Tag: Leafy Vegetables

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Food & Body

Foods That Will Help Heal Your Injuries/Wounds Fast

wound cuts

It is always very devastating after sustaining an injury/wound due to accidents. Many get upset because they have turned tentatively or permanently immobile while others are bothered about how the injuries have disfigured their beautiful skins. Asides the feeling of pain due to the injuries, the length and difficulty of the healing process can also add to your sufferings.

Yes, the very first point of contact during injury treatment are the medical doctors, nurses and physiotherapist. While these professionals are key in helping injured persons, the need to speak to a nutritionist to help you plan an adequate menu that will help you heal fast can not be overemphasized. See the foods that can help you achieve this healing from inside out.

4 Foods/Food Groups That Heal Injuries Fast

wound cuts

1. Tumeric:

This food item has been known to be used for many decades in the treatment of wounds. The volume of antioxidants found in turmeric lowers inflammation and speeds up the healing process during injuries. In the traditional treatment of open wounds, people of older generations form a paste out of turmeric to be used in covering the open wounds and it has proven to be effective.

However, it is much better to include turmeric into your daily meals so that your wound could heal from inside out and it could raise your immunity against infections.

2. Liver And Leafy Vegetable:

The importance of iron in the treatment of wounds is very critical and that is why foods like liver and leafy vegetables that can supply an ample amount of iron are key. A deficiency of iron, which is commonly called anemia may retard the process of wound healing.

You should not forget the loss of blood during injuries which somewhat reduces the iron level in your body. So, it is better to eat foods high in iron to quicken the healing process.

3. Milk, Yoghurt And Meat:

Protein is regarded as a macronutrient that helps in building worn out tissues. Protein from animal sources has been found to speed up the healing process because they are regarded as a complete protein as they contain all the essential amino acids needed for this process. These proteins can be combined with a healthy amount of carbs for a healthier meal.

4. Honey:

It is a super antimicrobial agent that can be used in wound care. One major problem that had reduced the use of honey in this part of the world is because original honey is rare to find. Burns are one of the most difficult problems to treat because this type of wound provides the perfect breeding and feeding ground for many organisms.

As such, burn wounds can easily become infected, and the infection often spreads rapidly into the bloodstream, which can kill the victim. This was reported by Dr. Williams, a medical researcher. He further stated that using honey to cover the face of the wounds will quicken the healing process.

Note: Asides from poor nutrition, wound healing can be a complicate process and it is usually influenced by several factors such as infection, age, sex hormones, stress, diabetes, medications, obesity, alcohol intake, and smoking.

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Who Dished It Best

Efo Riro Soup Photos: Which Is The Most Inviting?

efo riro phummydeps

Efo riro is vegetable soup made fromCelosia argentea var. argentea or Lagos spinach (Efo Soko) and Amaranthus hybridus (Efo Tete). Some even make it from the fluted pumpkin leaf, botanically known as Telfaira occidentalis. 

Efo-riro, which is the most-inviting?

In this post, there are three pictures of efo riro soups. What you need to do is tell us which one you see as the most-inviting. That one which makes you want to eat efo-riro now.

1. Efo riro picture by @topnotchconfectioneries on Instagram

efo riro topnotchconfectionery

2. Efo riro (vegetable soup) picture by @phummydeps on IGefo riro phummydeps

3. Efo riro picture by @angelcatering on Instagram

efo riro angelcatering

So, which one?

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Food & Nutrition Knowledgebase

Here Is Why You Purge/Stool After Eating Leafy Vegetables

efo riro

Many people have always wondered why they “purge” whenever they eat leafy green vegetables, especially the Celosia argentea var. argentea or Lagos spinach (Efo Soko) and Amaranthus hybridus (Efo Tete). For me, the former makes me really purge the day after consuming it and since when I was in high school, I knew the reason for this because I read about it after finding.

I was chatting with a couple of girls last week when one of them informed me that she no longer eat leafy vegetables because they make her go to the toilet and produce watery stool. These leafy vegetables are very rich in nutrients and are not foods one would give up on. This is one of the reasons we advised that people should avoid chopping their vegetables in the market.

efo riro

Why Do I Purge or Stool After Eating Vegetables (Efo)

When we eat leafy vegetables, which by the way are very rich in minerals, they pass through the digestive tract and end up at the small intestine. Nutrients are absorbed by the inner walls of the small intestine into the blood stream, so it is faster and easier when the food touches the wall of the intestine. In the small intestine, the fiber, which is abundant in the vegetables absorb water and swell up. This makes the food to touch the walls of the small intestines and makes digestion faster.

This fiber also ensures regular bowel movements by preventing toxic buildup in the digestive tract. This can make you visit the toilet more often than you normally do. This also prevents the development of digestion problems, including constipation.

If you have read our article on constipation and how to manage constipation at home in the past, you would recall that one of the foods we mentioned for managing constipation is leafy vegetables. They are really very important in our diet.

Even if they make you “purge”, leafy green vegetables are foods that you should eat often because they help digestion of foods and make the absorption of the nutrients in the food you have eaten easier. This “purging” is an “unavoidable evil” you have to embrace. This case is different from the way you purge when you eat beans and that is why we share ways by which you can cook beans to prevent farting or purging after eating it.

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Food & Nutrition Food Safety

Reasons You Shouldn’t Chop Your Vegetables In The Market

In this era when the consumption of pastry foods and junks is on the rise, one or two servings of vegetables/week which remains the only source of vitamins and minerals for many has been made to lose most of its nutritional values, if not all. No wonder the immune system of many Nigerians continues to fail them at the slightest invasion of bacteria infections resulting in illnesses. 

chop vegetables

Aside from the fact that such single or double servings of vegetables/week are low, many housewives and cooks have only provided good looking vegetable soups to their families as against a more nutritious one. For me, I have come to realize that it is much more important to consume a less delicious food which is well loaded with nutrients than to funnel into my system a delicious meal with no or low nutrients. It is what actually prompted this article on how to maximize the nutrients in your vegetables.

Sliced or chopped leafy vegetable from market presents an avenue for a near-complete loss of nutrients even before preparation. As everyone would rinse or wash the chopped leaves once they are ready to cook, the broken cell walls of the leaves give way for loss of nutrients since the vegetable will be drained from the added water.

How To Know That You Should Not Chop Vegetables In The Market

A simple experience will surprise you. Buy both un-chopped and chopped leafy vegetables from the market. Rinse both vegetable types in the same quantity of water to clean. Pour the water drained out in both samples into different transparent glass cups.

You will see that the chopped leafy vegetable has darker drained water compared to the un-chopped one. A clear indication of a significant loss of phytochemicals and nutrients even before cooking.

A further experiment on the matter!

I would even ask you to take the experiment further buy buying vegetables in the market, ask the vendor to chop the for you and buy another fresh vegetable, leave uncapped and take home. When you get home, chop this vegetable and clean it with water.

Do the same for the one you chopped in the marker and do the clear glass-drained water experiment above. You will get a similar result as the one above, an indication of the loss of phytochemicals.

Have you ever wondered how clean the chopping board of these vegetable sellers are? That is completely left for you to judge. In most cases the chopping board is left outside over night for goats, insects and dogs to play with, only for them to resume the next evening, dust the board, maybe just clean with some water and start using for customers.

If vegetables are chopped with these kinds of boards, the sliced leafy vegetable becomes easily contaminated. No wonder many are faced with serious diarrhea after eating vegetable soups. Clearly, one cannot generalize in this matter but some of these vendors do it that way — and sometimes, it is hard to tell which is which.

The best option for you and your family is to buy these vegetable leaves un chopped, rinse them properly and have them chopped or sliced by yourself. Yes, you might not be as perfect in slicing the veggies as the market women but over time you can only get better. Remember, this is simply an action done for improved nutrition and you will definitely be better for it.