New research, old conclusion. Well, old to my Lola.

A study conducted by the University of London shows that eating more than five (5) servings of fruits and vegetables each day significantly lowers the risk of stroke. I think my grandmother knew that from way, way back. Well, or something like that. Fruits and vegetables were supposed to help us grow healthy and prevent heart ailments. Didn’t we know that there was this child who refused to eat his vegetables and grew up sick and died of a heart attack? Hmmm… No old wives’ (or grandmas) tale, it seems.

From the BBC, Fruit and veg ‘cut stroke risk’:

“Lead researcher Dr Feng He said a diet including lots of fruit and vegetables was also likely to further reduce the risk of other forms of cardiovascular disease, and some cancers.”

With all the nutrients in fruits and vegetables, it seems that one is the most crucial in preventing stroke:

“However, the researchers suspect that potassium may be the most important factor in preventing stroke.

“Professor MacGregor said: “We know that if you give people additional potassium it lowers blood pressure.”

Aha! So it’s been identified, it’s that specific! If Lola was alive, she’d be pleased and say “Didn’t I say so?!”

Photo courtesy of the BBC.

This is my second entry for the month’s Is My Blog Burning? with the theme I Can’t Believe I Ate Vegan! hosted by Sam at Becks and Posh.

What I’m presenting is a twist on an old family favourite, my grandfather’s original spicy chicken recipe which he called Lutong Bombay (Hi Nupur!). In a way, it is also a continuation of my Lolo’s tinkering in the kitchen to come up with original recipes. His grandchild has now improvised on it to come up with something new yet old, different yet similar. It is actually the garlic and ginger base which lends a very distinct flavour to the dish that made me decide to cook it with tokwa (also tau kwa, firm soy bean cake - tofu will do too).

This entry is also meant to prove that with a little ingenuity, meat dishes can be transformed into vegetarian/vegan recipes.

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Sam at Becks & Posh is hosting this month’s edition of Is My Blog Burning? with the theme I Can’t Believe I Ate Vegan! Much as turning vegan has never entered my mind - I’m too much of an ecology empiricist - I have to admit it wouldn’t be such a radical change in lifestyle if I decided to. I grew up in a very traditional household, culinary-wise. This means we ate rice, mostly fish and vegetables on regular days. Since I am a vegetable lover, I later found myself experimenting with all-vegetable meals.

Modesty aside, my dishes have always been successful that even avowed carnivores and vegetable haters have eaten them with gusto. Vegan is but a step further. One of Sam’s stipulations is “conjure up some Vegan food so fantastic that anyone who eats it won’t even be the slightest bit aware that absolutely no animal-derived produce has passed their lips.” A big problem since almost everyone I know doesn’t have qualms about eating vegan. They just don’t call it that. This is Asia after all.
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