References

Here are the websites that you can visit if you are interested in knowing where I got my information and spicy knowledge from.

References

Food poisoning | NSW Food Authority. (n.d.). NSW Food Authority: safer food, clearer choices | NSW

Food Authority. Retrieved May 31, 2013, from

http://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/consumers/problems-with-food/food poisoning/#.Uajd3ZXvyRY

Food Poisoning . (n.d.). KidsHealth - the Web's most visited site about children's health. Retrieved May 31, 2013, from http://kidshealth.org/kid/ill_injure/sick/food_

Food Poisoning - Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, Diagnosis - Condition Factsheets - Body & Health. (n.d.). Site Map - Body & Health. Retrieved May 31, 2013, from

    http://bodyandhealth.canada.com/condition_info_details.asp?disease_id=60

Black, J. (2012). As NATURE Made Them. Prevention, 64(4), 82-89.

   ALEXANDER G., H. (n.d). Genetically modified foods in supermarkets are    safe, says WHO study. Canadian Press, The,

 

Sass, C. (2012). The 20 Things You Need to Know About Nutrition.Tennis, 48(1), 20-25.

Hoffer, L. (2012). Micronutrients and Mental Disorders. Journal Of Orthomolecular Medicine, 27(4), 157-161

Gold, D. (2010). beyond grits. Women In Business, 62(2), 14-16.

Squires, N. (2009, February 23). To shelter its cuisine, Italian city bans foreign flavors. (cover story). Christian Science Monitor. pp. 1-12.

Aguiar, D. (2013). Stages of Development [PowerPoint Slides].

Aguiar, D. (2013). Home Is Where the Germ Is? [In Class Handout].

WICKET23. "Calories in Indian Quinoa - Calorie, Fat, Carb, Fiber, and Protein Info | SparkRecipes." Healthy Recipes and Recipe Calculator From SparkRecipes.com | SparkRecipes. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2013. <http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calories.asp?recipe=1663276>.

Consumer Safety Report (Poison in your Spice)

The issue today is food poisoning. Though food poisoning is the most common type of poisoning it is very harmful to health and sometimes even life threatening. Food poisoning you may know are Salmonella, Giardia, E coli, Cholera. If you have ever had one of these food poisonings you realise the horrible results of such an illness. I will give you a few ways to prevent food poisoning from affecting you and your family for advanced stability in health.

Wash Your Hands: It is very important that before you begin cooking or anything in the kitchen which involves you touching the food with your hands that you wash your hands with soap and warm water. Don't forget to get the dirt between your nails and fingers for a thorough washing and dry them off. Also please do not blow you nose when your cooking.

Respect Expiry Dates: This is very important as expired food contains harmful bugs that develop overtime inside the package itself. So when you drink it after the expiry date it is not a surprise that you will probably get food poisoning. This is based on scientific research.

Cook Food Thoroughly: Make sure that any time of meat that you are cooking is cooked properly from the inside and there is no pink left in the meat. As leaving the meat inappropriately cooked can also cause food poisoning.

Use Different Chopping Boards: Make sure to use a different chopping board for ready to eat food and raw food as raw food can contain dangerous bacteria that can quickly multiply by through anything it touches including different types of foods, counter tops, knives and as previously mentioned chopping boards. If you do not want to use two different chopping boards you can also mix bleach with warm water. This mixture can be put in a spray bottle and spritzed on the cutting board. Wait a while until it dries and then wipe clean with dishcloth to make sure no residue is left over that may get into your food. If you find bleach as being a harsh chemical you can also use vinegar in its place it works just as good. Then you are ready to start cutting your food on the chopping board.

Clean Dishcloths: Last but not least and most importantly you must always wash our dishcloths  regularly and dry them before you use them again. The reason being that damp, dirty and wet cloths are the ideal location for bacteria to grow and spread rapidly and because dishcloths are used to clean most things in the kitchen it is very important to keep them clean for the safety and health of your family.

Food poisoning in the home is very common even though many people are not aware of this and it is very important to keep your family and yourself safe for good health by following the simple and easy methods illustrated above.

Nutrition Survey (How hot is your life?)

Below is a survey I did to see how many people actually eat spicy food.

Summative Nutrition Survey

Hi, my name is Sharoon Akhtar and I am doing a survey on spicy food.

(Circle you choice) 

1. Do you enjoy spicy foods?

         Yes, very much ›    Sometimes ›     Not at all ›

2. Do you cook with hot, powerful, tasty spices?

         Yes ›    No I do not ›    Not yet but, I am considering it ›

3. Do you have a favourite spice? If yes please write it down.

4. I often shop for and experiment with spices and peppers.

          Agree ›    Disagree ›

5. How often do you eat something spicy? (It could be daily, weekly, or monthly)

6. What is your family background? ( What country are your grandparents and parents originally from)

Spicy food has been linked with ailments such as ulcers and stomach illnesses in the past but these are all myths. Spicy foods enjoyed in moderation are actually very good for you. For example red chili peppers protect the lining of your stomach. They contain calcium as well as vitamin A and C and there is some research done that says hot chili peppers can actually help reduce cardiovascular disease. Also hot chili peppers help prevent the buildup of bad cholesterol in the blood. Best of all chilli's boost metabolism by making us feel full for longer and helping us burn fats. Remember spicy food is good as long as it is not abused because to much of anything is bad. Hot chili peppers are the best example that provide a variety of benefits as do many other spices. Lets see the statistics of spicy food in peoples diet at Nelson High School represented by two graphs. 

The first graph represents the first question on my survey, do you enjoy spicy food? I surveyed 10 people from Nelson High School and 90% of them said that they do enjoy spicy food with the exception of 1. This is very good as it shows the Nelson community is diverse in terms of their diet as not many communities enjoy spicy foods as much the Nelson community.

The second graph is a donuts graph that represents the people who have a favourite spice vs. those who do not. 60% of the people at Nelson do have a favourite spice and 40% do not. This means that out of the nine people from the previous graph only 60% of them actually have preferred taste for their spicy food. So that is about 5 out of 4 people who names their favourite spices like cinnamon, curry, cumin, nutmeg, black pepper.

It is very good to know that the Nelson community is incorporating spice into their diet and making life hot as it is very beneficial to their health contrary to the myths that spicy food has been linked with.

Recipe of the Week

Spices have been known to bring taste to food, but not only do they add taste, texture, and flavor to your food but they also do this to your body. A study showed that introducing a variety of herbs and spices lowered unhealthy blood fats by thirty percent. Even more interesting is that many of the spices and herbs contain more anti oxidants than even the fruits and vegetables that people depend on.  Spices and herbs have been shown to significantly increase health, so people should start spicing up their food life. 

Here is one way you can make your food life HOT!

INDIAN SPICED QUINOA RECIPE

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
2 vegetable bouillon cubes
1/4 cup chopped almonds, toasted
2 green onions, sliced
1 tsp. garam masala (this can be bought pre-maid)
1/4 cup raisins

Directions:

1. Cook quinoa by combining water and bouillon cubes- bring to a boil, then simmer on low for 20 minutes.
2. While quinoa is cooking, toast the almonds over low/medium heat in a small pan until they are slightly browned and fragrant.
3. When the quinoa is done cooking stir in garam masala, then add in green onions, raisins and almonds.

Nutritional Analysis:

Quinoa: quinoa is one of the most protein rich foods we can eat. It is a complete protein containing all nine essential amino acids. Quinoa contains iron. Iron helps keep our red blood cells healthy and is the basis of haemoglobin formation. Quinoa contains lysine. Lysine essential for tissue growth and repair. High in riboflavin (B2) that improves energy metabolism within brain and muscle cells.

Garam Masala: contains black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and sometimes other spices.

• Black Pepper: Black pepper increases the body’s ability to absorb vitamins, minerals, and proteins/amino's. This is important for getting in shape because the body needs proteins and vitamins to build lean muscle.

• Cardamom: Cardamom relieves gas, heart burn, and soothes upset stomachs. It flushes toxins from the body (good at detoxing caffeine) and increases blood circulation. 

• Cinnamon: Cinnamon is helpful to those with type-2 Diabetes because it lowers blood sugar levels while increasing insulin production. Research studies have shown that simply smelling cinnamon boosts brain functions like memory. The smooth aroma of this lovely brown spice fights bad breath, and kills the bacteria responsible for it. Cinnamon is a natural painkiller and contains a potent antioxidant. 

• Cloves: Cloves boost the metabolism while removing toxins from the blood stream. Because cloves have a blood purifying property, this spice supports a healthy immune system.

Nutrition Facts
Servings Per Recipe: 4
Serving Size: 1 serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories		170.0
Total Fat		5.6 g
	Saturated Fat	0.5 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.3 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	2.5 g
Cholesterol		0.0 mg
Sodium		416.1 mg
Potassium		32.2 mg
Total Carbohydrate		25.7 g
	Dietary Fiber	2.7 g
	Sugars	2.3 g
Protein		4.8 g

Vitamin A	0.1 %
Vitamin B-12	0.0 %
Vitamin B-6	2.6 %
Vitamin C	2.5 %
Vitamin D	0.0 %
Vitamin E	2.1 %
Calcium	1.3 %
Copper	1.2 %
Folate	0.6 %
Iron	17.9 %
Magnesium	0.9 %
Manganese	5.3 %
Niacin	0.3 %
Pantothenic Acid	0.3 %
Phosphorus	30.2 %
Riboflavin	64.2 %
Selenium	0.8 %
Thiamin	0.7 %
Zinc	0.5 %

This recipe is great for adolescents as this is a period of fast growth mentally, emotionally, physically and sexually. In the recipe there is quinoa which contains iron and iron is needed to support growth in adolescence. Black pepper in garam masala contains black pepper which is great for males as males experience an increase in muscle mass, lean body tissue and bones. Black pepper is important for getting in shape because it gives the body protein and vitamins to build lean muscle. This is an excellent recipe that is applicable to the adolescent stage of life. 

Diet Tip of the Week

An interesting fact in sports nutrition is that people know vitamin D as a sunshine vitamin because your body produces it when your skin is exposed to the sun. But depending on the sun for vitamin D could be a bad decision. People in Hawaii are notorious for sunbathing, in fact they spend 20 hours in the sun on average per week and they still do not get enough vitamin D. So the sun is not the greatest source of vitamin D even if you get cooked by the sun your still low on Vitamin D. Many people have severe deficiencies and these lead to severe ailments such as having a very sensitive immune system, developing specific type of cancers, such as skin cancer. There is also the connection of increased muscle fat with people who have lower vitamin D levels. So one should not depend on the sun for vitamin D as much as they think they should. 

Vitamin D is very important for protection against cancer, diabetes, depression, and heart disease. The recommended daily dose of vitamin D is 400 IU(international units), the latest research has suggested that one should take up to 700 IU per day of vitamin D to obtain its health benefits. Here is how you can add more vitamin D to your diet;

Vitamin D can be obtained through these rich foods:

• 3.5 ounce wild salmon contains 360 IU, the majority of the daily vitamin D requirements.
• Milk contain 1/5 of of vitamin D required daily (whole milk better than skim)
• Mushrooms vary from white mushrooms having 5 IU to shitake mushrooms having 45 IU
• Cod Liver Oil 1tablespoon is 1360 IU of vitamin D
• Orange Juice fortified with vitamin D 1 cup is 137 IU
• 1 large egg has 42 IU, vitamin D is found in the yolk