Wow

Last Thursday, the post "Reversing Tooth Decay" made it to the front page of Reddit, a news aggregator site. I ended up getting 46,429 hits that day, and another 8,646 the next day. I normally hover between 1,500 and 3,000.

It was a wild ride. I'd like to send out a big thanks to whoever posted the article to Reddit, and everyone who voted for it. I appreciate you helping to spread the message.

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A New Way to Soak Brown Rice

I've been looking for a way to prepare whole brown rice that increases its mineral availability without changing its texture. I've been re-reading some of the papers I've accumulated on grain processing and mineral availability, and I've found a simple way to do it.

In the 2008 paper "Effects of soaking, germination and fermentation on phytic acid, total and in vitro soluble zinc in brown rice", Dr. Robert J. Hamer's group found that soaking alone didn't have much of an effect on phytic acid in brown rice. However, fermentation was highly effective at degrading it. What I didn't realize the first time I read the paper is that they fermented intact brown rice rather than grinding it. This wasn't clear from the description in the methods section but I confirmed it by e-mail with the lead author Dr. Jianfen Liang. He added that the procedure comes from a traditional Chinese recipe for rice noodles. The method they used is very simple:

1. Soak brown rice in dechlorinated water for 24 hours at room temperature without changing the water. Reserve 10% of the soaking liquid (should keep for a long time in the fridge). Discard the rest of the soaking liquid; cook the rice in fresh water.
2. The next time you make brown rice, use the same procedure as above, but add the soaking liquid you reserved from the last batch to the rest of the soaking water.
3. Repeat the cycle. The process will gradually improve until 96% or more of the phytic acid is degraded at 24 hours.

This process probably depends on two factors: fermentation acidifies the soaking medium, which activates the phytase (phytic acid-degrading enzyme) already present in the rice; and it also cultivates microorganisms that produce their own phytase. I would guess the latter factor is the more important one, because brown rice doesn't contain much phytase.

You can probably use the same liquid to soak other grains.

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Omu rice

I am a terrible cook and a complete culinary idiot. Ever since I started my life as a "煮妇" (literately translated as 'cook-wife' derived from the word house-wife) three years ago, fried rice is one of those few handful of dishes that I have constantly whipped up for my family. As my cooking skills improves, I ventured into more and more challenging dishes...and over the past one year, I find myself getting quite good at making omu rice ;)


Omuraisu or Omurice or Omu Rice is a Japanese dish with stir-fried rice wrapped inside an egg omelet. The rice is usually stir-fried with chicken and vegetables and flavored with tomato sauce or ketchup. It looks like a simple dish to prepare but it gets really tricky when trying to wrap the rice with the omelet.

I remember learning how to make my first omu rice by relying on recipes I found from the internet. Most recipes come with instructions that go along these lines: cook egg omelet in a pan; add fried rice and wrap; then place a plate over the frying pan and flip the Omu rice over to the plate. This is really easier said than done! Especially when I choose to use only 1 egg instead of 2 to make the omelet. It is possible to wrap the rice fillings with my 1-egg omelet, but only with a small amount of rice. So, instead of the signature crescent-moon shape, I ended up with a flat, longish omelet (see my first attempt). Too much rice, the omelet will probably break into pieces.



It was only after I got hold of a cookbook from the library that I learned another method of wrapping the omelet. It proves to be much easier, and I could finally come up with a fatter omu rice, and still using 1 egg! The trick is to flip only one side of the omelet over the rice...then pick up the pan and slide the half-wrapped omelet onto a serving plate...and carefully tilt and turn the pan over and you will have a nice omelet on your plate. The critical success factor of this method is to be "胆大心细" (careful and yet daring)! I know, I know, with my lousy description, I am sure you wouldn't understand what was I talking about. So, I plough through the web and managed to find this video clip. This is the one of the better video clips on how to make an omu rice...it is very professional done and the recipe is almost similar to the one I have adapted from the cookbook. However, I am really amused with what I saw towards the end of the vidoe, the chef actually used a paper towel to 'shape' the omu rice!


I have included the recipe below, but it is really up to individual preference when it comes to preparing the fried rice. Sometimes instead of chicken meat, I will use prawns and I always have to leave out the green peas, otherwise my kids will pick up each and single pea and pass them over to my plate! Having said that, it is still best to flavour the fried rice with tomato sauce or ketchup(use less if you don't like the sour taste) so as not to affect the authenticity of the dish.

I usually serve omu rice as a meal on its own, it is perfect whenever we feel like having a tv-dinner. Recently, my boys requested that I made Japanese curry rice for them, and instead of serving the curry with just plain rice, I paired it with omu rice. It turn out to be a great combo meal and it has since been included as a permanent item in our tv-dinner menu. Next time, I think I will serve it with hanbagu ;)



Omu Rice

Ingredients (Serves 2)

2 servings of cooked plain rice
1 chicken thigh meat, cut into bite size
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons green peas
2~ 3 tablespoons tomato sauce or ketchup
salt & pepper
cooking oil
4 eggs

Method:

1. Heat some oil in a wok or frying pan, sauté chopped onion until transparent. Add the chicken and sauté till chicken is cooked. Add green peas, stir through. Add in ketchup, salt and pepper to taste and continue to stir fry. Add in cooked rice and toss rapidly. Dish up and set aside.
2. Lightly whisk 2 eggs in a bowl (I used only 1 egg). Heat up a frying pan with some oil. Pour in the egg mixture and tilt the pan to coat the base. Cook until eggs are almost set but still a little runny in the middle.
3. Lower the heat and spoon half of the fried rice mixture in the middle of the omelet. With a spatula, flip one side of the egg over the rice mixture. Pick up the pan and with the unfolded side, slide the omelet from the frying pan to a serving plate, just half way through. Then, carefully tilt and turn the pan over and the omelet is on the plate. For this step, watch this video clip.
4. Repeat the same for the remaining portion of the rice. Drizzle with ketchup and serve immediately.
   Recipe source: 轻松学做菜: 烹饪秘诀195
   
   
   

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CHICKS ON A STICK: BROWNIE BIRD POPS

Chick on a stick: Brownie pops for Easter

Remember I said I'd post Medrich's Best Cocoa Brownie recipe when I made my Brownie Bunny Pops? Well, here's the post.

If you use yellow coloured Candy Melts, of course you'll get a better likeness to little chicks. I was too lazy to dirty another bowl so I used the white coloured Candy Melts left over from the Bunnies. this chick's Canadian! notice the little orange maple leaf feet?

Wilton silicone Brownie Pops mold (photo from Wilton.com)

BEST COCOA BROWNIES
from Alice Medrich's Bittersweet

Ingredients:
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cold large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup walnut or pecan pieces (optional)
Special equipment: An 8-inch square baking pan [cakebrained note: I used a Wilton Brownie pop mold...you'll need two trays otherwise you'll have to wait for the first batch to bake and cool].

Directions:

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom and sides of the baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.
2. In a medium heatproof bowl, add the butter and set on top of a large sauce pan with barely simmering water. Melt the butter, then add sugar and salt, and stir until well combined. Next add the cocoa powder and stir until mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot.
3. Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in the nuts, if using. Spread evenly in the lined pan.
4. Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack.
5. Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.
6. Chocolate note: Any unsweetened natural or Dutch-process cocoa powder works well here. Natural cocoa produces brownies with more flavor complexity and lots of tart, fruity notes, which maybe more exciting for you. Dutch-process cocoa results in a darker brownie with a mellower, old-fashioned chocolate pudding flavor, pleasantly reminiscent of childhood.
   

Makes 16 large or 25 smaller brownies [cakebrained note: makes 16 large brownie pops using Wilton's Brownie Pop mold; or 24 small brownie pops...I initially sprayed the molds with Pam so they wouldn't stick. The large brownie pops baked for 20-25 min]

Cakebrain's instructions for assembling the brownie pops:

• Turn out the cooled brownie pops from the mold by inverting onto cooling rack. Trim any extraneous bits of brownie with kitchen scissors.
• Use 4" lolly sticks and insert one end into the brownie pop. For chicks and bunnies, insert in centre of flat end of the brownie.
• Tip: I wrapped a thin piece of plastic wrap at the base of the brownie so the brownie wouldn't slide down while I dipped it.
• Dip the brownie into melted white, dark or milk chocolate or Wilton's Candy Melts.
• Decorate with sprinkles. I used the Flowerful Medley. For the bunnies I used a little pink disc sprinkle while the birdies had orange "leaves" for feet and a little yellow disc for a beak. Use white discs and colour in the eyes with a food marker. Attach the decorations before the dipped brownies harden; or you can attach with melted chocolate or melts if they are already hardened.
• I used Gourmet Writer; but Wilton also sells its own brand of FoodWriter marker pens.
• For bunny ears: use a small rubber spatula to scoop and smear bunny ears shapes on parchment paper. Allow ears to harden. Peel off. Use a sharp pointed knife to cut 2 holes into the tops of each of the dipped brownies. While the brownies are still freshly dipped, insert the hardened ears into the holes. Ears are almost impossible to attach if the dipped brownies have hardened.
• The Lollipop and Treat Stand was also a coupon purchase I made :P It's great for drying your freshly dipped treats.
• Alternatively, to harden the candy coating, you can grab your kid's playdough and insert the sticks in that...or rest them on parchment. I think the treat stand is neat but luckily I had wrapped plastic below the bases of the brownies because the lolly sticks are smaller in diameter than the holders. This way you can dry the candy coating using the treat stand without having to pry the brownies off the holders. The plastic wrap can be removed after the candy coating dries.

As you can see, I've used quite a few coupons at Michaels... ;p

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EASTER BROWNIE POPS

an Easter Bunny Brownie Pop

Everything tastes better when it's on a stick!

Corn dogs, fudgsicles, lollipops, candy apples, shish kebabs and the like have a good thing going. Who can resist food when you impale it?

It's fun. Kids love it. You can't be grumpy or sad holding stick food.

One of the few difficult words my 2 year old can say is "lollipop". Well, actually she calls them "yawyeeepops". She doesn't really get them very often at all but for some reason, she knows the word.

On a recent excursion to Michaels with my 40% coupon, I discovered Wilton Brownie Pop molds. The tray makes 8 pops and is made of silicone. I think that when another coupon comes along I'll have to get another tray because one tray isn't sufficient to bake a full brownie recipe. I had to wait until one tray baked and cooled to make the second batch. A full brownie recipe makes 16 big brownie pops. I suppose you could make more pops...you just make them smaller. Mine were pretty big though.

I used Alice Medrich's Best Cocoa Brownie recipe and since there was no leavening agent, there wasn't a problem with leaving the batter to sit on the counter waiting for the first tray to be done. The brownies held up well and didn't fall off the sticks...and they even dipped well for me: no crumbs in my white candy melts!

I used the Wilton melted white candy melts to make bunny ears. On parchment paper, I used a small rubber spatula to smear ear shapes...and allowed them to cool. I used a sharp pointed knife to make "ear-holes" at the top of the brownie pop so that I could insert the dried ears in carefully. They're delicate but it worked!

I even used the candy melts to help anchor the right-side up brownie pops onto a disc of unmelted white candy; creating a little pedestal. This kind of looks like a basket but I was too lazy to pipe basket handles from royal icing. Instead, I dipped the top of the basket in more melted white candy and sprinkled it with green sanding sugar to look like "grass"; then I plopped some candy-coated chocolate eggs on top. They kind of look like baskets. I know that green-tinted dessicated coconut would have made for better grass but I hate the texture of dessicated coconut in my food.

Easter Baskets of Eggs made using Brownie Pop molds

I love coconut flavour and coconut milk but don't want something stringy bothering my taste buds. Go figure. I'm complicated.

But I digress.

Get yourself some of those cool shaped sprinkles from the cake decorating section of Michaels...or whatever store you frequent and use 'em for eyes, feet, noses, beaks etc. The Wilton sprinkles worked fine for me. I used the little pink discs for rabbit noses and used a food-safe black "gourmet writer" to draw the lashes, eyes and mouth. The Gourmet Writer is cool. It works exactly like a felt-tip marker. I bought this at Michaels too.

In no way am I affiliated with Michaels, people. I just like to use 40% off coupons. I clip those coupons from my flyers (or get 'em online) and go every time I have one. I'm loathe to buy something there full price. Cheapie me. I know.

It's gettin' late and I'm heading to bed. My next post will include Medrich's brownie recipe along with my Brownie Birds on a stick...and I'll show you what my lolly stand and brownie pop tray look like too. update: click here for the recipe and a look at the chicks

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Reversing Tooth Decay

In the last post, I discussed the research of Drs. Edward and May Mellanby on the nutritional factors affecting tooth formation. Dr. Mellanby is the man who discovered vitamin D and identified the cause of rickets. Nutrition has a profound effect on tooth structure, and well-formed teeth are inherently resistant to decay. But is there anything you can do if your teeth are already formed?

Teeth are able to heal themselves. That's one reason why traditional cultures such as the Inuit can wear their teeth down to the pulp due to chewing leather and sand-covered dried fish, yet still have an exceptionally low rate of tooth decay. It's also how the African Wakamba tribe could traditionally file their front teeth into sharp points without causing decay. Both cultures lost their resistance to tooth decay after adopting nutrient-poor Western foods such as white flour and sugar.

Teeth are made of four layers. Enamel is the hardest, most mineralized outer shell. Dentin is another protective mineralized layer that's below the enamel. Below the dentin is the pulp, which contains blood vessels and nerves. The roots are coated with cementum, another mineralized tissue.

When enamel is poorly formed and/or the diet isn't adequate, enamel demineralizes and decay sets in. Tooth decay is an opportunistic infection that takes advantage of poorly developed or maintained teeth. If the diet remains inadequate, the tooth has to be filled or removed, or the person risks more serious complications.

Fortunately, a decaying or broken tooth has the ability to heal itself if the diet is good, including by remineralizing enamel and dentin, and/or forming a limited quantity of new dentin. This new dentin is deposited by specialized cells called odontoblasts. Here's what Dr. Edward Mellanby had to say about his wife's research on the subject. This is taken from Nutrition and Disease:

Since the days of John Hunter it has been known that when the enamel and dentine are injured by attrition or caries, teeth do not remain passive but respond to the injury by producing a reaction of the odontoblasts in the dental pulp in an area generally corresponding to the damaged tissue and resulting in a laying down of what is known as secondary dentine. In 1922 M. Mellanby proceeded to investigate this phenomenon under varying nutritional conditions and found that she could control the secondary dentine laid down in the teeth of animals as a reaction to attrition both in quality and quantity, independently of the original structure of the tooth. Thus, when a diet of high calci­fying qualities, ie., one rich in vitamin D, calcium and phosphorus was given to the dogs during the period of attrition, the new secondary dentine laid down was abundant and well formed whether the original structure of the teeth was good or bad. On the other hand, a diet rich in cereals and poor in vitamin D resulted in the production of secondary dentine either small in amount or poorly calcified, and this happened even if the primary dentine was well formed.

Thus, in dogs, the factors that affect tooth healing are the same factors that affect tooth development:

1. The mineral content of the diet, particularly calcium and phosphorus
2. The fat-soluble vitamin content of the diet, chiefly vitamin D
3. The availability of minerals for absorption, determined largely by the diet's phytic acid content (prevents mineral absorption)

What about humans? Drs. Mellanby set out to see if they could use their dietary principles to cure tooth decay that was already established. They divided 62 children with cavities into three different diet groups for 6 months. Group 1 ate their normal diet plus oatmeal (rich in phytic acid). Group 2 ate their normal diet plus vitamin D. Group 3 ate a grain-free diet and took vitamin D.

In group 1, oatmeal prevented healing and encouraged new cavities, presumably due to its ability to prevent mineral absorption. In group 2, simply adding vitamin D to the diet caused most cavities to heal and fewer to form. The most striking effect was in group 3, the group eating a grain-free diet plus vitamin D, in which nearly all cavities healed and very few new cavities developed. Grains are the main source of phytic acid in the modern diet, although we can't rule out the possibility that grains were promoting tooth decay through another mechanism as well.

Dr. Mellanby was quick to point out that diet 3 contained some carbohydrate (~45% reduction) and was not low in sugar: "Although [diet 3] contained no bread, porridge or other cereals, it included a moderate amount of carbohydrates, for plenty of milk, jam, sugar, potatoes and vegetables were eaten by this group of children." This study was published in the British Medical Journal (1) and the British Dental journal. Here's Dr. Edward Mellanby again:

The hardening of carious areas that takes place in the teeth of children fed on diets of high calcifying value indicates the arrest of the active process and may result in “healing” of the infected area. As might be surmised, this phenomenon is accompanied by a laying down of a thick barrier of well-formed secondary denture... Summing up these results it will be clear that the clinical deductions made on the basis of the animal experiments have been justified, and that it is now known how to diminish the spread of caries and even to stop the active carious process in many affected teeth.

Dr. Mellanby first began publishing studies showing the reversal of cavities in humans using diet in 1924. Why has such a major medical finding, published in high-impact peer-reviewed journals, faded into obscurity?

Dr. Weston Price also had success curing tooth decay using a similar diet. He fed poor children one very nutritious meal a day and monitored their dental health. From Nutrition and Physical Degeneration (p. 290):

About four ounces of tomato juice or orange juice and a teaspoonful of a mixture of equal parts of a very high vitamin natural cod liver oil and an especially high vitamin butter was given at the beginning of the meal. They then received a bowl containing approximately a pint of a very rich vegetable and meat stew, made largely from bone marrow and fine cuts of tender meat: the meat was usually broiled separately to retain its juice and then chopped very fine and added to the bone marrow meat soup which always contained finely chopped vegetables and plenty of very yellow carrots; for the next course they had cooked fruit, with very little sweetening, and rolls made from freshly ground whole wheat, which were spread with the high-vitamin butter. The wheat for the rolls was ground fresh every day in a motor driven coffee mill. Each child was also given two glasses of fresh whole milk. The menu was varied from day to day by substituting for the meat stew, fish chowder or organs of animals.

Dr. Price provides before and after X-rays showing re-calcification of cavity-ridden teeth on this program. His intervention was not exactly the same as Drs. Mellanby, but it was similar in many ways. Both diets were high in minerals, rich in fat-soluble vitamins (including D), and low in phytic acid.

Price's diet was not grain-free, but used rolls made from freshly ground whole wheat. Freshly ground whole wheat has a high phytase (the enzyme that degrades phytic acid) activity, thus in conjunction with the long yeast rises common in Price's time, it would have broken down nearly all of its own phytic acid. This would have made it a source of minerals rather than a sink for them. He also used high-vitamin pastured butter in conjunction with cod liver oil. We now know that the vitamin K2 in pastured butter is important for bone and tooth development and maintenance. This was something that Dr. Mellanby did not understand at the time, but modern research has corroborated Price's finding that K2 is synergistic with vitamin D in promoting skeletal and dental health.

If I were to design the ultimate dietary program to heal cavities that incorporates the successes of both doctors, it would look something like this:

• Rich in animal foods, particularly full-fat pastured dairy products (if tolerated) and bone broths. Also meat, organs, fish, and eggs.
• Fermented grains only; no unfermented grains such as oatmeal, breakfast cereal, crackers, etc. No breads except true sourdough (ingredients should not list lactic acid). Or even better, no grains at all.
• Limited nuts; beans in moderation, only if they're soaked overnight or longer prior to cooking (due to the phytic acid).
• Starchy vegetables such as potatoes and sweet potatoes.
• A limited quantity of fruit (one piece per day or less), but no refined sweets.
• Cooked and raw vegetables.
• Sunlight, high-vitamin cod liver oil, or vitamin D3 supplements.
• Pastured butter.
• No industrially processed food.

This diet would maximize mineral absorption while providing abundant fat-soluble vitamins. It probably isn't necessary to follow it strictly. For example, if you eat more mineral-rich foods such as dairy and bone broths, you can probably get away with more phytic acid. Or you might be able to heal cavities eating like this for only one or two meals a day, as Dr. Price demonstrated. 

This post is focused on diet, but obviously oral hygiene also matters.  Brushing your teeth, flossing, and rinsing your mouth out after meals will also reduce dental risks.  

The technique described above is applicable to early-stage, small cavities, not necessarily to advanced decay.  If you try to heal your own cavities using diet, please do it under the supervision of a dentist.  

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The Benefits of Growing Algae in Your Water Filter

One of the factors that's often overlooked in our efforts to replicate the health of non-industrial cultures is water quality. Traditional cultures don't drink sterilized, chlorinated, fluoridated tap water. They drink from natural flowing streams and lakes, complete with their natural minerals, and... algae.

With every gulp, they ingest millions or even billions of tiny green organisms entirely missing from the modern water supply (1).

Fortunately, we can drink algae water too. As a matter of fact, millions of lazy people are doing it right now! All you have to do is buy a clear water filter, use it regularly and leave it in the sun. Over time, you'll develop your very own film of algae that will constantly shed into the water you drink. Here are some of the benefits of algae water:

• Adds oxygen to the water, increasing your energy on a cellular level!
• Probiotics in every cup
• Algae are full of vitamin K. Who needs spinach!
• Make your own biofuel

4 out of 5 scientists agree that a cup of algae water equals 3.7 servings of vegetables (2).

April fools!

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