At first glance, the potato and pumpkin are not very similar at all...they are different shapes and colors, one is a fruit and the other a tuber...
One similarity perhaps is that neither tend to be dietary favorites among my friends in Ethiopia. But, nutritionally, both have valuable nutrients, and both the potato and the pumpkin carry a great density of their nutritional value in the peel (the skin or the rind) that most people like to cut off before eating!
We can be healthier if we clean, cook and eat some of the outer peel of both pumpkins and potatoes!
Pumpkins are a great source of Vitamin A, which is lacking in many communities in Ethiopia. B vitamins as well are prevalent in pumpkin flesh. The seeds of pumpkins have zinc and edible oils. The skin of pumpkin is rich in many nutrients as well as antifungal and antibacterial substances that may help with immunity. Whereas in the Addis Abeba area pumpkins tend to be most prevalent in October or November, one can find many ripe pumpkins for cheap on the road to Butajira at this time of year (May-June). Lets remember that Ethiopia's agroclimatic diversity can be a beautiful and health-giving source of dietary diversity!
Potatoes are well known for their carbohydrates. They also have low quantities of high quality protein, and potassium and vitamin C, in highest density in the potato skin.
(Source - Rural nutrition expert, Intan from Indonesia and also LiveScience.com and The Huffington Post)
Don't you love to have a cup of coffee after lunch? I do! And usually me and my friends have a delicious cup of jebena buna (coffee) right after lunch before going back to work. Who can blame us - Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee, and many agree that our coffee is some of the best in the world. (Read about the top ten coffee countries in the world HERE, yes, Ethiopia is number 1!)
But I recently learned from an instructor of Food Science, Ato Atnafe, of Hope College of Business, Science and Technology, that coffee consumption soon after food can inhibit our absorption of micro-nutrients such as iron. This is really important information for people like me (and many other Ethiopian women) who suffer from iron deficiency. To improve our micronutrient absorption, we should try to wait a little while (an hour or two) after eating a meal, before drinking coffee.
Other tips for people with iron deficiency - injera (especially that made from dark colored teff) is a good source of iron. Red meat and especially liver has lots of Iron. Green leafy vegetables (gomen) and even sesamie (selit) have lots of iron.
When you eat iron, your body absorbs it best when you eat it together with ascorbic acid (vitamin C) e.g. lemon juice or other fruit juices. (Local doctors and health website will confirm this.)
(And of course, try to have a good space of time between eating iron-rich foods and drinking coffee).
These things are working for me I think - I had enough iron to give blood for the first time in 3 years this month!
4 Comments
Sarah Assefa
What do potatoes and a pumpkins have in common?
At first glance, the potato and pumpkin are not very similar at all...they are different shapes and colors, one is a fruit and the other a tuber...
One similarity perhaps is that neither tend to be dietary favorites among my friends in Ethiopia. But, nutritionally, both have valuable nutrients, and both the potato and the pumpkin carry a great density of their nutritional value in the peel (the skin or the rind) that most people like to cut off before eating!
We can be healthier if we clean, cook and eat some of the outer peel of both pumpkins and potatoes!
Pumpkins are a great source of Vitamin A, which is lacking in many communities in Ethiopia. B vitamins as well are prevalent in pumpkin flesh. The seeds of pumpkins have zinc and edible oils. The skin of pumpkin is rich in many nutrients as well as antifungal and antibacterial substances that may help with immunity. Whereas in the Addis Abeba area pumpkins tend to be most prevalent in October or November, one can find many ripe pumpkins for cheap on the road to Butajira at this time of year (May-June). Lets remember that Ethiopia's agroclimatic diversity can be a beautiful and health-giving source of dietary diversity!
Potatoes are well known for their carbohydrates. They also have low quantities of high quality protein, and potassium and vitamin C, in highest density in the potato skin.
(Source - Rural nutrition expert, Intan from Indonesia and also LiveScience.com and The Huffington Post)
Zenebech Koricho
Zenebech Koricho liked this
Sarah Assefa
Don't you love to have a cup of coffee after lunch? I do! And usually me and my friends have a delicious cup of jebena buna (coffee) right after lunch before going back to work. Who can blame us - Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee, and many agree that our coffee is some of the best in the world. (Read about the top ten coffee countries in the world HERE, yes, Ethiopia is number 1!)
But I recently learned from an instructor of Food Science, Ato Atnafe, of Hope College of Business, Science and Technology, that coffee consumption soon after food can inhibit our absorption of micro-nutrients such as iron. This is really important information for people like me (and many other Ethiopian women) who suffer from iron deficiency. To improve our micronutrient absorption, we should try to wait a little while (an hour or two) after eating a meal, before drinking coffee.
Sarah Assefa
ADD TO ALPINE NUTRITION AGROECOLOGY NETWORK
Other tips for people with iron deficiency - injera (especially that made from dark colored teff) is a good source of iron. Red meat and especially liver has lots of Iron. Green leafy vegetables (gomen) and even sesamie (selit) have lots of iron.
When you eat iron, your body absorbs it best when you eat it together with ascorbic acid (vitamin C) e.g. lemon juice or other fruit juices. (Local doctors and health website will confirm this.)
(And of course, try to have a good space of time between eating iron-rich foods and drinking coffee).
These things are working for me I think - I had enough iron to give blood for the first time in 3 years this month!