Delicious UK - (08)August 2020

1

ALLBR ASSICAS

Broccoli,cabbages(allcolours

andshapes),cauliflowerand

brusselssproutsareallanti-

inflammatory.Eatatleastone

servingaspartofatleastone meal

ofyourday,every day.

2

LEEKS,ONIONSAND

SPRINGONIONS

Thesesharewithbrassicas

a highsoluble-fibrecontent,plus

someinsolublefibre(roughage)

anda lotofsulphur,whichis

greatfortheliveraswellasthe

gut.Redonionsarealsorich

inhighlyanti-inflammatory

moleculescalledanthocyanidins.

Leeksarea greatsourceof

insolublefibre,includinga type

calledinulin,whichisintensely

prebiotic(meaningit feedsyour

beneficialgutbacteria).Leeks

providegoodamountsofa flavonol

calledquercetin,too,thatalsoacts

asa prebiotic.Couldbetimeto

makea bigvatofleeksoup– see

deliciousmagazine.co.uk for a recipe.

3

OLI V EOIL

Usethisasyourstapleoil

forcooking,ideallycookingat

a lowtemperatureandfora short

time.Oliveoilprovidesa large

amountofbeneficialnatural

substances,someofthemwell

researchedashighlytherapeutic,

aswellasanti-inflammatoryagents

suchashydroxytyrosoland

oleocanthal that are known to

neutralisefreeradicals– unstable

moleculesassociatedwitha wide

spectrumofdiseasesandseenas

contributing factors to ageing.

4

BERRIES

Withtheirhighlevelsoffibre

andpolyphenols,berriesact

notonlyasantioxidantsbutalsoas

prebiotics,whetherfreshorfrozen.

Frozenberriesblendwell– add

themtosmoothiesmadewithmilk

kefir(afermented milk drink).

5

TUR MER IC

Thisspicecontainsa highly

protectivecompoundcalled

curcumin– anantioxidantthat’s

alsoknowntobea prebiotic.Useit

incookingormakea saladdressing

witholiveoil(onepartturmeric

powderandthreepartsoil).Youcan

nowgetfreshturmeric root in some

supermarkets.

6

CUMIN

Thisspicehassimilar

propertiestoturmericand

isgentlycarminative(whichmeans

it helpsyourdigestion).Addit to

turmerictoincreasethesynergy

betweenthedifferentcompounds.

Yourgutfloralovea combinationof

antioxidantcompounds rather than

justa single one.

7

GINGER

Itcontainsgingerols,effective

anti-microbialagentsthatare

also anti-inflammatory. Add it to

yourfoodhoweveryoulike–

chopped,gratedorground.Youcan

alsoaddit tojuicesorsmoothies,

ormakea saladdressingfollowing

thesameinstructionsas for

turmeric(see left).

8

K IMCHI

Thisspicyfermented

cabbageisa greatsourceof

fibreandbacteria,butyouneedto

buythefresh,unpasteurisedstuff.

Trymrkimchi.co.uk(ormakeyour

ownasa weekendproject– finda

recipeatdeliciousmagazine.co.uk).

Youcanenjoyit straightor,if you

findit toointense,addit tosalads

orcookedgrainssuchasrice,as

theydointheFarEast).It’sgoodon

konjacnoodles(seebelow)– they’re

highinglucomannanfibre,which

increasesyour microbial diversity.

9

KONJACPA STA

ANDNOODLES

A naturallylow-

carbohydrate,high-fibrerootfrom

theFarEast,konjacisnowavailable

asnoodles,‘rice’orpastafrom

supermarkets.Newerversionshave

beenenrichedwithoatfibreto

makethemmoreflavoursome,and

they’reanexcellentsourceoffibre

foryourmicrobes.A goodoneis

SlimPastaFettuccine(£2.59/200g,

Holland& Barrett).Onepackper

personwitha homemadevegetable

saucemakesa super-healthymeal.

Barenakedspaghetti(£1.99/250g,

Ocado) or Barenaked noodles

Thelatestsciencesuggeststhata healthygutiscrucialtoyouroverallwellbeing,

andtohelpitthriveyouneedtoeatprobiotics(foodsthatcontainbeneficalgut

bacteria)andprebiotics(foodsthatfeedthosebacteria).Fermentedfoodssuchas

sauerkrautandkefirarebrilliantprobiotics,whileprebioticstarsincludefruit,

veg and spices. Registered nutritionist Miguel Toribio-Mateas has the hitlist

foods to boost

(^20) your gut health
38 deliciousmagazine.co.uk