The Hemp Connection:
hummous

The relationship between nutrition and pre-eclampsia is getting stronger! Researchers have reported that using a multivitamin supplement containing folic acid in the second trimester of pregnancy helped to reduce the risk of pre-eclampsia. Personally, since folic acid is also recommended to any woman who is trying to conceive, I'd recommend taking it all the time instead of trying to guess when is the right time.

I've worked with many women trying to conceive, who have trouble changing their food habits. Some, out of fear of those changes or frustration at the challenge, give up, let the reproductive endocrinologist be the primary person fixing the problem, and figure they'll worry about their diet later.

Bad idea.

What you eat when you're preparing to become pregnant, while you're pregnant, while you're nursing, and while you're getting back into shape after all of that, are all vitally important. There's no such logical strategy as putting nutrition on the back burner, letting the doctor fix the problem, and worrying about the food later. It all fits together…and it affects more than just you!

By the way, good sources of folic acid include: lentils (right now is great weather for soup!),boiled collard greens (great if you're a Southern belle), chickpeas (whoo hoo for hummous!), papaya (always great in a fruit salad), frozen peas (easy to keep in the freezer), asparagus (this is the season when it starts getting cheap), broccoli (easy to keep around), strawberries (not a hard thing to have to eat), oranges (a winter favorite).

Wen SW, Chen XK, Rodger M, White RR, Yang Q, Smith GN, Sigal RJ, Perkins SL, Walker MC. Folic Acid in Early Second Trimester May Reduce Risk of Preeclampsia Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2008;198:45.e1-45.e7.

One of the most frustrating things for me, when working with people who want to eat healthier…is their focus on wanting me to tell them what NOT to eat. The fact is…when you're eating healthfully, you're likely to be eating many more foods than you do when you're out of balance. Most people get into ruts and eat the same few foods over and over, because it's easy and convenient.

I always like to tell clients that my job is to get them eating a whole lot more variety, and to make eating FUN, not about deprivation. That way, if there ARE foods you need to cut back on, it will be a little bit easier because you're adding new and fun foods in their place.

So…I thought that challenging blog readers to incorporate a new food a week might be a fun way to move them (that means YOU) gradually toward more balanced eating.

This week I chose hummous. Way back when I was in college, this was pretty much a food that you could only find in esoteric vegetarian restaurants and middle Eastern grocers. Now, I see it in my local grocery store. And I see it in many new and different flavors…garlic, black bean, jalapeno/cilantro, sun-dried tomato…I know I'm leaving out some good ones, but you get the point.

From a medical/nutritional standpoint, I like hummous, because it shows up low on the glycemic index scale (means your blood sugar will like this food!). It's also typically made with olive oil, which is a better fat than the fats you'll find in some other processed foods. From a practical standpoint, it's cheap and it's ready made. On baked pita chips or with vegetables, it makes a great snack.

Last weekend I was doing a demo for a client at Whole Foods and the local hummous guy was down the aisle. His samples were flying off the table faster than he could serve them up, and practically everyone walking by MY demo had a box of pita chips and a package of hummous in their cart. So I'm not just pushing something because of my personal taste. I know that if you've never tried this gem, it's worth being curious to see what the buzz is about.

You can make hummous yourself if you plan ahead and have the ingredients on hand. There are a gazillion recipes to Google, so I'll let you do that legwork.

But for the next 7 days, I challenge you to try hummous. And if you think of it, share your comments. They might make it easier for another blog reader to try something new. What's your favorite brand? How do you like to eat it?

We've all had those moments…the kitchen is low on groceries, it's late at night, and either the store is closed or you're just to tired to go restock.

So your choices are:
…eat nothing
…make a fast food run
…eat cereal

I've learned that in these times Google is a lifesaver. You can simply enter the name of a couple of ingredients you have along with the word"recipe" and something is going to pop up.

Sunday night I was completely bare. And I had a can of pumpkin and some Bob's Red Mill garbanzo bean flour.

So I Googled"pumpkin hummous recipe". What I got, out of my bare kitchen, was one of the best recipes I've ever tried.

Here it is for your enjoyment.

Notes to readers:
1. Be sure garbanzo bean flour is a kitchen staple because you can make just about any kind of hummous.
2. Remember Google.
3. Don't let your kitchen go as empty as I did.
4. And if you ignore number 3…don't let your knee jerk reaction be a fast food run.: )

Pumpkin Hummus

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups dry garbanzo beans
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
5 fluid ounces lemon juice
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup tahini paste
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
salt to taste

Directions

1.Place the garbanzo beans into a large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let stand 8 hours to overnight. Or, bring the beans and water to a boil in a large pot over high heat. Once boiling, turn off the heat, cover, and let stand 1 hour. Drain and rinse before using.

2.Place the soaked garbanzo beans into a large saucepan and cover with several inches of water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the garbanzo beans are tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Once cooked, refrigerate the beans and liquid until cold.

3.Drain the garbanzo beans, reserving the cooking liquid. Place the beans and 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking liquid into a blender, and puree until a smooth paste forms. Add the pumpkin puree, lemon juice, olive oil, tahini, garlic, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Cover and puree again until smooth. Use additional cooking liquid as needed to achieve a smooth consistency. Season to taste with salt.

Source: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/pumpkin-hummus/Detail.aspx

Anyone who has been to a Whole Foods class knows how much I hate what I call the"crunchy aisle"--the place where chips and snacks are located. That's because even in a place like Whole Foods, the oils used in these snacks are the kind we're trying to discourage. Those dreaded"S" and"C" oils.

There's a company in Phoenix that has slowly building a following through Whole Foods, AJ's, and the local farmer's markets that deserves attention. If you're in Phoenix, I encourage you to try them…perhaps if we can help them succeed here, they can offer their good stuff in other markets where we're promoting inCYST!

Dr. Hummus is a brand of hummous that is tahini-free. Meaning it is sesame-oil free. The owner of this company has done this primarily for people with food allergies, but it turns out this helps make its fatty acid balance more in line with what inCYST encourages.

Secondly, the good mediterranean doctor has created a line of pita chips fried in canola oil. Not safflower, sunflower, soybean, or any of the other oils that always cause me to put other crunchy possibilities on the shelf. But canola oil! Again, this was done not for any"healthy" reason, but because in testing all the other oils, the product that ended up having the most acceptable flavor…ended up being the one with one of the healthier oils.

Which has been inCYST's argument all along! When you eat good food, it is often healthier food.

One caveat, even healthy oils can be detrimental in large quantities. A serving size of Dr. Hummus chips is still 10 chips, not the entire container.

If you're in Arizona and you're looking for a great snack, or even lunch, consider Dr. Hummus. If you're not in Arizona, the ingredient guidelines you read here can be applied to your own local hummous maker. There are many brands and flavors that can, as we can attest to here in the desert, make your eating adventure fun as well as healthy.