Friday, April 26, 2013

Green Goodness with Sarah Britton


The other day I told you about my admiration for Sarah Britton, who shares her passion and knowledge of healthy eating over at My New Roots.

I was so lucky to be able to attend her class, Green Goodness, while she was visiting Amsterdam. She is such a bubbly, happy person. Sweet and kind and humble as well. Of course she started by live-demonstrating how to make your own nut milk.* But what I loved the most is how much knowledge she has about nutrition. When she tells you "what you should do" she doesn't do it in a dogmatic "you are with us, or you are the enemy" kind of way. Instead she takes her time to explain why doing things in a certain way is important. And she believes this is knowledge that should be commonplace so she pretty much dedicates her life to spreading her love for good food, which is, ultimately, being kind to your body, and obviously has an effect in all the other aspects of your life.


 For instance, going back to the nut milk, she explained why it is so important, crucial even, to soak your nuts before eating them. You could be eating dried nuts the whole day and not getting anything from them. Because here's the thing, as you know, nuts are seeds, they have the potential of life hidden in them, in the form of nutrients. But this potential is locked. In order for it to be released you have to activate the seed's metabolism, starting the germination process that will then make those precious nutrients available. That's what happens when you soak your nuts (4-8 hours, depending on the type of nut). Moreover, as a defense mechanism against herbivores the nut's skin is rich in enzyme-inhibitors, substances that are able to block the digestion process as soon as they reach your stomach. You can get rid of these by rinsing / soaking the nuts and peeling them or by roasting your nuts ( at temperatures not higher than 150ºC) which denaturalizes (destroys/deactivates) these inhibitors. Also, you should never get almonds that have been pasteurized as the pasteurization process seals the skin to the nut making them impossible to peel, and probably also having an effect on the nutrients (high temperatures destroy pretty much everything, which is why we pasteurize foods in the first place, but in this case its counter productive).


She also explained why it is important to cook with oils that have a high smoking point (like ghee or pure coconut oil). You see, when I lived in Spain I took the local custom of cooking everything with olive-oil. I thought I was being super healthy. The smoking point is the point at which a fat begins to break down into its components (glycerol and fatty acids) and starts to burn. At this point oils become carcinogenic, because they acquire the ability to "steal" oxygen from everywhere around them, causing cellular damage. Well, olive oil has a relatively low smoking point and therefore the only safe way is to avoid cooking with it. Which is to prove my mom knows best, luxury item that it is in Mexico, we would only use it for salads. It turns out that's the healthiest way of consuming it.


It was such an inspiring experience. I can't wait to start changing even further our eating habits, it's like a whole world of discoveries and experimentation lays open in front of me. We already eat mostly vegetarian dishes, and yet, there are so many things to learn, so many ways to cook. And now that my birthday is slowly approaching I might ask for a food processor.


*I have a post coming on making almond milk, and what I've learnt there but in the meantime you can go visit Marcela, The celebration girl, for a recipe.

18 comments:

  1. That's really interesting about the oil, I always use olive oil because I thought it was healthier. We also had a discussion at work the other day were me and a friend were argueing that there is no way ghee could be a healthy fat to cook with!! xox

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    1. Yes I also had this confusion. It's also not that simple, as the "Purity" of the oil (whether it's virgin or not) also plays a role. But since ghee / coconut oil have much higher smoking points and it is difficult to control how high you are going (unless you cook with an oil thermometer that goes deep in the oil, without touching the pan, which is practically impossible when you only use a thin layer)it is safer to just use oils with a higher smoking point. Ghee goes all the way up to 252 ºC.
      She also mentioned oil should be kept in cold, dark places, in a bottle that seals properly. So, choose bottles of dark glass and preferably keep it in the fridge (even if it solidifies). As Oxygen, light and heat all oxydize oils which makes them start the degradation process (rancid / unhealthy.)

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  2. Hola, oye tengo dudas sobre lo del aceite de oliva, creo que haré una búsqueda más grande, porque hasta donde tenía entendido, tenía un punto "de quemado" mucho más alto que, al menos, los aceites mixtos y comunes que solemos usar, por ejemplo en México. Y por cierto algo súper importante: ¡¡¡que la gente deja de usar el mismo aceite dos veces!!!!

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    1. Sí, es confuso porque depende de la "pureza" del aceite, de si es virgen o no. Según la fuente que consultes el punto de humeo varía y como te digo depende de la forma de procesarlo (si está refinado, si es prensado en frío). Pero por ejemplo el aceite de canola / girasol llegan (si son puros) máximo a 200ºC (en promedio) y más bien sobre 100-170ºC. La manteca de cerdo llega a 180ºC. El aceite de oliva está entre 150º y un poco más alto si es puro. El aceite puro de coco llega a 232ºC y la mantequilla clarificada (Ghee) a 252ºC. Como es difícil saber a que temperatura estás cocinando (a menos que estés horneando) es mejor cubrirte y elegir uno con un punto de humeo más alto.

      Y sí, tienes razón, el aceite no se debe usar dos veces. Y se debe proteger de la luz, el oxígeno y el calor.

      Aquí hay un artículo (pero las referencias están en fahrenheits),
      aqui otro
      Y
      aqui la wikipedia

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  3. Wat een leuke post, en wat gaaf dat je in het echt met haar hebt kunnen koken. Ik ben zelf helaas niet zo'n heel fantastische verantwoorde kok, ik ben dol op vlees en patat. Ja echt patat, daar kan je me midden in de nacht voor wakker maken haha. Maar ik zal kijken of ik de nut milk dit weekend kan maken. Een beetje detoxen zal goed voor me zijn :) Thanks for sharing!

    xx

    liquoriceandpumps.blogspot.com

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    1. Dank je wel. Het is echt niet moeilijk om te doen, gewoon een kwestie van proberen. Ga maar naar haar blog of zoek op het internet, er zijn heel veel recepten te vinden. De nut milks zijn lekker met honing. Ik hou ook van havermout melk met een beetje kaneel.

      (Ik ben ook gek op patat, wie niet? )

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  4. Hello Amanda!

    Thanks for writing such a lovely post about the class! Great photos too. It was a pleasure meeting you - you have such a bright spirit! I very much hope to see you again. In the meantime, much love and tasty food,

    Sarah B

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    1. Thanks :) It really was nice meeting you too! All the best, and maybe 'til some other time. Thanks for visiting !

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  5. Nuts need to be soaked before eating? That's just .... why did no one ever tell me this before???

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    1. Yeah, I kind of *knew* in a way, or rather it all made sense when I heard it because traditionally, in Mexico (and I believe since precolumbine times) rice and beans (and other seeds / pulses) are prepared by soaking them in warm wather. Hereand here are some articles that explain all the details.

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  6. Wow, thanks for sharing! Ever since I started eating better I switched to Olive oil to make my dishes "healthier". But wouldn't your food end up with a coconuty taste if using coconut oil? I can't imagine eating scrambled eggs with a coconut after taste!

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    1. It depends on which coconut oil you use (this was also explained). I have been using pure / refinedcoconut oil (which is the one with the highest smoking point, at 232ºC) since February and I don't really taste it (also on eggs). It's the extra virgin coconut oil that has a flavour and a lower smoking point (177ºC).

      Ghee and avocado oil have the highest smoking point according to what I have read (252ºC and 271ºC respectively).

      Extra light olive oil also has a high (242ºC ) smoking point but I think it is just safer to choose the other options because with all the types of olive oil (extra virgin, virgin... which have lower points) it can get pretty confusing.

      I got info from this table.

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  7. Wow everything in the photos looks so tasty and all this information is really interesting. We started cooking with olive oil and thought we were being so healthy. It will be good to explore other options, I've tried avocado oil and remember it being quite good, I'll look for coconut next time; my worry is that I sometimes feel like eating healthy can get so expensive.

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    1. According to the tables I have seen avocado oil is better than all of them, because it's smoking point is very high (271ºC). I have never seen it at supermarkets though (have never looked for it either).

      And you are so right. It's become a trendy thing and often these items are so outrageously expensive just because it's hip. I can't imagine how less processed food can be more expensive than putting food through an industrial process. Everyone should be able to get the best nutrition ever (and it used to be like that, when big companies had not taken over agriculture). I often find ingredients at Turkisn / Indonesian / Asian supermarkets (even Mexican products like "Doña María") and someone told me at Kosher shops you can also find that kind of product for a not-so exaggerated price.

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    2. I think processed food is cheaper because 1) they are putting a lot less of the actual ingreedients in there (they can use synthetics) and 2) all they need for that is machines, so fewer labourers to pay wages. This is why for me eating whole foods is not only a nutritional choice but a political and ecological one too! (But again, I am a hypocrit).

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    3. Oh yes... all the social issuse involved (also have a post coming on why I avoid soy products, which involve not only ecological/ biological/health reasons, but also social ones, namely that they are taking land away from local people in the Amazons to plant soy. And you can't even know where your soy products. comes from.
      It only became so trendy because it's big multinationals pushing the craze on soy...

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  8. That's great that you're so enthused about new ways to live healthy! I love finding these inspirations, and it sounds like a wonderful workshop. I've been busy too, with adjusting to gluten free and also finding more and more ways for us to eat vegan (we are not exclusively so, or even fully vegetarian, but we're trying to minimize animal fats). It's a lot of fun actually. I am eager to read your recipe for nut milks, as I've been relying more on almond milk recently.

    I have to say though (and completely contradicting myself here)...the whole soaking nuts thing? I can totally understand why it would be beneficial, I mean nutritionally it makes perfect sense. But...who has the time and can coordinate to that extent? Sometimes i just like to spontaneously prepare a dish with what's around. What about you, how do you balance optimal nutrition with a busy life (and just not having to worry all the time)?

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    1. Oh soaking nuts is not complicated at all, you just put them in water before you sleep and then use them in the morning (peeling them can be a hassle, but you can get peeled nuts). But yes, it takes some planning.

      I also feel like an hypocrite, that's why I can't even find a term to identify how we eat. We are definitely not vegan though I hope I could be (I've done it for a few months and then I end up craving a good steak, cheese...), I am not even comfortable identifying as vegetarian even if we do eat vegetables / fruits and some dairy products + eggs most of the time. We only eat meat every now and then and we try to make sure it is organic / biological / grass fed. But, but, as a vet I know that eating eggs / cheese is about as bad as eating meat because the calves are taken away from the cow as soon as they are born,and if they are males, those calves are directed to the meat industry. And don't even get me started on egg-laying hens. It's the saddest story of all (well, together with pigs). We do get biological eggs, but those are not running outside in a field of grass eating worms like we would all like to imagine... often they *have* to be kept inside because there are at risk of airborne diseases that would imply big losses if these chicken were kept outside. So, the main difference (which is quite big though) is in the nutrition and the no additives / growth enhancers / hormones.

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