WHFoods Weekly Newsletter

[World's Healthiest Foods]() Weekly Newsletter - April 1, 2017 The George Mateljan Foundation is a not-for-profit foundation with no commercial interests or advertising. Our mission is to help you eat and cook the healthiest way for optimal health. Dear Friend of World's Healthiest Foods, This week, we highlight another one of our newly created recipes from our upcoming WHFoods 7-Day Meal Plan to help you on your way to optimal health. Over the next several weeks, we will continue to highlight lunch salads, which are easy to prepare and delicious. They are a great way to increase your veggie intake and, combined with a serving of protein, can satiate your hunger comfortably til dinner. I encourage you to try this week's featured recipe and see how easy it is to combine great nutrition with great taste! [Chopped Chicken and Avocado Salad with Chili Garlic Dressing]( To continue our conversation about chlorophyll, this week I want address the question of what foods contain chlorophyll. While all green plants contains chlorophyll a, and most vegetables that we eat contain both chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b, some vegetables contain particularly high amounts of total chlorophyll. Best studied of all the vegetables is spinach (Spinacia oleracea in the Latin scientific name), with this vegetable containing about 300-600 milligrams per ounce. To understand how high in chlorophyll this amount turns out to be, compare the chlorophyll content of spinach to another of the World's Healthiest Foods - olives. Chlorophyll is one of the primary pigments in olives, but olives contain only 30-300 micrograms per ounce (about 1/1000th as much as spinach). Some olive oil producers deliberately allow leaves to be placed in the olive presses to increase the chlorophyll and "grassiness" of the olive oil. Read more about [How do cooking and handling affect the chlorophyll in food?](. Have a wonderful week of a Healthier Way of Eating, George [Food of the Week] What's New and Beneficial About Green Peas While we consider all 100 of the profiled foods on our website to be both nutrient-rich and affordable, it is still exciting to see green peas place so well in a recent research study on the affordability and nutrient-richness of fruits and vegetables. As the study authors phrased their study purpose, they were looking for "best nutritional value per unit cost." Green peas were one of ten foods to earn placement in the top group for combined affordability and nutritional value. It's interesting to note that several vegetables that we profile on our website—including tomatoes, carrots, and cabbage—were also included in this top group alongside of peas. Based on their starchy nature and relatively high carbohydrate content (nearly 22 grams per cup), many people would not expect green peas to qualify as a low glycemic index (GI) food. But they do! We rank green peas as a "low GI" food on our website based on their range of GI values between 51-54. (All foods with GI values of 55 or below qualify as "low GI" on our website.) Better management of blood sugar and lower risk of type 2 diabetes are two health benefits associated with green pea intake in research studies, and both of these research findings make good sense to us. Green peas are rich in total fiber, and in fact contain more fiber per cooked cup than either broccoli or cabbage or asparagus. In addition, they have a helpful mix of both soluble fiber (about 2 grams) and insoluble fiber (about 5.5 grams). The starches in green peas are also of special interest since there are greater amounts of resistant starch (which is less digestible in the upper digestive tract and less likely to be broken down into simple sugars) than might typically be expected. Moderately high levels of amylose in pea starch (a component that can be resistant to digestion), together with the relative non-availability of amylase enzymes in the green pea cell walls (that might otherwise help break down the green pea amylose if they were more available for use) are factors thought to be responsible for the valuable amounts of resistant starch in green peas. The net result here is a somewhat starchy-textured green vegetable that is not only low-GI but may help you improve your blood sugar regulation. At WHFoods, we always recommend purchase of vegetables in their freshest, least processed form to help promote maximum possible nourishment. This principle holds true for all vegetables—and that includes green peas. However, with green peas, an additional consideration may come into play. This consideration involves the shelling of green peas that are purchased in pod form. For snow peas and sugar snap peas this consideration does not apply since the pod of both pea types usually gets enjoyed right along with the peas. But for "shelling" peas where the pod does not typically get consumed, the task of shelling the peas and removing them from the pod is one that many people are unwilling to undertake. For this reason, many people who enjoy green peas often purchase them in already-shelled, frozen form. We have often been asked whether already-shelled, frozen peas results have inferior nutritional value when compared with non-frozen, freshly shelled green peas. While we have not seen comprehensive nutrient data in this area, we have come across a recent study that shows outstanding nutrient retention of vitamin C, trans-beta-carotene, and folate in already-shelled, frozen green peas. In fact, the authors of this study suggested that the purchase of already-shelled, frozen green peas might result in greater nutritional value than the purchase of non-frozen, freshly shelled green peas if the non-frozen peas were not going to be consumed in a relatively short period of time (five days or less) and instead kept in the refrigerator during the interim period of time. As commonplace as green peas might seem, they are not commonplace at all in terms of their overall nutrient content. For example, recent studies have shown unique constituents in both the protein and carbohydrate components of green peas. Contained within pea protein are smaller constituents (called peptides) that help support cardiovascular function. Included here are peptides that inhibit activity of angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE1), and by so doing, prevent angiotensin I from being converted into angiotensin II. Since angiotensin II is an active form of this enzyme that works to increase blood pressure, prevention of this conversion step can also help prevent undesirable increases in our blood pressure. Equally unique constituents have been discovered in the carbohydrate component of green peas. As referred to earlier in this section, the moderately high amylose content of green peas—when combined with the relative non-availability of amylase enzyme activity—provides peas with a surprisingly large amount of resistant starch and an ability to help regulate blood sugar levels. One form of fresh green peas that you are more and more likely to see in supermarkets belong to the category of vegetables called "microgreens." Microgreens are very young stages of green plants that have typically been grown in a soil-based potting mix. With the help of sunlight, the plants develop their first very small leaves (called cotelydons) but are consumed before the leaves have time to mature. (Microgreens are not the not the same as sprouts. Sprouts are freshly germinated plant seeds, typically grown in water only and in the dark.) Many different vegetables and herbs can be found in "microgreen" form, including not only green peas but also arugula, basil, cilantro, radish, spinach, watercress, and others. One recent study has compared the carotenoid content of 25 different microgreens and has found green pea microgreens to be especially rich in beta-carotene, lutein/zeaxanthin, and violaxanthin in comparison to their fellow microgreens. At WHFoods, we consider this microgreen research to be further evidence of the nutrient richness that is provided by green peas. Agricultural research has shown that pea crops can help provide the soil with important benefits. First, peas belong to a category of crops called "nitrogen fixing" crops. With the help of bacteria in the soil, peas (and other "pulse" crops including lentils and beans) are able to take nitrogen gas from the air and convert it into more complex and usable forms. This process increases nitrogen available in the soil without the need for added fertilizer. Once the peas have been picked, the plant remainders tend to break down relatively easily for soil replenishment. Finally, rotation of peas with other crops has been shown to lower the risk of pest problems. These environmentally friendly aspects of pea production add to their desirability as a regular part of our diet. [Read More]( [Recipe of the Week] Try This Recipe of the Week 3-Minute "Healthy Sautéed" Green Peas Enjoy this Nutrient-Rich Way to cook Green Peas that is quick, easy, and tastes great. (Taken from page 319 of the 2nd Edition of the World's Healthiest Foods.) [Read More]( [Nutrient of the Week] Green Peas are a Very Good Source of Phosphorus Green Peas are a very good source of important health-protective vitamins and minerals, including phosphorus. [Read More]( [Hot Topic] Rejuvenating Foods for Springtime At many different levels, springtime is a new beginning. In spring, all of Nature renews, rises and expands. Plants move upward, sprouting and blossoming, and a feeling of freshness flows through everything. Sunrise comes earlier and earlier in the day, and youthfulness burgeons in the plant world with lots of new shoots and sprouts. If we have gardens, we spend more time in them, cleaning up winter's debris, tending new growth, and freshening things up. So why not extend spring's fresh start to the way we eat? Why not take this same approach to our meal plan? What a perfect time to do some spring cleaning in our kitchen, pantry, and menus, to take a fresh look at our food plan and breathe new life into our way of eating. Below are key areas for making spring a time to rejuvenate yourself with the freshest foods of this life-renewing season ... [Read More]( Here's to another week of the Healthiest Way of Eating and Cooking! George [WHFoods Book 2nd Edition] The World's Healthiest Foods, 2nd Edition is complete and ready to order with 2 free gifts valued at $51.95. All international orders (including Canada) must be placed through Amazon.com. More from happy book owners: THANK YOU for all the wonderful info in your book. I have given a copy to my three children; also to my ex-wife! - TO [Read more about our book]( $39.95 [buy now]( visit our homepage at Newsletter circulation: over 120,000 Copyright © 2017 The George Mateljan Foundation, All Rights Reserved George Mateljan Foundation, PO Box 25801, Seattle, Washington 98165 [Unsubscribe]( | [Change Subscriber Options](