Goodbye Bourekas?

In Israel, bourekas are high on the list of favorite snack foods. Every neighborhood bakery has a large selection of these savory pastries - potato, cheese, mushroom and more.



For some people, breakfast is coffee and a plate of bourekas. The bakery will happily pop them in the microwave for you to eat on-the-go. You'll find them by the plateful at most simchahs and business meetings. Many people eat them every Shabbat.

Unfortunately, these flavorful morsels are high in trans fat. The same artery-clogging trans fat that was banned in New York restaurants.

Prompted by California's recent ban on trans fat in bakeries and restaurants (the first state to do so), the English language newspaper Haaretz ran this article about the health implication of bourekas and other foods made with parve solid fats:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1006700.html

Hopefully, for the sake of everyone's health, Israelis will re-invent a healthier boureka.

Rosh Chodesh Av

Years ago I wrote menus for Jewish summer camps in California and Oregon. As with any menu planning, there were many considerations: nutrition, budget, availability of kosher food, children’s tastes, the abilities of the kitchen staff, Shabbat meals. And of course, the period before Tisha B’Av, when we don’t eat meat or poultry, except on Shabbat.

Ashkenazim don’t eat meat from Rosh Chodesh Av until after the fast of Tisha B’Av. Sephardim refrain from eating meat during the week of Tisha B’Av.

We served a lot of pasta – macaroni and cheese, dairy spaghetti and lasagna. And I squeezed fish into the menu whenever I could.

At home, there’s a lot more flexibility. In the heat of summer, I like salads made with pasta or legumes and lots of fresh vegetables. Whole-grain pasta, garbanzo beans, black beans and lentils can be the basis of great main-dish salads.

Try this quick and easy salad during the days before Tisha B’Av:


GARBANZO BEAN AND TUNA SALAD

1 can garbanzo beans (chick peas) drained and rinsed
¼ cup sliced green olives
½ cup minced parsley
4-6 green onions, sliced OR ¼ cup minced red onion
1 can tuna, preferably packed in olive oil
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil (including any drained from tuna)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Combine chick peas, olives, parsley and onion in a bowl. Break up tuna and add to the beans. Add the lemon juice, olive oil and pepper and mix lightly.

Serves 4

Surprising Results from Israeli Diet Study

How exciting to see Beer Sheva’s own Ben Gurion University of the Negev getting top spot in the news. Among the researchers are several members of the nutrition faculty who consulted with me on my book.

For two years they studied the effects of three different weight-loss diets on over 300 employees at the nuclear research facility just south of here in Dimona.

In a nutshell:

The three diets were low-fat and low-calorie, Mediterranean low-calorie, and low-carbohydrate.

Everyone lost weight.

Men lost the most weight on the low-carbohydrate diet. Women lost the most on the Mediterranean diet.

HDL (good cholesterol) increased and triglycerides (fats in the bloodstream linked to atherosclerosis) decreased the most in the low-carbohydrate diet group. Reductions in LDL (bad cholesterol) were most pronounced in those who followed the Mediterranean diet.

In diabetics (about 10% of the total participants), the Mediterranean diet appeared to improve fasting glucose levels.

What can we learn from this study?

Weight loss is most successful when diet plans are tailored to individual preferences. A “one-size-fits-all” low-calorie diet may not be the best fit for everyone after all.


The complete study was published in the July 17, 2008 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine.

Fasting

Fasting in Judaism

Sunday was the 17th of Tammuz – a fast day commemorating the fall of Jerusalem and the beginning of the three weeks of mourning leading up to Tisha B’Av.

Five catastrophic events occurred on the 17th of Tammuz:

Moses broke the first tablets at Mount Sinai when he saw the golden calf.


The daily offering in the First Temple was suspended.


The walls of Jerusalem were breached in the time of the Second Temple.


The Roman general Apostamus burned a Torah scroll.


An idol was placed in the Sanctuary of the Holy Temple.

Judaism has always emphasized the physical as well as the spiritual aspects of life. Through our physical feelings of hunger, we can get closer to the spiritual feelings of loss and vulnerability. Fasting helps us relate to these devastating events and to their deeper meaning and ultimate purpose – self-examination, repentance and improvement of ourselves and the world.


Fasting for Health

Short-term fasting and juice fasts for weight loss seem to be fairly common. I would add them to the list of “quick-fix” diet methods including “fat burning” compounds (usually containing stimulants), appetite suppressants and restrictive detox diets.

If there is a benefit to short-term fasts (as well as juice fasts and other regimes), it’s that they just might help us realize how much junk we normally consume. By taking a break from refined sugars, starches and fats, we may be more likely to eliminate these from our every-day diets.

But here’s why I don’t recommend fasting for weight loss:

You can lose weight quickly – in the form of water loss, but you will most likely regain it when you start eating normally again. In a study of healthy adults drinking only water for three days the weight lost was mostly muscle, not fat.

Fasting slows your metabolic rate and can actually make it harder to lose weight after the fast.

If you are not healthy and not eating a nutritious diet to begin with, fasting is certainly not recommended. If you have liver or kidney problems, a compromised immune system or are taking medication, fasting can actually be dangerous.

My main problem with fasting is that it distracts us from the real message of sensible, long-term weight loss – lowering intake of fat, sugar, and highly processed foods, increasing fruits, vegetables and whole grains, drinking plenty of water and exercising regularly.

Blueberries

I just baked a blueberry pie and a dozen blueberry muffins. For breakfast we are enjoying fresh blueberries in our granola. So far I’ve frozen 2 kilo (4.4 pounds).

My granddaughter had her very first taste of these sweet delights and gave them an enthusiastic “thumbs up”. (Funny, it doesn’t seem that long ago that I picked blueberries in Oregon, with her dad in a baby carrier on my back.)

Yesterday was blueberry heaven here – 42 kilo (over 90 pounds) delivered from a Golan farm to our home in Beer Sheva. I was inundated with orders when I posted a notice on our local English-language email site.

This was the second year that Aryeh, our friend the Golan blueberry grower, agreed to the arrangement. Fortunately, he’s always had a family event in the area, to make the three-hour drive more worthwhile. And lucky that I ordered early in the season. With this year’s drought, the season was shorter and his crop much smaller than usual.

I’ve always been a big fan of berries. Blueberries in particular. I remember eating them as a little kid in Michigan – a once-during-the-summer treat. In Oregon, a trip to the U-Pick blueberry farm was an annual event, complete with blue stained fingers and clothes.

That was before blueberries became fashionable. Before slick magazine ads announced that “We can’t live without them.” Before we knew that these tiny berries were a nutritional powerhouse.

The blue in blueberries does a lot more than leave stubborn stains. Compounds that make berries (as well as plums, red cabbage, eggplant and purple grapes) blue are called anthocyanins. These compounds (called phytochemicals – chemicals produced by plants) act as antioxidants in our bodies, mopping up free radicals and soothing inflammation.

Researchers believe that other antioxidants in blueberries may promote insulin production, benefit heart health and aid in reversing age-related memory loss and motor coordination.

All fruits and vegetables contain phytochemicals as well as vitamins, minerals and fiber. Each has its own nutritional “profile” It takes a mix of these to provide our body with what it needs for good health. That’s why health professionals have always recommended eating a variety of foods. My preference is for locally grown and in season – for maximum taste and minimum cost to the environment.

Nutrient content aside, there’s one especially important reason to eat fresh blueberries now – they’re delicious!

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS (DAIRY)

This muffin recipe is flexible. I like the combination of cornmeal, blueberries and lemon zest. But you can use all whole-wheat pastry flour or half white, half whole-wheat flour, without the cornmeal. Just be sure that the total amount of flour is 2 ½ cups. You can use brown sugar instead of white and any other berry or cut-up fruit. If you’re using frozen blueberries, don’t defrost them before you add them to the batter.

1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 cup all-purpose white flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon lemon zest
1 ½ cup blueberries

Preheat the oven to 375 Fahrenheit (190 Centigrade).

Line 12 to 15 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.

In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, oil, vanilla and lemon zest.

Add the liquid ingredients to the flour mixture and mix gently. Add the blueberries and mix just to combine. It’s all right if there are some lumps.

Spoon the mixture into muffin cups and bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Makes 12 to 15 muffins

Tuscanny Part II

“And wine ...gladdens the heart of man.” (Tehillim 104:15)

Tuscany is a land of vineyards and small wineries. It seems like every village is famous for a particular wine.

We were served locally produced kosher wines – two dry reds and a white. Don’t ask me for a review. I can’t tell you if they had “hints of berry”, or a “flinty mineral note”. One of the reds was called “Aleph”, with a large Hebrew aleph on the label. Not very sophisticated, but delicious none the less.

At home we enjoy a glass of good Israeli wine on Shabbat and holidays. Even though there’s always a bottle in the refrigerator, we don’t even think about drinking wine with weekday meals. Our tradition encourages a moderate intake of alcohol.

But maybe we should consider drinking wine more often. After all, it was very relaxing and truly added to the pleasure of our meals.

And what about health benefits?

Is there a connection between alcohol and heart health? Does wine explain the French paradox – the observation that the French (and perhaps Italians) eat a relatively high-fat diet, enjoy wine with their meals and have a low death rate from heart disease?

People who drink one to two alcoholic beverages a day have a lower risk of heart disease and stroke than non-drinkers. Their overall mortality rate is lower as well.

Wine and weight reduction?

Resveratrol, an antioxidant found in grapes and red wine, is showing promise. In mice fed a high-caloric diet, resveratrol prevented diabetes and clogged arteries caused by obesity. Preliminary lab studies indicate that resveratrol slows the growth of fat cells. The mechanism is complex, and much more research is needed, but it’s a start in understanding the French paradox.

There’s more to consider before you increase your alcohol consumption.

Can you afford the extra calories (or are you willing to cut calories elsewhere)?
Are you taking medications that don’t mix well with alcohol?
Do you have a medical condition that precludes drinking?
Are you pregnant or breast feeding?
Will you be driving or operating machinery?

As there’s no simple “One Size Fits All” answer, its best discussed with your physician.