THE LATEST SUPER FOOD-AN OBSCURE GREEN LEAF!

Man's saga in search of right foods that gives him immortality never ends but with each passing day this passion is kept going by reports here and there about new as well as not so new miracle foods that will ensure healthy life. Whether it is the antioxidant rich natural plant products or grains like Quinoa, Chea etc health food industry is always willing to oblige the consumer with products that meet with their aspirations. No wonder health food stores have become a common feature of the retail market stream in many wealthy countries where diseases like diabetes, blood pressure, kidney disorders, obesity etc are rampant. It is an irony that wealthier a society becomes, more frequent is the incidence of diseases associated with wrong foods and wrong eating! Those who are hungry cannot access good foods but those who are wealthy ignore healthy foods going for palate tingling rich but nutritionally unbalanced processed foods ending with poor quality of life eventually. Latest to emerge (or reemerge?) in the health food landscape is an obscure leaf called Moringa about which the whole world seems to be getting excited! Here is a take on this development.

"The leaves of the moringa trees may be the world's most nutritious green—and they're coming to a health-food store near you. Remember the moment when every runway regular suddenly became a supermodel? Now every healthy edible wants to be called a super food. Which is why even that term likely doesn't do justice to moringa, a tree leaf that contains more nutrients and natural remedies than your body knows what to do with. Ancient warriors fueled for battle with the leaf extract, hot for the stamina and strength it gave them; and legend has it that Egyptian Pharaohs were buried with it to sustain them in the afterlife. Health-savvy Americans are the latest followers, thanks to the energy, immunity, and metabolism boosts moringa delivers. "Moringa has incredibly nutritious qualities—it has 3.5 times the calcium of milk and 4 times the vitamin C of oranges," says David Wolfe, author of Super foods. All you have to do is open the bag and let the good nutrients roll".

Of course the scientific data available do confirm that Moringa is a nutritionally excellent food source and it is also a fact that it is being consumed in some parts of the world since long. In fact a substantial population in countries like India who are economically depressed, living in rural areas depend on a variety of leaves as sources of nutrients like vitamins and minerals besides good quality proteins as these leaves cost a fraction of traditional vegetables consumed by well to do population. Besides these leafy plants grow wildly all around and village folks have a fairly good knowledge about the type of leaves which are edible for picking up the right ones. Interestingly Morimga tree yields lush green leaves in abundant quantities and grow in the wilderness with no organized farming reported any where. As a part of the nutritional strategy countries like India must encourage planting of Moringa on waste and unused lands belonging to the government allowing people to harvest the leaves for their daily food use.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

"CAFFEINOMANIA"! A NEW AMERICAN AFFLICTION OR ADDICTION?

Coffee, Tea and Cocoa have been the villains during early days of development of food industry as these beverage crops contain the unique ingredient Caffeine, considered a stimulant and addictive. Though these were being consumed for decades, no harmful effect was reported till recently. However during the last few years Caffeine has found its way into many other beverages and foods which trend seems to be growing day by day. Safety of chemically pure Caffeine is mired in controversy and no one is absolutely certain regarding the upper limit of Caffeine that can be tolerated by humans. That it is not a harmless chemical is reflected by the world wide consensus that Caffeine is not advisable for consumption by Pregnant women and children. If recent reports are to be believed Americans are seized with an obsession to consume more and caffeine in any form or through any medium and this trend is being exploited by even big industry giants by launching different types of products containing more and more Caffeine! Here is a critique on this latest development.    

"The Wall Street Journal reports companies are taking the obsession with caffeine to a new, more chewable form. From jerky to candy and even condiments, companies are cashing in on a caffeine-crazed nation. Frito-Lay, for example, now offers Cracked Jack'D Power Bites in Cocoa Java and Vanilla Mocha flavors. In 2007, Jelly Belly came out with caffeinated Extreme Sport Beans. There's even Perky Jerky, Wired caffeinated waffles and DoubleKick brand hot sauce. While the industry of caffeinated food products is still small compared with energy drinks, The Wall Street Journal reports sales in the U.S. have increased nearly 50 percent to $1.6 billion since 2008. Amped-up food is a unique challenge because of caffeine's bitter taste, but the real challenge for companies' may be bigger in that health regulators will look at the industry in a new way, according to The Wall Street Journal. There's also concern caffeinated snacks will be more desirable to children".

What is surprising is the utter insensitivity on the part of the health authorities in that country who is doing precious little to arrest this disturbing trend. The industry is not being asked to prove the safety of such high Caffeine containing products and in the absence of evidence to the contrary these products are "making merry while he sun shines"! what is forgotten in this charade is that Caffeine in natural products may act in a different way compared to that of pure isolated Caffeine and unless conclusively proved through clinical trials regarding the safety of the existing products containing chemically pure Caffeine their manufacture and marketing must be stopped forthwith.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

COFFEE VS SODA-THE EMERGING TREND

Modern America is considered the consumption capital of soda (say cola drink), the much hated sugary drink with caffeine, phosphoric acid and caramel color. Compared to any other nation in this planet Americans can boast that their per capita consumption of soda is the highest in the world and some time one wonders whether soda consumption and power go hand in hand! It took quiet some time for these super rich nation to realize that soda consumption can be dangerous to the health of their citizens and what New York did recently to ban large sized soft drinks through retailers is a right step in the right direction to curb consumption of sugary drinks. Now comes the news that there is a distinct trend emerging where brewed coffee is being increasingly being favored in preference to soft drinks. Here is a commentary on this new development that may have some implications on the health of the population in that country.

"And that makes sense. New survey data from the NPD group, which tracks trends in what Americans eat and drink, finds that 18- to 24-year-olds are turning to coffee, rather than caffeinated sodas, as their pick-me-up of choice. In 2002, about 25 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds reported drinking coffee sometime within a two-week period. But by 2012, the percentage of young adults drinking coffee in that same time frame hit 39 percent. For evidence of this trend, I hit a coffee shop near the campus of George Washington University, which is just a Metro-ride away from NPR headquarters here in D.C. In mid afternoon, I found a packed house. "This is nothing for two o'clock in the afternoon," senior Arturo Lichaucho tells me. Often times, the line is out the door and around the block, he explained, and lots of students hit the coffee shop before hitting the books in the late afternoon. The students I chatted with gave lots of reasons for a steady coffee habit, including increasing demands on their time that lead to less sleep, and the 24/7 culture of overstimulation. And why not drink more coffee? Recent studies link coffee consumption to a range of good health effects, including decreased risk of dementia and decreased risk of depression among women.
But experts say there is one downside that's often overlooked: Coffee consumption can get in the way of a good night's sleep. "Our data has shown that a brewed coffee contains much more caffeine than a cold cola beverage" says Bruce Goldberger, a toxicologist at the University of Florida. The Center for Science in the Public Interest took a look at several popular items and analyzed their caffeine content. It found that a 12-ounce cup of coffee from Starbucks contains about 260 milligrams of caffeine, which is about five times more than a 12-ounce can of Diet Coke".

What worries some health pundits is the possibility of increased levels of caffeine consumption as coffee contains significantly higher levels of this intoxicant. Caffeine is a natural component of beverage crops like coffee, tea and cocoa and beverages based on these crops have been consumed for ages without any adverse consequences. However an issue that needs consideration is whether at the moderate levels of coffee consumed during yesteryear it has any ill effects at all whereas to day there is a tendency to over consume that can result in undesirable impact on health. Advent of decaffeinated coffee was thought to lessen the impact of caffeine on human health through high consumption of this stimulant beverage but it appears there are not many takers for this version except for medically impaired conditions. Is it not time ripe for the WHO to come up with a universal safe upper limit for caffeine for the sake of millions of people who are addicted to coffee? If appropriate guidelines are forthcoming from competent sources, coffee consumers may yet moderate their coffee drinking habit to stay below the danger mark vis-a-vis caffeine.  

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com