They are tasty nutritious, come in
all shapes, sizes, colors, packaging and are the original
super food.
Mushrooms!
I love them!
Here today to share his vast knowledge and passion for
all things mushrooms is Jerry Angelini, Education Director for
Host Defense Organic Mushrooms and also joining us, one of
South Florida's pre-eminent vegetarian chefs from the ever
popular SeaFood and Wine festival in Miami, Chef Julie
Frans, good morning to both of you!
Good morning Olga!
It smells so good!
Julie what are you making?
Well you can smell the ginger and garlic, I'm
making a stir-fry.
It's really simple, something anybody can
make.
Full of color, full of vegetables and of course
mushrooms.
I love mushrooms!
I'm going to be over there in just a
couple minutes.
Awesome!
I'm waiting.
Jerry, love mushrooms, there are so many varieties,
give me a brief history of the mushroom.
Well mushrooms have been used by humans in fact for
over 7000 years, as food sources but also as support for health
and wellness.
And there is a fun fact about mushrooms that I want
our viewers to know.
Right!
We were talking about it so you
gotta hear this.
Yeah.
Humans and mushrooms closely related
how?
Yeah in fact we share more DNA with mushrooms than we do
with plants and because of that their immune system is something
we can in fact use to support our own immune system.
Julie while you are cooking over there
and I know what mushroom are you using this morning?
Umm this morning I'm using shiitakes and
oysters there, you can find them in pretty much any grocery
store, so they are perfect for, for cooking anytime.
And would you agree you can do just so
much with mushrooms?
They are so versatile, they really just add
a lot to the dishes, right?
Totally.
Umm as a plant based chef, they are great addition to
any dish, they give it that meaty um intense flavor and you
can also add them in to burgers like a lot of chefs do at the
SeaBurger Battle um where you're not having meat but you still
get that real intense flavor or you can use them um on dishes
roasted, marinated, in salads cooked dishes, there, there
really quite an amazing ingredient.
And not just an amazing ingredient but so good
for you.
The health benefits are so many Jerry?
Absolutely!
So what we know is that all of
these mushrooms especially the ones we cook, can support our
immune system.
And that's really important because a lot of
people want to make sure that it's balanced and functioning
appropriately.
Sure.
What we also know though and this is not
so well known in the world is that each of these mushrooms
also supports other systems of body like Lion's Mane can
support neurological functioning and memory.
We've got some mushrooms that support athletic
performance some support blood glucose regulation.
So all in all it's just really great for
the body.
Amazing, super foods for our bodies.
I love them whether they are cooked or
whether they are uncooked and which kind is this?
I'm not good at identifying them.
Do you know Julie?
Shiitake.
Shiitake which is what you're using over there!
I love Shiitake yup!
Not this one has, oh my gosh I love them!
This one has a good flavor, you're using Shiitake and
Oysters any kind of reason?
But I think those are really good
for cooking.
I love shiitakes for cooking and I even add them
into, not only Asian dishes, but even if I'm making a spaghetti
sauce or something like that, cause it has such a intense
mushroom flavor hmmm.
Umm it's great in miso soups, hmm
You get that real mushroom-y flavor, I add them into my
stocks.
Can you overcook them?
They can get a little mushy if you overcook them, so like with
the stir-fry I add them when it's almost done.
You don't want them to soak up too much of that
liquid so you cook most of your vegetables and then you throw
them in right at the end, let them wilt down just, just a tad
and then they're perfect.
Alright I can tell you right now that my husband is probably
looking at me and saying there she is eating a mushroom, it's
not cooked.
My husband is not crazy about them, he's like I
just don't like the way they look honey, you know I really
appreciate that they're good for me and I always tell him you're
missing out on the benefits.
You really are.
And what's really amazing is doctor Paul Stamets
who's the owner and founder of the company, he's been studying
and working with mushrooms for over 30 years and he's used that
tremendous knowledge to create these supplements that are
really easy to use for just about everyone.
So if you don't like the mushrooms you can
actually get all the benefits right here.
Actually you get more because they are
concentrated and they are appropriately extracted using
the whole mushroom.
Organic mushrooms are in there?
Absolutely and that's another really important consideration,
um mushrooms can kind of clean up our environment and they can
sometimes be like sponges and we want to make sure that there's
no pesticides or other industrial waste so we grow
everything right in Washington State and they're grown
organically and they're manufactured organically.
And it's a nice option and
especially if you don't like capsules you can have liquid.
Exactly.
Now the liquid is really immediate some people
feel those results like within 20, 30 minutes.
Hmmm But the capsules are people, for people
that don't like maybe, the taste of mushroom, right?
Okay.
So, because there's those people out
there Right.
You know they don't, i don't, you're not going
to get me to eat a mushroom.
Well we have a capsule.
Takes care of it.
Speaking of tastes, we're going to move over there.
Yeah Come on Jerry, For sure Fill me in because Julie has
been making something scrumptious for us.
Oh my gosh, you've added broccoli Lot's of
color What else?
There's broccoli, red pepper, carrots,
snow peas, took some of the watermelon, radishes that I had.
Oh my gosh.
Actually top it with some of these beautiful pea
tendrils.
Love this, oh my gosh okay, I'm going to dig in
already.
I'm going to grab one of these oyster mushrooms, I
think this is an oyster mushroom.
And this is a shiitake.
Hmm Oh my!
Brilliant!
Yeah, good, very very good!
Yeah all that ginger and garlic,
goodness.
These two chefs here that plated up these at Dirt,
Beaker, and Gray um also great places to find, plant based
food, a whole plethora of different kinds of food and lots
of mushrooms on their menus as well.
Wonderful.
You gotta keep on tasting this.
It's really amazing, yeah.
Alright and Jerry for our viewers out there who'd
like more information on the capsules and liquid where do
they go?
I'm sorry I'm trying to eat at talk at the same time.
That's okay, me too!
Just go to host defense dot com,
again that's host defense dot com So I'll
stick to the mushrooms because i love them!
And my husband will start taking the capsules and
get the benefits.
Absolutely!
Right?
Everyday!
Thank you so much!
Julie thank you so much, i appreciate you're time.
Thank you, thanks so much for having
me.
And I will see you at the festival, one more bite of
mushrooms I'm going to go for one too.
Okay!
You can also log onto our website and that's the
balancing act dot com see she stopped cooking and now she's
going to start cooking again or go to Facebook forward slash the
balancing act fans keep cooking sweetheart I'll eat some more.
Alright!
(music.)
I gotta tell you, that stir fry looks and it
smells delicious.
But up next Healthy Habits for a Happy Cat
so don't go away.
(music.)
They have 9 lives, outnumber dogs to the
tune of 4 million according to an American Veterinarian Medical
Associations estimate.
They're compact, precious and well, just
lovable.
We're talking about cats!
With us today to talk about keeping our feline friends
happy and healthy is veterinarian Doctor Deborah
Greco.
Good morning!
Hi, good morning to you!
Thanks for being here.
You brought a gorgeous friend here.
Who's this?
This is Lilly, she's about 6 years old.
She's an American Short Hair.
Look at her!
She's beautiful!
Look at this fur, it's just gorgeous!
I just love the way they feel, she looks like a mini
tiger.
I know!
Isn't she adorable?
And the eyes!
So precious!
And she's happy right?
She's purring?
Oh she's very happy.
She's purring right now, she's happy to see you.
And when you see cats and you see them
happy; how do you know that your cat is healthy?
Well they can by several things.
First of all you look at their eyes and make sure
that they're bright and clear.
She's got her eyes closed now but that's what you would look
for.
Also her skin and coat that it's nice and supple.
And her body can condition, so we talk
about you know good body condition, muscle tone, not too
fat, not too thin and we look at this from the perspective of
whole body health and we want the cat to have all these things
in order to know they are truly healthy.
And what can cat owners learn from their cat's behavior
because I've been around cats and they're all very different.
Some are quiet, other are you know, a little bit more
energetic.
Yeah, well you know, cats can differ in their
personalities.
It's a little bit tied to their coat color, like
orange cats tend to be outgoing.
Yes!
That's probably the kind I would get.
Yes.
The orange cat, it's really loud and energetic.
Absolutely, but the main thing is no matter what your cat's
behavior is as their innate behavior, what you want to do is
see if they change their behavior to know if something is
maybe not quite right.
And what can pet parents look for when it
comes to a healthy diet, cause they need to get one too.
Just like we do.
Yes, a healthy diet, something like Purina One Tender
Selects Blend is a good example of a good commercial diet that's
balanced for protein, for essential fatty acids, and
vitamins all of which are important for health of our
animals.
And cats like it?
Cats love it!
They love the texture of it, the variety of different
crunchy kibbles and then the meaty pieces that they can
actually get, sink their teeth into and chew.
And when it comes to feeding them, how much do you
feed a cat?
Does it depend on the age and the life of the cat?
Yeah the life stage can effect how you feed the cats for
example very very young cats and very old cats need more protein.
Hmmm And then cats that are middle aged, tend to get a
little bit, you know round around the tummy and so they
need to maybe, maybe need to cut their calories or cut their
rations during the day.
They can be a bit fussy too in terms of
eating something that they like, they like the texture right?
Yes.
And the flavor?
Oh yes!
That's really important.
It's very important and it's one of
the things that is necessary for good diet because if you have a
good diet doesn't matter if the cat doesn't eat it.
So the flavor, the texture, all of
those things are really important for variety, the cats
like a lot of variety and a product like this really
delivers in that regard.
You mentioned earlier doctor that
when your cat is healthy, you can see it, what do you mean by
that?
I mean I can tell this cat is healthy.
Yes, uh huh.
I can see it, but what do you mean by
that?
Well what I mean by that is that the cat is, um you know,
the personality of the cat is good, it's the same as it has
been, they're outgoing or they're you know showing the
same signs of affection for you that they've always had, um that
their skin is nice and soft and supple so for example if I pull
up her skin little bit you can see that it's nice and elastic.
Hmmm And that means she's well hydrated, that means she's
getting enough water.
Um also she has a good body condition,
if we just take a look at here, you can see that she has a nice
tuck up right here, I can feel her ribs, and there's not too
much fat, overlying the ribs and she's happy, she's wagging her
tale a little bit.
Because she's looking at her Purina one She
is!
Huh!
I had that for breakfast but I'm going to have
a little bit more later on, right Lilly?
That's right Lilly!
That's right - that's your Purina One Tender Selects Blend,
isn't it?
For our viewers out there, where is this available?
It's available at pet specialty stores, at grocery stores and
you can also visit us at Purina One dot com Alright and I know
you have more than one cat, how many do you have total?
I have two Dogs?
Three Anything else?
Horse (laughter.)
How many horses?
Just one!
That's it?
Yup!
Thank you so much doctor!
Thank you!
Appreciate your time and thank you Lilly for coming
here this morning so well behaved.
You can also learn more from this segment by going to
our website the balancing act dot com or log onto Facebook
forward slash the balancing act fans (music.)