Week 11: South Asian Spices

Question 1

South Asain spices include what regions?

Answer 1

Question 2

Indian flavours

Answer 2

spices are foundational for Indian cooking

Question 3

Garam Masala

Answer 3

Warm spice mix and vary by region and family - usually tasted prior to being blended

Question 4

Common South Asian spices

Answer 4

Question 5

condiments of South Asia

Answer 5

Question 6

what can some condiments be high in?

Answer 6

sugar and salt

Question 7

Curry

Answer 7

Question 8

Tarka

Answer 8

Seasoning for lentils

process involves adding spices in hot oil or ghee and allowing it to bloom before it is poured into a dish.

Question 9

Turmeric

Answer 9

Question 10

Turmeric and health

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Have the health benefits of eating South Asian dishes containing tumeric been proven?

Answer 11

Not a lot of evidence to support its superfood status most of the time using concentrated curcumin usually in pill form

Question 12

What are curcuminoids?

Answer 12

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

Question 13

What do antioxidants do?

Answer 13

Bind the electron hungry molecules called oxidants which can damage cells

Question 14

What are anti-anti oxidants?

Answer 14

Can worsen damage of oxidants or cause damage themselves

Question 15

What gold standard study could be used to test the health benefits of tumeric

Answer 15

Double blind control trial

Question 16

Do golden lattes contain enough tumeric to have health benefits

Answer 16

Curcuminoids make up only about 1-4% of turmeric powder so no you would have to drink 88-400 of lattes a day

Question 17

What evidence exists to suggest the curcumin is is not absorbed by the GI system?

Answer 17

Might go straight through you as it quickly ends in in excreted feces of animal studies and fail to detect in in person blood

Question 18

How can curcumin absorption be maximized at mealtime?

Answer 18

eating pepper or fat at the same time

Question 19

Curcumin absorption

Answer 19

fat soluble so take with fatty meal

Question 20

Should you take tumeric supplements?

Answer 20

Question 21

Cilantro

Answer 21

Question 22

What does the gene OR6A2 code for?

Answer 22

Picks up the smell of aldehyde chemicals (vanillin, cinnamonaldehyde)

Question 23

How do you explain the following observation? 11.5% of people with no copies of OR6A2 say cilantro tastes soapy

Answer 23

Other genes play a role and 3 more suspected, code for smell receptors and those that effect the taste of bitterness