When you boil vegetables, they leach their color together with their minerals, vitamins and potential nutritional value. The darker and more vibrant the vegetable the more obvious this is. Today nutritionists are observing that uncut vegetables such as carrots are more nutritious than boiled carrot slices, because the nutritional value is locked into the whole vegetable.

A research by the British Newcastle University Schools of Agriculture, Food and rural development found that boiling the whole carrots increased the amount of carrots anti cancer properties in the form of a polyacetylene compound called falcarinol by 25 per cent. This research and others carried out at Limerick University in Ireland have confirmed that polyacetylene may have more anti cancer properties than beta carotene. It is a non nutrients element that have powerful effects in deterring major illnesses.

While carrots lose vitamins and minerals in the cooking process, they have increased levels of phytochemicals. The heat kills the cells in the carrot during cooking so they lose the ability to retain the water inside them and this increases the concentration of falcarinol in the carrot. When the cell walls break down the vitamin C and sugars are lost because they are water soluble.

This study has been supported by researchers from Cornell University in America; they researched tomatoes and found the same thing. The phytochemical lycopene increases after cooking though the minerals and vitamins have decreased. These facts alone means that it is even more essential to eat fresh fruit and vegetables rather than from supplements.

Cooking the carrots whole change more. Eighty percent of people tested in Ireland in a blind tasting of the boiled then cut and the cut then boiled carrots preferred the taste of those that were cooked whole.

The initial research into falcarinol in carrots found that rats fed on isolated falcarinol and raw carrots developed less full scale tumors than the control group who had no carrots in their diet. In fact they developed a third less tumors than the control group.

Roasted Carrot Soup

Ingredients

1 kg Carrots, whole and unpeeled 1 Onion, halved, quartered 200g Sweet Potato, 1 head of Garlic, whole 5 Cups fresh Chicken Stock 1 inch of fresh ginger 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground Nutmeg 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil Sea Salt to taste Freshly Ground Black Pepper Optional garnish Pumpkin seeds.

Direction

Preheat the oven to 180C /350F. Arrange the carrots, onions, sweet potato, ginger and garlic in a baking tray. Drizzle olive oil over them and season. Roast the vegetables for about 45 minutes to an hour. Squeeze the garlic out of the shells and peel the carrots if you want them peeled, but they can be used as they are, because all the nutrients are just under the skin. Place in a large saucepan and add the chicken stock, nutmeg and simmer for about then minutes. Either puree or roughly mash the carrots

Staphylococcus, or more kindly known as staph infection is a group of different bacteria, of a similar type which is able to cause a whole lot of different illnesses. It affects different parts of the body in different ways, and these illnesses can range from mild: with no or very little treatment required, to very serious illnesses which require intensive treatment and can be potentially life threatening.

The Greek language is the source of the scientific name for these bacteria – Staphyle: a bunch of grapes, and Kokkos: berries. This means bacteria which looks like either a bunch of grapes or berries when looked at under the microscope.

For those of you with a more scientific bent, it is gram-positive, facultative anaerobic unencapsulated cocci. Don’t try to say that when you have had a few drinks. To understand these a little better we don’t need to know the scientific stuff.

“Oh dear, I do believe that my wound has been infected by gram-positive, facultative anaerobic un-encapsulated cocci”, no one will understand a word you are saying but it will certainly make you appear to be very bright.

It also occurs on other parts of the body, but is more rare. Generally speaking they do not cause illness unless the skin is broken by an injury and they invade the site of the injury, multiplying and causing infection.

Much like any other illness some people are more prone to these infections than others. Staph infections are a danger to newborn babies, feeding mothers, people with illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer and lung disease and people who make use of intravenous drugs, for recreational or other purposes.

It can also affect people who have weak immune systems and people who have had surgery, but virtually anyone is able to contract a staph infection.

Skin infections are the most common, the area affected is generally painful, red, swollen and pus is usually present. In breastfeeding women it can cause mastitis, which releases bacteria into the mothers’ milk. And when this bacteria gets into the bloodstream more serious illnesses can occur.