Pork Chops Braised in Cyder
This is a recipe I’ve cooked many times. Note that I spell the cyder with a y. This is because I use the King of Ciders, Aspall. And they spell it that way.
The original recipe came from recipetips.com.
Applesauce is a traditional accompaniment to pork chops – but try this version which infuses apple flavour into the meat. I’ll agree with that.
The ingredients you’ll need for four are.
- 4 6 oz. pork chops, about 1″ thick
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 cups apple cider – I use Aspalls Cyder
- 2 teaspoons dried sage, crumbled
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- salt and freshly ground pepper
I usually do one, so I would use an onion and a cup of cyder. I should say that the recipe doesn’t seem to be too critical as to how much onion, sage and cyder you use. More sauce is probably a good idea.
And this is how you cook it.
- Heat oil in heavy 12″ skillet.
- Lightly salt chops. Grind a generous amount of black pepper over each chop. Press pepper into chop.
- When oil is very hot but not smoking, add chops and brown well on each side, about 2 minutes per side. Remove chops from pan. Add cider, sage and onion. Boil to reduce liquid by about half – about 5 minutes.
- Return chops to pan, reduce heat to maintain a simmer, and cover.
- Cook until chops are desired doneness – make a small cut to check. Center should be very pale pink. (If overcooked, chops will be tough and flavorless.)
- Remove finished chops to a warmed platter. If cider sauce is too thin, quickly boil down to consistency of syrup. Spoon over chops and serve immediately.
It’s good and it’s totally gluten-free.
Blood Test for IVF Success
The Times today reports that a blood test has been developed that helps to predict IVF success.
I hope that the blood test looks for problems of coeliac disease.
Here’s why!
I am a coeliac and used to suffer from very low vitamin-b12 levels until I was diagnosed as a coeliac at 54 or so. Now on a gluten-free diet, my b12 levels are fine.
As a man, that doesn’t matter, but I can trace my coeliac ancestors back through my family tree. The men died young and the women never had any children. My sister didn’t and was never diagnosed as a coeliac, whilst of child-bearing age.
I also moderate a list on the Internet for coeliacs. Over the last few years, three women have joined in their mid-thirties who have just been diagnosed. All were childless, but wanted children and within months they became pregnant and successfully gave birth.
Are questions about coeliac symptoms asked when people are looking to conceive with IVF? After all, amenorrhea is a common coeliac symptom.
As an engineer/scientist these notes are not good research, as they are personal and a rather small sample, but serious research needs to be done in this area.
Coeliacs and Mental Problems
Just listening to the twins, Will and Rupert Young, on the radio as I write. Will is the well-known singer and his twin brother, Rupert, has a history of mental problems. He’s just set up the Mood Foundation to help people with their problems.
It’s just a small point, but I moderate a list on the Internet for coeliacs. We are all allergic to the gluten, found in wheat, barley and rye. What keeps coming up is those with this allergy are often diagnosed as suffering for depression, bi-polar disorder and other mental problems. When they go on a gluten-free diet, the symptoms disappear.
Obviously, this is only likely to help in the cases of the 1-in-100 of the UK population who are coeliacs, but to test for the allergy is now a simple blood test.
Taking a scientist’s view of the body, undiagnosed coeliacs are often low in vitamin b12 and guess what? This is absolutely essential for healthy functioning of the brain.
But perhaps more importantly, we need to have a totally open view to mental illness and not rule out ANY cause of a person’s problems. After all a cured patient can become a valuable member of society.
Rupert has just said that he was helped by equine assisted therapy. As someone who breeds racehorses, I know that horses can help in mental problems. To relate to say a mare and a skitty foal, you have to be calm, just to get them to take a tidbit. And so you learn how to calm your emotions. Also for people who have problems with violence and losing their temper, they don’t want to try anything remotely like that with a horse. They’ll get a good kicking. So you learn to control yourself.
Does Gluten Lower Cholesterol?
I am a coeliac, which means that I don’t eat the gluten in wheat, barley and rye. But does not eating gluten mean that I have other health problems.
My doctor is worried about my cholesterol, which despite eating all the right things does seem to be rising. Over a period of four months, I stayed off all of the dangerous foods, used Benecol and the level rose by half a point. This is worrying. Especially, as I’m very anti taking statins. Nothing particularly against statins, but I just don’t take drugs unless they are absolutely necessary.
The levels for your information were as follows.
- December 2008 – Total 6.0, Trig 1.3, HDL 1.16, LDL 4.25
- April 2009 – Total 6.7, Trig 1.1, HDL 1.63, LDL 4.57
I’m not a medical person but I think I can draw the following conclusions.
- The triglyceride levels are well within the normal range.
- The high-density lipoprotein levels are considered in the range for greatest protection against heart disease.
- The low-density lipoprotein levels are considered high, but not quite in the highest risk level.
But can it be that by sticking to my gluten-free diet, I’m actually causing the problem.
I found this under a heading of Your Cholesterol Levels will Probably Rise in an article called Side Effects of a Gluten-Free Diet.
For the first four decades of my life, while I was still eating gluten, my doctors always told me I had the lowest cholesterol levels they’d ever seen. It retrospect, it’s easy to see why — my intestines weren’t absorbing any of the cholesterol in the foods I was eating. Those days are over. Now I have to watch my cholesterol levels along with everyone else. When I check food nutrition labels for the presence of gluten, I also check the fat and cholesterol content. It’s very important to choose low-fat, low-cholesterol foods. Packaged gluten-free products are often higher in fat than their gluten-containing counterparts. This is especially true of packaged gluten-free cookies, crackers, and cakes. The American Heart Association points out that foods that are high in soluble fiber have been shown to help lower cholesterol — so look for beans, peas, rice bran, citrus fruits, strawberries, apple pulp, and gluten-free oats.
This doesn’t apply to me, but I can see the logic. I don’t eat many packaged biscuits and cakes, but I do it lots of berries, beans and apples. Apples I didn’t eat until I tried to lower the cholesterol. Now I eat one a day instead of the occassional crisp.
But this doesn’t seem to explain my problems.
I also found this article called Gluten Lowers Cholesterol on Dr. Mirkin’s web site. It’s from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and it comes from the University of Toronto, so it meets all of those criteria needed to be a proper scientific report and is not something produced by a health nutter.
Here’s the abstract.
A study from the University of Toronto shows that a high-gluten diet helps lower oxidized LDL cholesterol, triglycerides and uric acid.
Many studies show that eating whole grains helps to prevent heart attacks, but doctors are not certain why. Before the bad LDL cholesterol can cause plaques to form in arteries, it must be converted to oxidized LDL. This study shows that gluten does not lower blood levels of the bad LDL cholesterol; it helps prevent LDL from being converted to oxidized LDL cholesterol. Gluten also lowers blood levels of triglyceride that increase heart attack risk.
There is an interesting discussion on the problem on the US web site, celiac.com. Now this is not proper scientific fact, as it is really a collection of peoples’ opinions.
Someone suggested the South Beach Diet.
Starting the SBD was a pretty radical change for me, but I found pretty quickly that I really enjoyed eating this way and felt lots healthier. If you’re interested you should get the book, but basically you eat lean meats, LOTS of veggies, good fats (e.g. olive oil, nuts), dairy (if you can tolerate it, which I can’t) and small portions of fruits and whole grains. People tend to think of it as a “low-carb” diet in the same vein as Atkins, but it’s really not. It’s just focused on GOOD carbs (whole grains, fruits, veggies) and GOOD fats.
This is virtually my diet, but I perhaps don’t eat as many whole-grains as I could.
There was also a warning about statins.
Other than that, eat loads of fruits and veggies, good protein sources like fish and drink more water. Do not be talked into cholesterol lowering drugs unless you want liver or kidney problems. They have serious side effects and my brother, who has celiac disease (in denial) and Type 1 diabetes, took one and now his kidneys are in poor shape….from the drugs.
I’ve had similar warnings about statins from a couple of lawyers. As my wife was a barrister, I can vouch they are always a good source of gossip about doctors, hospitals and drugs.
I shall be researching this further.
For IVF go to Europe
This article about IVF in The Times caught my attention.
Whatever your views on the subject and I don’t have particular ones either way, this is a subject we should take seriously, as it seems being childless is for some a disaster. I can’t comment, as I am the father of three and didn’t have to make the decision.
But we have to bear in mind that everyone’s pregnancy is a cost to the NHS. This is not a problem with a single birth, but who pays for multiple births, which often have complications.
I would also throw in the fact that as a coeliac, if I was a woman I might have problems in conceiving. I know of women who on being diagnosed have quite quickly got pregnant and successfully had a child. I also know that no women in the coeliac line of my family have given birth in over a hundred years. I’m no doctor, but could it be that if your vitamin-B12 and folates are low, you’re not going to conceive a healthy baby.
This is yet another reason for everybody to be checked for coeliac disease.
It’s Not the Size of the Dog
Ask a postman and he’ll tell you that he’s more likely to get bitten by a irate dachshund than a large brute of a German shepherd. And if there’s a serious dog fight, they’ll usually be something like a Jack Russell involved. It’s just that small dogs seem to have more fight.
Now I’m 60 kilos (9 st. 6 lb.) or thereabouts wet through. Not that that I usually get wet outside of a bath or shower. And I’m just 1.71 metres (5 ft. 7 in. and a bit). Which means I’m somewhere in size between a flat and a jump jockey or about the size of a lightweight boxer. I’m also 62 in August.
I was probably being stupid by wearing a watch in Naples, but then I’d done it before and hadn’t had a problem. But thinking about it, when I had done it before, it had been cold and I’d been wearing my elderly Gieves and Hawkes jacket. The jacket is the sort that British gentleman wore all over the Empire, as it’s capable of dealing with knives and small arms fire.
So as I was walking around the city with a lady friend, a thief struck and tried to take my Rolex. Now it is not just any Rolex, but one my late wife gave me as a Christmas present two weeks after she died. It is inscribed with something personal and it is very precious to me.
Subconsciously, I gripped my hands together and as one would expect from a watch like a Rolex, the strap held, giving me some bruises on the wrist. We ended up rolling on the floor, with nobody giving me any assistance. I chided my friend afterwards for not doing what women should do in these sort of circumstances and that is scream and scream loudly. She just tried to kick him in the balls.
As we rolled, I was able to grab his index finger with my right hand and still I think keeping my left locked tight to my right wrist. Something snapped and it wasn’t anything of mine and my assailant was up on his feet and jumping on to his accomplice’s scooter. Did I just wrench his finger or break it? The doctor I saw in the UK, who was built like a prop forward, said it was an easy thing to do.
So it was a win on points to the terrier. Especially as the thief was perhaps well under half my age and perhaps fifty percent heavier. Hopefully, he’s a good bit wiser and will think twice about attacking small Englishmen.
I didn’t come out unscathed in that I had a large cut on the back of my head and I was bleeding quite badly.
No-one helped or came forward, so we eventually ventured into a pharmacy, where the pharmacist patched me up and called an ambulance. Only then did some of the local women come forward to say how sorry they were. But not a man said a thing. Is this silence because of the fear that people have for the local thugs and the Mafia?
At the hospital, everything went well and I left an hour later with seven stitches in my head and a clean CAT scan, which checked that nothing more was broken.
As to the Rolex, it cost just £2 to have the strap straightened at Wigg’s in Newmarket.
Now would I go back to Naples?
Of course. It’s a wonderful city with marvellous museums, Roman sites galore and lots of good food. I had a glorious gluten-free pizza in the Umberto restaurant. And that’s just the city itself.
Dr. Egerton White
I am fairly unique amongst people these days in that I was delivered by my GP; Dr. Egerton White.
He was your classic GP of the time in North London. He had the Rover 90 or 110, the corporation, waistcoat and watch-chain, the kindly face and warm hands, and everything else that went with the job.
But why did he come all of the way from Winchmore Hill to my parent’s home in Cockfosters?
It was a drive of about five or six kilometres and all of my friends and neighbours used doctors who were much closer. My father always said that it was because his was one of the first houses built in the area and there weren’t any doctors. He may also have been a client of my father’s printing business. But then that wouldn’t add up, as the house was built in 1936 and I don’t think my father was working there at the time.
It has always been a puzzle.
I can still see Dr. White’s face in my mind, as he came many times to see me at home. I should say, that I also went to see him and his partner, Dr. Curley, at Winchmore Hill just as many times too. It was an unusual face in that it was round and covered in dark pigmented spots.
Only now, do I know what the problem is with my health. I am a coeliac, which means I’m allergic to the gluten found in wheat, barley and rye. But in those far off days of the late 1940s and early 1950s, no-one knew how to diagnose my problem. He thought I may have had an egg allergy, but try as he could, he missed the diagnosis. Incidentally, go through my medical notes and you’ll see all sorts of symptoms that now I put down to being a coeliac.
Note that I don’t use coeliac disease. I suffer from a diet-controlled non-illness.
One incident stands out. At about seven, I caught scarlet fever. Or did I?
I had all the symptoms and was placed in isolation at home. But according to Dr. White, I was the only case in London. So was it some weird manifestation of my allergy. I don’t know and I suppose I could find out if I had a test for the antibodies. But does it really matter? No! In the grand scheme of things.
About seven years ago, I bought a new car. The salesman had the same skin colour with the pigmented spots as Dr. White. And the salesman was black or of mixed-race!
So does this partly explain the reason how the good Dr. Egerton White came to be my family’s doctor in North London?
Maltodextrin
I did think about calling this post the evil of wheat maltodextrin. It was close as that is how I feel at times, especially when I’ve got the runs from something that contains this as a cheap substitute for sugar.
Here’s what Wikipedia says about it’s production.
Maltodextrin is enzymatically derived from any starch. In the US, this starch is usually corn; in Europe, it is commonly wheat. This is important for coeliacs, since the wheat-derived maltodextrin can contain traces of gluten. There have been recent reports of coeliac reaction to maltodextrin in the United States. This might be a consequence of the shift of corn to ethanol production and its replacement with wheat in the formulation.
Other authorities on gluten maintain the source does not matter because maltodextrin is such a highly processed ingredient that the protein is removed, rendering it gluten free. If wheat is used to make maltodextrin, it will appear on the label. Even so, the maltodextrin will be gluten free.
The nutritional supplement industry and the food industry frequently make claims concerning ingredients derived from common allergens (such as soy,corn and sometimes wheat, which are ubiquitous) stating that the substance in question is so highly and completely processed that none of the original material remains, however, when tested in human blood of allergic individuals these substances do elicit reactions.
As do many coeliacs, even the traces of gluten in this sugar substitute are enough to upset me, so what are the EU doing. They are making wheat maltodextrin exempt from the allergy rules on gluten.
Who dreamed that one up?
I should think it was probably due to pressure from food manufacturers as it is cheaper than sugar.
But then sugar is considered evil as it makes you fat. So does wheat maltodextrin!
I generally only eat proper demerara sugar, as I have a lovely friend who was born there!
Coeliacs and Bi-Polar Disorder
I’ve been a coeliac all my life, but I was only diagnosed a few years ago. I wish I’d been diagnosed earlier.
The more I look at my condition, the more I find surprising links to other diseases.
As we all know, bi-polar disorder is something that is difficult to live with and control. It is not pleasant and in the worst cases it leads to all sorts of complications and trouble. So many families I know have all but been destroyed by mental illness of this type.
But type coeliac bi-polar disorder into Google and you get lots of stories about people who believe that the two are connected. Look at the snippet below from this article.
Sharla is a friend and a fellow blogger, her blog can be found at Jones Family Blog. Like myself, she suffers from bipolar disorder. But Sharla also suffers from celiac disease, as do two of her children.
Now is there a connection between coeliac disease and bi-polar disorder? And all of the other mental
problems, slight or otherwise?
Whilst I was undiagnosed, I didn’t suffer from too many mental problems, but I did suffer migraines, without any pain luckily, and various mood swings and temper problems. The migraines have gone and I’m a lot calmer, despite the other things that have happened to me.
But let’s look at the body and the mind from the point of view of an engineer. I was trained to be a control engineer, which is all about why systems work, so this might, or might not, give me a greater insight. You judge! Not me!
For any system to work well, and the brain is just a very complicated system, it needs to be supplied with everything it needs and all of the components must be in the best condition. Just think how poorly your car runs, when you haven’t topped it up with oil and water!
Now, coeliacs are often short on vitamin-B12 and folates, as their gut is damaged and these don’t get into the system. I still get an injection every three months to make sure my levels are where they should be.
This is what Wikipedia says about vitamin-B12.
Vitamin B12 is a water soluble vitamin with a key role in the normal functioning of the brain and nervous system, and for the formation of blood. It is one of the eight B vitamins. It is normally involved in the metabolism of every cell of the body, especially affecting DNA synthesis and regulation, but also fatty acid synthesis and energy production.
So if your vitamin-B12 is low, does this mean you might show all sorts of brain malfunctions, such as bi-polar disorder?
Type vitamin-B12 brain into Google and you get lots of interesting articles.
Like this one, where the research was done by the University of Oxford. And this article which says that the University of Highlands and Islands is researching the link between gluten and schizophrenia.
If there is one personal conclusion, then it is get your vitamin-B12 levels checked.
And on a general basis we need a lot more research, not just into this link, but into all the effects of gluten.
Dietary Specials Shortcrust Pastry
For lunch today, I had a hand-made Cornish pasty made from gluten-free pastry. It was not bad at all, even if it was a little bit crumbly. But then if pastry is gluten-free it usually is!
The pastry is by Dietary Specials and I got mine from Sainsbury’s in Haverhill.
The Anonymous Widower 