Sunday, May 29, 2011

Dairy Alternatives

I stopped drinking cow's milk because my husband didn't snore so much when he avoided dairy and it was so much easier if we drank the same milk and creamers. When I made that decision I had no idea that I was embarking on an alternative milk fiesta….

As with non-meat substitutes and non-wheat/gluten substitutes, there is not just one replacement. There is a myriad of choices and an explosion of nut milks that come in a variety of calories and flavors; unsweetened, regular (sweetened) and vanilla. There are also shelf stable and refrigerated versions of both. Generally the refrigerated versions taste better than the shelf stable one, but having a few shelf stable ones handy is really nice...I hate running out of milk!

So far I have not found a single milk replacement that I would use for everything, some are better than others for different uses...and to be honest I'm relishing the variety!

Soy Milk

This has a high protein content. The unsweetened version was my husband’s milk of choice when he was on a low carbohydrate diet. This also seems to be the non-dairy standard in coffee shops and restaurants. Personally I hate soy milk, I can’t get used to the taste and it gives me gas.

Rice Milk

This milk has been a secondary choice to soy for quite a while, however it is a very watery milk and does not cream coffee very well. It is also naturally sweet and not appropriate for cooking savory sauces. It works fantastic in hot cocoa and oatmeal…and you don’t need to add any additional sweeteners. Rice milk sugars do not contain fructose, so this is a good milk to use when you want to use a natural sweetener.

Almond Milk

Now we’re talking! In the last year or so I have seen more and more almond milk varieties on the shelves; it's not just in health food stores. I just love this in coffee or to make a vegan eggnog! There is an unsweetened Vanilla version that has less than half the calories of skim milk..it is great with your morning granola or cereal.

Hemp Milk

Good for sauces and batters.
A friend used Hemp milk to make Yorkshire pudding and we couldn't tell the difference.

Coconut Milk

I'm not talking about canned coconut milk, I mean the refrigerated version in cartons. It tasted greate in breakfast granola. I'm starting to use this more in vegan cheese sauces or as a replacement for cow's milk in baking.The So Delicious unsweetened version has 1 carbohydrate!!!! I haven't used it to make ice cream (yet!), but there are some fantastic coconut ice creams that taste so good I cannot tell they are non-dairy!

Cashew Milk

I've never seen commercial cashew milk, but it's the type I make when we run out of something to pour over cereals or add to morning coffee. You can easily make cashew milk if you have a blender; 1 cup cashews plus 4 cups of water, dash of salt, dribble of honey or stevia, turn on the blender for a minute or two and voila la! No need to sieve it, you can drink it right out of the blender...though I would recommend chilling it first and using a glass :-)

I get annoyed when people say that I could be calcium deficient if I don't drink cow's milk. That is totally untrue! In terms of equivalent serving sizes, there is more calcium in kale than cow's milk! A handful of almonds contains more calcium....and all the commercial non-dairy milks I have seen have been fortified with calcium. What you should be comparing if the protein and sugar content - many non-dairy milks have less sugar, less fat and more protein!

Since becoming dairy-free I have seen a lot of articles about the bad effects of cow's milk, the most recent is this one http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Milk-Controversy---Is-Cows-Milk-Good-For-Us?&id=6179781 It wasn't the reason I changed, but I do think it is interesting to see the emerging research.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Quick Gluten/Wheat Free Burger Bun

I don't mind lettuce wrap burgers, but sometimes I just want to blend in and look like I'm eating the same as everyone else; I really don't want to be the picky little princess.

Over the last few years I have tried a few GF burger buns and they're usually very dry and flaky and get drier as they sit in my fridge. They also tend to be made with little fiber and have a lot of carbohydrates - not good for my middle-aged metabolism! Gluten free bread is also pretty heavy, so normal size buns are dense wee guys that could damage a toe if you dropped one.

My requirements for a bun are;

Low carb (low glycemic)
Some fiber and protein would be nice
Not so dense
Not so flaky

I pondered flours and raising agents to try and find a way to add some air into a mixture without gluten. Then I made a horrendous mistake while trying to make muffins and as I was cleaning up the mess it came to me - use a modified muffin recipe and why not make the 2 bun halves separately?

Ingredients for one single bun
1 egg
1 Tbsp coconut flour
1 Tbsp blanched almond flour
1 Tbsp coconut oil (olive oil or melted butter)
Pinch of salt
1/4 tsp baking powder

Optional
1 tsp nutritional yeast (for a more bready taste)
1/4 tsp poppy seeds, chia seeds, sesame seeds

Method
Add all ingredients together and blend in a small food processor or hand blender.

If the batter is runny, leave it a few minutes to thicken. It should be like a thick pancake batter, if it is runny add another half tablespoon of almond flour. It is is too thick, add a teaspoon of water.

Divide the batter into two and drop onto oiled parchment paper and bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes until they are lightly browned.

Note, for the top of the bun, I added chia seeds to one side.

I generally throw the burger on the grill while the bun sides are baking, the buns will be ready by the time it is cooked.

The batter likes to spread to about 3 inches in diameter so this does not work for slider buns. I thought I could just divide into 4, but the batter spreads and makes 4 thin 3 inch halves that are no good for sliders. I plan to play around with this recipe and will post my slider bun recipe when I figure it out. For now, enjoy fitting in with the rest of the crowd :-)

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Coconut Deodorant!

A few months ago I read that due to it's antibacterial nature coconut oil could be used as an underarm deodorant. Yes, seriously, I kid-you-not coconut oil slathered under your pits will protect you from dreaded BO! The scientist part of me was intrigued. The earth-friendly, chemical hating side of me was excited....and the guinea pig inside me was ready to try it out :-)

I had just got a freakishly large tub of Tropical Traditions Gold Label unrefined, super duper coconut oil so I took a small amount and placed it in a jar in the bathroom in preparation for my grand experiment.
My negative control was to go au naturale for a day. Since I have a desk job, work from home and it's still Spring I felt it wouldn't be too traumatic. By the afternoon I was a little ripe but not bad...I am a girl after all!
My crude calibration was basically to see how close I had to get my nose to my pits.
- lunch time no smell
-3pm I had to poke my nose under my t-shirt before I got the slightest of smells
- 9pm I still had to remove clothing before I could smell anything, but it was stronger than 3pm

The next day I stood in my underwear and giggled as I put about half a teaspoon of 100% unrefined coconut oil under each pit. Coconut oil is not a thick oil, so it felt a little watery and not sticky at all. I had some concern about marking my clothes and how would I explain big oil patches under my arms, but that turned out not to be a problem. Within minutes the oil had soaked in under my arms and my skin felt dry and baby soft!
- lunch time no bad smell, just a slight sweet smell, more vanilla than coconut
-3pm I poked my nose under my t-shirt - nada!
- 9pm I removed clothing and did a weird yoga-like pose to get my nose as close as I could to the potentially offending area. I really couldn't smell anything. Holy crapolli, it worked!

I have continued to use coconut oil to make sure my experiment wasn't a fluke!
When I exercise and lift weights it doesn't work as well, but still I have to lift my arm before other humans (husband) could smell anything bad. One weekend when I used wax that wasn't warm enough and irritated my skin, I was a little worried about using a deodorant, so I used coconut oil. No sting, no problem...and my irritated skin was fine in 2 days!

It's not an antiperspirant, so when the Summer heat arrives I may switch to something less clammy, but for now it's nice to use something natural. I also found out it's pretty good on preventing smelly feet too!
No negative control required for that one :-)

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Agave verses HFCS

Why is Agave perceived to be good for you and HFCS is not?
This seemed like a fun research project at the time, but with a myriad of articles out there I got caught in a bit of a sugar hairball about the Good the Bad and the Ugly!

Both are low glycemic = Good,
HFCS has got a lot of bad press recently = Bad
Agave = Ugly (or complicated and confusing because it has a high fructose content just like HFCS, but it's low glycemic)

To help me form an opinion on whether Agave is a good guy or a villain, I went back to undergrad books to familiarize myself with sugar metabolism. My thought was that once I refreshed my understand of the basics I would be able to form an educated opinion regarding the two sweeteners.

This is what I have heard regarding HFCS and Agave;

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is "bad", it's highly processed and made by big businesses, it's making our kids fat and will increase health costs because so many people will be suffering from obesity.
Agave is "good", it's made from a natural ingredients, it's low glycemic, it's sold in health food stores, it must be good for you.

My confusion and reason for this blog post....

Both contain a higher percentage of fructose than sucrose (regular granulated sugar)
Both are low glycemic
Agave contains only a slightly higher percentage of fructose than HFCS (they sound pretty similar to me)

I reviewed some simple carbohydrate chemistry...

Some simple sugars are glucose, fructose, mannose and galactose, there are also called monosaccharides.
Molecules made of 2 simple sugars are called disaccharides, here are some examples of disaccharides;

Sucrose = Glucose + Fructose (regular table sugar)
Maltose = Glucose + Glucose
Lactose = Glucose + Galactose

When more sugars are linked together they are called polyscahrarrides, examples are amylose and celulose.
All of the above are carbohydrates.

General note: Throughout this blog I have tried not to use the generic term "sugar" and use sucrose, glucose, fructose, etc. Not all sugars are the same, they have different levels of sweetness, they are metabolized differently and have different affects on your body. The terms "sugar rush", or "low blood sugar" are confusing, we should really be saying "glucose rush" and "low blood glucose" level.

Sucrose (table sugar), Agave and HFCS are comprised of glucose and fructose, in different amounts, so I decided to look at those monosaccahrides in more detail.

Glucose - It's Brain Food

Glucose is the only sugar used by the brain (not fructose)
Because neurons cannot store glucose, they depend on the bloodstream to deliver a constant supply of this precious fuel.
Digestion in the body revolves heavily around supplying the brain with glucose - food is broken down so glucose is readily available to the brain
Alcohol is metabolized by an enzyme "alcohol dehydrogenase" that also inhibits the digestion of sugars...so essentially excess alcohol can reduce glucose levels to a point were the body gets a little concerned about feeding the brain and so induces hunger. That's why it always seems like a good idea to go for a curry or bean burrito at 1am in the morning after a night of heavy partying :-) Next time you can truthfully say "I need a cheese burger, stat! It's for my brain!"

An Enzyme called Insulin

So glucose being the brain fuel, you'd think that more glucose would make you a super brainy person, right? Actually too much glucose causes ~~sugar~~ glucose highs followed by glucose lows, shaky hands and brain fog....how charming!

When there is too much glucose in your bloodstream your body reacts
...it must lower levels, it must store excess for low glucose situations
So when you eat something very high in glucose you become hyperglycemic (higher glucose). This sugar can make you feel happy (higher glucose = sugar high). However, a quick jump in blood glucose levels will alert islet cells in your pancreas to secrete insulin. The insulin flows through your bloodstream and triggers cells throughout your body to pull the excess glucose out of your bloodstream and store it for later use. http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/carbs.html The cells are very efficient and can very quickly reduce blood glucose levels to the point where neurons in your brain detect the rapid decrease of glucose and it's availability to your brain.

When there is too little glucose in your bloodstream your body reacts
...it must get glucose to feed the brain
Neurons that are unable to store glucose, experience an energy crisis. You feel spaced-out, weak, confused, and/or nervous. Your ability to focus and think suffers. The name for this glucose deficiency is hypoglycemia (low sugar glucose), and it can even lead to unconsciousness if you are diabetic. Your brain needs glucose from something you eat or from stores within the body and this is controlled by Insulin.

Insulin is a hardworking enzyme, it has an important job working to keep optimum sugar levels. Too much sugar in the bloodstream is not good for you. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperglycemia The excess glucose molecules floating around will attach to proteins and fats in a process called glycosylation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycosylation). When glucose bonds with blood vessels and your internal organs it can reduce blood flow to extremities and even blindness. This is what could happen if you have diabetes and don't regulate your insulin and glucose levels.

This is the simplified "Clifs notes" version and we could go much deeper into the metabolic science, but for the purpose of this post we just need to understand these point;

Glucose is the only fuel used by your brain
Too much glucose at one time is bad as it causes insulin to be released into the bloodstream, insulin collects the excess sugars and stores them for future use (in fast releasing glycogen and long term storage fat cells)
Too little insulin allows high blood sugar levels, the excess sugars stick to internal organs and cause blockages
The speed at which glucose is released into the bloodstream is important as that will determine whether Insulin is needed or not
Different foods release glucose at different speeds; Glycemic index (GI)
There is a specific glycemic index number that initiates an insulin response - you should know what this is and roughly what foods are above and blow that number

Glycemic Index and Magic Numbers

If glucose affects insulin levels, fat storage, ~~sugar~~ glucose rush and brain fog it almost sounds like we should try a different type of sugar that doesn't cause all these problems. Say, fructose? The GI table below would certainly suggest that.

The Glycemic Index (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycemic_index) is a ranking of foods based on their overall effects on blood ~~sugar~~ glucose levels. The higher the GI the faster the sugar is metabolized and the faster glucose is release into the bloodstream. This is good for energy recovery after endurance exercise or for a person with hypoglycemia (low glucose levels). In general a glycemic index of over 70 will initiate an insulin response to go an sequester excess glucose in the bloodstream.

The following list gives ranges for low, medium and high glycemic load for foods.

Low GI = 55 or less

Medium GI = 56 - 69s

High GI = 70 or more

Sucrose (regular table sugar) has a GI of approximately 60 and is comprised of glucose and fructose in equal quantities, 50:50. Natural cane sugars have a GI in the 68 to 80 range.
Glucose the monosaccharide has a GI of 96
http://www.fitsugar.com/Glycemic-Index-Where-Do-Sweeteners-Fall-3031565
Fructose the monosaccharide has a GI of 22
Honey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey) has the same sweetness as sucrose and has a glycemic index range from 31 to 78, depending on the variety; generally a GI of 55 is used as an average Honey is comprised of mainly glucose and fructose in these approximate quantities 31% glucose to 38% fructose.
Agave sweeteners are sweeter than sucrose and have a low GI of approximately 30.(http://www.cooking-questions.com/what-is-agave-nectar/) . Depending on the source the levels of glucose to fructose are in the following ranges; 8% glucose to 92% fructose, and 20% glucose to 56% fructose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agave_nectar).
HFCS is also sweeter than sucrose and has a low GI of approximately 62. HFCS is comprised of 45 glucose to 55% fructose, though there is also HFCS 65 that has 65% fructose.
Coconut Sap http://www.bigtreefarms.com/coconutsugar/ has a GI of 35 and is comprised of the disaccharide sucrose (70-79%) plus glucose and fructose (3-9%) each.

Getting back to the comparison of Agave with HFCS...

Fructose tastes sweeter than glucose, so you need less to achieve the same sweetness plus you get fewer calories. Fructose is also the main sugar that makes fruit taste sweet. What's not to love about fructose?

Both Agave and HFCS have more fructose than glucose
Lower glucose percentage means they have a lower glycemic index
Lower glycemic index means a lower insulin response so no brain fog or massive glucose sequestering and filling of fat cells

To summarize...

We have talked about high and low blood ~~sugar~~ glucose in the bloodstream; when glucose levels are high, the blood glucose police call out the insulin bouncers to round up all the excess glucose molecules loitering around. They take those rowdy glucose dudes and lock them up in cells, yes, you guessed it...."Fat Cells!".

Just like you don't want to annoy regular law enforcement, you don't want to agitate the blood sugar police either! And you do not want any bouncers filling up your fat cells!

We've learned some of the difference between glucose and fructose but there is more....

Fructose - The Sweet One
A lot about fructose has already been discussed in comparisons with glucose, but we need to know how it is metabolized, does it have a comparable regulator like insulin, what does the body do with fructose? Or should I ask, what does fructose do to the body?

Fructose (http://www.asn-online.org/press/files/johnsonreview.pdf) is absorbed into the intestine were there are various transporter enzymes. About 60% of the fructose attaches to transporter enzymes that bus them to the liver, the remaining 40% catch transporters en route to the kidneys, adipose tissue and other organs.

Fructose is ultimately metabolized to uric acid, in this pathway the enzyme fructokinase adds a phosphate to Fructose. This causes the depletion of ATP and so this process is regulated by ATP availability...blah, blah, blah.. I'll try and keep it simple...

High uric acid levels are related to hypertension (elevated blood pressure)
Comparative experiments with equal amounts of fructose and glucose show that fructose, not glucose, increased blood pressure in young healthy adults
Individuals given fructose exhibit features of metabolic syndrome - Metabolic syndrome is a name for a group of risk factors that occur together and increase the risk for coronary artery disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0004546
Excessive amounts of fructose have been shown to increase blood triglyceride levels and reduce HDL (good) cholesterol levels
Fructose is also known to induce insulin resistance, this will reduces blood flow and the delivery of glucose to the brain, peripheral tissues and muscles
The hypertensive affects of fructose is also thought to have a role in chronic kidney disease

In Conclusion...
At the beginning I asked the question - Why is Agave perceived to be good for you and HFCS is not? The only answer I can give regarding why agave is better is agave is not genetically modified, whereas the corn used in HFCS probably is. But neither of them are "good" for you due mainly in part to their high fructose levels.

What I now think about HFCS and Agave;

High Fructose Corn Syrup is a processed syrup made from corn, it's low glycemic and if eaten in excessive quantities it can make you fat and put serious stress on your liver and kidneys
Agave is a processed syrup made from the agave root, it's low glycemic and if eaten in excessive quantities it can make you fat and put serious stress on your liver and kidneys

After my mini research project it's evident that Agave and HFCS in large quantities are not good for you...this is the same for many things; a glass or two of red wine is good, a bottle a night is not!

My personal opinion is high fructose sugars should not be your sweetener of choice. They are good because they have a lower GI than sucrose and don't invoke a massive insulin response, but the risks outweigh the benefits for me. I will not completely omit them from my diet but I will severely reduce them.

...And if you're interested....

What will be my sweetener of choice?

I will continue to use stevia and fruit juices, but when I need a granular sugar I will use coconut palm sugar. Palm sugar has a lower GI than sucrose and it has less fructose than sucrose. I am however, concerned about the sustainability of palm sugar, so I will need to research that while I continue to explore other natural sweeteners.

Please don't hate the messenger, I know how people love agave...just be responsible with it, please!

Other links collected during my research

The Truth about Agave Syrup: Not as Healthy as You May Think

http://www.living-foods.com/articles/agave.html