Food Deficiencies Induce Weight Gain in The Middle Aged People

The new "High Metabolism Diet" recommends overcoming the problem of food deficiencies that may slow down metabolism and induce weight gain in the middle age.

Except increased acohol consumption which may be used as a fuel instead of food, and increased intake of pesticdes that can trigger weight gain, the researchers point to the following points as factors in gaining weight:

- Not taking enough calories - It should not be less than 1500 calories per day
- Not eating breakfast - They found that women who escaped this meal are 4 1/2 tmes as likely to be obese
- Not drinking coffe or tea - Catechins boost metabolism
- Not eating enough fibers - You should aim at 25 grams per day
- Not drinking enough water - 1.5 Liters per day or even more
- Not eating organic foods - To avoid contamination with pesticides
- Not eating enough protein - It should not be less than 80 grams per day
- Not taking enough Iron - You should include iron rich fooods such as shellfish, lean meats, beans, fortified cereals, and spinach in your food
- Not taking enough vitamin D - It should not be less than 400 ID per day
- Not taking enough Calcium - Fat free milk and low fat yogurt are good sources of calcium

Read the full story:
Speed your metabolism with these fat-burners - Diet and nutrition- msnbc.com

Treating Diarrhea with Carrots Soup

Today I am going to describe to you the best way for treating diarrhea in infants. It is as good in this purpose as using Honey and Lemon to Cure Cough, this article which received over 200,000 views in different article directories.


Carrots soup is a tried remedy for treating diarrhea in infants. Among many foods used in treating diarrhea like apple, carob and others, Carrots is considered to be the best. Foods used for that purpose contain soluble fibers like pectins. Carrots contain a good amount of soluble fibers like pectins and neutral detergent fibers (100 grams contain 1.6 grams soluble fibers).


Carrots is used in many food recipes, and today we are going to know how to mke carrots soup but for a pupose. You will need 1/2 Kilo Grams (about 1 1/4 lb) of coarsely chopped carrots and 3 grams (3/4 teaspoon) table salt. To make the soup:

- Boil the chopped carrots for 1 1/4 hours
- Press carrots through a sieve
- To what falls down the sieve add boiling water until the volume reaches 1 Liter

Give the baby 2 teaspoons 3-4 times a day. The salt will compensate for the lost electrlytes.

Are You On Low Carb Or High Carb?

I Like To Eat Carbohydrates To Lose Weight

This lens contains a lot of easy good information on metabolism, and is dedicated to people who want to lose weight.

The New Science Dedicated Weight Loss Blog

Weight loss has become a huge industry involving billions of dollars. Overweight is a health problem that needs the whole society to care about. This urged people to pump money and pay great attention to research of every aspect of weight gain and loss.


Research offers us new facts and notions about weight issue almost every day, and what were taken for granted is now questionable, like:
- Ephedra is not the best thermogenic (heat producing) agent
- You can not target specific fat at specific areas with exercise
- Weekend calories interrupt your weight loss plan
- Gastric bypass is not the best choice for diabetics
- Reading induces weight loss in teenagers...etc.


On the other hnd, we are bombarded with new weight loss plans almost every day, they are of every kind, many of them claim miracles we never hear about in the media, and others claim scientifically proved and we never read about them in reputable scientific journals.


All these conditions make me thinking a new blog where nothing outside scientific authorized entities is included. I already made my blog and you will find discussion of all of that and more, it is live and running at
Best Way To Lose Weight

Soy Birth Control

Effect of phytoestrogens on sperm count is now found in clinical study on humans, would Soy be the next ingredient of a pill for birth control to be used by men?
Read the news:
Soy-based foods may lower sperm count - Men's health- msnbc.com

Recipes To Improve Mood

Researchers found that people with high blood levels of omega-3s tended to be more agreeable and less likely to report mild symptoms of depression than those with low levels.The possible mechanism behind the mood differences is likely that People with high blood levels of omega-3s have more gray matter in the areas of the brain linked to mood.


The following recipes are rich in omega-3s, and you can choose your prefernces and enjoy improved mood with both the taste and omega-3s

Salmon en Papillote with Dill-Yogurt Sauce

Oatmeal with Apples, Hazelnuts, and Flaxseed

Almond-Buttermilk Hotcakes with Blackberry-Grape Sauce

Clementine Salad with Spiced Walnuts and Pickled Onions

Multigrain Pilaf with Sunflower Seeds

Wheat Germ Pancakes

Tuna "London Broil" with Wasabi Cream

Herring and Apple Salad

LDL and HDL Cholesterol and Heart Diseases

Understanding Cholesterol Video


Cholesterol is a clear evidence of the delicate balance required for biological phenomena. We can not live without cholesterol as it is required for the integrity of cell membranes and for the synthesis of hormones. Cholesterol is made by the body and eaten with animal foods, i.e. the vegetarian body senthesizes its needs of cholesterol.


Since cholesterol is a fatty material and is not dissolved in water , thus it needs a special carrier to be trnsported in the blood stream, these carriers are lipoproteins, either High Density Lipoproteins which clears cholesterol from blood vessels to the liver (Good Lipoprotein), or Low Density Lipoproteins which distributes cholesterol into the body tissues including blood vessels (Bad Lipoproteins).



When LDL cholesterol is higher than 160 milligrams per deciliter, or HDL cholesterol is lower than 40 milligrams per decilliter, cholesterol starts to be precipitated on the intima (the exposed layer of blood vessels) forming plaques which acts as a bed that accumulates constituents of the blood like platelets, thus clogging blood vessels(atherosclerosis).


Atherosclerosis shrinks the space in which the blood moves, moreover it
diminishes the elasticity of the arteries, and both exerts an overburden on the heart to move the same amount of blood, the thing that starts cardiovascular or heart diseases.

Causes of Morning Sickness

Causes of morning sickness revealed - Pregnancy- msnbc.com


If there are other animals known to experience morning sickness, it would not have represented such a problem to medical research. Today's scientific analysis states that morning sickness acts as a defense mechanism the human body evolved to to keep away from dangerous chemicals.

The analysis depended on these facts:

1- No other mammals experience morning sickness and this excludes the probability of a reaction between mother and embryo.

2- The morning sickness triggering factors are related to agents known to harm the human body, examples;
- Sight, smell, or taste of foods that are historically likely to contain foodborne microbes or birth-defect-inducing chemicals
- Alcohol and cigarette smoking

3- The wide range of foods humans eat in comparison to mammals has recalled for a mechanism that keeps dangerous chemicals out of the body, aka, vomiting.

Do Not Promote Extreme Thinness or You May Be Imprisoned!

France may ban promoting extreme thinness - Women's health- msnbc.com


If this bill is legeslied by the Senate in France, the judge will have the power to to imprison and fine offenders up to $47,000 if found guilty of “inciting others to deprive themselves of food” to an “excessive” degree.

This will necessarilly will create about the very low calorie diets. In fact thinning is not tied to a health issue, on the contrary it may be harmful for the general heath. The impact of very low calorie diets on health is dicuused in some detail in the following articles:

1- Why Fight your body to Lose Weight, Just Count 2000 Calories
2- Very Low Calorie Diets
3- Eating 1200-Calories a Day ?


Take care!

Figs Recipes To Never Get Constipation

Constipation is a distressing disorder and Figs and Fenugreek are among the best foods that fight it. Constipation occurs when the body finds it difficult to move and excrete the residual mass of foods, that is left in the large intestine. Conventionally, pills that treat constipation contain ingredients that increase peristalsis of the intestines( spontaneous movement) that pulls contents down. After a while these pills are not as effective as before.


Foods high in fiber content like fruits and vegetables ease the formation of a soft stools, as well as they ease their movement down the intestines. Among the very old known foods that prevents constipation are Figs and Fenugreek.

Changing nutritional habits to include the same food every day is not an enjoyable task, and this why I searched for something not to be boring when used habitually. I found 2 recipes at californiafigs.com that involve figs in food elements used every day, i.e. bread and fat replacement, and here are the 2 recipes:

1- Fabulous Fig Bread

Makes 1 loaf - 22 slices
1 cup water (boiling)
1 cup California dried figs, stems removed, chopped fine or ground
1 cup pistachios1
1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
4 tbsp butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, or 3 tbsp egg substitute
1 tsp vanilla

In a medium-sized heatproof bowl, combine the figs and pistachios; add the boiling water and let cool to room temperature, about 1 hour. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350o.

In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, beat the butter until fluffy, and gradually beat in the sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until lightened - 1 to 2 minutes. Add the dry ingredients and beat just until blended. With a spoon, blend in the fig mixture.

Turn butter into a greased 8½" x 4½" loaf pan, and bake until the bread just begins to pull away from the sides of the pan and the top springs back when lightly touched, 1 to 1¼ hour. Cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes, and then turn out and cool completely. Wrap in plastic and store overnight before serving. Cut into thin slices.
-----
2- Dried figs as to replace fat 
When using pureed dried fruits to replace or reduce shortening or oil in baking, remember not to over-mix or over-bake. Purees should be prepared in a food processor, and the sugar in the recipe should be reduced by at least one-third. As a general rule, use only half of the normal amount of shortening, margarine, butter or oil.
For example, if 1 cup of margarine is called for, use only 1/2 cup. Replace the fat omitted with 1/2 that amount of puree. For example, if 1/2 cup is omitted, replace with 1/4 cup fruit puree.

California Fig Puree
2 cups dried California figs
3/4 cup water
2 teaspoon vanilla
Puree figs, water and vanilla in blender or food processor. Makes about 1½cups

----

Even better if you include in your habits, boiling Fenugreek seeds and eating them frequently, to never get constipation.

Do We Need a New Body Mass Index to Define obesity?

Are fears of a fat planet overblown? - Diet and nutrition- msnbc.com

Present body mass index gives above 25 for overweight, and above 30 for obese people. Being overweight or obese is an annoying obsession for many people over the whole planet.

Some experts with antagonistic views are skeptical about the severity of obesity problem. They think that too many people are considered fat, with the obese and overweight often lumped together.Experts on both sides of the obesity debate have often criticized WHO's overweight and obesity measures, saying they are too low.

Setting aside the beauty element of the problem and looking at the health element, does obesity definition need a new independently funded body mass index?

Home-made Recipes for Brite White Teeth

When our teeth are not so brite white, then they have plaque covering. According to dentistry.leeds.ac.uk: "plaque is a microbial community; disease results from the outcome of the interactions among all of the component species. Prevention would be by plaque control".
"The repeated intake of fermentable sugar in the diet produces frequent conditions of low pH in plaque which inhibits the growth of many of the species associated with dental health, and selects for the highly acidogenic (acid-producing) and aciduric (“acid-loving") species, such as mutans streptococci and lactobacilli, associated with dental caries." www.dentistry.leeds.ac.uk

Thus, plaque is microbial in nature and its growth depends on the local environment, such as acidity (pH), and Redox potential (Eh). The plaques are not brite white in nature. To control plaque, we either;
1- Remove plaques mechanically through tooth brushing, or
2- Change their surrounding environment, and the easy way is to change pH, which influences Eh as a consequence of selective microbial growth.
Raising the pH values can be easily attained by implementing an alkali. Examples of household alkalis are baking soda and bicarbonate of Sodium. Table salt is neutral yet it can form alkaline salts of the available organic acids, and these salts are readily soluble in water.

Today, I am describing some homemade recipes that can lead to brite white teeth. They involve either one or both of the mentioned ways of controlling plaque.
To prepare them you have to consider the following procedure:
1- Make solids into powder form, and wet materials into paste
2- Use water or better glycerin for its presevative properties (if you make a stock you need to add 25% glycerin to preserve)
3- Mix any with your regular tooth paste in equal amounts for ease of preparation, otherwise you can use them alone

Here are your homemade recipes for brite white teeth:
1- Charcoal is ground into fine powder and mixed with table salt ( You can burn some toast to obtain charcoal). Mix this mixture with your tooth paste, or wet your brush and get some powder in it.
2- Mix honey with your tooth paste
3- Mix Charcoal with some Lemon juice
4- Mix dried Lemon peel with bicarbonate of soda and table salt
5- Sage leaves are pasted with table salt ( you can dry it in the oven and keep it in powder form)
6- Mix Cinnamon powder with honey
7- Mix table salt with your tooth paste

To make it more mouth refreshing, you can add any of these herbs or their essential oils:
Parsley - Lavander - Majoram - Anise - Thyme - Melissa - Peppermint - Rose.

Use them regularly and enjoy brite white teeth.

Tags: White Teeth Naturally, Teeth Whitening Recipes

Natural Quick Burn healing

The Claim: Honey Can Soothe a Burn - New York Times


We can make it even easier and faster by mixing honey with vaseline, to add the benefits of vaseline which is already applied in dressings and gauzes used to treat burns.
Vaseline has the following features:
1- It insulates the skin from the surrounding environment
2- It keeps the skin moisture intact by preventing evaporation
3- It has soothing and emollient effects
4- It reduces the sticky properties of honey

Mix equal portions of honey and vaseline and apply them them on the small burns.

Can Any Cancer Be Diagnosed Through a Hair Sample?

Hair could help diagnose breast cancer - Cancer- msnbc.com

According to Reuters, the investigators in this trial successfully and consistenly generated a basic X-ray diffraction pattern of breast cancer patients, that is different from that of healthy subjects.

Hair is a dead tissue that is composed mainly of protein (alpha-keratin), this keratin structure is maintained by many chemical interactions, but the most important one is the interchain binding through the disulphide bond of Cystine (amino acid), which helps to stabilize it against denaturation (like when the texture of clothes is changed by chemicals or aging).

This disulphide bond existence depends on the oxidation-reduction potential (Redox) of the surrounding tissue, it is different for every tissue and can be changed with different physiological and pathological conditions. The effects of chaotic effects on hair structure can be easily seen in greying hair, when its structure changes permitting it to entrap air, giving that glassy appearance to "White" hair.


Back to our question, can any cancer be diagnosed throgh a hair sample?. I think that investigators can RESEARCH hair for the pssibility of diagnosing different cancer types.

Parsley,Celery and Bergamot Oil Can also help Vitiligo Patients

Pepper may help disfiguring skin condition - Skin and beauty- msnbc.com

Psoralens are currently used to treat patients with Vitiligo and Psoriasis. They are used as photosenstizers, markedly increasing skin reactivity to long-wavelength ultraviolet radiation 320 to 400 nm, an effect used in photochemotherapy or PUVA [psoralen(P) and high-intensity long-wavelength (u.v.A) irradiation].

Methoxsalen (8-Methoxalen,Ammoidin, or Xanthotoxin) reacts with DNA and inhibits cell division. Methoxsalen may increase pigmentation by an action on melanocytes (pigment producing cells).

Plants that contain psoralens include Ammi majus which contains the above mentioned 8-Methoxsalen, in addition to Parsley, Celery, common Figs, and Bergamot oil which contain 5-Methoxsalen.

Ammi majus (a plant that is cultivated in North Africa) extract is used in Egypt in the form of paint and oral tablets to treat Vitiligo and Psoriasis, since about 40 years ago.The patient applies the paint and exposes himself to the sun for about 30 minutes, or he is exposed to PUVA in a Dermatology clinic.

The oral form has a heavy impact on the disordered liver, leading to severe complications as experience about its use accumulated. There is a report of pruritus, pigmentation and tendency to sunburn in a 70-year old woman with chronic liver disease after eating about 170 g of Parsley, which contains 5-Methoxysoralen, daily for 30 years (British Medical Journal,1982,285,1719).

The new finding expands the base of the choice, yet it is the same idea.

How Can Zero Calories Increase Weight

Lab study ties artificial sweetener to weight gain - Diet and nutrition- msnbc.com


The researchers said sweet foods may prompt the body to get ready to take in a lot of calories as glucose receptors in the gut open, but when sweetness in the form of artificial sweeteners is not followed by a large amount of calories, the body gets confused, which may lead to eating more or expending less energy than normal.

Consequently, if you drink a glass of water that contains artificial sweetener and zero calories, this will provoke your body to eat more!

It is the Behavior of Diet Soda Drinkers that is Linked to Metabolic Syndrome

Symptoms: Metabolic Syndrome Is Tied to Diet Soda - New York Times

In his comment on the new findings of this research, Dr Lyn Steffen said "Why is it hapening? Is it some kind of chemical in the diet soda,or something about the behavior of diet soda drinkers?", and I think it is both.

Artificial Sweeteners present in diet soda raises blood sugar the same way. Yet, the more important thing, is the behavior of the diet soda drinkers, since they tend to drink and eat alot of processed foods that basically contain refined grains and their derivatives, and many of those foods admit frying as the main procedure as a processing technique.

Milk or Honey is Better for Our Therapy?

Medicine From Milk: Gene Therapy Transforms Goats Into Pharmaceutical Factories

In the above mentioned link news, researchers have used gene therapy to reduce the costs of producing therapeutic proteins, such as insulin, by reducing the time and costs it takes to breed animals capable of producing such proteins.

When we look at other foods that bear health benefits that may be utilized in a comparative way, honey comes first to our minds. Honey is a nutritional syrup that has a vast variety of health benefits that were known for thousands of years, and now it has been recognized by the peoples of the developed countries.

Even better, honey can be utilized as a vehicle of high health value, of other natural ingrdients that add more health benefits, and both can be used as is without industrial processing.

Researchers from the former Soviet Union, tried adding some nutritional supplements to the feed of honey bee, 30-40 years ago with good positive effects. They added fruits, vegetables, milk or its fats, egg yolk, and yeast. They added some plant extracts, like Gentian, Carrots and Beet. Moreover, they added synthetic vitamins, antiseptics, and antibiotics. They had found that adding these additives to the feed of bees (sugar), produced positive effects on both the bees and their produced honey.

Examples of the effects of the additives on the bees:
1- Gentian fed bees were found to increase ovulation,and consequently bees population.
2- Antibiotics fed bees were found to increase honey production (isn't that true in livestock animals and poultry?)

Examples of the effects of additives on the produced honey:
1- There are large changes in physical properties like color, odor,and condition (honey may solidifies), as well as taste.
2- Its content of vitamins has largely increased, e.g. Carrots fed bees produced honey with a high content of vitamin A, not to ignore the vitamins fed bees.

Finally, the new research is about goat genes and production of milk, yet milk is the vehicle in which the therapeutic agents are produced. Why don't we put honey on the map of research, so that we get its health benefits together with other natural ingredients, and both are used without industrial processing?

The Currently Researched Sticky Molecules May Not Prevent Alzheimer's

MedlinePlus: Alzheimer's Research Target May Be a Dead End

They are too sticky molecules that would not fight the sticky proteins. This is what thought of, after a team of chemists at University of California, San Fransico, found that the candidate drug called "amyloid inhibitors" form large unwieldly clumps themselves, rendering them useless as targeted therapy against amyloid in the brain.


The new researched class of drugs that may prevent and treat Alzheimer's disease, were based theoretically on the fact that proteins in the brain called amyloid proteins stick together in the brain tissue forming plaques that are hallmark of Alzheimer's, Huntington's and "mad cow" diseases. The new drug candidate was investigated to competitively stick and stop amyloid proteins from forming clumps.


After the new chemical finding, Chemists represented by Professor B.Shoichet who is supported by Prefessor D.Lynn, see no value for the amyloid inhibitors for the following reasons:

1- The proposition that amyloid inhibitors may inhibit amyloid protein to stick together was based on a postulated interaction between an individual molecule of the drug and amyloid proteins, yet as these molecules inevitably bind together to form a mass, this renders them therapeutically useless.

2- Aggregated drug candidate molecules would not reach the target, at the needed concentration ( they would not cross the blood membrane barrier).

3- It is still not certain whether protein plaques even cause Alzheimer's and other brain diseases, or whether they are merely by products of the disease process.

Chemists advice neuroscientists investigating these agents to stop.

Pills Halved the Risk of Ovarian Cancer for more than 30 Years

One of the most effective means of preventing pregnancy is the birth control pills. British researchers from Oxford University found that pills taken for 15 years, lowered the risk of developing ovarian cancer by half, and that the risk remained low more than 30 years later. Read the details:

With the Pill, Years of Cancer Protection - New York Times

Cola Can Cause kidney Problems and These Drinks can Ease them

There are conclusions that Cola drinks are linked to kidney stones and other renal problems. Read the details:
Soda - Nutrition - Health Effects - New York Times


In fact, kidney problems may arise due to one or more of the following reasons:
1- Decreased kidney blood flow, which reduces kidney productivity with a resultant decreased urine excretion
2- Decreased protective colloids in the urine and this predisposes kidney for stone formation and inflammation
3- pH changes of the urine to a favorable environment for bacterial growth
4- Overdose of electrolytes


Are there drinks that may ease kidney problems or prevent them?
The answer is yes. There are some juices and drinks that are friendly dealing with the kidney, in both healthy and diseased conditions, these are:
1- Cranberry juice
2- Orange juice
3- Lemon juice
4- Apple juice
5- Carbonated drinks that contain Barley, Hops or both.

The solution of OTC Cold Drugs that are Neither Safe Nor Effective in Kids Under 2

FDA warns against cold drugs for kids under 2, read the full story:
FDA: Cold meds too risky for little ones - Kids and parenting- msnbc.com

Would we leave our kids sniffing and coughing?. Certainly not, and it is ievitable that we search something alternative. Today we use a very old and successful remedy to treat cold and cough, i.e. honey and lemon, but the right way.

For hundreds of years, the best way to use Lemon to cure cough was to boil the INTACT Lemon in water before squeezing it, and no body knew why. In view of the recent findings, the cause may be that boiling the Lemon kills enzymes present in its rind ( enzyme denaturation), these enzymes may change some ingredients of the Lemon juice, consequently we should keep the juice to be boiled INSIDE the Lemon.


The procedure to prepare the best natural cure of cough is as follows:
1- Fill a can with water and put a middle or big sized Lemon
2- Leave the can to boil for about 10-15 minutes till it bocomes soft but intact
3- Take the Lemon and squeeze it to extract its juice
4- Clarify the juice or filter it
5- Add the juice to 1/2 cup of honey ( or about 60 ml)
6- Some people - including me- add 30 ml ( 2 tablespoonful ) glycerin to the Lemon juice before adding honey
7- Add 1 teaspoon Pantothenic acid powder ( 100% pure calcium pantothenate )*, to the mixture which is now about 100 ml. Pantothenic acid activates the suprarenal gland to secrete Adrenaline (Epinephrin) and Nor-Adrenaline which are crucial in relieving respiratory system complaints.

* Type in Pantothenic acid powder ( you may use the search box of eVitamins on the left). If you prefer to use standardized supplement, search for a liquid vitamin that contains at least 50 mg Pantothenic acid or Calcium Pantothrnate per serving, this dose is used in some European cough products.

Give the kid 1 teaspoonful 3 times a day.

It is guranteed that this mixture cures your kids cough, I have tried it.

What do you think?

After 4000 Years, Honey Dressing is in USA

The Egyptians applied honey to heal wounds more than 4000 years ago. Now honey is made into a dressing that is approved by FDA and sold in USA the last fall. Read the details:
Honey makes medical comeback - More health news- msnbc.com


To read about use of honey to help maintain body health, you can read :

1-Honey Easily Kills Hospital Resistant Strains of Bacteria

2-Honey for All wounds

3-Honey and other Foods for Abscesses and Boils :

4-Diabetes wounds, How To use HONEY to Avoid Amputations

5-Diabetes wounds, How To use HONEY to Avoid Amputations.

6-The Proof of My Honey proposals comes from Wisconsin University

7-How to Use Lemon and Honey to Cure Cough

8-Honey Recipe to Lower Cholesterol

9-Honey, Pollen, and Propolis can Relieve Your Allergy

10-Yogurt and Honey Recipe to alleviate Constipation and Diarrhea

11-Honey Home Made Cosmetics

Honey for Diabetes?

12-Foods for Sex

Recipes for Fat Loss in Diabetics

Fats impact on diabetics has one of the most serious effect on prognosis of the disease. As we see in this recent study, oils present in fish has a good promising effect on fats in diabetics.
Omega-3 shows benefits for fat loss in diabetics

Here are some recipes from fish.wa.gov.au website, that depends mainly on fish and olive oil which contain the omega-3 fatty acids that have the benefits for diabetics.

1-Sardines in Vine Leaves - Asma Yapraginda Sardalya
(10 portions)

Ingredients
50 sardines
50 fresh vine leaves

Marinade
salt
Juice of 2 lemons
1 tsp white pepper crushed
1 cup Jingilli Frantoio Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Method
Remove the backbones of the fish leaving the heads and tails then scrape off scales and wash fish gently.

Mix marinade ingredients in a bowl.

Pat dry the fish then place in a large bowl and pour over marinade and mix through.

Cut the stems off the fresh vine leaves and soak in hot water for 20 minutes then plunge into cold water.

Put shiny sides of vine leaves on a clean surface.

Place one sardine on the stem of each leaf and roll up, ending with stem side up (the heads and tails of the sardines should not be rolled in the leaves).

Brush the leaves with olive oil, then grill stuffed leaves on both sides over medium heat…the barbecue is perfect for this.

Open vine leaves and sprinkle fish with lemon juice when eating.

Serve with crisp lettuce salad leaves tossed with diced tomato, cucumber, red onion, parsley and a light olive oil, salt and lemon juice dressing.

=====

2- Steamed Halibut with Flavoured Olive Oil
(Serves 4), By executive chef Andreas Brucks at the Mersin Hilton, Turkey

* Oil
1/4 cup Jingilli Tuscan Blend Extra Virgin
Olive Oil
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp paprika
Pinch of ground clove

* Sauce
3 ripe tomatoes
Flavoured olive oil
Juice of 1 lime
1 bunch chives, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

* Ingredients
4 7-8 ounce (200-225 gram) halibut fillets
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 fennel bulb, sliced
1 tablespoon Jingilli Tuscan Blend Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Fennel sprigs for garnish

Method
Oil. Mix the olive oil with all the spices. Pour the oil mixture into a bottle and shake vigorously. Keep the oil at room temperature for 24 hours, allowing the flavours to infuse.

Vegetables. Blanch the carrots and fennel in slightly salted water until they become tender. Drain and add the olive oil, salt and pepper, and toss. Keep warm.

Sauce. Peel, seed and dice the tomatoes. Heat the flavoured oil and add the diced tomatoes, lime juice and chives. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook the fillets in a steamer as desired. Place the fillets on preheated plates, top with the sauce and serve with the vegetables. Garnish with fennel sprigs.

The following two recipes have been kindly supplied by Ankara Hilton Executive Chef Wolfgang Godl.

========

3- Baked Bonito - Firinda Palamut
(Serves 10)

Ingredients
3 bonitos, medium size
3 onions
3 tomatoes
6 green chili pepper (long)
1/2 bunch parsley
4 bay leaves
Sea salt
2 lemons
1 cup Jingilli Leccino Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Method
Gut the fish and cut into 2cm wide circles (steaks), salt lightly and arrange in a baking tray/tin.

Peel and slice the tomatoes, remove the stalks and seeds of the peppers and cut length ways in two.

Lay the tomatoes, sliced onions, peppers and rough-chopped parsley over the fish.

Place the bay leaves on top and pour over the olive oil and add sliced peeled lemon.

Pour over enough water to cover the base of the pan to prevent fish from sticking then cover with foil and bake in a preheated oven at 180 C until the peppers are tender (around 25 minutes).

Remove foil and bake until fish browns slightly.

Sliced carrot and celery can be added to give more body to dish.

===

4- Snapper and Sea bass Carpaccio
(Serves 6 to 8)

Carpaccio is the method of using ingredients like olive oil and lemon to “cook”. The raw fish fillets make a great starter and perfectly suits the warm summer weather.

Ingredients:
200g fresh fish fillet (such as snapper, whiting or bream)
* Jingilli Frantoio Extra Virgin Olive Oil - good dash, around 50 ml
* Juice of 2 lemons
* Sea salt flakes
* 2 diced red peppers (capsicums), roasted and skin and seeds removed

Method
Slice fish thinly and marinate in all ingredients.

Serve over salad greens.