update: I wrote this at the start of the covid-19 pandemic, but I think it’s just as relevant now than it was then, considering the world seems to be watching a livestream of the most televised man-made tragedy we’ve ever witnessed in our lives….please pray for the people of Gaza and of Palestine. And for humanity.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve had some serious bouts of anxiety listening to all the bad news about the covid-19 pandemic our world is facing. I’m missing my family and I worry about them being in the States right now with the world’s largest outbreak in terms of numbers, as well as the completely bizarre and unorganized way the pandemic has been handled there. It’s unnerving, to say the least, and now we have to brace ourselves for impact here in Turkey.
That said, t’s time to take the bull by the horns and feel a little more empowered by doing something about it. At a time when it seems we have so little control over the outcome of this extremely contagious virus, there are things we can do to calm the nerves and actually arm ourselves with the best fighting chance to not get infected, or at the very least to not get so affected by all the bad news that we literally stress ourselves out to the point that we do lower our immune systems and make ourselves more vulnerable to disease and illness, even those unrelated to covid-19.
Here’s what I’m doing to take control over my own life and I do hope that these tips might help or inspire you to do what’s best for you, in your world, and within your means. Here goes:
I’m drinking a LOT of herbal teas. Consuming less caffeine is one of the most relaxing things I’ve done for my body, which has been in effect for several months now, as I was way too addicted to coffee for my own liking. In the coming days I’ll be posting more recipes for some of the teas I’ve been experimenting with after doing the research about their overall health benefits, so stay tuned and make sure you’re subscribed to this website so that you can get those. For example, I’m drinking ihlamur (linden tea), hot water with lemon, olive leaf tea, chammomile, and my favorite so far: mountain sage & lavender combination.
Dried papatya (chammomile) tea in the local pazar in Fethiye, Turkey | My Halal Kitchen
I’m staying in touch with family and friends, a lot. Whether it’s through texting, FaceTime, or WhatsApp, I’m using whatever tools I can use to check in on my parents, aunts and uncles, cousins (one is a nurse, so of course I worry), and of course all of my closest friends. It not only helps me to know how they’re doing, but the connection is good for my soul. Laughing, crying, expressing emotions about how we feel about one another and how much we mean to one another can only be good for the heart, it’s that important to me.
I’m doing other things that feed my soul are gardening and working, yes working. I actually try to combine both these days so that I can work among my plants, which makes me so very happy. I’ve moved all of my plants to a cozier place where I can work right in the center of them. It inspires me visually, but it’s also the most wonderfully-scented place in my house. It makes me very productive, too, so it’s a great place to be during quarantine.
I’m watching some of my favorite youtube channels for uplifting content, inspiration and to give myself hope for the future. Here are a couple of my favorites:
The Chateau Diaries– I love Stephanie Jarvis’ cheery nature and what she’s doing around her French chateau during the quarantine. It’s quite uplifting, to say the least.
Lifestyle Si– I love this interior designer’s calm and soothing nature as she talks about simple ways to decorate your home that just look incredibly aesthetic, natural and beautiful.
Eating a variety of healthy, all-natural, chemical-free real foods to boost my immunity | My Halal Kitchen
Most importantly, I’m listening to my doctors and their good advice- not the advice of rumors or old wives tales. For example, in addition to eating healthy (no refined sugars and only a variety of real, seasonal all-natural, chemical-free foods) I’m making beef or chicken bone broths almost daily, taking black seed and honey, Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Zinc, magnesium, bee propolis. I do need to do more fish oils, so that’s going to start again soon. Here are some of the doctors I listen to most:
What do I need to do better during this quarantine?
Mediate more (prayer and du’a/supplication)
Exercise (I need to find more good exercises to do from home)
Sleep earlier. Working long hours isn’t always a good thing and good quality sleep is crucial.
Stress less by reading less negative news and only what’s absolutely necessary. For a news junkie like me, it’s not easy but I’m going to do it.
How are you handling stress and boredom during the quarantine? I’d love to know in the comments below, so please share your tips and wisdom with the rest of us.
*This information is not intended as medical advice. Please consult your physician before undertaking any of the advice or suggestions included in this post.
There’s no time like the present to either be reminded about or learn new things pertaining to our food system and what goes into the foods we buy. Over the course of the next several days I’ll be rolling out a series of discussions I presented based on the research I gained from writing the My Halal Kitchen cookbook– it’s way more than just cooking and recipes, folks…
Have a listen and then let’s have a discussion of our own in the comments below!
I can remember being interested in health foods as far back as when I was in my early teens. I was simply drawn to those sections of magazines that talked about how to make your own face scrubs or spa days at home with all natural ingredients that hailed from exotic locations where I dreamed of traveling to seek out even more of those ‘secret’ ingredients that made people live well and be strong and healthy and naturally beautiful throughout their lives. It was purely fascinating to me, living in the Midwest, where none of the food seemed exotic to me because I was constantly being exposed to ‘different’ foods through books, magazines and the occasional culinary gems my family members would bring back from Sicily or Puerto Rico.
That said, I grew up having an appreciation for Mediterranean foods like pomegranates, olives and olive oil, dates and figs all because of my Sicilian background. These are common foods grown there and my dad always talked about how healthy they were for us and would jump at the chance to give me a taste if and when he found them.
Needless to say, I was insatiably curious about foods for that reason. Eventually that morphed into an interest in cooking, but it all stemmed from my original interest in global ingredients and how different foods affects our health mentally, emotionally, and physically.
Years later when I stumbled upon Islam as a religion (not knowing anything about it at all well into my twenties), what drew me in the most was the topic of Prophetic Medicine and Sunnah foods, or foods that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to eat and/or recommended us to eat. I was astounded at the overlap in the foods that were considered Mediterranean and the ones I grew up learning about being some of the healthiest for us to eat. It peaked my interest more and more and more…
And then I read this hadith (saying of Prophet Muhammad):
Aisha (may Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى be pleased with her) said that she heard the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم say,
“This black seed is a cure for every disease except death.” (Bukhari).
Black Seed at the local Pazar in Fethiye, Turkey
[Just to clarify, this topic is elaborated upon among scholars who dig a little deeper into the meaning of “every disease” here, although there must be much more discussion elsewhere among scholars, physicians and medical researchers.]
But the black seed goes way back in history even before the time of our Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. In fact, it was used by the Asians, the Persians, and the Romans for culinary and medicinal purposes.
Because black seeds contain really amazing things like linoleic acid (an essential fatty acid to the human diet) and palmitic acid (most commonly found in palm oil and butter).
They also contain important things like amino acids, arginine (great for circulation and oxygen to our cells), aspartate, and glutamate. They also have iron, copper, zinc, phosphorus, thiamin, niacin, pyridoxine, folic acid, and calcium. Does your daily multivitamin contain all of these?
It’s so hard to wrap my brain around the fact that these little seeds contain so much.
And also…
Black seed (and the oil) is said to help people with autoimmune disorders, cancer, diabetes, hypertension, hypoglycemia, infertility, inflammation, and metabolic syndrome. They’re even being studied deeper to understand how they can retard cancerous tumors because of a key compound they contain: thymoquinone. You can read more about that in this fascinating article.
Fascinating stuff!
So, if one powerhouse superfood wasn’t enough, imagine combining it with another powerhouse superfood: HONEY
In fact, in addition to the Quran itself, it is mentioned that in honey, there is healing.
A spoonful of black seed (n.sativa/nigella/black cumin) with honey
And, honey bees are so important there’s even a chapter in the Quran named, An-Nahl الْنَّحْل, or The Honeybees (chapter 16). Our precious honeybees work very, very hard to bring us every pound of honey, so we should appreciate it for all the amazing characteristics it contains to nourish our bodies.
And your Lord inspired to the bee, “Take for yourself among the mountains, houses, and among the trees and [in] that which they construct. Then eat from all the fruits and follow the ways of your Lord laid down [for you].” There emerges from their bellies a drink, varying in colors, in which there is healing for people. Indeed in that is a sign for a people who give thought.
Some of the many important qualities of honey are:
Anti-inflammatory
Antioxidant- preventing damage to our cells caused by age and environment
Antimicrobial & antibacterial (great for medicinal use in healing wounds)
Cleansing the blood
Hypoglycemic effect (capacity to lower blood sugar levels)
Protective on the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and respiratory systems
So, why the combination of black seed plus honey? To me it looks as though once these two powerhouse foods are combined, the combination is knocking it out of the park with its superfood qualities.
At home, I take it daily- a small spoon with just a dribble of seeds on top. Maybe I should do more, I’m not really sure, but for the moment it seems like it’s the right thing.
A little advice regarding where you can find black seed and black seed oil. Black seeds can often be found at Middle Eastern & Mediterranean stores, as well as online. Be sure it’s organic and non-GMO when you do buy it, as well as the oil.
There are also capsules for people who would rather take those.
How and How Often to Consume Black Seed & Honey?
People often ask me how to take it and how often. That is something you should really speak to your own health professional about, as I cannot give medical advice. I have read in my research that it’s best to take before breakfast on an empty stomach, so I try to do that. How many times a day? I do it at least once, but I read at least one recommendation that said to do this 2-3 times per day. I think that also depends on why you’re taking it- is it preventative or do you have a condition for which you’re taking it? That’s why I say please consult with a medical expert about this. One thing worth noting is that I do crush the seeds before consuming, but not always. I feel like it releases some of the oils, but in all of my research I didn’t see that recommendation coming up too often.
This is something I’ve wanted to discuss for a very long time with everyone: Who Really Cares About Halal?
I want to open up the conversation to see where everyone is on the question of what truly makes up a halal food item or process? Do you really know? How much do you care about it? What lengths are you willing to go to ensure what you put in your body truly is halal? Here’s my take on the topic- would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
Do share with anyone you think will be interested.
We had an amazing couple of months here with the fabulously smart Dr. Madiha Saeed, a Chicago area MD who just finished the book, The Holistic Rx (now available on Amazon). She specializes in gut health and healing chronic inflammation and autoimmune diseases, but addresses just about everything under the sun in that book.
Why did I want to work with Dr. Saeed on these series? Because we’re on the same page about health- the mind, body, soul connection that runs deep into the heart of many of our biggest physical and emotional challenges. I know because I was there, and she helped me immensely to pick up the pieces, take charge of my health and get back on track.
You’ll see in this series of videos what I’m talking about.
The first one is an introduction to Halal & Tayyib– what it really means and why you need to know more about that- or at least get reminded to get back to the basics and how. Don’t mind the blurred intro screen- once you click on the arrow, it’ll take you to a working video.
The second video we talked about gut health and how to heal and inflamed gut with the implementation of pure foods- and we give some examples of what that looks like, pulling things straight from our fridge and pantries.
The third video was about addressing issues with pre-diabtes and diabetes. This was close to my heart because it’s what hits home to me the most. Over the summer she ran my numbers and I was astonished to find out that I was pre-diabetic! Due to chronic stress and super low Vitamin D levels, I had to get back on track and follow the same advice she gives in this video to get completely back on track. A few months later and my numbers were out of the red but I’m still following her protocol because I feel great!
In the fourth video we get into the kitchen to talk about some of the foods and recipes you can make that will make it easy to follow her guidelines for optimal health. The recipe is soon to be posted on a separate blog post so stay tuned for that. If you’re not subscribed already, be sure to do so here so you don’t miss it: www.wordpress-523174-1665548.cloudwaysapps.com/subscribe.
The fifth video was about the spiritual side of a healthy lifestyle and what elements we should pay attention to in order to get things lined up again.
Our last, bonus video was about the launch of her new book, The Holistic Rx, something we’re very proud of her doing. Congratulations, Dr. Saeed and thank you so much for blessing us with your hard-earned knowledge and contributing your time to raising awareness around such life-changing information.
You can follow Dr. Saeed on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @HolisticMomMD.
I love the topic of what’s in your food. When I wrote the My Halal Kitchen cookbook, I learned more than I ever expected – or perhaps thought possible- about what goes on in the food industry that effects what’s in the food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products we use on a daily basis. It was mind-blowing and changed the game of how I not only look at food, but also how I think about my mission at My Halal Kitchen. It’s not just about writing recipes anymore; it’s also about constantly learning how the food industry changes, what kind of strange and unhealthy ingredients land in our food and what I can do to help you solve that problem.
That said, I love meeting people, particularly those in the food industry, who are going deep into what’s really in the food they create. It’s really difficult for restaurant owners, especially because of the cost of food- cheap food is tempting because the potential for massive profit is at their feet. However, there are good people out there who really do care what they make for the people who buy their products. They care deeply about the health of people and planet, and those are the types of foodies I like to surround myself with to reach the goal of educating as many people as I can about making the changes that are good for all of us- a conscious, holistic approach to eating and living.
This brings me to one of my recent Facebook live interviews where I chatted with Dobra Bielinski of Delightful Pastries bakery in Chicago. Dobra and I met when I was giving a talk for the Culinary Historians of Chicago at Kendall College. I was talking about halal with respect to how Muslim eat and what we look for in our food, including breads and doughs that might contain human hair or duck feathers, often using the name l-cysteine or dough conditioner, which is used to help these products stay softer longer, particularly in mass production. She took this information to heart and began checking to make sure all of her suppliers products were free of these elements. Later, we were both inducted into the Les Dames d’Escoffier Chicago Chapter together at the same time, earlier this year. From then on, we’ve had deeper conversations about bread and pastry products, particularly the impact of bleaching and bromeating flour, which she explains in the video below. She’s a real gem, dedicated to lifelong learning and serious about her craft, which I have so much respect for- you’ll see why here.
Love to hear your comments and questions in the comments section below. Enjoy!
