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A more plant-based diet without stomach troubles: Getting rid of FODMAPs with enzymes:
A plant-based diet is a good choice for both climate and health. However, many plant-based products, especially legumes, contain FODMAP compounds that are poorly digestible and cause unpleasant intestinal symptoms. A study by VTT and Finnish companies succeeded in breaking down FODMAPs with enzymes and producing new, stomach-friendly plant-based food products.
FODMAPs are short-chain carbohydrate molecules that are poorly absorbed in the human small intestine. These non-absorbed compounds move along to the large intestine, where intestinal microbes feed on them. This results in the production of gases that causes symptoms especially for those suffering from intestinal disorders, but also for many others. These problems are relatively common, as it has been estimated that the irritable bowel syndrome alone affects between 10% and 20% of the population.
Many foods containing FODMAPs are in themselves healthy and good sources of fibre, nutrients and vegetable proteins. However, those suffering from symptoms will often avoid these foods and miss out on their health benefits.
In a study funded by VTT, Gold&Green Foods, Raisio, Roal and Valio, VTT focused on two key FODMAP compounds: galactan and fructan. Galactan is abundant in, for example, legumes, while fructan is found in many cereals, among other things.
[...] "The study showed that enzymes also work under a variety of conditions and in different food processes. This is interesting new information especially for legumes, as there are currently no similar legume-based foods suitable for the FODMAP diet on the market," says Nyyssölä.
"The results are most likely to be utilised next in the development of new food items, but also in academic research in order to verify the effects on intestinal symptoms with certainty," he continues.
Journal Reference:
Antti Nyyssölä, Simo Ellilä, Emilia Nordlund, Kaisa Poutanen. Reduction of FODMAP content by bioprocessing. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 2020; 99: 257 DOI: 10.1016/j.tifs.2020.03.004
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday April 16 2020, @03:50PM (4 children)
Humans can absolutely eat plants. We've done it for all of our existence. And yes, that includes legumes: You think cave men (or chimps, for that matter) wouldn't enjoy a nice meal they can pick and eat quite easily without it trying to run away?
The thing is, selling plant parts for food isn't very profitable, while processing plant parts into, say, veggie burgers, is. So capitalism has responded to the push for a more plant-based diet with "Here's some heavily processed plant-based crap to replace your heavily processed meat-based crap!" And the processing takes out lots of the stuff that makes it easier for human digestive tracts to handle the item in question.
Also, if you just start eating these kinds of plants on a regular basis, eventually your gut fauna will adjust, and you'll start being able to maximize the benefit of eating them.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Thursday April 16 2020, @05:18PM (3 children)
Not as a staple. Anatomically modern humans have been around for 200,000 years, but agriculture (which makes plant-based diets feasible) was only invented 10,000 years ago. We're pretty sure pastoralism pre-dated that, which means relying on animal products. Hunter gatherers do eat roots and plants when they can get them, but digging out your food is a laborious task; meat is the big calorie score.
Vegetables are awesome for the huge variety of flavors and textures, but meat is here to stay.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Thexalon on Thursday April 16 2020, @06:13PM (2 children)
Eating plants has one giant advantage over hunting meat: Your food isn't able to run away from you or attack you. And sure, digging up tubers or picking berries or gathering nuts is work, but it's significantly less work and a lot safer than running down an animal. Plus, it's quite predictable: You go to the spot where you've found similar kinds of food in the past, and odds are pretty good there will be more of it to be found there. That's why if you look at hunter-gatherer cultures in places with a decent amount of plant food available, they tend to quite happily eat plants as their staple diet and supplement that with meat, rather than the other way around.
Also, you seem to have some dates wrong in your head, because farming started in a lot of places about 2000-4000 years before pastoralism.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday April 16 2020, @07:00PM
Soylent Green delivered to my front door isn't going to attack me or run away either. Mmmmm.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 3, Funny) by aristarchus on Friday April 17 2020, @01:49AM
Here you go! https://i.pinimg.com/736x/2a/26/82/2a2682c0372d054f07ef727ee9220080.jpg [pinimg.com]
Early Vegetarians returning from the Hunt.