Learn how to live a healthy life and leave a legacy of wellness by looking both to the past and to the future.
You Are What Your Grandparents Ate takes conventional wisdom about the origins of chronic disease and turns it upside down. Rooted in the work of the late epidemiologist Dr. David Barker, it highlights the exciting research showing that heredity involves much more than the genes your parents passed on to you. Thanks to the relatively new science of epigenetics, we now know that the experiences of previous generations may show up in your health and well-being.
Many of the risks for chronic diseases — including obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and dementia — can be traced back to your first 1,000 days of existence, from the moment you were conceived. The roots of these vulnerabilities may extend back even further, to experiences your parents and grandparents had — and perhaps even beyond.
Similarly, what happens to you will affect your children and grandchildren. That’s why it’s so important to make good dietary choices, get a suitable amount of exercise and be cautious about exposure to toxins. Positive lifestyle changes have been shown to spark epigenetic adjustments that can lead to better health, not only for yourself, your offspring and their children, but also for generations to come.
This book makes hard science accessible. It is a call to action for social as well as personal change, delivering the message that by changing our own health, we can also influence the future of the world.
Judith Finlayson is a bestselling author who has written books on a variety of subjects, from personal well-being and women’s history to food and nutrition. A former national newspaper columnist for The Globe and Mail, magazine journalist and board member of various organizations focusing on legal, medical and women’s issues, she is
also the author of over a dozen cookbooks. Judith lives in Toronto, Canada.
Foreword by Dr. Kent Thornburg, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Center for Developmental Health at the Knight Cardiovascular Institute, and Director of the Bob and Charlee Moore Institute for Nutrition & Wellness at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon.
YOU ARE WHAT YOUR GRANDPARENTS ATE
Chile peppers bring both sweet and fiery zest to dishes — discover a fascinating and seemingly endless variety within the pages of this delightful book.Contrary to popular belief, a pepper does not need to make your eyes water or start a fire in your mouth to qualify as a chile. “Chile” is simply the common name for the fruit of the capsicum plant and chiles come in a wide variety of colors, shapes and flavors.
There are five major species of chile peppers and thousands of varieties, in a wide range of sizes, shapes and colors. Even experts disagree about how many there actually are. So it is probably not surprising that the spelling for the word itself is somewhat problematic. Is it chili, chilli or chile? You are likely to come across all of those spellings if you are reading up on the topic.
This comprehensive book (which serves as both a reference and a cookbook) from bestselling author and expert researcher Judith Finlayson takes you through dozens of chiles and provides absorbing information on everything from the historical and geographic origins of chiles to information on the Scoville scale (which measures the hotness of a chile and was invented by Wilbur Scoville) to the health benefits of chiles and finally, 250 delicious and inventive recipes.
Full color throughout, this book takes inspiration from chiles and embraces them with an enthusiasm that maximizes their true flavor potential. From fiery Tex-Mex inspired meals to savory and sweet Thai dishes, this incredible collection of recipes is sure to make you a lover of all things chile.
Moroccan-Style Lemon Chicken with Olives
This is a great dish for a Friday night dinner with friends. Serve the chicken over whole-grain couscous, or cooked millet or quinoa for a gluten-free alternative. Accompany it with a green vegetable such as steamed beans or sautéed spinach.
Leek and Green Pea Soup with Macarpone and Mint
This delicious soup has a mild flavor but is very substantial. Serve it as a light main course or the centerpiece of a soup-and-salad dinner, or serve smaller portions as a prelude to an elegant meal. If you’re serving this soup to guests and want to dress it up, top with garlic croutons or bacon bits.
Oat Groats or Steel Cut Oats
Groats are the whole oat kernel that hasn’t been cut or flattened in any way. Steel-cut oats, also known as Irish or Scottish oatmeal, are whole oat groats cut into smaller pieces. These are the most nutritious versions of the grain. They are flavorful and nicely chewy and can be eaten with your favorite finish – milk or a non-dairy alternative, sugar or honey, raisins, chopped bananas, toasted nuts or seeds – almost anything that strikes your fancy will work.
Coconut-Laced Black Sticky Rice Pudding
Rice pudding is a dessert I love and this is one of my favorite versions. It’s exotic and delicious. You can serve it if you’re looking for a Wow! factor but it’s so easy to make you can also prepare it for a personal treat.
Oranges in Cointreau
This delightfully different dessert is so easy to make, yet sumptuous enough to satisfy even the most sophisticated palate. It’s delicious topped with whipped cream, but I love to serve it as an oh-so-chic sundae, over vanilla ice cream or a complementary sorbet. Yum!
New Potato Curry
This is an excellent way to cook new potatoes. They cook slowly, almost in their own juices, in a curry-flavored sauce. It’s a great side dish, but you can also serve it as a main course along with a bowl of dal and a green vegetable. It also makes a delicious summer meal accompanied by a garden salad.
Tagine of Squash and Chickpeas with Mushrooms
I love the unusual combination of flavorings in this dish. The tastes of the cinnamon and ginger really come through, and the bittersweet mixture of lemon and honey, with a sprinkling of currants, adds a perfect finish. Serve this over whole-grain couscous to complement the Middle Eastern flavors. Add spinach or Swiss chard to complete the meal.
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