Week 11: South Asian Spices Flashcards
South Asain spices include what regions?
Indian flavours
spices are foundational for Indian cooking
Garam Masala
Warm spice mix and vary by region and family - usually tasted prior to being blended
Common South Asian spices
condiments of South Asia
what can some condiments be high in?
sugar and salt
Curry
Tarka
Seasoning for lentils
process involves adding spices in hot oil or ghee and allowing it to bloom before it is poured into a dish.
Turmeric
Turmeric and health
debate about disease prevention
- adding pepper might increase bioavailability?
- Oxidants react with fatty acids, proteins, and DNA etc. and antioxidants protect from these oxidants and turmeric may be potential antioxidant.
- Oxidative damage is believed to be one of the main problems for aging and cardiovascular diseases
Have the health benefits of eating South Asian dishes containing tumeric been proven?
Not a lot of evidence to support its superfood status most of the time using concentrated curcumin usually in pill form
What are curcuminoids?
Polyphenols which are compounds with multiple carbon rings so somewhat similar to healthy stuff in red wine and highly reactive molecules so might seem like they can do a lot
What do antioxidants do?
Bind the electron hungry molecules called oxidants which can damage cells
What are anti-anti oxidants?
Can worsen damage of oxidants or cause damage themselves
What gold standard study could be used to test the health benefits of tumeric
Double blind control trial
Do golden lattes contain enough tumeric to have health benefits
Curcuminoids make up only about 1-4% of turmeric powder so no you would have to drink 88-400 of lattes a day
What evidence exists to suggest the curcumin is is not absorbed by the GI system?
Might go straight through you as it quickly ends in in excreted feces of animal studies and fail to detect in in person blood
How can curcumin absorption be maximized at mealtime?
eating pepper or fat at the same time
Curcumin absorption
fat soluble so take with fatty meal
Should you take tumeric supplements?
Cilantro
What does the gene OR6A2 code for?
Picks up the smell of aldehyde chemicals (vanillin, cinnamonaldehyde)
How do you explain the following observation? 11.5% of people with no copies of OR6A2 say cilantro tastes soapy
Other genes play a role and 3 more suspected, code for smell receptors and those that effect the taste of bitterness
