What is Vitamin D and What are the Benefits?

What is Vitamin D and what are the Benefits?

Author:Mehboob Talukdar

Vitamin D is a steroid vitamin that encourages the absorption and metabolism of calcium and phosphorous. If you are exposed to normal levels of sunlight then you will not need vitamin D Supplements as sunlight promoted vitamin D synthesis in the skin. A human requires 10 to 15 minutes in the sun at least twice a week on the face, back, hands or arms without sunscreen with a greater than 3 UV index to get adequate amounts of vitamin D.

[caption id="attachment_955" align="aligncenter" width="500"] What is Vitamin D and What are the Benefits?[/caption]

Vitamin D has a number of important functions. One of them being it helps to regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body. These are the nutrients that are needed to keep teeth and bones healthy. When a person is suffering from a vitamin D deficiency it can lead to bone deformities such as rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults which causes bone pain and tenderness. Our main source of vitamin D is the sunlight on our skin. Vitamin D is made by our body under the skin in reaction to summer sunlight. Good food sources for vitamin D are:

• oily fish, such as salmon and sardines


• eggs


• fortified fat spreads


• fortified breakfast cereals


• powdered milk

We need vitamin D for a number of reasons. It is an immune system regulator and is an important way to arm the immune system against ailments like the common cold. It may also reduce the risks of developing multiple sclerosis and according to Dennis Bourdette, the chairman of the Department of Neurology and director of Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology Centre at Oregon Health and Science University, multiple sclerosis is much less common the nearer you get to the tropics where there is a lot more sunlight.

Vitamin D may also play a role in helping the brain to keep working later on in life and could also be linked to maintaining a healthy body weight. Researchers at Harvard Medical School found that vitamin D can help to reduce the severity and frequency of asthma symptoms and also reduce the number of hospitalisations due to asthma.

Other benefits of vitamin D are the reduction in the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis in women, protection against damage from low levels of radiation, lower risks of developing cancer and it can also help with the recovery process from tuberculosis.

If you find that your body is not producing enough vitamin D because you do not have sufficient sunlight exposure you will need to take supplements or change your diet so you can obtain if from food. Elderly people as well as people with darker skin should take extra vitamin D to maintain good health.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/supplements-and-vitamins-articles/what-is-vitamin-d-and-what-are-the-benefits-6194474.html

About the Author

Victoria Pharmacy provides a variety of vitamins which include Vitamin D, tablets, Weight Loss Supplement, slimming pills, Minerals and Antioxidants.

What is Ugali?

What Is Ugali?

By Lamaro Schoenleber

There are so many culinary secrets and delicacies in African cuisine still awaiting general discovery. Indeed, African cuisine could be said to be the last frontier in world cuisine.

[caption id="attachment_69" align="aligncenter" width="300"] What Is Ugali?[/caption]

One such open culinary secret is Ugali.

There is honestly, seriously, no other word for it. If you say maize meal bread or millet bread, it does not quite describe this dish.

It is probably the most widespread dish in Africa. There are variations of it right across Africa.

In West Africa, a variation of this dish is called foo-foo. Foo-foo is made of cooked yam, cocoyam or cassava, pounded into a mash and served with various sauces like fish, meat or vegetables.

In Kenya, Ugali is made with maize flour. Maize flour is added to boiling water and mingled until smooth, to various degrees of stiffness. Ugali is served with vegetables, fish, meat, fermented milk or pulses, and eaten with the fingers. Ugali is also referred to as sima along the coast of Kenya.

In Uganda, Ugali is made of maize (then it is called posho), millet or sorghum flour (then it is called kuon kal or kalo) or of cassava flour.

In southern Africa, it is referred to as pap.

Many men, even if given the choice of rice, cooking banana or wheat breads, prefer Ugali because they say it leaves them feeling satisfied for a longer period of time.

Consequently, many eating houses in Africa serve chapati (a flat fried wheat flour bread), rice or mashed cooking banana along with Ugali.

Ugali - or variations of it - is always eaten with the fingers. There is a complex etiquette and art to this, which must be learnt from childhood. The fingers are not used to shove food into the mouth, but to delicately carry food - even a thin sauce - into the mouth without leaving traces.

In Uganda for example, only the upper portions of the fingers should be involved in eating, and there should be no evidence of the meal afterwards. One should be able to walk away after the meal without anyone noticing anything.

A common and special ritual as part of hospitality in many parts of Africa is to bring the guests warm water to the table before and after the meal to wash their hands. Even where guests have the possibility of washing their hands at the sink, this ritual persists, probably because there is something very giving, very generous about serving a guest in this way.

Making good Ugali, or a variation thereof, has always been a litmus test for women all over Africa. Well-made Ugali takes skill and long practice to make. Well-made Ugali must be smooth and lump-free, without burning. Various levels of stiffness are desirable in various communities.

The Kalenjin of western Kenya, for example, prefer a softer Ugali to eat with their Murzik, while the Luo of western Kenya prefer a stiffer Ugali to eat with fish or vegetables.

Among the people of northern Uganda, the test for well-made kuon kal - Ugali made from millet flour - is that if a lump of it is thrown against the walls of a hut it will not stick, much the same way the Italians say al dente spaghetti does not stick to the wall!

Africans have been known to complain against their Ugali, especially when they cannot afford anything else, such as chapati or cooked banana. Ugali is, after all, a cheap and filling dish. In Uganda, for example, it is a staple in boarding schools and correctional institutions.

The same Africans, however, have been known to clamour for Ugali even when they can afford something better!

Ugali. The great silent common cultural denominator across Africa.

Ugali plays an unexpected supporting role in Lamaro Schoenleber's new full-length memoirs; Sauerkraut in Odii - add love to taste, available at amazon.com available right away!
https://www.amazon.com/author/lamarolaker

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lamaro_Schoenleber

http://EzineArticles.com/?What-Is-Ugali?&id=7001829

What is Irio?

What Is Irio?

By Lamaro Schoenleber

There are so many culinary secrets in African cuisine that have remained largely undiscovered by the general world population. Indeed, African cuisine is probably the last frontier remaining for world cuisine.

[caption id="attachment_65" align="aligncenter" width="300"] What Is Irio?[/caption]

What is Irio?

It is the Kikuyu work for food. Irio has such a central place in Kikuyu cuisine, that it defines the word food. Irio is also referred to as mukimo - mashed food.

The Kikuyu are the largest tribe in Kenya. They are Bantus, which implies they traditionally depended on agriculture.

The Kikuyus grew sweet potatoes, vegetables, beans, and more recently maize and Irish potatoes. Although many of the Kikuyu are now involved in various professions, businesses and industry, agriculture is still a favourite occupation.

Irio, or mukimo, is what you prepare for special occasions. You start by boiling maize and beans - usually red kidney beans - together till they are ready. Shortly after the harvest, or during the rainy season, fresh maize and beans are plentiful. Later, dried maize and beans, which obviously take longer to cook, will have to do.

Irish potatoes are then added to the maize and beans. Shortly before the potatoes are ready, one may add fresh pumpkin leaves. Then mash everything together. The result is a tasty, nutritious green mash which can be served with meat stew.

That, is Irio.

For occasions such as weddings, a goat may be slaughtered for the goat meat stew to accompany the irio.

An older type of mukimo is prepared with sweet potatoes, which was already a staple before the introduction of Irish potatoes. Irio prepared without pumpkin leaves and beans has a rich yellow colour. Sometimes fresh green peas substitute for the beans.

A very special irio served at weddings is prepared with ripe bananas and black white-eye beans rather than with potatoes and kidney beans.

Sometimes for a wedding, neighbours and relatives bring different types of irio as their gift or contribution.

Irio is the luxury version of an everyday Kikuyu dish, githeri. Githeri is simply maize and beans cooked together. A variation of githeri is fresh maize and green peas.

In times of plenty, githeri is cooked with fresh maize and beans or peas harvested just that day. The githeri can be fried with onions, carrots, strips of cabbage and bits of meat - a nutritious meal all in one plate.

During hard times, githeri is plain dried maize and beans boiled together, a meal which fulfills the basic nutritional needs, till better times arrive.

When one can make irio.

Irio, another of the well-kept culinary secrets in African cuisine.

Irio gets an emotional mention in Lamaro Schoenleber's new full-length memoirs; Sauerkraut in Odii - add love to taste, available right away at amazon.com!
https://www.amazon.com/author/lamarolaker

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lamaro_Schoenleber
http://EzineArticles.com/?What-Is-Irio?&id=7003183

What is Luwombo?

What Is Luwombo?

By Lamaro Schoenleber

There are so many culinary secrets and delicacies in African cuisine, which have not yet been discovered by the rest of the world. Indeed, African cuisine is probably the last frontier in world cuisine. One such secret is: Luwombo.

[caption id="attachment_61" align="aligncenter" width="300"] What is Luwombo?[/caption]

What is Luwombo?

In luwombo, the central role is played, not by the ingredients, but by the banana leaves in which they are prepared.

Luwombo is a dish prepared by the Baganda people of southern Uganda. The Baganda are the largest tribe in Uganda. The country - Uganda - is named after them, as is their language, Luganda.

Central to the cuisine of the Baganda is the preparation of food in banana leaves. Indeed, the luscious, refreshing green of banana leaves waving in numerous banana plantations is a hallmark of southern Uganda, where the ultimate life dream is to build a house and plant a banana plantation around it.

To cook luwombo, you place meat or fish, together with onions, tomatoes, vegetables and a little oil in clean banana leaves. It takes some skill to wrap it all up and tie it with banana rind, without losing any liquid.

Hacked banana tree stumps are then placed in a large saucepan or pot, and covered with water. The parcels of luwombo are arranged carefully onto the banana stumps, so that they can be steamed without being boiled.

Luwombo is best served in the banana leaves, where it remains hot, and retains the very distinct taste lent by the banana leaves. Many eating-houses now serve versions of luwombo also in aluminium foil, but it does not quite taste the same.

Luwombo is best served with matoke - the mashed cooking banana central to Baganda cuisine - cooked in a similar way to luwombo.Luwombo is best eaten with the fingers, in true African style.

Luwombo draws attention to the cooking methods common to African cuisine. Luwombo refers to food steamed in banana leaves. The Baganda also steam cooking bananas and other dishes.

Steaming is recognized by many cooking experts as an extremely healthy and highly-recommended method of cooking.

The Acholi of northern Uganda, to whose cooking odii is central, mostly boil their food, before adding odii - the only fat of any sort they add to their cooking.

In many African communities, food is also roasted - sweet potatoes, cassava, various types of banana, fresh maize, meat and fish.

Many staples are also boiled in water - sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, cassava, bananas, maize and Ugali - which is four cooked in boiling water.

In general, African cuisine employs healthy, time-honoured cooking methods such as steaming, boiling and roasting, In recent times, frying, broiling and baking have also been adopted, but they often remain guest methods.

Read more in Lamaro Schoenleber's new full-length memoirs; Sauerkraut in Odii - add love to taste, available at Amazon.com right away!
https://www.amazon.com/author/lamarolaker

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lamaro_Schoenleber
http://EzineArticles.com/?What-Is-Luwombo?&id=7003196