Fruits and Vegetables

[Amish Country]

For those who live near the Amish farm stands or plan to visit areas where they live here is a tip. They DO NOT work on Sunday. This benefits the rest of us in that if they have fresh foods in need of canning or freezing that they do not have time to process on Saturday they may be more inclined to part with it at a cheaper price than see it go to waste. I just picked up a huge box of apples (seconds) late Saturday afternoon for $1.00. They needed to be processed fast. MMMMM home made applesauce!

I was also lucky enough to catch a farmer harvesting winter squash in the field and was able to pick them up at .50 each - the big blue green Hubbard?s! These should keep without refrigeration, under the proper conditions for several months.

 

[Jonesie]

Re: Fruits and Vegetables

I have canned tomato products in my preps. I decided to look up their nutritional values:



Health Properties of Tomatoes

Here are 10 reasons you should be eating more delicious, nutritious tomatoes.

By Elaine Magee, MPH, RD
WebMD Weight Loss Clinic - Expert Column

Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD

I live in California, where we seem to eat a lot of sandwiches, salads, and Mexican food. And my favorite cuisine to cook is Italian. In my house, if we aren't enjoying tomatoes on our sandwiches or in our salads or salsa, we're saucing up dinner with some marinara. And those high-flavor, garden-fresh grape and cherry tomatoes? We eat them plain, like cherries.

Eating lots of tomatoes, any way you can, is a great thing. This fruit that acts like a vegetable is loaded with health properties.

Here are 10 reasons why you should have tomatoes in your kitchen and pantry:

1. Tomatoes contain all four major carotenoids: alpha- and beta-carotene, lutein, and lycopene. These carotenoids may have individual benefits, but also have synergy as a group (that is, they interact to provide health benefits).
   
2. In particular, tomatoes contain awesome amounts of lycopene, thought to have the highest antioxidant activity of all the carotenoids.
4. Tomatoes and broccoli have synergy that may help reduce the risk of prostate cancer. One study showed that prostate tumors grew much more slowly in rats that were fed both tomato and broccoli powder than in rats given lycopene as a supplement or fed just the broccoli or tomato powder alone.
   
5. A diet rich in tomato-based products may help reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer, according to a study from The University of Montreal. The researchers found that lycopene (provided mainly by tomatoes) was linked to a 31% reduction in pancreatic cancer risk between men with the highest and lowest intakes of this carotenoid.
   
6. Tomatoes contain all three high-powered antioxidants: beta-carotene (which has vitamin A activity in the body), vitamin E, and vitamin C. A U.S. Department of Agriculture report, What We Eat in America, noted that a third or us get too little vitamin C and almost half get too little vitamin A.
   
7. Tomatoes are rich in potassium, a mineral most of us don't get enough of. A cup of tomato juice contains 534 milligrams of potassium, and 1/2 cup of tomato sauce has 454 milligrams.
   
8. When tomatoes are eaten along with healthier fats, like avocado or olive oil, the body's absorption of the carotenoid phytochemicals in tomatoes can increase by two to 15 times, according to a study from Ohio State University.
   
9. Tomatoes are a big part of the famously healthy Mediterranean diet. Many Mediterranean dishes and recipes call for tomatoes or tomato paste or sauce. Some recent studies, including one from The University of Athens Medical School, have found that people who most closely follow the Mediterranean diet have lower death rates from heart disease and cancer. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, who followed more than 39,000 women for seven years, found that consumption of oil- and tomato-based products -- particularly tomato and pizza sauce -- was associated with cardiovascular benefits.
   
10. When breastfeeding moms eat tomato products, it increases the concentration of lycopene in their breast milk. In this case, cooked is best. The researchers also found that eating tomato products like tomato sauce increased concentrations of lycopene in breast milk more than eating fresh tomatoes did.
12. Tomato peels contribute a high concentration of the carotenoids found in tomatoes. The amount of carotenoids absorbed by human intestinal cells was much greater with tomato paste enriched with tomato peels compared to tomato paste without peels, according to a study from Marseille, France. The tomato skin also holds most of the flavonols (another family of phytochemicals that includes quercetin and kaempferol) as well. So to maximize the health properties of tomatoes, don't peel them if you can help it!

Terrific Tomato Recipes

The good news is that America already loves tomatoes. They're one of the top fresh vegetables eaten in this country, and are the most frequently consumed canned vegetable, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics.

Here are two tomato recipes to help you start eating more of these nutritious fruits today.


Halfway Homemade Garlic & Onion Pasta Sauce

You start with a bottle or can of marinara sauce, and end with a chunky, homemade-style pasta sauce.

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
2/3 cup chopped sweet onion
1/2 cup chopped red, yellow or orange bell pepper
2 teaspoons minced garlic
A dash of black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
2 cups bottled or canned marinara sauce
1/4 cup red wine of choice, such as merlot (optional)


Add olive oil to a medium, nonstick saucepan over medium-high heat. Once oil is hot, add onion and bell pepper and saut? until cooked (about 4 minutes).
Reduce heat to low. Stir in minced garlic and black pepper and cook about a minute more. Stir in fresh basil, marinara, and wine (if desired) and simmer until the sauce is good and hot (a minute or two more). Serve with cooked pasta, chicken, fish, etc.
Yield: 4 servings (about 3/4 cup to 1 cup each)

Per serving: 132 calories, 3 g protein, 17 g carbohydrate, 6 g fat, 0.9 g saturated fat, 3.8 g monounsaturated fat, 1.4 g polyunsaturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 3 g fiber, about 500 mg sodium (depending on the marinara sauce used). Calories from fat: 41%.

Simple Tomato & Herb Salad

This dish is simple because it uses a bottled salad dressing. The rest of the chopping and slicing goes quickly. It's all about featuring the garden fresh or vine-ripened tomato in all of its glory.

2 1/2 pounds (about 6 medium) garden fresh or vine-ripened tomatoes
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion, separated into rings
2 shallots, sliced thin
6 tablespoons light or reduced fat Italian-style salad dressing (your choice)
1/3 cup minced mixed fresh herbs such as basil, parsley, and tarragon

Core tomatoes and cut them into 1/2-inch thick slices. Arrange tomato slices in a deep serving dish (a 9x11-inch dish works well), and scatter onion and shallots over them.
Drizzle the bottled salad dressing evenly over the salad. Cover the dish and chill for 20-30 minutes.
Sprinkle herb mixture over the top and serve.
Yield: 6 servings.

Per serving: 72 calories, 2 g protein, 12 g carbohydrate, 3 g fat, 0.6 g saturated fat, 1 g monounsaturated fat, 1 g polyunsaturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 2.5 g fiber, 243 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 35%.

Recipes provided by Elaine Magee; ? 2007 Elaine Magee

Elaine Magee, MPH, RD, is the "Recipe Doctor" for the WebMD Weight Loss Clinic and the author of numerous books on nutrition and health. Her opinions and conclusions are her own.

Published on August 03, 2007.


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SOURCES: Adams, K., et al, Cancer Research Jan. 15, 2007, vol 67; pp 836-843. Nkondjock A. et al, Journal of Nutrition, March 2005, Volume 135; pp 592-597. Moshfegh, A., et al., What We Eat in America, NHANES 2001-2002: Usual Nutrient Intakes From Food Compared to Dietary Reference Intakes, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, 2005. ESHA Research Food Processor II, Nutritional Analysis Software. Unlu, NZ, et al., Journal of Nutrition, March 2005;135 (3); pp. 431-6. Trichopoulou, A., et al. The New England Journal of Medicine, June 26, 2003; 348: 26; pp 2599-2608. O'Kennedy, N., et al., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Sept. 2006; 84: 3; pp 570-579. Alien, C.M., et al., Journal of the American Dietetic Association, September 2002; 102: 9, pp 1257-1262. Liu, S., et al., Journal of Nutrition, July 2003; 133: pp 2336-2341. Reboul, E., et al, Journal of Nutrition, April 2005; Vol. 135; pp 790-794. Stewart, A.J., et al., Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, 2000; 48: 7; pp. 2663-2669. USDA Economic Research Service web site: "Factors Affecting Tomato Consumption in the United States."

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=83141&pf=3&page=1


TOMATO GAME - THIS IS FUNNY:
http://tomatoesareevil.com/tomatoface.htm#game

 

[Jonesie]

Re: Fruits and Vegetables

Tomato Diet Can't Guarantee Prostate Health:

StudyBy Jeffrey Perkel
HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Sept. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Men who've been adding vitamin E or the tomato nutrient lycopene to their diets to cut their risk of prostate cancer may need to think again.

According to a new study, neither carotenoids (such as lycopene), retinol, nor tocopherols (forms of vitamin E) appear to reduce the odds of prostate malignancy -- findings that are in line with two other recent publications.

"Our overall findings are null," said lead researcher Timothy Key, deputy director of the Cancer Research UK Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford, U.K.

"This large study does not support the hypothesis that consuming large amounts of these nutrients will reduce prostate cancer," he added. "That is disappointing, but that is the overall message."

The findings are published in the September issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

His team examined the effect of the blood levels of 10 micronutrients on the risk of developing prostate cancer for almost 2,000 males from eight European countries.

The research, which the authors call "the largest prospective study to date of plasma carotenoids, retinol, tocopherols, and prostate cancer risk," was part of the EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) study, which includes more than half a million men and women.

The authors did find evidence to suggest that, once a cancer forms, high levels of lycopene (or of carotenoids in general, including lycopene) may reduce by about 60 percent the risk of the tumor progressing to an advanced-stage prostate cancer. Carotenoids appeared to have no effect on the rate of localized, earlier-stage disease, however.

According to Dr. Peter Scardino, head of the Prostate Cancer Program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the developed world. A Western male, he said, has about a 42 percent risk of developing cancerous cells in his prostate over his lifetime, a 16 percent risk of being diagnosed with the disease, and about a three percent risk of dying as a result. In other words, nearly one-quarter of Western males have a subclinical form of prostate cancer, which will never progress to more advanced disease.

Stopping progression is crucial. According to Scardino, for those whose disease does progress, the risk of death is much higher -- nearly 50 percent.

"I think it's an important study," Scardino said. That lycopene and bulk carotenoids reduced the risk of progressing to advanced disease without impacting the risk of developing prostate cancer overall, he said, "suggests maybe these micronutrients are not as important in [stopping] carcinogenesis as they are in [slowing] progression of a very small early tumor to one that becomes invasive and larger and develops the ability to metastasize."

"The study provides supportive evidence that lycopene and the carotenoids may have an effect on delaying the progression of prostate cancer, so, from that point of view, it is an interesting study," Scardino added.

But Alan Kristal, associate head of the Cancer Prevention Program at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, remained more skeptical. Though he called the study "well-executed," Kristal noted, for instance, that the authors were unable to control for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing among the men. These blood tests often detect clinically irrelevant tumors, he explained.

"You can never do an observational study of prostate cancer without rigorously controlling for whether or not the person got PSA screening," Kristal said. "The more times you take the test, the more likely you are to get the disease."

He also noted that the finding for lycopene contradicts a report published in May in Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention. That study did account for PSA testing, and it found no effect of lycopene whatsoever on prostate cancer risk -- including the risk of advanced disease.

"To my mind, that study is definitive," said Kristal. "It's a big study, extremely well executed, properly analyzed, and not biased by PSA screening."

A review of lycopene's effect on cancer by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, published in July in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, likewise found "no credible evidence to support an association between lycopene intake and a reduced risk of prostate, lung, colorectal, gastric, breast, ovarian, endometrial, or pancreatic cancer and very limited evidence to support an association between tomato consumption and reduced risks of prostate, ovarian, gastric, and pancreatic cancers," according to that study's authors.

So, with tomatoes, ketchup and pizza sauce crossed off the list of prostate-protecting foods, Key and others continue the search. Kristal, for instance, is on the executive committee of a randomized trial examining the effects of selenium and/or vitamin E on prostate cancer risk in 35,000 men. Results are expected in 2012, he said.

Said Key, "I am optimistic we will find something. This paper is an important piece of work, but it doesn't look like this is the answer."


SOURCES: Tim Key, Ph.D., deputy director, Cancer Research UK Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford, U.K.; Peter Scardino, M.D., chairman, department of surgery and head, Prostate Cancer Program, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York City; Alan Kristal, DrPH, member and associate head, Cancer Prevention Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle; September 2007, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition


http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=83892

 

[Jonesie]

Re: Fruits and Vegetables

Health Benefits Of Growing Tomatoes


Tomatoes aren't only nutritionally healthy for you, they also benefit your health to merely grow them.

Tomatoes, and other red fruits and vegetables, contain a carotenoid antioxidant called lycopene. Lycopene is especially good for diseases and ailments related to the cardiovascular system.

Scientists from the Liverpool John Moores University Nutraceutical Research group have discovered that tomatoes must be cooked, with some form of oil, in order for the lycopene to become available to the human body for use.

Processing the tomatoes increases the concentration of available lycopene so products like tomato juices, ketchup, salsa, soups, and sauces measure higher lycopene than raw tomatoes.

Studies reveal that eating these products also show reduced risks of prostate cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, and high cholesterol.

Cancer, heart disease and stroke are the three major killers and lycopene, which is readily available in tomato products, is a natural nutrient preventative available to everyone.

Studies show that even just growing tomatoes, and other plants, have a great physical and mental healing property.

First of all, gardening is physical activity which is very beneficial.

But gardening is mentally beneficial because it is a release for emotions and creativity. The pulling of a weed releases anger. And creative expression is released by the placing of plants and flowers so they are attractive.

The psychological benefit of being outside is unmatched by any other activity.

Growing and tending your own garden is a powerful stress reliever.

Studies reveal that just viewing a garden or nature has healthy psychological benefits. Studies show that women recovering from breast cancer surgery can reduce their depression by merely walking in a beautiful flower garden.

The planting of a seed, watching it grow, tending to it's needs, and harvesting the fruits of your labor can do wonders to gain a sense of accomplishment and raise self-esteerm.

http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/6747/1/Health-Benefits-Of-Growing-Tomatoes.html

 

[Farmer]

carrots

carrots

I discovered a convenience this year. I had sown a fall crop 9September) of carrots most of which I harvested in early winter. However as I was preparing the garden for spring yesterday, I unearthed carrots that I had missed. They were full size, intact (no rot) and very tasty!

I plan to use this as an alternative to early winter harvest and indoor winter storage. I think the soil does it better (and more conveniently).

I live in a humid temperate climate where the average minimum temperature is about 10 degrees F.