Wizard Recipes

Protein is an essential part of our diets. Proteins are large, complex molecules resembling tangled strings of beads. Each of the “beads” on the string is one of a group of smaller molecules called amino acids. Amino acids are composed of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen, and some contain sulfur.

Using the amino acids from the protein you eat, the body makes more than 50,000 different proteins. These proteins are the main structural elements of our skin, hair, nails, cell membranes, muscles, and connective tissue.

Collagen, the main protein in our skin, provides a barrier to the invasion of foreign substances. Proteins in cell membranes determine what substances can enter and exit cells.

Our muscles, which contain some 65 percent of the body’s total protein, give our bodies their shape and strength.

Proteins in connective tissues such as tendons, ligaments, and cartilage enable our skeletons to function, form internal organs, and hold the organs in place. Proteins in the blood carry oxygen to all cells and remove carbon dioxide and other waste products.

The proteins in muscle, connective tissue, and blood make up most of the protein in the body. Other proteins called enzymes accelerate metabolic processes, and still other proteins and amino acids are hormones and neurochemicals, the substances that deliver signals throughout the body and regulate all metabolic processes.

During periods of growth, our bodies must manufacture and store large amounts of protein. Therefore, the requirement for protein in our diets is higher during growth.

But even when we are not growing, each of the unique proteins in the body has a finite lifespan and must be replaced continuously. So the need for protein never ends.

Dietary Protein and Body Protein

The thousands of proteins that make up our bodies are assembled on demand from some 20 different amino acids. What are these amino acids, and where do they come from?

The protein from the meat we ate last night is not directly incorporated into our muscles. The proteins in the foods we eat are digested first into small “peptides.” Some of these peptides are further digested into their constituent amino acids. Only amino acids and small peptides are actually absorbed by the small intestine into the bloodstream.

They are then delivered to the liver, muscles, brain, and other organs, where they are used to make new proteins or converted to other amino acids needed by those organs. Of the 20 amino acids that make up all proteins, 9 are considered “essential” because they cannot be made in our bodies and must be obtained from the foods we eat. Of the remaining 11, some are essential for infants and persons with certain diseases.

The rest of the amino acids are considered “nonessential,” because our bodies can make them in adequate amounts, if necessary. Nevertheless, they are easily supplied by eating a well-balanced diet that includes a variety of foods.

Most foods contain protein. Some foods are better sources of protein than others. “Complete” proteins are those that contain all the essential amino acids in amounts needed to synthesize our body’s proteins. The best sources of complete protein are lean meats and poultry, fish, low-fat dairy products, and eggs.

The grains and cereals group of foods, are excellent sources of protein, but because these proteins often lack one or more essential amino acids, they are called “incomplete” proteins.

For example, the proteins in corn are low in the essential amino acids lysine and tryptophan, and wheat is low in lysine. In contrast, legumes tend to be rich in lysine but a bit low in methionine. Among the legumes, soybeans contain the most complete protein.

Does this mean you must eat meat, eggs, and dairy products (foods of animal origin) to get all the amino acids you need? Not at all.By eating a variety of different foods, including grains and legumes, you are likely to get all the amino acids you need and in the correct amounts.

People of many cultures and vegans (vegetarians who eat no foods of animal origin) get adequate amounts and types of protein by eating various combinations of plant proteins including beans, corn, rice, and other cereal grains. Although it was once thought necessary to combine these foods at the same meal, nutrition experts now agree that they can be eaten at various times throughout the day.

When we eat grains and legumes, rather than foods of animal origin (a more frequent source of protein in our diets), we gain additional health benefits. Whole-grain foods and legumes are rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other substances that optimize health.

If that does not seem like reason enough to make the trade, grains and legumes lack the high levels of saturated fat present in foods of animal origin, which, as you will learn below, are linked to many diseases.

Contrary to popular belief, simply eating more dietary protein, in excess of recommended amounts, will not result in bigger muscles. Our bodies do not store excess protein.

If we eat more protein than our bodies need to replenish the amino acids we have used during the day, the excess amino acids are converted to, and stored as, fat. Dietary protein, like carbohydrates, supplies about 4 calories of energy per gram.

Because our requirements for protein mainly depend on our body’s size, our need for protein increases during times of rapid growth. Therefore, the recommendations for protein are age-dependent and are slightly higher for pregnant and breastfeeding women than for other adults.

Pesticides and modern pest management practices have helped to ensure that we have a reliable, affordable, varied, nutritious, and safe food supply. Pesticides are chemicals that kill or prevent the growth of weeds (herbicides), bacteria (disinfectants and antibiotics), molds and fungi (fungicides), and harmful insects (insecticides).

Some pesticides occur naturally in soil, whereas others are found in compounds isolated from particular plants. Many farmers try to control pests in the most effective, least disruptive manner by practicing what is known as integrated pest management

What About Food Additives?

Contrary to what many of us think, food additives have been used for centuries (and until the past 100 or so years, without much regard for health considerations). Additives play various roles in foods. Some additives act as preservatives, preventing spoilage, loss of flavor, texture, or nutritive value.

These include antioxidants such as vitamin E, BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole), BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene), citric acid, and sulfites; calcium propionate; sodium nitrite (which prevents infection by the dangerous bacteria that causes botulism); and other antimicrobials (germ-fighting additives).

Other additives are used as emulsifiers to prevent foods from separating. Emulsifiers include lecithin from soy, egg yolks, or milk and monoglycerides and diglycerides. The leavening agents sodium bicarbonate (baking soda and powder) and yeast allow baked goods to rise.

Stabilizers and thickeners create and maintain an even texture and flavor in foods such as ice cream and pudding. Many foods are also fortified or enriched with vitamins, minerals, or proteins or their component amino acids .

The government strictly regulates food additives. The safety and effectiveness of each newly proposed additive must be rigorously tested. Some 700 additives belong to a group of substances referred to as GRAS substances (Generally Recognized As Safe) because extensive testing and use have shown no evidence of adverse effects.

Continued approval requires that all additives, including GRAS substances, must be reevaluated regularly with the latest scientific methods. According to law, additives and preservatives must be listed on food labels. People who are sensitive to certain additives such as sulfites or monosodium glutamate should be sure to read labels for additive information.

What About Irradiated Foods?

Until the 1800s, soaking in salt and natural fermentation were the most commonly used methods for food preservation.This changed with the introduction of canning in the 1800s.

Pasteurization began to be used in the late 1800s to kill harmful bacteria, freezing in the early 1900s to extend the shelf life of foods, and freeze drying in the 1960s to preserve foods.

Food is irradiated when it is passed through a beam of radiant energy. Irradiated foods are not radioactive. Irradiation does not diminish the importance of safe food handling ,nor does it improve the quality of food.

However, irradiation can extend the shelf life, reduce food wastage, and reduce food prices. Most importantly, irradiation can destroy bacteria that cause foodborne illness.

Food irradiation is strictly controlled by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). All irradiated foods carry a symbol and the phrase “Treated by Irradiation.” However, when irradiated foods are used in a restaurant, they are not required to be labeled.

In general, high-dose vitamin or mineral supplements add little to our health and may in themselves cause illness. Those that contain more than 100 percent of your estimated daily needs may result in serious nutrient imbalances or even toxicity.

Such imbalances do not occur when your source of vitamins comes from foods rather than supplements, because foods contain safe amounts of multiple nutrients.

As you know, most Americans, including athletes, consume considerably more protein than recommended, and more than their bodies can use. Protein or amino acid powders provide no benefit and are a poor substitute for protein-rich foods that contain necessary vitamins and minerals.

Similarly, pills that promise to deliver all the fiber we need daily are a bad risk, because these pills invariably provide only one type of fiber, whereas each type of fiber found in foods of plant origin appears to confer unique health-promoting benefits.

The fatty acids we need also are available in more than adequate amounts in various foods.

Supplements are not substitutes. Supplements do not replace the hundreds of nutrients in whole foods needed for a balanced diet, and they will not fix poor eating habits. If you are considering taking a supplement, heed the following:

• Do not self-prescribe.
• See your doctor or health care provider if you have a health problem.
• Discuss any supplement that you are taking. Supplements may interfere with medications.
• Read the label. Supplements can lose their potency over time, so check the expiration date on the label.

Also, look for the initials “USP.” They stand for the testing organization, US Pharmacopeia, which establishes testing standards for compounds. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not analyze supplements before they enter the marketplace.

• Stick to the Daily Value (DV). Choose supplements that are limited to 100 percent or less. Take no more than what is recommended by your doctor or health care provider. The toxic levels are not known for some nutrients.
• Do not waste dollars. Synthetic supplements are the same as so-called natural types. Generic and synthetic brands are less expensive and equally effective.
• Store in a safe place. Iron supplements are the most common cause of poisoning deaths among children

Perhaps the greatest problem in the planning of menus for a family is that of securing sufficient variety. A person who uses the same recipes and the same combinations of food repeatedly is apt to get into a rut and the members of her family will undoubtedly lose interest in their meals.

This condition results even with the dishes of which those of the family are extremely fond. However, they will not tire so quickly of the foods they care for if such foods are served to them less often. Then, too, there is more chance to practice economy when a larger variety of food is used.

The importance of planning menus systematically should not be overlooked, either, no matter how simple they may be. Even if breakfast consists of only two or more dishes, luncheon of three or four, and dinner of no more than four or five, a certain amount of planning should be done in order that the meal may be properly balanced.

If the suggestions for meal planning already given are applied to this work, very little difficulty will be experienced in providing meals that are both attractive and properly balanced. In addition to these suggestions, a few general rules for menu making ought to be observed. Most of these are simple and can be followed with very little effort.

Unless the menu is planned for a special occasion, the cost of the various dishes should be made to balance. For instance, if an expensive meat is to be served, the vegetables and the salad selected to accompany it should be of moderate cost.

On the other hand, if an expensive salad is to be served, a dessert of moderate cost, such as a simple rice pudding, should be used to offset the price of the other dish. Planning meals in this way is urged for the sake of economy, and if it is carefully followed, all the meals may be made to average about the same cost.

Another important point in successful meal planning is the avoidance of two dishes in the same meal made from the same food. For instance, tomato soup and tomato salad should not be served in the same meal, for the combination is undesirable.

Corn soup contrasts much better with tomato salad than does the tomato soup, for it has the bland flavor that is needed to offset the acid salad. Some housewives, it is true, object to such planning on the ground that it does not give them opportunity to utilize all the materials they may have on hand at the same time. But in nearly every instance the materials can be used to excellent advantage in meals that are to follow and, in addition, the gain in variety is sufficient to warrant the adoption of such a method.

As there should be variety in the materials used to make up the dishes of a meal, so should there be variety in the flavor of the foods selected. Rice, macaroni, and potato, for instance, make an undesirable combination. They are too similar because they are all high in starch; besides, they resemble one another too closely in consistency and they are all bland in flavor.

If a meal contains one or two bland dishes, a special effort should be made to supply some highly flavored dish in order to relieve the monotony. The same thing may be said of acid foods; that is, an oversupply of these is just as distasteful as too many bland foods.

To have fresh fruit for the daily breakfast would be very delightful, but such fruit cannot always be secured. When fresh fruit cannot be had every day, it is better to alternate it with canned fruit or stewed dried fruit than to have it for several days in succession and then have to serve the alternative for a number of days.

The same is true of cereals. If use is to be made of both cooked and uncooked cereals, it is much better to alternate them than to serve the cooked ones for breakfast for an entire week and then uncooked ones the next week.

When two vegetables are used in the same meal, they should be different. Sweet potatoes and white potatoes, although often served together, do not belong in the same meal. In fact, for most seasons of the year, two vegetables dissimilar in consistency should be supplied.

For instance, if spinach is included in a meal, some contrasting vegetable, such as carrots, shell beans, etc., should be served with it. Beets and carrots would not make a good combination, nor should cabbage be combined with spinach, especially if both vegetables are prepared with a sour dressing.

A bland food or one high in fat, such as roast pork, certain kinds of fish, etc., is much more palatable if a highly seasoned sauce or another highly seasoned food or, in fact, a food of an entirely different flavor is served with it. Apple sauce or baked apples are usually served with roast pork for this purpose, while sour sauces or pickles of some description are served with fish to relieve its blandness.

To secure the most successful meals, the main course should be decided upon first and the additional dishes, such as soup, salad, and dessert, should be the second consideration. In this method of planning meals, they can be properly balanced, for if the main course is heavy, the others can be made light or some of them omitted altogether, while if the main course is a light one, heavier dishes may be selected to accompany it.

Whenever it is possible to do so, the heavy meal of the day should be served at noon and the lighter one in the evening. This plan should always be followed for children, and it is preferable for adults.

However, having dinner at noon is often very inconvenient and sometimes impossible, because frequently one or more members of the family are at business some distance from home and their coming home at noon for dinner is impractical. In such an event, the evening meal should be the heavy one, but it should not be made too hearty and overeating should be avoided.

At all meals, tea and coffee should be used sparingly. Especially should this rule be followed by persons who are nervous, or high strung, or are troubled with indigestion and insomnia. At any rate, it is advisable not to drink either of these beverages at night.

Restaurateurs and chefs are becoming more and more attentive to people’s health and diet concerns. Many of them are reexamining their menus, modifying their cooking practices, and adding new, healthful items to their menus. Some have developed new menus that are specially planned to follow as closely as possible the eight recommendations listed here.

An increased health consciousness has affected the way we think about food and the way we cook. Professional cooks are making their foods more healthful in several ways:

1. Using less fat in cooking.

Cooking methods that require no added fat, such as simmering, poaching , baking, steaming, and grilling, can be considered the most healthful. For sautéing, nonstick pans are becoming more widely used because little or no fat is needed. With regular pans, one can be careful to use as little fat as possible.

Grilling is popular because it can be done without first coating the food with fat. If this is done, however, one must be careful not to let the food dry out. Using less fat in cooking also means using ingredients with less fat. Excess external

fat can be trimmed from meats and poultry. Low-fat sauces, such as salsas and vegetable purées, can often be used instead of high-fat sauces. Recipes can often be modified so that quantities of high-fat ingredients, such as butter, cheese, and bacon, are reduced.

2. Using unsaturated fats.

When you do use fats, try to substitute monounsaturated fats, such as olive oil or canola oil, for saturated fats when appropriate.

3. Emphasizing flavor.

Taste is the most important factor in preparing nutritious food. The most vitamin packed dish does no one any good if it is uneaten because it doesn’t taste good.

Preparing flavorful foods requires knowledge of the principles of cooking. You can’t rely simply on nutritional information. Rely more on the natural flavors of foods and less on salt and other additives that should be decreased in the diet.

4. Using the freshest, highest-quality foods possible.

In order to prepare delicious foods with little or no added salt and with less reliance on high-fat, high-sodium sauces and condiments, it is important to use high quality natural ingredients at their peak of flavor. Healthful cooking means letting the true flavors of foods dominate.

To enhance natural flavors without added salt, cooks are using more fresh herbs, hot seasonings such as chilies, ginger, and pepper, and flavorful ingredients like garlic, browned onions, and flavored vinegars.

5. Storing foods properly.

Foods in storage lose nutrients as they age. The loss of nutrients can be slowed, however, by proper storage. This applies particularly to proper refrigeration. For each category of perishable food discussed in this book, pay close attention to how the foods should be stored.

6. Modifying portion sizes.

It is not necessary to feature huge slabs of meat to serve satisfying meals. Smaller portions of well-trimmed meat, poultry ,or fish, nicely balanced on the plate with an assortment of attractive fresh vegetables and complex carbohydrates, are likely to be more healthful.

Sauces often get the blame for adding calories to a meal, but if a sauce is flavorful, you don’t need much. Make a better sauce and serve less of it. Also, if a sauce isn’t too thick, it won’t cling as heavily to the food, and a little will go farther.

7. Giving your family a healthful choice.

Offer a menu with a variety of foods so that everyone can choose a well-balanced meal suited to their needs and desires. It’s not necessary to cook only “diet food,” but a menu that offers French fries as the only available starch is not well balanced.

Place more emphasis on fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Offer a menu with choices from all the groups in the USDA food pyramid or the Canadian rainbow, with a variety of choices from the bottom half of the pyramid or the outer rings of the rainbow. Be flexible in the kitchen..

8. Using nutritional information.

Study the nutritional content of foods in order to plan healthful menus. Many publications are available that list the nutritional content of common food items. Some restaurants have even hired registered dietitians to analyze their menus and give advice on how to make their food more healthful.

Hiring a dietitian is, of course, not practical for every operation.

On the other Hand ,a basic awareness of nutrition helps every professional minimize the fat, cholesterol, and sodium in and maximize the nutritional content and balance of the foods they serve.

• Eggs are one of the few nearly complete foods for a human body—nature designed them to be the sole source of food and nutrients to the fast-growing chick embryo. Their protein content is high, 13 percent (or 6 grams in each large egg). Even the egg shell is nutritious, 96 percent calcium carbonate, an essential element for building human bones (but how do we eat it?). If the kids get upset with bits of egg shell in their scrambled eggs, assure them that you are just trying to help them build strong bones.

• Once a favorite breakfast food in the  Anglo-Saxon world, egg consumption has steadily declined since the 1950s. Americans ate 402 eggs apiece annually in 1945 (1.1/day). By 1991 per capita consumption had dropped to 234 (0.6/day), but it is slowly rising again. In 1998 the annual consumption is 255 eggs. The major reason for the decline is all that   cholesterol in the yolk, a health concern to many people today. A large egg contains an average of 215 milligrams of cholesterol. Its total fat content is a moderate 5 grams or 10 percent of each egg. All the cholesterol and fat are in the yolk.

• Food scientists are working feverishly to reduce the cholesterol level of eggs, attacking the problem on several levels. One approach is to cut down on the development of cholesterol before the hen produces the egg. Biologists are putting laying hens on special to do that.
• Another approach is to chemically remove some of the cholesterol after the hen lays the egg. If we can take the caffeine out of coffee beans, surely we can reduce the amount of cholesterol in eggs to a tolerable level. It is just a matter of time. But to do this, biochemists have to remove the eggs from the shells and add chemicals that bind with the cholesterol, then remove the chemical together with the cholesterol. This part was easy. They ran into problem getting the eggs back into their original containers after they reduced the cholesterol. At this time they can only market the low-cholesterol eggs as scrambled or separated into yolks and whites.

• Genetic alteration of the hens is another approach they are working on. In early 1995, a small egg farm in the Milwaukee area introduced “designer” eggs with 25 percent less fat and 25 percent lower cholesterol using this technique.