10 Reasons to Love Avocados

Hippocrates Health Institute posted about the health value of avocados, one of the most nutrient-rich and versatile fruits that can be eaten daily to enhance a person's health. Originally native to Central America, for hundreds of years avocados have been cultivated. Now they are used in numerous recipes: appetizers, salads, desserts, and even eaten alone. This fruit versatile in meal presentation can play a big part in the health journey by providing the body with nutrients and other healing properties. Externally used, the natural oils in avocados can also penetrate deep into the skin, making it a great addition to skin and hair care routines.

Book title "An Avocado a Day" as posted on Amazon

Here are 10 reasons why a person should love avocado: 

Regulates blood pressure

High source of fiber

Helps absorb nutrients from other foods

Contains more potassium than a banana

Loaded with heart-healthy, mono-unsaturated fatty acids

Can lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels

Helps promote weight loss

Repairs damaged hair

Moisturizes skin

Treats sunburn

These are certainly some beneficial reasons to introduce avocado to the diet or as an addition to body care products.

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Just an aside for those struggling with severe systemic candida. During the early days of my hell-fight with severe systemic candida, I couldn't eat avocados ... maybe because I was having a hard time digesting fat, but those early days I was close to starving and could basically only eat chlorophyll-rich foods. Bone thin but after starting to feel better, I found that avocados were the go-to food for helping to regulate my weight, mood and energy. Without organic cold-pressed coconut oil and then avocados in those early days of acute sickness, I think I probably would have melted away. 

One more important point, after I started eating avocados regularly, I noticed that my vitamin A issues were being alleviated. Although I was eating as many vitamin A-rich foods as I could, my vitamin A was extremely low, causing all kinds of problems with my eyes, cartilage and throat. For the body to absorb vitamin A into the blood and gain benefit from the vitamin, fat is necessary. I very much believe it was the fat from avocado much more than the coconut oil, which was good to prevent acute weight loss and heal the GI tract, that helped reach a more stable health plateau. 

That said, I also noticed that if I ate avocados after 4pm, I couldn't fall easily to sleep that night. I usually eat a whole one in guacamole form: avocado, fresh squeezed lemon juice, Himalayan salt, maybe black pepper. Hmm, never heard of that before, but I do know that foods have different effects on the body. Would be nice to know if anyone else has experienced this strange phenomenon.

Avocado and Sunflower-seed Dips (raw)

Back in the day when I was juicing a lot, I had a lot of leftover veggie pulp. The juice I would drink early in the morning on an empty stomach, wow it went down well, and a couple of hours later I would put real food in my body. The veggie liquid not only hydrated my body but also filled it with nutrients. My digestion was so bad in the early days of candida, but I found this method worked for "feeding" myself. Wow, it took time!

So these are veggie pulp crackers. I added some minced garlic and herb seasonings to the pulp and put them in my dehydrator. Really tasty!

An avocado dip with 2 avocados, lemon juice and a touch of zest, salt and pepper. 

Since I blended this instead of mashed it, I probably added a bit of zucchini to give it a bit of moisture for blending but not to dilute the dip itself. 

Dehydrated tomato flakes and walnuts for garnish.

Sunflower seed dip.

Sunflower seeds soaked in a little water for 3-4 hours, zucchini pieces to give it body and help with the blending, olive oil, salt and pepper. A touch of cumin and garlic compliments the Mediterranean flavors of the avocado dip.

Nut Ice Cream (Raw, Vegan, Sugar-free)

Who doesn’t love ice cream? With this recipe by Executive Chef Ken Blue at Hippocrates Health Institute you can experience not only one of the best vegan ice creams, but one free from added sugar! This recipe is a great option for those wanting to maintain healthy blood sugar levels while still enjoying a stellar dessert.

HHI Web Administrator April 11, 2018 Recipes

3 quarts nut milk (made from equal parts walnuts & pine nuts)

To make nut milk for ice cream:

Soak nuts overnight & rinse (discard water)
Blend 2 cups walnuts & 2 cups water
Squeeze through sprout bag
Blend 2 cups pine nuts & 2 cups water
Squeeze through sprout bag
Alternate this process between walnuts and pine nuts until there is 3 quarts of nut milk (nut “cream”)

Add to nut milk:

4 oz vanilla flavor (alcohol free)
4 T cinnamon
1 oz Frontier maple flavor
2 capfuls stevia (to adjust sweetness, add either more vanilla or stevia)

Lastly, follow the directions on your ice cream maker.

Raw Pizza

In the early days of full-blown systemic candida, I couldn't eat much of anything. It seemed everything made me react, so I went to a 70-80% raw food diet. Lots of veggie juices, no fruit, very very limited amount of grains and even limited amount of beans because everything sat heavily and "nervously" in my stomach. My diet was so so limited, but through avoidance of reaction-triggering foods and eating only what could support my fragile system, I gradually achieved less nervousness, and the atrocious pain and other horrible symptoms slowly subsided. It took months and months. I still have issues, but have added so much back into my diet that I can travel easily again without having to forage constantly for the "right" foods so that I don't have nasty food reactions. 'Twas a very very bad time.

I made these raw pizzas back when I was so sick. Can't remember the recipe but they were 100% raw and quite tasty ... though a bit labor intensive. The pizza doughs were made from 5-day-young lentil sprouts put in a blender and blended with garlic, a touch of lemon zest, whatever fresh herbs I had on hand (likely parsley) and salt. I don't think I was even using black pepper back then. I put them in the food dehydrator for about 5-6 hours, turning them once, and taking them out when they had enough consistency to easily stick together but not be too dry. Crispy and hard food requires the body to work harder to prepare the food for digestion as it has to be rehydrated through cell activity before digestion can even be considered. My digestion then was shot to bits so raw but dried food wouldn't have been beneficial.

The "pizza" crusts were topped with a raw sunflower seed and garlic spread. Tasty!

Raw Salads and Simple Tasty Dressings

Parsley, diced cucumbers and diced tomatoes in equal amounts = salsa

Dressing: 2 lemons, 1+ T lemon zest, slightly less extra-virgin olive oil to lemon ratio, 2-4 minced garlic cloves, salt and pepper to taste

Was tired of my lemon-olive oil dressing which I pretty much ate all the time when I first got candida. One day in desperation I made this, but I can't remember quite how I did it. Almond butter for the nuttiness, coconut oil to add a bit of sweet flavor and to smooth out the almond butter, and from there I'm not certain. Oddly I probably blended a cucumber to give the dressing some liquid flow and certainly salt. Anyway, the almond butter nuttiness really complemented the cabbage slaw.

More of my all-time favorite lemon-olive oil dressing. Sometimes I varied it up a bit by adding fresh herbs: sometimes parsley, sometimes basic (YUM!), sometimes cilantro (YUM!), sometimes fresh dill (FAVORITE!)

Excellent for just dipping!

Sometimes I soaked pumpkin seeds to soften them for easier digestion, and then without throwing out the water (the seeds were barely covered so there wasn't lots of excess) added lemon juice, salt and pepper and tossed with simple salad greens. Nice toss salad. Garlic could be added for extra flavor as could lemon zest. A very basic recipe and easy to alter.

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The early days of candida were horrible! And there weren't many things I could successfully eat without feeling like the south end of a donkey going north. Salad and these simple salad dressings comprised most of my early candida diet .... and I attribute the heavy chlorophyll of the greens and the natural anti-fungal properties of garlic and the supportive coconut oil for calories and which actually helps heal the GI track as being my biggest anti-candida treating aids.

8+ years later I still have some issues but I get along quite happily. I can now go to restaurants and choose carefully off of the menu, and I can eat a bit of sugar. I do, however, have food reactions I didn't have years ago -- not allergies since my blood tests are fine, but reactions that stem from some kind of imbalance in the flora of my gut. I'm just saying this as other people I know who have had systemic candida as badly as I did still also have residual issues, and some of my friends have relapsed, mostly because of returning to a more normal diet too soon and one because of stress. I've also talked with people who have "fully" recovered, but one thing that all of my friends and contacts with candida have in common is that they continue to pay attention to the needs of their bodies, AND despite being "well", almost none of them have returned (by choice) to their pre-candida day diets.

Freshly-made Almond Milk

Freshly made almond milk -- hot or cold -- is a delight. I throw a huge handful of almost in about 2 cups of water and buzz them in my high-speed Blendtec blender for about a minute. The milk whips to a frothy creaminess. Once it's well-blended, I add whatever amount of water is necessary for the texture and flavor I want. While some people like drinking the milk chilled and without the froth, I like it warm.

And to, literally, spice it up a bit, I sometimes add a bit of vanilla bean that's been soaked to soften it, or a shake or two of cinnamon. Anyway, this is one of my favorite drinks in cold weather. Easy to make, low on calories, and high on both nutrition and flavor. 

freshly-made almond milk with a touch of vanilla bean and cinnamon -- super YUM!

Three Salsas (raw)

These three salsa are great for parties, nights in front the TV, or even for packing in lunches. Guaranteed to be a family favorite!

Cucumber-onion Salsa

2 cucumbers diced

1 small onion thinly sliced

1 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice

salt and black pepper to taste

fresh dillweed

Sour Apple-onion Salsa

2 Granny Smith apples, cubed

1 small onion, thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 t. cumin powder

2 t. freshly squeezed lemon juice

fresh cilantro

salt to taste

Parsley-tomato Salsa

1 thick bunch of fresh parsley, chopped

2 tomatoes, diced

1 cucumber, diced

1-2 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 small onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

Excellent for serving with hummus cups and chips for dipping. (Chips here are El Matador corn chips -- for some reason those corn chips don't bother me, black bean chips, and Cheeze its, which of course I can't eat but everyone else could.) 

Positively divine and so simple!

Stuffed Grape-leaves

Yum! Stuffed grape leaves! But they're only good before the leaves get tough from sun exposure or before they get " too old", like in July or later. To find the best grape leaves, look under the plants and preferably in the shadows or areas where the sun doesn't reach much. The easiest grape leaves for wrapping are the ones with the longer stems, but that can pose a problem as the longer stemmed ones are often the not so tender ones.

To make the stuffed grape leaves, I picked a number of tender leaves, rinsed them well in water and then soaked them for 30 minutes (to further soften them) while I was whipping up the "stuffing".

The "stuffing" is quite simple:

1 small onion finely diced

1 medium-large tomato, diced (removing skin is optional)

5-6 garlic cloves, minced

2-3 cup brown rice (takes longer to cook but has richer flavor - 

the brown rice cooks faster if allowed to marinate in the other flavors for 30 min or so)

2 T. fresh lemon juice

small amount of lemon zest (optional)

salt and black pepper to taste

Put 1-2 tablespoons on each grape leave and tuck the leaves around, to finally wrap the long stem around the outside "package" and hopefully tuck the stem end under the stem on the other side to lock it in place. The grape leaves will unwrap if not secured, so I have also used thread or a clean string (as can be seen in the final picture).

Once the grape leaves are all stuffed and securely tied, pour water over them to cover and then liberally pour on olive oil. Turn on low heat and allow to simmer-cook, approximately 50 minutes (brown rice takes longer to cook). Watch the pot and add water if necessary to keep the leaves from scorching.

Place on a serving dish and serve. Removing the tough stem and certainly the string before serving might be a good aesthetic choice.

Mung Bean Noodles in Lemon-marinade

Alternatively known as Marinated Pasta Salad:

1 package buckwheat noodles (gluten-free!)
2/3 cup broccoli florets
1/2 cup yellow squash, diced
1/2 small sweet onion, diced
several parsley sprigs
2 small roma tomatoes, diced
several fresh basil leaves

Marinade: 

4 T. lemon/lime juice
5 T. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t. salt
pepper as desired

Version 2: Vary the greens used, add herbs to the basic marinade, vary the presentation!

Always enjoy!

Vegan Briyani Rice

Over the summer my brother grew over a hundred tomato plants, and of many varieties--romas and san marzano (both meaty and rich and great for sauces), brandywine and black brandywine (new), big boy, cherry and grape tomato varieties, and some volunteers in the compost. Every year he experiments with other tomato varieties, mostly heirlooms, and this year he grew something called a pineapple tomato. It did have the pineapple-yellow glow to it too, and tasted quite good, a bit sweet in fact.

So with all the tomatoes we were harvesting, we started drying the huge surplus. I have a 9-shelf excalibur food dehydrator and we kept that baby busy for weeks. Since we had so many tomatoes that were small like the cherries, the grape tomatoes and some tomato that was a bit smaller and just as meaty as the romas, that was what we principally dried. The larger tomatoes we saved for juice, pizza sauces, and homemade chili. Anyway, so the baskets of tomatoes were heaped when we were loading the dehydrator. We counted on one occasion 220+ small tomatoes, mostly grapes and small romas, for one load in the dehydrator. [Cut them in half or quarters so they would dry faster.] At the end of the summer before I returned to Korea, my bro told me my birthday present this year was 1,000 tomatoes and he gave me 5 3#-coconut oil containers filled with dried tomatoes! Wow, what a birthday present!

So today in the fall season I have "fresh" homegrown, organic tomatoes, and many of them are very very red because they were so recently dehydrated. No sulfurs or chemicals were used in the drying process to "aid in their preservation". Simply WOW in flavor! So tonight vegan Indian briyani, a warming food for the cooling weather, is on the menu.

Vegan briyani in the crockpot: 

2/3 cup brown rice
1/3 cup brown lentils
1 t freshly minced ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 c dehydrated tomatoes
1/2 t black pepper
1 t cumin powder
2/3 t turmeric powder
1 t rosemary
1 t thyme 

add salt later -- it corrodes the crockpot

Notice the variety of reconstituted tomatoes in the briyani. They look different and they have a different tanginess too--quite the pleasant blend for this rice dish.

The briyani cooked on the brown rice setting takes about an hour. In the past I've added fresh whole chestnuts for an added richness. Possible other additions could be a couple tablespoons of uncooked millet, cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg ... but the recipe depends on the creator and his/her mood. But simple blend really has harmony to me. Simple and nice.

Gluten-free, Sugar-free Carrot Cake

1 rounded cup gluten-free flour blend (millet, brown rice, quinoa, flax meal)
1/2+ t. baking soda*
1/2+ t. baking powder*
4-5 T. cinnamon
2 t. coriander
1 t. cardamom
1/4 t. nutmeg*
1 1/2 inch segment fresh ginger, grated
1/2 rounded t. Himalayan salt
3 eggs
1 cup coconut oil
2 t. vanilla (preferably alcohol-free)
2/3 cup pecan (or walnut) pieces
1 1/2 cups grated carrot

*The starred ingredients I have avoided for a long time because they previously aggravated my candida. Today I successfully tried them out. No, this was a treat and I'm not now introducing these ingredients to my diet regularly, but just wanted a special treat. The same applies for the large amount of grated carrot which has a higher glycemic load than I can typically handle. Hooray! My body accepted the treat and I had no consequences. How wonderful! I'll still be strict with my diet but I do know the strictness if really paying off! 

To make, combine dry ingredients and then add the wet, adding the grated carrots last. Pour sticky batter into a greased and floured baking dish and bake on 350F for 40 minutes. Gluten-free baked goods don't brown typically like glutinous ones, but there will be a golden glow to the finished cake, which btw is more like a rich bread. Test for cake being properly cooked with a toothpick. If the inserted toothpick comes out batter-free, then the cake is ready to pull from the over and enjoy. Yum!

Veggie-Ginger Patties on Lettuce

Frying isn't my thing, but occasionally frying on low heat is. These patties were whipped up from a couple of eggs to bind them, a small amount of flour (millet, quinoa and brown rice blended fresh in a high-speed blender, my Blendtec), coconut oil, finely grated zucchini, some grated carrot, fresh greens, lots of finely minced fresh ginger, turmeric, sea salt and black pepper. Then I slowly fried them in coconut oil, which is more heat-stable than other oils. Frying on low heat supposedly keeps the nutrients more in tact and reduces the oil from being transformed in the high heat process into trans fats. 

Served on a bed of Romaine lettuce leaves and tomato slices! Simple but a pleasing meal for the eye before the stomach joined in on the fare. 

Eat fresh, feel fresh!

"Sugar-free" Banana Bread

It's been yeeeears since I ate banana bread, because of the evil candida, but the other day a friend posted some beautiful flour-free loaves (made with almond "flour") on Facebook and I thought I might be able to have a small treat since I'm now reacting less and less to foods -- hurray! The last 6 months or so I've occasionally eaten a banana, but always at breakfast time and with vegetables to kind of balance the natural sugar. Hmm, so I figured I could manage a little banana bread, esp if I didn't eat too much at one time.

My banana bread recipe, although it's not a very candida-friendly recipe with the bananas and "sugary" dates:

3 ripe bananas (no brown spots or too mushy)
1 1/2 t vanilla
1/3 c coconut oil + little water to warm the oil (3 T?)
2 eggs
1/2 c almond flour
1 c (mixture) garbanzo bean flour, quinoa flour, millet flour
3 T flax seed
1/2+ t baking soda
1/2+ t Himalayan salt
2 t cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
2/3 c walnut pieces
10 dates chopped

Bake for 50 minutes at 350F in small loaf pans.

The banana bread came out tasting absolutely awesome! OK, I'm not used to having sweet things of any kind but even my friend who eats sweets said it was great, and it was moist. The very small downside is about 3 hours after eating a whole loaf (I couldn't stop!) I noticed my tongue covered with a white film. According to a 50-year raw food chiropractor, residue on the back of the tongue after eating, particularly white residue, is a sign of not digesting grains or flours made of grains well. My mom has told me in the past when I ate flours that my breath was bad ... yes, so I somehow lack enzymes for digesting grains, or maybe I should just not eat a whole, blooming, tasty loaf at one sitting! Moderation is probably the big key here.

Sour Apple Salsa (raw)

3 cups diced sour apples
3+ T. fresh squeezed lime juice
1 small sweet onion, thinly sliced
3 T. chopped cilantro
1/2 - 2//3 t. cumin
1/3 t. sea salt

Dice apples and toss immediately with lime juice. Mix in other ingredients. Serve just made or allow to marinate a few hours to heighten flavor.

chopping and adding the ingredients

serves nicely with gluten-free black bean chips

3 fresh salsa: sour apple salsa, cucumber-onion-garlic-lemon salsa, and parsley-tomato salsa

all of the salsas serve well with hummus and chips too

SPLENDID!