From the category archives:

Food as Medicine

For All the Nuts, Hanging Out in Seedy Places…

by Todd Caldecott 01.31.2011

Like cereal grains and legumes, nuts and seeds are a kind of fruit, but for culinary purposes are grouped into their own category. True nuts refer to a limited number of edible species with indehiscent fruits, wherein the seed or ‘meat’ remains enclosed in a hard outer shell at maturity, such as acorn, chestnut, [...]

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Beans, Beans the Magical Fruit?

by Todd Caldecott 01.16.2011

Legumes are an adjunct to many traditional diets, and like cereal grains, are a product of agrarian civilization. They are derived from the Fabaceae family, formerly known as the Leguminosae, and contain a variety of edible species including soy (Glycine max), beans (Phaseolus spp.), pea (Pisum sativum), chickpea (Cicer arietinum) and peanuts (Arachis spp.).
Legumes [...]

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Grains of Truth

by Todd Caldecott 11.30.2010

(Image: © Edward Rozzo/Corbis)
The defining difference between our native hunter-gatherer diet and the way we eat now rests upon our relatively recent decision as a species to subsist on cereal grains, most of which are derived from the Poaceae, or grass family. Instead of moving from place to place, following the migration of [...]

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Milk: The Real Thing

by Todd Caldecott 10.15.2010

Ok, a share of hands please. How many of you have ever suckled a baby? Maybe a few of you…? Ok then, how many of you were breastfed? In a place I call Happy Fantasy Boob Land, I imagine that 100% of you got breast-fed. But, like me, I know for a [...]

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The Fruit Is Back

by Todd Caldecott 08.27.2010

Yes, I’m back, after a summer of unplugging, replugging and then unplugging, I’m riding on the peaking crest of the fruit wave that is pounding through your life right now. Seriously, I mean have you been paying attention? Just LOOK at all the amazing vegetation we have right now, and especially the huge [...]

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Eat Your Vegetables

by Todd Caldecott 07.25.2010

(Image via: skulladay.com)
The foundational triad upon which modern nutrition rests is the separation of food into three basic components called carbohydrates, proteins and fats. These are known as the macronutrients, the articles in our diet that supply us with food energy or ‘calories’, as opposed to the other category of micronutrients <read more> that do [...]

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Water of Life

by Todd Caldecott 07.06.2010

(Image by: Fir0002/Flagstaffotos)
Water has long been recognized in traditional medicine as the source of life, and without it we would scarcely survive for more than a few days. Every system of traditional medicine paid great respect to water, for its importance and restorative effects, as well as its different attributes depending on its source and [...]

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What is Food?

by Todd Caldecott 06.30.2010

It may seem like a rather obvious question, but the nature of food is one of those perplexing issues that seems to drive so much debate and controversy. Over the last 100 years society has been led to believe that apart from supplying basic energy, food has very little bearing on physical and mental health. During [...]

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Food as Medicine

by Todd Caldecott 06.21.2010

It is my great pleasure to introduce Urban Diner readers to Todd Caldecott, a very knowledgeable medical herbalist, food lover and good friend, who has agreed to contribute a regular health column called, “Food as Medicine.” Enjoy! ~ PK

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