Along with coconut oil, eggs were one of the biggest victims of Dr. Ancel Keys’s popular “lipid hypothesis” of the 1950s, which claimed a link between high fat consumption and heart disease. A decade thereafter, the humble egg shifted from being a staple breakfast item of Westerners to public enemy number #1 – a food so radiant with Lovecraftian malevolence that even being in the same room as one could induce atherosclerosis by proxy. Okay,…
Few tropical fruits are as versatile as coconuts. These unique, round drupes, whose name derives from the sixteenth century Spanish word for “head” or “skull,” are processed around the world to make coconut milk, flour, sugar, and butter, countless soap and cosmetic products, and, of course, coconut oil – one of the greatest superfoods on Earth. In fact, coconut products have become so popular in the West that we often overlook the fruit in its…
The durian (Durio zibenthinus) is a large, round, thorn-covered fruit that is native to southeast Asia. Known in the West for over 600 years, durians are characterized by their extremely pungent and unpleasant smell, which is often described as resembling rotten meat or sour milk (and those are just the polite descriptions). Despite their external unpleasantness, however, durians are extremely nutritious fruits. In fact, their nutritiousness is such that southeast Asians regard them as the…
Spirulina is a type of green algae that grows in fresh water bodies. It is a survivor plant which, unlike most flora, is able to withstand considerable temperature variations and still thrive. It is cultivated worldwide and has been harvested as a food source for thousands of years. According to David Wolfe, author of the excellent book, Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the Future, spirulina is one of the most nutritious foods in the…
Salt is an essential nutrient that our bodies require for transporting nutrients into and out of our cells, regulating blood pressure, exchanging ions, and much more. However, not all salts are equal. Table salt, which has been stripped of all its minerals except sodium and chloride, for instance, will not have the same positive biological impact upon our bodies as pure, unrefined salt that boasts a robust mineral profile. One of the most nutritious and…
