Friday, June 22, 2012

Guar Gum vs. Xanthan Gum in Gluten Free foods

Posted by gradyrbitton in Featured Articles, Gluten Free, Recipes on May 14th, 2010 | 100 responses
They fight together for Gluten Free-dom!
If you are new to Gluten Free Baking you may find yourself wondering, “What is the difference between Xanthan Gum and Guar Gum?” Both ingredients are frequently called for in gluten free recipes and can seem exotic at first, but they both serve the same general purpose as thickeners and emulsifiers. Quite simply, both these ingredients help keep your mixes mixed. They keep oil droplets from sticking together and separating, and solid particles from settling to the bottom. You can use just one or the other; or sometimes for the best results, you can use them in combination together.
In conventional recipes containing wheat, rye, barley or triticale flour, the protein, gluten in these fours serves the same purpose that guar gum and xanthan gum do in gluten free baking. Gluten protein is what traditional recipes rely on to thicken dough and batters, and trap air bubbles to make your baked goods light and fluffy. Xanthan gum tends to help starches combine to trap air, while guar gum helps keep large particles suspended in the mix.
One of the differences between the two products is where they come from. Guar gum is made from a seed native to tropical Asia, while xanthan gum is made by a micro organism called Xanthomonas Camestris.
In the kitchen, there are also important differences in using xanthan gum vs. guar gum. In general, guar gum is good for cold foods such as ice cream or pastry fillings, while xanthan gum is better for baked goods. Xanthan gum is the right choice for yeasted breads. Foods with a high acid content (such as lemon juice) can cause guar gum to loose its thickening abilities. For recipes involving citrus you will want to use xanthan gum or increase the amount of guar gum used.
In general, it is best to add both xanthan and guar gum to the oil component in a recipe, making complete mix of oil and gum before adding to the rest of liquid ingredients. Using a blender or a food processor is a great way to get the gums to dissolve properly.
The final difference between the two gums is the variation in quantities you will need for different foods. There are no hard and fast rules as to how to combine the two gums together, you’ll have to experiment yourself to see what works best in your recipes.
If you decide to use just one or the other, here are some helpful measurements for popular foods:
How much Xanthan Gum for Gluten Free Baking?
Cookies………………………………¼ teaspoon per cup of flour
Cakes and Pancakes…
a pie crust or pastry dough ……..½ teaspoon per cup of flour
Muffins and Quick Breads………… ¾ teaspoon per cup of flour
Breads……………………………….1 to 1-½ tsp. per cup of flour
Pizza Dough…………………..…… 2 teaspoons per cup of flour
For Salad Dressings…Use ½ tsp. Xanthan Gum per 8 oz. of liquid.
How much Guar Gum for Gluten Free Baking?
Cookies………………………………¼ to ½ tsp. per cup of flour
Cakes and Pancakes………………..¾ teaspoon per cup of flour
Muffins and Quick Breads………….1 teaspoon per cup of flour
Breads……………………………….1-½ to 2 tsp. per cup of flour
Pizza Dough…………………..…….1 Tablespoon per cup of flour
For Hot Foods (gravies, stews , heated pudding)…Use 1-3 teaspoons per one quart of liquid.
For Cold Foods (salad dressing, ice creams, pudding) Use about 1-2 teaspoons per quart of liquid.
8/30/11 UPDATE: We are so pleased with the awesome response we get from this post and will do our best to answer any of your remaining questions. However, we have found that there are a lot of questions here that we don’t know much about- like ice cream making and salad dressings. Again, we will do our best, but we’re really only experts at baking with these two products.
6/11/12 UPDATE: Regarding corn in xanthan gum: The microorganism that produces xanthan gum is actually fed a glucose solution that is derived from wheat starch. Gluten is found in the protein part of the wheat kernel and no gluten is contained in the solution of glucose. Additionally, after the bacteria eats the glucose, there is no wheat to be found in the outer coating that it produces, which is what makes up xanthan gum. The short answer here is, there is no corn used at all in the making of xanthan gum.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

triglycerides, cholesterol, heart attack.

From: http://drsears.com/tabId/399/itemId/8944/High-triglycerides.aspx

High triglycerides

Last Updated Aug 2007

Q: My husband has just received the results of a blood test showing very high triglyceride levels (1400) and cholesterol (260). His physician is recommending a low-fat diet. Do you think this is the best course to take, or would he be better off using a Zone-type program?

Thanks,
Kim

A: Dear Kim,

Considering his excess triglycerides, the Zone Diet would be the ideal diet for your father. I would suggest adding extra fish oil (about 4 grams per day), and within four weeks you should see dramatic reductions in the triglycerides and total cholesterol. More importantly, the ratio of triglycerides to HDL cholesterol, which is presently exceptionally high, will drop thus decreasing the likelihood of a myocardial infarction for your father. That last statement comes from research done by Harvard Medical School indicating that the trigylceride to HDL cholesterol ratio is the most predictive blood indicator of a potential heart attack. The lower the ratio, the lower the likelihood of a heart attack.
Dr. Sears

olive oil- benefits and how to buy.

Olive oil instead of aspirin?

Last Updated Aug 2007
A recent article in Nature (Aug. 31, 2005,) has indicated that extra-virgin olive oil has anti-inflammatory properties. More importantly it seems to work as other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) do by inhibiting the COX enzymes. The active ingredient appears to be a compound known as oleocanthal (Greek for olive stinging aldehyde) because it provides a peppery taste at the back of the mouth. That's the good news. The bad news is it takes about 3 tablespoons to provide the amount of COX inhibition as 10 per cent of a standard dose of ibuprofen. Nonetheless, this is why extra-virgin oil is a key component of the anti-inflammatory Zone Diet. How can you tell if your olive oil has these anti- inflammatory properties? Take a teaspoon of olive oil and put it in your mouth. It should have a very rich butter-like taste. Then flip it to the back of your mouth where you get a strong pepper-like taste. Unfortunately, most of the good olive oil that has these properties never leaves Italy. That is unless you have friends, as I do, who are able to identify select organic olive oil producers that make such an oil. Sold by Zone Labs, it enables you to get great taste with equally great anti-inflammatory benefits.
 

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Candida

Candida and Gluten Intollerance have similar symptoms and seem to run together. 

The best product I have found to control Candida is Candidase plus an Acidophilus Bifidus combo I get in the refrigerated section at Sprouts.  Diflucan, is the prescription treatment, but few doctors will prescribe it for long and it can damage your liver.  I highly recommend the Candidase.  If you look around on the internet you may be able to find it cheaper.  I haven't found it anywhere but the internet.  Take it on an empty stomach up to 2 ea. 3 times a day.

 

http://www.iherb.com/Enzymedica-Candidase-Enzymes-84-Capsules/3608?at=0

 

This group seems to know a lot about candida.  I've used their 3 lac and oxy products.  http://www.candidasupport.org/index.html

gluten intolerance stool tests

If you need to test for IgA reactivity to Gluten or Soy (or milk or egg) here is the testing service I used.  This will detect Gluten Intolerance even if your blood work tests negative for celiac disease.

 

Note: IgA is the immune antibody function that protects you from harmful bacteria.   If you are gluten intolerant, your immune system thinks gluten is an invader and tries to get rid of it burdening you immune system and leading to auto-immune diseases.  Typically "allergies" are IgE reactions.  IgE antibodies produce histamine.   Allergy shots seek to change IgE reactions to IgG reactions.  I found that most allergists don't even look at IgA reactions. 

 

http://www.enterolab.com/StaticPages/TestInfo.aspx#PanelAC

Here's the website for the stool tests.  I can't remember exactly what I did, but I think it was the following. 

Panel B: Gluten/Antigenic Food Sensitivity Stool/Gene Panel - $369
Tests for immunologic reaction to the four primary individual food antigens
(Gluten, Milk, Egg, Soy) and includes a discounted gene test for understanding genetic
predisposition to gluten sensitivity and celiac disease

Add Fat Malabsorption Stool Test (Quantitative Fecal Fat Microscopy) to panel A, B, or C for $89

Anti-Tissue Transglutaminase Antibody to panel A, B, or C for $89

 

How much raw chicken do I cook?

Just grilled 2 chicken breasts.  Just picked ones I thought would be close to 3 oxz and 4 oz after cooking.  These are small.  Most you get in the store are twice this size.  I usually cook it in bulk and then weigh the cooked chicken before I use it.  It would be nice to know how much raw chicken to buy for a given recipe.
Here's what I learned:
Raw Thawed   Cooked
4.3 oz.                3.3 oz.
5.8 oz.                4.5 oz.

Rule of thumb:  Raw weight x 0.77 = cooked weight.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Recipe: Zone chili w/ beans

Zone chili w/ beans

by Becky Price on Monday, July 25, 2011 at 12:57pm ·
2 lbs very lean ground beef or turkey (200 g protein)
1 lg can chopped tomatoes (30 g Carb-fiber)
2 cans black beans
2 cans pinto beans
1 can cannellini beans
5 Tbls olive oil
2 pkg McCormick original taco seasoning mix
Cook ground meat and chop into little pieces.  Add water or some olive oil to the meat if it sticks. Drain off fat. 
Add beans with juice (look for cans without added fat or other ingredients).  Add seasoning mix. 
Bring to boil and simmer for 30+ minutes.
Makes 10 servings with 4 protein and fat  blocks and 3 carb blocks each serving so add one block of berries or vegetables to make a 4 block meal.
Allergies: Milk in taco seasoning. No gluten, soy, corn, or egg.
Original recipe adds pkg ranch dressing mix.

Osteoporosis and Osteopena What to do?

Osteoporosis and Osteopena What to do?

by Becky Price on Monday, June 20, 2011 at 1:31pm ·
Notes from Dr. Sear's Zone Cruise May 2011
Osteoporosis is driven by inflammation
What to do:
1) stress training/weights
2) eat adequate protein-elderly people should add one block of protein. 
Women: 70-77 grams spread throughout the day.  Elderly need 77-84 grams. (11-12 blocks)
Men: 91-98 grams spread throughout the day.  Elderly need 98-105 grams. (14-15 blocks)
Don't eat less protein! (Not enough protein causes Osteopena)
Balance the Protein with equal number of blocks of low glycemic carbs and monosaturated fats.
3) Take a supplement,  2 mg Calcium to 1mg Magnesium
Don't take Calcium without Magnesium.   It will mess up the electronic signals in the body.

Recipe: Turkey Sausage

Recipe Turkey Sausage
by Becky Price on Monday, July 25, 2011 at 12:26pm
Turkey Sausage Becky 7/24/2011
2.5 lbs ground turkey 99% fat free (2 pkg Jenny O) 
1 1/4 C finely chopped celery (pulse in food processor)
1/2 C grated carrots
2 Tbls olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp dried minced garlic
1 Tbls (3 tsp) dried chopped onion
3 tsp perfect Pinch Mediterranean Herb seasoning
4 egg whites (beat with fork)

Mix all ingredients well.  Divide into 20 equal parts (about 2.5 oz/78 grams each).  Roll in balls and flatten into patties.  Coat hands with olive oil to keep them cleaner.  Cook in teflon skillet with olive oil 4 min. each side on Med Low (40%) or until there is no pink in the center.  Drain on paper towel.  Scrape drippings out of pan between batches and add more olive oil.  Refridgerate or freeze. 
To warm: microwave for 20-40 seconds each. 
Makes 20 patties 2 zone blocks of protein each.

Recipe: Easy chicken prep for other dishes

Easy chicken prep for other dishes
by Becky Price on Monday, July 25, 2011 at 1:08pm ·
Take pyrex rectangular dish and spray with oil
lay out frozen or thawed skinless chicken breasts in a single layer.
sprinkle with salt and pepper and/or your favorite seasoning.
bake at 350 F until internal temp of biggest part reaches 180 F.
Let cool, remove fat and cut in small pieces. 
Sack in serving size portions: 4 oz for men, 3 oz for women, combine for a family.
freeze in ziplocks
Pull out for vegi stew.  Microwave and add BBQ sauce for quick BBQ chicken.  Sprinkle with Parm. cheese and seasoning and microwave.  Use in salads, etc.
I use an oven thermometer that beeps when it reaches the set temp.  I make as many chicken breasts as I can cram in the pan.  Sure saves time when making meals during the week.

Recipe: zoned vegi stew

vegi stew
by Becky Price on Monday, July 25, 2011 at 1:39pm
Chop enough vegetables based to equal the number of carb blocks you need for the meal.  Use the Zone block guide.  Cook them in a pot in order of the length they will take to cook: hard vegetables like onions, celery, garlic first, squash last. Stir fry first and then steam after you get too much.  Add water to bottom if needed to prevent sticking.  For example:  Carrots first until beginning to soften, then celery until beginning to soften, then broccoli, asparagus, squash or Kale last, etc.  Add chicken, canned beans, olive oil and sauce with the last vegetables, cover and finish cooking. 
 Example: 7 point meal
1 cups sliced carrots (1/2 in x 1/2 in. chunks)  (1 blocks C)
1/2 cup black beans (drained) (2 blks C)
2 cups sliced celery or Kale (1 blk C)
2 cups zucchini or yellow squash (1 blk C)
1 cup Pace Picante sauce (2 blks C)
7 oz pre cooked chicken (blk P)
2 1/3 tsp olive oil (7 blk F)
salt and pepper to taste
 substitutions: (1 blk C each)
3 Cups Broccoli
1 1/2 C onion chopped
2 C bell pepper
4 cups Cauliflower pieces
4 cups cabbage (shredded)
3 1/2 C Spinich
1 C Asparagus (12 spears)

Options for sauce: 
1 jar spagetti sauce like Classico tomato and Basil
Green Chili Stew by Cookwell & Company

Picante sauce
You can also use seasoning without a sauce, like combined italian seasoning and use tomatoes in your stew just count the blocks.

Recipe: Gluten Free Sausage Cheese Balls Zoned

Recipe: Gluten Free Sausage Cheese Balls Zoned
by Becky Price on Friday, July 29, 2011 at 10:31am ·
2 pk Kraft, 7 oz. sharp cheddar w/ 2% milk grated (medium).   If you grate it too fine, it changes the texture.
1 lb/pk Natural sausage I think it is Jimmy Dean.  Or use a low fat breakfast sausage.
120 g Pamela's gluten free Baking and Pancake mix (2 cups but it is better to weigh it because packing in the cup varies so much.) 
Mix with your hands or a sturdy mixer.  Roll in balls about 1/2" apart and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet with sides (without sides, the balls can roll off).  Wash hands well after handling the dough.  Bake at 350 F for about 30 min. or until brown and cooked all the way through. 
 Keep in the refrigerator, or freezer.  You can also freeze the uncooked balls for a short time.  They hold up out of the refrigerator for a while too.
 Total of 17.85 blocks for the batch.    Divide the number of balls you make by 17.85.  That gives you the number of balls for one block.  For example 42/17.85= 2.4 so 2 1/2 balls would be one block, 5 balls = 2 blks. 
 Zone Note:  This is higher in fat than recommended and has saturated fat instead of monosaturated fat.  Don't mainline on these, but they are good snacks occasionally. 
 Allergies:  Milk, Pork, Almonds.  Check the labels you use for others.

Book review: Toxic Fat

Toxic Fat, by Barry Sears, Ph. D.

This is Dr. Sears newest book.  It is a good overview for someone getting started. It is good if you are overweight and have tried diets that don't work and you want to know why they don't work.  It will give you incentive to change and hope and confidence that you can make lasting changes to improve you health for the rest of your life.
The diet chapters are more concise, less detailed than in the Anti Inflammation Zone, but they are good and will get you where you need to go. 

If you have questions about different types of diets, the Anti Inflammation Zone, has more info.
See my notes on blood testing in the Anti Inflammation Zone book review.

Diet Basics

Your diet is what you eat.  Don't think of this as going on "a diet".  To me, "a diet" means you deprive yourself for a time and then when you can't stand it anymore you go back te eating worse than you did before.  Don't go on "a diet" just change your diet to be more zoned.  If you can get 70-80% of the way, you're there. 

Here's the best resource to get started:  http://www.zonediet.com/tools/zone-classic.  Print out the block guide at http://www.zonediet.com/portals/0/resources/food_block_guide.pdf.

Start with the easies meals to control.  Pick things you already like to eat and figure out how to zone the quantities or make substitutions to make it zoned. 

Start with Breakfast.  For my protein I have 2 scrambled egg whites (1 block) with salt and pepper or italian seasoning, and a turkey or low fat pork sausage patty (14 g protein, 2 blocks). For Carbs I have 1/2 cup gluten free whole rolled oats with salt,  stevia powder and cinnamon, OR a slice of GF bread with all fruit jam.  I limit my total zcarbs (grams Carbs less grams fiber) to 27 g.  I add almonds to my oatmeal, cook the eggs with olive oil, or put olive oil on the bread instead of butter.  Butter works too, but it is a class B fat and less desirable because of the saturated fat.  DO NOT use margerine with vegetable oils like corn, soy, safflower, or sunflower!   You'll know if you zoned it right if you are allert, have energy, and are not hungry for 3-6 hours after you eat.  If you get hungry and sleepy or your brain is foggy, 1-2 hours after you eat then you had too many carbs.  If you get hungry too soon, then you did not have enough carbs or good fat.  Adjust the next day until you find the right balance for your body.

Men-  You need 4 blocks of protein or 28 grams:  8 egg whites, 2 low fat sausage patties, or 4 oz. other lean meat or low fat cheese or a mixture.  Combine with some good fat: almonds, olive oil, an avacado slice.  Add 4 blocks of carbs or 36 zcarbs (grams Carbs less grams fiber).  For Paul that's 1/3 Cup whole rolled oats with 3/4 Cup rasberries.  Dr. Sears makes an omlet with the eggs and vegetables left over from the night before.

Next change the next easiest meal to control: 
For lunch, Paul has a green salad (<1 block carb)  with 4 oz grilled chicken breast (4 points of protein, 28 g) 1 cup carrots (1 block carb) 2 tomatoes (1 block carb) with olive oil and vinegar dressing (adds a little carb).  I get the HEB fully cooked frozen chicken breast fajitas that he keeps at work.  You can use bottled dressings made with good oils. 

Dressings: My favorite bottled dressing is LUCINI Tuscan Balsamic and Extra Virgin, Paul's is Kraft Dressing mad with extra virgin olive oil, Italian Vinaigrette.  Canola is a class B oil (ok but not the best).  High Oleic Safflower Oil is a class A oil (Good, like olive oil)

For lunch, I have a salad with 3 oz of protein (chicken or turkey or tuna) an apple (2 blocks)  (I don't like raw tomatoes) and carrots (<1 block, <1 Cup).

For Dinner, use the eye hand method with lots low glycemic vegetables.  Pick your favorite vegetables and keep them in the freezer:  green beans, broccoli, zucchini and yellow squash, onions, peppers, asparagus.  I can't eat enough low glycemic vegetables at one setting, so I usually have some beans (black, pinto, garbanzo, cannellini) or a piece of fruit or some berries.

Hope that helps get you started.

Book review: The Anti Inflammation Zone

If you want to know how to get started, this is a great book to use.  Start with the first 11 chapters.  Comments: 
·        Ch 4, p. 38 SIP testing, You can get free blood tests from zonediet.com if you purchase fish oil on auto ship.  This is a self test.  You prick your finger, fill in two spots on the card and mail it back.  You do need to have your doctor sign a test requisition form.  Copy the signed form and keep it for the next time you want to test.  Test 3 weeks after you have been consistently on your initial dosage.  You want your AA/EPA to be between 1.5 and 3.  If you are close, up your dosage by ½ tsp oil or 2 OmegaRx Caps for 3 weeks and retest.  If your AA/EPA is greater than 5, go up 1 tsp or 4 OmegaRx caps for 3 weeks and retest.  It may take you several tries to get your dosage right.  When you are in the 1.5-3 range, then you adjust up or down depending on how you feel.  Here is an Eicosanoids checklist that can help.  Dr. Sears sees no problem above AA/EPA of 1.  If you are taking too much, your body will not heal as quickly.   If you ramp up too fast, you may have loose, oily stools.  You can call Zonelabs, ask a coach to help you.
·        Ch7, p. 79.  The IFOS site is not useful anymore.  Dr. Sears says they have been "bought out" and their standards are not what they used to be.  Dr. Sears uses an electron beam chromatograph to test every batch of fish oil both before it is refined (they reject much of the oil they receive) and each batch that is bottled.  If you order it from zonediet.com, you know it has less than 2 ppb of PCBs (compared to prescription Lavaza which has 5 ppb)*.  * From Dr. Sears slides on the 2012 cruise.
·        Ch 7, p. 83 good tips on taking fish oil.
·        Ch 8. On the last 2 cruises, Dr. Sears hasn't talked much about supplements.  He says it won't hurt for women to take calcium, but always take it with Magnesium 50/50. The cause of most osteoporosis is lack of protein not Calcium. The jury is still out on vitamin D; test first. 
·        Ch 11, 7 Days on the diet. Other resources: zone-classic
·        Ch 9, Exercise. On the 2012 Cruise, Dr. Sears said the best time to exercise is in the morning.  Have a zone snack within 1 hr of waking, exercise, then eat a zone snack or meal within an hour after exercise.  If you can't do it in the morning, just do it whenever, but eat a zoned snack or meal before and after.
To be continued..

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Recipe: Chocolate Coconut Muffins


Eating in the Zone should stop the craving for sweets and carbs, but I need a treat sometimes and these hit the spot.  Enjoy!
Chocolate Coconut Muffins, Gluten free
Eat with 1 blk (1 oz., 7g) Protein for 2 blk snack
Bake 350 20 min. makes 24 mini muffins or 12 regular size
# servings: 6 of 4 mini muffins or 2 reg.
Blocks per serving 1.7 zcarb,  0.8 protein,
salt
1/4t
egg white powdered
14g
Fructose 1C
3T
Pamela's baking mix
40g 1/3c
Hershey's cocoa
2T
vanilla
1/2t
olive oil 1T
1T+1t
egg white  ea.
4
apple sauce (1/2 C)
1 carton
Stevia pure liquid
20 drops
milk 2%
1T
Coconut unsweetened
1 1/2+ 1T, 175g

Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls.  Combine just until mixed.  Stir in coconut.  Divide evenly among 24 mini muffins or 12 reg. muffins.  It fills up the mini muffin cups, but the regular muffins are small.  Just divide it equally into the proper number of muffins.  Bake at 350 for 20 min. or when pull away from the sides and toothpick comes out clean.
T=Tablespoon
t= teaspoon
g=gram
C=Cup
If show both volume and mass measurement like 40g 1/3c , you can use either.