MKS's Log: A new take on fake

Still waiting for the recipe inspiration to hit. In the meantime, I've been scheming.

If you ask any health-conscious vegan why they avoid fake meats, I bet one or more of these reasons will turn up in their explanations:

-Egg protein and/or casein (dairy protein) are found in a lot of these meats, rendering them very much NOT VEGAN. (In my head I'm imagining the NOT VEGAN sound byte from Vegan Freak Radio.)
-Soy protein isolate. Vegan, but extremely unhealthy. In the words of Dr. John McDougall, "You may as well eat meat." Here's why. (Scroll to the section titled "Calcium Loss and Cancer Growth from Protein Concentrates".)
-Isolated wheat gluten is used as a binder and a texture enhancer in a lot of commercially available fake meats. Wheat gluten may very well be the most potent and common food allergen, and it can cause unpleasant digestive and skin conditions for sensitive people. Along with casein, it is also thought to enhance the symptoms of autistic spectrum disorders. (I'm not going to provide a link for this one, but google "wheat gluten autism" and witness the debate for yourself.)
-Fat. Some fake meats are loaded with any and every kind of oil you can imagine just to simulate the feeling of biting into a 30% fat ground chuck burger.

While there are many reasons to avoid commercially available fake meats, that doesn't make fake meats out of the question. There are perfectly good replacements for the proteins, texture enhancers, binders, and fats listed above.

For protein: Instead of relying on soy protein isolate, use enzymatically processed rice protein powder (available at health food stores and gyms). You can mix it into baked goods, and use it in lentil balls and lentil loaf. Rice protein is a perfect compliment to bean and lentil proteins, therefore adding rice protein will not only increase the amount of protein in otherwise grain-free meats, it will enhance the quality of the protein already present. Enzymatically processed rice protein producers tout their low-temperature production method as not destroying any of the amino acids in the finished product, but uncooked rice also contains higher levels of lectins, which are proteins apparently capable of causing stomach upset, and possibly inhibiting nutrient absorption, among other nasty things. So, baking this stuff might actually be the better bet.

For binders and texture enhancers: Use xanthan gum and flax "gluten". Xanthan gum is something that is commonly used to replace wheat gluten in gluten-free baking. It is GRAS (generally recognized as safe) but I don't want to make a habit of using it in large amounts. A little will go a long way to provide a (I hate using this adjective) meaty texture. Flax "gluten" is not only a great binder, but it also provides omega-3 fatty acids even post-baking. Flax is also a very highly anti-inflammatory food.

For fats: Instead of adding isolated fats, grind up whole, raw pumpkin seeds in a coffee grinder, and add the meal to a fake meat mix. Pumpkin seeds are very rich in iron, vitamin K, and protein. Pumpkin seed meal also adds a rich, (I don't want to use that adjective again) flavor to any fake meat.

(In case you're wondering why using the word "meaty" bothers me, but talking about fake meats does not, I am wondering that as well. I think that there's some latent guilt present for even wanting something so close to the "original", animal carcass that it is...)

So, there you have it: Fake meats to feel good about. I guess I should write some recipes about now...

In the spirit of health: Healthier spirits!

Two substances in red wine are thought to have a positive impact on cardiovascular health, and those are the alcohol in the red wine, and the resveratrol in the grape component.

While drinking any alcoholic beverage in moderation can provide potentially beneficial alcohol, not all contain other health promoting compounds like resveratrol. That doesn't mean that they cannot be added, though, along with some pizzazzy flavors. (I dedicate my use of the word 'pizzazzy' to Rachel Maddow for inspiring me to utilize some quirky linguistic creativity.) For some great creative mixing potential, a spice-infused vodka can be a wonderful tasting experience that provides beneficial phyto-nutrients and antioxidants to boot.

For a basic cinnamon-ginger vodka you'll want to begin with a liter of good kettle-made vodka. Ketel One is good, although if you can find something of similar quality made closer to home that might be a better bet. Dehydrated whole ginger root will work best as an infusing spice, but if you can't find dehydrated whole ginger at your local supermarket fresh whole ginger will work as well. You'll want to use a whole medium-small size root to infuse a liter of vodka. Find some cheap cinnamon sticks, too -- you'll need four or five to infuse a liter of vodka. Slice the dehydrated or fresh ginger into small enough pieces to fit into the mouth of the bottle, and place the 4-5 cinnamon sticks in as well. Unfortunately, some of the vodka might be displaced when the spices are being added, but that's a sacrifice that sometimes has to be made for the greater vodka. The other sacrifice that has to be made for this greater vodka is a bit of a wait. Specificaly, the vodka should be allowed to infuse for at least a week, at the end of which it will have turned a dark, rich amber color. It will also smell absolutely amazing.

I'm not too up to speed on the benefits of cinnamon and ginger, but I've heard that ginger is extremely anti-inflammatory, and cinnamon can help to moderate blood sugar levels. I think I heard that cinnamon bit from a slightly new-agey source, though, so you might want to check on that one. The thing about ginger being anti-inflammatory came from The Man Himself, Dr. Michael Greger, so you can take that to the bank. (In case you haven't figured it out, I really appreciate Dr. Greger's skeptical inquiry into health issues, and I trust the guy's word quite a bit.)

So, health issues aside, what exactly can you make with this stuff? I usually like to mix a little juice and a little mineral water with regular vodka, and I found that the same will work with this infused vodka. You just have to take into consideration the new flavors of the vodka and add a juice that will meld well with them. Cinnamon and ginger pair really well with orange juice and, surprisingly, with black cherry juice. My favorite mixture (so far) is:

-~1.5 teaspoons black cherry juice concentrate
-1 oz cinnamon ginger vodka
-2.5 oz mineral water (as in Perrier, but a less expensive brand is perfectly fine)

It's truly a taste sensation worthy of a fancy glass, a comfy chair, and a good book. An episode of The Rachel Maddow Show works, too. (Here's to Rachel Maddow. Cheers!)

The importance of doing what works

I had a bit of a wakeup call today. For the past couple of days I had been exercising as normal, but I just felt too lazy to cook something on the stove, so I resorted to microwaving potatoes and eating the late beta versions of some muffins that I'll hopefully perfect soon. I'd been topping the baked potatoes with black beans among other things, and figuring that all would be well if I just ate enough baked potato with Mexican topping.

I got this crazy idea in my head from reading some vegan fitness forums. A lot of the advice on vegan fitness forums seems to fall along the lines of, "If you don't feel right, just eat more (implied anything)." That might work for some people, but for people like me (and others I'm sure) it does quite the opposite of working. Illustration: Eating too many starchy foods like potatoes, and even black beans to a certain extent, kills my appetite for higher-protein foods, which in turn decreases the amount of high-protein foods I eat, which in turn makes me feel sore and sick because I don't eat enough protein, which further kills my appetite. In addition, black beans, potatoes, and soy milk (which I was drinking in hopes that the protein would level me out some) among a myriad of other vegan foods are actually inflammatory because of their impact on blood sugar, and other factors of which I am not aware yet. I ordered a book on the subject to better understand it.

To summarize, lack of appetite + too little protein + inflammation = BAD. Terrible, in fact. The last thing I want to do is to have to rely on animal foods again without it being an absolute necessity, so I was really torn up over feeling so terrible. I was really feeling great for a while. I was working on building some good arm muscle, and my mile time was the best it had been in a year. So what happened?

Obviously I had gotten lazy, and I had gotten some bad advice. Now I was in some of the worst pain I'd experienced in a long time. The good thing was that righting this day-long hell took all of 20 minutes. I cooked a pot of seasoned lentils and broccoli; an anti-inflammatory and very high protein meal. I ate it and felt better almost instantly.

I remembered today that it wasn't just adopting the grain free diet that had enabled me to stick with being vegan, but it was paying attention to factors like inflammation, and eating non-inflammatory foods like lentils. In fact, more than anything I owe being a healthy vegan to discovering the amazing qualities of lentils. They're just what works for me, and given their nutrient profile I can't imagine them not working for anyone. I guess for people like me they're just extra-important to consume daily, and if I really want to feel good on a long run I should consume them in pretty large quantities.

That's not really a problem for me because I'm hooked on them. And they're all of 1.00 a pound. Woot.

Needless to say I felt like crap all day so I didn't write up any recipes. I do feel lucky that I got to watch the Rachel Maddow show in bed, along with the Daily Show. Thank god for streaming TV shows and wireless routers. How about that plane, huh? And that inauguration? Crazy days... crazy days.

Baking with Omega-3's

Since most of my grain-free and vegan bread experiments have flaxseed as a major ingredient, I had to do some homework to ensure that I wasn't going to be eating something potentially harmful by breaking down the omega-3 ALA in the flaxseed during baking. From everything I've read and heard so far, from references to studies (see links below) to talks given by prominent vegan physicians, flaxseed meal is stable at temperatures well above those needed for baking things like muffins and bread. In fact, the effects of consuming flaxseed meal in baked goods the effects of consuming raw flaxseed meal have been shown to be very similar in humans.[1] The recommended dose of flaxseed meal to take in order to see the benefits of the omega-3's is one tablespoon. The spice muffin recipe I posted yesterday contains sufficient flaxseed meal to provide 1 tablespoon per muffin.

Here are a couple of links to documents containing information about flaxseed meal stability at room temperatures and baking temperatures that I found very helpful:

http://www.flaxrd.com/Documents/Flax%20Stability.pdf
http://www.flaxcouncil.ca/english/pdf/FlxPrmr_4ed_appdx.pdf

Granted, they both seem to be from sources that might be biased, I've heard similar reassurance about baking flaxseed meal from Dr. Michael Greger, who is well known in vegan circles for his thorough investigation and skeptical inquiry of various vegan health issues and claims.

References:
1. Cunnane SC, et al. British J Nutr. 1993; 69:443-453.