Shariq’s Département

After enjoying Jerusalem artichokes recently, I decided to look into them, and found that they are excellent for restoring your gut’s health post-antibiotics.

Whenever you take antibiotics, the drugs essentially kill off healthy bacteria in your gut, including the kind known as acidophilus.  Jerusalem artichokes are a kind of antidote, because they provide nutrition for the “good” bacteria in your gut.  They have a high content of fructooligosaccharides, which good bacteria like to dine on, which helps to re-establish a balanced gut ecology (these nutrients contained in the Jerusalem artichokes are sometimes referred to as “prebiotics”).

A quick note on the origin of the name of these vegetables (they are actually a member of the sunflower family and are also referred to as sunchokes).  They probably got the name Jerusalem because it sounded like girasol, which is the Italian name for sunflower.

Note: This info is sourced from a great book, The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth by Jonny Bowden.  It’s easy to read and fascinating.  Buy it if you are into this kind of stuff.

I looked up the following information for a friend, but I think it is useful information for all.  If you have high cholesterol, I believe it is much better to try and lower it naturally, rather than getting on drugs like Lipitor.

The following items, added to your diet, will naturally help reduce cholesterol:

1. Beans (all types: kidney beans, black beans, etc.) - according to research a cup of cooked beans a day can lower your total cholesterol by up to 10% in a mere six weeks.
 
2. Lentils - they are loaded with soluble fiber, which breaks down as it passes through the digestive tract, forming a gel that traps some substances related to high cholesterol (better to use brown, green or red lentils rather than the Indian variety, which generally have had their outer skins removed, which lowers their fiber content).
 
3. Almonds - shown to target reductions in “bad” LDL cholesterol
 
4. Cashew Nuts - again, lowers LDL
 
5. Pecans - they are loaded with beta-sitosterol, a plant compouond that has been found to lower cholesterol
 
6. Sunflower Seeds - contain a variey of protective plant compounds known as phytosterols, well known for their ability to lower cholesterol
 
7. Black Tea - reduces LDL for those with elevated cholesterol levels
 
8. Cinnamon/ Cinnamon Extract - reduces LDL
 
9. Garlic - universally accepted as lowering cholesterol
 
10. Hemp Seed Oil - contains Omega-6 fatty acids that help lower LDL
 
11. Oatmeal - contains beta-glucan (a long string of glucose molecules) which helps lower cholesterol levels; one bowl of oatmeal consumed daily can reduce cholesterol 8 to 23%.
 
12. Avocados - high in omega-9 fat which lowers cholesterol; in a study, volunteers who ate avocados every day for a week experienced an average 17% drop in total blood cholesterol.