Poi Power
Aloha Ohana!
It's Super Food Sunday here at KHC. Did you know that poi is a superfood?
Most foods don’t get much humbler than poi, the pasty staple made from the taro plant. It may be the only thing Hawaiians have that nobody else envies. The islands' scented breezes and hula hands waft and beckon. Poi just sits there, strangely elastic, sort of purple, inviting funny looks. But like those people you know whose outward placidity masks a rich inner life, poi is remarkable.
It is a superfood, for one thing: a fat-free, high-fiber, low-sodium, gluten-free source of vitamin B, calcium, and phosphorus. It sustained the Polynesians who took taro to the islands centuries ago, for reasons that are newly appreciated today. Dr. Terry Shintani, a doctor and the author of ''The Hawaii Diet'' (Pocket Books, 2002), has made poi a centerpiece of a program to help native Hawaiians and others overcome obesity, diabetes, and heart disease by returning to traditional Hawaiian foods. On top of all that, poi is ideal baby food.
Pick up a bag for your family at the Laie Foodland and have a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
.