You may have noticed Rainbow Carrots in the shops and wondered if they were some new genetically-modified aberration. We love their vibrant deep purple, red, orange, yellow and even white hues and their fantastic flavour, but did you know that all carrots once looked like this?

The reason why most of the carrots we buy today are orange dates from the 17th century, when the House of Orange decided that the orange carrot was a great emblem and symbolic of the struggle for Dutch independence – and it became the carrot of choice amongst Dutch breeders.

As a result orange carrots ended up dominating in West, but other colours are still popular in other parts of the world.

Some rainbow carrot facts:

- The yellow ones get their colour from the pigment xanthophylls, found in spinach, which has been linked with good eye health.

- Varieties of red carrots contain lycopene, a pigment also found in tomatoes. This acts as a powerful antioxidant and is particularly effective against prostate cancer. In older people, lycopene could reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.

- The purple vegetables owe their colour to anthocyanins, a pigment rich in vitamins C and E that feed the brain and are a powerful antioxidant. They have already been sold in Britain.

-White carrots lack pigment but contain other health-promoting substances called phytochemicals, which can reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

- Orange carrots get their colour from beta carotene with some alpha carotene, a pigment the body turns into vitamin A. This is essential for healthy skin and vision in dim light. They also contain tiny traces of xanthophylls, lycopene and anthocyanins.

So don’t be suspicious, give these lovely colourful carrots a try, they truly are a treat.

Fairtrade Fortnight begins today and this year the Fairtrade Foundation have come up with a novel yet very simple way to get involved.

 All we need to do is swap a conventional product for a fairtrade one and since the range is now fairly broad from nuts and grains, through tea and coffee to biscuits and fruit – it’s a really easy way to make a difference to the lives of people living in some of the poorest countries in the world.

A huge two billion people, a third of the world’s population, survive on just $2 a day. By choosing fairtrade products we can make a difference,  through ensuring farmers and producers in developing countries get a fair price for what they produce.

The aim is to achieve one million and one swaps during the next fortnight, so make the right choice and register your swap at http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/thebigswap/.

Click here to see some of the wonderful fairtrade products available to buy online at Garlands Organic.

Pancake Day is Tuesday 16th February – just a few days to go, but I think pancakes should be eaten more often.  The light American style pancakes are perfect for breakfast with blueberries or crispy bacon and maple syrup. For a more substantial meal,  the traditional English pancake can be filled with all sorts of delicious savoury or sweet  fillings. It’s also hard to beat a simple squeeze of fresh lemon and sprinkle of sugar.

Here is my favourite traditional pancake recipe which never lets me down, although I’ve never worked out why the first pancake in any batch (regardless of the recipe) just never turns out right?  Naturally, I think the best-tasting results come from using organic ingredients, in particular the eggs and milk.

In a large bowl, whisk together two medium eggs, 450ml of milk and 75g of melted butter. Whisk in 125g plain flour and when that has been well incorporated, add another 125g and whisk until completely smooth. (For savoury pancakes add 1 teaspoon sauce, for sweet pancakes you can add some sugar, but I don’t bother as the sweet fillings tend to be sweet enough)

To lightly oil a frying pan, I dip some kitchen towel in a little melted butter and just wipe this around the pan (ideally 16cm diameter). Once the pan is hot, I tend to turn the heat down to a medium heat and add one ladle (about 2 tablespoons) of mixture, swirling  the batter round to coast the base evenly.

Cook for 40-50 seconds until golden – check by lifting an edge with a palette knife and then flip it over and cook the other side for 10-15 seconds. Pancakes are best eaten straight away, so rather than try and keep them warm I serve each pancake as it’s done to whoever is most in need!  This mixture makes about 15 pancakes.

Here at Garlands we often get customers who have had flax seeds (aka linseeds) recommended to them, often by nutritionists. We sell it in a number of different forms including brown, golden, cracked and powdered and we’re often asked which is best. The optimum benefit comes from powdered flax,  as you are less likely to digest whole seeds. We also stock flax seed oil and whilst this contains the Omega-3’s, it does not contain any dietary fibre or lignans (see below)

There are many health benefits to consuming flax seeds including:

Flax fights constipation - flax is high in both soluble and insoluble fibre. Flax promotes regular bowel movements because it is high in insoluble fibre. Flaxseed’s all natural fibre helps to absorb water, thereby softening the stool and allowing it to pass through the colon quickly. When adding fibre to your diet, it is important to make sure that you are drinking at least eight glasses of water daily. Without enough liquids, fibre can actually cause constipation!

Flax fights inflammation – flax is high in Omega 3 essential fatty acids. That’s good news for people who suffer from inflammatory disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis. It is the inflammation within the joints that cause so much of the pain associated with arthritis.

Flax fights menopausal symptoms – hot flashes, night sweats, irritability, moodiness…ah, the joys of menopause. Can flax really help? Yes apparently it can! Flax, like soy, is a phytoestrogen. Phytoestrogens are estrogen-like substances that are found in plants. Flax is the richest known plant source of phytoestrogens. Phytoestrogens act as a natural hormone therapy and help to stabilize hormonal levels. This stabilization of hormonal levels helps to lesson the symptoms of menopause.

Flax seeds can easily be added to cereals, smoothies or you can even bake with them.

To view a selection of products available to buy online at Garlands Organic click here.

Patrick Holford recently published the results of his health survey, the largest ever diet survey based on a poll of 55,000 people (polled from 2000 onwards).  The results underlined the relation between diet and  many of today’s pandemic diseases e.g. Alzheimer’s,  cancer, heart disease and diabetes, with some surprising results.

High wheat consumption was associated with low energy, weight gain and lack of motivation – a similar pattern was observed with high consumption of dairy products, with the addition of a higher incidence of headaches.

The single best food, most strongly associated with optimal health, are nuts and seeds.  Those having three or more servings a day, tripled their chances of being in optimal health.  Fruit, oily fish (at least two portions a week), vegetables and water were the next best food groups.

Consumption of sugary snacks was by the far the best predictor of poor health for every health factor looked at: energy, digestion, immunity, hormonal and mental health.  This is consistent with growing evidence that a high sugar intake is driving obesity, diabetes,  heart disease and even violent behaviour.

In fact, the survey suggests that cutting back on sugar, has even more impact on your health than eating more fruit and vegetables.

Nuts and seeds available to buy online at Garlands Organic:

Infinity Organic Brazil Nuts 500g £4.79

Infinity Organic Fairtrade Nut Mix 250g £3.25

Infinity Organic Whole Cashew Nuts 500g £4.99

Other nuts

Infinity Organic Pumpkin Seeds 250g £1.77

Infinity Organic Sunflower Seeds 500g £1.55

Other seeds

For more information on this survey

Recent research found that only 1% of children’s packed lunches have the same nutritional value as the new healthy school lunches – the study conducted by the University of Leeds found that only thirteen lunches contained an acceptable balance of vegetables, fruit, carbohydrates, protein and had foods low in salt and sugar out of a sample of 1,300 – which is pretty staggering.

Too many parents are incorporating fizzy drinks, sugary snacks and crisps – however as with any research project the results look very black and white in isolation.

Some additional factors worth considering:

1) Time-pressure –  in the morning many parents are busy trying to simultaneously get themselves ready, prepare breakfast, persuade their kids to eat at least some of said breakfast, make a packed lunch,  fill in school forms,  find loose change,  all the while lurching towards a prolonged battle at the door to finally leave the house with everything that everyone needs for the day.

It’s not a excuse for filling lunch boxes with processed food, but if you don’t have time to study labels, it could be a reason why so much unhealthy material finds its way in.

2) The appeal of school dinners – whilst these have become more healthy on the whole, they have not necessarily become more appealing.

Our daughter will only have school dinners when there is a roast on the menu and at least when she has packed lunch I can see exactly what has been eaten (or squashed into a ball in the hope I don’t notice).

3) The overall eating habits of the family – one could assume that parents who give their children only pop, crisps and chocolate for lunch might also eat pretty unhealthily the rest of the time, however is it fair to assume the same of the parent who might occasionally include a  treat?

4) The judgement of peers – children can be very critical of other children’s lunchboxes, our daughter asked me to stop including Clearspring fruit tubs after an older boy accused her of eating baby food.

So, if like me you want your children to be both healthy and happy with a lunch that sets them up for an afternoon of hard work and play, but is also enjoyable and not likely to turn them into a lunchtime ‘weirdo’;  you watch the salt and sugar,  aim for some fruit and veg, include some protein and a yoghurt/bit of cheese but also occasionally stick in something that you know they will love, like a small piece of cake or little box of yoghurt-coated raisins because you know that most of the time their diet is a good, balanced and healthy one.

Some healthy suggestions for your packed lunch available to buy online at Garlands Organic:

Santa Maria Organic Multigrain Wraps £2.99

Nairns Organic Oat Cakes £1.29

Tropical Fairtrade Chewy Banana Chips 200g £1.59

Tropical Organic Dried Mango Strips 100g £1.89

Assorted organic flapjacks, fruit bars and cereal bars from 45p-£1.05

Ella’s Kitchen Red Fruit Smoothie pouch 79p

Ella’s Kitchen Yellow Fruit Smoothie pouch 79p

If one of your resolutions is to be more healthy in 2010, why not give green tea a try? Over the past few decades, scientific studies have been coming up with more and more health benefits to be had from drinking this mild and delicate tea.  Green tea has long been the tea of choice in the East  “Better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one.” Ancient Chinese proverb.

So here are some of the potential benefits of drinking green tea:

1) A cup of green tea daily might reduce your chances of developing lung cancer, even if you are a smoker. A recent study compared the diet and lifestyles of 170 lung cancer patients with 340 healthy participants and showed that among both smokers and non-smokers those who didn’t drink tea had five times the risk of developing lunch cancer compared with those who drank a cup of green tea daily.

2) Tea drinkers are smarter and younger – in a study carried out by researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong looked at the length of telomeres, DNA sequences at the end of chromosomes that shorten as cells replicate and age. They found that particularly among older Chinese men those drinking three or more cups of tea (mainly green tea), compared to those having less than a quarter cup a day on average had longer telomeres corresponding to ‘“approximately a difference of 5 years of life”.

3) Green tea can help with weight loss.  In November, 1999, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published the results of a study at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. Researchers found that men who were given a combination of caffeine and green tea extract burned more calories than those given only caffeine or a placebo.

What makes green tea so special? 

The secret of green tea lies in the fact it is rich in catechin polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is a powerful anti-oxidant: besides inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, it kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. It has also been effective in lowering LDL cholesterol levels, and inhibiting the abnormal formation of blood clots. The latter takes on added importance when you consider that thrombosis (the formation of abnormal blood clots) is the leading cause of heart attacks and stroke.

Choose from a selection of teas to buy online at:

http://www.garlandsorganic.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=128