Thanks for this, vividly took me back 20 years or so to Biochemistry lectures at Nottingham.
Just had a lovely few minutes remembering some really good times!
On Eating Properly...
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Thanks for this, vividly took me back 20 years or so to Biochemistry lectures at Nottingham.
Just had a lovely few minutes remembering some really good times!
Bumping to say thanks. Lectured that stuff for more than 30 years.
Enjoyed it, really. Most students just wanted to hack their way through it, pass the course and move on.
If anything, it's a far more profound food selection for camping and bushcraft than at home in my kitchen.
Let your choices drift in the direction of the fats. Not the carbs, not the proteins. Caloric density rules outdoors.
I read so much BS from Dr. Google that I choke.
Just plain stupidly wrong. Human metabolism is genetically fixed so feed it.
Enjoyed it, really. Most students just wanted to hack their way through it, pass the course and move on.
If anything, it's a far more profound food selection for camping and bushcraft than at home in my kitchen.
Let your choices drift in the direction of the fats. Not the carbs, not the proteins. Caloric density rules outdoors.
I read so much BS from Dr. Google that I choke.
Just plain stupidly wrong. Human metabolism is genetically fixed so feed it.
Different sub races have different genetic makeup.
Do not feed a Micronesian a Big Mac. Give him a Fillet o fish.
Do not feed a Micronesian a Big Mac. Give him a Fillet o fish.
In many instances, traditional food preferences have allowed regional genetics to thrive. Feed those.
Should not have led by inference. Sorry.
The really obvious illustration is the sorry state of Inuit health when fed a conventional Caucasian diet.
They need traditional foods all their lives. There's a modern shift to return to many of those things.
They were fine-tuned by 10,000 years of arctic survival with local foods. Don't mess that up.
Then there's a subset of millions of people who cannot cope with many carbohydrates,
the Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides And Polyols. FODMAP food.
Should not have led by inference. Sorry.
The really obvious illustration is the sorry state of Inuit health when fed a conventional Caucasian diet.
They need traditional foods all their lives. There's a modern shift to return to many of those things.
They were fine-tuned by 10,000 years of arctic survival with local foods. Don't mess that up.
Then there's a subset of millions of people who cannot cope with many carbohydrates,
the Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides And Polyols. FODMAP food.
Usually, this presents as Irritable Bowel Syndrome. The seminal research at Monash University (Melbourne/Vic/Australia)
Set off quite a number of ancillary projects which only reinforced the Monash results.
For example, most IBS patients can eat cooked vegetables but raw is drain-cleaner.
Some herbs, some spices, are triggers. Other things are absolutely benign.
Set off quite a number of ancillary projects which only reinforced the Monash results.
For example, most IBS patients can eat cooked vegetables but raw is drain-cleaner.
Some herbs, some spices, are triggers. Other things are absolutely benign.
I suffer from IBS, and I control it with my diet. Easy after 8 or 9 years of experimenting.
Tabasco is a no-no.
Homemade Scotch Bonnet sauce if fine.
I do not know why.
Tabasco is a no-no.
Homemade Scotch Bonnet sauce if fine.
I do not know why.
Chances are, it's got something top do with FODMAP foods of one kind or another.
Not Dr. Google spoofery but science-based food research out of Monash University.
There are books of food lists, the foods that are high and low in FODMAP.
The concept is that millions of people don't have the guts to digest a whole range of odd carbohydrates.
Some foods have a lot, some have very little. These are not additives at all. Plain botany.
Sometimes, the simple act of cooking/steaming vegetables, making jam from fruits, not raw fruit, etc.
shuts the problem right off.
Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides And Polyols.
In short, for every sugar that you have ever heard of, there are 10-20 others.
It's a huge piece of biochemistry that I've never found time to examine.
Not Dr. Google spoofery but science-based food research out of Monash University.
There are books of food lists, the foods that are high and low in FODMAP.
The concept is that millions of people don't have the guts to digest a whole range of odd carbohydrates.
Some foods have a lot, some have very little. These are not additives at all. Plain botany.
Sometimes, the simple act of cooking/steaming vegetables, making jam from fruits, not raw fruit, etc.
shuts the problem right off.
Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides And Polyols.
In short, for every sugar that you have ever heard of, there are 10-20 others.
It's a huge piece of biochemistry that I've never found time to examine.
Gently cooked veg and fruit makes all nutrients easily available for us humans.
The raw food brigade got it wrong.
The raw food brigade got it wrong.
Just remember that a lot of the vitamins in veg are water soluble. So don't just eat the cooked veg and discard the broth (what we call "pot liquor in the South) That's where many of the vitamins end up.
I drink it. Have done all my life. Parents did it, a WW2 hangover.
Veg tea I call it.
The tastiest (imo) is peeled potatoes, a garlic clove and caraway seed.
Veg tea I call it.
The tastiest (imo) is peeled potatoes, a garlic clove and caraway seed.
I love caraway and often put it in bread. Hangovers and caraway seem to have a connection (as do tomatoes and eggs).
There is a dish I came across first in Tunisia which has remained a favourite. It involves cooking lots of chopped tomatoes in olive oil with a bit of salt, a dollop of harissa (anything hot will substitute) and a bunch of caraway seeds. Stir in two beaten eggs, then crack in a couple more whole eggs and simmer until they poach through. Eat with crusty bread, coffee. More than anything else I think it is the big adrenaline kick you get from the harissa which does the trick. Either way, no more hangover and it makes a great breakfast any occasion, but especially if you need waking up.
You can add onions, garlic, bell pepper whatever. A spicy tomato stew with eggs in it. Eat it hot or cold. One of those simple, quick, one-dish meals that you can easily cook outdoors.
There is a dish I came across first in Tunisia which has remained a favourite. It involves cooking lots of chopped tomatoes in olive oil with a bit of salt, a dollop of harissa (anything hot will substitute) and a bunch of caraway seeds. Stir in two beaten eggs, then crack in a couple more whole eggs and simmer until they poach through. Eat with crusty bread, coffee. More than anything else I think it is the big adrenaline kick you get from the harissa which does the trick. Either way, no more hangover and it makes a great breakfast any occasion, but especially if you need waking up.
You can add onions, garlic, bell pepper whatever. A spicy tomato stew with eggs in it. Eat it hot or cold. One of those simple, quick, one-dish meals that you can easily cook outdoors.
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Maybe I used the world 'hangover' wrongly. I mean the habit of being frugal came from living through WW2, where everything was either in short supply or entirely missing.
Your Tunisian dish, should it have Caraway seeds or Cumin seeds in?
My favourite soup is this:
When you have steamed/boiled peeled potatoes, save the pot liquor and a potato per person.
Crush one garlic love per person into the liquid, add a pinch of crushed Caraway seeds, maybe a piece of stock cube.
Simmer for a few minutes, depending how strong garlic flavor you want. Longer simmering - less garlicky.
Add the saved potatoes, cut in smaller pieces.
Dead simple.
Your Tunisian dish, should it have Caraway seeds or Cumin seeds in?
My favourite soup is this:
When you have steamed/boiled peeled potatoes, save the pot liquor and a potato per person.
Crush one garlic love per person into the liquid, add a pinch of crushed Caraway seeds, maybe a piece of stock cube.
Simmer for a few minutes, depending how strong garlic flavor you want. Longer simmering - less garlicky.
Add the saved potatoes, cut in smaller pieces.
Dead simple.
Caraway seeds is the thing 
I used to drink what you are calling veg tea a lot as a kid ... learned it from my grandparents. The water from boiled vegetables, whichever, but cabbage is best, reduced a bit. Add salt and white pepper. I started steaming vegetables years ago, so I have to rather go out of my way to get this now.
I think about the most delicately sublime soup I have ever had turned out to be the water from boiled parsnips reduced by a third with a bit of salt added. Tiny bit of onion at the bottom of the bowl.
I used to drink what you are calling veg tea a lot as a kid ... learned it from my grandparents. The water from boiled vegetables, whichever, but cabbage is best, reduced a bit. Add salt and white pepper. I started steaming vegetables years ago, so I have to rather go out of my way to get this now.
I think about the most delicately sublime soup I have ever had turned out to be the water from boiled parsnips reduced by a third with a bit of salt added. Tiny bit of onion at the bottom of the bowl.
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My guts and I really like steamed vegetables. Today, I'll use the "steam-water" from last night as part of the liquid in a batch of baguettes.
Vitamins A, D, E & K are fat-soluble, the others, like C and B group, are in that pot water, like santaman says. Might as well grab them.
Your biochemistry needs enzymes to get changes done, one step at a time. Think of enzymes as screwdrivers for doing tasks.
The vitamins are the tips of the screwdrivers. Nothing happens without them.
Vitamins A, D, E & K are fat-soluble, the others, like C and B group, are in that pot water, like santaman says. Might as well grab them.
Your biochemistry needs enzymes to get changes done, one step at a time. Think of enzymes as screwdrivers for doing tasks.
The vitamins are the tips of the screwdrivers. Nothing happens without them.
I take a big handful of pills in the morning and have a big breakfast.
There's vitamin B6,9,12; Iron; vitamin C, Calcium with vitamin D, a big fish oil one, tiny aspirin, zinc, magnesium and potassium all at RDA dosage (except the potassium). I think that's all of them, though that list looks a bit short
Someone told me to add in selenium, but I haven't and others have told me not to bother with the potassium and just eat sweet potatoes. I'd prefer to get all this from food sources rather than supplements, but in the end I get too busy to do all that shopping and thinking about cooking. I definitely felt better right away when I started doing this a few years back, and when I stop, which for whatever reason I periodically do, I definitely slow up after a week or so and wind up again when I reapply myself to the program.
I went on the government websites in the UK, US and Canada to look up the recommendations, made a list, laminated it (I know) and just go to the shop and buy them. I don't really think about it anymore, but maybe some fine tuning would be appropriate at this point.
There's vitamin B6,9,12; Iron; vitamin C, Calcium with vitamin D, a big fish oil one, tiny aspirin, zinc, magnesium and potassium all at RDA dosage (except the potassium). I think that's all of them, though that list looks a bit short
Someone told me to add in selenium, but I haven't and others have told me not to bother with the potassium and just eat sweet potatoes. I'd prefer to get all this from food sources rather than supplements, but in the end I get too busy to do all that shopping and thinking about cooking. I definitely felt better right away when I started doing this a few years back, and when I stop, which for whatever reason I periodically do, I definitely slow up after a week or so and wind up again when I reapply myself to the program.
I went on the government websites in the UK, US and Canada to look up the recommendations, made a list, laminated it (I know) and just go to the shop and buy them. I don't really think about it anymore, but maybe some fine tuning would be appropriate at this point.
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A few other things about vitamins:
You can't stockpile this stuff, save it like body fat. Out it goes.
Too much is quite toxic. Overloads your nitrogen management (Kreb's Urea Cycle and all that stuff).
Get yourself into a stressful situation such as the tension that builds before year final examinations at University or Trades Qual.
We can measure the needed vitamins that your body is giving up. You can't stop that = out they go.
Supplements are a good thing = just a little more than your actual needs. Cheap wellness insurance.
Mineral diversity and requirements is a similar situation.
You can't stockpile this stuff, save it like body fat. Out it goes.
Too much is quite toxic. Overloads your nitrogen management (Kreb's Urea Cycle and all that stuff).
Get yourself into a stressful situation such as the tension that builds before year final examinations at University or Trades Qual.
We can measure the needed vitamins that your body is giving up. You can't stop that = out they go.
Supplements are a good thing = just a little more than your actual needs. Cheap wellness insurance.
Mineral diversity and requirements is a similar situation.
You get very expensive urine!
But as a forumer wrote a day ago on the Foot Fungus thread, you can wee on your funghi infested feet.
Maybe a new Health Trend, Vitamin Weeing Fungal Feet?
But as a forumer wrote a day ago on the Foot Fungus thread, you can wee on your funghi infested feet.
Maybe a new Health Trend, Vitamin Weeing Fungal Feet?
Not "expensive" urine but very costly in the back lash to your health.
I could not make this stuff up if I tried.
You could be shedding needed vitamins very badly in stressful situations.
Pay attention and use multivitamins as insurance.
If you're a far better cook that me, I know better.
Just for a giggle, buy a used copy of Lehninger: Biochemistry.
Get the second edition = blue cover.
Light bed time reading of the facts.
I could not make this stuff up if I tried.
You could be shedding needed vitamins very badly in stressful situations.
Pay attention and use multivitamins as insurance.
If you're a far better cook that me, I know better.
Just for a giggle, buy a used copy of Lehninger: Biochemistry.
Get the second edition = blue cover.
Light bed time reading of the facts.
I still have my old copy.
If you eat a varied diet, you do not need any additive vitamins and minerals.
Plenty of fruit and veg, some animalia.
Eat various parts of the animals.
If you eat a varied diet, you do not need any additive vitamins and minerals.
Plenty of fruit and veg, some animalia.
Eat various parts of the animals.
