Fava Bean - Ancient Organic Superfood full of health benefits

Fava bean is one of the ancient cultivated crop and like other legumes is an excellent source of perfect protein. An organic superfood that is rich in nutrients and free of saturated fat.

Fava bean is a member of the fabaceae plant family under genus vicia. Its scientific name is vicia faba. This organic superfood is a small and a glabrous annual plant with erect stems that grows to a height of up to 6 feet and thrives in warm weather.  A bushy plant have tapering leaves and produces clusters of beautiful pink-white flowers after three months from seeding. And from these flowers develops light green beaded pods that resemble pea pods although much larger and covered with pillow-like material that protects the seed.  Each plant yields about 25 to 50 pods.

Let’s have a little bit of history about this “fava-lous” organic superfood. They were believed to have been grown about 6000 years ago during the Neolithic times. Traces of this green legume have been found in the tombs of Egyptian Pharaohs. Fava beans grew abundantly along the Nile River and the great Rameses III was said to have offered 11,998 jars of these beans to the god of the Nile.  Ancient Romans and Greeks love them, well, except for the Greek philosopher Pythagoras, who despise the beans.

Why is this organic superfood good for you? 

Fava bean is one of the best sources of dietary fiber, which provides a wide range of benefits for your digestive system. It lowers the absorption of cholesterol from the food you eat and helps control your hunger.

It has an abundant supply of essential mineral like calcium, iron, manganese, zinc, magnesium and copper, which are generally higher that in most beans.

This amazing super bean is also known as one of the rare sources of L-dopa (Levodopa), a chemical substance that is being used to treat people suffering from Parkinson’s disease.  

Does fava bean have a dark side? 

Well, although significantly full of health benefits, there are some possible health concerns that you should be aware of. It is said to contain a rather high level of complex carbohydrates, which can cause gastric problems and abdominal pain when taken excessively. Individuals taking monoamine oxidase inhibitors should avoid fava beans as it also holds a high amount of tyramine, a compound that occurs naturally in some foods that can dangerously increase blood pressure.

For a crunchy, healthy fava snack, here’s what you do… cook dried fava beans until they’re thoroughly dry and slightly fry them in coconut oil until they’re super crunchy. Drain them in paper towels and sprinkle some salt (kosher please). I put a little cayenne powder to spice it up a bit!

Stay fit. Eat more organic superfood.

Maca - The Peruvian Organic Superfood That Can Boost Your Energy Level

Maca, also called as the Peruvian Ginseng, is an organic superfood that grows high in the Andes Mountain at an altitude between 11,000 to 14,000 feet. It is a very powerful enhancer of strength and stamina used by the ancient Incas for thousands of years.

What makes it such a powerful organic superfood is its ability to raise the physical body’s state of resistance to diseases. The hormones in your body regulate many things, including mood, growth, sexual development, and tissue function. But instead of providing hormones to the body, this surprising organic superfood works as an adaptogen which means that it responds to different bodies' needs individually. If you're producing too much of a particular hormone, maca will regulate the production downward. However, if you're producing too little, it will regulate the production upward. In other words, maca keeps things at a normal level.

Today, organic superfood like maca is also being used by athletes as an effective alternative to anabolic steroids in muscle building and strengthening, which is much safer as it does not contain any chemical to interfere with the normal endocrine function. This is the best way to boost your muscles and energy without the negative side effects.

Maca is truly a powerhouse of nutrition and health benefit that one can expect from an organic superfood. It is packed with an assortment of vitamins like ascorbic acid, niacin, riboflavin and thiamin. The numerous mineral content of this amazing organic superfood includes potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, copper, selenium, manganese, zinc and iron. It’s also loaded with bio-available plant protein that provides your body all the essential amino acids it needs to function properly, including rich amount of quality carbohydrates and sterols that can significantly reduce blood cholesterol level.

The many medicinal uses of this wonder root include treatment of menstrual disorders, tuberculosis, menopausal symptoms, shrinks enlarged prostate glands, reduce the frequency and severity of migraine attacks, allows wounds to heal quickly and helps clear skin blemishes and acne.

Here are some interesting facts about maca. It’s an antidepressant. It can increase fertility. It can increase sexual desire, a natural aphrodisiac.

Some side effects you may have to watch out. Maca, just like any other organic superfoods is safe to eat, but has to be in moderation. It contains a natural chemical that it uses to defend against diseases and pests called glucosinolate, which can adversely affect the goiter. This root crop also has thick fibers that may cause gastric upset.

How Organic Food Production Benefits the Environment

I’m sure you have been seeing more and more organic products on supermarket counters and local farmers market, but have you ever really thought what it actually means to be organic and how our environment is benefiting from it?  Organic farming is generally believed to be suitable and safe for the environment, making it worthy of our support. There has been a lot studies conducted between the use of organic and conventional farming process and organic farming often shows more benefits for the environment.  But what are these advantages and how are they better over other farming system?

Organic farming does not allow the use of any synthetic chemicals at any stage of the farming process. It takes a proactive approach rather than endlessly looking for solutions after the problems have occurred. The fact alone that pesticides and artificial fertilizers have been proven scientifically to cause damaging effects to human health and the environment is more than enough reason to switch to organic farming. Are you aware that when pesticides are applied to crops, 99% of the chemicals it hold ends up in the soil and only 1% reach the crops? 

Organic farming does not contribute to water and air pollution.  It does not allow build-up of toxic residues to our ecosystem that can affect the diet of animals at the top of the food chain.

Organic farming enhances interaction with the ecosystem. It helps in the development and conditioning of soil, recycling of nutrients, prevention of soil erosion, encourages pollination and predation and provide habitats for insects and animals. Farming practices like inter-cropping, minimum tillage, crop rotation, use of cover crops and organic fertilizers are essential to organic practices. It’s an agricultural system that causes minimal pollution and reduces degradation of our natural resources, thus creating a more stable ecosystem.

Organic farming also helps minimize the effects of global warming as most produce are distributed locally. This means that farm produce does not need to be transported long distances, thus cutting down energy (fuel) consumption and carbon dioxide emission which is the primary cause of global warming. 

Crops produced through organic farming are certified GMO free. You are assured that the food you serve on your dinner table did not come from altered genomes to enhance their size and looks rather than their nutritive qualities. 

About Ramon

Ramon Mañego writes for Organics Superfoods Store. Organic Superfoods Store is an online store, based in Florida serving their customers since 2012.

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