Bolton West Service Area
Is this the worst service area on Britain’s motorways?
In my view, yes!
The place looks like it hasn’t been painted or cleaned for some years and all of the roads around the place are of genuine third world standard. I was only able to buy some Coke! Couldn’t find any coeliac-friendly crisps or nuts at all.
Perhaps though it owes it all to Bolton.
Coeliacs and Goat’s Milk Products
If you want to read an interesting take on health, go to DogtorJ’s web site. He is an American vet, who is also a coeliac, and uses his insight to try to explain the health or should it be unhealth around him.
Here’s what he says on goat’s milk in a section called The Answer. Read it!
Wheat had an amazing history and clearly played a major role in shaping the medical conditions that would follow. But, the same thing happened with dairy products. Before 1500 A.D., the principle sources of milk and its derivatives were sheep and goats. Even the ancient Greeks and Romans demonstrated their understanding of the true value of these animals by elevating them to the heavens. The sheep was honored for it’s wool and milk and given the astrological name Aries. Capricorn, the goat, was valued for its milk. In fact, part of the name given to this honored creature meant “foster milk”. The ox, Taurus, was deified for his work in the fields. It wasn’t until much later that man veered from his natural course and chose to mass-produce cow milk.
In fact, it wasn’t until the middle of the second millennium that this took place. Somewhere between 1300 and 1500 A.D., our ancestors decided to go into the dairy industry using cows. A decisive factor had to be the usual motivation for most that we do as humans, supply and demand. The corollary to this is ignorance and greed. Suddenly, there was a demand for greater and greater quantities of milk and the cows larger udder was a tempting source. The rest is history.
The main problem with this seemingly logical yet devastatingly ignorant decision was that there was a vast difference between cow milk and that of its predecessors. The protein, fat, mineral, and vitamin content as well as the pH buffering qualities were all different. Some of these differences were subtle; others would be the difference between tolerance and intolerance. Goats milk was much more digestible, forming smaller curds and being lower in the indigestible components such as lactose. However, the most vital difference would not be discovered until the days of immunology and quantitative analysis arrived.
Now we know that the biggest difference between cow and goat milk is the absence or low quantity of one protein fraction, alpha S-1 casein. Understanding of this dairy protein not only serves to explain the lower allergy rate to goat milk, but also sends us in the right direction on our search for the culprit behind other immune-mediated food issues. Casein makes up 80% of the protein in cow milk. In bovine milk, 75% of the casein is alpha casein. In goat milk, the majority is beta casein. The dominant component of the alpha casein in cow milk is the alpha S-1 casein, the culprit we just identified as being responsible for most immune reactions, including milk allergies. There are other differences in protein concentrations, including those lactalbumins in the whey portion, but we will focus later on casein as it relates to the induction of villous damage in the small bowel.
The milk history lesson doesn’t end here. The reader is directed to remember the possible relationship between the advent of common wheat and the start of then Dark ages because history repeats itself. The first pandemic of plague occurred shortly after wheat’s creation. The second pandemic of plague, by far the worst of the three, immediately followed the introduction of cow milk. This was a phenomenal coincidence to me. This devastating epidemic known as the Black Death started in Europe in approximately 1300 A.D. and killed one fourth of its population. The pandemic occurred in 1400 and spread across Europe into Asia wiping out nearly 40 million people. Just as the dairy industry was getting into full swing in 1600 in England, its true land of origin, the Great (bubonic) Plague of London occurred, killing another 100,000 people. The third and last pandemic occurred in the mid 1800s in China, causing over 20 million deaths over a 75-year period. Had milk and wheat finally reached their land?
On reading this, I decided that if I must have milk products, then I would use goat’s milk products where I could.
So I switched to the Waitrose goat’s milk and use St. Helens Farm cream and yoghurt.
I think that I feel better, but how would I actually prove a scientifically correct proof of it?
Incidentally, I always find that goat’s milk lasts a lot longer than cow’s.
Rahmschnitzel (Veal Escalopes With Cream)
This was one of those classics where I bought the veal escalopes from Waitrose and hadn’t a clue what to do with them. So I had to search for a recipe and then go back for the extra ingredients. The recipe came from Ichef.
But it was worth it. Although, it is a bit high in cholesterol. But I only have a meal like this once a month and I’ve been feeling down this weekend.
The ingredients needed are shown below. Quantities are for four people.
- 4 large Veal escalopes, pounded thin. I used a rolling pin.
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup of Doves Farm Plain Gluten-free Flour
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon Paprika
- 1/4 cup Butter
- 1/4 cup Dry white wine
- 8 oz Button mushrooms, wiped clean & sliced
- 2 tablespoons Chopped fresh chives or spring onions
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 teaspoon Black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg, grated
- 1/2 cup St. Helen’s Farm double goat’s cream. I used one of their small pots.
The method is as follows.
- In a shallow dish place the escalopes and pour over the lemon juice. Set aside and marinate for 30 minutes, basting occasionally. Remove the veal from the marinade and dry them on paper towels. Discard the lemon juice.
- Season flour with salt, pepper & paprika. Place the flour on a plate and, one by one, dip the escalopes in it, shaking off any excess. Set aside.
- In a large frying pan, melt 3 T of the butter over moderate heat. When the foam subsides, place the escalopes in the pan. Fry them for 3-4 minutes on each side or until they are lightly and evenly browned.
- Pour in the white wine and bring to the boil. Cook for a further 2 minutes, stirring constantly. With tongs or a slotted spoon remove the escalopes from the pan and place them on a warmed serving dish.
- Set the dish aside and keep warm while you make the sauce.
- Ad the remaining butter to the pan and melt it over moderate heat.
- When the foam subsides, add the mushrooms, chives or scallions, salt, pepper and nutmeg to the pan and stir well to mix. Cook the mixture for 3 minutes or until the mushrooms are tender. Remove from the heat and stir in the cream.
- Pour the sauce over the escalopes and serve at once.
It was good. But I made too much. Or at least too much sauce.
Fish and Tomato Gratin
Despite the moan last night, I did cook myself a nice supper. I got this recipe from then BBC web site and it is from the Sea Fish Authority. I actually used line caught haddock, from Waitrose, as this is the most sustainable way to buy fish.
I only cooked enough for probably two, so I halved these ingredients, which are for four.
- 450g/1lb haddock or whiting fillets, skinned
- 4 tomatoes, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 55g/2oz Cheddar cheese, grated
The method is as follows.
- Preheat oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5. I use an AGA and put it on the bottom of the top oven.
- Lay the fish fillets in a greased ovenproof dish.
- Add the tomatoes, garlic and parsley and season well with salt and pepper.
- Sprinkle over the cheese and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and bubbling.
It was simple and good.
Update – July 30, 2009 – I’ve actually started to cook this in a small dish just big enough for one piece of fish, two tomatoes, one clove of garlic and an appropriate amount of cheese.
Ritalin, ADHD and a Gluten-Free Diet
In my previous post on Tamiflu, I found the Electronic Medicines Compendium.
The EMC is very comprehensive and contains all of the details you need to know about a drug. Type something as simple as Cough into the search and you get a list of proprietary cough products, with cough in the title. This sort of search is very useful, as finding a gluten-free cough mixture is very difficult. One of the Boots ones is gluten-free, but I’m not sure which. Many use glucose as a soothing agent. And where does the gluten come from. Wheat!
Out of curiosity I used one of the advanced search features of the EMC to search for wheat. I got ten hits and one of them was Ritalin. The tablets contain wheat starch.
Ritalin is used to control ADHD and similar problems in children.
As someone who follows the gluten-free literature, I have come across many references to using a gluten-free diet with ADHD, autism and Asperger’s.
Now I don’t know how much wheat starch Ritalin contains, but it does strike me as surprising, that one method of treatment might be undermined by another.
Update – It is three hours since I posted the original. If you type Ritalin gluten into Google, this post is now second. Does that mean that the connection is not spoken of commonly. I’ve also found that Ritalin is a pretty old drug and this may account for the wheat starch filler. Now, drug componies know more about coeliacs.
Coeliacs and Tamiflu
I haven’t got the dreaded swineflu yet, but can I be sure that Tamiflu is gluten-free.
A lot of medicines are not and as an example most cough mixtures contain wheat-derived glucose. Boots Chesty Cough Linctus is OK, as it is based on sucrose.
I have found some information on the web, one US site says that all Roche products are gluten-free and I’ve also found this list of exgredients for Tamiflu.
Capsule core:
- Pregelatinised starch (derived from maize starch)
- Talc
- Povidone
- Croscarmellose sodium
- Sodium stearyl fumarate
Capsule shell:
- Gelatin
- Yellow iron oxide (E172)
- Red iron oxide (E172)
- Black iron oxide (E172)
- Titanium dioxide (E171)
Printing ink:
- Shellac
- Titanium dioxide (E171)
- FD and C Blue 2 (indigo carmine, E132)
This list just shows what does go into some of the things we take.
I got this information from the Electronic Medicines Compendium. I tried to search for another couple of drugs at the main site and it worked.
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.
The Anonymous Widower 