"Adult baby food," author David Kessler was told by a "prominent restaurant concept designer" is the end product of processes applied to commercially prepared foods that virtually melt in our mouths. So Kessler reports in Ch. 18 of The End of Overeating. The theme has come up before, in Ch. 16, where Kessler collected, though by hearsay, this remark from a business investor about coffee drinks:
"It's all about warm milk and a bottle...If I could put a nipple on it, I'd be a multimillionaire."
WHEE (Weight, Health, Eating and Exercise) is a community support diary for Kossacks who are currently or planning to start losing, gaining or maintaining their weight through diet and exercise or fitness. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are working on your weight or fitness, please -- join us! You can also click the WHEE tag to view all diary posts. This evening, we're proceeding with a group review of David Kessler's The End of Overeating, started by Edward Spurlock, whose preceding contribution, on Ch. 17 -- with links to previous installments -- is here.
We learned earlier in the book that "hyperpalatable" foods – defined as those loaded with fat, salt and sugar – have been shown on both the behavioral and the neurological level to impel animals actively to seek them out, to keep eating until the food is gone, and to repeat these activities until they become habitual. We're now reviewing specific applications.
Fat, we learned in Ch. 17, among other things, carries flavors, contributes to a desirably smooth "mouthfeel," and provides a desirable meltaway quality. In Ch. 18, Kessler refers to these types of edibles as foods that go "whoosh.'
Adult baby food, loaded with richness, stripped of fiber, with its smooth, meltaway texture, and simple -- even blatant -- flavors, goes down quickly and fails to satisfy, in contrast to food that requires serious chewing and/or offers more subtle, complex tastes. That translates into many of us eating -- and paying for -- more.
It was a wonderful coincidence to see the fascinating diary from bonsai superstar this morning, because Japanese food provides Kessler with an example of a different cuisine style.
Japanese Food Report paralleled some of these observations. On one very special dish, for example (emphases added in this and later quotes):
Udon-suki...centers on udon noodles...then there's also hamo (conger eel), Hamaguri clams, tiger shrimp, squid, salmon, pork, chicken, tofu, shiitake, negi - 19 ingredients in all...The broth recipe...it's a mixture of savory and sweet miso, soy sauce, mirin and dashi. It was deep and complex, but as I tasted it, Abe-san looked at me said "not too delicious" -- in other words, the broth is not so overpowering that it overwhelms the other ingredients in the hot pot. A valuable lesson to remember...When I tasted [the hot pot], I realized the broth had transformed, with the natural flavors of the other ingredients now infused into it...delicate, sublime and superb... After a couple of rounds of hot pot, Abe-san added the udon, swirled in a beaten egg and sprinkled chopped negi on top. He served me some of the noodles. Incredibly satisfying.
A commenter on this, also backing up this morning's diary, wrote:
I wish Montreal would become home to traditional Japanese food and not the teriyaki or sushi that is most popular.
Speaking of fat and foods that go "whoosh," this seems like a good place for a sidebar discussion on an additive, maltodextrin. I'd seen this on labels and wondered about it. Turns out that maltodextrin has the unique faculty of not being a fat, and yet helping foods go "whoosh." As such, it might be added to any processed foods and perhaps especially to "fat-free" and "sugar free" items, since it is neither a fat or a sugar.
Here's information from GEA Niro, a Danish company that doesn't make maltodextrin -- it makes the equipment for making maltodextrin. Or in their own words,
GEA Niro specializes in the development, design and engineering of liquid and powder processing equipment for the manufacture of products in powder, granular or agglomerate form.
Explaining maltodextrin:
Maltodextrin is what you get when you hydrolyze starch, either by acid or by enzymes...Starch is a polymer consisting of long chains of glucose molecules and one single fructose molecule.
The degree of hydrolization is expressed as the DE-value of the product. DE means Dextrose Equivalent and is inversely related to molecule size, i.e. the degree of polymerization (DP) and is an indication of how big a percentage of the starch molecule is converted to glucose molecules. This means in practise that starch can be converted to molecules with DE-values from 1 to 100 (pure starch has a DE of 0)...
In the food industry the different DE-values are chosen depending on taste, solubility, influence on viscosity and function as ‘carriers’ for different flavours and food-blends. A guideline is that lower DE-values are better ‘carriers’, but they are less soluble and have a ‘waxy’ taste, whereas higher DE-values are weak carriers, better soluble and sweet in taste.
Because makers of maltodextrin use starch from different sources and process it uniquely,
many of the suppliers have their own special ‘fingerprint’ in the products.
I found various opinions about maltodextrin, many of which have to be discounted for lack of solid cites. Maltodextrin is "generally recognized as safe" and therefore not subject to FDA testing and approval. Material safety data sheets from a Chinese producer and an American company indicated it might be problematical in industrial-scale exposures.
A bodybuilding site had a different angle on maltodextrin:
Maltodextrin is a sugar called a polysaccharide, it is therefore surprising that it is classified as a ''complex'' carbohydrate. It is manufactured from starch and gets its name due to its formation from dextrose polymers of different lengths. Unlike dextrose, it does not taste sweet. Although technically a complex carbohydrate, Maltodextrin results in a glycemic response similar to that of Dextrose. Maltodextrin is a fine white powder with a bland taste, which mixes extremely well and is easily digestible. It also increases the mixabilty of protein powders when added to them. Maltodextrin contains virtually no fat, no protein or fiber and is a convenient source of energy for active individuals...
Although Maltodextrin is technically a complex carbohydrate, it still has a high Glycemic Index (GI) value. In essence this means that it is absorbed into the bloodstream quickly and creates an ‘Insulin Spike’...
The main benefit of Maltodextrin is its use as a weight-gain tool, hence why you will find it as one of the main ingredients in ‘'off the shelf’' weight gain formulations...
Maltodextrin is not naturally occurring, it is generally manufactured from rice, corn or potato starches.
FDA has warned, however, that "maltose or its polymer maltodextrin" can falsely raise sugar readings in blood tests. (One hospital patient died.) Still some unknowns here, I would speculate.
Having been pretty well Kesslerized, I'm trying to avoid processed and prepared foods in general anyway. Was unexpectedly caught on the highway yesterday and had to buy fast food, though. One plain Whopper, no soda, no fries. I looked it up later to find that burger had a "whopping" 670 calories, 40 grams of fat, 11 grams of sugar and 1,020 mg of sodium, of which the American Heart Association says I should be consuming less than 1,500 mg per day. It did have 29 grams of protein, which I needed.
So, what's new with you? Here's the current diary schedule. Eager readers await your contribution. And please contribute to the poll below!
October 28
Weds AM - ???
Weds PM - Edward Spurlock
October 29
Thurs AM - A DC Wonk
Thurs PM - leevank
October 30
Fri AM - Ed G
Fri PM sychoticI
October 31
Sat AM - ???
Sat PM - Edward Spurlock (Kessler, Ch. 19)
November 1
Sun AM - kismet -- the calorie value of everyday tasks
Sun PM - ???
November 2
Mon AM - NC Dem- Muscle of the Month-Deltoids
Mon PM- ???
November 3
Tues - AM - ???
Tues - PM Clio2 (Kessler, Ch. 20)