Peripheral neuropathy: Stuffed Vine Leaves

Peripheral neuropathy: Stuffed Vine Leaves are rich in vegetable protein and the very important nerve vitamin called thiamine. A deficiency causes leg numbness, tingling and weakness.

This classic Greek dish from our Olive Garden Nutrition parade typifies the healthy Mediterranean diet. It's a bit fiddly but cooked now and again will have your family oohing and aahing.

Get the kids on board to wrap the parcels so that they too can learn from an early age about the benefits of olive oil, whole grains and vegetable protein.

Ingredients for your experiment with Olive Garden Nutrition

1. 20 grapevine leaves
2. 2 cups brown rice and a handful of lentil protein
3. 2 cups grated onion
4. 2 grated zucchinis
5. A few TBSP of chopped mint (or parsley)
6. 3 TBSP fresh lemon pulp
7. 1 lemon sliced
8. 1 cup olive oil
9. Pit 1/2 cup of black or green olives.

• Pit olives

Serious olive fans in the Mediterranean countries would never buy pitted olives; do it yourself. It's easy.

A few alternative ideas

Here are a few supportive links to consider when making stuffed vine leaves dishes.

• You can use minced beef, of course, for protein but the lentil protein is so much more wellness friendly. Lentil Protein
  
• A couple chopped tomatoes and one of the mild chilis like jalapenos are optional. 
• Add another sliced onion on top of the parcels before placing the plate on them.
  
• Lightly simmering the onion before frying helps prevent indigestion and heartburn
  
• You know I hope about parsley benefits; so much more than a garnish.
• Have you ever thought of growing a lemon tree? It is perfect for every garden.
  
• What are the benefits of olive oil?
• Fried eggplant recipe

Stuffed vine leaves

Stuffed vine leaves are a bit fiddly but worth the effort occasionally.

Many recipes call for freshly squeezed lemon juice. It's good stuff but even better is the whole pulp. Be careful to get the pips out, though. Citrus' vital ingredients are not only found in the liquid.

Go for it

1. Dip half a dozen vine leaves at a time into boiling water for a couple of minutes so they don't stick.
2. Boil the grated onion and some salt in a little water until tender and the liquid has evaporated. Add half the olive oil and saute lightly. 
3. Mix the onion, uncooked rice and grated zuccinis together. Add the herbs and sliced olives; salt and pepper. 
4. Place a TBSP of the mix onto a vine leaf, and roll making a small parcel. 
5. Lay a couple of vine leaves first on the bottom of a large pot and place the stuffed vine leaves in a circular fashion, with the lemon slices dotted here and there. 
6. Add lemon juice and the remaining oil. Cover with a small plate to keep the vine leaves tightly wrapped. 
7. Add three cups of warm water, cover the pot and boil gently. Test one after forty minutes. Add more water if the rice isn't quite cooked. DON'T LET THEM BURN.
8. Arrange the stuffed vine leaves on a large platter with perhaps olives at the centre, or another Mediterranean dish such as fried eggplant recipe.
   
9. Scatter lemon slices and sprigs of mint or parsley.
   

The Mediterranean peoples are great on Olive Garden Nutrition, whole grains and legumes. Those are probably the main reasons why they live longer, healthier lives. Two of the five Blue Zone places where longevity is the buzzword are islands close to Italy, Greece and Turkey.

Olive oil benefits

The benefits of olive oil are of course at the very centre of Mediterranean cuisine, so it comes no surprise that your stuffed vine leaves include a healthy sample of Athena's gift.

If you love olives and want to eat them by the dozen then buy them by the can, and then enjoy pickling them yourself. It's really very easy and you can choose your own flavours; experiment with dill and peppadews; to buy them already pickled in small quantities is prohibitively expensive.

• PICKLING OLIVES; so easy, one quarter of the price literally.

Alternatively if you want to get into olives in a big way then buy them green from the orchards and pickle them yourself.

• Preserving olives
  

Now you can be certain that no chemicals whatsoever have been added.

Oleic acid in olive and avocado oils

Nerves are coated in a fatty myelin sheath. Without it, no conduction can occur. Ask anyone suffering from Motor Neuron Disease or Multiple Sclerosis about it.

Oleic acid is the MUFA found abundantly in olive oil and avocados; it's the main constituent of myelinl good, healthy fat is vital for nerve conduction.

And so olives and the oil is an important subject in all branches of health care; and in your stuffed vine leaves dish. Enjoying the "fruit fats" in avocado and olives regularly, even daily is no important.

Freshly ground flax seed too is rich in oleic acid, it is the best non-fish source of omega 3 fatty acid. Read more about that at olive oil health benefits.

• Health benefits of avocado fat.
  
• Flax seed nutrition information.

Brown rice

Do yourself and your family a big favour: make the decision NEVER to buy white rice again; unpolished is the word. Why is that? Two reasons come to mind.

1. White rice has an EXTREMELY high Glycemic index. It gets turned very rapidly into glucose in the gut. That stresses the pancreas that has to pour out insulin to lower that blood sugar, which is then stored as FAT. GI and Carbohydrate Count Chart are important subjects. In this stuffed vine leaves recipe there will however be less of a surge because of the fibre, olive oil and protein.
   
2. The first vitamin thiamine was discovered when astute doctors in the East noticed that the chickens of the rich (who ate white rice) also suffered from the nerve conduction manifestations of beriberi; but those of the poor did not. Whilst the frank disease is today rare, most Western people are deficient in thiamine; malaise, tingling in the lower limbs and a feeling of generalised muscle weakness is not uncommon. Nor is Peripheral Neuropathy.

• Discovery of the first vitamin: Generalised muscle weakness

Lentil protein

You'll find some sites describing compounds in legumes and nuts as "anti-nutrients;" it's because of substances like phytate content in them. They would frown on making stuffed vine leaves with lentil protein.

Others in the keto circles would also frown on your stuffed vine leaves; because of the starch content in the rice. We contend that it is the refined carbs that make us obese and prone to type-2 diabetes.

Added synthetic phytic acid indeed adsorbes up to 50% of some of the minerals like iron and calcium. However by soaking, cooking and exposing naturally occurring phytates to fermentation this detrimental effect is greatly reduced. You can read more about it at are phytates bad?

The same is true of wheat and oat bran which they conveniently ignore; what we do find is that a sourdough bread recipe is a lot more friendly; and the lactobacillus fermentation reduces that effect of phytates.

In addition if you don't get some of your protein from legumes and nuts you are going to be eating far too much meat. The World Health Organisation after long consideration of the scientific studies has declared that red meat is "probably" cancer causing.

Those avoiding legumes and cereals it is true are less likely suffer from type-2 diabetes; in fact they almost certainly won't. But they will be prone to even more serious diseases like cancer, congestive heart failure and peripheral neuropathies.

So take your pick; cancer from meat or some loss of minerals by phytates from legumes?

Greek salad

There are only three ingredients that are definitive for a Greek salad; olives, extra virgin oil and feta cheese. You can barely see the bowl but there are enough for 10 to 15 apiece; if you buy large tins, they aren't expensive.

Seriously health conscious people of the Mediterranean countries would only enjoy a Greek salad with olives containing their pips; and another bowl of quick hummus.

I love the flavour of balsamic vinegar but many are preserved with toxic chemicals; read the label and rather use lemon juice if you can't find a decent condiment.

True wholegrain flour is also rich in thiamine

Once a peripheral neuropathy is established it takes large amounts of thiamine to overcome the disease. True wholegrain wheat flour is another rich source of vitamin B1; but it's much harder to obtain than unpolished rice. You will probably have to purchase a mill.

Notice the bread with the Greek salad above; it's made with 100% flour using the sourdough method. The flavour is without equal.

• 100 percent real flour
  

Peripheral neuropathy: Stuffed Vine Leaves

Peripheral neuropathy: Stuffed Vine Leaves with true unpolished rice and lentils. This dish is rich in thiamine, the vitamin that helps prevent peripheral neuropathies and generalised muscular weakness.

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