{Diabetes Type 2, & Iranian Medicine about Sesame Seed Paste or Tahini}

It does not matter if you are Pre-Diabetes, Diabetes or even Type 2 Diabetes but we all should educate ourselves about Healthy Living by Simple Lifestyle Changes...

Sesame Seed Paste or Tahini...

NO Sugars, NO Cholesterol and low Sodium are some great Nutricion Facts!

In Vietnam, Sesame is known as the king of oil seeds and all over the Middle East it is a very popular seed.

We ALL can learn from those healthier diets in the Far and Middle East, like from Persia!

Read more helpful information here: November 2013 Archives of Iranian Medicine about Sesame seed paste or tahini as it does lower the blood sugar level in Diabetes Type 2 patients.

Diabetes-proof for life Reduce your risk with simple lifestyle changes.

The National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse (NDIC) estimates that 79 million American adults have pre-diabetes, defined by above-normal blood sugar levels. That's 35 percent of adults 20 and older, and half of adults 65 and older.

Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the US and a major cause of heart disease, stroke, kidney failure and blindness, so a diagnosis of pre-diabetes is serious.

For reading this on page 72 and 73 in the Pdf click here: Costco Connection November 2011 

Vitamine D is important!

Cinnamon is such a healthy spice...

Avoid low fiber 'white' carbohydrates such as white pasta, white bread and white rice.

Mayoclinic - Living with diabetes Kidney disease: No early symptoms. Just click this link to learn that unfortunately early kidney disease has no symptoms. Guess that's why I do have Chronic Kidney Disease stage II...
Being diagnosed with Diabetes Type 2, can be quite shocking, as I know from personal experience in 2007, but we can continue to live healthy!
Will share more posts on the subject as there are so many people facing this health issue.

Related links:

The Pre-Diabetes Diet Everyone Needs | Barbara Borcik (quoted in above Costco article): Pull back on portions. You still can eat many of the foods you like, just have smaller amounts of them. Borcik says, adding that this is especially true for starchy foods like white rice, white potatoes, and pasta.

Eating white rice daily ups diabetes risk, study shows | Study author Dr. Qi Sun, a diabetes researcher at Harvard School of Public Health, told WebMD that eating white rice could cause a sudden spike in blood sugar. White rice also doesn't contain as many nutrients as brown rice, which is packed in fiber, magnesium and vitamins. The researchers said not getting enough of these nutrients could contribute to type 2 diabetes risk.
Diabetes in Japan: a review of disease burden and approaches to treatment | In recent years there has been rapid growth in diabetes in Japan which now is one of the nations most affected by the worldwide diabetes epidemic.

Mariette on Google+

{Growing Pomegranates the Ancient Persian SuperFruit}

Since August 2012, we are trying to grow our own Pomegranates, the Ancient Persian Superfood...

Close to our gazebo we did plant this pomegranate and a bit farther away a 2nd one...

Yep, the price is still visible; US $ 18.00

On May 26, I did spot this very first bloom! Already browned from the rain...

Wow, we were hoping to see the setting of the FIRST ANTIOXIDANT SUPERFRUIT!

Its blossoms got rained off the shrub; no hope for any fruits this year!

History of Pomegranate - The pomegranate is one of the world's most ancient foods and originally came from Persia...

Pomegranate Juice Is a Powerhouse of Antioxidants

Beats even Red Wine and Green Tea

It is supposed to have positive effects on diabetes...

Persian origin and does melt away belly fat...

The Basis of grenadine. Do you recall that lemonade syrup? As a child we got it served over vanilla pudding and also as a summer lemonade.

Beneficial effect on our performance between the sheets are even attributed to this super food for super Valentine

The above is being translated from Dutch, using Bing.

Hoe gezond is de granaatappel (original Dutch text, you can click it)

What Does It Take for Pomegranate Trees to Produce Fruit? Pomegranate trees are self-fruitful, with both male and female flower parts on a single tree. Insects and hummingbirds help spread pollen from flower to flower, allowing fruit to form when conditions are right.

The above link did explain it very nicely but meanwhile for 2014, we will not see any fruits...

Maybe best bet is to buy some Anardana seeds or powder... See for more info below via links.

Do any of you have their own Ancient Persian Superfood?

Related link:

Super foods: pomegranate | The Telegraph UK
Spice Hunting: Anardana, Dried Pomegranate Seeds | soaking those seeds for a couple of hours they are a great spice to use in sauces or braising liquid. Try adding them to marmelade, together with orange peel and cinnamon...

What Is Anardana? | More information from wiseGEEK
Pomegranate | Cultural history and Culinary use

Mariette on Google+

{Persian Cucumbers & Slicer}

As stated before, both my husband and I are the son and daughter of a market gardener so again, knowing cucumbers is not foreign to us. But Dad grew the long English cucumbers and now we saw these Persian Cucumbers at Trader Joe's. Had to try them out!

Yes, this is their size and as you can see inside my hand they are not large.

Seedless, sweet and crunchy product of Canada.

We know in the Ontario region there are a lot of market gardeners with Dutch last names...

But we, being Dutch by birth, never actually did slice them as thick as shown above!
Unless you want to eat them just raw.

Being seedless is an added bonus too, no need for scooping out the seeds with a spoon, after cutting the cucumber lengthwise.

No, we don't peel them but they get sliced paper thin on this typical Dutch slicer!

Below my post you will find some links to e.g. a Japanese slicer that is available here in the USA.

This time I used Greek yogurt with some grated garlic and fresh ginger.

That's how it looks like...
Not quite the same as the Greek Tzatziki for which lemon juice and dill gets added to the garlic, no fresh ginger.

These are English Cucumbers but just to show you different ways of preparing them.
Here I used some olive oil with natural vinegar and Italian herbs.

When I was in Japan in July of 2007, one of our sister city members went to the early vegetable and fruit market for buying. He was so kind to make photos for me from all the fresh produce.
Guess these are small, Persian looking cucumbers as well, with daikon it looks like.
My Japanese blogger friends for sure can fill me in on that...

How are you slicing and eating your cucumbers?

Related links:

Benriner Japanese Mandoline Slicer
Shenzhen Knives. Ceramic Blade Mandoline Slicer
Rösle Adjustable Vegetable Slicer with Grip, Stainless Steel
{Healthy & Quick Vegetarian Supper} | previous post by me showing Cucumber salad

Mariette on Google+

{Epiphany and our visits to the Shrine of the Three Magi in Cologne, Germany}

January 6 is the Feast of Epiphany and I thought let me share with you our visits to the Cathedral of Cologne, Germany where the Shrine of the Three Kings is inside gilded and decorated triple sarcophagus. The remains of the Three 'Magi' (Persian) are in there: Merlchior middle aged from Persia, Caspar young European, Balthasar an elderly from Ethiopia. There is a lot of information out there about these biblical figures and millions of people have visited this Shrine in Cologne, Germany.

Here you see the triple gilded sarcophagus with the remains of the Three Magi.

This is the largest reliquary of the Western World.

Because of the value of he gold, pearls and intaglia + the relics it is well protected as you can see. 

This visit was in 2005, with our German 'son' as our guide (r) and our Dublin, Georgia friend (l) and me in the center. Husband Pieter took both photos. Here we are standing outside of the Cathedral of Cologne.

It is impossible for capturing this mighty building. The foundation was laid in 1248 and it took over 600 years to complete. Below this post, you find a video about Cologne Cathedral, Germany.

Cologne Cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This photo from November 2008, shows more of the LARGEST CHURCH FACADE IN THE WORLD!

To the left is our German 'daughter-in-law', me with little 'granddaughter' and our foster-daughter Anita from Indonesia.

Cologne Cathedral is also the world's tallest Gothic building!

When it got completed in 1880 it was the world's tallest building for 4 years till the Washington Monument in DC, USA did beat it by 4 meters .

Inside of the Cathedral with 'daughter-in-law', 'grandson' and me to the right...

The space inside compares to over 600 houses. 

It also houses the world's largest free-swinging Church bell; the Saint Peter's bell weighing a massive 24 tons.

There are a total of 11 bells. You can hear the big Saint Peter's bell and 8 of the 11 bells ringing in two Youtube videos, linked below post.

When I was still in my early 20s I actually did CLIMB up the stairs and here I took this photo by standing on my toes and holding my camera out of the tower. You see the famous bridge over the river Rhine.

They now seem to have a platform at the south tower for standing on and you can reach that with 533 steps. Not at that time...

Yep, I had to rest before moving on.

Wearing my Salzburger rose Dirndl here...

Did you ever visit the Cathedral in Cologne, Germany?

Guess what? Living here in the USA, in the Southeast we MISS those majestic Church bells that always would ring when a wedding is going on, for festivities or for sad days like a funeral... 

It was kind of hard adjusting to, when we moved from Europe.

Related links:

Cologne Cathedral, Germany Youtube video
The Big Bell of Cologne Cathedral, Germany Sound of Saint Peter's Bell
The Bells of Cologne Cathedral, Germany Here you hear 8 bells of the South Tower with spectacular view of Cathedral by night
Magi in Iran Information on the Magi
Shrine of the Three Kings History and information
Christians in Persia video about Churches in Iran where one of the three Magi were buried

Mariette on Google+

SaveSave