Blatant plug time again

Looks good.

I do like my grub ? and whilst I like my steak I’m trying to eat less of it.

At the Melplash show last week I went to a cooking demo by the owner of the Taj Mahal in Bridport. She did a wicked veggie curry that tasted fantastic using all English veg from her garden and none of the mucking about you get from chefs trying to be clever.

I love red meat far too much, but eat it only occasionally. Last night was one of those occasions: a small locally-bought Topside joint for SWMBO and I, cooked in the slow cooker but browned in the pan first. It was lovely, came with a bit of fat on the side and was all good meat when the fat was gone. The rest tonight with some of my neighbour’s fresh-picked runner beans. The gravy was magic, saved some for tonight. I worked for an old-school butcher from the age of 8 to 16, know my meat and the local butcher is a mate.

I could never be a Veggie, but there is nothing wrong with a mixed and balanced diet. A little meat with plenty of veg, that is how we evolved. It is historical, proven fact that animal protein is what gave the human brain the power to increase function, and therefore evolve Homo Sapiens into intelligence.

I usually eat mostly chicken, turkey or fish, always with veg. That’s a balanced diet.

Or beans on toast!? Fibre…..

Nolan, there may be an answer to your milk/Butter dilemma here:

” Butter is a mixture of fat of milk, buttermilk and water. After taking out cream from milk, it is soured with strains of lactic acid and bacteria called Streptococcus cremoris or Lactobacillus lactis. Cheese – Cheese is made from milk curd that has been separated from liquid portion of milk. ”

Looks like “friendly bacteria” is the reason you can take butter but not other spreads.

Steve I can’t eat curry, allergic to it since eating a bad chicken wing in HK years ago. Cows are not really a waste of resources: after all the milk, meat and other edible* bits are consumed, we get wallets, bike jackets, settees, boots and glue.?? In India they are gods: don’t mess with a Deity!

*Some not so edible, maybe.

As we got on to the topic of diet I thought this research paper on food and brain function may provide some interesting thoughts.

As a ‘teaser’ here are some of the highlights I noticed:

“Low percentages of fish in diet e.g. Germany or New Zealand have a higher percent of patients with ‘major’ depression, versus countries with large percentages of fish in the diet e.g. Japan or Korea.

Dietary consumption of omega-3 fatty acids is one of the best-studied interactions between food and brain evolution. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is the most abundant omega-3 fatty acid in cell membranes in the brain137; however, the human body is not efficient at synthesizing DHA, so we are largely dependent on dietary DHA

Studies indicate that diets with high contents of trans and saturated fats adversely affect cognition (No cheeseburgers for A-level students!). Conversely stuff them with spinach instead as folic acid is a necessary brain food. Folic acid and vitamin B apparently protect against age-related cognitive decline.

… the application of Vagal Nerve Stimulation  to patients with epilepsy was associated with improved mood, VNS was perceived as a potential treatment for depression. In humans, VNS failed to produce improvements in depression patients who participated in a short-term open trial (lasting 10 weeks)6; however, in a longer-term study (lasting 12 months), VNS produced beneficial effects that were sustained after 2 years. (The vagal nerve is sometimes known as the ‘gastric nerve’ due to its actions on the gut, heart and lungs.)

Ghrelin is an hormone that is secreted by an empty stomach … it promotes…enhanced spatial learning and memory formation. (Starve your teenagers while they are revising for exams!)”

Just about enough data to keep any food faddist happy!