A Practical New Year's Resolution

Have you ever wondered what causes us to age? Has anyone ever died of ‘old age’? In case you are wondering, the answer is no, there are only four things that can kill us: accident, suicide, murder and disease. Ok, you say, but we can’t go on getting older and older without ever dying, right? Well, that’s true only because the older you get the more susceptible to disease and prone to accident, murder and suicide you can become. So why do we grow up then get old? Why do all living things develop, maintain for awhile, then un-develop?

Although the four reasons for dying mentioned above are absolute and immutable, there is a hidden fifth and seed cause to all of the above and that is the aging process. It is the natural function of birth, youth, maturity and old age within each lifespan. It is the DNA program each individual living thing must follow throughout his or her life. DNA determines appearance, strengths and weaknesses and which and how much of the good or bad influences from ancestors take precedence. It determines how those characteristics will emerge and be affected by a developmental timeline that is also programmed by your DNA.

Since DNA needs to replicate every cell in your body several times in your lifetime, it is can be affected by how you treat it. Oxides and free radicals can chip away at your DNA so that when it’s time for cellular replication the next generation comes out a little different from the last. Each time your cells are replaced the aberration increases until the nature of the new cell no longer possesses enough similarity to its ancestors that it becomes deformed, dysfunctional and then diseased.

The organism, human or otherwise, depends on the quality of reproduction of each of the specialized cells in its system to exist in a healthy state. When cells are diseased their DNA may be damaged so that mitosis produces damaged offspring. The result is organ disease or disease of the nervous, circulatory, lymphatic or endocrine systems. Unmitigated, the local disease may damage or kill the organism.

There is another factor affecting your DNA and longevity. That is the loss of genetic information during replication because of deterioration to the ends of the DNA strand. The ends of the DNA molecule are protected with an enzyme coating called a telomere that protects the double helix from fraying like the plastic coating on a shoelace. Because a little wears off each time the DNA is replicated, it serves as a kind of terminating device to the organism. When sufficiently worn down, the telomere sends a signal to the cell to senesce or stop functioning, and thus die. This is a natural protection against the duplication of aberrant cells replicated from damaged DNA, essentially a natural cancer preventative. At 100 years old a human DNA telomere is only about 5% of original size at birth.

The production of telomerase, the substance that maintains stable telomere length, also decreases with age or ill health and can affect the lifespan. Scientists are working hard to increase telomerase production and subsequently decrease aging for biological entities.

As scientists work on altering the mechanisms for aging, we as individuals can lend a helping hand by minimizing the oxides, free radicals and heavy metals that enter our bodies during our lifetimes. As I stated previously, what we subject our DNA to affects its integrity and ability to reproduce itself identically.  As humans beings living in the twenty first century we are the first of our race to experience the true possibility of significant life extension due to scientific advances. To reap the benefits of this science we need to keep our bodies healthy so that we don’t get sick and die before this new age of agelessness begins.

A high protein, vegan diet that is also low in sugar, supplemented with anti-oxidant and vitamin therapy can get you to the Promised Land. Just think of it, in ten years time scientists develop a way to add another ten years to your lifetime. Imagine that each decade produces a net gain of ten more years to your normal lifespan. At that rate, you remain virtually ageless indefinitely. Don’t be foolish with your health, there is a greater chance of this happening than you dying and going to heaven or hell. Nobody has ever proved that. At least in our own hands, there is still a fighting chance.

Now, can you think of a New Year’s Resolution?

So, Does Everybody Want Biscuits and Gravy?

Waking up on Christmas morning is special and requires a special holiday breakfast. Pancakes or Danish is just too much of the same with all these holiday sweets around, what I need is something savory.  I want something other than my usual tofu scrambler and toast; this is a special day and requires something different.

When I lived in Arkansas in the 1970s, Sunday morning breakfast was a ritual and biscuits and gravy was a staple. I never indulged, being vegan I had no interest, but noticed that it was the source of a lot of excitement for everyone else. At that time, I played it close to the vest, not wanting to alert anyone that I was not partaking in this holy sacrament. I was a stranger in a strange land and really had no business encroaching on their breakfast territory.

When I visited Missouri in 2008, I happened to be with extended family on the weekend and when Sunday morning rolled out of bed, it did so with a resounding, “…so, does everybody want biscuits and gravy?” I hadn’t heard this for at least 30 years, having lived on the East Coast for that long since my days in Arkansas. Being vegan, I passed again and watched the rest of them gorge themselves on this mottled white concoction that they explained as the perfect way to start the day. It perked my curiosity, so I decided to observe the ritual and examine this substance.

These were people who drank beer like water and had about as much interest in vegetarianism as they did particle physics, except for my niece, who is vegetarian and lives amongst them like a zookeeper in a zoo. The biscuits in gravy seemed to have just the right combination of meat, fat, starch and flavor to start their day, diminish the hangover, and get them ready to do a little work, or at least hold them until the next beer run. I found this to be fascinating.

Now it seems that this epicurean staple of the mid-south is a favorite all over the south, so much so you might as well pay for it in confederate money. The funny thing is that it originated in Green Bay, Wisconsin in the 1800’s, in the general area where I was born. So, go figure. A Yankee creation becomes a symbol of southern hospitality. By the nature of the recipe, you would think of it as a cold weather food from dairy country, yet it seems to thrive in down south.

So, I thought I bring it to the East Coast this Christmas, with a makeover. It obviously hasn’t taken root here in its natural form so I thought I would give some preening and, in the process, make it edible to myself. Here is my vegan version.

Ingredients

Biscuits

        1 cup                                      flour, white 
        1 tsp                                       sea salt

        1½ tsp                                    baking powder

        1 Tbsp                                    margarine, melted

        ½ cup                                     soymilk, plain

Gravy

        8 oz                                       vegan sausage*

        ¼ cup                                     Canola oil

        1 Tbsp                                    margarine

        ¼ cup                                     flour, white

        ½ cup                                     vegetable stock

        1½ cup                                   soymilk, plain

        ¼ tsp                                     sea salt

        ½ tsp                                     black pepper

        ½ tsp                                     parsley, fresh

       

Process

Biscuits

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Mix the melted margarine into the soymilk and stir this into the flour. Stir this only enough to thoroughly mix, you don’t want to develop the gluten as this will make the biscuits tough. Now take a serving spoon and drop spoonfuls of the dough onto a greased cookie sheet and bake in a 450 degree oven for 12-14 minutes.

Gravy

Heat a soup pot and add the Canola oil. Stir in the sausage and season it with the salt and pepper. When it is almost fully cooked, stir in the tablespoon of margarine. Next, stir in the flour and allow this to brown a little with the meat. Next, stir in the soymilk and finally the vegetable stock. As it comes to a boil, it will thicken so keep stirring. Turn heat to low and stir occasionally to allow it to stay warm and thicken some more while the biscuits are still baking. If it gets too thick, mix in a little more soymilk or vegetable stock.

When biscuits are done, serve with the gravy ladled over the top. Because you hardly mixed the biscuits very little gluten was developed in the process and your biscuits will be light and fluffy. The gravy will be rich and creamy with tasty bits of vegan pork. Adjust to your taste with salt and pepper.

Recipe makes about 12 biscuits.

*use a good vegan sausage such Sol Cuisine, Field Roast or Yves. Mince or grind before using.

The Quest for Clarity

If you’ve ever made vegetable stock, slow cooked a bunch of vegetables then strained off the liquid to use as a soup base or flavoring agent, then you are probably familiar with some of the issues in this article. For instance, you are probably aware that if you use certain vegetable combinations you will end up with different flavor profiles that vary on a metaphorical range between chicken and beef. Caramelizing or sweating the vegetables can also vary the taste or color in pursuing your goal.

In classic French cuisine a consommé is a clarified soup broth or stock that has been strained and then treated to a fining process to remove any remaining impurities. The finished product should resemble a steeped tea in clarity, varying between golden and a dark amber tint depending on whether it was made from poultry or beef. A consommé is made from a meat base and turns into jelly when refrigerated because of the high gelatin content. This is the basis for aspic which is usually made from a reduced consommé for a stronger flavor when paired with meat.

Any soup stock, whether from animal or vegetable, will have particulate matter that is not easily filtered away. Solids may fall out of suspension and settle to the bottom of the container or oils may congeal under refrigeration and be skimmed off the surface even after any filtration. And after all this work the broth is still cloudy. So what do you do?

The classic method of clarification is to use egg albumin to remove this cloudiness. This cloudiness is matter that is so tiny that it stays in solution and must be absorbed in some way because it seems to defy filtration. Stirring the stock while heating causes the floating matter to be absorbed by a ‘raft’ of egg whites floating on the surface of a boiling soup stock. This albumin is then strained off to produce the clear consommé that is pale gold for poultry and amber for beef. This method could not be used with a vegetable stock if one wanted this stock to remain vegan.

An alternative method to eliminate this cloudiness is to allow the strained stock to freeze then strain through cheesecloth as the gelatin in the stock will absorb the particulate then the freezing will expel the water with flavors still intact. Although it works and saves eggs, it is a costly method on account of the time and effort that goes into it.

Someone with knowledge of this tried the gelatin method using vegetable stock and agar agar, a dried transparent seaweed that absorbs many times its weight in liquid when boiled. Cooling the agar treated liquid causes it to jell similar to gelatin. When using an amount of agar agar equal to .02 % of the total weight of the liquid, the result will be a jellied substance that is easy to make slushy with a whisk. This concentration will cause a mixture loose enough to dispel most of the liquid trapped in the seaweed.

Strain the vegetable stock, then reheat and mix in the .02% agar. An easier way to estimate this proportion is to use 2-3 tablespoons agar to a pound of liquid. Bring this to a boil and simmer, stirring for a few more minutes. Remove from heat and cool down in an ice bath then freeze, removing it now and then to whisk and keep it from becoming solid. Once it becomes a partially frozen slushy mess transfer to a strainer lined with several sheets of cheesecloth.

Carefully strain off the liquid using the weight of the jelly to force the liquid out. Use only a small amount of pressure as you squeeze the cheesecloth ball to extract the last amount of liquid before the jelly starts to ooze out of the cheesecloth.

Now what I did was to conduct a test using half the original strained stock and apply the method described above. The other half I used as a control, subjecting it only to finer and repetitive filtration. Once the agar jelled amount was strained off with the cheesecloth I filtered the agar batch twice and the non-agar fined test batch eight more times through a coffee filter. The results are shown. In the photo below the glass on the right is the finished consomme using the agar method. The other glass is the result of multiple filtration only. As you can see, the batch with agar became very clear and presented a soup brilliantly whereas the batch filtered conventionally remained cloudy.

In conclusion, I would say that the experiment worked and I was able to create a perfectly clear consommé from vegetable stock that retained its flavor nuances and displayed a beautiful color. I wish the method was easier and I would not recommend doing this every day, but making up a batch and freezing it for special occasions is a great idea.

What's for Breakfast?

When you think about breakfast your mind quickly pictures the kinds of foods that you usually eat in the morning. It seldom pictures the word itself, “break – fast”, which means exactly what it implies, to break a ‘fast’, which is what you did when you went to sleep last night. Your digestive tract has been relatively clear of digestive duties for some time now and is ready to get back into action… or not?

When waking up some of us get up hungry and can’t wait to eat something. Others don’t get hungry for an hour or more but usually find themselves famished, at which time they normally seek out quick calories in the form of sugar and salted fried food such as chips because subconsciously they want to get nutrients into their bloodstream and cells as fast as possible. The key is still calories, but it’s what kind of calorie that counts.

If you are a young active adult then you should consume 2500-5000 calories a day, depending on your size. The rule of thumb is that if you eat the wrong food then you can end up eating too many calories and if you eat the right food then it is hard to get enough in a day. Finding both the individual foods high in protein and food combinations that can provide nutritive balance is the key to reaching this goal.

Whether you want to get all your morning calories into one meal or you can afford to graze on tidbits until lunch, try to make sure that you are balancing your nutrients and not just filling up on sugar. From doughnuts to cereal to pancakes, breakfast foods and food vendors are heavily reliant on sugariness to wake you up in the morning. Besides sugars, most of these foods are also high in heavily processed starch carbs, the combination of which may actually make you sluggish instead of energized.  

When it comes to feeling good or bad it’s usually the right amount, not more or less, that makes you feel good and anything else makes you feel relatively bad. This right amount is our optimum and should be the goal of consumption for every meal period.

That optimum should be the right combination of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and enzymes that replenish depleted stores as a result of fasting through the night while sleeping. If you eat a good balanced breakfast and take your supplements at the same time you will ‘fill up’ your body with good things before you have the chance to do the opposite. This way, at least, you have a fighting chance dealing with the inevitable indulgences of the ensuing day.

Trying to achieve this optimum for each meal period will steer you away from eating junk food in between meals because you will feel satiated instead of hungry or tired. You will find yourself wanting a cup of tea or something other than food and other than junk food. Repeating this pattern for weeks into months will help restore you body back to its natural form and put you back in control of your life.

Here is an example of a good hearty breakfast that I like to eat nearly every morning. As a vegan, I rely on some of these products such as tofu the same way other Americans rely on the availability of eggs. I try to stay away from as much sugar and sweets as I can so I don’t do the customary pancakes with maple syrup. The tofu and textured soy and wheat provide the protein, while the potatoes give me the carbo-starches I need for energy. I use non-hydrogenated natural margarine and olive oil for fats. The tofu is a blood alkalinizer. The nutritional yeast provides me with a high dose of B vitamins and amino acids and the turmeric is a proven immune booster. I take a multi vitamin at this time and may add other supplements during the course of the day.

                                      Tofu Scrambler
Ingredients
                   1/2 block                                                                          Tofu, soft or firm
                   2 level Tbsp                                                                     Nutritional yeast
                   1/2 tsp                                                                               Garlic powder
                   1/2 tsp                                                                               Onion powder
                   1/2 tsp                                                                               Turmeric
                   1/4 tsp                                                                               Cayenne pepper
                   1/4 tsp                                                                               Sea salt
                   1 Tbsp                                                                               Margarine
                   1/4 cup                                                                             Vegetable stock

Process
Hand crumble the tofu with clean hands into a bowl. Add the other ingredients except for the margarine and vegetable stock. Heat a skillet and add the margarine. Add in the seasoned tofu and fry this for several minutes. The longer you fry tofu without stirring it, the browner it will become, so, depending on whether you like you 'eggs' dry or fluffy you can control this. Once you are satisfied with the right amount of browning add in the vegetable stock. Keep the heat high and stir tofu while the liquid cooks away. This process melds the flavors and infuses more flavor through reduction. When the liquid is completely absorbed, the scrambler is ready. Bon Appetite!

The Paleo Vegan

An emerging  new diet that is attracting a lot of attention  these days is the ‘Paleo’ or ‘Primal’ diet. As the name implies, it is supposed to imitate the diet of cavemen. The assumption is that primitive man’s hunter gatherer culture produced better human health before the dawn of agriculture. This diet proclaims that meat, fat, roots and berries make up our natural diet and that the carbohydrates of our advanced agricultural civilizations have weakened our health and constitution by flooding our bodies with glucose.  It is essentially an updated version of the ‘Atkins Diet’ with improvements by putting more attention on overall health instead of simply weight loss.

The Paleo /Primal diet attempts to eliminate the inevitable keto-acidosis that results from the consumption of too much meat and too few alkalinizing carbohydrates, especially vegetables. The new version accepts the inclusion of sugars in small quantities, such as those found in berries whose nutrient value outweighs their negative effects. The recommended use of anti oxidants and emphasis on supplements are an improvement over the Atkins regime as well. One still has to consume an enormous amount of meat on this diet. 

But the debate continues on the subject of what actually is our ‘natural’ diet. First, there is the ancient fossil evidence, then there is the evolution of food development that helped to fuel our changing needs until the present. The human digestive system resembles most like that of fruititarian primates whose diet includes both fruits and insects. As man evolved, his larger brain required more calories to operate in a rest state. Primates use  about 8% of their resting metabolism for the brain, other mammals (excluding humans) use 3-4%, but modern  humans use an impressive 25% of resting metabolism for the brain. A simple diet of fruit and insects wasn’t going to cut it so he had to find a better source of concentrated calories that were digestible in a raw state. There were still too many plants he could not eat, as humans can’t digest starches and foliage without cooking them first.

Man Ape turned to eating raw meat for concentrated calories and then eventually started cooking it. He began experimenting with cooking starchy tubers and leafy plants at this time, too. One thing led to another with all of this experimenting and eating, and soon the seeds of some of these plants began to grow out of their garbage pits. Man realized that he could replenish his supplies by controlling this and agriculture began.

With agriculture, civilizations quickly emerged and dragged this man ape into the future, still toting much of the same primitive mental baggage from his tribal past while his technologies were surpassing him (what is still going on today). Advances in food development did correspond with advances in human health, as evidenced by a longer lifespan,  providing us with more variety and a means to control our calories stores. The caveman didn’t have this luxury and had a much shorter life to look forward to. So the question is posed: Should the benefits of civilization have given him this advantage, would his fossilized remains show more chronic disease? I think that the bones of most people living only the lifespan of a caveman today would look pretty good fossilized, too.

So what is our natural diet? If we are supposed to be heavy carnivores, why aren’t we built for it like dogs or snakes? If we are supposed to be herbivores why don’t we possess four stomachs and are able to digest grass? If we were supposed to live off of fruit, why does our brain require more energy just to rest, than fruit can supply? Man is different from these other creatures because of his brain. He is evolving to keep up with this demanding organ, which is, by the way, responsible for all the wonders we create and subsequently take for granted.

Just like the hunter gatherers of old, modern paleo-vegans are always alert to new protein sources which include tofu, tempeh, seitan, seeds and nuts, seed and nut butters, soy and nut milks, protein powders and faux meat alternatives. Most of the new values added over the last few decades to the vegan diet, have been in the form of protein. The stores are full of these new vegan products providing lots of new choices. The modern vegan doesn't live off of granola and banana bread anymore, but can balance an anti oxidant rich diet with available high quality proteins.

Humans are simply continuing to invent and process better foods to match their evolving needs. As we advance into even more evolved beings, living like Methuselahs well into our hundreds, we will need better, more evolved fuel than the stuff that we’ve been clinging on to for too long. Herding cattle into this space age future is just not going to happen, so get used to it.

Below is a good example of hunter gathering in the modern world. This sub sandwich was foraged from local grocery stores and makes a great nutritious meal. A sub like this, with Tofurky deli slices and vegan cheese slices rivals any made with ‘real’ meat and dairy and is a good source of protein.