Grex Cooking Conference

Item 245: Eating cheaply as a vegetarian/vegan

Entered by keesan on Sat Jun 16 19:54:01 2007:

This item is for discussing Colleen's no-reply item on eating a meat diet on
a budget.
52 responses total.

#1 of 52 by cmcgee on Sat Jun 16 20:13:54 2007:

Item 244 is the item for discussions about Item 243.


#2 of 52 by keesan on Sat Jun 16 20:30:41 2007:

Protein requirement according to WHO - .45 g protein per kg body mass. 

US and UK recommend .8 g protein per kg, still not difficult to obtain on a
vegetarian diet.  Another 15 g is just over 1 cup of beans.

Assuming 50 kg (110 lb), 22.5 g protein.

Protein contents of grains
brown rice - 1 cup - 232 calories - 5 g (similar for other grains)
oatmeal   - 1 cup - 145 calories - 6 g
bread (whole wheat) - 2 slices - 130 calories - 4.3 g
popcorn - 5 cups air popped - 150 calories - 5 g

Beans:
blackeyed peas 1 cup 190 calories 12.8 g protein - 2 cups of beans alone would
give you your daily protein requirement but not nearly enough calories.
kidney beans 1 cup 230 cal 14.5 g protein

Soybeans 1 cup cooked - 235 calories - 19.8 g protein - 12 cal/gram.
Tofu 120 g piece 86 cal 9.5 g protein - 9 cal/gram.
40 g protein = 4 pieces of tofu (about a pound).

peanut butter - 1 tbsp - 95 calories - 4.6 g

sunflower seeds - 1/4 cup - 205 cal/8.2 g protein - 34 cal/g

Potato  - 1 small boiled  120 calories 2.5 g protein.- 48 cal/gm
Large baked with skin 4.9 g protein

Spinach 1 cup cooked 41 cal 5.3 g protein

Mushrooms 1/2 cup cooked 21 cal 1.7 g protein - 12 cal/gram

Bok choi 1 cup 20 calories 2.6 g protein - 8 cal/gram protein
Broccolli - 1 spear 42 cal 4.5 g protein - 9 cal/gram protein

Onion - 1 cup raw 54 cal/1.9 g protein  - 28 cal/gm

Fish:
Tuna - 3 oz - 175 calories - 24 g protein - 7 calories per gram protein.  

Assuming 1500 calories/day needed for active lifestyle, and as much as 40 
g/protein, you would need to average 38 calories per gram of protein for 
an exact match of caloric and protein needs.   That would be difficult to 
do on a healthy diet - you would need to add a lot of sugar and fat.

Fried apple pie - 255 calories 2.2 g protein - 115 cal/g protein.
Corn chips - 1 -  155 cal/2 g protein - 77 cal/g protein
Cookie - 235 cal/2 g - 117 g/cal protein
Mayonnaise -  1 tbsp - 100/.2 - 500 cal/g
Granola (homemade) - 1 cup 595 cal/2.2 g protein - 270 cal/g
        (granola is full of oil and sugar)

People who eat a lot of junk would need to add meat to their diet to get 
enough protein without overdoing the calories.

If you eat whole foods, it would be nearly impossible not to get 25 g
protein in a 1500 calorie diet.

If you ate just potatoes, 1500 calories of potatoes provides 31 gm protein 
(50% more than the WHO requirement).  Just brown rice - 32 gm protein.  
Just beans - 100 gm (4 times the WHO requirement).  Colleen claims you 
cannot get enough protein from beans relative to the calories.

She also claims B12 pills cost more than meat.  I just found them $8/100 
(or about 12 cents/pill) online but Kroger is cheaper.  Nutritional yeast 
tastes better and has B12.


#3 of 52 by keesan on Sat Jun 16 20:31:25 2007:

1 slipped.  This can be the item for discussing protein and vegans.


#4 of 52 by keesan on Tue Jun 19 14:11:57 2007:

Colleen claims to need .7 g protein per pound body weight.  What I read is 
that the World Health Organization calls for .45 g / kg and the US and UK 
for .8 g/kg.  Colleen claims .7 g/lb.  One kg = 2.2 lb.  Assuming Colleen 
misread kg as lb, divide her 63-76 g protein per day by 2.2 to get 29-35 g 
protein per day.  The US RDAs are higher than most people need because 
they include more of the bell curve (people with unusually high 
requirements).  WHO requirements would be 22.5.  5-7 cups of grain would 
do it if you are not avoiding carbohydrates, in less than 1200 calories.

Potatoes have their protein mainly just under the skin.  Therefore a baked 
potato has more protein than a PEELED boiled one.  We microwave or 
pressure cook them in the skins, dip in cold water, and slip off the 
skins.

You can get enough B12 (100% of daily requirement) from multivitamins, 
which are really cheap.  The B12 pills are much higher doses, for people 
who don't absorb well, such as my friend who had part of her stomach 
removed due to cancer.

Colleen, what medical condition requires limiting carbohydrates to 100 
g/day?  Are you allowed more than this if you eat whole grains, which are 
digested more slowly?

I keep my bulk foods in 5 gal jugs on the stairway to the basement in my 
600 sq ft apartment, but there is plenty of room for food storage in other 
places such as under the bed.  50 lb fits in about 2 jugs.  


#5 of 52 by jadecat on Tue Jun 19 14:34:45 2007:

However, not everyone can take a multivitamin daily. Like me. They have
too much vit-c in them. 

I rather like eating baked potatoes with the skin. Or mashed potatoes
made with some of the skin left on the tater. Then again, I pretty much
like any form of tater. :)


#6 of 52 by keesan on Tue Jun 19 15:06:54 2007:

You can buy just B vitamin pills too.  


#7 of 52 by jadecat on Tue Jun 19 15:38:43 2007:

The multi-B pill that I get from Foods for Living (a health food store
here in Lansing) is about $20 for a couple hundred pills.


#8 of 52 by cmcgee on Tue Jun 19 16:03:24 2007:

I didn't misread anything, Sindi.  That is the formula my doctor said to use.
It is pounds, not kilograms of body weight.


#9 of 52 by cmcgee on Tue Jun 19 16:09:50 2007:

Sindi, I'm not going to post personal medical information on the Internet.


#10 of 52 by cmcgee on Tue Jun 19 17:06:49 2007:

This response has been erased.



#11 of 52 by keesan on Tue Jun 19 19:56:47 2007:

Do you know why your doctor recommends three times as much protein as WHO?
I posted lots of personal medical information and got lots of useful
suggestions in return.  Is it possible your doctor meant kg and said lb?


#12 of 52 by cmcgee on Tue Jun 19 22:20:38 2007:

Yes, I do know.  YMMV. No, it is not possible.  


#13 of 52 by cmcgee on Wed Jun 20 00:15:18 2007:

On my way to finding something else, I ran across this article that
takes eating cheaply as a vegetarian/vegan to a whole new level.

From http://www.living-foods.com/faq.html

Why would someone want to eat a raw and living foods diet?

There are many reasons why people eat a raw and living foods diet.

   1. Health: Persons embracing this type of diet invariably experience
improvements in their general physical and mental status, including more
energy, better health, more energy <smile>, weight loss, detoxification,
and a sturdier immune system that better resists and recovers from just
about any kind of disease... and the list goes on...

***2. Energy efficiency: Since you no longer have to cook, you don't
waste electricity, and save the environment.***

   3. Since you eat organic agriculture, you help to save the planet.
Most become more in-tune with their body; many report definite spiritual
improvements.

   4. No animal products are used, so the animals appreciate it.

What do raw/living foodists eat?

Raw and Living Foodist eat all fruits, vegetables, sprouts, nuts, seeds,
grains, sea vegetables, and other organic/natural foods that have not
been processed.  

In some instances, there are special ways to prepare the foods (example:
most raw and living foodists soak/sprout nuts, seeds and grains before
consuming them).  For some delicious recipes, see our recipe section!


#14 of 52 by slynne on Wed Jun 20 00:30:27 2007:

Oh man. I once had a roommate who was a raw-foods vegan. He often had 
conflicts with the rest of us in the house about cooking meat in the 
kitchen. He swore that the 'meat fumes' were making him sick. So we all 
decided that the rule was going to be, 'no cooking meat when [roommate] 
was home'  We stuck to that rule too but we started a 'meat journal' 
around that time where we took photographs of the cooking meat and 
described the cooking of the meat and the subsequent eating of the 
meat. When we filled the pages, we presented it to our other roommate. 


#15 of 52 by slynne on Wed Jun 20 00:32:49 2007:

Oh and another time we saved all of our bones for weeks and then put 
them in a shoebox which we then labeled a "Jeffrey Dahmer jigsaw 
puzzle". Then the one of us whose idea it was wrapped it up and gave it 
to the vegan roommate for Christmas. 


#16 of 52 by cmcgee on Thu Jun 21 03:09:08 2007:

Vegetarian Times,  Jan, 2005  by Katherine Tallmadge
Ask the nutritionist: about getting enough protein

Q:

As a fairly new vegetarian, I'm not sure I'm getting enough protein. Is
there a formula to figure out how much I need, and is age ever a factor?

A:

Protein is the major component of all of your body's cells, and you're
right, it's important to make sure you're getting enough. Recent
research indicates that we may need more than previously thought. The
recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for all adults is 0.37 grams of
protein per pound of body weight, or about 15 percent of your daily
calories.

But you probably need more if you exercise, if you're dieting and as you
age. One dramatic study of 855 people found that those who ate just the
RDA of protein had alarming bone losses compared to those who ate more
than the RDA. Those who ate the least protein lost the most bone mass--4
percent in four years. People who ate the most protein (about 20 percent
of calories) had the smallest losses--less than 1.5 percent in four
years, reported the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research in 2000.
Although the study was done on older men and women, the results may be
important for all adults. "When you're young, you need protein to build
bone. After age 30, you need it to keep bone from being lost," says
Kathleen Tucker, associate professor of Nutritional Epidemiology at
Tufts University. "Keeping bones strong is a life-long effort."

Dieters, take note: New research has found that a protein-dense diet may
be essential for weight loss. It helps maximize fat loss while
minimizing muscle loss. That's important because "losing muscle slows
your resting metabolic rate--the speed at which your body burns
calories. That makes it harder to maintain a healthy weight and lose
fat," says William Evans, director of the Nutrition, Metabolism, and
Exercise Laboratory at the Donald W Reynolds Center on Aging at the
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Many of us don't get the RDA for protein. Roughly 25 percent of adults
over age 20, and 40 percent of those age 70 and up, fall below it,
according to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) statistics,
let alone eat enough to protect bones or muscle. And thin women, dieting
women and elderly women--who are especially vulnerable to the ravages of
bone and muscle loss--are notoriously low on protein. "Losing muscle
causes older people to become weak and frail," says Evans.

"It seems pretty clear that older adults may need more protein," agrees
dietitian Reed Mangels, nutrition advisor to the Vegetarian Resource
Group and co-author of The Dietitian's Guide to Vegetarian Diets. 

Based on the new findings, I now recommend that moderately active people
and older adults increase their protein to about 20 percent of their
calories, or 0.45-0.54 grams per pound of ideal body weight. If you're
an athlete or body builder, you may need even more.


#17 of 52 by cmcgee on Thu Jun 21 04:06:46 2007:

View "hidden" response.



#18 of 52 by cmcgee on Thu Jun 21 04:21:41 2007:

The hidden response is an abstract of an article in a peer-reviewed
journal about increased protein needs in the elderly (subjects were 55 -
70 years old) published in 2001.

It includes an additional list of 16 articles on that subject published
since then, some of which are as recent as May and June of 2007.

The term "sarcopenia" is the medical term for loss of muscle mass and
strength, a problem similar to osteoporosis, loss of bone mass.  

About a third of muscle mass is lost in old age. This loss of mass
reduces the performance of muscles. Due to the increasing number of
elderly people, sarcopenia is an increasing health issue in the
developed world.


#19 of 52 by cmcgee on Thu Jun 21 12:57:39 2007:

According to the 2006 report of the National Academy of Sciences Food
and Nutrition Board, my doctor's recommendation is well within their
guidelines.  
---------------------------

The Institute of Medicine serves as adviser to the nation to improve
health. 

Established in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of
Sciences, the Institute of Medicine provides independent, objective,
evidence-based advice to policymakers, health professionals, the private
sector, and the public.  

Institute of Medicine Of the National Academies.        
                        
Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty
Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids    


Released On:   
        September 05, 2002

This report is the fifth in a series of reports from the Food and
Nutrition Board presenting dietary reference values for the intake of
nutrients by Americans and Canadians.

This new report establishes ranges for fat, carbohydrates and protein
and stresses the importance of balancing diet with exercise. Highlights
of the report include:

    * Adults should get 10 to 35 percent of their calories from protein.

------------------------------

Since my doctor's recommendation is 30-33%, there doesn't seem to be a
problem.  

One thing should be made clear here:  

While my eating pattern deviates from the 1985 guidelines, the
deviations are based on current science and my individual situation.  

Young, healthy adults fit the "normal" pattern that Sindi has
recommended so frequently, and would fare just fine on the older
guidelines.  

As best I can tell, most of us here have some obvious variations away
from normal, either because of weight, age, or previous medical
conditions.  It is short-sighted to continue to apply normal guidelines
in that case.  

If you know that you deviate from the "reference human" upon which the
guidelines rely, it only makes sense to deviate from those guidelines
based on your own situation.  

Individuals need to eat in ways that are best for them.  This includes
getting advice from professionals in the nutrition field, which is not
limited to MDs.   

The vegan eating pattern that Sindi proselytizes for is an extreme
subset of the more common vegetarian eating pattern.  As with most
fundamentalist belief systems, believers work very hard to demonstrate
that nonbelievers are not interpreting things correctly.    

The vegan can be the correct pattern for a normal person, but it may not
 be the best pattern for an individual.  Only that individual can make
that decision.  Getting advice from professionals in addition to
apostles is wise.    


#20 of 52 by keesan on Thu Jun 21 14:11:36 2007:

Your study showed that people who ate 20% of their calories as protein had
no bone loss (or minimal bone loss), so why does your doctor recommend almost
twice that?  You can get your protein balance measured (by testing what comes
out in the urine and feces) to determine your actual needs.

The RDA is supposed to be adequate for 97.5% of the population - .83 g/kg.
The median requirement is .65 g/kg.


#21 of 52 by jadecat on Thu Jun 21 14:21:38 2007:

resp:20 Sindi, in my reading of Colleen's responses, she's said her Dr.
was recommending about 30 or so percent, that's not twice 20%...


#22 of 52 by slynne on Thu Jun 21 14:31:00 2007:

Sindi, Doctors, like everyone else, have opinions. Colleen's doctor 
evidently has a different opinion about protein intake than you do but 
Colleen seems pretty happy with her doctor's recommendations. My 
opinion is that you are both right. It probably wouldnt hurt an adult 
to eat the amount of protein you think is correct. But it also probably 
wont hurt a person to eat an amount of protein Colleen's doctor thinks 
is correct. 


#23 of 52 by keesan on Thu Jun 21 15:04:16 2007:

30-33% is close to double 20%. 1.5-1.7X.  Colleen said she was trying for /13
which is 33.3%.

A bit more internet reading reveals there is now a fad high-protein
weight-loss diet which the American Heart Association warns against, partly
because of the high-fat results (usually much of it saturated). 
Recommendations are usually to keep fat under 30% of your total calories, not
1/3.  Eating more protein than you need also results in the production of
nitrogenous metabolic byproducts (ketone bodies) which may be what another
site (http://www.starbulltein.com/1999/10/13/features/health.html) refers
to as acidic products which are neutralized with calcium, which gets excreted
in the urine.  The sulfur which is found more in animal than plant protein may
be what they mean here (sulfuric acid?).  People who eat too much protein need
to also eat more calcium.  

Colleen's protein intake is probably not in the dangerous range, but is most
likely more than required, which can be measured by tests.  Since most
Americans eat too much protein (in the same range) the calcium RDA probably
reflects this increased need for calcium.  

I ran across mention of studies showing that people who ate more protein (this
was about 110 g/day) had a 20% greater likelihood of breaking a wrist, due
to calcium loss from bones.  

Colleen, have you been tested for osteoporis?  Are you making sure to eat
plenty of calcium along with all that protein?  Will your insurance cover
protein balance testing to determine if you are really eating for zero
nitrogen balance?

After all the fad diets that avoid sugar (saccharine etc), starch (carbs),
and fat, I guess it is time for a protein fad.  Are we over the oat-bran fiber
fad already?


#24 of 52 by edina on Thu Jun 21 15:23:44 2007:

Sindi, stop it.  You sound like you're badgering.  If Colleen isn't 
sharing every single thing about her choices and what led to them, 
that's her call.  She isn't saying, "Do what I do" - she's 
saying "Here's what I'm doing".  There could be a million reasons why 
she and her doctor have said 30% protein.

I also think that everyone is, well, different.  I have a friend who 
eats a high fat, high protein, very low carb diet to help deal with 
her colitis.  It works for her and she is very healthy (and has the 
blood work to prove it).  



#25 of 52 by mary on Thu Jun 21 15:53:26 2007:

This response has been erased.



#26 of 52 by mary on Thu Jun 21 15:57:22 2007:

Totally agree with Brooke.  Are you listening, Sindi?

Colleen is trying very hard here.  I would have filtered you by now
had this been my item.


#27 of 52 by keesan on Thu Jun 21 16:48:19 2007:

If Colleen wants a monolog instead of a dialog she should not allow other
people to post (or start items).  I think it is important to warn people that
her diet is not healthy for most people.


#28 of 52 by edina on Thu Jun 21 16:57:01 2007:

And as I said, she has not once said "Do as I do."  

The nice thing about the people that participate in this conference is 
that I truly believe we are all above average intelligence.  I think 
we all know what does or does not work for us and I think we all know 
that if we need input, we will get thoughtful advice from the other 
participants.

To be honest, I don't think your diet would be that healthy for me.  
At least not mentally.  And that's ok.  It works for you - it doesn't 
have to work for me.


#29 of 52 by slynne on Thu Jun 21 19:17:30 2007:

Indeed, everyone's needs are very different. I dont think I would want 
to be quite as regimented as Colleen and I know I wouldnt want to eat a 
diet similar to Sindi's. 


#30 of 52 by denise on Thu Jun 21 23:40:13 2007:

As Colleen has said many times, she and her doctor have discussed 
Collen's needs. Whether or not she has posted all of the health tests 
she's had [or not] is between her and her doctor.  Just because someone 
here [Sindi] keeps asking for Collen's specific results, doesn't mean 
that Colleen needs to share or explain the test results.  Collen is an 
intelligent woman, has sought advice from her doctor as well as other 
reliable sources and she is satisfied with that.  And she is NOT saying 
that her diet is the diet for all people [though the impression is that 
Sindi believes that her diet is the best for almost everyone].


The topic here in this item is for eating cheaply as a vegetarian...


#31 of 52 by i on Sat Jun 23 02:03:57 2007:

Brown rice & split peas with a bit of spice or sauce for flavor.

Cooked whole wheat ("berries") needs almost no seasoning.

If you're ovo-lacto, eggs are cheap great protein, and a bit of
plain yogurt can fancy up the taste of many things.

Apples are cheap almost year-round at the Farmer's Market, ditto
bananas at the grocery store.  Carrots, cabbage, potatoes, and
other traditional veggies are often available cheap.

I've heard arguments both ways on nutrition in frozen veggies
(vs. fresh), but frozen veggies are pretty cheap if you don't
want the trendy ones, and understand can stock up when on sale.

If you can be bothered to make quick breads from scratch, use
whole grain flour, and get creative.  Fresh quick bread does
not need to be swimming in fat, sugar, sodium, etc. to taste
good.  Yeast bread's fine too, but takes more time unless you
have a machine.


#32 of 52 by keesan on Sat Jun 23 02:12:04 2007:

Bananas, carrots, cabbage, sweet potatoes, avocadoes, oranges, and pineapples
are all very reasonably priced at the produce store inside Kerrytown - cheaper
than Kroger.  This time of year mulberries are free all over the place - we
were out with an old sheet and a long pole to grab branches and shake them
over the sheet - held up at all four corners, lower in the middle.  I snagged
a nice fisherman down by the river to hold two of the corners.  We will
decide tomorrow whether to try to make raisins from them with a dehydrator
and/or freeze them.  Juneberry season is coming to an end.  The trees at
Zingerman's are gone by.  Cherries and strawberries are about over locally,
black raspberries not yet ripe.  Apples are free in the fall - we refrigerate
what we can, freeze (or can if no freezer), and dry extras.  Pears too.
        Walter, stop by some time for a shared supper - your cooking sounds
great!


#33 of 52 by cmcgee on Mon Jun 25 01:33:52 2007:

Re 31:  The USDA does ongoing research into the nutrient composition of
foods.  Their most recently released findings say that they no longer
believe that there is a nutritional difference between fresh and frozen
vegetables and fruits.

They base their conclusion on detailed nutritional analysis, and state
that faster and better methods of freezing have improved the process to
the point that the foods do not have significantly different nutritional
profiles.  


#34 of 52 by keesan on Mon Jun 25 01:49:27 2007:

Foods frozen right after picking often actually have more vitamins than those
shipped from California and kept around for a few days.  Today we froze a
bunch of mustard greens within a couple hours of picking.  We eat frozen
vegetables and fruits all winter.  Anyone want some mustard greens?


#35 of 52 by cmcgee on Fri Jun 29 14:21:48 2007:

Item 245 Response 27:
Jun 21 12:48 EDT 2007

"If Colleen wants a monolog instead of a dialog she should not allow
other people to post (or start items).  I think it is important to warn
people that her diet is not healthy for most people."
---------------------

It has taken me a while to figure out what bothered me about this
response.  I think it goes back to some community building skills I
learned from a world-renown organizational development consultant who
was also a personal friend.  

"Everyone has their own truth and everyone's truth is different." Kathy
Dannemiller.

I admire Sindi's ability to find and communicate food factoids that are
interesting and entertaining.  

She does, however, remind me of a mother hen who has hatched a clutch of
duck eggs, and is standing frantically on the shore trying to get her
ducklings to stop swimming.  

Any of us is free to pick and choose among scientific and folk
information in making dietary and medical decisions.  Some of us choose
to live by more of this information and others of us choose to live by
less of this information. 

However you decide to put these facts together and form your own eating
pattern is fine *for you*.  

For example, the usual goal is to meet your vitamin, mineral, and
macronutrient needs by eating a range of food that will supply them
without resorting to supplementary pills. 

Vegan diets do not supply sufficient Vitamin B12 and it must be obtained
by supplements.  

A diet that *requires* pills or shots to meet minimum standards is not
healthy for most people.    

However, it works for some people, and thus is a rational choice *for
them*.  

Just remember that you have your own body giving you feedback, along
with well-meaning friends, relatives, and the experts you choose to
consult.  
  
I believe that everyone currently reading this conference is quite
capable of making good food choices *for themselves*.  Neither current
nor future readers need protection from words and ideas expressed here. 


#36 of 52 by slynne on Fri Jun 29 16:06:49 2007:

Well said Colleen. I think you are absolutely right. People in the USA 
can get very judgemental about other people's food choices and I 
generally think it would be a good thing if we got away from that 
practice. I am not sure that there should be a morality surrounding 
food especially when one looks at other people's food choices. People 
choose what is right for them. 

However, I think it is fair to talk about diets in a very general way. 


#37 of 52 by edina on Fri Jun 29 16:09:15 2007:

I'm a bad person.  I look down upon people who use margerine.  I'm 
such a judgmental bitch!

Please tell me the truth shall set me free!


#38 of 52 by slynne on Fri Jun 29 16:17:40 2007:

Well, OK...we all have our things. I look down upon people who use 
mayonnaise. But I just need to tell myself over and over and mayonnaise 
can be part of a healthy diet. 


#39 of 52 by denise on Fri Jun 29 19:37:17 2007:

re:37--butter is so much BETTER than margarine.  :-)


#40 of 52 by edina on Fri Jun 29 19:48:03 2007:

In my perfect world, dairy products would be fat and calorie free.


#41 of 52 by slynne on Fri Jun 29 20:19:55 2007:

mmmm. I *love* dairy products. And I probably need to be drinking more 
vitamin D milk too or at least I should according to my aunt who seems 
to believe that vitamin D deficiencies can be related to genes and so 
far everyone in our family she's tested is vitamin D deficient. 


#42 of 52 by keesan on Sat Jun 30 03:42:49 2007:

Babies would not survive very long on calorie-free milk.  Vitamin D is made
by most people's bodies when they are exposed to sunlight.  Some people don't
spend much time exposed to the sun.


#43 of 52 by slynne on Sat Jun 30 13:22:15 2007:

I dont use sunscreen so I end up getting plenty of sunlight in the
summer. The winter might be different. But my aunt seems to be of the
opinion that there is something about our family that makes us less able
to make vitamin D from sunlight. Or maybe everyone else is just really
good at putting on sunscreen. I am not especially worried about it
though. I just thought it was a weird thing for her to have tested other
people in my family for. 


#44 of 52 by cmcgee on Sat Jun 30 13:33:27 2007:

Is she a nurse or a doctor?  I'm curious about how she can "test"
people.


#45 of 52 by slynne on Sat Jun 30 13:47:18 2007:

She is a doctor


#46 of 52 by cmcgee on Tue Jul 10 02:39:08 2007:

On My Way To Somewhere Else:    Things I never knew before

Undercooking beans can be as bad as undercooking meat. Beans have a
toxin in them (lectin) that is destroyed by cooking.  

Lectins are found in most types of beans, including soybeans. Reduced
growth, diarrhea, and interference with nutrient absorption are caused
by this class of toxicants. Different lectins have different levels of
toxicity

Kidney beans are the most toxic, and there is a specific illness called
Red Kidney Bean Poisoning

(From the USDA Natural Toxins Handbook)

Nature of Disease:      The onset time from consumption of raw or
undercooked kidney beans to symptoms varies from between 1 to 3 hours.
Onset is usually marked by extreme nausea, followed by vomiting, which
may be very severe. Diarrhea develops somewhat later (from one to a few
hours), and some persons report abdominal pain. Some persons have been
hospitalized, but recovery is usually rapid (3 - 4 h after onset of
symptoms) and spontaneous.
         
Diagnosis of Human Illness:     Diagnosis is made on the basis of
symptoms, food history, and the exclusion of other rapid onset food
poisoning agents (e.g., Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, arsenic,
mercury, lead, and cyanide).

Associated Foods:       Phytohaemagglutinin, the presumed toxic agent,
is found in many species of beans, but it is in highest concentration in
red kidney beans (Phaseolus vulgaris). The unit of toxin measure is the
hemagglutinating unit (hau). Raw kidney beans contain from 20,000 to
70,000 hau, while fully cooked beans contain from 200 to 400 hau. White
kidney beans, another variety of Phaseolus vulgaris, contain about
one-third the amount of toxin as the red variety; broad beans (Vicia
faba) contain 5 to 10% the amount that red kidney beans contain.

The syndrome is usually caused by the ingestion of raw, soaked kidney
beans, either alone or in salads or casseroles. As few as four or five
raw beans can trigger symptoms. 

Several outbreaks have been associated with "slow cookers" or crock
pots, or in casseroles which had not reached a high enough internal
temperature to destroy the glycoprotein lectin. 

It has been shown that heating to 80 C may potentiate the toxicity
five-fold, so that these beans are more toxic than if eaten raw. [That's
about 176 F]


-------------
I don't know about the rest of you, but I've sampled soaking/soaked
kidney beans frequently without ill effect.  I'd never even heard of
this, even among my vegetarian/vegan friends.  Has anyone else been
warned about red kidney beans, or any other beans, for that matter?


#47 of 52 by keesan on Tue Jul 10 02:49:12 2007:

I threw up once after eating semicooked lima beans.
I notice that bean plants from darker seeds are much less bug eaten, so maybe
the same toxins are found in the leaves.  Yellow-eyed peas and white dutch
runner beans were eaten nearly to the ground.  Cranberry beans and chocolate
runner beans were almost ignored.  


#48 of 52 by slynne on Tue Jul 10 03:17:36 2007:

I have never heard that raw or undercooked beans could be harmful. 

I did learn recently that a huge number of the beans sold in Mexico are
grown right here in Michigan. That means that if you go to the Mexican
grocery and buy a can of beans imported from Mexico, there is a good
chance that they were originally canned here. 


#49 of 52 by edina on Tue Jul 10 14:27:39 2007:

I'm lazy.  I never soak beans.  I just used canned beans.


#50 of 52 by cmcgee on Tue Jul 10 15:35:33 2007:

SaveALot had about 20 different canned bean products, so let's look at
this picture:

Mexican workers migrate north to work in Michigan's bean fields during
the summer.  The beans are dried and canned.  They are shipped to Mexico
to be sold and then the familiar Mexican brands are shipped north to
feed Mexican migrants.

I find it intriguing that poor families buy more canned beans than dried
beans.  At least, SaveALot dedicates much more precious shelf space to
canned bean products than they do to dried beans, which means that there
is higher demand for them.  

In fact, I was amazed that an extreme-value grocery had that many
options.  Their profit model includes limiting choices (for example,
only 1 kind of flour, from one supplier, in one size).  

 I can see that time=money is an equation that factors in to the
decision process.  If you earn more per hour working than you save per
hour cooking, it is a *very* rational decision.  The money saved by
cooking beans is far less than minimum wage, or overtime during the
growing season.  (Notice that I'm assuming these folks are making at
least minimum wage).  

And, given the quest for People Chow, I suspect these buyers come home
at least as exhausted from a day of work as folks in air-conditioned
offices.


#51 of 52 by slynne on Tue Jul 10 15:55:49 2007:

Yeah, or more exhausted!


#52 of 52 by i on Sun Jul 22 11:16:34 2007:

I've read about the kidney bean thing; i think i had a mild case of it
once (after soaking/cooking red ones at too low a temp).  My impression
is that a fair number of plants have chemical defenses against being
eaten, so best to know what you're doing before consuming them in large
quantities or prepared in unusual ways.


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