It was one of the days when I was craving for kim chi but was not willing to wait for days for the fermentation process to kick in. If I make napa cabbage kim chi, it would take at least 4-5 days before I can sample the food. Quick solution - cucumber kim chi! It's just as tasty and a healthy probiotic food. 


In truth, I still had to wait over a day before I could satiate my craving. It wouldn't be kim chi without the fermentation process. Fermentation is needed not only to get the tangy taste but most importantly, to promote good bacteria such as Lactobacillus, which thrives in a salty environment, into our bodies' intestinal tract. This, in turn, promotes a healthy digestive system by breaking down sugars and carbohydrates in the foods to make them more digestible and nutritious for us. The good bacteria also suppresses the growth of harmful bacteria in the intestines. So remember not to skip the fermentation part! The best thing with cucumber kim chi is that the fermentation process is short and you wouldn't want to keep it too long anyway because cucumber loses it's crunchiness by the day.

I prepared one whole large cucumber the evening before by cutting them into short, medium-thickness pieces. Then toss sea salt all over the cucumber pieces. Leave them in a bowl over night. Here's how it looks like the next day. The brine is naturally produced during the fermentation process.


Next, add sliced green onions, a teaspoon of minced garlic, Korean red chili flakes (adjust quantity to taste), a teaspoon of vinegar (Apple Cider Vinegar is recommended), a teaspoon of agave nectar for a hint of sweetness. Mix them all up. It's also good to know that the red chili flakes are packed with Vitamin A, C, iron and no cholesterol. 


You can eat some of the cucumber kim chi straight away as a side dish to a meal and pack the rest away in a glass bottle for additional fermentation. Keep the glass bottle in the refrigerator. Eat up within the next two or three days.


If you don't find yourself with time to make this superfood, get the sauerkraut the next time you pop into a korean or asian store. 

Healthy and delicious cucumber kim chi

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Iceland is a country that has abundance of fishes, being an island in the Atlantic sea. It is the second biggest fishery behind Norway and cod seems to be the largest catch. The fishing business has helped to catapult Iceland to be one of the richest country in Europe. That is, until the 2008-2011 Icelandic financial crisis where all the three major banks in the country collapsed, the British government seized £4bn assets of the banks and Icelandic government over statements that the accounts of UK depositors could not be guaranteed, and a IMF and Nordic countries bailout was needed. Despite the crisis, fishing remains the country's biggest industry.

It was such a joy to be having fresh seafood in our meals during the recent trip to Iceland. I was especially delighted to have found canned cod liver in a restaurant by the Old Harbor called the Sea Baron (oh, and dulse flakes too but more of that later). Cod liver is packed with Vitamin A, D and Omega-3 essential fatty acids, just like cod liver oil that is sold in every health store except that this is in its original form, unprocessed, and certainly no concerns of toxicity due to the higher level of Vitamin A that is usually the case in many brands of cod liver oil. 

cod liver, vitamin A, vitamin D, DHA, EPA, Omega 3
I stocked up with a few of these cod liver cans from Iceland

Cod liver is healthy for the following reasons:

* It contains pre-formed Vitamin A, which means that once consumed, it is straight away used by the body. Provitamin A needs to be converted by your body.
* A source of DHA (DocosaHexaenoic Acid) and EPA (EicosoPentaenoic Acid). These are the more important two out of the three varieties of Omega-3 fatty acids. Vegetarians usually stick to chia seeds, flax seeds, dark leafy greens like kale, and walnuts as sources for ALA (Alpha-Linolenic Acid), the third type of Omega-3 that is able to be converted into DHA and EPA by the body. However, there are studies that humans don't convert ALA found in plants to DHA and EPA efficiently, hence it is recommended to consume animal foods that contain them.
* Vitamin D, especially important during the winter months when you don't get enough sunlight or work indoors most of the time.

There is a concern of the mercury level in seafood due to environment pollutants. This is a valid concern but should not be a reason altogether to avoid taking cod liver oil, especially if you are deficient in Omega-3 fats. Choose a good brand of cod liver oil or fish oil, and note where they are sourced from. Be sure that the fish are from ocean that are not heavily polluted. Email the manufacturer to find out. I did email the manufacturer of the cod liver product I bought in Iceland. I was immediately replied to with an assurance that their cod liver comes from wild Icelandic fish stocks. They were used to be produced from raw materials coming from the Baltic sea but the production has stopped due to the high volumes of dioxin in cod liver in the region [1] - I am quoting this from the email word by word. So it's a relief to know that I'm not consuming toxin, not to mention that cod liver actually tastes really good!

cod liver, vitamin A, vitamin D, DHA, EPA, Omega 3

cod liver, vitamin A, vitamin D, DHA, EPA, Omega 3

It's a pity that I cannot get hold of more fresh and contaminant-free cod liver in UK. Fortunately, there is a brand of cod liver oil/fish oil recommended by Dr Ben Kim. The Carlson's brand seems good, with the ratio between vitamin A and vitamin D of about 2 to 1 so there is no concern of over-consumption of vitamin A causing toxic in our body tissues. Their cod liver oil and fish oil are also tested on a regular basis by an independent, FDA-approved laboratory and has been determined to be free of mercury, cadmium, lead and other pollutants. I am thinking of getting it once running out of the cod liver as I'm pretty sure that I'm not getting enough sunshine and I do need to increase my intake of Omega 3 as compared to Omega 6.

References

Cod liver from Iceland for Vitamin A, D and Omega 3

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I just got back from a spa holiday in Iceland! Well, I call it a spa holiday because it was the most relaxing holiday I've had, and the best experience was at the infamous Blue Lagoon Geothermal Spa. I literally spent one whole day at the spa. And best of all, I paid only around £41 for the entrance fee including hotel pickup service. Not bad at all considering the natural mud full of beneficial minerals I slathered all over myself whilst soaking in 38 Celsius Centigrade and 7.5 pH steamy waters.

Blue Lagoon Mud SpaBlue Lagoon is reputed to help patients suffering from skin diseases such as psoriasis and atomic dermatitis in particular. Extraction of the silica mud and cultivation of the three microalgae species[1] in the mixture of 35% freshwater and 65% seawater are carried out at the Blue Lagoon R&D Center to produce skincare products. There is a research paper that mentions some of the benefits of the silica mud and microalgae such as:[2]

* Improving skin barrier function. Silica mud extracts help to stimulate the keratinocyte, which is a key component in determining the quality of the skin barrier. Extracts from the microalgaes help as well, although to a lesser extend. Patients with psoriasis and atomic dermatitis usually have perturbed skin barrier function hence they would benefit from the silica mud.
* Prevent premature skin aging. The microalgaes are shown to be able to significantly upregulate Collagen 1A1 and Collagen 1A2, the two genes that are involved in collagen synthesis and are usually at the risk of being downregulated due to UV radiation exposure.

Silica Mud Exfoliator
Well, the ingredients certainly sound good. Unfortunately, the researchers at Blue Lagoon also packed lots of other bad chemicals into the products. It's such a waste really. I would loved to get the Silica Mud Mask but it's full of parabens. The Algae Mask is slightly better but it contains Butylphenyl Methylpropional, which is listed as an alergic substance by the European Cosmetic Directive.[3] The only Blue Lagoon product I bought is the Silica Mud Exfoliator. It is made up of only 6 ingredients - Blue Lagoon sea water, freshwater, Blue Lagoon Silica, Glycerin (natural moisturiser), Benzyl Alcohol (can be too drying for dry skin, has a certain toxic level although not as bad), and Dehydroacetic Acid (for preservation purpose). The funny thing is that, the Silica Mud Exfoliator is advertised on the Blue Lagoon's website as "Free from parabens". If they care enough for one product to be free from parabens, I really wonder why they couldn't do the same for the other products. It's a shame really...

Publications

1. http://www.matis.is/media/algae-network-2012/Halldor-Svavarsson.pdf
2. http://www.bluelagoon.com/files/research-studies/psoriasis-research/152.pdf/
3. http://www.truthinaging.com/ingredients/butylphenyl-methylpropional

A muddy holiday in Iceland

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