corn, beef, additives

[robertf]

Just a few sundry questions on diet

I'm looking to start making tortillas. Does everyone only use masa harina or do you find that organic corn flour is as good?

I looked at one brand of tortillas that uses harina and then looked up the only preservative in there, something do with wood derived cellulose that could be carcinogenic - something as benign looking as cellulose being carcinogenic scared me a bit. I got lazy avoiding additives, but I think I'm going to be much stricter now. What is the general feeling, do you all strictly avoid all additives or do you avoid only the really bad ones?

Wondering about fryng my own corn nuts in coconut oil, anyone else do this?

I get some ground beef here that is very tough, the only way to make it edible is to cook it for a long time, which renders it not Peaty, so would some small quantities be ok or should I just stick to rare meat only?

There is a brand of instant gelatin here with oligofructose added, doesn't seem too harmful but what do you think? I'm looking into turkish sourced halal gelatin

Does anyone find an upper limit to milk coffees? I'm experimenting and doing one each time I have an energy drop, maximum was like 5 so far with no ill effects so I'm curious about upping the quantity to 7, 10?

 

[tara]

The difference between untreated corn flour/meal and masa harina should be the nixtamalisation. Cooking the corn with lime (?) changes its nature, making more nutrients available, and according to Peat, reducing the risk of starch persorption through the gut lining.

Do you mean popping corn kernels in coconut oil? I do that for my kids occasionally. Then add melted butter. But I don't think they have great nutritional value, and may be a bit hard on the gut depending on how sensitive you are.

If your ground beef is tough, I would guess that means it contains more collagen, which is good. Anyone cooking stocks from gelatinous joints, which Peat sometimes recommends, is cooking them for a while. I guess it's a trade off. I cook stocks when I can get soup bones.

I don't know about hte particular oligofructose, but I think some are hard to fdigest, and may bother sensitive stomachs.

I think the coffee limit (and the milk limit) is quite personal. Also depends how strong it is.

In terms of additives, for me personally, I prepare most of my food from basic ingredients, but sometimes when I'm out I'll eat whatever is going, though I still try to keep PUFA consumption down. I'm still eating chocolate with soy lecithin regularly, but many here avoid it rigorously, and occasionally have a spoonful of commercial icecream with carrageenan, which Peat strongly advises against. I may get fussier in the future, who knows?