Friday, 29 November 2013
Saturday, 23 November 2013
Beans, Lentils, and the Paleo Diet
As we continue to explore the foods our ancestors relied on during our evolutionary history, and what foods work best for us today, we come to legumes such as beans and lentils. These are controversial foods within the Paleolithic diet community, while the broader nutrition community tends to view legumes as healthy.
Beans and lentils have a lot going for them. They're one of the few foods that are simultaneously rich in protein and fiber, making them highly satiating and potentially good for the critters in our colon. They're also relatively nutritious, delivering a hefty dose of vitamins and minerals. The minerals are partially bound by the anti-nutrient phytic acid, but simply soaking and cooking beans and lentils typically degrades 30-70 percent of it, making the minerals more available for absorption (Food Phytates. Reddy and Sathe. 2002). Omitting the soaking step greatly reduces the degradation of phytic acid (Food Phytates. Reddy and Sathe. 2002).
The only tangible downside to beans I can think of, from a nutritional standpoint, is that some people have a hard time with the large quantity of fermentable fiber they provide, particularly people who are sensitive to FODMAPs. Thorough soaking prior to cooking can increase the digestibility of the "musical fruit" by activating the sprouting program and leaching out tannins and indigestible saccharides. I soak all beans and lentils for 12-24 hours.
The canonical Paleolithic diet approach excludes legumes because they were supposedly not part of our ancestral dietary pattern. I'm going to argue here that there is good evidence of widespread legume consumption by hunter-gatherers and archaic humans, and that beans and lentils are therefore an "ancestral" food that falls within the Paleo diet rubric. Many species of edible legumes are common around the globe, including in Africa, and the high calorie and protein content of legume seeds would have made them prime targets for exploitation by ancestral humans after the development of cooking. Below, I've compiled a few examples of legume consumption by hunter-gatherers and extinct archaic humans. I didn't have to look very hard to find these, and there are probably many other examples available. If you know of any, please share them in the comments.
To be clear, I would eat beans and lentils even if they weren't part of ancestral hunter-gatherer diets, because they're inexpensive, nutritious, I like the taste, and they were safely consumed by many traditional agricultural populations probably including my own ancestors.
Extensive "bean" consumption by the !Kung San of the Kalahari desert
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Beans and lentils have a lot going for them. They're one of the few foods that are simultaneously rich in protein and fiber, making them highly satiating and potentially good for the critters in our colon. They're also relatively nutritious, delivering a hefty dose of vitamins and minerals. The minerals are partially bound by the anti-nutrient phytic acid, but simply soaking and cooking beans and lentils typically degrades 30-70 percent of it, making the minerals more available for absorption (Food Phytates. Reddy and Sathe. 2002). Omitting the soaking step greatly reduces the degradation of phytic acid (Food Phytates. Reddy and Sathe. 2002).
The only tangible downside to beans I can think of, from a nutritional standpoint, is that some people have a hard time with the large quantity of fermentable fiber they provide, particularly people who are sensitive to FODMAPs. Thorough soaking prior to cooking can increase the digestibility of the "musical fruit" by activating the sprouting program and leaching out tannins and indigestible saccharides. I soak all beans and lentils for 12-24 hours.
The canonical Paleolithic diet approach excludes legumes because they were supposedly not part of our ancestral dietary pattern. I'm going to argue here that there is good evidence of widespread legume consumption by hunter-gatherers and archaic humans, and that beans and lentils are therefore an "ancestral" food that falls within the Paleo diet rubric. Many species of edible legumes are common around the globe, including in Africa, and the high calorie and protein content of legume seeds would have made them prime targets for exploitation by ancestral humans after the development of cooking. Below, I've compiled a few examples of legume consumption by hunter-gatherers and extinct archaic humans. I didn't have to look very hard to find these, and there are probably many other examples available. If you know of any, please share them in the comments.
To be clear, I would eat beans and lentils even if they weren't part of ancestral hunter-gatherer diets, because they're inexpensive, nutritious, I like the taste, and they were safely consumed by many traditional agricultural populations probably including my own ancestors.
Extensive "bean" consumption by the !Kung San of the Kalahari desert
Read more �
Thursday, 21 November 2013
Protesting, Dissent, and Unionization
November 20th was a perplexing day for some on the UC campuses. As AFSCME and UAW held a joint strike, many students and media people wanted to know why graduate students would go out on strike to support mostly manual workers. Of course, the reason for this support was that both unions were protesting against the sense that the UC administration does not respect collective action and collective bargaining. Moreover, what really scares and confuses many people in power is the sight of seeing both service and professional workers protesting together.
People in power must know that a coalition of organized professional and service workers could be one of the only groups strong enough to stop the neoliberal political economy, and when you throw recent immigrants and indebted students into the mix, a very threatening progressive coalition emerges. Although some may say that the protests and strike were really only about pensions and pay, it is clear that a more fundamental democratic yearning was evident in these actions. Not only do workers and students feel that they do not have a voice at their own institutions, but they also feel alienated by the silent forces of global capitalism and austerity politics.
AFSCME did a very smart thing by working with various student groups to form a diverse coalition of workers, students, and faculty, and while the peaceful demonstrations did not generate much police presence, recent trends suggest that once organized dissent becomes visible and disruptive, it will be countered in a forceful way. Let us hope that this is the beginning of a more forceful organization of the people who make this university work.
Monday, 11 November 2013
A Message for the Regents and President Napolitano
As the UC regents meet this week, it is important to look at some of the major issues facing the University of California system. One of the topics that has received very little attention is the fact that UC has close to $16 billions of debt, and this may be tolerable with historically low interest rates, but once interest rates increase, two large problems will emerge. First of all, UC will spend even more money servicing its debt, and second, UC may have to reduce the programs that are dependent on cheap borrowing.
As debt has gone up, UC has continued to increase the size of classes and reduce the number of teachers. As the graduate student union�s recent report indicates, the quality of education has gone down, but the rankings of the campuses has continued to escalate. The major proposed solution to this problem of educational quality is to turn to online courses; however this cure could be much worse than the disease. Not only do online courses threaten to further reduce instructional quality, but the system has not figured out how to fund the sharing of courses and students among campuses. For instance, I have asked UCOP officials many times about what happens if most of the UCSB students decide to take their Spanish classes online with UC Irvine. In this situation, will UCSB have to fire its faculty who currently teach Spanish? And who will pay UC Irvine to hire more teachers or graduate students to cover the increased enrollments? Moreover, how much should UCSB pay UC Irvine to teach UCSB students? None of these questions have been answered, and instead, the system plans to throw a lot of money around the first few years, and then it will decide how to make he sharing of online courses work.
Another major issue is the deterioration of UC benefits. Although UC in the past has been able to attract and maintain faculty and workers with relatively low pay because it has offered superior benefits, this is no longer the case. With major reductions in retiree healthcare and a new pension tier, benefits have been reduced. Furthermore, the new health plans have discriminated against one campus, UCSB, which does not have its own medical facilities or any hospital that is willing to be part of UC Care.
UC has also moved many of its investments into alternative assets, but recent research shows that this strategy has backfired. Due to the high fees associated with private equity and hedge funds, the UC might do better by simply investing in low-cost index funds. Yet, in the pursuit of high returns, the university has continued to increase its investments in high-risk, high-fee investment vehicles.
Another major problem is that even though tuition has remained flat for the last two years, very few people have looked at the total cost of a UC education. By pursuing an amenities race, UC, like other universities, has continued to increase the student cost for housing, dining, and services, and these increases fuel student debt. Moreover, while there have been efforts to reduce the administration at the Office of the President, we continue to see administrative bloat on the campuses.
Let�s hope that the new UC president has the foresight to address these pressing issues.
Recent and Upcoming Appearances
Smarter Science of Slim
Jonathan Bailor recently released an interview we did a few months ago on the neurobiology of body fat regulation, and the implications for fat loss. It's a good overview of the regulation of food intake and body fatness by the brain. You can listen to it here.
Super Human Radio
Carl Lanore interviewed me about my lab's work on hypothalamic inflammation and obesity. I'm currently wrapping up a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Michael Schwartz at the University of Washington, and the interview touches on our recent review paper "Hypothalamic Inflammation: Marker or Mechanism of Obesity Pathogenesis?" Dan Pardi and I are frequent guests on Carl's show and I'm always impressed by how well Carl prepares prior to the interview. You can listen to the interview here.
The Reality Check podcast
Pat Roach of the Reality Check podcast interviewed me about the scientific validity of the "carbohydrate-insulin hypothesis" of obesity. The Reality Check podcast "explores a wide range of controversies and curiosities using science and critical thinking", and a dash of humor. This one should be very informative for people who aren't sure what to believe and want a deeper perspective on the science of insulin and body weight regulation. You can listen to it here.
Obesity Society conference
Next Thursday 11/9, I'll be speaking at the 2013 Obesity Society conference in Atlanta. My talk is titled "The Glial Response to Obesity is Reversible", and it will be about my work on the reversibility of obesity-associated hypothalamic neuropathology in mice. My talk will be part of the session "Neuronal Control of Satiety" between 3:00 and 4:30, specific time pending. See you there!
Jonathan Bailor recently released an interview we did a few months ago on the neurobiology of body fat regulation, and the implications for fat loss. It's a good overview of the regulation of food intake and body fatness by the brain. You can listen to it here.
Super Human Radio
Carl Lanore interviewed me about my lab's work on hypothalamic inflammation and obesity. I'm currently wrapping up a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Michael Schwartz at the University of Washington, and the interview touches on our recent review paper "Hypothalamic Inflammation: Marker or Mechanism of Obesity Pathogenesis?" Dan Pardi and I are frequent guests on Carl's show and I'm always impressed by how well Carl prepares prior to the interview. You can listen to the interview here.
The Reality Check podcast
Pat Roach of the Reality Check podcast interviewed me about the scientific validity of the "carbohydrate-insulin hypothesis" of obesity. The Reality Check podcast "explores a wide range of controversies and curiosities using science and critical thinking", and a dash of humor. This one should be very informative for people who aren't sure what to believe and want a deeper perspective on the science of insulin and body weight regulation. You can listen to it here.
Obesity Society conference
Next Thursday 11/9, I'll be speaking at the 2013 Obesity Society conference in Atlanta. My talk is titled "The Glial Response to Obesity is Reversible", and it will be about my work on the reversibility of obesity-associated hypothalamic neuropathology in mice. My talk will be part of the session "Neuronal Control of Satiety" between 3:00 and 4:30, specific time pending. See you there!
Monday, 4 November 2013
Buckwheat Crepes Revisited
Buckwheat is an exceptionally nutritious pseudograin that's rich in complete protein and minerals. In contrast to most whole grains, which have low mineral availability due to phytic acid, buckwheat contains a high level of the phytic acid-degrading enzyme phytase. This makes buckwheat an excellent source of easily absorbed minerals, as long as you prepare it correctly! Phytase enzyme works best in an acidic environment, which may be part of the reason why so many cultures use sour fermentation to prepare grain foods. My original recipe included a sour fermentation step.
But there's a problem here. Buckwheat doesn't ferment very well. Whether it's because it doesn't contain the right carbohydrates, or the right bacteria, I don't know, but it spoils rapidly if you ferment it more than a little bit (using a strong sourdough starter helps though). Others have told me the same. So here's my confession: I stopped fermenting my buckwheat batter about a year ago. And it tastes better.
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