According to economists (who, it seems to me, are a lot better at explaining the past than predicting the future), this massive food inflation is actually caused by a perfect storm of rising demand and lower supply — both intensified by several calamities (like droughts, floods, wars, and knock-on effects of the COVID-19 pandemic) — as well as rising costs for fuel and fertilizer.

For perspective, food prices have typically been rising by about 2% a year for a long time. But from 2021 to 2022, they went up by an average of 11%. And while things seem to have calmed down a bit since then, it’s still easy to get sticker shock any time you visit a cash register.

Even if you’re not paying more outright, you might be paying more in subtle ways. The food industry has recently implemented a tactic known as “shrinkflation,” whereby they offer the same product for the same price — in a smaller quantity, thus avoiding the appearance of higher prices. (“Hey, this is one expensive cornflake!”)

So why exactly have food prices gone up so much? Why do some foods always seem to cost more (or less) than others? And what can you, as a consumer, do about it?

What Influences Food Prices

Did I mention that I’m not an economist? That might be good news here because I’m going to try to simplify the issue of food pricing. There are a few major factors that always influence food pricing. These include how much it costs to produce the food (including the cost of labor for everyone involved in growing and processing it), the cost of transportation and distribution, good old supply and demand, and global trade policies.

Why have food prices gone up so much in the last few years? Three factors stand out, in particular: the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the intensifying climate crisis.

The COVID-19 Pandemic

Starting in 2020, the pandemic disrupted nearly every link in the food supply chain. The food processing sector was hit particularly hard, with COVID-19 outbreaks racing through the workforce, due to many people working in close, inadequately ventilated quarters. And the increase in worker turnover, in addition to new COVID protocols, further increased food production costs.

The same labor shortages affected the shipping industry, causing delays and increasing competition for limited shipping space. This led to rising transportation costs. It also increased the price of labor: In order to attract workers, companies had to increase wages, a cost they largely passed directly on to consumers.

As many people shifted their food spending from restaurants to grocery stores, suppliers could not keep up with the change in demand, resulting in massive food waste that effectively decreased supply.

And while 2020 is in the rearview mirror, there’s a funny thing about economics. When prices go up, they rarely come down again. So in some ways, we’re still feeling the effects of the price increases that started in 2020. And now, some additional factors have intensified the situation.

The War in Ukraine

Before the war, Russia and Ukraine were among the largest wheat producers in the world, together accounting for 30% of all exports — and a staggering 12% of all agricultural calories traded on earth. Both production and export have dropped dramatically due to the war.

Russia set up blockades of Ukrainian food exports in the Black Sea, stranding food in ports and creating global shortages. Western countries responded with sanctions against Russian grain exports, intensifying those shortages.

In addition to embargoes on food, the West has also implemented partial bans on Russian exports. These have included oil and gas, which have increased the energy costs associated with food production around the world.

Another blockaded product is fertilizer. As Russia is a major exporter of synthetic fertilizers, accounting for almost 30% of all exports globally, fertilizer prices have also been soaring — impacting farmers and, therefore, food prices.

Increasing Climate Chaos and Disasters

As temperatures continue to rise, crops are sustaining damage from excess heat. And as precipitation patterns change, droughts and flooding (sometimes alternating in the same place) also prevent crops from thriving. This can harm crops by eroding soil, depleting soil nutrients, and increasing runoff.

No farmer wants to try to coax crops out of the ground in conditions of extreme and prolonged drought. As more and more of the arable land on Earth suffers under multiyear drought, farmers are increasingly relying on groundwater, which they’re depleting at an alarming rate.

Additionally, rising temperatures increase pest populations and sometimes allow new pests to take up residence in regions that had previously been inhospitable for them. Temperature shifts can also cause a mismatch in pollination cycles, so the “good” bugs can’t do their jobs — leading to low pollination rates or delayed pollination.

One more disastrous effect of a warming planet is the danger to agricultural workers. More and more of them are suffering from the effects of extreme heat as they toil in parched fields. The National Institutes of Health tells us that farmworkers are 35 times more likely to die of heat exposure than workers in other industries. As conditions become less hospitable, it can be harder for farm owners to find the skilled laborers they need to get their fields planted and harvested. And dynamics in US immigration policy have contributed to a shortage of these workers.

As the planet continues to overheat, and as groundwater gets depleted and droughts and floods intensify, food prices are expected to continue to increase in the coming decades.

Why Do Some Foods Always Cost More (or Less)?

Governmental policies cause some foods to be more expensive than they would be otherwise — while others are made artificially cheaper. To see this in action, let’s look at a category of foods whose price is inflated (organic foods) and another whose price is deflated (grains and the products derived from grains).

Organic and Healthy Food Costs

Organic foods are more expensive than their “conventional” counterparts for several reasons. For one, organic food typically costs more to produce because the process is more labor-intensive than large-scale industrial agricultural methods.

Supply and demand play a role here as well. There’s a much smaller supply of organic food than nonorganic, even though demand for organic foods has more than doubled in the past 10 years. While this demand has caught the attention of some farmers who have decided to convert part or all of their operations to organic methods, this process takes time. In the meanwhile, prices continue to rise as demand grows, but supply lags.

There’s also a policy choice that makes organic food more expensive, which is that organic certification is costly, and getting that certification can be time-consuming. Organic farmers must keep extensive records and pay for organic certification, while farms that use synthetic pesticides don’t have to do either.

Another reason for organic’s higher prices has to do with the concept of “externalities” — that is, costs that arguably should be included in the market price but aren’t.

For example, what are the true costs of topsoil erosion, pesticide exposure for farmworkers and consumers, water and air pollution, or of the routine use of antibiotics in modern factory farms? If these were factored in, we might find that organic food would cost less, not more, than its conventional counterparts.

The fact is that organically grown foods tend to be better for environmental protection and carbon sequestration, deliver higher standards for animal welfare, and contribute to a safer and healthier food supply.

But consumers still have to pay more, and sometimes a lot more, to purchase foods that are grown organically.

Despite this, there are still some compelling advantages to go organic if you can afford to do so. And if you can’t, then you might want to soak your produce in a dab of baking soda to help rid it of pesticide exposure (for our article on what works best, click here).

Government Subsidies

The US government provides agricultural subsidies — monetary payments and other types of support — to farmers or agribusinesses. This ensures that farmers receive a minimum price for their crops while also incentivizing overproduction and inflated production costs. That way, subsidized foods and products made from them appear cheaper than nonsubsidized foods.

Generally, only the largest producers can take advantage of farm subsidies. According to a report from the Environmental Working Group, between 1995 and 2021, the top 10% of all US farm subsidy recipients received almost 80% of all subsidies, while the bottom 80% got less than 10%.

The five major “program” commodities are corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, and rice.

Most soybeans and corn are produced by massive monocrop farms rather than small family enterprises. A lot of this subsidized corn and soy is fed to livestock, which artificially lowers the price of animal-derived foods produced on factory farms. All told, the US federal government spends $38 billion every year subsidizing the meat and dairy industries. Without these subsidies, a pound of hamburger meat could cost $30, rather than the $5 price seen today. But the true cost plays out in its impact on our health, animals, and the environment — and in the form of taxes and expansion of the national debt.

Is it better in Europe? Well, in many ways, it’s not. According to a 2019 report from Greenpeace, nearly one-fifth of the EU’s entire budget goes to subsidizing the livestock industry.

In effect, these subsidies consistently decrease the price of things like factory-farmed meat, high-fructose corn syrup, white bread, and many of the additives in our food supply — creating a marketplace distortion that makes fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and other healthy staples more expensive in comparison.

To my eyes, it’s a bit like we’re all being fined for wearing our seatbelts. If we want to do the safer and more responsible thing, we have to pay extra.

What You Can Do About Rising Food Prices

If you’re feeling the pinch of rising food prices yourself, there are several strategies that can help you stay within your budget without sacrificing your family’s health.

Make a budget and shop from a list to avoid making impulse purchases while at the store. Prioritize nutrient-dense foods over calorie-dense ones. The latter may seem cheaper by the pound or the calorie, but in terms of what foods can do for you (or to you), good nutrition is more economical than impaired functioning or chronic disease. And buy and cook in bulk to save money and time.

Try to shop locally if you can to avoid incentivizing costly supply chains. If you’re in the US and use SNAP benefits, keep in mind that you can use them to shop for fresh produce at many farmers markets.

Also, buy organic when you can. If you are in a position financially where you can afford to spend more, you can “vote with your dollars” (or euros or pounds or rupees) to make the system fairer and more accessible to everyone. But if you can’t afford the organic price premium, then aim for non-GMO produce items and wash them thoroughly to reduce your pesticide exposure as much as possible.

If you have to choose which fruits and veggies to buy organic, check out the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen and Clean 15. Choose organic members of the Dirty Dozen club, and don’t sweat nonorganic Clean 15 items.

Frozen fruits and vegetables can sometimes be more affordable than fresh ones, and they contain abundant nutrition.

And reducing your consumption of animal products can not only help feed the world’s population because we aren’t cycling our crops through animals (a process that wastes at least 9 out of every 10 calories, depending on the crop and the animal eating it), but it can also lead to reductions in costly greenhouse gas emissions, too. Plus, beans tend to be a lot less costly than beef (to animals, the environment, and your wallet, too).

Food Pricing Is Complex, But Healthy Eating Shouldn’t Be

The recent surge in food prices has highlighted the intricate web of factors influencing the cost of our food. From labor shortages and technology costs to climate change and war, the forces at play are vast and interconnected.

But there are ways to navigate these challenging times. By adopting conscious strategies, we can mitigate the impact of rising food prices on our wallets and well-being. Through awareness and mindful decision-making, we can not only do right for our health, but we can also contribute to a more healthy, sustainable, and equitable food system.

Tell us in the comments:

• What foods that you buy frequently have gone up the most in price recently?
• Have you made any changes or substitutions because of food price inflation?
• Which cost-saving strategies could you try?

Featured Image: iStock.com/Ilija Erceg

Read Next:

• A Guide to Going Plant-Based: What to Eat, Benefits, and How to Succeed
• 7 Healthy Recipes for Eating Plant-Based on a Budget

The post The Price of Food: What’s Making Food So Expensive & What You Can Do About It appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

What do you do to stay alive and thrive in the face of all these challenges? If you answered “synthesize polyphenols,” then congratulations! You’ve just won this round of “Are You as Smart as a Plant?”

Polyphenols are a class of compounds (a huge class, actually, made up of at least 8,000 different ones that we know of) that are in a wide variety of plant foods. You may have heard of some of them, like resveratrol (found in grapes and red wine) and EGCG (featured in green tea).

Plants produce them as protection from various threats, including disease and sun damage. And animals who consume those plants can also benefit from polyphenols in similar ways.

As industrialized societies struggle to contain multiple epidemics of chronic disease, many medical experts and researchers are now pointing to polyphenols (and other nutrients found in whole, minimally processed plant foods) as powerful allies in preventing and treating a variety of chronic conditions.

So in this article, we’ll explore the world of polyphenols, including how they work in your body, their health benefits, and whether you should get them from food or supplements.

What Are Polyphenols?

Polyphenols are natural compounds found in various plants. Researchers consider polyphenols to be kind of “bonus” compounds, or in their jargon, “secondary metabolites.” This means they’re not directly involved in the growth, development, or reproduction of a plant.

Plants produce polyphenols as a defense mechanism against ultraviolet radiation and aggression from pathogens. But they aren’t purely defensive; they’re also deployed to attract pollinators.

From our perspective, polyphenols play a significant role in the flavors and health benefits that many plant foods offer. They can change the way plants taste, and determine their colors and aromas.

Polyphenols are also antioxidants, so their presence can keep plant foods from rotting (a trick known as “oxidative stability”). They also can help prevent oxidative stress in your body after you consume them, which can help stave off many types of disease.

There are several subfamilies of polyphenols, including flavonoids, phenolic acids, and lignans. In addition to resveratrol and EGCG mentioned above, another well-studied polyphenol is curcumin, found in turmeric root and powder.

What Are the Health Benefits of Polyphenols?

The “poly” in polyphenol means that all compounds in this family have multiple phenolic hydroxyl groups — but could just as easily refer to their ability to prevent and treat multiple health conditions.

Polyphenols and Cancer Prevention

Both test-tube and animal studies suggest that polyphenols can help prevent the initiation and progression of several cancers. They do this via a number of mechanisms, including inhibiting the proliferation and spread of cancer cells, suppressing tumor growth, preventing the formation of new blood vessels, and fighting inflammation.

Different classes of polyphenols exhibit different anticancer properties. For example, flavonoids, including quercetin and kaempferol, can inhibit cancer cell growth and induce cancer cell death. Resveratrol suppresses tumor growth, inhibiting metastasis and reducing angiogenesis. And curcumin, derived from turmeric, is multitalented; it’s anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, apoptotic, antiangiogenic — and a bunch of other words that don’t begin with A.

Many forms of polyphenols are also known to influence critical signaling pathways that are integral to the initiation, advancement, and spread of cancer.

And polyphenols aren’t just cancer fighters on their own; they’re also team players. Researchers have found that polyphenol combinations are more powerful than the effects of each one individually. For example, a mixture containing quercetin, curcumin, green tea, Cruciferex (a proprietary blend of polyphenols found in cruciferous vegetables), and resveratrol significantly inhibited the growth of a particular cancer of the head and neck.

Polyphenols and Heart Health

Polyphenols can also protect your heart in a bunch of different ways. They reduce cardiac inflammation and oxidative stress, support cell mitochondria in doing their job properly, and increase survival signaling (the ways cells talk to each other when they encounter a potential threat).

Some polyphenols have also been found to reduce the formation of blood clots, which decreases the risk of heart attacks and strokes. And the flavonoid family of polyphenols promotes the dilation of blood vessels, which helps lower blood pressure and improve blood flow — both of which help with cardiovascular health.

Polyphenols can also improve your cholesterol profile — specifically, lowering LDL and increasing HDL cholesterol levels, thereby reducing the risk of atherosclerosis.

Some polyphenols are not easily absorbed by your small intestine, but it turns out that these polyphenols can be metabolized by the microbes in your gut into compounds that contribute to cardiovascular health.

Impressed by these myriad beneficial mechanisms, some researchers are now studying therapeutic protocols for using polyphenols in medicine to prevent and treat cardiovascular disease.

Polyphenols and Diabetes

One of the most dangerous consequences of diabetes can be vascular disorders, where persistent high blood sugar levels cause damage to blood vessels through inflammation, oxidation, and cell death. Polyphenols can combat all three mechanisms. And scientists are exploring how to use them to modulate the expression of the genes involved in the development of vascular conditions.

Human and animal studies (our views on the use of animals in medical research can be found here) show that polyphenols can lower high blood sugar levels and enhance the body’s ability to secrete insulin quickly and respond to it effectively.

It appears polyphenols accomplish this via several mechanisms. They slow down how quickly your body absorbs sugar from the food you eat. And they encourage your pancreas to produce more insulin in response to carbohydrate consumption. They also regulate how much glycogen the liver releases into your blood in the form of sugar.

If all that wasn’t enough, polyphenols also help insulin receptors work more efficiently and help tissues absorb more sugar than they would otherwise.

Polyphenols also fight diabetes by helping to protect pancreas cells that produce insulin from damage due to high glucose levels. They also promote the growth of these cells and slow down their death.

Polyphenols and Osteoporosis Benefits

As you age, you lose bone mass — that’s natural. But your diet and lifestyle can significantly influence the rate at which that happens. In some people, the process accelerates due to oxidative stress messing with the living tissues in bone: the osteoblasts and osteoclasts that build and break down bone, respectively.

Since polyphenols are such powerful antioxidants, researchers theorized that eating berries (one of the richest food sources of the compounds) could help reduce bone loss due to stress and aging. And they might have been on to something because several studies have now shown that people who eat a lot of berries also have higher bone mass. Since the standard pharmaceutical treatments for osteoporosis have a high rate of serious side effects, there’s a lot to be gained by exploring how eating polyphenol-rich foods can help prevent or slow bone loss.

In addition to oxidative damage, it appears that bone loss can also be caused by inflammation. A 2019 literature review found evidence that polyphenol-containing foods like fruits, vegetables, tea, and soy may combat osteoporosis by reducing inflammation, thus allowing the body’s bone remodeling process to proceed without hindrance.

A 2023 study out of Korea also found concrete evidence for the link between high polyphenol intake and protection from osteoporosis. Researchers gave bone density tests and food intake questionnaires to 4,600 women and followed up with them for an average of five years. They found that the postmenopausal women who reported eating the most phytochemical-rich foods (i.e., those high in polyphenols) had a 16% lower risk of developing osteoporosis than those who ate the least.

Polyphenols and Brain Health

One of your body’s most important functions goes by the strange name autophagy, which literally means “eating oneself.” Instead of visualizing someone chomping on their own arm, however, think of your tissues constantly absorbing and discarding malfunctioning cells, proteins, and other bits and bobs that are no longer doing their jobs. This process in the brain is key in protecting you from neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, MS, ALS, Huntington’s, Alzheimer’s, and other types of dementia.

Research shows that polyphenols support the brain’s clean-up process by removing misfolded proteins. They also reduce brain inflammation and stress, helping protect the brain from damage that can lead to neurodegenerative conditions.

Polyphenols are especially suited to supporting your cognitive health for several reasons. First, unlike many other nutrients, they can easily pass into your brain from your bloodstream (crossing that very finicky blood-brain barrier). Second, they help to remove harmful substances known as reactive oxygen species that can damage your brain cells. Third, they can capture and neutralize certain metal ions, such as copper and iron, that could be harmful to your brain in high concentrations.

But wait — there’s more! Polyphenols have another special brain ability: They can increase the amount of neurotrophic factors in your brain that promote the health and growth of your nerve cells. By attaching themselves to the receptors of these neurotrophic factors on the surface of nerve cells, polyphenols enhance the cells’ abilities to adapt, survive, multiply, and grow. It appears, in fact, that polyphenols can not only protect your brain from degeneration but may even support learning, memory, and other cognitive abilities.

Is There an RDA for Polyphenols?

Given how awesome polyphenols are, you might think that government bodies tasked with setting nutritional standards would have come up with a recommended daily allowance (RDA). But no such standard exists in the US because the compounds aren’t considered “essential” nutrients — that is, there aren’t any diseases specifically caused by a deficit, the way insufficient vitamin C leads to scurvy and not enough B1 inevitably produces beriberi.

Instead, not getting enough polyphenols can shorten a lifespan by making a person more likely to develop one of the chronic diseases mentioned above. For example, a 2013 study found that people who consumed more than 650 milligrams of polyphenols per day had a 30% lower chance of dying in any given year compared with people who got less than 500 milligrams per day.

So instead of a numerical RDA, the quasi-governmental Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine recommends five fruits and/or vegetables a day, which theoretically would give you a significant amount of polyphenols. And if you “eat the rainbow” pretty much every day — that is, consume foods of many different colors (and no, Skittles don’t count) — you’ll also therefore get a wide range of polyphenols.

What Foods Are Rich in Polyphenols?

What Influences Polyphenol Amounts?

Unfortunately, you can’t simply look up a food’s polyphenol content in an online database and know exactly how much you’ll get when you eat that food. And even if you could, there are various factors that can influence how much you actually absorb.

Polyphenol Bioavailability

On the whole, polyphenols tend to have low bioavailability, which means your body can absorb and use only a small percentage of what you swallow.

The exact conversion ratio is based on many factors, including the health and makeup of your gut microflora. Since your microbiome can change on a constant basis, depending on what you feed it, how much of the polyphenols in your food you can actually get into your cells may also vary widely from day to day.

Also, the different polyphenols differ greatly in how bioavailable they are. The most abundant dietary polyphenols typically have lower absorption rates than less common ones.

Food Handling Impact

How plant-based foods are processed, stored, and cooked also strongly influences their polyphenol content.

If you remove the peels and hulls of certain foods, you can lower their polyphenol content. On the other hand, macerating (such as in a blender or food processor) some foods can increase their polyphenol content.

When it comes to food storage, the cold storage of apples, pears, and onions appears to maintain high polyphenol levels. But when cut fruits turn brown, which tends to happen if they are exposed to air, they begin to lose polyphenols.

Many foods lose polyphenol levels with time. For example, in wheat flour, concentrations of polyphenols drop by about 70% after six months. But black tea actually increases its polyphenol content after some oxidation.

Some polyphenol levels also increase with cooking, while others decrease — it depends on the food, the particular polyphenolic compound, and the cooking method. For example, onions and tomatoes lose between 75% and 80% of their initial quercetin content after boiling for 15 min, and 65% after cooking in a microwave oven.

So Should You Take Polyphenol Supplements?

A limited amount of research has indicated that people may possibly see benefits from polyphenol supplements. For example, athletes who were experiencing physiological stress were given polyphenol supplements, and they experienced some benefits in performance and recovery.

But the evidence is a bit murky: Many researchers don’t use pure polyphenols or mixtures, but add in other antioxidants — so it’s hard to know how much of the benefit is coming from the polyphenols, the other active ingredients, or some synergistic interaction of multiple elements.

There’s also not a lot of safety data available about these supplements. And as polyphenol marketing gives these compounds their place in the sun, some manufacturers are taking advantage of their popularity to create mega-dose formulations that have never been tested for safety or efficacy.

Because research on the benefits of polyphenols typically uses amounts much higher than those commonly found in human diets, we just don’t know the levels at which they are safe and beneficial for human consumption.

Some supplements (including those containing polyphenols) could cause liver damage in high doses, and may also block the absorption of nonheme iron, which is an essential nutrient.

Perhaps the best argument against supplementation is that it’s probably completely unnecessary for most people, as polyphenols are abundantly available in a wide variety of fresh and healthful foods.

Plus, just like every other plant-based antioxidant and phytonutrient, polyphenols work better in harmony with other nutrients that naturally occur in food. And when you consume whole plant-based foods, you also get the benefit of fiber and other health-promoting micronutrients.

In general, most people are better off getting their nutrition from food rather than from supplements, and there’s no reason to think that polyphenols are an exception.

Polyphenol Recipes

From bitter to salty, from sweet to tart, polyphenols are in abundance in many of your favorite plant-based foods. These delicious and nourishing polyphenol recipes are a great way to experiment with and incorporate them into your daily meal routine.

1. Banana Tahini Coffee Smoothie

Coffee is a plentiful source of polyphenols as it contains chlorogenic acids, which fight free radicals and prevent oxidative stress damage, making it a potent antioxidant-rich ingredient. Not only does it give you a burst of energy — you get a powerful health boost, too! Together with creamy banana, nutty tahini, nutrient-rich cauliflower, and sweet spices, this Banana Tahini Coffee Smoothie is an easy-peasy and ultra-creamy way to enjoy polyphenols.

2. Apple Walnut Sage Dressing

Apples have an abundance of polyphenols, more specifically anthocyanins, flavanols (catechins), flavonols (quercetin, rutin), chlorogenic and caffeic acids, and dihydrochalcones, which can help to reduce inflammation, support your immune system, and even help with seasonal allergies! We don’t think you’ll need any more convincing, but this creamy Apple Walnut Sage Dressing is an inflammation-fighting, health-promoting, and deliciously sweet and savory sauce that is the perfect polyphenol-rich addition to your favorite summer or fall salad.

3. The Shine Brightly Salad

We love The Shine Brightly Salad for many reasons. And the addition of sweet and juicy blueberries is a major factor! Blueberries are loaded with anthocyanins, resveratrol, and flavonols (quercetin), which are all under the umbrella of polyphenols. You’ll also get a hefty dose of health-promoting spinach, red onion, sunflower seeds, and lemon juice. With so many colorful plant foods combined, you know you’ll be getting a wide variety of phytochemicals, antioxidants, and other polyphenols that will keep your body in tip-top shape — and shining brightly from the inside out!

Eat More Plants to Reap the Benefits of Polyphenols

From fending off cancer and heart disease to supporting healthy blood sugar levels and bone density, polyphenols are like real superheroes of our dietary choices, working tirelessly to safeguard our well-being. These compounds are readily available in a wide array of whole foods.

While some individuals may find benefit from polyphenol supplements, on the whole, the safety and efficacy of high-dose polyphenol supplements remain unclear. So it’s probably best to get your polyphenols from food. And let your plate be a canvas of color and flavor, celebrating the goodness that polyphenols have to offer.

Tell us in the comments:

• What are your favorite foods from each color of the rainbow?
• Are there polyphenol-rich foods that you’d like to add to your diet?
• Which recipe will you try next?

Featured Image: iStock.com/Aiselin82

Read Next:

• What Are Antioxidants? And What Are the Most Antioxidant-Rich Foods?
• Quercetin: Health Benefits, Risks, and Sources Compared

The post Polyphenols: Nature’s Prescription for a Healthier You appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

Henry VIII was wild for sweet potatoes. And I’m sure how they were prepared was a big factor. According to the Library of Congress, his favorite way was in a “spiced sweet potato pie.” But other popular ways of eating sweet potatoes at the time were “roasted and infused with wine, boiled with prunes, or roasted with oil, vinegar, and salt.”

The sweet potato was way more popular in Europe than the white potato, which arrived with Columbus from the Americas and didn’t catch on until the 1800s. And while we’re on the subject, sweet potatoes are not actually potatoes, and in fact, aren’t related botanically. While I would never diss the potato, the sweet potato is slightly healthier, with a broader range of nutrients and a lower glycemic effect.

But sweet potatoes are, well, sweet. And they’re often turned into desserts like Henry VIII’s favorite spiced pies. But they’re also versatile enough to star in many other types of dishes, including savory ones.

So in this article, we’ll look at some of the modern ways to use them in different kinds of recipes — from savory to sweet, simple to sophisticated.

And we’ll cover how to choose, store, and clean sweet potatoes so they’re fresh and tasty when you’re ready to indulge like a king (or queen).

When Are Sweet Potatoes in Season?

While you can find sweet potatoes year-round in many grocery stores (because they can store well for a long time in the right conditions), they’re typically harvested in the fall. Sweet potatoes take from 100 to 150 days to grow, from sowing to harvest. And planting doesn’t occur until the soil warms up to at least 60°F. Sweet potato slips planted in late spring become ready to harvest in July, and those put in the ground in early summer will be ready to dig out around November.

Some varieties can stay in the ground longer, however. Certain types of Japanese sweet potatoes are in season in the winter months as well.

How to Choose and Store Sweet Potatoes

There are many varieties of sweet potatoes, ranging in color from white to yellow to orange to purple. And since the colors of whole plant foods are due to particular nutrients, they can be a big help if you want to “eat the rainbow” to get a wide variety of phytochemicals. (Note: Skittles and M&Ms don’t provide this benefit; in fact, they take advantage of the fact that our brains code “colorful” as “nutritionally complete” to get us to overconsume while we wait for all those supposed nutrients to hit our digestive tracts.)

When shopping for sweet potatoes, look for ones with skins that are intact and mostly the same color. They should also be free of bruises, cracks, or signs of sprouting. (And they should also not be made of plastic, with eyes, ears, noses, and mustaches stuck on them — oh, sorry, that’s Mr. Potato Head.) Plus, give them a gentle squeeze all over, to make sure they’re firm and not squishy (which could indicate rotting).

Once you’ve brought your sweet potatoes home, you can keep them on a kitchen countertop at room temperature — as long as you plan to consume them within a week or two.

If you’d like to store them longer, keep them in a cool, dark space like a cellar or pantry. If the ambient temperature is between 55–60°F (12.5–15.5°C) and the relative humidity is high (around 85–90%), sweet potatoes can last from three to six months.

Once you’ve cut or cooked a sweet potato, it can last from three to five days in the fridge, or up to a month in the freezer.

How to Clean Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are on the EWG’s Clean 15 list, which means they’re among the fifteen plant foods lowest in pesticide residue (although they’re not free of it completely).

The main pesticide used in sweet potato farming is a fungicide found on the skin. This chemical is used to prevent scurf, which isn’t a cross between a neck covering and foam football, but rather a fungal discoloration.

You can significantly lower your exposure to this fungicide by peeling the skin, although you’ll also lose some nutrient concentration. Alternatively, you can soak them in a water and baking soda bath. To avoid mold and rotting due to excess moisture, don’t soak your sweet potatoes until you’re ready to prep and cook them.

Can You Eat Raw Sweet Potatoes?

You can’t eat regular potatoes raw (especially ones with green bits) because they contain a toxic compound called solanine. But sweet potatoes are members of a different family of tubers. They’re related to morning glories, while potatoes go to family reunions with tomatoes, eggplants, and other nightshades. Sweet potatoes and their morning glory relatives do not contain solanine, so they can be eaten raw.

However, sweet potatoes do contain raffinose, which is an oligosaccharide (the O in FODMAPs) that can cause gas, cramps, diarrhea, and nausea. On top of this, the main protein in sweet potatoes, sporamin, inhibits the properties of certain digestive enzymes. This makes it more difficult for some people to digest the proteins found in sweet potatoes, which can also lead to gastrointestinal discomfort.

So while sweet potatoes aren’t toxic and can be eaten raw, they’re easier to digest when cooked. You can also slice them and soak them in water for a few hours. This process removes some of their starch, making them more enjoyable to eat raw and possibly easier to digest.

How to Prepare Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are nothing like Green Eggs and Ham, except for one thing: You can eat them everywhere (and “everywhen,” a word that I bet Dr. Seuss wished he had thought of). Sweet potato dishes are appropriate for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and desserts. You can cook them by boiling, baking, stir-frying, grilling, or cooking and mashing.

They’re also commonly deep-fried to make sweet potato fries, but this isn’t a healthy way to consume them. Deep-frying high-carbohydrate foods leads to the formation of acrylamide, a carcinogen, although the amount formed varies by sweet potato variety and frying method. If you like the crispiness of fries, a healthier method is to bake or air fry them, which will still form some acrylamides, but less than deep-frying in oil.

Ultimately, the best way to prepare sweet potatoes is in ways you’ll enjoy them often. And if you can cook and eat them with their skin on, you’ll help retain more antioxidants.

Sweet potatoes are high in carotenoids, namely beta-carotene, which converts into the active form of vitamin A. Because this is a fat-soluble vitamin, be sure to eat sweet potatoes with a healthy source of fat to help your body absorb as much vitamin A as possible.

How do I love sweet potatoes? Let me list the ways:

• As side dishes baked in strips (fries), mashed, or cubed
• Baked whole and stuffed with toppings
• In casseroles and chilies
• In desserts and baked goods
• Blended into soups
• In a warm salad
• In grain bowls or power bowls
• As part of a sheet pan meal

Sweet Potato Recipes

Now let’s embark on a culinary adventure that celebrates the remarkable versatility of sweet potatoes. Beyond their natural sweetness and vibrant hue lies a world of gastronomic possibilities.

From hearty soups and comforting chilies to innovative salads and tempting desserts, we’ve crafted an array of recipes that will transform your sweet potato experience. Whether you’re a novice in the kitchen or a seasoned chef, these recipes are designed to inspire and delight, proving that sweet potatoes are not just a side dish but a star ingredient in their own right.

So, sharpen your knives, fire up your stovetop, and get ready to discover the endless culinary wonders of sweet potatoes. Let the cooking begin!

1. Smoky Sweet Potato and Lentil Hash

Regular potatoes are tasty and healthy, but adding sweet potatoes to our Smoky Sweet Potato and Lentil Hash takes it to a whole new level! This dish isn’t just comforting and full of flavor; it’s also incredibly nutritious. Imagine starting your day with a hearty bowl of savory sweet potatoes. It’s like a warm hug for your taste buds — and your soul. Plus, sweet potatoes have this magical way of making us feel happy. That’s why we believe this recipe is a fantastic way to celebrate the incredible nutrition that sweet potatoes bring to the table. So go ahead and indulge in this delightful dish anytime. It’s a true mealtime superstar!

2. Sweet and Savory African Peanut Soup

Sweet potatoes add the perfect amount of natural sweetness to this creamy, nutty, and nourishing soup. With an assortment of healing spices, protein-packed chickpeas, leafy green spinach, and lots of peanut butter, this Sweet and Savory African Peanut Soup is a scrumptious treat, hot or cold. The tender cubes of sweet potato also add gorgeous color to the stew, which makes it even more exciting to enjoy. After all, we eat first with our eyes!

3. Sweet Potato, Lentil, and Arugula Salad

Sweet Potato, Lentil, and Arugula Salad is a light and tasty way to enjoy sweet potatoes. And best of all, it’s ready in under 30 minutes! Peppery arugula and earthy lentils are the perfect complement to the smooth texture and natural sweetness of the sweet potato. This salad is the perfect go-to when you have extra sweet potatoes you’d like to use up, or you simply want to enjoy your daily sweet potato fix.

4. Buckwheat Sweet Potato Chili

Sweet potatoes are wonderfully versatile and an excellent addition to many savory (or sweet!) dishes — including this tasty Buckwheat Sweet Potato Chili! This chili is a comforting bowl of deliciousness that is packed with tons of nutrition: protein thanks to the buckwheat and black beans, and plenty of beta-carotene, B6, potassium, fiber, and vitamin C from the sweet potato. Buckwheat and sweet potato are a truly harmonious duo — so much so that you’ll be thinking up new ways to enjoy this delightful pairing again and again!

5. Southwest Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Southwest Stuffed Sweet Potatoes reign supreme when it comes to a fun, filling, and delicious way to enjoy sweet potatoes. These naturally sweet orange beauties are packed with carotenoids and fiber. Plus we can’t forget the protein-packed and phytonutrient-rich black bean and sweet corn medley, delightfully creamy avocado, and flavorful herbs and spices. If you’re striving to center your diet around consuming nutrient-dense foods, this recipe certainly will help get you there!

6. Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Gnocchi just got much sweeter (and nourishing) thanks to the addition of sweet potato. These gnocchi are just as soft and pillowy as their traditional counterparts — with just a little more sweetness. What’s more, the sweet potato makes this gnocchi glow with a bright orange hue that is even more stunning when paired with your favorite green veggies and pasta sauce!

7. Sweet Potato Pie Mousse

Unlock sweet potatoes’ naturally decadent side with this silky Sweet Potato Pie Mousse. Sweet potatoes, dates, and coconut milk come together to make a lightly sweet, whipped mousse with some autumn spice that will make anyone who eats it swoon. Double the recipe to make a scrumptious sweet potato pie filling!

Enjoy Sweet Potatoes Anytime, Anywhere

As one of the oldest cultivated vegetables, sweet potatoes have firmly established their place in culinary tradition. Not only are they a nutritional powerhouse, but they also thrive in various recipes, from savory to sweet, breakfast to dessert.

Knowing when and how to choose, store, and prepare sweet potatoes ensures your full enjoyment of them. And whether enjoyed as a side dish, main course, or incorporated into desserts, sweet potatoes have proven their culinary adaptability. Take time to embrace the versatility and deliciousness of sweet potatoes when crafting your next meal.

Tell us in the comments:

• What’s your favorite way to eat sweet potatoes?

• Do you have any traditional sweet potato dishes in your family history or cultural heritage?

• Which sweet potato recipe will you try next?

iStock.com/Ika Rahma

Read Next:

• Are Sweet Potatoes Good for You? Everything You Need to Know
• Are Potatoes Healthy? The Surprising Truth About This Controversial Vegetable

The post Cooking with Sweet Potatoes: Flavorful Recipes to Try Today appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

Prices for copper rose in the 1970s largely due to the electronics revolution. Copper is a great conductor of electricity. So as the need for wiring and components increased, global demand did, too.

Copper’s properties also make it not just valuable but indispensable for human health. It doesn’t get the same press as other minerals, such as calcium and iron. But it serves many crucial functions in the body.

In this article, we’ll explore why copper is necessary for bodily functions ranging from immune support to antiaging properties to brain protection. We’ll discuss the potential risks of not getting enough copper, and whether that’s a concern (especially for plant-based eaters), as well as the very real dangers of getting too much copper.

What Is Copper?

Copper is an essential trace mineral found in every tissue of your body. Like other minerals, your body doesn’t make its own; you need to get it from food. But compared to many other essential minerals, you don’t need a lot for optimal functioning.

Copper is a very busy do-gooder in your body, lending a hand all over the place. It’s a cofactor (a nonprotein molecule that supports a biochemical reaction) for several enzymes known as cuproenzymes (“kupros” is Greek for copper, so named because the island of Cyprus was famous for its rich copper deposits). These enzymes are involved in the production of energy, neurological signaling, and the making of connective tissue.

Copper helps your body form collagen and assists in iron absorption. It also acts as an antioxidant. The main defense against oxidative stress actually involves copper-based compounds called superoxide dismutases (SODs for short). SODs help convert superoxide radicals into less harmful molecules like oxygen and hydrogen peroxide.

Copper is also involved in the formation of new blood vessels. Plus, it helps balance various neurohormones, regulates gene expression, supports brain development, influences skin pigmentation, and maintains the functioning of the immune system. That’s one busy mineral!

How the Right Amount of Copper Benefits Your Health

Copper is essential for many bodily processes but harmful in both deficiency and excess. (Or as Goldilocks might say, “Not too little and not too much, but just right.”) Maintaining appropriate copper levels is important for overall well-being. And it’s particularly important for the health and functioning of your brain, bones and joints, heart, arteries, skin, and immune system.

Let’s look at some of the ways that researchers study copper in regard to health.

Copper and Heart Health

Proteins containing copper are essential for protecting your cardiovascular system from stroke and the damage it can cause. When the body doesn’t manage copper levels properly, it can lead to heart problems, including enlargement, heart failure, coronary artery disease, and a type of heart disease related to diabetes.

But for most people, too much copper is a more likely problem than not getting enough. A 2015 study compared copper levels in 334 people, some of whom had healthy arterial function and some with varying degrees of atherosclerosis (arterial hardening and blockages). Researchers found higher blood levels of copper in the patients with atherosclerosis. And the more severe the condition, the higher the levels of copper.

Because of the study design, we can’t say whether the high copper levels caused the atherosclerosis or if it was the other way around. (Or, for that matter, if both stem from something else.)

Copper and Brain Health

The right amount of copper is also necessary for brain development and function. Diseases that affect brain copper levels, such as Menkes disease (not enough copper) and Wilson disease (too much copper), affect the functioning of neurotransmitters called catecholamines. They play a role in various brain functions, such as regulating mood, motivation, attention, and stress response. And they’re involved in transmitting signals between neurons and can affect cognition and behavior.

Elevated copper levels may also play a role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Studies have shown high levels of copper can affect the functioning of neurons in important areas of the brain, such as the hippocampus and cerebral cortex. This can lead to problems with memory, critical thinking, and motor skills.

Researchers have also discovered a connection between copper and the formation of amyloid beta plaques, which are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. As copper levels increase, it can speed up the formation of these plaques, contributing to further damage in the brain.

Copper and Bone Health

Too much or too little copper is also a problem for your bones and joints. Copper compounds are important cofactors for an enzyme that makes bone matrix (basically, the stuff that makes up your bones). And nearly two-thirds of the copper in your body is stored in muscles and bones.

In 2014, researchers looked at 50 adults who had severe tooth wear (that means their teeth were worn down, not that their teeth wore high-necked cardigans and ankle-length skirts). They found lower copper levels in their tooth enamel, as well as lower bone mineral density in the spine, which is a predictor of osteoporosis.

A 2018 study measured copper levels in participants’ blood and also looked at several aspects of bone health, including bone mineral density and whether they had fractured any bones. Researchers found that people with lower levels of copper had lower bone mineral density in certain areas of the hip compared to those with slightly higher levels of copper.

They also found that those with very high levels of copper in their blood had a higher risk of experiencing fractures compared to those with slightly lower levels. So again, copper adheres to the Goldilocks principle.

Copper and Skin Health

It’s time to introduce you to a very special substance in your blood: glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine. That’s a mouthful, so we’ll follow the scientists in calling it GHK.

GHK levels are highest when you’re young, around 20 years old, but decrease as you get older. By the time you’re 60 years old, the levels drop significantly.

GHK has a special attraction to copper, and when they come together, they form something called GHK-Cu. GHK-Cu can help rejuvenate your skin by promoting the growth of new skin cells and speeding up the healing process. It has powerful antioxidant properties, which means it helps protect your skin from the sun and other oxidative damage. And it can also reduce inflammation in the skin, which can help prevent and smooth out wrinkles.

Did you know your skin can absorb copper? Studies show that there’s a low risk of adverse reactions from skin absorption of copper. And several placebo-controlled clinical trials have shown that sleeping on pillowcases impregnated with copper oxide can actually reduce the depth of facial wrinkles and improve overall skin health.

A 2020 study took small skin grafts and exposed them to these fabrics. The researchers found that they continuously released copper ions that were absorbed through the skin, which increased the production of some skin proteins, stabilized the dermal layer, and reduced aging and damage.

Copper and the Immune System

Copper is also required for the formation and activity of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell that’s a key component of the immune system. Their main role is to defend the body against infections caused by bacteria and fungi.

But there’s a downside to copper’s ability to support immunity: There’s an association between excess copper levels and increased immunity of cancerous tumors to treatment. So how difficult is it to get the right amount of copper for good health?

How Much Copper Do You Need?

Since copper is a trace nutrient, only a small amount is necessary daily. And only a small amount is stored in the body. Whereas iron or calcium requirements are in milligrams per day (mg/day), copper needs are in micrograms per day (mcg/day). A microgram is one-millionth of a gram, which is a very, very tiny amount indeed.

The following are the United State’s RDAs (Recommended Daily Allowances) for copper at different stages of life.

So those are the recommended minimum levels. What about maximums? Officially, the upper limit of copper for adults is 10,000 mcg per day. But it may also be the case that the official maximum levels should be lower. As many scientists are fond of saying, “More research is needed.”

Dietary Copper Sources

Copper is in a variety of foods. And the foods highest in copper are animal-derived products such as organ meats, oysters and other seafood, poultry, and red meat. Meat products are the only foods that will put you anywhere near the upper limit of 10,000 mcg per day. For example, three ounces of pan-seared beef liver has over 12,000 mcg of copper.

But you don’t have to eat animal products to meet your RDA of copper. Many plant-based foods are good sources of copper, too.

Here are some of the top plant-based sources of copper:

Copper Deficiency

If clinical copper deficiency is present, symptoms can include anemia (not enough red blood cells and/or not enough hemoglobin in the blood), bone and connective tissue abnormalities, and neurological problems.

But since so many foods contain copper, deficiency is generally less about intake and more frequently due to intestinal problems (such as Celiac disease) or genetic conditions. Maintaining adequate copper levels in the body is mostly dependent on absorption from the intestines. As a result, copper deficiency is relatively uncommon among the general population.

Your body also has the ability to modulate its copper absorption rate based on availability. It generally increases the absorption rate if your diet contains less copper.

However, copper levels are not typically assessed in routine testing as there isn’t a reliable biomarker for copper status. Blood levels of copper and ceruloplasmin (CP) concentrations are sometimes used in people with a known deficiency (such as with Menkes disease). But factors such as infection, pregnancy, and even some cancers can affect the accuracy of these levels.

Zinc Supplementation and Copper

However, there’s a cause of copper deficiency that is in your control and has been seen more frequently since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic: zinc supplementation. Zinc was one of many dietary supplements recommended during the height of the pandemic as a means to bolster immune defense.

While zinc can help prevent and fight infections, there is the issue of too much of a good thing. Excessive zinc intake (more than 50 mg a day) has been shown to interfere with the body’s absorption of available copper. As a result, copper levels in the body can drop to dangerous levels and cause symptoms of deficiency.

High doses of vitamin C (over 1,500 mg a day) or supplemental iron may also induce copper deficiency by competing with copper for absorption in the intestine. This is one reason to be cautious about taking large amounts of supplements on an ongoing basis.

Copper Toxicity

There are also a few ways to have dangerously high levels of copper in your body. That condition is most frequently associated with Wilson disease, a rare inborn error of metabolism that starts by overloading the liver with copper, and then moves on to the brain and other tissues.

People can also get acute copper poisoning from drinking beverages stored in copper-containing containers, as well as from contaminated water supplies. The US Environmental Protection Agency has set upper limits on copper in drinking water at 1.3 milligrams per liter, while the World Health Organization is okay with the slightly more lenient 2 milligrams per liter.

Copper can enter your drinking water through corroded copper pipes, so if you live in an old house or have well water, you may want to get your water tested.

Excessive amounts of copper can cause abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea in the short term. Long-term copper overexposure can cause liver damage and kidney failure.

You can also get copper poisoning by cooking food, especially acidic food like tomato sauce, in uncoated copper cookware. (Many chefs love this cookware because copper is an excellent conductor of heat.) The good news is, most copper cookware is lined with a nonreactive metal, such as nickel, tin, or stainless steel. As long as you take care of the lining by cleaning it with nonabrasive materials, and stop using it if the lining starts to crack or flake, copper cookware can be perfectly safe.

Toxicity from Copper Supplementation

Another cause of copper toxicity is taking copper-containing supplements. Some of the most commonly found multivitamins contain copper. And some even contain over double the RDA for copper. But copper supplementation is not generally recommended.

Health care professionals like Dr. Neal Barnard actually advise against the inclusion of both iron and copper in multivitamins. Too much of either can negatively impact brain health, possibly even contributing to the development of neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. One 2022 study based on the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) cohort found that “Copper intake from supplements was associated with greater 20-year decline in global cognition overall.”

However, the amount of copper in multivitamins and other supplements isn’t the only reason there’s a risk of toxicity. It’s also because the average copper intake among US adults already exceeds the recommended amounts. With so many foods providing an abundance of copper, especially animal products that are commonly consumed as part of the modern industrialized diet, there’s no need for added copper supplementation.

In fact, getting copper from animal products may be just as bad or even worse than getting it from supplements. That same 2022 study found that dietary copper, especially when consumed with saturated fat, increased the risk of incident dementia. And since plant-based foods have lower copper bioavailability and saturated fat, there’s no known neurodegenerative effects (and less risk of copper toxicity).

Copper-Rich (But Not Copper-Excessive) Plant-Based Recipes

Goldilocks would be happy with these tasty (and simple to prepare) plant-based recipes. From savory breakfast wraps to naturally sweet chocolate chip muffins, meeting your copper needs (without risking exceeding them) on a plant-based diet can be easy (and delicious)!

1. Tofu Scramble Breakfast Wrap

Tofu Scramble Breakfast Wrap is a delicious morning meal that not only satisfies your taste buds but also prioritizes your nutritional well-being. You’ll get your daily copper needs met from the tofu, spinach, and avocado in this wrap. Plus, you also get the added benefits of fiber, plant-based protein, healthy fats, and plenty of other essential nutrients. This wrap is a hearty and savory way to start your day the plant-based way!

2. Green Goodness Sandwich

Green Goodness Sandwich practically overflows with fresh, colorful, and nutrient-rich veggies. The green veggies — leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, and avocados — are all great sources of plant-based copper. And this sandwich is also piled high with other colors (which means lots of phytochemicals!) — from red tomatoes to purple onion to orange turmeric to white seeds. This nourishing meal is bursting with so much wholesome goodness, you may want to add it to your regular recipe rotation.

3. Banana Chocolate Chip Millet Muffins

Dark chocolate and millet are the copper-rich, plant-based stars of these Banana Chocolate Chip Millet Muffins. Whether you enjoy the muffins as a wholesome breakfast or an afternoon pick-me-up, you can take pleasure in knowing that you’re getting the nutrients your body needs. Indulge in the delightful flavor and nutritional benefits of Banana Chocolate Chip Millet Muffins — because a little copper can go a long way toward a healthier you!

Getting the Right Amount of Copper is Key

Although it doesn’t get the same attention as many other nutrients, copper is essential to health and vitality. It works as an antioxidant — combatting oxidative stress throughout your body. And it has research-backed benefits for your heart, brain, bones, skin, and immune system.

But too much copper can be a problem, and this may be more of a concern for people who eat large amounts of animal products that are especially high in it, take supplements with copper, or whose drinking water is contaminated with copper from pipes. The good news is that it seems most people who eat a plant-based diet will do just fine with their copper consumption. And that should please Goldilocks very much.

Tell us in the comments:

• Penny for your thoughts! What did you find surprising about copper and nutrition in this article?

• What’s your favorite copper-containing plant-based food?

• Which recipe will you try next?

Featured Image: iStock.com/ratmaner

Read Next:

• Zinc: Benefits, Risks, & How Much You Need

The post Dietary Copper: How Much Copper Should You Get and the Best Sources of Copper appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

In the United States, the Animal Welfare Act is intended to protect animals from cruelty. However, it specifically excludes “farm animals used for food, fiber, or production purposes.” Unlike dogs, cats, and hamsters, the law treats farm animals as unprotected commodities. The fact that they are, like all animals (including humans), capable of a broad spectrum of emotions, including affection for other beings, is considered essentially irrelevant.

But just outside Los Angeles, there exists an oasis of compassion and hope for farm animals. Founded by Ellie Laks in 1999, The Gentle Barn stands as a resolute response to the way society tends to treat animals in the modern industrialized food system.

The Gentle Barn is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of abused and neglected animals, especially farm animals. The organization is based in Santa Clarita, California, and they have two additional locations in Nashville, Tennessee, and St. Louis, Missouri.

In addition to giving animals a safe and loving home, The Gentle Barn offers educational programs and therapy to help children and adults heal from trauma. Individuals can participate in cow therapy, horse therapy, or barnyard therapy (with pigs, sheep, and other smaller farm animals). And The Gentle Barn also offers private tours for groups of up to 30 people, as well as field trips for schools.

Open to the public every Sunday, The Gentle Barn welcomes nearly 750,000 visitors per year.

We sat down with founder Ellie Laks to find out what makes The Gentle Barn such a draw for so many, and how they’re working towards a more healthy, ethical, and sustainable world for all (farm animals included!).

How The Gentle Barn Got Started

FRN: Could you tell me a little bit about how The Gentle Barn got started and what kind of work you do here?

Ellie Laks: The Gentle Barn was a dream of mine since I was seven. I loved animals and noticed that the people around me didn’t see them the same way that I did. And so I kept saying, “When I grow up, I’m going to have a big place full of animals, and I’m going to show the world how beautiful they are. And all the hurting people of the world can come and heal with us.”

So I procrastinated for a really long time because I had no idea how to do it. And then, 25 years ago, I lived in a little house with a half-acre backyard, and I discovered a petting zoo I’d never seen before. And to make a long story short, the animals were suffering terribly. I tried to leave, and blocking the exit was a very old goat who looked me in the eyes, stopped me in my tracks, and asked me for help.

So they wouldn’t let me have her. I stayed there for 12 days. Finally, they let me have her; and I brought her home, fixed her, and realized how rewarding that was. I went back for more animals. And then, one day, I looked out my little picture window to a backyard that was full of animals and said, “Holy crap. I just started my dream.”

We’re now home to horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys, peacocks, llamas, emus, and dogs. And we’ve specifically taken animals that have nowhere else to go because they’re too old, too sick, too lame, or too scared. They’re just not adoptable. We bring them in and take them through a very extensive recovery program.

And then once they’re happy and healthy, if we can find them a home and family of their own, we do. If not, then they stay here for the rest of their lives. And then, when they’re ready, we partner with them to heal people with the same stories of trauma, and connect to the love and magic of animals.

Rescuing Animals from the Jaws of Death

FRN: Do you rescue specifically from factory farms? What kind of state are they in when you get them?

Ellie Laks: Yeah, absolutely. So one of the brilliant things that my partner and cofounder of The Gentle Barn, Jay, does, is he strikes up really good relationships with owners of slaughterhouses, stockyards, and auction houses. And so when they have a downed animal that they can’t produce into a profit, or when they have an animal born on the kill floor, instead of doing away with it, they call us and give us an opportunity to save them.

So Jay has gone around the country going into the darkest places on this earth, pulling animals out of the jaws of death, bringing them home to me to heal. He’s rescued cows from veal crates, every kind of animal from the slaughterhouse, gone into auction houses and been able to prevent the slaughter trucks from buying those animals.

When they come in, they’re all very sick, and they’re all very scared — that’s a given. They’ve seen the worst of humanity. They know what was about to happen to them, and they’re in shock. And so we have to go to great lengths to really show them that people can be kind and the world can be good.

Sometimes we can prove that to them in a few months. Sometimes it takes years. And still other times, the only time I touch or embrace these animals is on their deathbeds. And I can finally show them love. We’ve rescued so many animals in that way.

John Lewis the Cow

Ellie Laks: My favorite story is about the cow I got to raise in my house. He was born inside the slaughterhouse. And we have an arrangement with the owner of the slaughterhouse that when someone’s born there, he’ll allow us to have the baby and the mom because the chance of a baby’s survival without the mom is very bleak.

But in this scenario, there was a logistical reason and a health reason why they wouldn’t let us have the mom. And even though she was on death’s door, they processed her anyway, which really should tell people who they’re eating.

There is no difference between any of the species other than our perspective of them.

Ellie Laks, Founder of The Gentle Barn

So he was left orphaned and extremely sick with pneumonia at a week old. And we brought him into The Gentle Barn and brought him into our healing center, where we started the recovery process with great vet care, medication — the whole nine yards.

And we realized that it was so hot outside that we couldn’t lower his temperature in order to save his life. And so Jay and I looked at each other and said, “We got to bring him in the house into the air conditioning.”

So we brought him into the house. I was with him 24/7 for the first six months until he was finally cleared to start interacting with the other cows and having playdates with them.

And then, at nine months old, I came to pick him up after a playdate, and he said, “No, I don’t want to go. I want to stay with the cows.” So he moved in with the cows, and I cried all the way back up to the house.

I think the reason this is my favorite story is, number one, I had a cow in my house. I’m the luckiest person in the world.

Number two, it’s really easy to go, “Oh, well, but it’s a cow; it’s not a dog.” Or, “It’s a pig, not a cat.” And there are all these boxes that people like to put animals in: These are animals worthy of love, affection, and protection. These are animals that we eat; these are animals that we wear. These are wild animals that we don’t understand and that are dangerous. We have all these boxes, and it’s just not true.

And so what I love about the time I got to spend with John Lewis [the cow] in our house is it really once and for all proved there is no difference between any of the species other than our perspective of them. We’re judging them as different, so they show up differently.

But the minute you see a cow like a dog, he’s a dog. John Lewis, to this day… He’s now three years old. I still give him a bottle of warm water and some chlorella algae superfood in the morning to boost his immune system. And I sing him his morning songs. And I kiss him all over, and we spend time together.

But he comes to me when I call his name. He walks on a leash like a dog. We’ve even taken him to hiking trails. He slept on a dog bed. He had toys. It really broke those barriers once and for all. And so I love sharing John Lewis and his story with people — because if we could just erase those lines and just accept that we’re all the same, we just look different, what a world this could be.

The Recovery Process at The Gentle Barn

FRN: Wow. So what do some of the recovery processes look like? Is it the same for every animal?

Ellie Laks: More or less. The general protocol is that animals come in and do a 30-day quarantine with us, during which time we’re making sure that they’re not sick, so they don’t bring in a disease to our existing family. But we’re also reading to them, meditating with them, singing to them, playing musical instruments for them, coming and going so that they can get used to us and start to trust us.

At the same time, we’re collecting fecal samples, making sure they don’t have parasites, and putting nutritional supplements in their water to boost their immune systems.

And most of the time, for the first time in their lives, they have a soft bed; they have shelter; they have fresh food, clean water, kind humans; and they start recovering physically and emotionally — slowly.

When their quarantine is over in 30 days, the next step is to introduce them to other animals of their kind. And with some animals like horses, pigs, chickens, and goats, the process is very slow because the animals’ first instinct is to reject newcomers. But slowly they get used to each other, and they become family.

With cows, that process is very quick. Because we can put a new cow in anywhere, anytime, at any of our locations, and the other cows are like, “Oh, hi. Come on in.”

But once they’re acclimated to other animals of their kind, then we need to see what is left over. So they might still be sick or lame or old. They might still have trust issues with people. And so we continue their recovery, their rehabilitation, and their treatments until they don’t need it anymore. Some animals that come in need ongoing care for the rest of their lives.

Adopting Out Animals

FRN: So the ones that are adopted out, where do they go? Do they go to other sanctuaries or individual people, or what does that look like?

Ellie Laks: Yeah. Every once in a while there’ll be somebody who has a ranch or a farm or a giant backyard, and they’ll invite a farm animal to live with them. And we’ve adopted out turkeys, chickens, goats, sheep, horses, and dogs. The only animal that we’ve never adopted out is a cow. I’ve never had a person say, “Can I please have a cow?” Which is weird because I think everyone should have a cow. They’re the most misunderstood and the most magical animal.

[The animals] all have healing for us. They all have life lessons for us. Like practicing confidence and leadership skills with a horse is unparalleled. Practicing empathy and compassion with smaller animals that we’re cradling in our arms is unparalleled.

But I think, as a tribe, cows are everything that we’re supposed to be. They’re matriarchal; they’re vegan. They meditate every single day. Family and connection is the most important thing. So they really lift each other up and support each other. They celebrate life. They celebrate death. They face their challenges head-on, and they’re 100% inclusive.

They’re a beautiful community, and they’re very, very gentle on Mother Earth. They harm no one. They’re that feminine, beautiful, nurturing energy. They’re everything that we will be one day. I have to hope.

Saving Buddha the Cow

FRN: Yeah. How did you discover that the cows were able to give that to you, and how did the cow therapy evolve?

Ellie Laks: So when I started The Gentle Barn, I found out that there was a miniature cow breeding program up in Washington State. I called the guy, and he explained, “Oh, miniature cows are easy to raise and easy to kill, and you can have household food for a year or take their milk.”

So half of me was sorry I asked. But then he started talking about how gentle and kind they are. And he had a beautiful cow, and his grandkids raised her, and she was so sweet. But, unfortunately, she couldn’t get pregnant and earn her keep, so she was going to slaughter.

By the time I had hung up with him, I knew that this cow was coming home to me. So I asked him, “Can I have her?” He was like, “Well, you’re going to have to pay what I would get for her.” And I was like, “Hold off on her slaughter. Give me time.”

And this was very early on at The Gentle Barn, where I really didn’t know how to raise money. So I literally put my son on my hip, my year-old son, and I went door-to-door to my neighbors. And I told them what was happening and how I wanted to save her, and asked if they would chip in. And I thought for sure they were going to slam the door in my face, but they didn’t. And they wrote checks. And I raised the money to save her.

FRN: That’s amazing.

Ellie Laks: I know. It’s crazy. And I knew she [Buddha] was special right off the bat; because that very first open-to-the-public Sunday, she immersed herself right into the center of a big crowd of people, lay down, and invited them to hug her, brush her, and pet her. And I watched with my jaw dropped.

The Evolution of Cow Hug Therapy

Ellie Laks: So then my ritual, then and still now, is every single night before I go to bed, I go out to the barnyard. I make sure all the chickens and turkeys are safely on their roosts. I tuck the pigs in with blankets. I give treats to the goats, sheep, horses, and cows. And I make sure everyone’s safe and feeling good before I go to bed.

So on this particular night, I think it was the day after that Sunday, I went out to do my barnyard check. And I said goodnight to everybody. And everybody was in the barn, all roosted and stuff. And I was walking back through the yard, back to the house. She was lying down in the yard, the last animal that I went to say goodnight to. And I was going to pat her on the head and tell her that I love her, but something made me stop. There was something about the way she shifted her body. She was like, “Sit with me.”

So I sat down at her shoulder; I leaned against her body because she’s giant and cuddly and fuzzy. And the next thing she did changed my life. She wrapped her neck around me and held me, and she didn’t let go.

And I was so astounded by her love of me, by her nurturing of me, by that gesture of kindness and connection, that I started weeping into her shoulder. It’s one of those things where you don’t know you’re stressed out, but then all of a sudden you realize how stressed out you are.

And so those nightly hugs became a must, and she would help me wash away the day. She would help me have strength and hope for the next day. She would help me get out of my head and my to-do list and be more centered and grounded.

And early on in those hugs, I remember thinking, “I have got to find a way to give the world these hugs.” So part of the original design was that we would rescue animals and then partner with them when they’re ready to heal hurting people.

So I opened the phone book, and I started calling probation camps, drug and alcohol rehab centers, domestic violence shelters, foster agencies, homeless shelters, war veteran centers, and said, “Look, I know that you have people who are hurting. I know that some of those people are not responding to traditional therapy. Bring them to me.” And they did.

And we would always start with Buddha by putting their faces down on her side and closing their eyes and just breathing in and out and feeling her energy — and she would crack them wide open.

They came cold, defensive, and hardened by life, and she melted them into little kids. And she helped them become vulnerable. And it’s only in vulnerability that you can heal. And then they would go back to their therapy sessions; and all of a sudden they’re talking, and they’re relating, and they’re healing. And during her lifetime, Buddha gave out 300,000 hugs.

She taught me everything I know. She taught me to meditate. She taught me to be grounded and centered. She taught me what these animals are capable of — the healing that they’re capable of. She showed me how to connect these hurting humans with these hurting animals, and I owe her everything.

And so she is the creator of Cow Hug Therapy, and she’s the reason why we do Cow Hug Therapy for people now.

Becoming Vegan

FRN: Wow. So our site mostly deals with plant-based eating, nutrition, and health. So I was just curious — because plant-based eating is becoming more popular and more mainstream — have you seen any change in the support of what you do or the number of visitors because people are more interested in where their food comes from, or the impact of factory farming on animals, or just plant-based eating in general?

Ellie Laks: Yes. I have a lot to say about that.

I became a vegetarian when I was 11. I met a chicken. I realized that was chicken and rice. And I was done.

Volunteers were coming to check The Gentle Barn out, and somebody said, “Are you vegan?” And I said, “No, I’m American.” And he said, “No, I mean, do you eat animals?” And I was like, “Oh, no. I went vegetarian when I was 11.” He said, “Yeah, but what about dairy and eggs?” And I said, “Well, it doesn’t hurt anybody.” He told me the truth. I went vegan on the spot. That was 24 years ago. I’ve been vegan ever since.

I became a vegetarian when I was 11. I met a chicken. I realized that was chicken and rice. And I was done.

Ellie Laks, Founder of The Gentle Barn

But it’s funny because, in the beginning of The Gentle Barn, I didn’t really know the word vegan, which is so silly to think of now. The word vegan was not mainstream, and the word vegan was almost a dirty word. And so we grappled with how we present it. How do we talk about it? How do we make sure that we’re not threatening to people? Because The Gentle Barn is not just gentle to animals. It’s gentle to people.

So we wanted people to come in and look these animals in the eyes, hug them, hold them, cuddle with them, hear their stories of resilience, and realize that we’re just basically all the same. But we didn’t want to offend anybody. We want it to be a gentle experience. So we were like, “God, can we even say the word vegan without upsetting people?”

Now, 24 years later, vegan is mainstream. Do you even realize how many vegan options there are at Disneyland? All stores, all major chains, most fast-food restaurants… You can go anywhere. Nowadays, small town, big town, it doesn’t matter. You literally can go anywhere and say, “What’s vegan on your menu?” And the waiter will have some modicum of awareness of how to guide you. It’s incredible.

Plus, 24 years ago, when I opened The Gentle Barn, plant-based eaters were 0.5% of the population. We are now at 7%. Huge progress.

Facing Grief as an Animal Sanctuary

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FRN: Have you faced any challenges or obstacles with your rescue efforts?

Ellie Laks: Huge. Nobody does anything good unless you have a lot of challenges. So I started The Gentle Barn, like I told you, in my little half-acre backyard using my first husband’s paychecks. My first husband was not amused and soon left.

In came Jay as a volunteer, and later we fell in love and joined forces. But during those early years, moving from that half-acre to where we are now and growing into a national organization, there were a lot of financial challenges.

The other challenge for a sanctuary is dealing with the level of loss. Obviously, humans tend to have a longer lifespan than animals. So those of us who love animals tend to have to say goodbye at some point. At The Gentle Barn, with 200 animals — and over the last 24 years, we’ve rescued thousands — we have loved so many, and we have said goodbye more times than I could possibly calculate.

And so there was a time early on in The Gentle Barn when I was so brought down to the ground with my grief that I said, “I made a mistake. I can’t do this. I’m not strong enough. This is going to destroy me.” And I had to figure out how to stay with it and how to survive and have me not go down with the ship.

And so I had to really examine compassion fatigue, grief, and loss. And that’s a very large part of what I talk about in my [next] book, Cow Hug Therapy, about what the animals taught me about death, how they grieve, and how life and love are eternal.

And so that process from grief to gratitude, I had to work out.

How You Can Support The Gentle Barn

FRN: I think when I first heard about you guys, you were doing a fundraiser. I am just curious: Besides the visits and the fundraising, how else can people support you?

Ellie Laks: There is so much more that goes into taking care of farm animals other than hay, water, and shelter. There’s preparing for fire season every year and having the trailers and the trucks be able to evacuate. In this changing climate, we’re much hotter than we used to be: How do we keep them cool? We’re much colder than we used to be: How do we keep them warm?

I think the first thing that I would say in answer to your question is there are so many people who love animals, but very few of us can open our own sanctuaries. We need people to partner with us. We need people to fund our endeavors and to become our partners so that we’re rescuing animals together. Because they can’t do it without us, but we can’t do it without them.

The other thing that I would invite people to do is to follow us on social media. We’re on all social media platforms: The Gentle Barn on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter/X. See these beautiful videos and stories of the animals and their recovery and what they teach us, and learn about being connected to animals. It’s beautiful.

And if you live close enough, find a Gentle Barn either in St. Louis, Nashville, or Los Angeles; and come and visit and hug a cow, hold a chicken, cuddle a turkey, and give a pig a tummy rub. And look in the eyes of these magical animals, and realize that we’re here to protect them, defend them, love them, and listen to them.

And then the last thing that I want to mention is the biggest way you can help is by adopting a plant-based diet.

Every single person who goes plant-based saves 200 animals a year. So in effect, by going vegan, they are opening a sanctuary; because they’re saving 200 animals just with their knife and fork. Modeling that for others, being part of the solution, being part of gentleness and nonviolence.

—–

Ellie Laks is the founder of The Gentle Barn Foundation, a national organization that rescues and rehabilitates unwanted animals and heals people with the same stories of abuse and neglect. She invented her own “Gentle Healing” method that allows old, sick, injured, and terrified animals to fully recover. She is the creator of Cow Hug Therapy and has hosted hundreds of thousands of people who have come to The Gentle Barn seeking healing and hope.

Ellie is a powerful speaker, celebrated animal welfare advocate, humane educator, animal communicator, and the author of My Gentle Barn: Creating a Sanctuary Where Animals Heal and Children Learn to Hope and the upcoming Cow Hug Therapy: How the Animals at The Gentle Barn Taught Me about Life, Death, and Everything in Between.

Tell us in the comments:

• Has an animal ever taught you something about life or yourself?
• Were you aware of The Gentle Barn before reading this interview?
• What other animal sanctuaries or animal welfare organizations should we know about?

Read Next:

• Unhealthy Conditions for Farm Animals are — No Surprise — Bad for Humans, Too
• What You Eat Can Impact Climate Change! See 9 Foods That Harm the Planet and 11 Foods That Can Help Save It

The post Changing Lives Through Compassion: The Gentle Barn’s Extraordinary Mission for Animals and Humans appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

In this article, we’ll embark on a journey to demystify the realm of antioxidants, delving into what they are, the types of antioxidants, and why they’re essential for our well-being.

Join us as we uncover the vibrant world of antioxidants and unveil the top foods and beverages that deliver a potent dose of these health-enhancing compounds.

Oxidation and Free Radicals

“Antioxidant” is a scientific term that literally means “substance that inhibits oxidization.” So in order to understand antioxidants, it helps to first understand oxidation and what happens during this process.

Oxidation happens naturally as your cells process the oxygen you breathe and convert it into energy. During this process, electrons pass along a series of molecules in something called cellular respiration. However, some electrons break free and become unpaired, damaging cells and DNA in their search for other electrons.

Molecules with one or more electrons are called free radicals.

Some free radicals form during natural processes like inflammation from an acute injury. But others develop in response to external factors like fried foods, alcohol, tobacco smoke, pesticides, pollutants in the air, and eating an unhealthy diet.

While free radicals aren’t inherently bad (your body uses them for certain processes, like fighting off problematic bacteria), they are highly unstable and can cause damage to your DNA, proteins, and cell membranes. The key is to have a balance — enough free radicals for their useful functions but not so many as to cause damage. When there are too many free radicals, they overwhelm the body’s natural repair processes and cause health problems.

Oxidative Stress and Antioxidants

A buildup of too many free radicals in the body is known as oxidative stress.

Oxidative stress is thought to be a leading cause of age-related and non-age-related deterioration and disease, including memory loss, the breakdown of organs, autoimmune disorders, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and even wrinkles.

And that’s where antioxidants come into play. They are the good guys in the fight against excessive free radicals and subsequent oxidative stress. Antioxidants neutralize free radicals from oxidation by giving them the electrons they need to stabilize.

This is not just a one-and-done situation, however. Every day, your body is creating free radicals. So you need to consume antioxidants daily in order to keep your cells healthy and in balance. Without antioxidants, free radicals would build up and create significant oxidative stress, putting you at higher risk for a number of chronic diseases and other health issues. This is called oxidative debt.

What’s the Solution to Oxidative Debt?

It’s estimated that we need between 8,000 and 11,000 antioxidant units per day to avoid a deficit. But the average American doesn’t even get half the minimum recommended amount of antioxidants.

This deficiency may be part of the reason why oxidative stress-related diseases, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer, are so prevalent in industrialized countries.

The solution? We need to consume more antioxidants.

What Are the Different Kinds of Antioxidants?

There are thousands of substances that act as antioxidants in the body. However, not all antioxidants are interchangeable or operate exactly the same way. Some antioxidants excel at fighting certain types of reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as free radicals, while others are effective only in specific parts of your cells.

Your body naturally produces some antioxidants, but most of them have to come from your diet.

While most foods contain some antioxidants, plant foods are the primary source. On average, plant-based foods contain 64 times more antioxidants than animal-based foods.

So what are the most important antioxidants to pay attention to?

Vitamin E

While there are eight forms of fat-soluble vitamin E, α-tocopherol is the most bioactive form of this antioxidant in humans. Vitamin E supports cardiovascular health and immune function, and is good for your eyes, skin, and brain. But it’s necessary to get it from food rather than supplements to reap its benefits. Top food sources include nuts, seeds, avocado, bell peppers, and mango.

For more on vitamin E, including the best sources, see our article, here.

Vitamin C

This crucial water-soluble antioxidant has actually been shown to regenerate other antioxidants. While it’s best known for preventing scurvy and maybe the common cold, vitamin C is also necessary for collagen production and can protect your skin from the sun. Top food sources include citrus fruits, bell peppers, broccoli, papaya, and brussels sprouts.

To find out more about the benefits of vitamin C, see our article, here.

Vitamin A

Technically, vitamin A is a group of compounds known as fat-soluble retinoids, rather than a single vitamin. Together, these compounds make up vitamin A, which is an important antioxidant for eye health specifically, as well as immune support and reproductive health. There are both active forms and precursors available in food, the former mainly being in animal products while the latter are found in plants.

Plant-based vitamin A compounds are called carotenoids and include beta-carotene and lycopene, as well as lutein and zeaxanthin. While not all of these carotenoids convert to vitamin A, they are all important antioxidants for good health.

For more on vitamin A and carotenoids, see our article, here.

• Beta-carotene — This red/orange plant pigment combines with other elements to form vitamin A in your body. Top food sources include carrots, sweet potatoes, winter squash, spinach, kale, cantaloupe, and apricots.
• Lycopene — This fat-soluble antioxidant can mostly be found in red- and pink-hued foods. The most famous source is tomatoes, but it’s also found in watermelon, pink grapefruit, pink guava, papaya, and goji berries.
• Lutein and Zeaxanthin — These carotenoids are vital for good vision and work together to protect your eyes from oxidative stress. Top sources of lutein and zeaxanthin are cantaloupe, corn, carrots, and red and yellow bell peppers.

Selenium

This important antioxidant is actually a mineral and originates in soil, where it’s soaked up by growing plants. Selenium is crucial for reproductive hormones as well as thyroid health. Top food sources include Brazil nuts, brown rice, mushrooms, oatmeal, and spinach.

Zinc

The mineral zinc can work as an antioxidant in the body. However, it also works synergistically with other antioxidants to increase their impact. Zinc is essential for DNA protection, wound healing, and the health and functioning of your immune system. For some people, leading sources of zinc are seafood like oysters, crab, and lobster. But good plant-based sources include nuts, seeds, whole grains, and legumes.

For more on the benefits and risks of zinc, and how much you need, see our article, here.

Polyphenols

Polyphenols are a category of pigments, of which the largest group is called flavonoids. They include subgroups like flavones (luteolin and apigenin), anthocyanidins (malvidin, pelargonidin, peonidin, and cyanidin), flavanones (hesperetin, eriodictyol, and naringenin), and isoflavones (genistein, glycitein, and daidzein). Best known for their disease-protective effects, polyphenols can be found in many different types of plant foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes. Coffee, tea, and dark chocolate are also popular sources of polyphenols.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

These polyunsaturated fatty acids come in three main forms: eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). Some plant foods have ALA, but EPA and DHA are found mainly in fish, certain sea vegetables, and algae. The human body can convert ALA to EPA and DHA, though the efficiency of conversion varies from person to person.

Some people are efficient converters and may do just fine if they eat plenty of ALA. Others benefit from a direct form of DHA and EPA — whether from fish, fish oil, or from an algae-based supplement. Popular foods highest in ALA are flax seeds and chia seeds, with moderate amounts in hemp seeds and walnuts.

Omega-3s are beneficial for brain and heart health along with possessing anti-inflammatory and immune-supporting qualities.

For more on omega-3 fatty acids, including the best sources and how much you need, see our article, here.

Are Antioxidant Supplements Worthwhile?

Many antioxidants are available as highly concentrated supplements. So how does that compare to eating them in food directly?

In a 2004 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers put some participants on a fruit- and vegetable-heavy diet while giving others a supplement containing the same antioxidant nutrients.

The study leaders concluded that dietary intervention was better than the supplements at combating oxidative stress.

Foods contain a variety of antioxidants that work synergistically, so they tend to be more effective than supplements, which offer nutrients in isolation.

In fact, the majority of studies on antioxidant supplements have concluded that they provide few, if any, significant health benefits.

Risks of Antioxidant Supplements

While I’m not aware of any research that shows problems ensuing from overconsumption of antioxidants from food, it does seem that some antioxidants can be harmful when taken excessively in supplement form. For example:

• Beta-carotene: A 1996 study published in The FASEB Journal found that beta-carotene supplements may actually increase lung cancer incidence in smokers. This conclusion was also confirmed again in a 2019 randomized, double-blind trial among Finnish men.
• Vitamin E: A 2005 meta-analysis published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine found that taking a daily dose of 200 IU of vitamin E per day did not raise the risk of death and had possible health benefits. However, the researchers found that for those taking daily doses of 400 IU or more, the risk of death was about 10% higher than among those taking placebos.
• Selenium: High levels of selenium supplementation have been linked to type 2 diabetes, high triglycerides, prostate cancer, heart disease, and issues with immune and thyroid function.

Top Antioxidant-Rich Foods

In a 2010 study published in Nutrition Journal, researchers measured the antioxidant concentration of more than 3,100 foods, including everything from nuts and seeds to breakfast cereals and grilled chicken.

Their conclusion? “Antioxidant-rich foods originate from the plant kingdom while meat, fish, and other foods from the animal kingdom are low in antioxidants.”

Here are 12 of the top antioxidant-rich foods and spices; and remember, it’s important to eat organic as much as possible because pesticides can also create free radicals in our bodies:

1. Clove

The study mentioned above ranks clove as one of the foods with the highest antioxidant capacities thanks to its high levels of phenolic compounds. Clove is also known for its antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory capabilities, making it an important food for immunity. While often associated with the holidays, ground clove has a sweet-meets-savory flavor and can be used in desserts, mocktails, soups, and many other flavorful dishes.

2. Pomegranate

Both pomegranate arils and juice have a high antioxidant content due to their flavonols, vitamin C, and the anthocyanins that give them their color. The compounds in pomegranates make for effective free radical scavengers and can reduce oxidative stress. Use the arils in salads and desserts, and the juice in dressings, marinades, and beverages.

For more on pomegranates and their benefits, check out our in-depth article on them.

3. Artichokes

According to the aforementioned Nutrition Journal study, artichokes are among the top antioxidant-rich veggies. But don’t just eat the hearts — the leaves contain a lot of the good stuff, including phytochemicals and flavonols! If you’ve never cooked whole artichokes, it’s easier than it appears. Find out more in our article, Artichokes: Nutrition, Benefits, & How to Cook and Eat Them.

4. Oregano

A great addition to plant-based pizza or almost any savory dish, oregano is big on taste and nutrient density. Research has found it to be a strong antioxidant due to the phenols carvacrol and thymol.

You can easily grow oregano at home in an indoor or outdoor garden, along with other antioxidant-rich herbs, such as rosemary, thyme, and sage. We use it in our Vegan Feta, and it is absolutely delicious!

For more on oregano, see our article, here.

5. Allspice

This versatile spice contains vitamin A, vitamin C, eugenol, quercetin, and tannins. Often used as a folk remedy, allspice has antioxidant properties that are protective against cardiovascular disease, digestive disorders, and obesity. It’s commonly added to sweet dishes and baked goods, or for a more robust flavor, try adding it to stews, curries, and soups. Some people even like it in lasagna sauce!

6. Cinnamon

While not quite as potent as clove, cinnamon is another fragrant spice commonly used in baked goods and other sweets that’s a powerful antioxidant. It’s also known for its specific ability to relax blood vessels, making it a valuable functional food for metabolic disorders. To reap its full benefits, use it with other nutrient-dense foods like oats or legumes.

7. Moringa

While you might expect to see other leafy greens on this list such as kale or collard greens, moringa packs an even more powerful punch. Although not as common as these other leafy greens, moringa is becoming more available either fresh or powdered. It’s a good thing, too, because it’s loaded with polyphenols, carotenoids, and vitamin C. And its capability to fight cell damage also gives it antitumor potential in fighting multiple types of cancer. Include it in smoothies and other beverages, along with soups, stews, and curries.

For more on moringa, read our in-depth article, Meet Moringa: What Is This Transformative Superfood Good For?

8. Blackberries

A 2023 study on blackberries showed they have powerful antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory activity. It also found they could have applications in both the prevention and treatment of various diseases linked to oxidative stress due to their high levels of anthocyanins, as well as vitamins A and C, carotenoids, and other phytochemicals. You can use blackberries however you use other berries, such as in smoothies and smoothie bowls, salads (including fruit salads), baked goods and other desserts, and mocktails.

If you’re interested in creative ways to enjoy berries, check out our article, 5 Healthy Berry Recipes & How to Use Berries.

9. Sunflower Seeds

Of all the most eaten seeds, sunflower seeds rule them all in terms of antioxidant capacity. Sunflower seeds are high in vitamin E and also contain omega-3 fatty acids, polyphenols, and flavonoids. Although they’re plenty healthy on their own, sprouting the seeds may increase their antioxidant content. You can use sunflower seeds or sprouts in salads, granola, homemade crackers and other snack foods, and in veggie burgers.

10. Dark Chocolate

Chocolate may be responsible for up to 20% of antioxidant consumption in the US and Europe. But when it comes to chocolate, the higher the percentage of cocoa, the better. Dark chocolate has a wealth of antioxidant compounds including polyphenols, flavanols, and catechins. However, if you’re going to eat dark chocolate, you may want to find out the lead and cadmium content as heavy metals have become a concern. You can use chocolate in desserts like nice cream and baked goods, smoothies, overnight oats, or granola.

11. Walnuts

Of all the commonly eaten nuts, when it comes to antioxidants, walnuts reign supreme. In fact, walnuts are one of the plant foods consistently ranked high in terms of antioxidant capacity. They had the highest level of polyphenols out of nine different nuts in one study, and showed potential for inhibiting atherosclerosis and preventing heart disease. Walnuts go well in baked goods, granola, oatmeal; sweet or savory side dishes; and in salads, sauces, and dressings.

12. Coffee

This popular beverage turns out to have loads of antioxidants such as flavonoids and quercetin. In fact, in many different countries, including the US, coffee is the #1 source of antioxidants — by a wide margin. Some researchers even consider caffeine to be an antioxidant, of which coffee also has plenty. Drink coffee straight to get the most bang for your buck. What you put in your coffee matters, as sugar and dairy can have harmful effects on your health and can decrease the coffee’s antioxidant effects.

For more on coffee, check out our in-depth article, here.

Antioxidant Recipes

The healing benefits of antioxidants never cease to amaze us, and what’s even more amazing are all the tasty ways you can consume them daily! Antioxidants are found in both sweet and savory plant-based foods, so no matter which tastes you prefer, we’ve got something for everyone with these antioxidant-rich recipes!

1. Morning Mocha Smoothie

Coffee and chocolate may be two of the most soul-satisfying antioxidant-rich foods on the planet. Featuring them together creates a flavor combination that is simply blissful! Because you get two superfood stars in one scrumptious smoothie, you get tremendous amounts of polyphenols (a potent type of antioxidant). With the addition of bananas, dates, walnuts (which are also rich in antioxidants), and hemp seeds, you get a nutrient-powered smoothie that will surely give you a boost of energy to start the day!

2. Grilled Romaine, Sunflower, and Pomegranate Salad

Nutty sunflower seeds and tart pomegranate are the antioxidant duo you didn’t see coming! Grilled romaine not only puts a new spin on salad, but this recipe also provides an explosion of plant-based antioxidants like vitamin E, omega-3 fatty acids, and polyphenols from the sunflower seeds as well as vitamin C, flavonols, and anthocyanins from the pomegranate. With so many antioxidant-rich ingredients in this simple yet delicious salad, it’s a winner both in nutrition and presentation!

3. Cheesy Artichoke and Asparagus Penne

Artichokes are among the top antioxidant-rich veggies — and boy, oh boy do we love them (and hope you do, too!) in this Cheesy Artichoke and Asparagus Penne! Full of powerful antioxidant properties, phytochemicals, and essential minerals like magnesium, potassium, niacin, and folate, adding artichokes to your diet regularly is a great way to turn down inflammation and turn up healing plant power. What’s more, this colorful pasta is packed with fiber from the veggies, whole grains, and lentils as well as protein from the lentils — so you’ve got the complete package when it comes to this meal.

Here’s What You Can Take Away from This Article

Now that we’ve taken a look at antioxidants, it’s time to eat the rainbow and spice up your daily diet with as many antioxidant foods as you can. They can help protect you from heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, vision loss, and many other health challenges. And they can even help you to feel and look younger!

When it comes to antioxidants, the whole really is greater than the sum of its parts. So feast on a variety of whole plant foods, and your body will thank you for the rest of your life.

Tell us in the comments:

• How does this article change how you think about antioxidants?

• What types of antioxidants do you need more of in your diet?

• What are your favorite antioxidant-rich foods?

Featured Image: iStock.com/YelenaYemchuk

Read Next:

• What Are Flavonoids? And How Are They Good for Your Health?

The post What Are Antioxidants? And What Are the Most Antioxidant-Rich Foods? appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

Vegetable broth is a cornerstone in cooking and is used in a variety of dishes (beyond soup!) from Thai to Italian to Japanese cuisine. It serves as the backbone of countless recipes, and, while vegetable broth can easily be made at home, many people rely on store-bought versions.

But making your own vegetable broth is a more nutritious, less wasteful, and more eco-friendly option than store-bought. The old adage “Waste not, want not” comes into play when making vegetable broth at home.

In this article’s included video, you’ll learn step-by-step how to make your own vegetable broth with an emphasis on utilizing vegetable scraps to minimize waste while maximizing nutrition and flavor.

Why Make Your Own Vegetable Broth

Optimize Nutrition

Because you get to select the ingredients that go into your homemade vegetable broth, it’s oftentimes more nutritious than broth you can purchase from the store. For example, many store-bought vegetable broth brands include a combination of carrot, celery, and allium vegetables (like onions, leeks, and garlic) — also known as mirepoix in French cooking — and maybe mushrooms. Rarely do they include much more vegetable variety than that.

Many components of various vegetables are also completely left out of store-bought vegetable broth. These scraps that are often thrown away are just as nutritious or, in some cases, even more nutritious, than the parts we are accustomed to consuming.

For example, when you think of broccoli you probably think of the florets. But did you know that broccoli leaves are higher in carotenoids, chlorophyll, vitamins E and K, phenolic content, and antioxidant activity compared to the florets? Broccoli leaves are, in their own right, true superfoods, and it would be sad to let them go to waste. Instead, toss them into your soups or stews, and add them to your homemade veggie stock!

Some broth brands may also add cane sugar or dextrose (another name for sugar), natural flavors, preservatives, and loads of sodium unless you choose an unsalted or low-sodium version. By making your own vegetable broth, you have the power to choose what goes into your soup and what stays out of it.

Be Kinder to the Planet

One of my personal favorite things to do when it comes to creating less kitchen waste is to keep a catchall bin in the fridge where all my food scraps live. If a recipe calls for ½ cup of carrots and a half carrot remains, it goes into the food scrap bin (I know, I know — I could easily turn this carrot into a snack by munching on it. But, to be honest, I just don’t love the flavor of raw carrots!). By the end of the week, the bin may be full of carrots, celery pieces, onion skin, and more — basically, enough scraps to make a delicious and nutritious broth.

You can either simmer the vegetables in water then strain them, or place the vegetables in a food processor and blend until smooth (try this method by making our Veggie Scrap Bouillon recipe). The former version will leave you with a nutrient-dense broth, but you’ll still have the sopping-wet vegetable scraps left. If you’d like to take an extra step toward a zero-waste kitchen, consider composting those scraps.

Also, consider all of the manufacturing that goes into making store-bought broth. Not only are you avoiding single-use containers and plastic packaging, but you’re also avoiding a big part of the carbon footprint that comes from sourcing, packaging, and transporting the vegetables and final product across the country to get to your grocery store.

Save Money

Making your own broth is cost-effective, too, especially when using vegetable scraps. Simply put, your produce purchases go much further when you use all veggie components.

Unfortunately, vegetable broth brands that contain carefully curated organic ingredients without preservatives and other unwanted ingredients are often more expensive. But when you make your own broth, there’s no need to spend on expensive organic or specialty broths.

Personalize and Customize

Finally, making your own broth at home allows you to personalize the flavors. Want umami flavors? Add mushrooms. Prefer naturally salty? Include celery. Looking for a broth to support your immune system? Add a variety of veggies, like leeks, mushrooms, and carrots. If you are making an Asian dish, consider adding ginger or lemongrass to the stock.

And whatever vegetable broth you create can be used in a wide range of recipes, from soups and stews to savory grains and beyond.

What You’ll Learn in Our “How to Make Vegetable Broth” Video

In the video below, you’ll learn:

• What kinds of vegetables and scraps can be used to make broth
• How to prepare the vegetables
• Various cooking methods, including stovetop, slow cooker, and pressure cooker
• How to strain and store your broth

I think you’ll find these methods simple and easily adapted to fit any kitchen!

Homemade Veggie Broth Recipes

Get ready to have some nourishing, flavorful fun in the kitchen with these wholesome vegetable broth recipes. Each recipe is simple to make, highly adaptable, and can be ready in under 30 minutes. Tap into your creative side and experiment with the ingredients that speak to you. From soups to stews to casseroles, or rice dishes, there’s no limit to what you can cook up with made-from-scratch vegetable broth!

1. Homemade Vegetable Bouillon

Preparing a nourishing homemade vegetable broth means you save on cost, eliminate packaging, and can even get in some fiber that’s often sorely lacking in store-bought broth. Rather than boiling and then simmering vegetable scraps (which is another way to make homemade broth), in this recipe, you’ll use the entire veggie by adding it to your food processor to make a bouillon. Within minutes you’ll have a deeply flavorful and nutrient-dense bouillon cube that is ready to go when you need to prepare your favorite homemade veggie soup!

2. Savory Mushroom Broth

One of the benefits of making homemade broth is that you get to decide the nutritional value, flavor profile, and ingredients! Savory Mushroom Broth is an intensely flavored umami-rich broth that is brimming with antioxidants, packed with B vitamins, and high in minerals such as selenium, potassium, and copper. What’s more, it makes a delightful base for your favorite soup, stew, casserole, or side dish. And because of all the intense umami flavor this broth imparts, you’ll be finding plenty of ways to use it!

3. Umami Vegan Dashi

Pull out the Instant Pot and get ready to prepare this profoundly flavorful and highly nourishing Umami Vegan Dashi in minutes! Prepping homemade broth in the Instant Pot not only helps get it done quickly, but thanks to the pressure cooking, the flavors become concentrated as if the broth had been simmering away for hours. By taking advantage of the Instant Pot’s magic, we’ve created an ultra-nourishing and mineral-rich broth using green onion, shiitake mushrooms, and seaweed. Together with the miso paste, this dashi makes a delicious and soothing stock that’s great for your health and your taste buds.

Cook Up a Batch of Broth

Vegetable broth’s versatility in flavoring a variety of dishes from around the world makes it a plant-based pantry essential. And making your own vegetable broth can be an empowering activity that allows you to take charge of your health and make a positive impact on the planet. By creating a broth from scratch (or following one of the included recipes), you can nourish your body, prevent food waste, and take part in a sustainable cooking practice.

Now that you’ve learned the basics of how to make vegetable broth, explore new culinary heights by cooking with it and coming up with your own DIY broth recipes.

Tell us in the comments:

• Have you ever made vegetable broth from scratch?

• What did you learn from the video?

• Which veggie broth recipe will you try next?

Featured Image: iStock.com/beats3

Read Next:

• How to Cook: Healthy Plant-Based Pantry Food Essentials
• How to Cook Beans and Lentils from Scratch

The post How to Cook: How to Make Homemade Vegetable Broth appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

One of the poster children for dose dependence is the mineral selenium. It’s a trace element essential for human health, and science didn’t figure that out until the 1950s. Before then, most researchers were certain that it was as toxic as arsenic and, therefore, had no place anywhere near human mouths. They weren’t entirely wrong, as too much selenium is very bad for you indeed.

Selenium gained notoriety as a toxin long before scientists realized it was essential for health. While the first reported case of what was probably selenium poisoning goes way back — all the way back to Marco Polo, who wrote about a disease he encountered in 13th-century China that rotted horses’ hooves — it wasn’t until the 1930s that selenium became notorious as a potentially toxic element.

After eating plants with high selenium content over a period of time, animals like horses and cattle developed a disease graphically named the “blind staggers,” which featured such symptoms as blindness, loss of muscle control, disorientation, and respiratory distress.

And then, in 1957, scientists discovered a health benefit to the element when selenium supplementation was shown to prevent necrosis of the liver in rats. (Our view on the use of animals in medical research is here.)

Further biochemical research found that selenium was essential for the function of an important group of antioxidant enzymes called glutathione peroxidases. That function appears to help with the prevention of several diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, thyroid problems, and neurological disorders.

So in this article, we’ll look at some of selenium’s most important benefits when it comes to your health. And since it’s critical for your survival, but too much can poison you, we’ll explore exactly how much you need. We’ll also identify the best sources, and set you up for selenium success if you eat an exclusively plant-based diet.

What Is Selenium?

Selenium, or Se on the periodic table, is a mineral found in soil. It exists in two forms: organic and inorganic. Plants can uptake the inorganic variety and transform it into organic selenium, as either selenomethionine or selenocysteine, which are bound to amino acids and help build proteins in plants, animals, and people. Like vitamins and certain amino acids, selenium synthesis doesn’t happen on its own in the body. Therefore, it’s necessary to get it from diet or supplementation.

First discovered in 1817, selenium means “moon” in Greek. It got that name when its discoverer, Jons Jacob Berzelius — who had a sulfuric acid factory in early 19th-century Sweden — originally mistook it for another recently discovered element, tellurium, which means “Earth element.”

The mistaken view that selenium and tellurium were the same arose, apparently, from the fact that they both smelled strongly of horseradish when burned! When he realized his mistake, Mr. Berzelius simply named it after the nearest heavenly body to the earth, which of course is the moon.

While tellurium is relatively rare and pretty much always hazardous to human health, selenium has a number of important uses in the body and is beneficial to health in appropriate doses (which we’ll go over shortly).

Selenium Benefits and Uses

Once scientists got their heads around the idea that selenium did things other than giving livestock the blind staggers, they began finding positive effects of selenium pretty much everywhere they looked. We now know that selenium supports cardiovascular health, cancer prevention, kidney and respiratory function, inflammatory response, thyroid function, and the body’s ability to fight infection.

Is Selenium Good for the Heart?

Researchers in 2006 looked at 25 studies, dating back to 1982, that measured both incidence of coronary heart disease and levels of selenium found in participants’ blood and/or toenails. They found that a 50% increase in selenium concentration translated, on average, to a 24% decreased risk of heart disease.

Keshan’s disease, which causes enlargement of the heart and palpitations along with cardiomyopathy and heart failure, is also thought to originate from selenium-deficient soil. First reported in Keshan County, China, the disease killed thousands from the 1930s–1960s until selenium supplementation came along, leading to a reversal in the disease for many.

Selenium and Cancer

Some research suggests that supplementing with selenium can help prevent cancer, particularly for people who have low selenium levels to begin with, or who have a higher-than-average risk of developing cancer.

In one meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials, researchers found that taking selenium supplements seemed to lower the overall chance of getting cancer.

We’ve also seen that patients with some cancers, including cervical, ovarian, endometrial, breast, and thyroid cancer, show reduced selenium levels. But correlation is not causation, and it can be hard to know whether selenium deficiency causes cancer, or whether cancer causes low selenium levels. That’s why it’s significant that one study found that selenium supplementation caused regression of the CIN1 type (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 1, in case you were in suspense about that) of cervical cancer.

A 2016 meta-analysis of six case-control studies also found that people with the highest intake of selenium had a significantly reduced risk of developing pancreatic cancer.

And selenium definitely shines when it comes to reducing the risk of gastric cancer (aka stomach cancer). A 2016 meta-analysis of eight studies found that people with higher levels of selenium had a lower chance of getting stomach cancer, and were also less likely to die from the disease if they did get it.

Selenium COVID Benefits

An intriguing 2023 study even looked at whether selenium levels in the blood have an impact on the development and severity of COVID-19. The researchers found that, on average, healthy people had higher selenium levels compared to those with COVID-19 symptoms. Whether COVID-19 lowers selenium stores or whether low selenium levels make it more likely to contract COVID-19 is still an open question that deserves further research.

Selenium and Asthma

Asthma is another condition where selenium appears to play a role — though here, too, we don’t yet understand which way the causal relationship goes. But, we do know that both adults and children diagnosed with asthma have lower selenium levels than those without the disease. And the less controlled the condition, the lower the levels of selenium.

Selenium and Kidney Disease

If selenium and your kidneys ever posted their relationship status on social media, it would definitely include the phrase “it’s complicated.” On the one hand, an analysis of 12 years of data for over 30,000 people showed that those who ingested more selenium had a lower risk of kidney stones compared to those who had less. This was especially true for younger people, males, and those who were overweight or obese.

On the other hand, a 2022 study suggested that higher selenium levels may impair kidney function. Using a statistical technique called Mendelian randomization (it’s also complicated, but basically it uses genes to “randomize” participants without having to actually put them into different groups with different treatments), researchers concluded that elevated levels of selenium are a causative factor for kidney function impairment.

Clearly, with selenium, not too much and not too little is the key.

Does Selenium Help with Inflammation?

Selenium also plays a role in reducing the kind of chronic inflammation that’s a root cause — or significant contributor — to many health conditions, including cardiovascular and most autoimmune diseases.

One of the most common ways researchers measure inflammation is through a biomarker called C-reactive protein, which they affectionately nickname CRP. CRP production happens in response to inflammation. So, if you can measure CRP levels, you have a proxy for the amount of inflammation in the body. A 2023 meta-analysis of 13 studies found that higher levels of selenium are associated with statistically significant (and, just as importantly, clinically meaningful) reductions in CRP levels.

Selenium and Thyroid Health

Selenium is important for the healthy functioning of your thyroid, the butterfly-shaped gland at the base of your neck that regulates metabolism, among other things. Selenium deficiency can lead to hypothyroidism (meaning the thyroid is underactive), which causes sluggishness and weight gain.

Supplementing with selenium has been shown to improve an autoimmune disease that targets the thyroid gland called thyroiditis (literally, inflammation of the thyroid). Other thyroid conditions that may benefit from selenium include Graves’ disease, Graves’ orbitopathy, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, and cretinism.

How Much Selenium Is Necessary?

Here’s a handy-dandy chart for you to print or copy in case you’re into scrapbooking about your essential nutrients. In the case of selenium, the recommended intakes are in micrograms per day (µg/day).

Selenium Content Variability

To recap: Selenium is an essential nutrient that’s found in soil. But not all soil is equally rich in it, so the selenium content of food depends on where it was grown (or, in the case of animal products, where what the animal ate was grown).

Within regions, there’s a huge variability in selenium concentrations, even from field to field. In the upper Midwest of the United States, researchers found a huge range in selenium content in various foods. How huge? Check out these examples:

It gets worse. A 1996 study with the riveting title, “Selenium content of foods purchased in North Dakota,” reported that two brands of the exact same product, masa harina corn meal, bought at the same store, differed in their selenium content by a factor of 1,000%.

So what’s a person to do?

The most common “selenium hack” is to consume one or two Brazil nuts per day, which can deliver, on average, 96 micrograms of selenium (almost double an adult’s daily requirement). Brazil nuts are also highly variable in how much selenium they contain, with a low of 0.03 and a high of 512 micrograms per day (in other words, the nuts with the most selenium have over 17,000 times more than the ones with the least). But most of them contain a decent amount.

There is, however, a good reason to go a little easy on the Brazil nuts, which is their relatively high concentration of barium, an element that is known to be toxic when consumed in large amounts or over a long time. It’s unlikely to be a concern with a nut or two per day, but if you down a whole package of Brazil nuts, you’re liable to get a fairly massive dose of selenium, with a potentially concerning helping of barium on the side.

Also, if you take supplements, check to see if any of the formulas you’re taking contain selenium. If any of them do, that may well provide adequate selenium, in which case there is no need to eat a Brazil nut or two per day.

Foods Rich in Selenium

In general, there’s an association between the protein and selenium content of foods, with the highest-protein foods containing the most selenium. And since selenium is routinely added to animal feed to address selenium deficiency in human populations (though not in quantities that lead to the blind staggers), meat and other animal products tend to be high in the mineral.

If you don’t consume animal-derived products, the richest sources of selenium — aside from Brazil nuts (which are really in a class of their own) — are grain products such as cereal, pasta, and bread. To get the most selenium, choose whole grain products, which contain about twice as much selenium as refined ones. A single cup of cooked oatmeal contains about 40% of the recommended daily intake for an adult.

Some seeds, such as sunflower and sesame (including seed pastes like tahini), also contain a decent amount of selenium. Nuts other than Brazil nuts contain very small amounts of selenium — it’s like since they can’t compete, they’re not even trying. Legumes, including soybeans and soybean products, also deliver small amounts of selenium.

If you’re curious about the selenium status of just about every food you can think of, here’s a comprehensive database courtesy of the USDA.

Does Selenium Come with any Risks?

Obviously, you’ve got to treat any nutrient that can cause the blind staggers with a certain amount of respect. Even if you’re not a horse spending 20 hours a day munching on selenium-rich fodder you can overdose on selenium. Fortunately, there are really only two reliable ways to accomplish this dubious and dangerous achievement: through supplementation, or by eating very large amounts of Brazil nuts on a regular basis.

Some folks learned this the hard way after taking a particular liquid selenium supplement in 2008 that contained roughly 200 times the selenium content than was advertised on the label. According to the case report that was published in 2010, they developed symptoms such as fatigue, hair loss, joint pain, nail discoloration, and nausea within two weeks. The symptoms persisted for 90 days or longer.

The Food and Nutrition Board of the US National Academies of Sciences has set the Upper Tolerable Limit for selenium intake at 400 µg/day. The World Health Organization and the governmental advisory boards of Australia and New Zealand agree, while the “safe upper limit” in the UK is a slightly higher 450 µg/day. If you stay below those limits, it seems you’re highly unlikely to wind up with any toxicity issues.

Is Selenium Supplementation Helpful?

Too much selenium is not good news — but so is not enough. Fortunately, diets deficient in selenium are seldom seen in developed countries. In some places where the soil is selenium-poor and people rely on locally produced foods for the vast majority of their calories, population-wide selenium deficiencies can occur (like what was seen with Keshan’s disease in China).

In the United States and other modern societies, however, the vast majority of people get adequate amounts of selenium. However, studies from Europe do show lower serum concentrations of selenium in vegans and vegetarians, compared to omnivores. In fact, researchers found that one-third of vegetarians and 40% of vegans had selenium levels below 50 µg/L, which might be considered low.

But the bottom line on supplementation for most people is that it’s probably not necessary, as even those on the lower end are within reference ranges. Also, the population studies were conducted in Europe, and so may be less relevant to residents of North America, the vast majority of whom ingest adequate amounts of selenium.

And as with many nutrients, selenium supplementation may carry unpredictable effects. Food is not just a collection of isolated nutrients — it’s more of a symphony, with all of the components coming together to create a greater whole. And supplementing with even low levels of selenium could, at least potentially, have effects that aren’t what we might have anticipated or intended.

A 2007 study followed 1,200 people who lived in a part of the US where selenium consumption is low. Half were given 200 micrograms per day of selenium, and the other half received a placebo. Over an average of almost eight years of follow-up, the selenium group was 55% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. And those who were found to have the highest blood plasma selenium levels were almost three times more likely to develop the disease.

And in other studies, high levels of selenium supplementation have been linked to prostate cancer, heart disease, and issues with immune and thyroid function.

If you want to be on the safe side, you can “supplement” with a single Brazil nut per day, which, on average, will give you all the selenium your body requires while staying well below the safe upper limits mentioned previously. Personally, I think Brazil nuts taste better than any vitamin I’ve ever chewed on! And I like the fact that they are, in fact, a food.

Plant-Based, Selenium-Rich Recipes

By enjoying a colorful and varied plant-based diet, it may be easier to get enough selenium per day than you realize. From our creamy Brazil nut butter to our juicy All-American plant-based burger, these recipes are a great source of nourishing minerals and are a delight to devour!

1. Brazil Cashew Nut Butter

The mild, buttery flavor of Brazil nuts makes them an excellent choice for delicious nut butter. And since they’re outrageously high in selenium (more than any other nut), a little bit goes a long way in terms of meeting your selenium needs. We’ve combined them with cashews for this nut butter recipe, which adds even more creaminess and a balance of minerals such as selenium, magnesium, and zinc.

2. Walnut and Lentil Stuffed Mushrooms

Nearly every wholesome ingredient in these scrumptious and savory Walnut and Lentil Stuffed Mushrooms contributes to your daily selenium needs. With roughly 32µg of selenium per serving, these little bite-size beauties check all the culinary boxes from nutrition to flavor and could make a great appetizer at your next plant-based gathering!

3. All American (Plant!) Burger with Dehydrated Mushroom Bacon

Sink your teeth into this juicy All-American (Plant!) Burger. This juicy burger is made with a base of hearty brown rice, savory kidney beans, and naturally sweet root vegetables (beets and carrots, to be specific). It’s also topped with smoky, umami, and crunchy Dehydrated Mushroom Bacon. The All-American burger also comes with a good concentration of selenium per serving, thanks, in part, to the mushrooms. What’s more, this is a delicious and nut-free way to boost your selenium intake.

Selenium Is Important for Health — in Moderation

Selenium is a trace element essential for human health, with roles in metabolism, nervous and immune systems, DNA synthesis, thyroid function, and reproductive wellness.

While animal foods tend to be highest in selenium, there are many plant-based sources, and most people who eat foods from a variety of soils are getting enough selenium in their diets.

Supplementation can lead to excessive selenium, so for most people, it may be safest to stick to dietary sources. A single Brazil nut per day, for example, provides more than enough selenium without spiking blood levels into dangerous territory. Plus, it’s a food.

Tell us in the comments:

• Where do you get your selenium? What foods do you regularly eat that contain significant quantities?

• What foods might you add to your diet to ensure you’re getting enough of this essential nutrient?

• What selenium-rich recipe will you prepare next?

Featured Image: iStock.com/bit245

Read Next:

• The Truth About Iron + Why Plant-Based Foods Are the Best Way to Get the Iron You Need
• All About Magnesium: Health Benefits, Risks, & Magnesium-Rich Foods You Should Know About

The post What Is Selenium and Why Is it Important for Health? appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

In this case, arguing back is generally not an effective approach. Instead, I’d suggest quietly introducing them to plant-based cooking, without making a big thing out of it, so they can experience its benefits (and lack of downsides) for themselves.

With the rise of plant-based eaters as a consumer segment, there are more delicious and satisfying meat-free options than ever before. You can easily find meat and dairy analogues that will actually fool the omnivores in your life into thinking that they’re eating the “real thing.”

So in this article, we’ll take an unblinking look at the obstacles you may face when introducing plant-based eating to meat-eaters. We’ll explore various “marketing” strategies, and give you a roundup of dishes so mouthwatering, your friends and family won’t even miss the meat.

Why Some People Are Reluctant to Give Plant-Based Foods a Try

When trying to influence others to eat differently, it’s important to understand why they have certain preferences in the first place. So let’s look at why some meat-eaters push back when offered plant-based fare.

Familiar Tastes

First, there’s the simple matter of taste. Many people have grown up with animal proteins as staples in their diet. It’s a familiar taste that they know and love. Meat, especially red meat, has an umami flavor that can be very appealing because it signals the presence of amino acids (the building blocks of protein). The browning effect seen when cooking meat also involves the Maillard reaction, the same reaction that makes toast and caramelized onions taste good.

Preferences for familiar foods also make sense evolutionarily. Before globalized transportation, whatever people got as babies and toddlers was, statistically speaking, what they were likely to encounter for the rest of their lives. It just wouldn’t do for kids growing up in Kerala, Yucatan, or Sichuan province to dislike spicy food.

Misconceptions About Plant-Based Eating

Second, many people harbor misconceptions about plant-based foods. They might believe that plant-based foods lack flavor or won’t satisfy their hunger. Or they may have internalized a prejudice still reinforced by many health professionals today, that plants can’t provide sufficient protein.

You can try to counter these myths with evidence, but I’ve found that people are most amenable to updating their beliefs through exposure, not argument. A great plant-based meal can invalidate beliefs about taste and satiation. And once someone has realized they enjoy plant-based eating, they might be more open to scientific evidence about the health-giving properties of such a diet.

Some misconceptions are more deeply held, and may even be unconscious. One example is that plant-based foods aren’t “manly” because meat is associated with hunting and traditional masculinity.

If someone holds this belief and is open to reexamination, I recommend showing them The Game Changers documentary. The scene where the urologist tests the erectile capacity of three male college athletes after meat- or plant-based meals may convince the manliest man that plants are the way to go!

If the meat-eating man in your life isn’t yet ready to watch a documentary showing that plant-based eating enhances both sexual and athletic performance, I’d again recommend starting with food rather than discussion. As vegan chef and racial justice activist Bryant Terry puts it, “Start with the visceral, move to the cerebral, and end with the political.” By visceral, he means giving them the experience of delicious plant-based food before trying to change their minds.

Going Against Heritage

Another deep-seated belief is that eating plant-based means rejecting and maybe even betraying one’s family and culture of origin. The thinking goes, “What kind of Italian would I be if I didn’t eat meatballs?” Or “What kind of Hungarian would I be without goulash?” etc.

Again, there’s a powerful counterargument, which is that most traditional cultures were largely plant-based until quite recently. Meat may have been eaten on special occasions, or added to dishes as flavoring or a condiment, but the vast majority of most people’s calories came from the plant foods that grew within walking distance of their villages.

But again, I’d wait to spring that argument on someone until you’ve shared a delicious, plant-based version of someone’s favorite family recipe.

Fear of the Unknown

A third reason people might resist trying plant-based dishes is simple fear of the unknown. That’s kind of the flip side of the exposure effect, and it also makes good evolutionary sense. The person who tried that unfamiliar fruit in the wild might have discovered a delicious source of nutrients, or they could have ended up as a cautionary tale about how Virginia creeper berries may look like grapes but can effectively poison you.

The key to overcoming fear of the unknown is to sprinkle in a generous dose of “known.” In this context, that means making plant-based versions of familiar dishes and using flavors, textures, and ingredients that are already familiar and accepted.

Strategies for Introducing Plant-Based Foods

Conversation and contemplation approaches are all very well and good, but at some point, the rubber has to meet the road — or, more accurately, the tofu has to meet the tongue. Here are a few strategies to gently introduce plant-based meals so as not to trigger an omnivore’s resistance.

Themed Plant-Based Days or Meals

In the old-timey times, meat was often reserved for special occasions. You can flip the script by creating special occasions reserved for eating plant-based. The most famous of these is the “Meatless Mondays” initiative, which invites people to sample the plant-based lifestyle once a week. Research shows that people are more likely to adopt a significant change on Mondays, thanks to what behavioral scientists call the “fresh start” effect.

Of course, Monday isn’t the only day of the week with a first letter just begging for an alliterative plant-based pairing. What about Taco Tuesdays, with totally or predominantly plant-based fillings? Or Smoothie Sundays? Three-Bean Salad Thursdays? (OK, that’s stretching it a bit.)

Gradual Introduction

Also known as the “camel’s nose under the tent” strategy, gradually introducing plants into a meat-lover’s diet can take several forms. One is to start by incorporating plant-based ingredients into familiar recipes.

Lentils can sub in for part or all of the ground beef in meat sauces, sloppy joes, and chilies; chickpeas can supplement or replace tuna or eggs in tuna or egg salads; and a combination of walnuts, mushrooms, and beans added to or used instead of ground meat in hamburgers and meatballs are healthier substitutions.

The trick here is to incorporate these substitutions and supplements into foods that the omnivore in your life already knows and likes.

Taste-Alike Options

Another way to get meat-eaters to try plant-based options is to have the plants look, feel, and taste like meat. There are some naturally “meaty” plant-based foods that can mimic the texture and umami flavoring of meat. And the world is now awash in plant-based meat analogues that are becoming more and more convincing.

1. Tofu & tempeh are both versatile protein sources that can take on various flavors. Made from soybeans, both originate in East Asia and have become increasingly popular in the West.
2. Lentils are more familiar to a wider number of people and can be less intimidating than other sources of plant-based protein. They’re super versatile legumes, and you can feature them as the main ingredient in a variety of soups, stews, chilies, tacos, and casseroles.
3. Seitan, also known as “wheat meat,” has a texture similar to that of beef or chicken. It’s made from wheat gluten, and takes on the flavor of whatever it’s marinated or cooked in.
4. Jackfruit is a tropical fruit known for its meaty texture. It’s often a substitute for pulled pork in vegan versions.
5. Mushrooms are great for adding meaty texture and umami flavor. Portobellos are great on the grill, shiitakes can add meat-like depth to Asian dishes (and can make a base for delicious plant-based bacon), and some varieties of oyster mushrooms taste a bit like seafood (hence the name).
6. Plant-based meat brands such as Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, and an increasingly growing field of competitors can also provide great transitional foods, as the taste and texture are typically very familiar to meat-eaters. They do have their limits in terms of health, though; so at some point, you may want to phase them out in favor of more whole-food alternatives.

For tips on helping family members move toward plant-based eating, we’ve got a whole other article for you.

Scrumptious Swaps: 7 Meat-Free Meals Even Carnivores Will Crave

Prepare your taste buds for an incredible dining experience made entirely possible through plants! With so many plant-based ingredients that can double as meat substitutes, you’ve got nothing to lose by giving them a try. The key to making a meal crave-worthy for meat eaters is balancing rich umami and savory flavor with a hearty and chewy texture. Together, these flavors and textures can transform even the humblest of plant ingredients into an oft-requested recipe!

1. Portobello Mushroom “Steak” Sandwich

Mushrooms are often paired with meat to further bring out both ingredients’ umami flavors. But mushrooms also make for a great meat replacement on their own in a plant-based diet. Mushrooms’ juicy, meaty texture and savory flavor give them a similar mouthfeel to meat, albeit a much healthier version. Mushrooms have zero cholesterol, trans-fatty acids, and saturated fat. And they have tons of nutrition such as B vitamins, selenium, copper, and vitamin D (if sun-exposed). Plant-based and meat eaters alike will find this “steak” sandwich just as indulgent as a meat-based version due to the delicious marinade that infuses the mushrooms.

2. Jackfruit Carnitas Pizza

Jackfruit Carnitas Pizza is a great plant-based recipe for the meat eater in your life. It’s piled high with shredded Mexican-spiced jackfruit, sweet pineapple, red onion, and (optional) jalapeño for just a bit of heat. This pizza tastes just like you are biting into a smoky meat lovers pizza — except it’s all plants! Jackfruit mimics the texture of meat and takes on any flavors you add to it, making it a versatile ingredient that is perfect for a “meaty” pizza. We think your meat-loving friends and family members will be extra happy with the textures, flavors, and nutrition in this comforting, meat-free meal.

3. All American (BEAN and BEET) Burgers

These All American (BEAN and BEET) Burgers are big on taste as well as health-promoting nutrients. They’re moist, hearty, and brimming with healthy doses of iron, vitamin A, B vitamins, fiber, and omega-3 fatty acids — not to mention flavor. No need to reach for the meat with these beauties around. Meat eaters can enjoy these tasty bean and beet burgers grill-side, and relish in the fact that their body will be as happy as their belly is!

4. One-Pot Tempeh Sausage Pasta

One-Pot Tempeh Sausage Pasta makes a delicious plant-based swap for a traditional spaghetti Bolognese dinner. Tempeh is a hearty plant protein that takes on any flavor you add to it. In this case, savory herbs and spices transform tempeh into meaty sausage crumbles. The result is a healthy and delicious meat substitute that improves even more with the addition of red tomato sauce and pasta. No one will even notice they’re not eating actual meat!

5. Korean-Inspired TLT with Pickled Veggies and Spicy Mayo

This Korean-Inspired TLT with Pickled Veggies and Spicy Mayo is a unique twist on a classic BLT, with tofu standing in for bacon. Protein-rich tofu is marinated with lots of garlic and ginger, slathered with spicy Korean-inspired mayo, and piled high with pickled veggies. Once all the fixings are on, chewy tofu will take on all the various flavors used in this dish, which makes for a delicious mouthful. Don’t be surprised if this becomes your new favorite sandwich!

6. Mushroom Lentil Chorizo Taco Bowl

The easy-peasy, plant-based chorizo in this recipe shares the smoky and savory flavors of traditional chorizo. But this version is exponentially more nutritious since it’s made with walnuts, lentils, and mushrooms. It’s a delightful meat substitute for all sorts of recipes. In this taco bowl, the chorizo adds so much wholesome flavor, texture, and nutrition that you’ll happily forget about its meat-based counterpart. What’s more, it is simple to assemble once you have the chorizo and whole grains ready to go.

7. Jamaican Jerk Tofu with Sweet Pineapple Salsa

Jamaican Jerk Tofu with Sweet Pineapple Salsa is a showstopper! The jerk tofu is a delight to both plant-based and meat eaters who enjoy exciting flavors and exploring diverse cultural cuisines. Tofu is generously rubbed with a flavorful Jamaican jerk spice blend and baked until slightly crispy, then topped with juicy and sweet pineapple salsa. This dish is equal parts sweet and spicy with a familiar meaty texture.

Give Plants a Chance!

Plant-based eating challenges traditional Western notions of what a meal should be, and so may be hard to “swallow” for people brought up on meat-based diets. But it’s not necessary — or even effective — to hit people over the head with arguments to go plant-based. There are several behavioral and culinary strategies that can make people more willing to explore plant-based options.

Ultimately, you just might find that the people in your life start asking, “Where’s the beet?” instead of “Where’s the beef?” as they discover the flavorful possibilities and positive impact of a plant-based lifestyle.

Tell us in the comments:

• If you’ve become more plant-based over time, what were some of the dishes and food strategies that helped you transition?

• What are some meat-based meals that you can use to introduce plant-based options?

• What has and hasn’t worked in terms of getting the people around you to eat less meat?

Featured Image: iStock.com/vaaseenaa

Read Next:

• Veggie Burgers and Plant-Based Meat: Pros and Cons
• The Top 5 Vegan Myths Debunked

The post From Beef to Beets: Plant-Based Recipes for Meat Lovers appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

Think of a tree losing its leaves, which end up on the ground. Little critters (that’s a fancy scientific term, which I like to imagine translates as Tinius Buggiums in binomial nomenclature) use them to stay warm, munch them down, and then poop out rich soil. When the critters die, they get digested by other organisms, and their nutrients get absorbed into the tree roots. Or if they get eaten by birds, they get converted into bird poop, which also feeds the soil under the sycamore the bird was perching on.

When humans rake up and bag the leaves, or for that matter, mow a lawn and remove the grass clippings, they’ve broken the cycle. So to keep the trees and lawns alive, they may in turn replace the missing nutrients with synthetic fertilizer. And they need to find a place to store all the plastic bags full of yard waste.

Similarly, when we don’t return food scraps to gardens and farms, we create two problems that don’t exist in nature: where to put ever-growing heaps of trash, and how to grow food in increasingly depleted soil.

That’s where composting comes in — that is, putting the scraps in a place where nature can do its thing.

But what if you have little to no outdoor space, or live in an apartment? What can you do with your kitchen scraps then?

The good news is that there are many ways you can keep food scraps out of your waste stream even if all you have is a little space in a basement, garage, spare room, or even just on your kitchen counter.

So how can you start composting in your own kitchen? What are your options? What tools do you need? And how can you ensure you don’t end up with a kitchen that smells like the bottom of a restaurant dumpster?

Why Save Your Food Scraps?

As planet-friendly as a diet may be, if it’s generating a lot of food waste, it can still be a real burden on the planet.

When food scraps rot, they release methane, a greenhouse gas that traps 84 times more heat than carbon dioxide. Many of our landfills turn into huge steaming piles of methane-emitting organic waste, which seriously compromises any plans of reversing our ever-intensifying global climate chaos.

Some of our garbage is burned, and here, too, organic waste is a problem. When moist food scraps end up in incinerators, they require a lot of extra energy to keep the burner temperatures high enough to fully incinerate all the trash. The higher temperatures also contribute to the release of more toxins into the air. This can cause serious health problems for nearby communities (which are disproportionately low-income and communities of color).

We definitely don’t want that. So what do we do with all those food scraps? Wait for NASA to figure out how to tow them to Venus?

Here’s the thing: Kitchen scraps are actually a hugely valuable resource, one that’s mostly wasted in our broken food system. In fact, food waste wasn’t even accepted in municipal waste programs until the mid-20th century. Instead, they were often fed to backyard or farm animals, or were kept in a separate underground receptacle called a subterranean receiver.

Other creative ways to reuse food scraps and keep them out of the garbage stream include making art with them, creating skin care products, or even using them in new recipes. Depending on the scrap, you might even be able to coax it to grow into more food.

(For some more ideas, you can read our article on How to Use Food Scraps to Reduce Kitchen Waste.)

But if you aren’t ready to turn your cucumber peels into a facial mask or decorate a dress with pumpkin seeds, you may want to try composting instead. That is, letting nature take its course with your food scraps, turning rotting peels, skins, seeds, pits, and ends back into rich soil that’s ready to grow the next generation of crops.

Saving Food Scraps in the Kitchen for Compost

Food scraps are organic materials, which means they can break down and benefit the soil in the form of compost.

Some US cities are actually mandating composting, requiring that you place your food waste in a separate container from regular trash or recycling. If you live in one of those municipalities, you probably have a green bin that’s earmarked for food waste. If you’re not sure if your county or city offers municipal composting, you can check one of the maps on the environmental nonprofit GreenBlue’s website.

But even if you don’t live in a city with a composting program, there are other ways to utilize your food scraps for compost.

There are apps like ShareWaste or MakeSoil that are basically compost brokers, connecting neighbors who produce compost with neighbors who want it. It’s kind of like Tinder, but you don’t have to resort to ring lights, beauty filters, or duck face.

There are also other community composting options via local farms, community gardens, recycling centers, or private composting companies.

If you have a garden or other outdoor space, you might have room to nurture a traditional compost pile or tumbler. And if so, you might benefit from checking our guide to home composting.

And for any of these methods, you can easily collect food scraps in a small compost collection bin in the kitchen before either throwing them in a larger bin, donating them to a community program, or emptying them into an outdoor compost pile.

What Can You Compost?

While all organic materials are theoretically compostable, some will take so long to break down that for all practical purposes, they’re not appropriate for kitchen composting. Some municipal compost programs also don’t accept certain types of food scraps, such as animal products or even citrus rinds. And some accept disposable utensils and containers made of bioplastics, while others don’t. Check with your local program administrator for a full list of approved items.

For a general list of what you can compost, here’s a handy (and possibly even dandy) infographic.

Tips for Controlling Food Scrap or Compost Odors

The smellephant in the room when it comes to composting is the fact that composting is kind of an elegant name for rotting. And rotting smells. As singer-songwriter Tom Chapin puts it in his composting anthem “Good Garbage”:

“Good garbage breaks down as it goes
That’s why it smells bad to your nose
Bad garbage grows and grows and grows
Garbage is s’posed to decompose.”

So here are some suggestions for a largely odor-free compost collection experience.

Use a bin with a lid. This will not only trap odors but also help prevent pests like fruit flies. (As Groucho Marx sagely observed, “Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.” I had to think about that for a bit before it made sense.)

Empty your compost container regularly. This is definitely not a “set it and forget it” hobby. You’ll figure out the right schedule for you, which will depend on the amount of kitchen scraps you generate, the type of bin you use, the ambient temperature and humidity, and whether you sing to it or not (OK, I made that last one up because I wanted a longer list). Some folks empty their bins weekly; others find that daily is more appropriate.

Keep your home reasonably cool, especially in the summertime. Nothing says “strong pong” like produce rotting in a sauna-like environment.

If you can’t get rid of your scraps in a timely fashion (say, you’re going away for a few days and don’t want to return to a “Silence of the Yams” horror-scape), you can freeze them in an airtight plastic or glass container. This will halt the process of decomposition so you won’t end up with nasty aromas.

Finally, clean your container after each emptying. Check whether it’s dishwasher safe; some should be washed only by hand. Even if you’re using a compostable plastic bag, you may find that some slime has made it into the interior of your container, so a good scrubbing with a brush and soapy water can go a long way to keeping your kitchen smelling like the room in the house where food goes before it’s eaten, as opposed to after.

Compost Collection Bins

There are a range of compost bins on the market, varying in look, price, convenience, size, and capacity. You can go high-end (well, not that high-end; as of this writing, there are no Gucci or Prada composting bins) or simple, small or large, minimalist or packed with features. You can also DIY compost bins out of just about any container you have lying around.

In the end, though, their ultimate purpose is to collect and contain your food scraps so they don’t go to waste and end up in the landfill (or sit around and attract flies and perfume the air with eau de sewage).

DIY Compost Bins

Henry David Thoreau warned, “Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes.” Similarly, you don’t need to invest in a fancy compost bin to collect your food scraps. You can repurpose almost any type of container, although you’ll definitely want a lid to keep the odors in and not floating around your kitchen.

Some examples of DIY compost containers include plastic or glass storage bins, buckets, bowls, flowerpots, and empty food containers like coffee cans.

Countertop Compost Bins

If the idea of a grungy orange five-gallon bucket from Home Depot sitting between your toaster and blender doesn’t fill you with joy, you can also purchase a simple compost container made specifically for that purpose. They come in various materials, including plastic, stainless steel, bamboo, and ceramic.

Some bins can be used with compostable bags, which may make it easier to clean the inside of the container. If you’re part of a municipal composting program, check with the administrator to find out if they actually accept compostable bags, as not all do.

Some commercially available containers also come with filters made of activated charcoal or carbon to capture odors before they can escape and assault your nose (or entice it, if you happen to have the nose of a fruit fly).

Countertop Composting

While the containers we’ve looked at so far are just receptacles for holding kitchen scraps, there are also ways to create compost right on your countertop. This type of composting is especially well suited for single people or couples without children, who generally generate less waste than larger families.

Countertop composting can also be very convenient since you don’t need to venture outside to deal with the scraps; you can gather up the peels and seeds right next to where you process the food. And it’s a great option to make a dent in food waste if you live in an apartment, don’t have outdoor space, or don’t have access to a curbside composting program.

There are three main ways to perform kitchen composting: One is powered by worms, another by fermentation, and the third by electricity.

Worm Composting

Worm composting bins take advantage of the fact that many worm varieties can eat up to half their body weight each day. And they’re diligent about rapidly converting that food into worm poop, which is a lot less gross than it sounds and is actually really nutrient-rich soil.

The fancy name for worm composting is vermicomposting (if you’re raising the worms, you’re engaged in vermiculture). It’s a pretty straightforward process: Feed worms food scraps, keep them sufficiently aerated and hydrated, maintain a liveable temperature, harvest the castings on a regular basis, and keep them contained so they don’t start casing your kitchen looking for food.

You’ll need a waterproof container with air holes (which you can either make yourself or put together from a purchased kit), moist bedding material, and worms (which you can order online, much to the delight of your mail carrier).

If seeing the worms in your kitchen makes you squeamish, it might be better to keep it out of sight under the sink or in another room, at least on those nights when you’re serving linguine or (etymology alert) vermicelli.

(If you’re a dedicated vegan, you may or may not determine that vermicomposting aligns with your ethical sensibilities. Personally, I think that building a world with less waste — and more compost! — contributes to the cause of compassion. But of course, as in all things, do what makes sense to you.)

Bokashi Composting

“Bokashi” means “fermented organic matter” in Japanese. And the Bokashi method of composting speeds up the process by introducing microorganisms into the mix, the same wee beasties that occur naturally in garden soil. Bokashi is usually done in a bucket with a tight-fitting lid and a spigot at the bottom (like one of those big glass beverage dispensers people use at cookouts, except instead of iced tea, you get Bokashi tea).

All you do is throw in your kitchen scraps, cover with a layer of bran inoculated with the microorganisms, and leave it alone. As the food waste pickles, it produces a dark, nutrient-rich liquid that you can access through the spigot, which, mixed with lots of water, your house plants will simply adore. Also, drawing off the liquid keeps the fermenting compost from smelling like an open sewer once you open it.

After somewhere between 10 and 21 days, you can open the bucket and behold what can charitably be called “pre-compost.” It’s not crumbly soil, but the food waste is fermented enough that it can either get mixed directly into a garden bed or finished in a compost pile or compost tumbler. Most Bokashi systems use two buckets in rotation, so you can feed scraps to one bucket while the other one is “locked” in fermentation.

You can buy Bokashi buckets and inoculated bran online or from a local garden store. YouTube searches will also show you how to make your own buckets and DIY vegan inoculated bran. Or to check out a starter kit that comes complete with bucket, spigot, and inoculant, click here.

Electric Composters

Electric composters bring the ancient art of rotting food into the modern age. They don’t just collect food scraps, but actually break them down into usable soil in a matter of hours. They do this by heating, grinding, and drying the scraps. Some include microbial pods that render the compost into garden-ready fertilizer. And they include filters, so you shouldn’t have a problem with odors.

Electric composters can come with some downsides. To accommodate their high-tech features, they’re typically bulkier than their manual cousins, and take up more counter space. They can also be expensive, both their original purchase price and their total cost of ownership, including supplies and electricity. However, some can be quite energy efficient, and the value they provide in terms of home garden fertilizer can make them more than worth the expense.

Don’t Let Your Food Scraps Go to Waste

Whether you just use compost collection bins to save your food scraps for curbside pickup or try your hand at one of the countertop composting methods, kitchen composting is a great way to reduce food waste and contribute to a healthier planet.

Best of all, you don’t need a backyard or a lot of space to put your food scraps to use. From kitchen counters to basements, there are creative ways to transform your food scraps into rich, nourishing soil.

By embracing composting, you not only divert waste from landfills but also help enrich soil, foster plant growth, and mitigate the challenges of depleted farmlands. Remember, every step you take to reduce waste and to turn trash into treasure is a step towards a more healthy, ethical, and sustainable future.

Tell us in the comments:

• What do you do with your kitchen scraps right now?

• Do you live in a place with a municipal kitchen scrap recycling program? How easy or hard is it to participate?

• If you don’t yet collect kitchen scraps for compost, what method described in this article seems most appealing to get started with?

Featured Image: iStock.com/JohnnyGreig

Read Next:

• How to Use Food Scraps to Reduce Kitchen Waste
• Decades of Public Messages About Recycling in the US Have Crowded Out More Sustainable Ways to Manage Waste

The post Kitchen Compost: Turning Trash into Treasure appeared first on Food Revolution Network.