This week, I just want to talk about so many things, a little bit from here and there.
After the last article on date seeds was published, a reader dropped a comment on the Punch newspaper Facebook page. It read: “Coffee without caffeine is not coffee. Please look for another name for it. The beauty of coffee is in its caffeine.”
The first thing I said to myself was, “At least I have discussed coffee, and my readers already know what caffeine is.”
The whole idea is to let readers know that there are substitutes in nature. Yes, those foods you cherish so much but cannot eat, probably, for example, because they have a high glycaemic index and cause a rapid blood sugar spike, or they increase your heart rate like coffee does to some people, still have alternatives that offer the same satisfaction, or even more.
Even if another name is given to roasted date seeds already blended into powder, because it does not contain caffeine, does it change the fact that there are people who love coffee but cannot drink it due to caffeine’s side effects, and have accepted roasted date seeds as their own decaffeinated coffee? What is in a name anyway?
Speaking of substitutes in nature, I must confess that this is one of the reasons I love nature. For example, people who do not take dairy products have countless plant-based milks they can use as dairy alternatives.
If you love to use whipped cream in your recipes but are trying to avoid dairy, you can still enjoy something close to it. Coconut cream, made from coconut milk, can be whipped.
If you love yoghurt and you don’t consume dairy, you can use plant-based milk to make yoghurt. Instead of sugar, there are alternatives like monk fruit, stevia, and even dates that will not cause blood sugar spikes.
What I’m driving at is that your decision to eat healthy meals does not necessarily mean you are losing out on tasty meals. At the end of the day, you may find that the new and healthier substitutes are even tastier. Beyond that, the fact that your newly found diet is impacting your health positively is fulfilling.
There’s more to it; you get to create new recipes, and it also helps you stick to homemade meals, which is a good decision.
I received text messages from readers who wanted to know where to buy roasted date seed powder. I do not have an idea for now. Personally, I keep my date seeds after consuming the fruit, so it is easy for me to roast them once they’re dry. However, during the week, I got the social media handle of someone who sells date seeds.
If you get the seeds, you can wash, dry, and roast them yourself. This is even better, at least you’ll be certain that nothing harmful is added to your date seed powder.
It is no longer news that waterleaf is in season. But as nutritious as it is, some people do not like it because of its sliminess. To reduce this, some people squeeze and wash it the way bitterleaf is washed.
Another option is to slice your waterleaf and dry it in the sun, this actually reduces the sliminess drastically.
Oat fibre and oat flour are not the same, although they are both derived from the Avena sativa plant. Let us talk about the differences between them.
Oat fibre is derived from the outer hull of the oat grain. It is an insoluble fibre, which means it passes through your body without needing to be broken down or absorbed.
Therefore, it will not kick you out of ketosis if you’re on a keto diet, and it does not typically cause blood sugar spikes. It has zero carbs, zero calories, and contains a negligible amount of natural sugars. It is used as a fibre supplement and is also added to baked goods to improve texture and reduce net carbs.
Oat fibre is not inherently stretchy. It does not bind, so you will need a binder like psyllium husk powder.
For people who are not on a keto diet, they can still use oat fibre to bulk up their recipes. For example, let’s say you want to bake with one cup of flour, you can use half a cup of oat fibre and half a cup of regular flour.
By doing so, you have reduced the carb content of that recipe and increased the fibre.
Oat flour, on the other hand, is made by grinding the entire oat kernel, including the hull and the inner part, resulting in a gluten-free flour suitable for baking.
You can make it yourself by grinding the oats you use in making oatmeal for breakfast. However, unlike oat fibre, it is high in glycaemic index, so diabetics should eat it in moderation.
This next one is directed at parents who have young children. In the early ‘80s, my mother got herself a small thermometer to check her temperature regularly, just to track her ovulation.
Daily, she would place the thermometer under her tongue, remove it, check the reading, and record it.
At that time, one of my siblings was still very young, and no one realised she had been watching how our mother used the thermometer.
One day, she went to where it was kept, put it in her mouth, and broke it with her teeth. The mercury inside spilled into her mouth!
She was rushed to the hospital and received proper medical care. Her mouth peeled, and while she was still being nursed through that ordeal, she broke out with measles! It was a trying period for the family. We were lucky, she recovered fully.
Children learn by imitating people around them. Because my mother was always putting the thermometer in her mouth, my sister must have thought it was sweet-tasting. Curiosity led her to do what ‘mummy does.’
Parents should learn from this and keep harmful substances and medications out of children’s reach.
I get wild thoughts sometimes, and one of them is: what if I’m arrested for talking about the use of plants for health in this modern age, where medical advancements abound across the world? My first line of defence would be that there is a branch of science called Pharmacognosy, and it is the study of medicines or crude drugs produced from natural sources such as plants, microbes, and animals.
When we talk about the use of plants for health here, we are not out of line.
My random thoughts
