcifica, Fruit Miracle, Fruit Miraculeux, Fruta Milagrosa, Miracle Berry, Miraculin, Miraculous Berry, Richadellla dulcifica, Sideroxylon dulcificum, Synsepalum dulcificum. *1

*1 http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-1171-miracle%20fruit.aspx?activeingredientid=1171&activeingredientname=miracle%20fruit

**https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/05/can-miraculin-solve-the-global-obesity-epidemic/371657/

***https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=low+calorie+sugar+free+sweeteners&oq=low+calorie+sugar+free+sweeteners&aqs=chrome..69i57.10697j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

****https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/05/can-miraculin-solve-the-global-obesity-epidemic/371657/

Healthy diet gawing habit FOR LIFE

Healthy diet., gawing habit - FOR LIFE

This year's Nutrition Month Theme

How to know weather our daily diet is healthy or not? Do you really need a weighing scale or measuring cups to measure your daily meal?  Can you apply healthy diet plan in anywhere you go at any time of the day during meal time?   Knowing the 10 Kumainments * http://tokyo.philembassy.net/02events/10-kumainments/   and understanding it is very important, 

Everytime we eat, we dont really need to measure all the food items found in our plate, or need a Food composition table or a Diet manual to ensure that what we are eating in a certain meal is enough for us.  Below are practical suggestions on how  to do it using your hand gestures to measure your food portions,

I magine your   9 - inch dinner plate.

Now divide your plate into 3 parts before you start eating, color your plate with all the food items you wanted to eat in your allowed amounts using these hand gestures. Your palm size is proportional to your body build. 

Close your fist for a size of fruit ( medium size) , and rootcrop ( approximately 80 to 120 grams), There is no toxicity of  non leafy succulent vegetables so you can eat more as your extender specially individuals having abdominal fat. It has low in calories so nothing to worry about since a cup of sliced succulent veggies like chayote, squash, carrots,  eggplant spices like white onions, red onions, and a lot more. The safest among all that you dont have to worry about uric acid and or allergies is chayote. 

Root crops like potatoes, camote, gabi, and other rootcrops are starchy and is a rice exchange, the calories you can get from this food groups is  high equivalent to rice or a total of 100 calories per exchange or per 80 grams weight of the root crop. If you eat camote (sweet potato) then deduct it to your rice. It is advised to consume rootcrops  because its fiber content that can help us regulate our body eight and flatten our abs since it can be excreted through our feces. Unlike starches coming from rice or corn or white flour used in breads that has no fiber.

Healthy food choices: 

 (CARBOHYDRATES)

              4 SLICES MEDIUM SIZE LOAF BREAD  CAN BE SUBSTITUTED......  200 calories

                  OR  1 CUP  RICE   

                  OR   160 GRAMS   ROOTCROPS   

                  1/2  cup of mixed vegetables blanched or steamed                 .....................     16 calories

 ( PROTEIN SOURCE )  

                       1 PC EGG                                                                         ......................    42 calories

              or       1/3 palm size of grilled fish or baked 

( FAT)   3 Tsp  oil used for frying  the scrambled egg                        .......................    135 calories

                                                                                                             ________________________

                                                                                                                                   393 calories

A total of 393 calories for breakfast meal is ideal for a male, standing 5'4" tall , an office worker , walks 15 minutes going to work. Take note that energy input ( energy you can get from food you eat) must be directly proportionate to your energy output. If you think you have eaten a lot, then work for it by doing extra physical activities. that can help you regulate your body weight. 

 # 9 of the 10 KUMAINMENTS: PANATILIHIN ANG TAMANG TIMBANG.

Danggit ..... and its nutrients

 Danngit  and its nutrient

                  Danggit..... a product of  Bais City from the province of Oriental Negros,  Bais City is the second-most important city of Negros province, in the Philippine Islands. The province of sugar Industry and the home of dolphins and danggit. Very thankful to the Bais City Nutrition Committee for giving this danggit  to us,  as a token of appreciation after we conduct the Monitoring and Evaluation of Local Level Program Implementation in Nutrition ( MELLPI) .

Its only now that I realize that danggit is not exclusive only for Cebu,  In  Baranggay Okiot, Bais City, People dried their freshly cought danggit in their rooftops and now its a growing livelihood.  

Rabbitfish or (Danggit) or spinefoot fish (in english)*  is a small thin salted dried fish referred as a poor man's food by most people. 

       Calories and proteins content can be found in a rabbitfish. Some of the dishes for rabbitfish are sinabawang danggit and fried danggit, which is one of the Filipino breakfast favorites. It is predominant in the city of Cebu. But It can be found also in Bais City. 

Calories in Dried Danggit

Nutrition Facts

Generic - Dried Danggit

1. Servings:  1 pc (5-1/2" x 1-1/2'' x 1/2") (80g)

Calories	232	Sodium	5,621 mg
Total Fat	2 g	Potassium	0 mg
Saturated	0 g	Total Carbs	0 g
Polyunsaturated	0 g	Dietary Fiber	0 g
Monounsaturated	0 g	Sugars	0 g
Trans	0 g	Protein	50 g
Cholesterol	122 mg
Vitamin A	2%	Calcium	5%
Vitamin C	13%	Iron	11%

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. Your daily 

values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs. *

*  FCT , 1997,  www.myfitnesspal.com

this is one of my favorite food for breakfast, Let us take a look how many pieces of danngit are we allowed tp eat in a meal.  

serving size         :  1 piece      

size of danggit      :  5 1/2 " long x  1 1/2 " wiith 

weight                   :   80 grams / piece 

I really  love this danggit . with its size , I can consume 15 pieces of fried danggit and that can give me 84.315 mg of sodium and that would be my protein for my meal.  A teaspoon of salt (heaped) contains 200 mg of sodium . Satisfying...  I am a low salt eater so nothing to worry about my sodium consumption . I can eat danggit even 20 to 25 pieces  for breakfast .:-) 

• Sodium (Na) is a mineral element most commonly found in salt or sodium chloride (NaCl).  It  plays a major role in the regulation of water balance in the body, in maintaining nerve and muscle function.    * *http://www.ndap.org.ph/knowledge-updates/128