Tasty Treats for Stress: Mountain Rose Herbs Recipe Contest Medicinal Recipe

We live in a society that promotes excess stress. We can easily accentuate our jobs, our responsibilities, our errands and busyness in general without taking the time to nourish and support ourselves. We know the ill-effects of stress as health headlines commonly refer to stress as underlying factors in many chronic diseases.

We can reduce stress in our lives simply. Taking time each day to breathe deeply, sit and enjoy our favorite cup of tea, and taking walks to enjoy the changing weather can go a long ways in soothing our nerves and allaying stress.

We can also turn to herbs to support us through times of stress in a variety of ways. Herbs like stinging nettle can nourish us with vital nutrients, thus helping to keep our bodies strong. Relaxing nervines like chamomile can calm and soothe our nerves. Adaptogen herbs can help support our resiliency to stress and this is the classification of herbs we'll be working with today.

Adaptogen herbs are non-toxic substances that help the body to adapt to stressful situations while also normalizing physiological states.

Of course adaptogen herbs don’t take away the stress, but they can improve our response to stress. Most adaptogens are gentle and nourishing and can be taken long term for the best results.

Many herbalists use teas and tinctures as a way of taking herbs. The following recipe explores another traditional use of herbal medicine by mixing powdered herbs into a paste that can be eaten.

But first, let’s explore the herbs we’ll be using today.



Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera): This herb comes to us from India and is often called Indian Ginseng. A wonderful restorative tonic especially suitable for people experiencing nervous exhaustion that manifests as insomnia. This herb is slightly warming and is considered a gentle yang tonic.



Shatavri (Asparagus racemosus): Another herb from India that helps to restore energy levels in people who are wrung out and fatigued. Often used in cases of female or male infertility, this adaptogen is also very nutritive and is considered an immune system tonic.

Eleuthero (Eleutherococcus senticosus): This herb was also recently called Siberian Ginseng. It is a gentle adaptogen that is appropriate for most people. David Winston reports that he uses it often for people who “work hard, play hard and hardly sleep.” Like other adaptogens, eleuthero, supports the immune system and can be taken for extended periods of time.

Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra): This sweet tasting root may be the most commonly used herb in China as it’s often added to formulas as a balancer. Licorice has a multitude of uses including soothing dry spasmodic coughs, aiding digestive ulcerations, and healing cold sores. As an adaptogen it helps to regulate the immune system, improve energy levels, and restore balance to the body. It should be not be used long term for people with hypertension.

All of these herbs are gentle and can be used for most people. However, this blend is most specifically for people experiencing a deficient state of being.

Herbalist Kiva Rose describes a deficient state as:

“Deficiency occurs when the vital force has been used up or drained by illness, inappropriate lifestyle practices, substance abuse or other misuse of the energetic stores of the body. Deficiency of vital force in the body can result in fragility, weakness, chronic disease, sensations of coldness and hypoimmunity, a lack of tongue coating, lack of desire to move or participate in normal activities, and a general sense of the life force receding from the person.”

Those people who are experiencing more of an excess-type state of being tend to run hot and have a lot of energy that resembles restlessness or agitation. For these people more cooling herbs like mallow, rose, and hawthorne would be helpful.

Now that you know a little more about the herbs we are going to use today, let’s make this tasty treat.

For this recipe you will need:

1 cup of tahini (sesame paste)
1/3 cup of almond butter
½ cup of honey
½ cup of chopped almonds

½ cup of ashwagandha powder
½ cup of shatavri powder
½ cup of eleuthero powder
¼ cup of licorice powder
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
½ teaspoon of nutmeg
½ teaspoon of cardamom

½ cup of cocoa nibs (can substitute chopped chocolate chips if necessary)
1 cup of shredded coconut

You can find all of the herbs listed above at Mountain Rose Herbs



Begin by mixing all the powdered herbs together. Set them aside once they are combined well.



Over low heat gently warm the nut butters and honey, stirring constantly. The goal of this isn’t to cook the mixture but rather to warm it just enough to help mix it together.



Once it has warmed enough to form a consistent mixture remove from heat. Immediately stir in the chopped almonds followed by the herbal powder mixture. The end result should be a soft and pliable dough mixture.



After the paste has cooled down add the cocoa nibs. If added too soon the heat from the mixture could melt them.



After everything is combined, form about a tablespoon of the dough into a ball. You can then roll this ball in a bed of coconut.



These balls can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. In our house we eat one to three a day.

This recipe can easily be changed to suit your individual tastes and needs. Have fun experimenting!

If you are allergic to nuts you can use only the tahini (sesame seed butter) and omit the nut butters and nuts.

This blogpost is part of the Mountain Rose Herbs Blog Contest

Practically Paleo Perspective: Rice

A commenter asked me for my opinion on rice, so here you have it.

[Updated 4/20/12:  The original version of this post illustrates some of the poor reasoning I fell into as a result of reading books and blogs by people advocating paleo diet, while ignoring the bulk of research on diet and health.  My critiques and corrections of the original appear in brackets.]

Botany and Antinutrients

Rice is the seed of a monocotyledonous plant known to botanists as Oryza sativa. 

Like other seeds, whole (brown) rice contains chemical defenses against predation, primarily present in the hull and bran of the seed.  They include phytin (phytate), trypsin inhibitor, oryzacystatin and haemagglutinin-lectin.

Phytate binds minerals including calcium, zinc and iron; it also binds with protein.  Heat (cooking) does not denature phytate.  Studies have found that subjects fed brown rice diets have poorer mineral balance when compared to subjects fed milled rice diets.  On the other hand, phytate protects against dental caries, so white rice promotes dental decay more than brown rice.

[4/20/12:   Phytate fears are not founded on good science.  Science does not support claims that dietary phytate causes harm to humans.  Humans adapt to phytate ingestion, dietary vitamin C cancels the negative effect of phytate on mineral absorption, phytate adversely affects mineral balance only if the diet is deficient in minerals, and research has shown that dietary phytate has a strong health benefits for prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease and cancer; it even inhibits the growth of malignant tumors.]

Trypsin inhibitor occurs in rice bran.  Steaming rice bran at 100 degrees C (212 F) inactivates trypsin inhibitor.  [4/20/12:  This means that boiled brown rice has no active trypsin inhibitor.] Polishing rice eliminates trypsin inhibitor.

Haemagglutinins  or lectins consist of globulins that agglutinate mammalian red blood cells and precipitate glycoconjugates or polysaccharides. Lectins bind to specific carbohydrate receptor sites on the intestinal mucosal cells and thus interfere with the absorption of nutrients across the intestinal wall.  Rice lectin agglutinates human A, B and O group erythrocytes.  According to the FAO, rice lectin sharply loses activity when heated to 100 degrees C. [4/20/12: Hence, since we boil rice at 100 degrees C before eating it, we don't have to worry about this lectin.]

Oryzacystatin is an inhibitor of protein-digesting enzymes.  Oryzacystatin remains 100% active after at least 30 minutes of boiling.

Rice also contains an allergenic protein that occurs primarily in the milled rice, not the bran, and remains stable (60%) even after boiling for 60 minutes at 100 C (212 F).

[4/20/12: Rice allergies occur in only 10% of atopic patients in Japan and less in Europeans and Americans.  Compare this to beef allergy:

"The prevalence of beef allergy is between 3% and 6.5% among children with atopic dermatitis and can be up to 20% in cow's milk allergic children. Several studies reported an incidence of 1-2% of food-induced anaphylactic reactions caused by ingestion of beef. In another study an even higher figure of 9% of anaphylactic events from foods were induced by beef."

These data appear to indicate a much greater incidence of anaphylactic events triggered by beef than by rice.]
 
Nutritional value

Rice has a very high carbohydrate content and low levels of micronutrients compared to vegetables or fruits.  The following table compares the levels of selected vitamins and minerals in 50-kcal portions of brown rice and a selection of vegetables and fruits.  Red numbers indicate items with the highest levels among the foods compared. Click on image to see larger version.

Notice that brown rice does not have the highest level of any of the nutrients listed.  White potatoes have twice as much riboflavin (B2), 2.5 times as much folate, vitamin C not present in rice, 10 times more potassium, more than 3 times as much iron, and 25% more calcium than brown rice.    Sweet potatoes supply carotenes (provitamin A) and vitamin C not present in brown rice, three times as much B2, 5.5 times as much folate, 9 times as much potassium, slightly more iron, and more than 3 times as much calcium.  Winter squash also makes brown rice pale in comparison.

Strawberries have 10 times as much B2, 12.5 times as much potassium, nearly 3 times as much iron, and more than 5 times as much calcium.

No matter which vegetable or fruit you compare to brown rice, you find the vegetable or fruit makes brown rice pale in comparison.

Then if you compare brown to white rice:

Brown Rice vs. White Rice
Nutrient	Brown Rice (1 cup)	White Rice (1 cup)
Energy (kcal)	218	241
Protein (g)	4.5	4.4
Carbohydrate (g)	46	53
Fat (g)	1.6	0.4
Fiber (g)	3.5	NA
Thiamin (mg)	0.2	0.3 (synthetic)
Riboflavin (mg)	0.02	0.03 (synthetic)
Niacin (mg)	2.6	2.8 (synthetic)
Pyridoxine (mg)	0.29	0.11
Folacin (mcg)	7.8	109.8 (synthetic)
Calcium (mg)	19.5	1.9
Iron	1.0	2.7 (fortified)
Magnesium	86	15
Phosphorus	150	61
Potassium	154	48
Zinc	1.2	0.74

Laying aside the synthetic fortification, brown rice supplies nearly 3 times as much pyridoxine, 10 times as much calcium, almost 6 times as much magnesium, more than 3 times as much phosphorus, more than 3 times as much potassium, and almost twice as much zinc.  Therefore, white rice doesn't hold a candle to brown rice, and brown rice doesn't hold a candle to white potatoes.

[4/20/12:  Turn this around, and judge by energy, protein, and carbohydrate delivery per unit volume, and you find that brown rice surpasses non-starchy vegetables and fruits.  We need some foods for energy and macronutrients, and some foods for micronutrients.  Brown rice is a nutrient-dense starch and energy source compared to white rice.]

White or brown, rice is basically filler with little nutritional value compared to vegetables and fruits.  If you eat rice, you crowd out more nutrient-dense sources of carbohydrate. 

[4/20/12:  Wow, what a ridiculous argument!  Both brown and white rice are much more nutrient-dense than fats like butter, lard, and olive oil, so I would have been more correct to state that fats are fillers compared to brown rice.  When I compared the micronutrient content of two equicaloric diets, one high in meat and supplying most of its energy from fat, and the other low in meat and supplying most of its energy from starches like brown rice, the starch-based diet won hands down.]

Ecology

Environmentalist vegetarians like to blame livestock for global warming, but according to Wikipedia:

In many countries where rice is the main cereal crop, rice cultivation is responsible for most of the methane emissions....Methane is twenty times more effective as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

[4/20/12:  This is an example of the half-truths used to support paleo perspectives.  How about taking a look at relative contributions of rice compared to animal products?  A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition calculated the amounts of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane) emitted in the production of 22 different commonly consumed foods, in kg of CO2 equivalents per kg of final product:   Rice, 1.3;  eggs, 2.5; rapeseed oil, 3.0; chicken, 4.3; cod, 8.5; pork, 9.3; cheese, 11; beef, 30.  So the favored foods of low carb and paleo diets produce 2 to 23 times as much greenhouse gas emissions as rice.]

Further, rice fields are the principal breeding grounds for mosquitos that carry malaria.

So there you have my perspective on rice.   I do not recommend regular consumption of either brown or white rice. [Line through added on 4/20/12.]

[4/20/12:  I now highly recommend eating rice and other grains as staple foods, and I no longer recommend eating eggs, poultry, fish, pork, or beef or beef products.  Grains are far superior to meats and fats as human energy sources and for health support, and have much less deleterious effect on the environment.  Science has shown us that meat- and fat-based paleo dieting is not beneficial to human health, animal welfare, or for ecosystem preservation.]

My Meals 4/16/10

Some recent practically paleo meals:

Breakfast: Grass-fattened beef steak, soft boiled eggs, steamed broccoli and red peppers dressed with olive oil, sweet potato mashed with butter. Also had a bowl of blueberries with dairy cream atop.

Dinner: Grass-fattened beef steak, whole avocado with chipotle salsa, steamed carrots, same broccoli dish as at breakfast, and an orange.

Spring in the Methow: A photographic journey

We had a beautiful day in the Methow Valley today and I enjoyed taking a walk around our cabin to see the first signs of spring.



The bluebells are out in full force, carpeting the forest floor with their blue abundance.



Yellow bells are one of my favorite edible roots. They also strongly illustrate how harvesting wild plants can actually increase their growth. When you harvest these bulbs you will find a bunch of tiny bulblets on the bulb. Separate these off and replant them in the same area. In this way you can literally increase their growth in an area by 50 times from how you found it.

The chinese use a species of yellow bells (Fritillaria cirrhosa and F. thunbergii) for medicine and it's on my list to experiment with our own native species, Fritillaria pudica.



Spring beauties (Claytonia lanceolata) are one of my favorite edibles. We eat the aerial portions as salad greens and dry the roots to eat in our winter stews.



These tiny yarrow leaves are beginning to pop up from last's years growth. Yarrow is one of my most used herbs for a myriad of conditions - from UTIs to bug bites to fevers to wounds.

You can see more of todays photo on my flicker account by clicking here

Now that is good news!

Amy Stork of the Methow Valley Newspaper writes a delicious food column each month.

This month featured a recipe from yours truly.

Check it out here.

Dandelion Wine Video

Here's parts 1 and 2 of making dandelion wine. This batch was the best batch of dandelion wine I've ever made. If you've got dandelions popping up in your yard, you might give this wine a try! We like to drink a glass of dandelion wine on winter solstice to celebrate the returning sun.

Dandelion as food: simmered, blended and marinated

In the next few weeks I'll be posting excerpts from my Healing Herbs ebook. The whole book is now available for free at LearningHerbs.com - check it out!

Dandelion
(Taraxacum officinale)
Family: Asteraceae (Aster)
Parts used: root, leaves, flowers
Properties: cool/dry, bitter, alterative, nutritive, cholagogue, diuretic, laxative, tonic
Used for: poor digestion, water retention, nourishing food, skin eruptions
Plant preparations: decoction, tincture, food

Volumes could be written on the many uses of dandelion – indeed they have been! This common weed is often hated and poisoned by those preferring a “weed free” lawn, while those of us in love with dandelion and its many uses happily support it taking over our lawns.

This plant was purposefully brought to North America by Europeans not wanting to leave this valuable resource behind. Every part of the dandelion can be used as food or medicine, making back door herbalism simple and easy, as it should be.
When the first spring leaves pop up out of the ground they can be harvested heavily and eaten fresh with salads, made into a delicious pesto, or dried for tea.

The leaves are highly nutritious, containing large amounts of vitamin A, calcium, potassium, and many more vitamins and minerals. The French call this plant pissenlit, which alludes to its strong diuretic properties. A tea of dandelion leaves is a great way to flush excess water from the system. (Of course, before using this effective remedy we always want to make sure the water retention is caused by a non-serious condition like sitting on an airplane too long.) When eaten with meals, the bitter taste of the leaves helps to promote digestion by stimulating bile to relieve indigestion and other digestive disturbances.

The root is a great ally for the liver. It can be tinctured or eaten fresh in a variety of recipes. Dandelion root can help clear up acne and other skin disruptions with the root cause being a stagnant liver. Most herbalists agree that long-term use of dandelion is needed for best results.

The flower can be eaten in salads, or fried up as fritters. An oil made from dandelion flowers is warming and can be applied externally to relieve arthritis and other aches and pains.

Lastly the latex, or sap, from the dandelion stems can be used topically on warts. Apply several times daily for best results.

My favorite way to enjoy dandelion is by making dandelion “coffee” with the roots. This beverage doesn’t contain the caffeine found in coffee, but does have a rich, dark taste similar to coffee.

Like burdock, dandelion’s strong diuretic activity makes it an inappropriate choice for someone with low blood pressure or excessive urination.

Dandelion Coffee
Prior to decocting the dandelion root, roast the dried chopped root in a cast iron pan until it is fragrant and has changed color from being off- white to light and dark brown.
For each 8 oz of water you are making, use 1-2 teaspoons of the roasted root.
Add the root to simmering water and continue to simmer while covered for 7–15 minutes. The resulting brew will be darkly colored. I enjoy my dandelion coffee with cream, and many people enjoy adding honey as well.

Dandelion Pesto
We love this pesto as a dip, on bread, pasta, salmon or even a couple tablespoons on eggs.

Ingredients
2-4 crushed cloves of garlic
1/2 cup cold pressed olive oil
2-3 cups of young dandelion leaves
1/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese
dash of sea salt
squirt of lemon juice (optional)
1/4 cup of ground nuts (walnuts, pine nuts)

I prefer to make this type of mixture in a food processor. If you have one of these handy devices simply place all the ingredients in the processor and blend until well mixed together.

If you do not have a food processor you can make this in a blender and since I have burned out many a blender doing this here are my very precise instructions on how to make dandelion pesto and not break your blender in the process.

Place oil, garlic and salt in the blender along with half of the dandelion leaves.

Blend well and then add the other half of the leaves. When finished blending it should be of a good consistency although still a little runny.

Pour into a bowl and add desired amount of parmesan cheese, ground nuts and lemon juice.




Marinated Dandelion Flower Buds
One of my favorite ways to harvest dandelions are in fallow fields. The soil here is usually tilled well so the harvesting is easy. When I am able to find these areas I often harvest the entire plant. Returning home I separate the leaves from the roots, the flowers from the stems and reserve those tight light flower buds for the following recipe. Be sure to use the flower buds when they are still tightly closed and before they have ever opened.

Ingredients
1/2 cup onions
3 tablespoons fresh minced ginger
4-5 garlic cloves
1 cup dandelion flower buds
apple cider vinegar
tamari or soy sauce

Rinse the flower buds well and place into a pint jar with the onions, garlic and ginger.

Fill halfway with the apple cider vinegar and then hafway with the tamari or soy sauce.
Cover with a plastic lid or a metal lid with a plastic buffer. (Vinegar will corrode the metal lid.)

Let sit for three weeks in the fridge and then enjoy on salads, as a snack and on tuna fish sandwiches.

These will keep indefinitely in the fridge.