Gourmet Scientist - Health/Nutrition

Sugar Rush

nospam@example.com (Crystal Cheng) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 22:29:00 -0400

A while ago, a friend questioned why sugar rush is bad and what's wrong with repeated sugar rushes. I'm sad to say that I've been so out of touch with dietary nutrition that it took me quite a while to come up with an answer, and the answer couldn't even fully address why repeated sugar rushes are not recommended. So, after quite a bit of research, this is what I've found.

The basics of the so-called sugar rush is a high consumption of simple carbohydrates (such as white sugar, white bread, candy, sugary drinks, refined sweets, etc) followed by a sudden decrease of the ingested sugar (which becomes glucose) as the body secretes insulin to eliminate the glucose from the bloodstream. The lowered glucose level can then trigger another craving for sugar, which can become a cyclical process. So what's bad about this?

Well, certain sources state that the glucose removed from the bloodstream becomes stored in the fat cells. If we look at the fact sheet from the British Dietetics Association (BDA), it does not state this nor does it link high sugar intake to diabetes. The weight gain is from the types and amounts of food eaten to satisfy the sugar cravings. Most of these foods contain a lot of fat and calories, which leads to consuming too many calories and to weight gain.

There's even one article from the Journal of Community Nursing (???) proposing that the "low" from the sugar rush, called reactive hypoglycemia or postprandial hypoglycemia, is not really hypoglycemia in the clinical sense. Instead, the "low" felt by people may be caused by the low protein and fat intake that is traded-off by the high sugar consumption, or, the increased physical expenditure due to the sugar energy rush.

Of course, this by no means suggest sugar is good for you. The most imminent problem is tooth decay and the potential missing nutrients required by the body. Then, there are the possible links to poor skin conditions. And as with anything, eating out of moderation can lead to weight gain and all the risks associated with the gain. So how much sugar is too much? Well, there is no recommended daily allowance. The standard advice is to consume more complex carbohydrates and keep refined carbohydrates to a minimum. As with everything (nutrition-wise, at least), moderation is key.

Alternative Grains

nospam@example.com (Crystal Cheng) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:30:00 -0500

Clockwise (L-R): Korean mixed grains, pearl barley, bulgur

With the recent push for increasing intake of dietary fiber, I've read about the various whole grains available--couscous, quinoa, bulgur, etc--and have been quite keen on trying them. This article gave the final stimulus. I'm not sure why, but bulgur seemed to be calling out the loudest; so I went for that first. Unfortunately, the taste and texture reminds me too much of Southern American grits, which I really really do not fancy. The texture is a bit too fine, and I was hoping for something a bit more substantial as I was looking to use these grains as a type of rice/bread/carbohydrate alternative.

So next, I went for pearl barley, mainly because I found that it's beneficial for my spleen deficiency. I've had it before as it's commonly used in Asian soups and desserts, but I was planning to use it somewhat differently. It definitely takes a lot longer to cook, but thanks to my "special" rice cooker ("special" because it cooks until all the water has disappeared rather than stopping after a certain time, albeit a bit too far--i.e. burnt dry), I just pour about 4-5 times the amount of water, cook it further with additional water if needed, and leave it to soak with a little bit more water. The final product is a soft, almost rice-like texture but with a little more chew and nutty flavour. I quite like it!

And now, I've just mixed the barley with the Korean wild grains mixture (barley, millet, sweet brown rice, brown rice, job's tear, red bean, black bean, peeled mung bean, black sweet rice, corn, green pea) that I brought back from the States and have been enjoying the even chewier texture and nuttier flavour. Yum!

Nutrition: 100g serving size

	Calories (kcal)	Fat (g)	Carbs (g)	Protein (g)	Fiber (g)
Barley	123	0.4	28.2	2.3	3.8
Bulgur	83	0.2	18.6	3.1	4.5
Brown rice	112	0.8	23.5	2.3	1.8
White rice	130	0.3	28.5	2.7	0.4
Mixed Grains	269	2.5	53.75	7.5	7.5

Comparing Dairy Ingredients in Baking

nospam@example.com (Crystal Cheng) — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 13:20:00 -0400

How do milk, buttermilk, yogurt, and sour cream differ nutritionally?

This occurred to me as I wondering the ways of moistening scones; and this was what I found:

Dairy Product (1 cup)	Total Cal	Total Fat	Sat Fat	Total Carb	Sugars
Milk (skimmed)	86 kcal	0.4 g	0.3 g	11.9 g	---
Buttermilk (low fat, cultured)	98 kcal	2.2 g	1.3 g	11.7 g	11.7 g
Yogurt (low fat, plain)	154 kcal	3.8 g	2.5 g	17.2 g	17.2 g
Sour cream (reduced fat)	327 kcal	29.0 g	18.1 g	10.3 g	0.4 g

I've always had the impression that buttermilk was high in fat until I saw a blurb from the Food Network. Buttermilk was originally the remnants of churned butter and often had extraneous pieces of butter. Nowadays, it is made from adding lactic acid to skimmed milk and allowed to ferment. Clearly, it's not as "unhealthy" as the name suggests.

I first targeted yogurt for it's fruit-infused flavors and consistency. For recipes that suggested sour cream, I preferred yogurt because of it's better nutritional value. My impression of buttermilk was restricted to neutralizing baking soda and the misconception of it's nutritional value. But with my new discovery comes the next question: what's the difference between using buttermilk and yogurt??

Yogurt's thicker consistency is deceiving since heat will make it just as liquidy. Using strained fresh fruit means I can use plain yogurt, which is lower in calorie and sugar. Both contain cultured bacteria. Summed up, yogurt and buttermilk are nearly the same, although buttermilk wins out in it's nutritional value. Furthermore, thanks to baking911.com, I find that buttermilk results in a less dense and finer texture when compared to yogurt.

I think I've found a new friend; now comes the bonding...

Healthifying Muffins--Part 2

nospam@example.com (Crystal Cheng) — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 13:02:00 -0400

So, I had some free time today and wanted to test my modifications in hopes of some success after so many failures. It seemed I was somewhat granted my wish...

I tried my best to minimize all possible sources of extraneous liquid. I drained and baked the mashed sweet potato, mashed the fresh blackberries through a strainer to squeeze out the water, strained the yogurt using paper towels (like a cheese cloth), and eliminated the vegetable oil. I also increased the baking powder. Lastly, I remembered to sprinkle some white sugar to help create a crispy crust.

There was definite improvement as the inside resembled the holey texture of a muffin; however, it still seemed a bit wet. The muffins still did not rise much; and the crust was crunchy, albeit a tad bit overboard.

After another round of investigation, I've gathered that the wholemeal flour may be contributing to the low rise as there's less gluten to help develop a stable puffed structure. I may indeed need baking soda since I have acidic ingredients that could be neutralized and help leaven the muffins some more. I may have actually overbaked the muffins, since I was so afraid of a soggy inside due to underbaking. I don't think I want to further reduce the liquid ratio as the muffin is showing potential for dryness; and frankly, I'm not sure how much more liquid I could eliminate.

One friend likes the muffins as is with the crunchy crust and soft inside. Another feels that the contrast is too drastic. A compromise may be difficult, but the ideal muffin texture in my mind is a thin hardened crust with an airy moist inside. My second attempt has neither a thin crust nor an airy inside. Maybe the third try will be it, but I'm definitely getting there as I'm running out of modification ideas...

Healthifying Muffins--Part 1

nospam@example.com (Crystal Cheng) — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:37:00 -0400

Ever since I bought the freshly ground wholemeal flour at Die Valken windmill in the Netherlands, I'd been intending to use it since the suggested best before date was October 2007. Ideas ranged from cinnamon buns to my mom's braided raisin bread to chinese scallion or dried pork sung buns; yet time was always against me. Finally, when a friend told me about her failed muffin attempts (which I gathered was from her complete elimination of butter), I toyed with the idea of healthifying muffins; and the bank holiday weekend offered the chance.

First off was the flour, which I knew I'd replace half with the wholemeal flour. Next was the butter. I'd already been researching various methods for replacing butter (see blog entry Fruit Sponge Cake), and I had seen some recipes for banana bread without butter. Applesauce + oil seemed a popular replacement as well as pureed vegetables or fruits. Unfortunately, the only applesauce that I could find was Bramley apple sauce which previous experience revealed it to be extremely tart and completely different from the American applesauce. I failed to locate any pureed or canned vegetables except tomatoes and potatoes. Lacking a blender, I decided to steam and mash my own sweet potatoes. Last was the fruit-flavored yogurt.

I used the Banana-Raspberry Bread recipe as a foundation; replaced half the flour with wholemeal, 1/4 of the sugar with brown sugar, milk with yogurt, and banana with steamed and mashed sweet potatoes; and used only baking powder (as I had no baking soda on hand).

Having never baked muffins before, this may have been too ambitious an attempt. Needless to say, it was a failed attempt. I'm pretty sure it was not overmixing as I'd been forewarned enough by all the "DO NOT OVERMIX"'s and "DO NOT OVERBAKE"'s I'd encountered. It seemed my batter may have been too wet, since the muffins did not rise and the insides were mushy as if undercooked. I was somewhat worried about the possibility, but I naively thought that quick breads could withstand higher moisture content. Wrong I certainly was! I didn't even realize how high my liquid ratio was; water seeped from the steamed sweet potatoes, yogurt, vegetable oil, fresh washed blackberries, and egg!

So, my next attempt will be to eliminate the vegetable oil, decrease the yogurt and strain it through a paper towel, and bake the steamed sweet potatoes to help reduce the moisture. Let's see where this will take us...