To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Sunchokes
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:23:25 -0500
Sunchokes are said to be sweeter if dug after cold weather arrives. I
expect that means that the inulin is changing into something more
digestible. Sunchokes are one of many plants that are good for you because
they feed good bacteria. This produces flatulence but tends to reduce
inflammation, because bad gut bacteria create toxins that promote
inflammation. Others on the list include beans, peas, oats, anything in the
cabbage family, salsify, scorzonera.
I think we might be getting off topic, because I can't think of a single
fruit that is high in FOS or any of those fancy sugars. While we are off
topic, the complex sugars in certain mushrooms act as general immune system
stimulants, and help fight cancer. These include shiitake mushrooms, and the
common "turkeytails". Turkeytails contain a cancer fighter that was used
for about 20% of all "chemotherapy" in Japan back about 10 years ago. I
don't know about now, and I use the term in parenthesis because I don't know
if you can call something that natural "chemo". IP6 is extracted from rice
hulls, and used to fight cancer, but you buy it at the health food store so
it's not "chemo". Binds iron, and iron is required for cancer to grow.
Iron is also required for bad gut bacteria to grow. When babies are born
they have a sterile gut, and mother's milk contains no iron plus
lactoferrin, which grabs up any iron it encounters. There are very few
bacteria that can live without iron, they include the good symbionts like
Lactobacillus, Acidopholus, etc that use Manganese instead of iron. (Mn is
very much like iron in many ways.) Given that a normal baby is born with a
year's supply of iron in it's liver and human milk provides a negative
amount of iron, it is truly bizarre that the formula industry insists on
iron fortified formulas for babies. Some believe that this can affect the
immune system for life, upping rates of asthma and other inflammatory
conditions, which only proves once again that homegrown is better than
storebought. Donna