Walking for Good Health

Sunday 27th February is the day of the Malta Marathon.  Probably, gauging by the number of participants, it is the largest single annual sporting event on the Island.   The fact that the Malta Marathon keeps growing year after year, that  other Marathons have spawned and that there is a very interesting and well contested long distance calendar definitely says something about a growing awareness for exercise on the island.  The President of Malta, himself a long distance runner, has embraced this culture and introduced a fun run and walk early in December for the past two years as one of the Community Chest Fund, fund raising activities.

Having said all this we cannot say that Maltese are amongst the most active persons.  A Eurobarometer survey  conducated last year shows that 17% of all Maltese do regular sports (around 5 times a week) whilst 31% of Maltese do sports or do some other physical activity at least once a week.

One of the most effective physical activities is walking, an excercise I have been doing for the past twenty years.  One of the first things we did after we got married was to get a dog which needed walking.  We had asked around and found out that Irish Setters need daily long walks. And for many years it became a pattern in our life to walk Zach our dog to different areas, getting our exercise along with the dog.  It is a pattern which I have retained. 

Not all dogs are ideal  walking companions. Some years after  Zach died  we got a springer and tried to restrart the pattern.  To our chagrin we found that springers are constant pullers and walking him is not as pleasant.

 Walking does not need any particular skill (if you are power walking you should try to do this properly, inhaling from the nose and exhaling from the mouth).  One does not necessarily need a partner or partners, or need to book a court or enrol in a gym.   All it takes are proper shoes, comfortable clothes,  and the will to start off.  However do try to have a route, ideally away from traffic, fumes and noise.

Few of us know that walking can have different purposes.  We all know about fitness walks.  This is a steady walk with bursts of brisk walking/jogging.  The brisk walking/jogging increases the fitness level.  Alternating walking at steady pace with brisk walk or jog every two minutes for about twenty minutes can be very good exercise.

Body shaping walks.

Walking up and down a hill fo ten minutes at a fast pace, but not fast enough to get out of breath  helps one shape the bottom and thighs.   The downhill part is important as well as it uses different muscles but should be done at a slower pace. They say that walking with hand weights can help one to tone the upper body.  I am not sure how many of us will try this last one as walking should remain first and foremost a fun activity.

Stress Busting Walk

In my article ‘Diet, exercise, sleep and stress’, I  wrote about the stress busting walk. Exercise can use up stress hormones and should be a priority in our lives.  Stress hormones such as cortisol, GH and norepinephrine are released at periods of high stress.  Cortisol is believed to affect the metabolic system and norepinephrine is believed to play a role in depression and hypertension.  Being active provides long term benefits for us as besides helping us control our weight, reduce our blood pressure and cholesterol, it improves our mental health, helping us to look and feel good (BHF).  Exercise does not necessarily mean strenous sessions at a gym.  30 minutes of moderate physical activity 5 times a week is a good way to get started.  Walking is the easiest exercise and can be enough to lower your stress, lose weight and have more energy.

I might be over-rating walking as an exercise and have found it to be my prefered exercise possibly because it fits in well with my daily routine.   Those of you who have real experiences with walk as a help against stress or  as a means of shaping the body, please share your experiences since these might encourage others.  Moreover those whose experience might not have been positive, please bring these out so that we can analyse them together.

The Slow Food Approach to Life and to Food

Slow food is not merely a reaction to fight fast food.  It is about knowing your food and the emphasis is on locally produced food that is not processed.  It is cooked in a manner that retains traditional recipes and the health aspects of food.  It is about relaxing with family or friends, enjoying the flavours and tastes of fresh food, knowing where the food has come from, knowing more about food cultures and traditions and maintaining these.

There is nothing nicer in life than sharing a table with family or friends who offer interesting conversation and who appreciate food.  When the gathering is sensitive to the idea of having good (meaning tasty and healthy) food which is clean (local, seasonal, if possible organic and fresh) and which is fair (where workers have been treated and paid well and where food is sold at a price as suggested or recommended by the producers), then it's even better.  People in the Slow Food Movement want to change the world to these concepts - this is the anti-thesis of the fast food culture we are in and in which children are exposed to.  The love for cooking slow food and fresh and local and traditional food is fast dying down.  We must try to maintain this though.  The concept of reviving traditional food is not just a romantic idea but it brings with it a patrimony, a culture, a love for cooking for one's own family and friends, it brings with it celebrations of tasty food and wine but also a love for celebrations,feasts and cultures.  It's also about knowing where the food is coming from, reflecting on how it was made and enjoying it because it is good, wholesome, fresh, healthy, well prepared and cooked with pride. If we stop eating at table together we are bound to lose a beautiful way of socialising, hosting others, entertaining and perhaps even at times cooking together.

What do you know about Slow Food?

Would you like to know more about Slow Food?

If you teach in schools, would you welcome Taste Education sessions or grow a School Garden as prescribed by the Slow Food Movement?

Would you like to participate in events which the Slow Food Convivium in Malta will be organising - eg taste events eg of different kinds of honey, original ricotta made from sheep's milk, tutored wine tasting, olive oil making, etc?  Is there anything else you would like to participate in?

Leave a comment under the Share Your Passion section in this blog section.

Also Subscribe to this website and I will let you know of events which will be taking place in the coming months.

Karen

26/05/10

photo from: http://reocities.com/Athens/cyprus/6503/kcina.jpg

Healthy Desserts

We very often go wrong when it comes to desserts especially if one has a sweet tooth.  Our portion sizes are quite large and calories are abundant in sweet food.  So it is important to try to control in different ways, avoiding the less healthy options and choosing ones which are more sensible and which will give some valuable nutrients too such as fruit or milk do in desserts.  Here is a brief guide to consider:

1. Don't have to have a dessert after every meal or each time you go out - very often our weekends end up being experiences where we indulge in food and drink and which is the cause for our expanding waistlines.
2. Going out does not have to mean drinking bottles of wine.  This happens especially when we are in a group and it becomes the norm to order bottle after bottle of wine.
3. Desserts can be shared if portions are large.  It's nice to be able to taste a dessert but it's nicer on you if you share it.
4. Desserts can be healthy too - healthy eating does not have to mean deprivation - it's all about the choices you make.....one can opt for fresh fruit or a healthy fruit salad
5. Homemade desserts can also be healthy as this simple one here below.  Children can help in making this one and one can vary according to taste.
6. Some desserts can have more calories in them then a full meal and this is why I said we can go really wrong when it comes to having desserts
7. Some desserts can have as much as 600 - 1000 calories per slice whereas healthy desserts can have just under 200 calories
   
8. High fat/sugar desserts could include:  sweet cheesecakes, desserts with cream, fudge, toffee, high amounts of chocolate and condensed milk, will contain a lot of calories
9. Modify your recipes to cut down on the heavier ingredients and use lighter ones instead.  Cut down on sugars, chocolate, cream, candied peel, glace cherries, etc and substitute with nuts, fruit - fresh or dried, yogurt (frozen, greek, plain, low fat), skimmed milk custards, drizzle of honey, fatless sponge cakes instead of creamed heavier cakes and ricotta (which can even substitute ice cream). 
   
10. Finally, my message is eat well, enjoy different tastes of food and live healthily so choose wisely.

Today's recipe is a simple Skimmed Milk custard, Light Yogurt and nut layer (can be substituted for fruit)

Make the custard as you normally would but use skimmed milk.  Use a nice colour.  Here I have used a pastel yellow and opted for a light yogurt which is white to contrast the colour and has a nice tangy lemony flavour.  Then all you have to do is to get some long glasses and put layers of custard, then fruit (here I have stewed some apples) and then followed by the yogurt all the way up.  At the top finish off with the custard and sprinkle a few nuts and a drizzle of honey.  You can be creative too by choosing different fruits to give vibrant summery colours.  Simple, yet delicious and healthy. 

What do you think?

Karen

I have just come across some locally grown parsnips so thought of promoting them since we may not be as familiar with this lovely vegetable so much. The parsnip is like a white carrot or a sweet potato in the shape of a carrot and is a sweet root vegetable. They can be boiled, braised, pan roasted, pureed, candied or made into lovely soups. I got some from my green grocer which have been locally grown and were selling at €2 per kilo.

Nutritional value per 100g: 49 kcal; 1.7g protein; no fat; 11.3g carbohydrates; 55mg calcium; 15mg Vitamin C.

One can make healthy hearty soups with parsnips and root vegetables. Below is my favourite recipe adapted from The Soup Bible.

Spiced parsnip soup

Serves 4 - 6

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 chopped onion
675g parsnips, diced
1 tsp ground coriander
half tsp ground cumin
half tsp ground tumeric
quarter tsp chilli powder
1.2 litres vegetable stock made from boiling vegetables
150ml skimmed milk
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 garlic clove cut into strips (lengthwise)
2 tsp yellow mustard seed
ssalt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Heat the oil and then fry the onion and parsnips gently for about 3 minutes. Stir all the time as I have reduced the amount of fat drastically. 
Stir in the spices and cook for 1 more minute.
Add the stock, season with salt and pepper and bring to boil.
Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 45 minutes, until the parsnips are tender.
Cool slightly, then puree in a blender until smooth.
Return the soup to the pan, add the skimmed milk and heat through gently over low heat.
Heat the sunflower oil in a small pan and add the garlic julienne strips and the yellow mustard seeds and fry quickly until the garlic begins to brown and the mustard seeds start to pop and splutter. Remove from heat.
Ladle the soup into warmed bowls and pur a little of the garlic mixture over each bowl.
Serve immediately.

Karen
26/12/09

Since I posted a simple recipe for a pea soup yesterday I will today give some more information on peas. This is one of my most favourite vegetables and is also popular with children. So take advantage and feed them peas as they are good sources of both carbs and proteins. In fact although the protein is of a low biological value, peas, pulses and beans are all very good substitutes for meat as they can also supply us with proteins less the cholesterol and the fat that meat contains.

Peas can be bought fresh, frozen, canned or dried. The frozen variety are very convenient to use and also contain the vitamins which very fresh peas would have as they are frozen soon after being cut and so retain all their vitamins. Processed or canned peas should be avoided.

Peas are low in calories - giving only 49 calories per 100g of fresh or frozen varieties when boiled. There's no fat but they contain 5g of protein per 100g and 7.7g of carbs. They also contain 13mg of calcium per 100g and a touch of iron. If fresh of quickly frozen they will also contain Vitamin C. This vitamin is lost easily on exposure to sun and as time passes so only the very fresh or the frozen will contain this vitamin. If boiling peas retain the water and use it as stock as if you throw this away you will be throwing away this precious down the drain.

For some tips of how to cook peas a la francaise, a la fermiere or with onions or mint take a look at my next post.