Cyanide in the diet

Galloping noises on the net speaking of food poisoning by cyanide. The word thrilled because everyone or almost know that cyanide is highly poisonous, used by the Germans during the Second World War. And now we talk about in the world of food.

What is it really?
Smoking is the leading cause of cyanide exposure! However, their worst: it contains arsenic, ammonia, acetone, cadmium, formaldehyde, benzopyrene, glycol, ammonium sulfate, coumarin, eugenol (a phenol), theobromine, glycyrrhizin, and pyridine ... Nice cocktail, right? For more information on smoking, visit the Center website devoted to anti-smoking aid and support to stop smoking.

Drinking water is not bad either ... The presence of cyanide is due to the rejection of industries. However, Health Canada states that "maintaining a residual free chlorine in neutral or alkaline conditions will result in very low concentrations of cyanide in the treated water." For more information and make your own mind you, click here.

The bitter apricot kernels contain cyanide and are dangerous! However, who among you regularly consume apricot kernels??

And then their cassava ...
Indeed, information, noise circulating about the dangers of cyanide is mainly cassava. It is in the dock because it contains natural cyanogens may cause neurological and thyroid abnormalities ... But our organization has the means to detoxify cyanide absorbs it, provided of course that is efficient in this respect.

How is the detoxification of hydrocyanic acid (cyanide) in the body?
The ingestion of cyanide in food led to its detoxification in the body through its conversion to thiocyanate; a sulfur compounded having goitrogenic properties (means, which causes goiter, swelling or enlargement of the thyroid gland). Oops!

And that's the B12 that influences the likely conversion of cyanide to thiocyanate ... Complicated? Not so much ... In a healthy individual, the balance between cyanide and thiocyanate (largely present in body fluids, including saliva) is constantly maintained through the consumption of proteins and especially of sulfur amino acids.

Detour on the sulfur amino acids
These are methionine and cysteine, present, mainly in animal products (sole, tuna, beef, chicken, but also cheese and egg yolk), but they are also found in soy flour, peanuts / roasted peanuts, lentils, beans, pistachios and almonds). Methionine is essential (the body does not synthesize), cysteine ​​not, but it deteriorates as vitamin B6, it is better to ensure its contribution through food or supplementation. In an individual who is deficient in sulfur amino acids, the ability to detoxify cyanide (determined by the dynamic equilibrium between cyanide and thiocyanate) would be reduced making it more vulnerable to the toxic effect of cyanide.

However, be aware that the increase of thiocyanate in the blood (which can be caused by excessive intake of cyanide) blocks iodine and prevents it from entering the thyroid to form thyroidal hormones (hence the goitre due to hypothyroidism). Moreover, a thyroidal deficiency during fetal life began at birth or low birth weight leads to cortical neurons. And that leads to nothing else but a lack of development of the brain, then permanent damage to it and the mental cretinism (ataxia neuropathic tropical!).



Back on cassava!
So, he would be accused of causing cretinism (we must use mass in our various governments ...) and goiter (enlargement of the thyroid gland which we just discussed, due to iodine deficiency) ...

It was observed that in areas (usually African) where people consume large quantities of insufficiently processed cassava, they suffer from excessive absorption of cyanide (a substance naturally present in the cassava root) resulting in a hypersecretion iodine, but its reduced uptake by the thyroid (due to the production of thiocyanate) and shows, so endemic goitre and, in some regions of anomalous neurological newborns. By cons, this process of inhibition of iodine does not continue if children are breast fed!

Cassava is traditionally soaked in water for several days to carry away the cyanide. It is a processing operation is called retting. The species the most common cassava is soft, very lightly loaded cyanide. However, be aware that cyanide is a natural protective food against his attackers, a natural pesticide, somehow. The problem is that its rate increases in drought (new consequence of global warming) and that, in addition, we have introduced the cultivation of species of cassava, more resistant, but loaded with cyanide without changing the habits of transformation required!

In the Amazon, in the heart of the jungle, some natives consume one kg of cassava per day, fresh and cooked. Meanwhile, they drink up to three liters of beer and fermented cassava person does not suffer from goitre, or cretinism! Why? Well, because these natives also consume very large quantities of animal products (meat and fish), which gives them the necessary amount of sulfur amino acids and iodine, which is not the case of indigenous African consumer's cassava, which is the main source of food ...

So the whole truth (or so) of cyanide in the diet and more specifically in cassava. It is obvious that the quantities of cassava we eat are definitely insignificant and in any case, the flour produced worldwide is produced from cassava sweet, traditionally treated, and therefore, it is absolutely devoid of cyanide!

We must remain vigilant to the campaigns of poisoning information that could very well be orchestrated by the food industry who has been increasingly questioned and criticized by health experts in the diet, which by advocating the removal of traditional cereals, ratiboisent a lucrative market ... The real culprits of our absorption of cyanide are industrial and toxic waste and cigarette manufacturers.

Keep the virtues of cassava attractive alternative with its fibers, its calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and vitamins A, beta carotene, C and B9!

A plant called fountain of youth

Aloe vera is one of the best known medicinal plants since ancient times.

In ancient Greek physicians prescribed the plant in their orders, while the ancient Egyptians used it as medicine, but also as an elixir for the skin care and for embalming their dead and was called the "plant of the immortality " For millennia, this plant has become prestigious for men the symbol of immortality and beauty. Almost all cultures have attributed to aloe vera soothing nicknames: The Indians called him a "Magic Sky," the Maya believed in him the "Fountain of Youth" and the Sumerians greeted as "gift of the gods." Today aloe vera knows many popular names such as "plant medicine," "Pot Doctor" or "magic wand." wand".

Aloe vera is a plant that belongs, such as garlic, to the botanical family Liliaceae. It grows in subtropical areas and sandy soil.

Leaves gray-green thick up to 60 inches long and from a rosette. This plant is well adapted to dry climate and arid desert. This robustness is due to the peculiar constitution of the leaves: they evaporate from some moisture and store water and nutrients and natural substances for drought periods.

If a leaf is broken, it heals almost instantly: juice, gel-like, flowing to where it was broken and from a protective layer that strengthens in a very short time, making the wound barely visible. The best-known property of aloe vera gel is a similar effect on human skin.

Over the century's healers, veterinarians, and specialists have openly stated that Aloe Vera has the power to cure or reduce the pain of human and animal diseases.

Some of the benefits of aloe vera in humans:

- Stimulates cell growth

Stimulant, depending on the dosage, the cell growth and development of normal tissue, including tissue, where it's beneficial effect for injuries.

- Purifies

Aloe Vera harmonizes, detoxifies and normalizes the digestive tract and enzyme's aid digestion.

- Antiseptic

It has at least six components antiseptic bactericidal, virucidal, fungicidal or inhibiting growth of fungi.

- Anti-inflammatory

It suppresses inflammation reactions by removing redness, heat sensation comparable to those of corticosteroids, but without their side effects.

and many more ...

Aloe Vera is used both for external application on the skin (it has the property to penetrate quickly and deeply into the skin) only for internal use where it helps to include a good bowel movement and helps in increasing defenses immune.

Protein, health and vegetarianism

It's with great pleasure that I present guest article this week! Philippe, our gourmet vegetarian, we explained clearly and precisely what proteins are, what we need and how we get them, regardless of the type of power we have.

Philippe is a vegetarian for years (he explains himself) and revenues of his blog (all excellent and I heartily recommend!) Are also, of course! He is regularly confronted with the question of possible protein deficiency, which could suffer vegetarians and answered long ago, he who is doing better than ever It gives us the straight goods on real needs and provides information on a subject so unfairly, but so well recovered by the food industry and the meat trade.

Open your eyes and sharpen your memory: this item is a gift that makes us a specialist vegetarian intelligent, informed and quality ...

Each knows that protein is essential for the construction and functioning of our body; however, many misconceptions about them, often wrong, do not always help in the adoption of eating behaviors most favorable to health.

At the invitation of my friend Bernadette Gilbert, author of the living and eclectic blog on which I am pleased to speak today, "Flavour Cooking Health satiety", I would try to shed some light on several important aspects related proteins.

On purpose, I will not go into too much scientific detail, but I'll stick to the rather broad conclusions being validated by the most authoritative official bodies in the areas of nutrition or dietetics.

I draw your attention to the fact that I do not suggest you substitute for consultation with a physician or dietitian (not) if you have any doubt or problem concerning your health or nutrition ...

Having personally made the choice to be the vegetarian for several years being very athletic, truly healthy, it is with a smile that I often hear of, everything and anything about how best to meet our protein needs, about possible deficiencies in vegetarians one or the other essential nutrients, about a supposed inferior quality vegetable protein from animal proteins, the need complementation, etc....

The smile which I refer is not a smile of "sufficiency" is that just the ideas die hard, while the lack of foundation for many of them has already proved long ago .. .

Definition and role of protein

Schematically, we can say that proteins are complex molecules composed of chains of amino acids, which are themselves compounds containing Carbon, Hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sometimes sulfur.

According to the order of amino acids and their interactions with each other, proteins take particular conformations that are essential for their functionality (helices, sheets ...). Each species has specific protein substances.

During digestion, the amino acids constituting the proteins are separated. The body then uses the recombining them to form new proteins. Among the twenty amino acids commonly found in animal and vegetable proteins, there are eight that the human body cannot manufacture, and therefore, it must be provided by diet: what are the essential amino acids (tryptophan, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, valine, leucine and isoleucine, which list can be added to the infant essential histidine)?

Proteins play a fundamental role in many biological processes:

They have a structural role in the formation of skin, bones, hair (e.g., actin, keratin);
muscle contraction, transmission of nerve impulses, the immune system depended on the protein;
enzymes that are vital to metabolism are proteins;
many hormones are proteins (e.g. insulin);
proteins in specific cases can also be sources of energy ...

It recommended protein intake in.

According to ANSES (National Agency for Food Safety, environment and labor), the contribution of protein to total energy intake should be 11 to 15% ... how the desirable level of complete intake that is established?

The recommended dietary energies are calculated from an energy expenditure basis, i.e. they take into account:

Basal metabolic rate (energy used at rest for the functioning of organs like the brain, heart, gastrointestinal tract, etc.... this is the main component, 60 to 70% energy expenditure);
physical activity (energy used during travel, sports, household, business, etc.).
dietary thermogenesis (energy used for digestion, intestinal absorption, food storage, 10% of total energy expenditure)
plus expenses related to special physiological situations (growth, pregnancy, breastfeeding, etc.....).

In adults aged 20 to 40 years of regular practice, the majority of the population, the recommended daily energy intakes are 2200 kcal for women and 2700 kcal for men.

Knowing that the recommended dietary allowances are (by convention according to the standards set by the handles in France) 130% of median requirement, we can say that the average energy is about 1700 kcal for women (2200/1 , 3) to about 2100 kcal for men.

If we return to the proteins, it means that the average daily intake of protein (for the population category above) should represent:

Between 11 and 15% of 1700 kcal, between 187 and 255 kcal for women ... or knowing that 1 gram of protein provides 4 kcal, approximately 47 to 64 g of protein per day for women;
between 11 and 15% of 2100 kcal, between 231 and 315 kcal for man who are about 58 to 79 g of protein per day for men.

These figures corroborate that in general there is agreement currently recommended (see, for example, the very serious Harvard School of Public Health) or the ingestion of about 0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day: according to these criteria and under conditions representative of the average person should eat 60 kilos 48 grams of protein per day, and one of 80 pounds should eat 64 grams.

Thus, insofar as these quantitative levels are met, a non-vegetarian, in principle, could "be quiet" (if we stick strictly to the diet), for the satisfaction of its protein needs (the proteins of meat, fish and eggs usually contain all the essential amino acids) ... you read: "could, in principle" because it is a "but" (see the second part in the procession of comments on the disadvantages that usually accompanies these animal proteins ...).