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Practical Eating

Brown Rice Good, Barley Even Better

Swapping brown rice for white rice decreases your odds of developing diabetes, shows new research conducted at the Harvard School of Public Health. The study, which examined the diets of about 40,000 men and about 160,000 women showed that replacing 50 grams of white rice daily with the same amount of brown rice lowered the risk of type 2 diabetes by 16%. But before you stock up on brown rice, check this: Replacing the same amount of white rice with other whole grains, like barley and wheat, dropped the risk even more, by 36%. So bulgur, barley, and bran to the rescue. Five of our favorite scientifically-proven-to-be-awesome-for-you whole grain recipes after the jump.

Workout

Oh hi summer! I didn't see you there!

It took a while to get into, but as usual, by the time I made it down the hill and onto the mall, I was in the groove.  The tunes were hitting me just right, and it was as if someone had changed the set for the play.  Summer!  Cherry blossoms had absolutely freaking exploded in the past 36 hours, along with a universe of tiny green leaves.  It was heavenly.  And my most

SW-e-AT

The Incans Worshipped Quinoa and Beautiful Feet

Daily Food-Exercise pairing redux: thekitchn.com has update their previous quinoa posts with five MORE ways to eat the grain.

Separately, belated site navigation help: You can find all of our daily SW-e-AT-related posts right here.  And all posts tagged "SW-e-AT" by anyone, are gathered on this page. SO, when you write about your quinoa-foot triumph, tag that post  "SW-e-AT". Then we can all share in each others' brilliance. 

Moving right along, you can see all the feats for Eat.Sweat.Blog. on your challenge feat page. Reminder: It's strictly forbidden to accomplish a feat before you've actually accomplished a feat, if you know what I mean. In other words, if you're supposed to go veggie for the month of October, you can't accomplish that feat, legally, until October 31st....

Bless all your lovely feet.

Feet Feat

I'm a healthy, slim female, in my early 30s and have never been admitted to the hospital for any acute injury. Sure I get the occassional cold, maybe a stomach virus and seasonal allergies, but I've been fortunate. So a few years ago when I noticed a terrible pain in my right foot, I just put it out of my mind.

Other Places

SW-e-AT

Food-Ex Pairing Day Four: Quinoa Feet

Today we highlight two tragically overlooked beauties: KEEN-wha and FEET! Take off your socks, and read on... Eight to nine thousand years ago barefoot Bolivian natives began cultivating quinoa in terraces on Lake Titicaca, and the stuff quickly became wildly popular. The Incas called it the "mother grain," and most of their seasonal routine revolved around growing, eating and celebrating quinoa. When the Spanish conquistadores arrived, however, they brought potatoes and barley, and they banned any and all quinoa-related rituals. Soon, that grain was just a fond memory, (like the Incans themselves, I might add), and apparently it remained mostly forgotten until the 1970s when a Bolivian "spiritual leader" named Oscar Ichazo began promoting it. It didn't take long for American health food nuts to get wind of old Ichazo, and it was a short 30 year hop from hippie grain ingenue to chic anchor tenant at your local Whole Foods. Quinoa deserves all the love it's now getting. It's ridiculously good for you, and that's before you get to the cosmic Andean spiritual benefits: It's high in well balanced protein, (attention vegetarians), and packed with minerals (magnesium, iron, copper, phosphorous) which might help with your migraines and/or diabetes. The only real question is how to cook it? Not to fear, here comes thekitchn.com to the rescue again with Seven Quinoa Recipes.

Knock yourself out, but MUST be barefoot in the kitchen while you cook. Your feet deserve just as much love as quinoa, and they get just as little. Things you didn't know: Each of your feet has 26 bones, 33 muscles, 31 joints, and over 100 ligaments. Not to mention 250,000 sweat glands. Your feet are objectively amazing: Hydro-powered, gyroscopic, extra sensory organs which somehow can both test the temperature of the swimming pool, and also look fine in high heels. Yes, pedicures are a start, and foot massages are divine, but what about actual exercises? Ankle flexing, toe curling, squatting on the toes and heals! These are all good ideas. So too is yoga for the feet. You might also strap on a pair of Vibram Five Fingers shoes and go "barefoot running," which some say will give you back the primal, mountain climbing feet that nature intended for you to have.  You could also get deep into this challenge by buying a bushel of quinoa and stomping around on it like the farmer in the tiny picture above.

Whatever you do, make your feet feel alive, eat quinoa, and tell us all about it!

Ongoing Love Affair

Quinoa Take Three

I promise to quit yabbering on about quinoa soon, but not before sharing this 12 minute  tabouleh recipe featuring items you may find lost in your crisper, and, yes, quinoa in the role of passé bulgar wheat...

Healthy Breakfasts Redux

A Simple Bowl of Porridge

Last night, en route to deli to buy watermelon pre-Daily Show, I text a friend to see if he wants anything. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream, he texts disregarding the e coli threat, and I make mad dash through the aisles looking for it. Passing the freezer section, however, a curious-looking box of hot cereal labeled Ancient Harvest Quinoa Flakes stops me in my tracks. I’ve had a love affair with quinoa for a while now. It’s delicious, packed with protein, and gluten-free. I put it in salads, soups, and cook it as a side dish when I make fish and chicken. What’s not to love? Quinoa breakfast cereal, however? Now, that’s a horse of a different color....