Subject: Re: Crock Pot Cooking
From: mannj@southern.co.nz (Jay Mann)
Date: Jun 29 1996
Newsgroups: sci.bio.food-Science

RVANRAAM@bcsc02.gov.bc.ca wrote
: : This question probably occured already,
: my apologies if so. But 
: I was wondering if crock pot cooking is safe since it seems that 
: at low temperatures bacteria could multiply rapidly, the same. 

Crock pots are definitely not a good idea for cooking dried beans 
(Phaseolus vulgaris) because temperatures of about 80 C are not high 
enough to inactivate the bean lectins (haemagglutinins) responsible for 
stomach upsets.  If you want to use them with beans, the beans should be 
fully hydrated (overnight soaking) and boiled for about an hour, before 
tossing them into the crock pot.  Don't try to bypass the soaking step.

Jay D Mann  <mannj@southern.co.nz>
Christchurch, New Zealand

Subject: Re: Why Low-Carb Diets Work
From: mannj@southern.co.nz (Jay Mann)
Date: Jun 29 1996
Newsgroups: misc.fitness.misc

Dan Harkless (dan@cafws3.eng.uci.edu) wrote:

> Ray Baxter <rayb@lanminds.com> writes:
>
>>The good news is that very few whole proteins of any kind cross
>>the wall of the gut and get to the point of causing an immune
>>response. 
>
>And which proteins are those?  In what kinds of foods are they found? 

I can only answer in terms of proteins that have deleterious digestive
actdions through being resistant to digestions. There are the lectins
(haemagglutenins) of inadequately cooked beans. They damage the intestinal
lining, causing cramps and stomach upset.  About 4-5 beans will do the
job.   Some lectins don't damage the intestine but neither are they well 
digested.

Then of course there are the glutens from wheat and other cereals, which 
apparently make the villi of the intestinal lining degenerate in persons 
suffering from coeliac disease.  

I don't know if these are strictly allergic responses.  They are often 
better described as food intolerances.  In the case of bean lectins, 
though, just about every one is susceptible.  There was a mass outbreak 
of food poisoning during the Berlin airlift when a planeload of 
semi-processed beans was delivered, because the beans could be cooked to 
softness without being heated enough to inactivate the lectins.

Jay D Mann  <mannj@southern.co.nz>
Christchurch, New Zealand