Today's Recipe If you don't know what to have for dinner tonight ... Try this brown rice recipe for a great way to add more sea vegetables to your diet. This flavorful dish is a great complement to many entrees. Prep and Cook Time: 35 minutes Ingredients: -
2 medium pieces wakame, (2 TBS soaked and chopped)* -
2 TBS chopped dulse seaweed -
2¼ cups warm water -
½ medium onion, minced -
2 large cloves garlic, chopped -
1 cup long grain brown rice -
salt and white pepper to taste -
*For more on Sea Vegetables, see Sea vegetables. Directions: -
Chop/mince onion and garlic and let sit for 5-10 minutes to enhance their health-promoting benefits. -
Rinse wakame, and soak in 2½ cups warm water for about 5 minutes. Squeeze out water from seaweed and chop. Save water. -
While seaweed is soaking, chop dulse, onion and garlic. -
Heat 1 TBS of seaweed soaking water in a medium saucepan. Healthy Sauté chopped onion over medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in garlic, rice, chopped seaweed, and soaking water. -
Bring water to a boil on high heat. As soon as it begins to boil, reduce heat to low and cover. Cook for about 35 minutes. Season with salt and white pepper to taste. Serves 4 as side dish Printer Friendly Version of Seaweed Rice In-Depth Nutritional Profile for Seaweed Rice Daily Food Tip If on a given day you take in more than 100% of the Daily Value for any nutrient should you reduce the intake of that nutrient the followi Q. What does it mean when a food item contains over 100% of the daily nutritional value for a particular nutrient? For example, a cup of bell pepper contains 291.3% of the DV for vitamin C according to your charts. Does that mean I should take in less vitamin C for the next two days? A. No, eating over 100% of the Daily Value for a nutrient does not mean that you have to compensate by avoiding that nutrient in the future. Your question is an excellent one, however, and we'd like to take the time to better explain the interpretation of the percentages that are presented on our website. In order to give our readers a shorthand method for determining the nutritional benefits of any particular food, we decided to use a concept called "Daily Value." Daily Values are the standards by which foods are evaluated on packaging labels. On most packaged foods you'll find an information panel on the back of the package (or sometimes on the side of the package) called "Nutrition Facts." The right hand column of this Nutrition Facts panel always lists "% Daily Value." With a few exceptions, these are the exact same Daily Values that we use on our website! You'll notice that these Daily Values are not specific to men or women or different age groups. They are a "one size fits all" type of measurement. However, while we know that one size does not fit all we believe that these Daily Values are a great shorthand method for selecting foods on a meal plan. For those who want more in-depth information on diet planning, go to "Healthy Eating for the Entire Family," which can be found in the Feeling Great section of the website. When you get 100% of a nutrient's Daily Value, it means that you are getting enough of the nutrient to meet the average daily need for a generally healthy adult. "100% DV" means that there is enough of the nutrient to cover the general biochemical need for that nutrient in the human body for one day. It does not guarantee, however, that you have enough of the nutrient to meet your personal, individual needs. For example, there are many chronic health problems that deplete certain nutrients from your body. These problems would cause your body to need more than 100% DV. So would the use of certain prescription or over-the-counter medications. The 100% DV guideline gives you a ballpark estimate of how much you are satisfying your nutritional needs for a day. For example, if you only have 10% DV for a nutrient, you can be sure you are not getting enough of that nutrient. When you go over 100%DV, it simply means that you have provided your body with more than enough of the nutrient to meet your body's general biochemical needs on that day. Your body will decide what to do the extra amount. It may decide to eliminate it altogether, and so you will find it passing out of the body when you urinate or move your bowel. Your body may also decide to store the nutrient, either temporarily or for a longer period of time. In general, we do not recommend going over approximately 200% DV for any particular nutrient unless you have some evidence to suggest that more than 200% is needed. Many healthcare practitioners go far over 200% DV in recommending nutrient intake to their patients, and many research studies show that even 1000% DV is sometimes needed to meet the body's needs. But unless you know what is happening inside your body from a biochemical and nutrient standpoint, large excesses can also be potentially harmful to your health. This is our reason for suggesting people stay, in general, within a 100-200% DV range. You asked about vitamin C and bell pepper, and we do want to point out that in the case of certain water-soluble vitamins (including vitamin C, as well as vitamins B1, B2, and B5, there is no research suggesting that doses higher than 200% DV are harmful to the body, and no reason to believe that a cup of bell pepper providing 291.3% DV is problematic in any way. In fact, we can only think of potential benefits associated with this level of vitamin C intake. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has set 2,000 milligrams per day as the Tolerable Upper Limit (UL) for daily intake of vitamin C, but you are far, far below this amount with a cup of bell pepper. In addition, the NAS has stated that it is dietary supplements of vitamin C that they are primarily concerned about, not food intake of vitamin C. You definitely should not try and compensate for the 291.3% DV intake by avoiding vitamin C for the next two days, and you should definitely still try to get at least 100% DV on those days! The Daily Value is exactly what it says - an amount that we need each day. When you are planning out your weekly meals, the goal would be to have each day's food provide at least 100% DV for all nutrients. If you go over that amount by up to 100%, in most cases, the extra amount will be processed by your body in whatever way is needed to get you ready for the next day. On that next day, you simply try for the same result as the day before - creating a meal plan that provides you with at least 100% DV for all nutrients. For more information on this topic, see: |