Ankh Rah's Healthy Living Guide: What you should be doing instead of juicing

By Jason Holland,

Seaweed has become much more of a mainstream product in European diets in the last five years. While this success owes much to the marine algae’s use in popular Asian cuisine like sushi and miso soup, new research from international market intelligence agency Mintel finds that new seaweed product innovation in Europe is at a record level and also suggests that its health benefits are moving it quickly toward superfood status, alongside the likes of goji berries, wheatgrass and green tea.
According to Mintel, Europe’s food and drink product launches that comprise seaweed flavors, including kombu, nori/laver and wakame increased by 147 percent between 2011 and 2015. This growth means the bloc is now the second most innovative region globally when it comes to seaweed-flavored food and drink launches.
While the majority of seaweed products are launched in the Asia Pacific region, which accounted for 88 percent of global product launches between 2011 and 2015, Europe released seven percent of the total in this period, outpacing both North America and Latin America, with four percent and one percent, respectively.
“Seaweed has been a famous delicacy in many Asian countries for centuries, celebrated for its flavor and nourishing powers. While still somewhat niche in Europe, we believe that seaweed could become the next superfood. Due to its abundance in natural vitamins, minerals, and plant-based protein, seaweed speaks to the growing quest for naturally functional foods and alternative protein sources in the West,” said Stephanie Mattucci, global food science analyst at Mintel.
Its study finds that 58 percent of German consumers and 44 percent of their U.K. counterparts have either tried or would like to try algae as a protein source. Furthermore, 36 percent of U.K. consumers who use herbs, spices or seasonings agree that ground, dried seaweed would be a good alternative to salt for flavoring meals or dishes.
With regard to salt consumption, 32 percent of German, 42 percent of Spanish, 46 percent of French, 48 percent of Italian and 57 percent of Polish consumers say they are actively reducing their overall consumption of salty foods or avoiding them altogether.
Seaweed is not only a natural way to substitute salt, but also exhibits antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties which may lower cholesterol, reduce blood pressure, or aid in digestion and weight management, said Mattucci.
Mintel believes seaweed’s “health halo” presents a big opportunity for manufacturers in the West, especially in the snack category, and adds that 30 percent of consumers in Italy, Poland (36 percent) and Spain (37 percent) would like to see a wider variety of healthier snacks.
Consumer demand is mirrored in recent launch activity – 37 percent of seaweed-flavored food and drink launches in Europe between 2011 and 2015 took place in the snack category, according to Mintel’s Global New Products Database. Other top categories for new product development in Europe include sauces and seasonings (12 percent), bakery (nine percent) and soup (eight percent).
But while the inherent health benefits in seaweed allow it to fit naturally into the healthy snack category, Mintel’s research also showed it’s important these products are tasty, as the majority of European snack consumers agree that taste is king. Indeed, 56 percent of Italian, 57 percent of Spanish, 62 percent of French, 65 percent of Polish and 70 percent of German consumers agreed that flavor is more important than calorie content when indulging in a snack.
- See more at: http://www.seafoodsource.com/news/food-safety-health/seaweed-on-track-to-become-europe-s-next-big-superfood-trend#sthash.LRpxhuiH.dpuf

Many Americans, tired of wasting hundreds of dollars a month on vitamin supplements whose only noticeable benefit is turning their pee highlighter yellow, have turned to the new habit of drinking fruit and vegetable smoothies daily.Chewing and swallowing our necessary vitamins and nutrients from whole foods is not only more fun, but also clinically proven to be a much more effective form than the pill-popping alternative. But what if you’re in New York in the middle of February or worse, in Alaska in the middle of any month … and you don’t want an ice-cold smoothie, but you do still want some antioxidants? What then?
Here’s a hint. Drop the straw, pick up a spoon, and continue with the slurping. I’m talking about soup, the new smoothie!
Let’s call it souping.
Souping is a simple way to take in loads of vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants by the mouthful. Marcus Antebi, CEO and founder of the popular New York City based juicery Juice Press agrees that it’s not a bad idea to turn up the neat on your health game.

‘Not everyone wants a smoothie in the cold.’
- Marcus Antebi, founder of Juice Press

“Soups are a great alternative to smoothies in that they are both plant-based,” he told me. Plant-based foods are vital to our health because those foods are the ones that offer more nutritional density than calorically dense processed foods like bread. “Not everyone wants a smoothie in the cold,” he pointed out. “By having a hot soup you’re able to keep your ambient body temperature up and still eat clean.” In some instances a hot cup of soup can even be more nourishing than a smoothie because certain health beneficial compounds known as phytochemicals are enhanced from vegetables once heated. A study conducted by Cornell University’s food science department informs us that the cancer and heart disease-fighting antioxidant lycopene, found in tomatoes, becomes greater in concentration and bioavailability after heating.
In other words, your body can absorb and use the antioxidants from the tomato better when it has been heated to a certain degree.
As the healthy hippie trends of the ‘60s and ‘70s continue to resurge, people look to maximize on their health by consuming more fruits, vegetables, roots and herbs.
Antebi tells us that one nutritional biggie is ginger: “It’s the magic bullet that everyone is looking for.” Ginger is a great anti-inflammatory and when you’re body is feeling inflamed from too much alcohol, not enough sleep, or the onset of flu symptoms, ginger is going to bring that inflammation down. Instead of reaching for the bull crap chem-lab medicine sold over-the-counter between the condoms and the Pepto Bismol, something like this carrot ginger soup recipe is a much better alternative.
Souping can be preferable to juicing or drinking smoothies for more reasons than just keeping you warm.

Since sugar is dieting kryptonite, soup cleanses can be a much more effective solution for weight loss than a juice cleanse.

First off, soups typically do not contain any fruit and therefore have substantially less sugar. This is great for anyone who is looking to get the number on the scale to go in the same direction as the public’s current opinion of the presidential candidates… down. Since sugar is dieting kryptonite, soup cleanses can be a much more effective solution for weight loss than a juice cleanse. Also, because the pulp and fiber is not removed from soup as it is during the process of juicing, much more fiber is retained which gives eaters a greater sense of satiety. Going on a soup cleanse feels a lot less like Sylvia Plath and death poems, and more like Bob Marley and weed songs. Companies like Brooklyn-based Splendid Spoon and LA’s Soupure have emerged to capitalize on the power of soups and soup cleanses. Both companies offer prepared soups with an emphasis on health containing vegan, gluten free, and organic options. People are gravitating towards soups because of their many benefits. They are vitamin and nutrient-rich, easy on the digestive system, convenient, great for weight loss, and stimulate improved health. If you haven’t been incorporating soups into your daily diet, there has never been a better time than now. Remember, summer bodies are made in March!