Pork and Sunshine Pepper Casserole : Low Carb

How about this lovely colourful and low carb Casserole idea. I've called it 'Pork and Sunshine Pepper Casserole' because I thought for a change I'd pick some bright and cheerful colours to put in with the meat. This is what I used and how I made it ... I can also tell you it didn't hang around on the plate long either ...delicious was the word used when the meal was complete!

Ingredients 

Serves 2 / 3

0.450kg diced leg (or shoulder) of pork 

1/2 large red pepper

1/2 large orange pepper

1/2 large yellow pepper

1 carrot

1 onion (you can use white or red) sliced

mushrooms, a handful 4 - 6

salt and black pepper for seasoning

mixed herbs 

gravy / stock (of choice) about 3/4 pint (to cover meat etc)

Method 

Wipe / wash meat and all vegetables with water before using

Put oven on to warm up. Gas 4, Electric 180

Dice up meat into approx 1 inch 'chunks' and place in oven proof casserole dish

Remove skin from onion and slice, add to casserole dish 

De-seed, as appropriate all, peppers and cut into square pieces, add to casserole dish

Peel and slice carrot and add to casserole dish

Slice or quarter mushrooms and add to casserole dish

season with salt and black pepper

add herbs of your choice - I used dried mixed herbs

Make up your stock and pour over meat and vegetables to cover

Put lid on casserole dish, place in warmed oven, cook for approx 1 1/2 hours until meat is tender.

Tip - I usually gently stir all ingredients at least twice during cooking 

Whilst casserole is cooking prepare any accompanying vegetables

Serve on warmed plates and enjoy

How about this tip for preparing onions:

First slice off the top of the onion (leave the root on for the moment), then remove the papery skin and any brown outer layers.
To chop the onion, cut in half from top to bottom. Put the cut side down and make a number of horizontal cuts towards, but not quite reaching, the root. Then make as many vertical cuts through the onion, again not quite reaching the root. Holding the onion very firmly and with the knife blade at right angles to the first set of cuts that you made, slice down vertically - the onion will fall away in small pieces as you go. Continue cutting until you reach the root, which you can now discard.

To slice, trim the root off, then cut in slices moving from the root end towards the top. Leave as slices or separate each one out into rings.

All onions are best prepared just before you use them.

Read more about onions here

All the best Jan

Dr. David Unwin Shows How Real Food Can Treat Type 2 Diabetes

Dr. David Unwin is doing wonders for his diabetic patients on a low carb higher fat diet. He is also saving serious money for the NHS, because the medication required to control diabetics blood glucose levels has been minimised, and in some cases stopped altogether. The Black OP's outfits won't want to see this being duplicated around the UK, it will cost them a fortune in lost sales and revenue. Eddie 

'Eat fat to get thin': Official diet advice is 'disastrous' for obesity fight, new report warns

Thirty years of official health advice urging people to adopt low-fat diets and to lower their cholesterol is having “disastrous health consequences,” a leading obesity charity warned yesterday.

“Eating fat does not make you fat,” argues a new report by the National Obesity Forum (NOF) and the Public Health Collaboration, as they demanded a major overhaul of official dietary guidelines.

The report says the low-fat and low-cholesterol message, which has been official policy in the UK since 1983, was based on “flawed science” and had resulted in an increased consumption of junk food and carbohydrates.

The document also accuses major public health bodies of colluding with the food industry, said the misplaced focus meant Britain was failing to address an obesity crisis which is costing the NHS £6 billion a year.

The authors call for a return to “whole foods” such as meat, fish and dairy, as well as high-fat healthy foods like avocados.

The report, which has provoked a broad backlash among the scientific community, also argues that saturated fat does not cause heart disease while full fat dairy products such as milk, yoghurt and cheese, can actually protect the heart.

Professor David Haslam, NOF chairman, said: “As a clinician treating patients all day every day, I quickly realised that guidelines from on high suggesting high carbohydrate, low-fat diets were the universal panacea, where deeply flawed.

“Current efforts have failed, the proof being that obesity levels are higher than they have ever been, and show no chance of reducing despite the best efforts of government and scientists.”

Processed foods labelled “low-fat”, “lite”, “low cholesterol” should be avoided at all costs and people with Type 2 diabetes should eat a fat-rich diet rather than one based on carbohydrates, the report urges.

Dr Aseem Malhotra, consultant cardiologist and member of the Public Health Collaboration, a group of medics, said dietary guidelines promoting low-fat foods “is perhaps the biggest mistake in modern medical history, resulting in devastating consequences for public health”.

“Sadly this unhelpful advice continues to be perpetuated,” he said.

Calorie counting is also a damaging red herring when it comes to controlling obesity, said the NOF report, as calories from different foods have “entirely different metabolic effects on the human body, rendering that definition useless”.

Similarly, “you cannot outrun a bad diet” the authors state, citing the “incorrect” assumption among the public that the solution to obesity is to burn more calories than are consumed.

Dr Mike Knapton, Associate Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation (BHF), said the NOF findings were “full of ideas and opinion” but could not be counted as a comprehensive review of the evidence.

“This country’s obesity epidemic is not caused by poor dietary guidelines; it is that we are not meeting them,” he said.

Professor Naveed Sattar, Professor of Metabolic Medicine at Glasgow University, said: “The report’s main headline – simply to eat more fat – is highly contentious and could have adverse public health consequences.”

Meanwhile, Dr Alison Tedstone, Chief Nutritionist at Public Health England, defended the body’s latest advice.

“The refresh of the Eatwell model was conducted openly using robust scientific approaches,” she said.

“Advice was generated from an external reference group engaging interested stakeholders, including health voluntary and industry representatives to ensure a wide range of views were considered.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Graham

Coconut Macaroons : Low Carb

This is another lovely recipe idea from Ewelina ... who is a Type 1 Diabetic ... she says:

"Diabetes and cakes doesn’t sound like a great combination. Well not to me, I have always loved baking and after diagnosis with diabetes type 1 in 2011 I had to find some way of combining these two. It is quite challenging and anyone who knows a little bit about baking will agree with me. How to bake without using flour or sugar?! After long research and checking hundreds of recipes I came across some great ideas. There are sugar substitutes that work quite well in most recipes and there are many different low carb flours and flour substitutes. I’m still learning and discovering new products and recipes but with every cake I make I know more and more. Now I’m convinced that low carb cakes can be delicious and we don’t need to feel sorry for not having regular cakes. Cakes from my blog are equally good (if not better) and you can eat them without worrying too much about your sugar levels"

I do quite often enjoy a low carb treat with my cup of tea, and looking at the picture above, couldn't you just reach out and eat one of these coconut macaroons with a nice cuppa? Well my kettle is on ...

and here is the list of ingredients:

(makes 24 macaroons)

· 250g desiccated coconut
· 140 g xylitol
· 100 g coconut oil
· 2 egg whites
· 4 tbsp. milk

The carbohydrates and calories details:
Whole mixture 50g Carbohydrates 2847 Calories
1 macaroon 2g Carbohydrates 118 Calories

Now do go over to Ewelina's blog to see how to make these tasty macaroons, the link is here

Hope you may enjoy them soon

All the best Jan

Introduction to low-carb for beginners.

Eight years ago, I joined the club no one wants to join, the diabetes club. It was a shock, but the initial shock was nothing, compared to what I discovered, when I started to research the best way to safely control my diabetes. Time after time I found organisations we should be able to trust, were promoting dietary information to diabetics, that at best is highly dubious, and at worst criminal in my opinion. I call these organisations black op's outfits. Increasingly, many healthcare professionals from A1 rated Science Professors, to General Practitioners and informed unbiased Dietitians and nutritional experts, are coming to the same conclusion.

One point you must always stay focused on, is the fact almost all whole fresh food is low carb (with the exception of most fruits and some root vegetables) all the foods below are low carb. Some of the great myths regarding a low carb lifestyle, include it's unhealthy, it's restrictive and people cannot stay with it long term. Nothing could be further from the truth. I will never ever accept, eating whole fresh foods from the farm or the sea, can be harmful to anyone's health. The junk masquerading as food, coming out of factories more akin to a petro-chem plant, have played a huge role in the epidemics of obesity and the often linked type two diabetes.

Please note! if you have been following a high carb diet, and are an insulin user or using drugs that force natural insulin secretion, you are advised to reduce carbs gradually. Many people find blood glucose levels reduce, often dramatically when going low carb. Take care and test BG frequently to avoid hypos. Also, if you have been running high BG numbers and reduce BG too quickly, permanent eye damage can occur. This way of life is not a race, take your time, get it right and live a long and active life. Diabetes does not have to be progressive. 

Introduction, and Why Low-Carb?

This page has been provided for those who are new to the concept of low-carbing as a primary tool for managing diabetes. Although it is aimed principally at Type 2 diabetics, Type 1s and others can also benefit significantly. 'Managing diabetes' means different things to different people, but ultimately the aim for T2s should be to get your blood sugar numbers into the same area as non-diabetics. This means an HbA1c level of less than 42 mmol/mol (6.0% in the old measurement system). (48 mmol/mol or 6.5% and above is regarded as diabetic, 42-47 mmol/mol as prediabetic). For T1s the aim should be the lowest practicable levels concomitant with good control and avoidance of hypos in accordance with their consultant's guidance and personal life choices.

So the main priority is to get blood sugars under control. This is essential to minimise the risk of developing unpleasant complications (including amputations, kidney failure and blindness) if the condition is left unattended and sustained high blood sugar levels are allowed to prevail.

The chief symptom of diabetes is an elevated blood glucose level. Whilst some medications can help Type 2 diabetics to reduce blood glucose, far more significant a factor is a reduction of those foods in the diet which raise the levels in the first place. This is not just obvious sugars in sweets, chocolate, cakes, biscuits, breakfast cereals and so on but most carbohydrates as well. 

Carbohydrates metabolise quickly to sugar in the system (some take a little longer than others) and so for diabetics they act basically as if they were sugar. So you need to cut out starchy carbs as much as possible, including bread, potatoes, pasta and rice - 'wholemeal' or so-called 'healthy' carbs included. This may be contrary to medical profession guidance you have received, to eat carbs with every meal, unfortunately this is fundamentally flawed advice rejected by most well controlled diabetics.

Low-carbing can therefore result in medications (including the amount of insulin required for T1s) being reduced. Always consult with healthcare professionals on this. In some cases (Type 2 diabetics only) medications can be avoided or eliminated altogether. (It is a mistake to imagine that drugs alone will enable you to manage your diabetes successfully, so don't become complacent if you are on medication, it is assumed that for most people minimisation or elimination of medication is in itself a major objective).

What does Low-Carb mean?

A low carb diet is not necessarily low in all carbohydrate foods, simply those which disrupt blood glucose and insulin levels. Generally, the diet includes the healthy natural and unprocessed foods similar to those eaten in populations where diabetes and heart disease are rarely found.

So you can eat/drink:

Meat, fish, eggs, butter, cheese, plain Greek yoghurt and cream

Vegetarian protein such as tofu and TVP

Above-ground green vegetables, tomatoes, avocados, nuts as a good snack

Berry fruits in moderation blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries

Occasional small amounts of dark chocolate (85% cocoa or more)

Most nuts and seeds

Tea, coffee (try with cream instead of milk)

Plenty of water

Red wine, dry white wine, champagne, spirits in sensible amounts


And you should avoid:

Sugar - soft drinks, sweets, juice, sports drinks, chocolate, cakes, buns, pastries, ice cream, breakfast cereals. Preferably avoid sweeteners as well.

Starch - bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, chips, crisps, porridge, muesli, foods containing processed flour and so on. 'Wholegrain products' are just less bad. Moderate amounts of root vegetables (carrots, parsnips) may be OK (unless you’re eating extremely low carb).

Margarine - industrially imitated butter with unnaturally high content of Omega-6 fat. Has no health benefits, tastes bad. Statistically linked to asthma, allergies and other inflammatory diseases.

Fruit, especially tropical fruits which contain lots of sugar. Eat once in a while at most. Treat tropical fruit as a natural form of sweets. The impact of apples and pears varies from person to person.

Beer - liquid bread. Full of rapidly absorbed carbs.

Sweet white wine, cocktails with sugary mixers.

In broad terms, carbohydrates have a large impact on blood glucose levels, protein much less, and fats have little if any effect.

An effective low carb diet (or perhaps we should refer to it as a 'lifestyle') is one which allows a person to maintain, most of the time, a healthy blood glucose level. The amount of carbs it contains will vary between individuals, depending mainly on personal choice, pancreatic function and insulin resistance. A possible range might be:

Low carb (ketogenic) 0-50g carbohydrate per day

Typical low carb 50-90g

Liberal low carb 90-130g

Moderate carb 130-170g

High carb 170g and more

For low carb foods aim for those that have less than 10g total carbohydrate (excluding fibre) per 100g, less than 5g if you can. Ignore the ‘of which sugar’ bit, that’s irrelevant to us. You will become an avid reader of food labels! (And the MyFitnessPal app can scan them). Also avoid low fat versions of food items – these often contain added sugar.

Some prefer to keep eating some carbs, because they want to and/or they can tolerate more; and some are less able to eat higher levels of fat. 

To find out how many carbs you are consuming each meal you will need this simple tool kit. It's also a good idea to start a food diary or spreadsheet. Within a very short space of time, the low carb lifestyle becomes second nature. Remember low carb is a permanent way of life, it is not a short term diet.

Most packaged food will give you nutritional information regarding carbs., protein, fat etc. but many of the foods we eat are not packaged i.e. a portion of fruit or vegetables, we also need to know the weight of the food we are consuming. By weighing the food and checking in a calorie/carb. counting book we can calculate the exact carb. total per meal.

Example White grapes book states 15.4 grams of carbohydrates per 100 grams. Actual weight of grapes is 85 grams. Divide 15.4 by 100 =.154 multiply .154 by 85=13.09 grams of carbohydrate in 85 grams of white grapes.

What about LCHF?

LCHF (Low carb high fat) is a variant of low-carbing which many diabetics successfully adopt. When you reduce carbohydrates, you also reduce the calories that come with them. To make up these calories you can replace them with a higher proportion of fats, such as those found in fatty meat, butter, cheese and cream. LCHF is advocated by a Swedish Dr Andreas Eenfeldt. His great website can be found here.

Testing

In order to learn what foods you can and cannot tolerate it is strongly recommended that you have a test meter (not usually prescribed for T2s). With this you can measure your blood glucose levels before and after meals and see what ‘spikes’ you. Again this may be contrary to professional advice you might receive which often regards testing as pointless. But how else are you supposed to learn? Many use the SD Codefree system (from Amazon etc or direct from the supplier Home Health UK) because the strips are the most cost-effective.

What might happen when you start to Low-carb?

The following does not happen to all who start a low carb eating regime, but some may experience one or more of these stages.

Days 1 to 3 - carb withdrawal and hunger. Eat lots of fibre and lots of fat. Fat and fibre together produce a high degree of satiety. Add flax seeds, as they are high in both fibre and healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Salads with protein (tuna, chicken, etc.) and lots of olive oil dressing is another good bet.

Don’t go hungry! This isn’t like other diets where you can expect to go for long periods being hungry. Eat every 3 hours if you want to, snack on low carb foods (such as cheese or nuts) as you want until the hunger goes.

Days 3 to 5 - the wall. People often lose a lot of salt with the fluid in the first few days, and you have cut out the supply from junk food, so add some salt and/or a cup of hot water with a stock cube several times per day.

Days 5 -14 - reward time. By the end of the first week you should start to reap the rewards of low-carb eating. This is the stage where many people begin to experience increased energy, better mental concentration, better sleep patterns, less compulsive eating, and few or no carb cravings. Some experience it as a “fog lifting” that they didn’t even know was there.

Why doesn't the NHS recommend Low-carb diets?

The NHS are obliged to advise on the basis of NICE guidelines. These guidelines in turn are still based on the increasingly discredited view that dietary fat causes heart disease and dietary protein causes kidney damage, so without carbs there’d be nothing left to eat. Subsequent research has revealed that neither of these hypotheses is correct and that the finger of suspicion ought to be pointed at glucose, but changes to established mindsets are very slow to happen. Nevertheless, there has been much recent positive publicity regarding low-carbing and the negative aspects of low fat regimes and the role of sugar.

Many diabetics have discovered for themselves the benefits of low-carbing, by the simple empirical process of testing their own blood sugars to determine what foods they can tolerate and what they can't (or for T1s which foods require the minimum of insulin dosage).

The figures below show the impacts of the NICE guidance on HbA1c levels of registered diabetics.

Results for England. The National Diabetes Audit 2010-2011

Percentage of registered Type 1 patients in England

HbA1c >= 6.5% (48 mmol/mol) = 92.6%

HbA1c > 7.5% (58 mmol/mol) = 71.3%

HbA1c > 10.0% (86 mmol/mol) = 18.1%

(so only 7.4% of Type 1s achieve non-diabetic or prediabetic levels, however for T1s it is better to aim for good control in association with their consultant's advice rather than go for the same blood glucose targets as T2s with the associated risk of hypos).

Percentage of registered Type 2 patients in England

HbA1c >= 6.5% (48 mmol/mol = 72.5%

HbA1c > 7.5% (58 mmol/mol) = 32.6%

HbA1c >10.0% (86 mmol/mol) = 6.8%

(so only 27.5% of Type 2s achieve non-diabetic or prediabetic levels – we don't know how many of these depend on significant and increasing medication rather than diet however).

These results are very similar to those obtained in previous NHS audits over the past 5 - 6 years.

Other FAQs

What about cholesterol?

Diabetics are right to be fearful of the risks of heart disease, since rates are many times higher than those of non-diabetics, especially if your Body Mass Index (BMI) is elevated. GPs frequently use this to prescribe statins which, although they do reduce total cholesterol, come with their own baggage of controversy.

Actually only around 80% of the cholesterol in the body is manufactured by the liver and the cells, and relatively little comes directly from the diet. Furthermore, total cholesterol is now widely recognised as being a very poor indicator of heart disease risk.

Far more meaningful are the individual components (the lipid profile) of total cholesterol, especially the high density lipoprotein (HDL) and triglyceride levels. The triglyceride/HDL ratio is perhaps the single most significant measure of heart disease risk. The lower the triglycerides and the higher the HDL, the better. A triglyceride/HDL ratio of 2 or less is a good target, 1.3 even better.

Insulin and glucose combine to raise triglycerides and lower HDL, which is why a low fat, high carbohydrate diet may actually increase heart disease risk. It is commonly reported that those on low carb diets have better lipid profiles and certainly much improved triglyceride/HDL ratios, even though high carb diets can produce lower total cholesterol.

What about weight loss?

Reducing carbs (and the calories that go with them) is, together with exercise, also a good way to lose weight. Offset the carb calories with protein and fat calories in order to get the right balance for your personal situation.

Insulin is often referred to by biochemists as the fat building hormone. In fact, the body cannot make body fat without insulin. It is very unusual to find an overweight individual who doesn’t also have elevated insulin levels. Type 2 diabetics, at diagnosis, will often be overproducing insulin.

Insulin also inhibits the body’s use of stored fat as a source of fuel. Lowering insulin levels is extremely important, perhaps essential, for weight loss to succeed. This is one reason why low carb diets are particularly successful in weight loss since the fewer the carbs, the less insulin is required. Some may also find that they consume fewer calories without feeling hungry because their fat metabolism begins to work properly once more, allowing the body access to energy reserves in fat stores which were previously inaccessible.

What is ketosis?

Ketosis is a perfectly natural and healthy state during which the body uses stored or dietary fat for fuel. In order to enter this state, carbohydrate intake needs to fall below a certain level, typically around 50g/day. Ideally, a healthy metabolism should regularly use ketosis, while fasting overnight for example, to fuel the body's processes and utilise stored fat reserves.

(Ketoacidosis is quite different and is typically the result of a chronic lack of insulin, not a lack of carbohydrate).

What about physical energy?

Strictly speaking, we burn neither glucose nor fat for physical energy. Energy within our cells actually comes from a molecule called adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. A glucose molecule will generate 36 ATP molecules. A 6-carbon fatty acid molecule will generate 48 ATP molecules. Therefore, when insulin levels are low and the body can access fatty acids as a fuel source, physical energy levels can actually increase on a low carb diet.

Anecdotally, many on low carb diets often report feeling considerably more energetic, without the peaks and troughs of energy which appear to come with a diet high in carbohydrates.

Is it suitable for Type 1 diabetics?

The benefits of reduced insulin levels also apply to Type 1s. Insulin has a measureable impact on blood vessels by narrowing them, with increased cardiovascular risks. Smaller doses can also make blood glucose fluctuations far more predictable, resulting in fewer highs and lows. It is not true to say that Type 1s need carbohydrates to feed their insulin, they may simply need less insulin.

Isn’t low carb just another diet fad?

Since the emergence of the human species in the Rift Valley around 3-4 million years ago, we have been meat eaters. Fruit and vegetables were a rare treat during their short growing seasons. We only began cultivating crops during the agricultural revolution 10,000 years ago. Refined sugars and starches became staples only around 200 years ago.

In the context of our evolutionary history, perhaps it’s the so-called ‘healthy balanced diet (aka the 'Eatwell guide') which is the real diet fad.

Selected additional information and management sources

Book “Carbs & Cals” - contains photographs of foods and meals with carb, calorie, protein and fat values.

“My Fitness Pal” app – allows for logging meals and accounting for carbs and calories etc.

Jenny Ruhl - “Blood Sugar 101” http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/index.php

Dr Bernstein's Low-Carb diet solution.

Some great low carb meals and food suggestions. Low carb restrictive, boring, can't be sustained. Make up your own mind. All of the meals below complete with ingredients and cooking methods can be found at our low carb recipe site here. 

Pork medallions and low carb vegetables 

Salmon salad

Beef Bourguignon

Chicken curry with cauliflower rice

Most people love cakes but most shop cakes are very high in sugar and carbs ours are very low carb and require no special equipment or skills

 Coffee and walnut cake with clotted cream

Strawberry Sponge Cake

More great meals and food ideas coming here soon 

This guide is a work in progress by a group of diabetics, none are health care professionals. All have their diabetes under control using nil or minimum medication.

Black OP's outfits.

So often when researching major UK health charities and dietary organisations, you will find multi-national food conglomerations and large pharmaceutical companies acting as financial sponsors. Certain questions come to mind. Firstly, how would it affect the sponsors turnover and profits, if the healthcare organisations, promoted a whole fresh food diet, and advised us to stay well clear, of highly processed factory produced high carb/sugar/starch foods to all, especially diabetics. It's my opinion drastically, big pharma and big food would lose £billions. The second question you need to ask yourself, should healthcare organisations accept funding from outfits that have vested interests in maintaining the status quo.

Please note.

This is by no means a complete list of commercial organisations funding and sponsoring UK health organisations. Also, the companies involved change from time to time, almost always 'the usual suspects' are to be found. We will endeavour to update this list in the near future. Eddie

Diabetes UK The diabetes charity.

Abbott Bayer Boehringer Ingelheim Bristol Myers Squibb Bupa Bunzl Everyclick First Capital Connect Flora pro.activ Kodak Lilly Lloyds Pharmacy Menarini Merck Serono Morphy Richards Merck Sharp & Dohme Limited Novartis Novo Nordisk Nursing Times PAL Technologies Ltd Pfizer Rowlands Pharmacies Sanofi-aventis SplendaTakeda Tesco Diets

The British Dietetic Association

Yakult UK Ltd Cereal Partners Juvela Danone belVita Abbott Nutrition Vitaflo International 

HEART UK -The Nation’s Cholesterol Charity

Abbott Healthcare Alpro UK AstraZeneca BHR Pharma Cambridge Weight Plan Cereal Partners UK (Sh Wheat) Food & Drink Federation Fresenius Medical Care (UK) Limited Genzyme Therapeutics Hovis Kellogg’s (Optivita) Kowa Pharmaceutical Europe Co Limited L.IN.C Medical Systems Limited Merck Sharpe & Dhome PlanMyFood Pfizer Premier Foods Progenika Biopharma s.a. Roche Products Limited Unilever (Flora) Welch’s (Purple Grape Juice)

The British Nutrition Foundation

The organisation's 39 members, which contribute to its funding, include – beside the Government, the EU – Cadbury, Kellogg's, Northern Foods, McDonald's, PizzaExpress, the main supermarket chains except Tesco, and producer bodies such as the Potato Council. The chairman of its board of trustees, Paul Hebblethwaite, is also chairman of the Biscuit, Cake, Chocolate and Confectionery Trade Association.

The European Food Information Council

Current EUFIC members are: AB Sugar, Ajinomoto Sweeteners Europe, Bunge, Cargill, Cereal Partners, Coca-Cola, Danone, DSM Nutritional Products Europe Ltd., Ferrero, Kraft Foods, Mars, McDonald's, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Pfizer Animal Health, Südzucker, and Unilever.

The British Heart Foundation

Unilever Flora margarine.

A black operation or black op is a covert operation by a government, a government agency, or a military organization. This can include activities by private companies or groups. Key features of a black operation are that it is secret and it is not attributable to the organization carrying it out.The main difference between a black operation and one that is merely secret is that a black operation involves a significant degree of deception, to conceal who is behind it or to make it appear that some other entity is responsible. Wiki

Parmesan Crusted Cauliflower : Low Carb : Parmesan Cheese History

I love to have Parmesan Cheese (or similar) in the house, there are so many recipes where it just gives that extra zing! I happened upon this recipe idea recently, it's from Melissa at Nourished Peach Blog (details below). Such a great idea ... see what you think. I've given the recipe details and also included a little about the history of Parmesan Cheese, which I found interesting - hope you may also.

Parmesan Crusted Cauliflower Steaks:
Ingredients:
1 Head of Cauliflower
4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
1 Clove Garlic, grated or pressed
1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/4 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

Recipe idea from Melissa at Nourished Peach Blog, see recipe instructions here

If you need help with cooking equivalent measurements see here 

History of Parmesan Cheese:

Parmesan Cheese Origin:
There are many misconceptions about the word Parmesan, but there is no doubt whatsoever about Parmesan cheese’s origin! Parmesan refers to the famous cheese made in and around the Italian province of Parma for the past eight centuries and more. Historically speaking, it is an earlier term for what we now call Parmigiano Reggiano® cheese.

The history of Parmesan cheese and its etymology are fascinating, so let’s go back a few centuries and trace them.

Early Parmesan Cheese History:
The concept of naming foods after their place of origin dates back to the Roman Empire. Even after the fall of Rome in 476 A.D., people on the Italian peninsula continued to follow that practice. It was a convenient way to describe the food, but also showed pride in its making.

It was monks in the area around Parma who first started making a distinctive hard cheese during the Middle Ages. By the time of the Renaissance, people in the nobility were producing this fine cheese for their own tables. It was known as caseum paramensis in Latin, and locals shortened this to Pramsàn, in dialect. 

Parmesan Makes a Name for Itself:

By the early 14th century, Parmesan cheese had traveled from its place of origin in the Parma-Reggio region over the mountains to Tuscany, where ships departing from Pisa and Livorno carried it to other Mediterranean ports. The first recorded reference to Parmesan, in 1254, documents that a noble woman from Genoa traded her house for the guarantee of an annual supply of 53 pounds of cheese produced in Parma.

History immortalized the use of Parmesan cheese as a condiment for pasta in Boccaccio’s Decameron tale about an imaginary gourmet paradise called Bengodi. At the summit of a delightful mountain of Parmesan, cooks rolled macaroni downhill to acquire a coating of the snowy cheese.

Parmesan: the French Connection:
By the 1530s, Italian nobles began to refer to the cheese as Parmesano, meaning “of or from Parma.”

Given the close ties between the Italian and French nobility, it’s no surprise that the name was shortened to Parmesan in the French courts of the day. The latter acquired a taste for the cheese they often received as a gift from Parma visitors. Another name indicating the Gallic appreciation for this cheese was fromage de Parme.

The Name Parmesan Stuck!
From the 17th to the 19th centuries, the name Parmesan became more common due to the continuing close relations between the Dukes of Parma and the French nobility.

Seeking to prolong his life, the playwright Molière decided to live on a diet consisting of 12 ounces of Parmesan and three glasses of port a day. His fad diet had merit from a nutritional standpoint because Parmigiano Reggiano is rich in protein and easy to digest.

According to historical records mentioning the cheese, the name Parmesan eventually spread beyond France to take root in other countries.

Italian Terms for Parmesan:

If the French word Parmesan means “of or from Parma,” what does Parmigiano mean? The same thing, in Italian. Producers who lived closer to Reggio than to Parma might refer to their cheese as Reggiano. These Italian terms indicating geographical origin became common only in the 19th and 20th centuries with the political and linguistic unification of Italy.

In 1934, producers in Parma and Reggio-Emilia joined forces with producers in the provinces of Modena and Mantua (the portion to the east of the Po River) to form an association called the Consorzio del Grana Tipico. Recognizing that they shared the same cheese-making terroir, these cheese makers banded together to standardize the production of their cheeses. Producers from the province of Bologna (to the west of the Reno River) later joined the group.

It’s Official: Parmigiano Reggiano:
In 1954, the pioneering alliance of cheese makers renamed their group the Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano-Reggiano. In choosing this name, members acknowledged the historic role played by Parma and Reggio producers in defining the character of the cheese and the methods for making it properly.

From that point on, the official name of the cheese has been Parmigiano Reggiano, as indicated by the pin dots imprinted on the rind of each wheel. Members of the Consorzio not only follow strict production standards, but they work together to market Parmigiano Reggiano and protect the name from imitators.

Parmigiano Reggiano, the Only Parmesan:
In 2008, European courts decreed that Parmigiano Reggiano is the only hard cheese that can legally be called Parmesan. In so doing, they acknowledged the historical fact that the word can be traced to Parma and that consumers associate the cheese with its origin in the Parma-Reggio region of Italy. These court rulings mean that a cheese cannot be called Parmesan unless it conforms to the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) standards for Parmigiano Reggiano.

While these laws are enforced in Europe, elsewhere in the world there are many would- be imitators. To avoid misunderstandings, the consortium of Parmigiano Reggiano producers encourages retailers and consumers in the U.S. and other countries to understand the history of Parmesan and to use the cheese’s correct name: Parmigiano Reggiano.

The above words, and more, from here

Thanks for reading, and I do hope you may try this recipe suggestion soon.

All the best Jan

Skylar Grey - Moving Mountains (Live At The Fonda)

Love this I thought the studio version was good but live it's even better
Graham

Eric Clapton - Spiral

New from Eric Clapton now in his seventies and still going strong
Graham
 

David A. Stewart - Lily Was Here ft. Candy Dulfer

This has to be my favourite late night long distance drive track. Stereo turned up, foot hard down and enjoy the music and the drive. Eddie

John Williams, Itzhak Perlman - Schindler's List

Something completely different from tonight's first track. Itzhak Perlman possibly the best violinist in the world. Eddie

Tommy Emmanuel, John Jorgenson, Pedro Javier González - "Sultans of swing"

So quickly Saturday night comes around, and Saturday night is music night on our blog. Does musicianship get any better than this? Eddie 

NICE, BDA and DUK playing pass the parcel with diabetics lives.

"Insanity, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" Albert Einstein

For decades the British Dietetic Association has promoted the same dietary recommendations to diabetics. Base your meals on starchy carbohydrates (sugar) and cut down on saturated fats, fats ate by man since the beginning of the human race. This diet fails the majority of diabetics, as evidenced by the NHS audits published every year as posted here. The keystone of good diabetes control is the maintenance of safe blood glucose levels. Most diabetics never get close to a safe HbA1c, a test which confirms the average blood glucose levels over the previous three month period.

The NICE guidelines for HbA1c are posted here. "NICE’s national guidelines on type 1 type 2 diabetes in children and young people recommend that children and young people should aim for a HbA1c target near normal range (normal is 4.5 to 5.5) and nearly normal daily blood glucose readings" The NHS audits only give data on the number of diabetics who achieve <58 that's approximately 7.5 on a standard UK blood glucose meter, and only 29.9% type 1 and 66.1% type two diabetics better 7.5. 7.5 is above the level organ damage occurs. NICE used to recommend HbA1c 6.5, but so many diabetics never got close, they upped the target to 7.5, and still the majority of diabetics never get close. How long before 8.5 is the recommended blood glucose target? Yes, I know NICE contradict themselves with HbA1c recommendations. 

Diabetes UK also promotes a diet that guarantees higher blood glucose numbers for diabetics, thereby requiring higher quantities of medication, which keeps their big pharma paymasters profits safe. The vicious circle never ends. 

Pass the parcel, the kids game, when the music stops one of the kids in the circle removes a layer of wrapping paper, the kid who unwraps the last layer wins the prize and it's end game. Very much like NICE, DUK and the BDA. They pass the parcel of responsibility, when the music stops, and it's end game for the diabetic, none of them lose, the diabetic always loses. And it's back to the "Insanity, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" 

Eddie

Pesto Chicken Casserole with Feta Cheese and Olives : Low Carb

The best from Italy and Greece, pesto and feta cheese, is united in this amazing chicken dish that is loved by people of all ages.

Ingredients
4 servings

1½ lbs (700 g) chicken, thighs or breast
4 oz. (100 g) red or green pesto
1½ cups (400 ml) heavy whipping cream
½ cup (120 ml) pitted olives, black or green
½ lb (225 g) feta cheese, diced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
Butter for frying

Instructions for cooking can be seen at Diet Doctor site here

Why not serve with baby spinach or other leafy greens tossed with generous amounts of olive oil and a little salt...

Spinach is believed to be of Persian origin. By the 12th century, it spread across Europe and became a desirable leafy green known for good health; a reputation that stands firm to this day. The name Florentine is often used to describe dishes containing spinach (and a creamy sauce). It is thought that this name dates back to the 16th century and the Italian wife of France's Henry II; Catherine de Medici. The unverified tale states that Catherine introduced spinach to the Court of France and to honour her Italian heritage, she then decided to call any dish containing spinach Florentine.

Spinach belongs to the chenopodiaceae family (also known as goosefoot), a family of nutritional powerhouses including beets, chard and quinoa. It shares a similar taste profile with these two other vegetables; the bitterness of beet greens and the slightly salty flavour of chard. There are three different types of spinach generally available: savoy, semi-savoy and smooth leaf.

The popeye effect:
There is much lore regarding spinach, most famously as the source of Popeye's strength. When faced with the sight of trouble, pipe-smoking sailor-man Popeye would burst open a tin of spinach. Once consumed, his biceps would bulge and his new found strength would see him overcome his enemies. Although there is definitely lots of goodness in those leaves, the legendary statue Popeye bestowed on it is slightly inflated.

Nutritional highlights:
Spinach is available all year round but is in season during the spring (March - June). It is well known for its nutritional qualities and has always been regarded as a plant with remarkable abilities to restore energy, increase vitality and improve the quality of the blood. There are sound reasons why spinach would produce such results, primarily the fact that it is rich in iron. Iron plays a central role in the function of red blood cells which help in transporting oxygen around the body, in energy production and DNA synthesis. Spinach is also an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C and folic acid as well as being a good source of manganese, magnesium, iron and vitamin B2. Vitamin K is important for maintaining bone health and it is difficult to find vegetables richer in vitamin K than spinach. Others include kale, broccoli and green cabbage.

A 100g serving provides:
23 calories 3g protein 0g fat 4g carbohydrates 2g fibre

Read more about Spinach here

We try and bring a variety of recipe ideas to this blog, and not all may be suitable for you. If you may have any food allergies, or underlying health issues these must always be taken into account. If you are a diabetic and not sure how certain foods may affect your blood sugars, test is best, i.e. use your meter.

Hope you may enjoy this dish ... and some spinach soon

All the best Jan

Having helped create the problem, Nestlé wants to sell you 'diabetes medicine'

For decades, Nestlé has been known as a company that sells sugar. Chocolate cut with sugar. Red dye cut with sugar. Sugar cut with sugar. The United States made Nestlé and companies like Nestlé wealthy but then we started dying and people began to hear nutritionists and scientists tell us that the stuff that Nestlé was selling was pretty bad for us. Most of us don’t need to live forever, but we would all prefer to spend the majority of that time without health-related issues we might have control over.

In a 2013 review of published research, scientists affiliated with France’s national scientific institute wrote that sugar and sweets “can not only substitute [for] addictive drugs, like cocaine, but can even be more rewarding and attractive.” Although sugar is “clearly not as behaviorally and psychologically toxic,” cravings for it can be just as intense, they said.

Sales in Nestlé’s confectionery business have fallen every year since 2012, matching declines of competitors. After assaults on sodium and saturated fats, some industry figures are wondering openly if Big Food is the next Big Tobacco, with all the destruction of value that would imply. At major food companies, “there’s complete paranoia,” says Lawrence Hutter, a consultant at Alvarez & Marsal in London who works with them. All the large food producers say they’re trying to reduce their financial dependence on sugar. In fleeing the storm, they’ve darted for varying types of cover. Coca-Cola has shrunk soda cans; Mondelēz International, the maker of Oreos, has become a power in the gluten-free movement; PepsiCo has tried shifting toward healthy-ish snacks such as hummus.

Nestlé, always looking for the biggest bang for their buck, has decided that mashing up chickpeas with oil is not their bag and want to capitalize on the health concerns they helped create by coming up with packaging of medicine—for diseases like diabetes. They have created an entire business model of research and development.

Baetge, 59, was hired in 2010 to run the newly formedNestlé Institute of Health Sciences. His pharmaceutical bona fides are unimpeachable. After earning a Ph.D. in molecular neurobiology at Cornell in 1983, he worked at a series of biotech companies. He spent 2001 to 2010 at ViaCyte in San Diego, working on treatments for diabetes. When Nestlé came calling, asking Baetge to lead research into how food could be turned into marketable therapies, he was considering an offer to run a New York center for stem cell research, one of the sexiest areas of contemporary science. His medical colleagues were shocked when he said yes to Big Chocolate. “I was, like, in the hot seat for stem cells,” Baetge says. “They’d go, ‘You’re going from there to work on nutrition?’ ” Nestlé gave Baetge a 10-year budget of 500 million Swiss francs ($524 million).

He oversees around 160 scientists.

Greg Behar is another Nestlé executive who doesn’t eat too many KitKats. A champion swimmer who averages 20,000 steps a day on his Jawbone fitness tracker, he heads Nestlé Health Science, a subsidiary created alongside Baetge’s pure research arm and intended to commercialize its discoveries. Behar has a staff of more than 3,000 and a directive to develop “a new industry between food and pharmaceuticals.” The group has bought stakes in startups such as Accera, in Boulder, Colo., which makes a powdered shake it says may benefit people with Alzheimer’s disease.

Behar is a veteran of big pharma company Boehringer Ingelheim. Together they hope to create Nestlé-branded, probably pseudoscientific supplements they will be able to sell to an American public that they’ve already betrayed. These two men and Nestlé are studying the effects of high glucose on people. I almost fell out of my chair rolling my eyes.

http://www.dailykos.com/

Graham

This is how it is. But, people all over the world are waking up!

Gene discovery sparks hope for type 2 diabetes cure.

RESEARCHERS have identified the gene they believe is responsible for the onset of type 2 diabetes, sparking hope for treatments to prevent and possibly reverse the progressive condition.

The researchers from Flinders University in South Australia collaborated with international research teams from the United States, Sweden and the United Kingdom to narrow down the possible field of 5000 candidate genes to one, known as RCAN1.

Study leader and Flinders University cell physiologist Professor Damien Keating said a cross-referencing approach using genes from individuals with Down syndrome was crucial to the result.

Professor Keating said people with Down syndrome were prone to a range of health disorders, including diabetes, resulting from the overexpression of particular genes because Down syndrome occurred when people had an extra copy of chromosome 21.

“Many individuals with Down syndrome experience lower insulin secretion, mitochondrial dysfunction and increased oxidative stress in the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas, which are all conditions that also appear in people with type 2 diabetes,” Professor Keating said.

To identify genes duplicated in Down syndrome that contribute to problems with insulin secretion, scientists screened the genes of four mouse models of the disorder – two had high blood sugar and two did not, with the variation enabling a short-list of 38 implicated genes to be identified.

The scientists then narrowed down the list by comparing it to genes overexpressed in beta cells from humans with type 2 diabetes.

“The comparison identified a single gene, RCAN1, which, when we overexpress it in mice, causes them to have abnormal mitochondria in their beta cells, produce less cellular energy and secrete less insulin in the presence of high glucose,” Professor Keating says.

According to the World Health Organisation, the number of people with diabetes in 2014 was 422 million, up from 108 million in 1980. In 2012, an estimated 1.5 million deaths were directly caused by diabetes and another 2.2 million deaths were attributable to high blood glucose.

Type 2 diabetes, which accounts for the majority of diabetes cases, is a progressive condition in which the body becomes resistant to the normal effects of insulin and/or gradually loses the capacity to produce enough insulin in the pancreas. The cause of type 2 diabetes is unknown.

“Given that we’ve identified this gene as important for reducing insulin secretion in type 2 diabetes, we are now at a stage where we have a series of drugs that target RCAN1 and we are now going to test to find whether these drugs can improve insulation secretion in type 2 diabetes,” Prof Keating said.

“We don’t understand what changes in our pancreas or in our insulin secreting beta cells to cause that transition from just being insulin resistant and having metabolic syndrome to transitioning to full-blown type 2 diabetes.

“RCAN1, this gene we identified, is certainly a candidate now for that.”

Prof Keating said none of the available treatments for type 2 diabetes targeted the primary cause of the condition.

“All the drugs out there simply alleviate the symptoms,” he said.

“So we have to test these drugs that we have because we feel like that may be able to go straight to the cause of the reduced insulin secretion that causes Type 2 diabetes … prevent it and possibly reverse it.”

South Australia’s capital Adelaide has three long-standing public universities, Flinders University, University of South Australia, and the University of Adelaide, each of which are consistently rated highly in the international higher education rankings.

The results of the study led by Prof Keating have been published in the international journal PLOS Genetics.

Information from here.

Eddie

Lebanese Turkey Salad : Never Eat it Naked !

Lebanese Turkey Salad

"Never eat it naked ! ... No sooner than you would leave the house without your trousers, should a salad be eaten without dressing. Even if it's just olive oil and balsamic vinegar, you've got to give it something.

Toasted sesame seed oil, smoked oil or fresh lime juice are fun to experiment with – just don't be too heavy handed or you'll be eating a bowl full of grease. Spices or dried herbs are good in a dressing, too. Start off with something safe such as dried oregano or zesty sumac rather than cloves or nutmeg, which can be bitter." so says 'Sainsbury's' magazine, when they talk about "steps to a staggeringly good salad"

Their "Lebanese turkey salad is a clever and unusual way to use up leftover turkey – but cooked chicken works equally well."

Ingredients:
Serves Four
1 large wholemeal pitta - optional
100 g Greek yogurt
0.5 tsp ground cumin (optional)
200 g cooked turkey, shredded
70 g wild rocket
3 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
3 tbsp chopped coriander
0.5 cucumber, halved, deseeded and sliced
2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
50 g dried apricots, chopped
50 g pistachio nuts, chopped

For the dressing:
0.5 tsp coriander seeds
0.5 tsp cumin seeds
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 red onion, finely sliced

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4. Cut the (optional) pitta in half, place on a baking tray and toast in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. For the dressing, toast the coriander and cumin seeds in a pan for 1-2 minutes. Grind to a powder in a pestle and mortar.
3. Whisk together the oil and lemon juice. Add the garlic, onion and spices, and season.
4. Mix together the yogurt, ground cumin (if using), turkey and some seasoning.
5. Put the rocket, herbs, cucumber and tomatoes in a bowl; add the dressing. Crumble in the (optional) pitta.

6. Pile the salad on to a plate; top with the turkey. Sprinkle over the apricots and pistachios.

Each serving provides:
9.0g carbohydrate 2.1g fibre 11.1g protein

Recipe idea from here

We try and bring a variety of recipe ideas to this blog, and not all may be suitable for you. If you may have any food allergies, or underlying health issues these must always be taken into account. If you are a diabetic and not sure how certain foods may affect your blood sugars, test is best, i.e. use your meter.

Well, now to sit down and enjoy this salad. But, what to wear? Pink top and trousers or perhaps my navy floral dress! Decisions, decisions ... thank goodness Eddie has opened the wine LOL!

Cheers ...

All the best Jan

Sonia O'Sullivan: The Real Meal Revolution

Visit to see Ger Hartmann while in Ireland has changed my shopping list

As an athlete, I’ve always been very conscious of diet. I love food too, and so am always open to new ideas about good nutrition, not just for the body but the mind too.

While at home, last month, I called in to visit my good friend and physical therapist Ger Hartmann for a few days, just before I got back on that plane to Australia. Ger has always been on the cutting edge of what’s new and what’s good in nutrition and health, and loves to share his ideas too.

We went for a hike up Moylussa, the highest point in Co Clare. Starting out it looked like it might be more like a short walk: hailstones were cutting across our faces, although you could see the weather was moving fast, so we trudged on, hoods up, shielding our faces with gloved hands.

It wasn’t long before we could look around and feel the sun beating down. Four seasons in less than an hour.
Once freed of the elements, the conversation flowed. I stopped to point out some wild garlic, which I only recently discovered, and with that Ger started to tell me about this new book he was reading, The Real Meal Revolution, and how it was affecting the way he was choosing what foods to eat.

So, loving my food and loving reading, I couldn’t wait to get back and check out this book, which he said was turning the food pyramid as we know it completely on its head. The essential message is low carbohydrate, which actually resonated with me. When I was running at my best, in the 1990s, I never ate very much carbohydrate. Pasta, rice, potatoes were all kept to a minimum – the opposite of what most people would associate with an elite athlete’s diet.

Hunger threshold

I remember the night before the World Cross Country in Marrakech (before winning double gold) eating a very simple meal of white fish, green vegetables and a little sweet potato. This is the perfect meal, according to The Real Meal Revolution, although with a little extra fat thrown in. That’s the big difference for me, as I was more low-carb/low fat, when the guideline now is more low-carb/high fat; that way you reach your hunger threshold quicker, and with that be better able to reduce the amount of food you eat.

Just like I sometimes change my exercise routes to keeps things interesting, I also like to change my eating habits, rather than stick to the same foods all the time.

So you can imagine how I was feeling in that supermarket last week, straight off the plane, having just printed off the traffic light breakdown of foods according to the book: Green – eat plenty; Orange – eat moderately; Red – avoid.
With this fuzzy head of tangled indecision, it was almost impossible to see all these foods on the green list; instead, I was being bombarded with cereals and breads and packaged foods – all “red” foods, staring me in the face, looking to be picked off the shelf. So I picked up a few essentials, and left.

It’s amazing how something that only last week I knew nothing about is now bobbing up all around me, reinforcing the message that it’s always good to make some changes, see what it brings to your life. One thing is clear: I’ll be going to the shops with a list of what to buy until the green foods are all jumping out at me, while all the rest become a distant blur.

Read full article here: http://www.irishtimes.com/

Graham

Scallops - Will The Real Ones Please Step Forward

Scallops served on a bed of chopped salad - just choose your favourite ingredients

Some General Information About Scallops:

Buyer's guide:
Scallops can be bought in or out of their shells. The two main varieties available in the UK are the larger king scallop and the tiny queen scallop. Look out for scallops that have been harvested by hand-diving - this method has less impact on the environment than dredging for scallops does (though carefully monitored dredging at limited times is less damaging to the sea bed than random dredging).

Preparation:
Scallops can be steamed, fried or grilled but should be cooked gently and only for a very short time or their delicate flavour and texture will be spoiled. Steam them in wine with aromatics as you would mussels, or wrap them in prosciutto and grill or fry for a few minutes. Scallops go well with Asian ingredients: try pan-frying them in oil with ginger and fresh coriander. They're also a good complement to hearty flavours such as bacon, chorizo, black pudding or watercress. Take care not to over-cook them: serve as soon as they are firm and opaque. You’ll need about four to five king scallops per person for a main meal or about a dozen queen scallops.

Above words taken from here

Sesame Seeds 'Scallops'

These 'scallops' pictured above was inspired by the beautiful and humble turnip, a vegetable that when peeled and cooked, reminds me of a scallop. Prepared in this way, the turnips were slightly soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. The sweetness of the vegetable came through ... with the braising and then pan-frying, allowing the natural sugars to caramelize. Anyone (even kids!) would enjoy turnips prepared this way! If you’re not already a fan of turnips, I recommend buying some the next time you go grocery shopping. Including different veggies into your diet each week is a great way to expand your nutrient-intake, and make cooking (and eating) more exciting!

Turnips are a nutrient-dense and delicious cruciferous vegetable. One cup of cooked turnip has 30% RDA Vitamin C, 5% RDA Calcium, iron, and 3 grams of fibre. Turnips are significantly lower in carbohydrates and sugars than potatoes, making them an appropriate alternative for diabetics and those who wish to lose weight. 

These words above are from Danielle Levy, she is a Registered Holistic Nutrition Practitioner, to see how she cooked these wonderful turnip sesame seed 'scallops' use this link here

I think both recipes are great - would you agree?

All the best Jan