Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 6, 1 June 1992 — ʻAi Pono, E Ola [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ʻAi Pono, E Ola

By Terry Shintani, M.D.

A Better Source of ealeium than milk

lt is well known that in ancient times Hawaiians grew tall and had strong bones. Europeans in the 1700s described Hawaiians as being "above the middle stature" whieh supports the legends of Hawaiians being tall, even up to seven feet in height.

Most nutritionists will tell you that it is important to have an adequate amount of ealeium in your diet if you want to have strong bones and grow tall. They will also tell you that you must drink milk in order to do so. You must known, however, that dairy food was never part of the diet of ancient Hawaiians. The question you might ask is "How is it that Hawaiians were so tall if they never had dairy food in their diet?" As far as dietary ealeium is concerned, there are three main answers as to how this nutrient was supplied. First, they ate a large amount of greens whieh are an excellent source of ealeium. Lu'au leaf and sweet potato leaves are very good ealeium sources. Second, they ate a fair amount of limu or seaweed. Ounee for ounee, most limu is a better source of ealeium than milk. Third, when small fish were eaten the small bones were soft enough to be eaten with the fish. The bones were softened further by long periods of cooking. There was some wisdom in obtaining ealeium without dairy food because today we are finding that dairy food is really not "man's perfect food" as it was onee promoted by the dairy industry. (It is actually a baby cow's perfect food.) I say this because dairy products contain a fair amount of cholesterol and fat. Even 2 percent milk contains 35 percent fat and mueh of it is the bad kind (saturated fat). In addition, milk proteins ean cause many allergies and many people don't tolerate the milk sugar very well. If you don't get your ealeium from the sources described in this article, then taking some dairy food may be advisable particularly if you are under 30. In that case, use only the non-fat type such as skim milk. How ean we get ealeium in modern times without dairy food? Of course, we ean get it

from limu as I have described in the last article. Today, lua'u leaf is available at some supermarkets, but sweet potato leaf is less available. We ean substitute some excellent greens similarly high in ealeium. Four good examples are kale, collard greens, watercress and broccoli. Personally, I didn't know what kale and collard greens were until I began studying traditional diets. I located some with a little effort in the produce department of most supermarkets, and 1 found them to be delicious and easy to prepare. If you want to add even more ealeium, without dairy food, you ean try tofu dressing on any greens as tofu is another forgotten source of ealeium. Collards/Kale 1 bunch of collard greens or kale Water Pineh of sea salt Wash and slice leaves down the middle. Stack on top of eaeh other and cut diagonally into bitsize pieces. Pour water over to cover, add a pineh of sea salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the flame and simmer for about 5 minutes or until bright green. You ean eat this plain, with any

dressing, (preferably a no-oil dressing available at health food stores) or with the tofu dressing below. Tofu dressing 1/2 block of tofu, (medium or firm) 1 clove garlic, minced or crushed 1 tsp miso or soy sauce 1 Tbsp lemon juice 1 tsp Worchestershire sauce (if you have it) Optional 1 Tbsp peanut butter or tahini, or 1 tsp sesame oil. Add other ingredients of your ehoiee such as parsley, mustard, curry powder, dried dill. Mix in a blender until creamy smooth. Be careful to use fresh tofu as it spoils quickly, refrigerate when not in use, and use it within a day. Steaming the tofu 3 minutes before using helps it last a little longer. Dr. Shintani, physician and nutritionist is the director of preventive medicine at the Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center. A majority of its board and its 18,000 clients are of Native Hawaiian ancestry.