Long-Term Ovo-Lacto Vegetarian Diet Impairs Vitamin B-12 Status in Pregnant Women

This post includes a summary of a paper published in the Journal of Nutrition 134:3319-3326, December 2004 and a recipe for minted pesto chicken stir-fry.

Study title and authors:
Long-Term Ovo-Lacto Vegetarian Diet Impairs Vitamin B-12 Status in Pregnant Women

Books:

Corinna Koebnick, Ingrid Hoffmann*, Pieter C. Dagnelie, Ulrike A. Heins*, Sunitha N. Wickramasinghe**, Indrika D. Ratnayaka**, Sindy Gruendel, Jan Lindemans and Claus Leitzmann*

German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrücke, Nuthetal, Germany; * Institute of Nutritional Science, University of Giessen, Germany; Department of Epidemiology, Maastricht University, The Netherlands; ** Department of Haematology, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, St Mary’s Campus, London, UK; and Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands

This study can be accessed at: http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/abstract/134/12/3319
 
Pregnant women consuming a long-term predominantly vegetarian diet have over a 7 times increased risk of vitamin B-12 deficiency than pregnant women on an average diet.

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Recipe of the day

Minted Pesto Chicken Stir-Fry

Ingredients

•Fat for cooking;

Food Mall: Chicken

•2 cups mint leaves;

•1/4 cup pine nuts;
•1/4 cup olive oil;
•1 lb tender chicken, cut in thing strips;
•1 sliced onion;
•1 lb mushrooms of any kind, quartered;

Technique:
Process the mint and pine nuts, if using, in a food processor and slowly integrate the olive oil. Heat the wok and stir-fry the chicken with your chosen fat. Remove the chicken from the wok, reheat and stir-fry the onion for 3-4 minutes. Add the mushrooms and stir-fry for another 2 minutes. Return the chicken to the wok and stir in the mint pesto. Cook for another 3 minutes, until everything is hot.

Minted Pesto Chicken Stir-Fry



Vegetarians vitamin B12 and D intakes are well below recommendations

This post includes a summary of a study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition Vol. 19, No. 6, 781-788 (2000) and a recipe for Lamb Ragout Greek Style.

Books:

Study title and authors:

Relative Weight, Weight Loss Efforts and Nutrient Intakes among Health-Conscious Vegetarian, Past Vegetarian and Nonvegetarian Women Ages 18 to 50.
Susan I. Barr, PhD and Terri M. Broughton, BScD
Food, Nutrition and Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, CANADA

This study can be accessed at: http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/abstract/19/6/781
 
The study pinpointed that vegetarians vitamin B12 and D intakes were well below recommendations and concluded with the advice of the potential adverse health implications of these nutrient deficiencies.

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Recipe of the day

Lamb Ragout Greek Style

Ingredients:

10 sm onions

Food Mall: Lamb

4 tomatoes

1 bay leaf
paprika
1 lemon
salt
pepper
½ pt stock
900 g boned breast of lamb
45 g lard

Instructions:
1 Cut the meat in 2-inch cubes.

2 Peel the onions.

3 Heat the lard in a deep pan and add the meat and onions.

4 Cook 15 minutes over a moderately high heat for 15 minutes, stirring constantly.

5 Add the stock and continue cooking 5 minutes.

6 Add the tomatoes, peeled and quartered, the bay leaf, and a good pinch of paprika and season with salt and pepper.

7 Cook 10 minutes.

8 Add enough boilking water to cover and remove the bay leaf and the onions.

9 Keep the onions warm.

10 Season with salt, pepper, and a little lemon juice.

11 Serve on a heated platter.

Lamb Ragout



Teenage girls missing out on vital vitamins and minerals

This post includes a summary of a paper published in Women's Health Medicine Volume 1, Issue 1, Pages 6-10 November 2004 and a recipe for stew beef with collards, mushrooms, and onions.

Books:

Study title and author:

Nutrition and teenagers

Sara Stanner

This paper can be accessed at: http://www.womenshealthjournal.co.uk/article/S1744-1870(06)00003-5/abstract

The study pinpoints the evidence of low intakes of several vitamins and minerals (including folate, zinc, calcium, magnesium and iron) amongst adolescents, particularly teenage girls, some of whom appear to be avoiding important sources of these micronutrients (e.g. milk and meat) in the mistaken belief that they are ‘fattening’.

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Recipe of the day

Stew Beef with Collards, Mushrooms, and Onions

Ingredient list:

Food Mall: Stew Meat

1 pound of beef for stew

1 bunch of collard greens (10 stems)
8 ounces of mushrooms
1 sweet yellow onion
32-ounces of beef broth
Extra virgin olive oil
Ground Nutmeg
Garlic Powder
Black pepper
Turmeric
Salt

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Chop onion and mushrooms into bite-sized pieces. Cut stew beef into bite-sized pieces. Rinse collard greens repeatedly. Strip leaf from stems. Discard stems. Cut or tear collards into bite-sized pieces.
Add three tablespoons of olive oil to Dutch oven over medium heat on stove top. Add onions and let cook while you continue prep work. Add mushrooms, collard greens, and stew beef. Add salt, garlic powder, and black pepper to taste. Add turmeric because it is good for you. Do not be afraid. I dust the ingredients with a nice layer of each. Also add a light dusting of nutmeg to give the dish a little more “interest.” Add beef broth to nearly submerge ingredients. Stir well, cover, and transfer to the oven to cool at 350 degrees for 60 minutes.



Vegan diets may not be nutritionally adequate

This post includes a summary of a paper published by the American Council on Science and Health July 1997 and a recipe for spicy pork scratchings.

Study title and author:
Vegetarianism
Kathleen Meister, M.S.

This paprer can be accessed at: http://www.acsh.org/docLib/20040402_Vegetarianism1997.pdf

The author makes the following recommendations.

Books:

Diets completely devoid of animal products (vegan diets) may not be nutritionally adequate, especially for people with increased nutritional needs, such as infants, children, adolescents, pregnant or lactating women, and individuals with certain medical problems.

Parents who follow these unusual diets or lifestyles should realize that children are far more vulnerable than adults are to serious health damage from nutritional inadequacies and imbalances. Dietary restrictions that may be tolerated by adults could cause lasting harm to an infant or young child.

Young people who become vegetarians for ethical or environmental reasons may also be placing their health at risk.

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Recipe of the day

Spicy Pork Scratchings

Ingredients:

Skin from pork joint

Food Mall: Pork

1.5 tbsp fennel seeds

1.5 tbsp coriander seeds
Pinch of dried chilli flakes
Sea salt
Drizzle of olive oil

Directions:
1.Preheat the oven to 220C.

2.Cut the skin into two pieces and score incisions in the skin with a sharp knife.

3.In a pestle and mortar. Crush the fennel, coriander and chilli with a pinch of salt. Trust me, this can take forever!

4.Place the skin on a roasting rack over a tray to catch the fat and sprinkle the spice mix over the skin making sure the skin pieces are evenly covered.

5.Sprinkle another good pinch of salt over the skins and drizzle a little olive oil over them.

6.Bake in the oven until the skins are very crispy. I found it took about 30-40 minutes to be sure it was properly hard on the top.

7.Break it up into pieces.

Pork Scratchings



Cereals may lead to severe malnutrition in infants

This post includes a summary of a paper published in the British Medical Journal 1978 April 1; 1(6116): 804–805 and a recipe for chicken satay.

Study title and author:
Exotic diets and the infant
D G Julian

This paper can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1603519/pdf/brmedj00119-0008.pdf

The author identifies the vegan diet is a strict vegetarian diet and therefore likely to be deficient in vitamins D and B12. A more dangerous diet, is the zen macrobiotic diet. Its adherents progress through ten stages of increasing dietary restriction until they are taking only cereals.

Severe nutritional deficiencies may result. A zen macrobiotic infant food called kokoh has been associated with severe malnutrition in infants.

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Recipe of the day

Chicken Satay

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp ground cumin

Food Mall: Chicken Breasts

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbs butter, divided
3 tbs lemon juice, divided
4 large boneless, chicken-breasts (about 1 1/2 bs)
1 medium-size onion
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/3 cup almond butter

Instructions:
Combine cumin, salt, 2 tbs butter, 2 tbs lemon juice, add chicken and marinate 10 minutes. Broil chicken until tender, flipping when halfway done.

For the sauce:
Heat 1 tbs butter over medium heat and saute the onion until golden, stir in water, garlic powder, and 1 tbs lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Remove pan from heat and beat in almond butter until melted. Serve warm.

Chicken Satay



Vegan diet may lead to vitamin deficiencies

Books:

This post includes a summary of a paper published in Support Cancer Care 203 (11) 197-198 and a recipe for cilantro pork stir-fry.

Study title and author:
Dangerous Nutrition
W F Jungi

This paper can be accessed at: http://www.springerlink.com/content/952j5237nvvbprcy/

Jungi observes that a vegan diet with whole grain and high fibre from cereals, fruit and vegetables can be dangerous for cancer patients and may lead to vitamin deficiencies.

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Recipe of the day

Cilantro Pork Stir-Fry

Ingredients

•Fat for cooking;

•1 lb tender pork, thinly sliced;
•4 finally chopped garlic cloves;

Food Mall: Pork

•1 tbsp finely chopped ginger;

•1 cup coriander (cilantro) leaves, chopped;
•1/4 cup lard;
•2 onions, thinly sliced;
•1 red or green bell pepper, thinly sliced;
•1 tbsp lime juice;

Technique:
Mix the garlic, ginger, half the cilantro and lard in a bowl, add the pork and put in the refrigerator to marinate for an hour or two. Heat your wok and stir-fry the pork. Remove the pork, add more cooking fat and stir-fry the onions for about 3 minutes. Add the bell pepper and stir-fry for another 3 minutes, until soft. Return the pork to the wok with the lime juice and the other half cilantro leaves and cook for another minute while tossing to blend the flavors.

Pork Stir-Fry