Last September, I had the opportunity to attend Back to School for Doctors 2016, presented by Mark Anderson from Standard Process West. I’d never been to this event before, and all I can say is wow! What I assumed would be a few doctors gathered in a small conference room turned out to be a huge seminar with over 600 participants who traveled to Denver from all across the country to hear what Mark had in store for them this year. One woman I sat with at lunch looked at me and said, “This event is the highlight of my year.” To say I misjudged BTS, which has been running for over twenty years, is a gross understatement.
I could go on and on about how amazing Back to School was. Mark’s presentation was incredibly charismatic and enlivened with a healthy dose of humor. The location was fabulous. The attendees were enthusiastic, and the staff was friendly. And the food…oh my, I’ve dreamt about that delicious food! But all of that is a post for another time. The inspiration for this post was the theme of Back to School for Doctors 2016: the heart.
On day one Mark talked about something called rutin, part of the vitamin P group (which includes rutin and other bioflavonoids) of the vitamin C complex. Rutin is a compound found most abundantly in buckwheat. Why is this important, you ask? According to research outlined in Harvard Magazine, rutin contains “potent anticlotting powers that could help prevent heart attack and stroke.” (Learn more about Harvard’s rutin study in Heather Wilkinson’s post “Buckwheat’s Secret Weapon—Rutin.”)
Being a 27-year-old female, heart attacks and strokes aren’t on my radar yet. However, after spending two days learning all about dangers to the heart—including an audible demonstration of some very alarming irregular heartbeats that made me wonder how the person making them was even alive!—the health of my own heart began to make a blip on my radar. Perhaps I should start learning about ways to keep my heart healthy.
This is where rutin comes in. Whether you’re young and healthy and just want to give your heart a boost, or you’re a little older and already having heart problems, you can supplement rutin at any stage of your life. Along with the C complex, it’s critical to preventing capillary breakdown.
Despite what Harvard’s rutin study would have you believe, the information that rutin can have a significant effect on heart health isn’t new. In the SRP Historical Archives, you’ll find this gem from Dr. Royal Lee, published in 1948: “The promotion of rutin from buckwheat is another revival of an old household remedy.”
This knowledge may not seem all that important until you learn that Americans buy over 44 million packages of aspirin a year in an attempt to ward off heart attacks and strokes. But what aspirin does synthetically, rutin does naturally—and without stripping away the stomach lining, which can lead to ulcers and bleeding.
Rutin’s looking pretty good now, right? My thoughts exactly!
Now for the important question, how can you get rutin into your body? Though it’s found in some fruits and vegetables, one of the best sources of rutin is buckwheat, as mentioned above. When Mark said this, I perked up! Having a mother with celiac disease, I’m familiar with buckwheat because we often use it as an alternative to flour. (The gluten in flour causes severe intestinal distress for those with celiac.)
My favorite way to eat buckwheat is definitely my mom’s buckwheat pancakes. They taste just as good as regular pancakes but are filled with so much more goodness! What better way to start your day than with a breakfast that will keep that heart pumping?
In an effort to share my excitement that one of my favorite breakfast dishes is, in fact, incredibly beneficial to my heart, I will kindly share the recipe with you!
Buckwheat Pancakes
You can use any form of grain to mix with the buckwheat here, but I don’t recommend long grain brown rice as it makes gritty pancakes. I do, however, recommend adding the optional toppings listed below if you want to give an extra kick to your day.
Ingredients
½ cup uncooked short grain brown rice
½ cup buckwheat
1 cup milk
½ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup oil
2 eggs
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon baking powder
Optional toppings: slivered almonds, chopped walnuts, and fresh berries
Instructions
- Combine the short grain brown rice and buckwheat in a blender. Blend for 2 minutes or until they form a powder.
- Add milk. Blend an additional 2 minutes.
- Add salt, oil, eggs, and honey. Blend 1–2 minutes longer. Add more liquid as needed if the batter is too thick for your taste.
- Add baking powder and blend an additional minute.
- Heat griddle to 350°F. Pour on batter. Once bubbles appear on the top of the pancakes (about a minute) flip. Cook another minute, then remove from griddle and enjoy!
AUTHOR’S NOTE
To choose your organically grown and fresh ingredients wisely, use the following criteria:
- chemical- and hormone-free meat
- wild-caught fish
- pasture-raised, organic eggs
- whole, unrefined grains
- virgin, unrefined, first-press organic oils
- whole-food, unrefined sweeteners
- pure, clean, spring water
- sea salt
- raw and/or cultured milk and cream products
Photo from iStock/deeaf
