Broccoli Sprouts as Medicine: Sulforaphane

I've been having issues with my left knee for a year now. When I twist it or run on it, it feels sore. Before my MRI results came back, someone suggested it may be due to arthritis. Well, turns out I had a torn meniscus. This did not stop me from researching cures for arthritis.

Why Sulforaphane?

There are myriad benefits to eating sulforaphane. Some of my favourite benefits are the prevention or delay of:

1. arthritis;
2. Alzheimer's;
3. cancer; and
4. diabetes.

Broccoli Sprouts vs Mature Broccoli

I started researching the role of broccoli to reduce arthritic symptoms and came across broccoli sprouts as a much more potent source of sulforaphane, which is the salient component of broccoli. Three day old broccoli sprouts contain 10 to 100 times the amount of sulforaphane of mature broccoli.

One ounce (28 g) of broccoli sprouts has 10 times the amount of glucosinolates as half a cup of mature broccoli. So your jar of broccoli sprouts is equivalent to eating 50 cups of mature broccoli!

How much broccoli sprouts should you eat daily?

According to Dr. Rhonda Patrick:

1 g of broccoli sprouts has 0.425 mg of sulforaphane.

Studies have shown beneficial effects of sprouts on inflammation, cancer biomarkers, or a reduction of triglycerides with a dose of 40 to 60 mg/day of sulforaphane, or 100-140 g of broccoli sprouts.

Each 1L jar of broccoli sprouts, grown from two tablespoons of broccoli seeds, produces 280 g of broccoli sprouts or around 90-120 mg of sulforaphane. I did not get as high a yield as Dr. Patrick. I was only able to produce 160 g of broccoli sprouts per jar.

Of course, the longer you grow the sprouts, the heavier they become. I weighed them at the four day mark.

In other words, each jar contains sufficient sprouts for two people per day, or about one tablespoon of broccoli seeds per person.

One tablespoon of broccoli seeds produces about one cup of broccoli sprouts.

Increasing bioavailability of sulforaphane

Dr. Rhonda Patrick suggests soaking the sprouts for 10 minutes at 70C to increase the bioavailability of sulforaphane. You must be careful not to overheat the sprouts as this will destroy the myrosinase which is used to create sulforaphane.

How much is too much?

Four cups of sprouts is the limit for toxicity.

The Best Sweetener: Erythritol

Edit: August 8, 2024. Erythritol is linked to blood clotting and a risk of heart disease. https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/08/health/erythritol-blood-clotting-wellness/index.html

Edit: February 27, 2023! Erythritol can be harmful! It is linked to heart attacks and strokes! https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/27/health/zero-calorie-sweetener-heart-attack-stroke-wellness/index.html

Original article:

I thought all low calorie sweeteners were harmful until I found this.

• No adverse effects associated with other low and non-caloric natural and artificial sweeteners
• May have antioxidant potential
• Has 60-80% the sweetness of sugar
• Can be used in baking
• Safe for diabetics

Buy the powder since the granular form needs to be dissolved in liquid otherwise it remains granular.  It is $9 a pound for powder in the US, and in Canada ranging from $8/lb (5 lb bag includes $10 shipping) (but may crystallize in liquids after a time), $12 (free shipping), or $19 per pound (free shipping) in Canada.

If using it in baking, it is a little tricky.  It really really wants to re-crystallize.  Be careful when putting it in things that are dry, like cookies and brownies, as it will re-crystallize as it cools.  You can prevent this effect by using it in a combination of 1:8 of Thick-it-up Low Carb Thickener to erythritol (2 T per cup) for powdered form and 4 T/cup for granular form.

For higher liquid products, like icing and pies, you should be okay, but you can also grind it into a powder if it has re-crystallized in storage or if you have the granular form.

It leaves a cooling/minty effect in your mouth in some cases.  Some bakers like the crunch from the re-crystallization in their products.

On a cautionary note...

Erthryitol was rejected by the EFSA in March 2013 as an additive to soft drinks because for children aged 3-9 years old (22 kg on average), drinking 650 mL of the soft drink had a laxative effect.  I don't know what kind of parent would let their sub-10 year old drink the equivalent of two cans of pop a day, but I'm sure they exist.

Here is a list of harmful sweeteners:

acesulfame-K (Sweet One) - DNA damage

aspartame (Nutrasweet, Equal) - hypertension

cyclamate (Sugar Twin) - banned 39 years ago but still sold in Canada

saccharin (Sweet'N'Low) - bladder cancer

sucralose (Splenda) - migraine trigger

sorbitol, xylitol - (Extra, Eclipse, Orbit...) - laxative

We don't know whether stevia is safe.  Yet.  I bought stevia leaf powder, and it was horrible to use.  It had a distinctive leafy green taste, and a terrible aftertaste.  Not the kind of stuff I want to put in my baking or tea.

Do You Want Cancer with your Candy?

Today at school pickup I found both of my kids lined up at the infernal ice cream truck that shows up and parks in front of the school when the weather warms.  They had just purchased a product from Popsicle called "Shots."

I bluntly told the kids that they will get cancer if they continue to eat things with artificial colours.  Yeah, okay, I admit that I was guilty of a bit of frothing at the mouth over the top mommyism, but there was some truth there.  When I got home, I did some research on this.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest says that food dyes pose the risk of cancer, hyperactivity in children, and allergies.

The three most widely used dyes, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6, are contaminated with known carcinogens, says CSPI. Another dye, Red 3, has been acknowledged for years by the Food and Drug Administration to be a carcinogen, yet is still in the food supply.

Despite those concerns, each year manufacturers pour about 15 million pounds of eight synthetic dyes into our foods. Per capita consumption of dyes has increased five-fold since 1955, thanks in part to the proliferation of brightly colored breakfast cereals, fruit drinks, and candies pitched to children.

“These synthetic chemicals do absolutely nothing to improve the nutritional quality or safety of foods, but trigger behavior problems in children and, possibly, cancer in anybody,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson, co-author of the 58-page report, “Food Dyes: A Rainbow of Risks.” “The Food and Drug Administration should ban dyes, which would force industry to color foods with real food ingredients, not toxic petrochemicals.”

Blue 1, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 have long been known to cause allergic reactions in some people. CSPI says that while those reactions are not common, they can be serious and provide reason enough to ban those dyes. Furthermore, numerous studies have demonstrated that dyes cause hyperactivity in children.

But the biggest concern is cancer. Back in 1985, the acting commissioner of the FDA said that Red 3, one of the lesser-used dyes, “has clearly been shown to induce cancer” and was “of greatest public health concern.” However, Secretary of Agriculture John R. Block pressed the Department of Health and Human Services not to ban the dye, and he apparently prevailed—notwithstanding the Delaney Amendment that forbids the use of in foods of cancer-causing color additives. Each year about 200,000 pounds of Red 3 are poured into such foods as Betty Crocker’s Fruit Roll-Ups and ConAgra’s Kid Cuisine frozen meals. Since 1985 more than five million pounds of the dye have been used.

Tests on lab animals of Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 showed signs of causing cancer or suffered from serious flaws, said the consumer group. Yellow 5 also caused mutations, an indication of possible carcinogenicity, in six of 11 tests.

In addition, according to the report, FDA tests show that the three most-widely used dyes, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6, are tainted with low levels of cancer-causing compounds, including benzidine and 4-aminobiphenyl in Yellow 5. However, the levels actually could be far higher, because in the 1990s the FDA and Health Canada found a hundred times as much benzidine in a bound form that is released in the colon, but not detected in the routine tests of purity conducted by the FDA.

I decided to look up Red 40 at a helpful website of the same name and find out if it was in any of the foods that my family eats.  Unfortunately, it was, including the Popsicle brand, although "shots" were not mentioned.  It did list other frozen treats by Popsicle that are brightly coloured.

Here are some of the foods we sometimes eat in our family that contain Red 40:

Froot Loops (We eat it only on vacations)
McCormick Food Colours (not sure whether this is the brand we buy)
Sprinkles (on Tim Horton's doughnuts and Purdy's ice cream)
Twizzlers (at the theatre)
Starburst
M&Ms
Skittles
Candy Canes
Bubbalicious
Trident
Smarties
Minute Maid Orange Soda
Schweppes Raspberry Gingerale
Gatorade Fruit Punch
Lipton Brisk Iced Tea
Ocean Spray Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice
Kraft Barbecue Sauce
Kraft Catalina Dressing
Frito Lay Doritos
Betty Crocker Fruit by the Foot (A&W kids' packs)
Hershey's Strawberry Syrup
Kellogg's Nutrigrain Cereal Bars
Jell-O Instant Pudding Chocolate
Mott's Fruitsation Apple Sauce Strawberry
Children's Tylenol Cold Liquid Grape
Bayer Children's Flintstones Multivitamin
Centrum Performance Multivitamin

That was only one of the potential cancer causing food dyes.  What about the rest of them?

Moral of the story:

Avoid buying processed foods, drinks, and drugs.

Chia Brownie Recipe

No idea how this would turn out, substituting chia flour for regular flour-- and wow.  Just wow.  It tastes pretty much like a regular brownie.  What is wicked about it is that everything in the brownie is now healthy, except the, ahem, three cups of sugar!

I've taken an existing recipe from allrecipes.com for Brooke's Bombshell Brownies, my favourite brownie recipe, and just substituted chia flour and coconut oil but otherwise left the recipe the same.

Chia seeds are getting easy to find nowadays.  I had to order my chia off Upaya Naturals site, but now you can buy them at Costco!  I've written previously about where to buy chia in Canada.  I've only used half my 5 lb bag, and now that I've discovered how great chia is for baking, you'll see it disappear pretty quickly.

From an article in the National Post, now quoted since the original texts seem to always disappear when I need them:

Like all seeds, seeds from the salvia hispanica plant are calorie-dense, packing 137 calories per ounce (28 grams), which means that small portions can go a long way. Also like other seeds, chia seeds provide both protein (4 grams per serving) and fibre (a

whopping 11 grams, or about 40% of an average Canadian’s daily needs, per serving). They are a good source of calcium, providing 18% of an adult’s daily needs.

Perhaps most impressive about chia seeds, however, are the nearly 5 grams of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids per serving, which is more than double the amount in a serving of salmon. Having said that, the omega-3s in chia exist as alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a plant form of omega-3 fat that is not readily converted to the metabolically active form of omega-3s, known as EPA and DHA, by the human body (it’s estimated that 0-9% of ALA is actually converted all the way to DHA, the form of omega-3 that is incorporated into cell membranes). Even so, the amount of ALA in chia is substantial enough that if even a fraction is successfully converted to DHA, it can still be a valuable source of essential omega-3 fatty acids, especially for those who do not consume fish.

Since buying my 5 pound bag of chia, I have had problems incorporating it into my food.  I tried chia pudding, and found it, I don't know... gross!  However, grinding it finely into chia flour using my hand coffee grinder seems to be my solution.  You can replace regular flour in baking recipes with chia flour.   It did not seem to alter the taste much of my favourite brownie recipe.  It did cook much faster, and seems drier.  The finished brownie has a coconut scent but tastes fudgy.

Here it is:

Chia Brownies
(Modified from Brooke's Bombshell Brownies on allrecipes.com)

Wet Ingredients:

3 c sugar
1 c coconut oil (Costco!)
1 T vanilla
4 eggs

Dry Ingredients:

1 1/4 c chia seed flour
1/4 c white or whole wheat flour
1 t salt
1 c cocoa powder

Optional:
1 c chocolate chips

Mix the wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately, then throw them together.  Mix in chocolate chips.  Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes in 9x13 pan lined with parchment paper for ease of removal.

YUM!

May 4, 2013: Note to self--  Do NOT substitute any of the sugar with stevia leaf powder.  Supposedly one teaspoon is equivalent to one cup of sugar.  While it wasn't horrible, you could really taste the stevia in the final brownie, although my kids still ate it without complaint.  It had an aftertaste like Splenda.

The 5-2 Fast Diet: A Diary

In 2012, the BBC broadcast a documentary, "Eat, Fast, and Live Longer" in which medical journalist Dr. Mosley investigated how to eat to live longer.  His plan to decrease IGF-1, a growth factor which contributes to aging and diseases such as diabetes and Alzheimer's, involves intermittent fasting.  For example, you fast on two days and eat for five days, thus the "5-2" ratio.  For me, I will try to fast on Mondays and Thursdays and eat basically whatever I want on non-fast or "feed" days.  You'd think that you'd gorge on non-fast days, but generally people on these diets eat 110% of their regular amounts.  Dr. Mosley has now written a book and has an excellent website to guide you should you decide to accept this mission.

BBC - Eat, Fast And Live Longer (Jedz, pôsti sa a ži dlhšie) from Jozef on Vimeo.

Fast days allow you to have 500 calories if you're a woman, and 600 calories if you're a man.  So you get to eat something.

I'm going to chronicle my experience on this diet and will edit this page as my experiment progresses.  I've always been a believer in basically eat whatever you want, but don't overeat.  This has served me well until now, as menopause begins to rear its ugly head.  I find that I am slowly putting on weight, and it is much more difficult to lose than before on my (non-diet) eating philosophy.  As a moderate to heavy exerciser who trains for triathlons, putting in 5-8 exercise sessions per week of swim, bike, or run, I'm finding that exercise is no longer enough to keep my weight down.

My base weight is 129 pounds and I am 5'3.  I would like to get down to 118 pounds, which makes me quite thin as I have a lot of muscle mass and large bones.

Wednesday, April 2, 2013: 129 pounds.  Fast day.

Breakfast: 2 eggs. 144 calories.
Lunch: Nothing.

I am obsessed with food, and my stomach growled for the first time around 1:00 pm.  It was torture to prepare a lunch for my kids, and sitting now in the kitchen is more torture.  Watching the documentary on fasting is torture.

As long as I was distracted, I did not notice the hunger.  Surfing the net is not distracting enough as there are food images everywhere!

Dinner: Swiss Chalet's Healthy Choice West Coast Salad, 380 calories.  It is made up of white meat chicken breast, greens, raisins, sunflower seeds, walnuts (?), and onions.  I received two dressing cups. I hope the calorie count is accurate!

Was surprised to find a dinner under 400 calories in a restaurant menu!  There were about three choices under 400 calories at Swiss Chalet.

Total calories for the day: 524.  I am over by 24 calories (well more, because I greedily ate 4 of my daughter's french fries).  I am quite full and should have no trouble sleeping.

I did not drink any extra water today, so I should see some weight loss due to dehydration, unfortunately.

Thursday, April 3, 2013 126.5 pounds.  Feast Day.

Water loss is pretty impressive.  And I was still wearing my pajamas.  Wasn't famished when I woke, but did eat two "two ingredient" cookies (made only of banana and oatmeal).  Went for a run and felt normal.

Sunday, April 6 125.0 pounds.  Feast Day.

Went for a 75 km bike ride yesterday and was really bagged-- could barely maintain average 30 kph speed at the end.  Wondered if it had anything to do with my "diet" despite only fasting one day.  I noticed that since my weight is coming off, I'm feeling encouraged and eating even LESS!  Even on my feast days, I tried not to eat too much.

Today ate at McDonald's because it was the last day for the coupons and had: six chicken nuggets (290), medium fries (360), small blueberry-pomegranate smoothie (210), one dipping sauce (60) for a total of 920 for one meal.  I grabbed one of the nutritional information sheets (the back of the tray liner) and was shocked to find out that the blueberry-pomegranate smoothie has only 6% my required daily Vitamin C with 47g of sugar, the same sugar in a hot fudge sundae!!!

And, for future reference, when I need a 360 calorie evening meal at Mickey D's on a Fast Day I can eat these:

350 Mighty Caesar Entree Salad with Grilled Chicken
330 Tuscan Salad with Warm Grilled Chicken
311 Cashew Teriyaki Salad with Grilled Chicken
290 Chicken Snack Wrap
340 Bacon Cheeseburger
300 Cheeseburger and 40 Garden Side Salad
250 Hamburger

Monday, April 8  126.5 pounds.  Fast Day.

And so finally my weight went up instead of down.

I celebrated by frying two eggs for breakfast, but didn't have time to eat them before I headed to a spin class.  I sweated my face off there, followed by a yoga session.  When I got home, I wolfed down the two eggs.

This time the fast was much easier.  Yes, I did think about food often, but I wasn't in agony.  I think I can do this regularly.

Dinner was a very salty tuna tataki salad (with very little greens--restaurant!) and marinated tuna on a small bed of rice.  I'm pretty sure that exceeded 350 calories, but oh well, I tried.  There is no calorie guide in a local Japanese restaurant.

My kids offered me a popsicle and I had to refuse it.  My husband gave me a tea with milk and sugar, and I took it.  That probably blew my calorie allotment.

Not too hungry going to sleep.

Wednesday, April 10  126.5 pounds.  Feast Day.

Did no exercise at all today.  Did no exercise at all yesterday.  Ate fried rice at lunch, but still felt starving, and had to eat another one.  I hope I had enough calories today to be able to fast tomorrow.

Saw a documentary yesterday night which examined the question of whether there are naturally thin people, that is, people who cannot get fat.  Some naturally thin people tried to eat double their usual calorie intake for many weeks.  It outlined these points:

You are genetically predisposed to a certain weight.

Mothers can impact the weight of their unborn babies by their diet.

Some children will eat treats even if they are full, and those chidren will have a tendency to be fat later.

Fat cells have a finite capacity.  When this capacity is reached, more fat cells are created.  Fat cells never disappear but shrink.  Having extra fat cells makes it easier for you to gain weight in the future.

Obesity may be caused by a virus.  The adenovirus.

Some people cannot gain as much weight as others because they have coping mechanisms.  They may physically reject the food by feeling the need to vomit.   They may increase their metabolism in response to overeating.  They may grow more muscle to increase their metabolism, despite not exercising.

You'd better watch the documentary yourself because I could be wrong about some of the above facts--my recall isn't what it used to be!

Thursday, April 11  126.5.  Fast Day.

Okay, I admit that I failed at the fast.  I was so darn hungry in the morning.  So for the day I ate:

1 cup cottage cheese 203
three oatmeal cookies 200
1 cup cottage cheese 203
1 cup snap peas 41
3 mandarin oranges 37x3=111
1.5 cups soy milk 135
TOTAL  893

Cottage cheese is quite high in calories.  Okay, yeah, it's actually not the cheese that ruined it, it's the oatmeal cookies.  And the soy milk.  And the two mandarin oranges.  One was okay.  Wow, 500 calories really is next to no food at all.

But I need to drink 2 cups of soy milk a day to stave off perimenopausal symptoms.  That saps 180 calories from my budget, with only 320 calories left.  So, I can drink one cup of soy milk for breakfast, and have one at dinner with my slice of chicken and salad.

You see, I ate the extra food because I was afraid that I would die during my first track workout in, um, two years.  I was trying out a new running group, one which intimidates me because they run 45 minute 10Ks.  Well, it turned out that I was right.  I wasn't able to keep up with them for the 800s, and definitely not for the 1600s.  Instead, I plodded around by myself, and they lapped me.  How humiliating.

Not sure whether this is due to the fasting, or poor fitness, or both.  I have only done two runs in the last month.

On top of that, I ran into a guy who had wanted to date me in first year university (although he knew I already had a boyfriend).  It was a bit of an ego boost that their 14 year old son could not keep up to me on the track, though.  He and his wife were standing on the field watching their kid's soccer game.  Yeah, and I had no makeup on and was exceedingly sweaty with bad hair from wearing my bike helmet.

And the running coach obviously disapproved of fasting.  I probably come off as one of those people who does every gimmick diet around, when actually this is my first real diet.  Heck, it's not even a diet, but a way to prolong life, prevent cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimers.  I'm just hoping to lose weight on it.  It seems everyone else has, but it has occurred to me that maybe they were fairly fat to begin with?  And maybe I am too close to ideal weight.

Still hungry, but I'm going to forget my failure.  Hard to feel encouraged when my weight hasn't changed for a few days.  I don't even overeat on my FEAST days.

Saturday, April 13 126.0

Did a 2.5 hour bicycle ride doing hill repeats.

Here's a cool tool for graphing your weight.  It updates automatically, so what you are seeing is my present weight and progress.




Get your own graph at skinnyr

Sunday, April 14 126.5  Feast

This is very discouraging.  Ran for 30 minutes, ate normally.

Monday, April 15.  128.0  Fast

Wow, this is getting ridiculous and continuing to be discouraging.  Should I expect my weight to go up on Mondays after three Feast days?

I'm really questioning this fast/feast dichotomy now.  They said that I would not overeat by more than 110-130% on my Feast days.  I have been trying not to overeat on my Feast days, but something is happening.  I feel bloated and big.  I *think* I am eating the same way I did before this whole experiment.

Ate nothing until 11:10 am, and in the meantime, ran 6 km and walked 2.5 km.

Maybe this experiment will not result in any weight loss.  I mean, you cannot go on losing weight forever.  Maybe I am already at ideal weight and the only people who can expect to lose weight on this are those who are overweight or obese to begin with.  From the first day, I had a normal weight, but was trying to get to my "race weight."  The problem with that normal weight is that I had a small gut, an overhang.  My clothes were clearly too tight and I was getting muffin top, yet my BMI pegged me as being "normal."

Also, I wonder how they came up with the 500 calorie limit for women on Fast days.  I just read that the average Canadian woman, who is my height, weighs 153 pounds.  Is that 500 limit for 153 pound women?  Then if I weigh only 127, proportionately my limit should be 417 calories.

I'll have to console myself with the fact that the main object of this exercise should be to extend life, not lose weight.

This entire fast day I felt hungry and insatiable.  I ate nearly a normal dinner.  Maybe I'm not drinking enough water.

Wednesday, April 17 127.0  Feast

Well at least my weight didn't go up.

Friday, April 19 127.0 Feast

I didn't fast yesterday.  Couldn't bring myself to do it.  I was so hungry when I woke up.  But I have gone for a run four out of the five days this week.  Then I read an article by DH Kiefer that suggests that women should avoid steady state cardio because it basically messes up their metabolism.

"Studies—both clinical and observational—make a compelling case that too much cardio can impair the production of the thyroid hormone T3, its effectiveness and metabolism[1-11], particularly when accompanied by caloric restriction, an all too common practice. This is why many first or second-time figure and bikini competitors explode in weight when they return to their normal diets, and it’s why the Jessicas of the world can run for hours every week with negative results. ...

Too little T3 (hypothyroidism), and the body accumulates body fat with ease, almost regardless of physical activity level. Women inadvertently put themselves into a hypothyroid condition when they perform so much steady-state cardio." ...

Training consistently at 65 percent or more of your max heart rate adapts your body to save as much body fat as possible. After regular training, fat cells stop releasing fat the way they once did during moderate-intensity activities[32-33]. Energy from body fat stores also decreases by 30 percent[34-35]. To this end, your body sets into motion a series of reactions that make it difficult for muscle to burn fat at all[36-41]. Instead of burning body fat, your body takes extraordinary measures to retain it.

That’s not all. You can still lose muscle mass. Too much steady-state cardio actually triggers the loss of muscle[42-45]. This seems to be a twofold mechanism, with heightened and sustained cortisol levels triggering muscle loss[46-56], which upregulates myostatin, a potent destroyer of muscle tissue[57]. Say goodbye to bone density, too, because it declines with that decreasing muscle mass and strength[58-64].

And long term health? Out the window, as well. Your percentage of muscle mass is an independent indicator of health[65]. You’ll lose muscle, lose bone, and lose health. Awesome, right?"

So all those runs and swims I've been doing the past year?  Yup, I did them at a steady pace... almost all of them.  Sure, I did intervals, like, TWICE while running and TWICE while swimming, but 99.9% of my workouts were steady.  Because I hate pain, and intervals mean pain.  Now, it's not that I didn't know that already, that high intensity intervals are the way to go.  It was just that I had convinced myself that I needed to build up a base before I start speed training.  And now to find out this.

It certainly explains why I not only haven't lost any weight since I first started in earnest on my weight loss program back in January, and then resorting to my first ever real "diet" in my life with the 5-2 plan.

Monday, April 22.  126 lbs.  Fast.

Breakfast: one piece of homemade matcha pound cake.  350 calories.
Cup of milk.  146.
Dinner: fish taco.  250.
200 ml beer leftover from beer batter: 140

Day's total:  886

Maybe it's okay... if I swam for 44 minutes... 255 calories burned.  I also cycled for 30 minutes.  249 calories burned.  Does Dr. Mosley's formula for 500 calories apply if you're sedentary, or active?  Does it matter?  Apparently, it doesn't.

Here's a handy tool for calculating how many calories you burn from exercise, with weight taken into consideration.

Another blogger asked the original scientists interviewed in Dr. Mosley's Horizon program to many questions I had, and I will try to sum those answers up for you:

Can you eat the 500/600 fast day calories all at once or can you spread them out throughout the day?

1.  Best is fasting for four days in a row each month, with intermittent fasting during the week to maintain.
2.  Try to eat plant based low protein food.
3.  Try to do a strict fast for as many hours as possible.
4.  If you must eat on a fast day, have the calories at breakfast and do not eat until the next day (this doesn't make sense to me... If you already fasted overnight from 7 pm after dinner, then the one meal could be dinner, to make it a 24 hour fast.  Having it at breakfast interrupts the fast from the previous day's dinner, and starts the clock again, ending at breakfast the next day, so again, 24 hours.
5.  It is best to have no calories at all on a fast day.
6.  If you must eat on a fast day, eat all calories in one meal.  One of the scientists allowed fasters to eat between noon to 2 pm on fast days.

So, for fast days make sure you have a 24 hour period with no food at all (but hydrate with zero calorie beverages).  No food at all is the best.  So forget the plan where you eat eggs and ham at breakfast, nothing for lunch, and a 350 calorie dinner.  That would only result in a 14 hour fast, at best.

Thursday, April 25.  125.  Fast.

Last night I decided to do the 24 hour fast, as recommended.  The problem was, I ate a vegan dinner, and a tiny one at that.  So by 10:00 pm I was already really really hungry.   Do I eat again?  That would re-start the 24 clock.  I ended up eating 2 slivers of fresh mango from my daughter's plate.

Today both my kids were home from school with 37.3C fevers.  I prepared blueberry pancakes for them that I could not eat myself.  I went to school to pick up their homework and smelled food in the hallways, and saw a box of almonds on the teacher's desk.  I could not have any.  It's hard to imagine what it is like to be hungry all the time, as some people in the world must experience.  I felt like I was being mightily tortured.

So, I get to live longer.  I sure hope I get used to this feeling of hunger.  My stomach started growling at 9 am, and I was not sure how I was going to get through the rest of the day.  But I can always look forward to dinner today, 500 calories at that, which is a LOT OF FOOD.

Monday, April 29.  124.5.  Famine Day, I mean Fast Day.

Yesterday at dinner I was cognizant that the next day would be a fast day.  I wanted to eat extra, but I also did not want to eat more than 100% of a normal day's calories.  I dread Fast Days.  I really do.

I forgot it was a Fast Day this morning and ate gummy vitamins.  I hope that does not ruin the fast.

My stomach started grumbling by 9 am.  It is torture to prepare food for others when you're fasting.

Ran 5.5 km, cycled 6 km, and swam 2 km.  I did not feel weak at all.  I thought if I exercise, I can fill the time and not notice the hunger.

By 4 pm I gave in and ate popcorn with the kids.  At 6:15 pm I ate a normal dinner which definitely exceeded 500 calories.  Reasoned with myself that it is the 24 hours (oops... 23 hours) without food that is making the difference, not the 500 calorie meal.  Probably wrong about that.

Tuesday, April 30.  125.5.  Feast Day.

I'm pretty sure I was trying to make up for calories missed today.  I ate four chocolates, leftover nuts, tofu dessert, macaroni and cheese, an apple, two bowls of ice cream, sole, spinach, and soba noodles.  I was having an intense craving for high calorie foods.  That's 1635 calories.

According to myfitnesspal, I need to eat only 1200 calories a day to lose just half a pound per week.  I need a daily calorie deficit of 270 calories.  It will take me 2.5 months to lose 5 pounds.  We're looking at summer before I go under 120 pounds.

Thursday, May 2. 122.5.  Fast Day.

Forgot to weigh myself this morning, so, unfortunately, I weighed myself after my 5 km run, so there is some water loss.  At first when I got on the scale, I couldn't believe my eyes:  121 pounds!  But lately I've been weighing myself 5 times to get a proper reading, because the first reading is always 1-2 pounds lighter than some of the other readings.

At dinner, I ate normally because I foolishly made some chia brownies and ate some.  Then at night, I had a greek yogurt ice cream bar... delicious.  I was surprised it was only 90 calories when I checked.

Total calories for the day: 942.  Exercise calories burned:  354.  Net calories for the day:  588.  So although I overate, the calories for the day are only a little above the 500 maximum under the fasting rules.

I'm liking myfitnesspal.  It makes me more carefully track all the food I eat and pushes me to do more exercise to keep my daily numbers down.

Saturday, May 4.  121.  Feast.

Who doesn't like brownies for breakfast?  Love the ability to eat whatever I want on feast days.  Yesssss!

I'm now below my target "sustainable" weight of 122 pounds.  Yesterday I wore a dress that was tight on me just five months ago, when I wore it at a party.  Now it gapes under my arms and drapes loosely around my body, when I was practically straining the zipper the last time I wore it.

After my two hour bike ride, my scale showed 119.5 pounds!  Nice to see, even if it's only water loss.

Here is what myfitnesspal told me today:

Totals (calories eaten): 2,553
Your daily goal: 2,956
Remaining: 403
(You've earned 1756 extra calories from exercise today)

I am allowed 1200 calories per day to lose weight.  Exercising the equivalent of 1756 calories allows me to eat a total of 2956 calories!!!  And I almost made it there.

"Remaining: 403" means that I have room to eat an additional 403 calories while still losing weight.

Surprising food fact: dulce de leche gelato in a waffle cone is a whopping 400 calories!

Tuesday, May 7. 122.  Feast.

It might not be such a good idea for me to track diet and exercise on Myfitnesspal. Today I received a warning that eating less than 1200 calories would lead to starvation mode.  So I ate a third piece of cake to bring my total to 1,205.  Yeah, you heard that right.  I ate THREE pieces of swiss cake roll, and my total calories for the day was still barely over 1200.

This morning I ran 6 km and then in the afternoon I swam 2175 m freestyle at a good clip.   That is 778 calories, not counting all the walking I did.  Myfitnesspal adds the exercise calories to your daily allowance, so my base 1200 calories has 778 calories of exercise added to it, so in theory I can eat up to almost 2000 calories while losing weight!

The reality is that almost every day I eat less than the allotment of calories.  Without the exercise bonus, it is challenging to eat under 1200 calories.

I think for myself that using Myfitnesspal encourages me to eat more.

Advice for those starting fasting:  The feelings of hunger will come and go throughout the 24 hours.  Sometimes you feel like you want to gnaw off your own arm, and other times, you forget that you haven't eaten all day.  Try to ride out the waves by drinking water or (sugarless milkless) tea and engaging your mind.  Another trick I do is to exercise a lot.

Friday, May 10.  121.  Feast Day.

Yesterday was a fast day and I forgot I was on a fast and ate the kids' leftover corn cob... ate a couple rows before I did a forehead slap.

The hunger was incredible.  I went out for a 6.3 km run, did yoga for 40 minutes, then rode my bicycle around slowly spectating an event.  That really helped to pass the time.

While fasting, I did some research on how many hours it takes for autophagy to kick in, autophagy meaning the cellular repair processes that help you live longer.  You run out of liver in glycogen 12-18 hours.  There was no clear study on when autophagy begins, so I have to guess that it is some time after 12-18 hours.  I would think you're looking at a minimum of 18 hours.  Why would I be looking this up?  Because I wanted to eat sooner.   That day.

When I'm satiated on a feast day, it is easy to look back at a fast day and think, "Hey, that wasn't too bad."  But the reality of it is, although fast days are getting easier, they are by now means EASY.  It's like childbirth, and raising babies.  You get amnesia after your first child, thinking, hey, that wasn't too bad.  Let's have another!  But then when you have another child, you remember how bad it was!  Hahaha!  So I'm never going to tell someone that fasting is easy, even just a 24 hour fast, because it is uncomfortable feeling so hungry that all you think about is food, and your stomach grumbles like the giant empty cavern it is.

Friday, May 25.  123.  Fast Day.

I didn't actually gain weight.  I switched scales.  My new scale, the Fitbit Aria, has me weighing two pounds more than my old scale.  Sigh.  It was demoralizing finding out I wasn't as light as I thought I was.

It seems that I have a new body weight setpoint, because I haven't gained any weight this week despite going off the 5:2 regimen.

Since getting the new scale two weeks ago, although my weight has remained steady at 123 (121 on the old scale), my fat has increased by 1%.  This week has been a mess because I spent full days doing volunteer work and did not have a chance to exercise.  So far I swam, ran, and did yoga once, and that's 50% of my usual load.  I also did not fast on Monday because it was a holiday, and then when Tuesday came, I could not do it, despite eating huge amounts on the weekend.  I also did not fast on Thursday.  So a very bad week.  This is the first week that I haven't done any fasting.  I'll try to fast today, but in order to go 24 hours, I need to eat nothing until 9 pm, because that's when I last ate.

Have a commercial audition at 4 pm today.  I hope my stomach doesn't growl in the quiet room.

Wore my skinny jeggings last weekend.  I had avoided them for months because they were too tight and now they're loose.  I love intermittent fasting!

The only thing I don't love is this:  I am having frequent hot flashes again.  When I mean frequent, I mean sometimes every 30 minutes or less.  Sweaty, annoying hot flashes.  My sleep is interrupted, waking 3-6 times a night, always followed by a hot flash, throwing off the covers, then resuming sleep.

After some research, I have decided the cause is likely the rapid loss of fat, since fat cells produce estrogen.  I had been battling hot flashes a year ago and solved it with drinking soy milk, which contains a plant estrogen-like compound.  It seems my estrogen was barely adequate and with this fat loss has brought back perimenopausal symptoms.

My response has been to buy maca root powder.  My research suggested it as a possible cure.  Bought a one pound bag for $24 at Nesters Market on Main Street.  I mix one tablespoon with hot water a drink it daily.  So far, it's done nothing for me, and I've been taking it since Mother's Day, May 17.  I'll try to be patient since I read it takes three weeks to have an effect.

After that I'm going to try hormones.  It's not okay to have terrible sleep all the time.  Last weekend I had a nap on a beanbag chair in the children's section of Chapters, I was THAT tired.

Friday, May 31.  122.2  Feast Day.

Well, it finally happened.  We had a long weekend, and so Monday was a holiday.  And not a fast day, because I don't like fasting when the family's at home.

I figured I would do it the next day.  But I didn't.  Then I thought I would do it on Thursday.  But I didn't.  Monday.  Failed again.  Finally, Wednesday, I did it.  My next fast will be Monday again.

Perhaps because of this failure, I signed up for a bootcamp.  Every time I do a bootcamp, I get injured.  So far with this new bootcamp, which only costed me $29 for a month of unlimited classes, I have not been injured, but I certainly do have excruciatingly sore muscles.  Not sure I subscribe to the method of basically pummelling the same muscle group repeatedly through different exercises for most of the class.

I joined on Wednesday, and that was quad and hamstring day.  Thursday was tricep and bicep day.  Friday I could not go as I had volunteered to supervise a end of year field trip to the garbage dump.  Yeah, I know what you're thinking... who would choose a dump over exercise?  But the dump was really very interesting!

The problem with the bootcamp is that I will not be able to do my usual running and cycling during the week, limiting myself to swimming.

My weight has remained surprisingly stable despite lack of fasting.  It is now hovering around 122, which is 120 on the old scale.  So now I've lost around 10.5 pounds.

We shall see whether the bootcamp will kickstart more fat loss.  Interestingly, although I have lost 10 pounds, my body fat has also increased, from 24.6% to 25.1%.  So perhaps I am losing muscle.

My hot flashes are still bothering me, despite now increasing my soy milk intake to 3 cups daily and one capsule of black cohosh.  My sleep has improved, from four wakeups to one or two.

Thursday, June 12.  Fast Day.  121.

I stopped going to the bootcamp after only two visits because I became injured.  That is the last thing I want.  I have to be in pain free shape so I can train for triathlon.

On Monday I finally returned to regular fasting.  I was only half-heartedly fasting--doing the 500 calorie breakfast/dinner combo I first tried successfully.  The 24 hour fast was too much as I would be waking up ravenously hungry.

I received my $99 Fitbit Flex yesterday.  It is a tracker for walking (and running) and for sleep.  I wanted it to motivate me to move more (and sleep more), but it hasn't, so far, since I only walked 5,700 steps yesterday.  Although I spent the whole day dressed in my running clothes, instead I spent my day researching various things  that I convinced myself were urgent.

This week I am acting in a commercial, and it is occupying my energy.  Last week I put on a dress that I bought during March Break in Hawaii.  It fit well then, but now it is is unflatteringly large on me, with the sides pooching out, an extra three inches of fabric around my chest area.  Have I lost that much weight?  My body fat is back down again.

I bought a box of Aero chocolate bars and another box of an assortment of chocolate bars.  I have been eating whole chocolate bars, and my weight is still not going up, appearing to have stabilized.

My hot flashes have largely disappeared.  I am thinking it is because I had stopped fasting the past two weeks?  Or because I am drinking more soy?

My body fat percentage dropped below 25% again recently.

The other surprise is that I am running faster with less effort.  I keep setting personal bests in my usual run, and I don't feel like I am trying particularly hard.  My riding is also getting easier.  Last weekend I rode with only my husband, and although I wasn't killing myself on the bike, it was our second fastest time for the usual route, despite there being only two of us and not the usual six for drafting.

If on the old scale, I would be 119, which is only one pound off my desired weight.  I am almost there.

Monday, June 17.  124.7.  Fast Day.

Forgot it was Fast Day and ate 1/4 brownie... and ate various junk food throughout the day.

So I've gained back nearly four pounds in the space of a few days.  This coincides with my feeling of being bloated, and my body fat decreasing 1-2%, and, uh, ovulation.  Let's hope it's just water weight.  I did a terrible job fasting today, so I'll have to try again tomorrow.  I might have to take baby steps and get back to how I started, with 500 calories spread between breakfast and dinner.  That was easier than 24 hours of nothing.

Filmed my commercial on Sunday and ate delicious film set food...

Saturday, October 19.  122.5.  Ended fasting.

I abandoned intermittent fasting because I could not handle the hot flashes any more.  Once I gained weight, around five pounds, I noticed that my hot flashes stopped.

Recently, however, I have started increasing my running since I am training for a marathon.  My weight has come down again, from a high of 127 two weeks ago.  My hot flashes returned, just a few at first, and now I wake up regularly at night 3-5 times, sweating after I wake.  My body fat measures 24.5-24.9%.  I thought it was important to update this blog to note that it was not intermittent fasting that caused the hot flashes, but the low body weight.

Update:  January 13, 2014.  125.3

Well, I gained weight over Christmas with the kids off school and no time to train.  To the tune of 128 pounds by January 5.  My hot flashes disappeared again.  I am now losing weight again as I increase my mileage while marathon training.  My hot flashes have returned.  And I am not doing any intermittent fasting!  When I was 125-128 pounds and body fast as high as 26.7% (thank you Christmas chocolates!) for a glorious few months, I was able to sleep through the night.  Now as I lose weight, my sleep quality is going to pot.  Last night was the worst yet.  I woke up twice.  I hope it does not revert back to the 3-5 times a night that it was when I was at my lowest weight.

What the Heck is Silver Food Colouring Made Of?

Yesterday I supervised a field trip day to a local nature trail with my daughter's class.  What a stressful six hours that was!  Might have something to do with my assigned charge "Jeffrey" running off unexpectedly at every step along the way.  We travelled by foot, train, boat, and bus for transit time of 2.5 hours.  EACH WAY.  On the way back, my daughter purchased silver Cola Balls from a candy shop at Lonsdale Quay.

With my (not) vast knowledge of metals, I wondered what coloured the balls silver?  Silver?  Aluminum?  No matter the alternative, all seemed kind of... scary, and none qualified as what I thought of as food.

My friend Google advised me that nobody ever asked this all important life altering question, soon to be the subject of the Obsessive Researching Mommy's attention.  British sweet shop Baa Humbugs had an ingredient list for Silver Cola Balls:  Sugar, Modified Maize Starch, Gelatine (Bovine), Stearic Acid, Maltodextrin, Flavourings, Colour, E173.

So what is E173?

E numbers are codes for chemicals which be used as food additives in the European Union, according to Wikipedia.  So... E174 is Silver.  But E173 is... wait for it... aluminum.  A check of a Canadian candy, the "Cola Silver Ball" made in Burnaby by Pauline Johnson is made of:

SUGAR, FLAVOUR, COLOR E 173, GELATINE, GLAZING AGENT
CARNAUBA WAX, WHEAT STARCH, GLUCOSE SYRUP

There it is again, that silly E173!

We should really name them, "Aluminum Cola Balls." Doesn't have the same tasty ring, though, I admit.

Somewhere in the depths of my brain, I remember a link between aluminum and Alzheimer's, enough to warrant a frantic phone call to my parents to tell them to STOP using their aluminum cookware. Wikipedia further assures me that my worries are without merit:

"According to the Alzheimer's Society, the medical and scientific opinion is that studies have not convincingly demonstrated a causal relationship between aluminium and Alzheimer's disease.  Nevertheless, some studies, such as those on the PAQUID cohort, cite aluminium exposure as a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. Some brain plaques have been found to contain increased levels of the metal.^[83] Research in this area has been inconclusive; aluminium accumulation may be a consequence of the disease rather than a causal agent. In any event, if there is any toxicity of aluminium, it must be via a very specific mechanism, since total human exposure to the element in the form of naturally occurring clay in soil and dust is enormously large over a lifetime.^[84][85] Scientific consensus does not yet exist about whether aluminium exposure could directly increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease.^[81]"

Aluminum toxicity can be caused when you eat foods containing a high level of aluminum.  Now, as to what amount is "safe?"  The FDA has determined that aluminum used as food additives are generally safe.

And now, the ORM can rest to fight another day.

Soy Milk Machines: Pioneer Woman Rides Again!

I've been having possible hot flashes lately. I say possible because I'm not sure if they really are hot flashes, and my internal factory still turns out eggs as regularly as always. It was the newspaper article that finally spurred me to make my own soy milk and put on my Pioneer Woman hat again. Heck, I grow my own vegetables, make my own bread. Might as well make ma own soy milk! Yeeha!


Why Soy Milk?

In a nutshell, I intend to drink a ton of soy milk to help with my hot flashes. Here is an excerpt from the influential article in the Globe and Mail (now I print excerpts because the articles disappear from the internet over time):

"...according to the most comprehensive study to date, eating two servings of soy foods a day may help reduce the frequency and severity of hot flashes. ...The interest in soy for hot flashes began when researchers noticed only about 10 per cent of Asian women experience menopausal symptoms. It’s been speculated that Asian women are less likely to have hot flashes due to their high soy consumption.


Soy protein contains isoflavones, natural compounds that can bind weakly to certain estrogen receptors in the body. In so doing, soy isoflavones might help compensate for declining estrogen levels that accompany menopause and offer some relief for hot flashes.

Until now, the evidence for soy has been inconclusive, with some studies showing benefit and others finding no effect.

The current report, published online in Menopause: The Journal of the North American Menopause Association, reviewed 19 randomized controlled trials that enrolled more than 1,200 women taking soy isoflavone extracts (not soy foods) or placebos.


When all studies were combined, there was a clear and consistent positive effect for isoflavones.

Compared to taking placebos, consuming at least 54 milligrams daily for six weeks to a year reduced hot flash frequency by 20 per cent and the severity by 26 per cent.

Women who took isoflavones for at least 12 weeks experienced a threefold greater reduction in hot flashes than women who consumed isoflavones for a shorter duration.

Isoflavone supplements with higher levels of genistein – one of the two main types of isoflavones in soybeans – were the most effective at easing hot flashes.

Genistein is the primary isoflavone found in soy foods as well as soybeans, suggesting that adding soy to your diet, or using supplements made from whole soybeans, may work better than synthetic isoflavone supplements.

The fact that isoflavones act like a weak form of estrogen in the body concerns some women, particularly those at high risk for breast cancer. That’s because certain risk factors for breast cancer are related to the length of time breast cells are exposed to the body’s own circulating estrogen. It’s thought that estrogen can promote the growth of breast cancer cells.

However, studies suggest that consuming soy reduces breast cancer risk in Asian populations. In Western women, soy has not been shown to increase or decrease risk. (Western women may not consume enough soy isoflavones to lower breast cancer risk.) Recent studies have also linked a higher intake of soy foods such as tofu, soy beverages and soy flour with a lower risk of breast cancer recurrence.

Soybeans are worth adding to your diet even if you don’t have hot flashes. They’re high in protein, low in saturated fat and offer fibre, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants."


How Much Soy Do I Need Every Day?


The article cites 54 mg daily for at least 12 weeks to reduce hot flashes. According to another article by Dr. Weil, one cup of soy milk contains four to 10 grams of soy protein, and 20 to 40 mg of isoflavones. Penn State University cites 10 mg per 100 mL or 25 mg per 250 mL (1 cup) of soy milk. Since soy milk is made of water and soy beans, likely the variance is due to the dilution.

Roughly, I should drink two cups (500 mL) and a bit a day. Of course, the soy can be taken in other forms such as tofu or edamame. But drinking soy milk is fairly easy to do.

Penn State University cautions against too much soy: Isoflavones are weak estrogens. More is not better. Scientists are worried that these could have bad effects if eaten in large amounts for long periods of time. The safe range of intake is 35–55 milligrams a day. Some suggest an upper limit of 100 milligrams per day.


Why Make Soy Milk at Home?

Dr. Weil's article says this:

"Soy milk provides all the benefits of cow's milk, without the milk protein (casein), which can increase mucus production and irritate the immune system in some people, and milk sugar (lactose), which can cause digestive distress if you lack the enzyme that breaks it down.

Soy milk is made by soaking dried beans in water, grinding them, heating them in water, pressing them, and straining the milk. Soy milk makers for home use are widely available, and people who use them say fresh, homemade soy milk is much better tasting than packaged products. And it will have no additives."

These are the reasons as I see them:

1. It tastes better;
2. There are no additives;
3. It is better for the environment avoiding packaging and transport of the heavy liquid to your grocery store and home; and
4. It is cheaper.

Let's look at reasons 2 and 4.


There are No Additives

So Nice organic unsweetened fortified "soy beverage" has the following ingredients, other than water and soybeans:

• tricalcium phosphate: Likely added as a Calcium supplement.
• natural flavour: Huh? What natural flavour is this referring to?
• salt
• carrageenan: Derived from seaweed, a thickening gel agent.
• sodium bicarbonate: Um, baking soda. Yum!
• zinc gluconate: Usually a dietary supplement (Zinc). 
• ascorbic acid: Vitamin C. An antioxidant food additive.
• niacin: Vitamin B3
• pantothenate: Vitamin B5
• riboflavin: Vitamin B2
• vitamin B6
• vitamin A palmitate
• thiamine: Vitamin B1
• folacin: Vitamin B9, folic acid
• vitamin D2
• vitamin B12

This is like having soy milk plus a vitamin pill. If that's what you want, great, but I read that vitamins taken as supplements have dubious benefits. Like this?

From the article: Women taking multivitamins don’t live longer than those who get their nutrients from food alone, according to a U.S. study that found they in fact appear to have slightly higher death rates... “There is very little evidence showing that common dietary supplements would be beneficial in prevention of major chronic diseases,” said Jaakko Mursu of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, who worked on the study.

“Unless you are deficient, there is hardly any reason to take them,” he told Reuters Health.


It is Cheaper

I bought non-GMO organic soybeans for about $2.63/kg or $1.19/pound. This works out to $0.20 for each batch, a batch being 1400 mL of finished soymilk. This is $0.14/L.

The machine which I purchased based on reviews and recommendations was the SoyaPower Plus. Reviews here, here, and here. I bought it for $110 (all inclusive) from SanLinx through Amazon, because Amazon offered $10 off and a 2 year warranty. Based on online reviews, I can expect it to last for around 5 years of regular use. Yearly cost is $22, not counting electricity.

I need to make 540 mL to get 54 mg recommended isoflavones per day, so each batch of 1400 mL lasts me 2.6 days. So, I would need to use the machine at least twice a week, lowering the cost per batch for the machine. Each year I need 140 batches, so the machine cost per batch is $0.16.

Total cost is $0.30/L. $2.69 for 946 mL for organic unsweetened enriched soy milk, brand Natur-A, which is $2.84/L. Not sure whether it is worth the premium for the "enrichment.".


What About My Time?  Time is Money!


It takes very little time.  Making a batch involves:

Measuring dry soybeans, rinsing and soaking them in water to rehydrate them;
Waiting 8-10 hours (overnight) for rehydration;
Filling the machine with water;
Pouring out the excess water from the rinsed beans and pouring beans into the machine;
Pressing a button and waiting 15 minutes for cycle to end; and
Cleaning the machine and sieve (8 minutes);
Waiting for the soy milk to cool and pouring into containers.

Active preparation and cleanup time is about 20 minutes for a novice. Maybe you can beat my time?


Where to Buy Soybeans?

I searched in vain for a Canadian supplier of organic soybeans. If you know of one, please comment below. There are many growers in Ontario, Quebec, and Manitoba, but I could not find any in BC. None of the growers online appeared to retail to the Canadian public, but cater to overseas sales, particularly Japan.

Canadians can buy from US online supplier laurabeans.com, $60 for 20 pounds, which includes postage. That is $3/pound, which is cheaper than my local supplier (Choices) at $3.17/pound!!! The beans are different even visually, but I will leave the blind taste test for another post.

I will post another article on where to buy soybeans when I run out of my current $6 supply, which according to my calculations, should be in 26 days! For reference, I actually measured out the soybeans I bought using the supplied measuring cup from my machine and figured out that it takes 78 g to make one batch (1400 mL) of soymilk.

Healthier Brownie Recipe

As part of the conversion of my researching blog into a more conventional format like everyone else's, I now bring to you a recipe!

Had a craving for junk but since I am trying to lose eight pounds by March to be down to my racing weight, I decided to bake something less frighteningly bad.

This recipe comes out, well, just okay. I prefer fudgy crispy on the outside brownies, and this just ain't it. It's more like a dense vegan cake, but perfectly acceptable, given that it's not loaded with butter, but it still has full sugar.

Compromise Brownie

1/2 cup coconut oil, liquefied
1/2 cup applesauce
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oat bran
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper sprayed with oil.

Combine the melted coconut oil, applesauce, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each, until thoroughly blended.

Sift together the whole wheat flour, oat bran, cocoa powder, and salt. Gradually stir the flour/oat mixture into the chocolate mixture until blended. Stir in the chocolate morsels. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish. The batter will not be very thick, but will be more like cake batter.

Bake in preheated oven until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, 50-60 minutes. Remove, and cool pan on wire rack before cutting.

Searching for the Elusive Chia

Remember Chia pets? Those terracota animal figurines that you plant chia seeds in, and the sprouts look like green fur? Well, it turns out that you can eat another version of the chia seed, and it is extremely healthy, full of Omega 3s, calcium and magnesium. For a description of its benefits, you can look here. One of my friends has become vegan, and reported that she had chia pudding. Chia seeds come in various shades of white and black/grey, with black indicating the wild version, and white chia seeds occurring naturally and being cultivated to increase the percentage of white seeds. There is a designer white seed sold under the brand name "Salba." Virtually the same nutritionally, but if you're into style and not substance, you might be inclined to spend the big bucks and spring for designer Salba!

These seeds don't have much taste, and they have an interesting gel type form when they meet water. They're used as egg substitutes in vegan cooking, for thickening, and in baking, among many uses. If you eat a seed, it becomes gel like--pretty cool.

Apparently, you only need about 360g (0.8lb) for a month's supply. The other touted characteristic of chia is that it has a long shelf life, so it is safe to buy in bulk. You should grind it yourself instead of buying it ground, if you want it in that form. The white seeds seem to be more expensive than the black seeds--more of an aesthetic than nutritional concern.

As always, it was easy to find cheap sources of chia seeds in the U.S. online. The lowest price I found for chia seed was at Natural Remi-Teas, for $5/lb ($25 for 5 lbs). Shipping is $37.50 for 10 lbs, so total cost is $8.75/lb. The white seed is also available at the site for $5.50/lb. Swanson Vitamins, a company I have purchased from before with great success, sells their house brand "premium" (!) white chia seed for $10/lb. Shipping to Canada amounts to $25 for 10 lbs, so total cost is $12.50/lb.

As for Canada, Cureself sells Natural Traditions white chia seed for $12/lb (free shipping over $100), and Aviva sells a 3 lb bag of black for $35 ($11.67/lb), free shipping for over $100. Superseeds sells the black chia, $67 for 5lb, shipping included, for $13.40/lb. Upaya Naturals sells 10lb (2x5lb) of black for $10.92/lb ($17 shipping included).

Salba from SourceSalba sells 360g for $20, which works to $25/lb. You can buy Salba in local health food stores like Choices Market in Vancouver for around $24 for the 360g package. Currently, Whole Foods does not carry chia seed in B.C. Bulk Barns in eastern Canada sells Salba in bulk. Costco carries Webber Naturals brand which sold in the past for $14/lb. Donald’s Market (2279 Commercial Drive and 2342 East Hastings Street) also carries chia for $9-10 for 330g, or about $13.74/lb

There is a recipe for chia seed pudding here, a possible breakfast food! Here's one for Blueberry Chia Seed Pudding. Bon appetit!

(Where to buy chia seeds in Canada)

Starbucks Cupcakes

For many years, I was never really satisfied with the pastry offerings at Starbucks. I like my pastries to be good and evil, mostly made of fat and sugar. The biscotti, lemon loaf, oat bar or chocolate dipped pretzel just didn't do it for me. Recently, I was surprised when my husband brought me the Double Chocolate Cupcake with a Black Cherry Mocha. Starbucks had jumped on the Cupcake Bandwagon at last! Love at first bite! Today I fell out of love with it.

When I went to Starbucks today, there were no Double Chocolates, so I bought two each of the two types left, a Vanilla one and "Chocolate Bloom." Priced at four for $8, one for $2.25. I excitedly pulled the Chocolate Bloom out of its overpackaged home, took a loving bite, and... it was frozen, and I couldn't taste much. I mistakenly believed it was baked locally, fresh. How naive can you get?

Then, I noticed that it was "Manufactured exclusively for Starbucks, Seattle, Washington." Where was this thing baked? Finally, I perused the label, which looked alot like the labels you get on those cardboard cheap ingredient baked goods you can buy at Safeway. Ah yes. The delicious and essential ingredients of guar gum, xantham gum, propylene glycol, stearoyl-2-lactylate, and tricalcium phosphate. And that was just the yummy cake part.

The icing only had a few ingredients that I wasn't familiar with in my baking at home. Soy lecithin, palm oil (yeah! trans fats!), and carmine (colour).

Here's a rundown on these special added ingredients:

Guar Gum: thickener made from guar beans, emulsifier, stabilizer. Okay, at least it's naturally obtained.
Xantham Gum: Made by fermenting glucose or sucrose (sugars). Purpose similar to guar gum.
Propylene Glycol: Industrially derived chemical used in automotive antifreeze and used to deice planes. A humectant food additive. Ah, to keep it moist? Also a solvent for food colourings and flavourings. Not toxic at low levels. Nice!
stearoyl-2-lactylate: Emulsifier and humectant. Common organic chemical additive in bread-type products.
tricalcium phosphate: Probably used as a raising agent. Various forms are found in nature. Pass.
Soy Lecithin: Soy-bean derived fatty acid. Another emulsifier.

In confectionery it reduces viscosity, replaces more expensive ingredients, controls sugar crystallization and the flow properties of chocolate, helps in the homogeneous mixing of ingredients, improves shelf life for some products, and can be used as a coating. In emulsions and fat spreads it stabilizes emulsions, reduces spattering during frying, improves texture of spreads and flavour release.

carmine: A bright red colour pigment, produced "by boiling dried insects in water to extract the carminic acid and then treating the clear solution with alum, cream of tartar, stannous chloride, or potassium hydrogen oxalate; the coloring and animal matters present in the liquid are thus precipitated." Yay! Get your daily dose of insect extract right here!

How sad it is when love affairs don't last.

Eating Lead Paint: It Still Happens

Argh. My 3 year old has eaten the blue paint off her Hello Kitty McDonald's toy. As a concerned mother, I try to email McDonald's Canada to ask whether they know what is in the paint. Pointedly, there is no email address listed anywhere on the McDonald's website. The U.S. has a special email centre, but there are no email centres in any other countries. Hmmm.

Okay, now to the good old telephone. The woman receiving my call silkenly reassures me that all McDonald's toys are thoroughly tested for safety. I tell her that I am worried about the possibility that as the toy is made in China, that there might be lead in the paint. Finally, she says that it is not possible for this to happen in Canada, that lead paint would not be allowed in Canada. I then told her that there have been cases of children's jewellery containing high levels of lead, causing serious health problems in children who suck on their necklaces. If you have a small child, you know that children put everything in their mouths. She finally placated me by saying that she would take my telephone number and make an inquiry about it.

I did a quick internet search to confirm what I had told her. As recently as July 5, 2007, there was a recall of children's jewellery for lead content, http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/recalls/2007/07/childrens_metal_jewelry_recall.html. Here is an article from the American Academy of Pediatrics on a case of lead poisoning from a toy necklace: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/114/4/1096.pdf Also, there was a recall of Thomas the Tank Engine toys only a month ago for lead paint. See http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11271805 And now, not even Disney goods are safe from dispensing lead paint: http://www.babycenter.com/news/?id=101768&scid=pcbulletin:20070723:0:0:0#story . You'd think it would be common sense for manufacturers to consider making children's toys safe for... children.

It would be naive as to believe that you and your children are protected by the government against hazards so well established as lead poisoning. Cases of actual lead poisoning are not uncommon, and you are foolish to assume that you are protected simply because you live in the U.S. or Canada.

Lead poisoning is a result of the cumulative ingestion of lead, through sources as wide ranging as playground paint chips, old paint in home interiors, lead miniblinds, and... toys and jewellery. A cumulative amount as small as one tenth of a square inch of lead paint (the size of a pencil eraser head), depending on the concentration of lead in the paint, of course, will result in blood levels of lead exceeding what is considered safe in children. "Sustained blood lead levels have been linked with behavior and learning problems, damage to the brain and nervous system, slowed growth, and hearing problems."-- Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Conclusion to the story: Beryl from McDonald's called me back the same day that I made my inquiry and said, "I'm happy to advise you that there is no metal in the paint. This becomes a part of the testing that has to meet all standards set for Canada by the safety commission." I told her about Thomas the Tank Engine, and she asked me whether the recall was for Canada. Yes, it was. My friend's Thomas toys were part of the recall, and the toys were purchased in Canada. She also offered to have a safety tester from McDonald's labs call me to speak to me about the toy. She assured me that noone else has complained about the Hello Kitty toys. I told her that they were only recently released. She said the actual date was July 6. Okay, I stand corrected. I guess 19 days ago is not considered recent. I was most concerned about the amount of paint that was removed through a "normal" mouthing of the toy by a preschooler.

I have to say that I am impressed with this follow-up call and the offer to have a lab tech speak to me. Now, do I take her word for it, or do I have the lab tech call me?