Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Brown is beautiful - brown egg, brown sugar, brown rice

Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature - School on Blog
Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid, with Ms Melly C Tenorio

738 DZRB AM 8 to 9 evening clas, Monday to Friday
Lesson: Prefer the natural, the native; they are kind to our metabolism.

Preference to natural, and organically grown, food is gaining popularity worldwide. It is because many ailments, from allergy to cancer, are traced to the food we eat. Many kinds of allergies have evolved from genetically engineered food, for which they have gained the bad reputation of Frankenfood, after the novel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, published in 1818.

A. Brown eggs are preferred over white eggs

Brown eggs come from native fowls that subsist mainly on farm products. They are very resistant to the elements and diseases that they simply grow on the range. White eggs on the other hand, come from commercial poultry farms and are highly dependent on antibiotics and formulated feeds. Residues of antibiotics may cause our immune system idle and predispose us to sudden attack of pathogens.

Another advantage of brown eggs is that they have thicker shells for protection and convenience in handling.  Besides, their yolk is brighter yellow as compared to that of white eggs, which means they have more carotene and xanthophylls which are essential to health.

B. Brown or red sugar is better than white or refined sugar.

Rural folks would rather eat panocha or muscovado, which is likened to whole grain with the bran intact (e.g. pinawa rice and whole wheat flour). When sugar is refined, the very vitamins and minerals needed by our body’s metabolism are removed, going with the molasses which we usually use as feeds for animals.

Sugar consumed in its natural state (like fruits and grains) is first broken down and slowly released into the bloodstream, in a manner our body can program its assimilation. But refined sugar raises the blood sugar rapidly. This rush is followed by an equally rapid crash that often leave us feeling tired, irritable or depressed. As energy falls, our response is to reach for more sugar to perk us up, only to worsen the situation.

The sudden rise and fall of our blood sugar causes emotional instability, confusion, dizziness, and headache. Over-consumption of sugar can trigger a craving similar to the physiological dependence produced by drugs. These symptoms, along with drowsiness, forgetfulness, or general “spaced-out” feeling are typical symptoms of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). Adrenaline is released during the body’s chemical chain reaction triggered by eating excess refined sugar, creating a stress throughout our body and mind. Sugar also depresses the activity of our white blood cells, lowering our resistance to infection. It may lead to the development of diabetes. For this reason many oriental nutritionists call refined sugar “white poison.”

C. Brown rice contains more vitamins and minerals than well-milled rice which usually appears white.
Generally, it's the bran what gives the brown color in rice, except for certain varieties, like pirurutung or black rice and highland brown rice varieties. Otherwise the brownness or whiteness of rice depends on the degree of milling.

After the husk or ipa is removed through dehulling, the product is whole grain rice or pinawa. The grain has the whole bran intact. Then it passes through a polisher which scrapes of the bran. A single pass produces regular milled rice which is somewhat brown.

A double or triple pass through the polisher removes the bran which is the seat of vitamins and minerals. This is what is called well-milled rice which is usually white, a general preference of buyers. But they are missing the real nutritional value of rice.

During World War II and immediately after, am (segget Ilk) served as substitute to milk. It saved thousands - perhaps millions - of infants and young children from death and starvation in many parts of the world, thanks to a Filipino scientist, Manuel Zamora who popularized it as tiki-tiki. It was later commercialized as United American Tiki-ti by a pharmaceutical company.

Trivia: Brown skin is more resistant to radiation, heat and dirt than white skin. Brown is expectedly the homogenized human race.


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