To read this newsletter in an easy-to-read pdf form, click here to download the newsletter  Discovering Fresh Whey. Thank you.

On a recent Saturday morning on Martha’s Vineyard, I sat with my nephew Doug Kenney at the Grey Barn farm stand as we waited for more eggs to be gathered.  We had driven the five miles to Grey Barn Farm, owned by Molly and Eric Glascow, to buy “real” eggs from their barnyard hens.  I often make this trip to get eggs from chickens that roam freely, foraging for foods that chickens love best—grubs, worms, insects, and grain.  Chickens that forage in this traditional way are well-nourished.  They lay eggs with deep-orange yolks and a perfect balance of omega-3/omega-6 essential fatty acids.

While Molly gathered eggs for us, we questioned Eric about his farming experience and some of the business management issues faced by Island farmers.  One quandary is how to meet the huge summer demand for eggs, milk, and meat posed by Island vacationers and local restaurants, and then down-shift to synchronize to the meager demand of the sparse winter population.   Another is how to use the surplus whey from his dairy cows when he cannot “run any more volume through his pigs.”

As a year-round resident who buys locally grown food in every season, I could not do much to help with this first problem.  But, my heart skipped a beat on the second:  Because I use whey for making bread, soaking beans and grains, and as an addition to soups and stews, I thought I might be able to help create demand for his surplus supply of whey.  Not only did I want to be a regular customer if Molly and Eric would begin bottling and selling their fresh whey, but I also wanted to help others learn to use whey in the kitchen because of its high-protein, enzyme, and nutritional profile and because of the way that it can facilitate cooking.  Whey is not a whole food, but finding uses for whey supports sustainability.

Ironically, for years, I have bought yogurt from organic dairies like Hawthorne Valley and Mermaid Farm (on Martha’s Vineyard) to make my own whey for cooking, while I give to friends the “surplus” by-product, a soft cream cheese.  To find a potential source of fresh whey seemed too good to be true.

[Before proceeding, let me distinguish between fresh acid whey, which is the subject of this newsletter, the liquid by-product of acid-type cheese making, and whey powders.   If you do buy whey in powdered form, make sure that it is from grass-fed cows, not heated above 118 degrees, and from a reliable source.   Commercial powdered whey is usually made from factory farm milk; milk that is then damaged by high-temperature processing, something that denatures the proteins and increases the nitrates and other carcinogens.  These powders often also contain chemical additives, sweeteners, and toxic metal residues. Because whey, whether fresh or powdered, does contain lactose, people who are lactose intolerant will want to avoid both fresh whey and whey protein powders.  Read food labels since whey powder is often added to snack foods.  Whey powder is such a concentrated protein that it can negatively affect health. ]

Whey and the Environment

Finding ways to use whey in the kitchen supports sustainability:  Domestic cheese production has more than doubled in the last 35 years; and, because every pound of cheese leaves behind nine pounds of whey,¹ whey has become a greater environmental issue.  It can be harmful to ecosystems if dumped into rivers and streams.  And, if it is spread on the same land area over time, a subsoil layer of fat can build up to prevent plants from growing.²  Thankfully, the food industry and medicine are finding more and more uses for whey as a high-protein additive to foods and nutritional supplements.  Whey is not a whole food, but if we eat cheese, we can do our own part to consume whole milk in its separate parts…cheese and whey…by exploring adaptive ways to bring whey into our own home kitchen.

Whey and Health

Whey protein (technically called lactalbumin) is a complete protein, containing all nine essential (those that the body is not able to make on its own) amino acids.  Whey protein scores the highest of all foods with respect to “biological value,” a measure of how well amino acids are absorbed and

utilized by the body.³  Whey is also the highest natural source of branched-chain amino acids—isoleucine, leucine, and valine—and a major source of glutamine.  Both branched-chain amino acids and glutamine play a vital role in proper cell function, muscle growth, and protein utilization.  Glutamine also feeds white blood cells throughout the body and the cells that line the intestines (a key center of immune health).  Whey is used by medicine to inhibit tumor growth; repair both exercise-related and radiation-/chemotherapy-related tissue damage; improve muscle strength, while preventing muscles from atrophying after accident or illness; and to help the body to recover from trauma and surgery.

As a sign of Nature’s gold seal endorsement of whey’s importance for human growth and vitality, whey accounts for 80% of the protein in human breast milk.  This is not the case for cow’s milk, where whey makes up for only 20% of the protein content.  Casein, the milk protein that is high in calcium and phosphorus and curdles to form cheese, accounts for the other 80% protein component of cow’s milk.   Cow’s milk appears to be formulated to quickly build calves into cows.  Nature seems to have designed breast milk with a more sophisticated eye to immune health, cellular function, and survival.

Whey contains enzymes, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, iron-bonding proteins, vitamins A, C, B1, B2, B3, B5, B12, folic acid and biotin.  Fresh whey is about 95% water, 4% lactose, 1% protein, 1% ash, and less than 1% fat.⁴ Given the high water content of fresh whey, it is easy to see that whey powder (unless the lactose is removed in processing) is largely lactose, which is a form of sugar.  Food companies often use commercial whey powder to help sweeten “sugar-free” products.  

Fresh whey is rich in enzymes, protein, vitamins, minerals and has negligible carbohydrates, so it can be added to juices, smoothies, and other drinks as a digestive tonic, to add nutrition, and to reduce the blood sugar impact of high-glycemic fruit drinks.  Fresh whey also supports healthy bones, teeth, hair, and skin.  [Because whey powder such a concentrated source of isolated protein, devoid of the water, enzymes and other nutrients of fresh whey, it too much whey protein powder can weaken bones.]

Finally, because fresh whey is loaded with healthy bacteria associated with good gut health and the immune system—Lactobacillus acidophilus, casei, rhamnosus, bugaricus, and others—that support the immune system and good gut health, there are potential benefits to using fresh whey that we may not yet appreciate.  Science is just beginning to explore the vast number of good bacteria in and on the body that support health and fight disease.⁵ Perhaps traditional cultures that drank whey and used it in the kitchen had a sense, not only of the need to recycle whey for environmental reasons, but also of its role in good health.   We know that from the time of Hippocrates, whey has been used as a prevention and cure of many health problems; that it was the focus of popular European whey spas of the 19^th century; and that it is still used in health beverages sold in Europe today.⁶

Whey in the Kitchen

Whey can be used as a partial substitute in many recipes that call for water.  Fresh whey contains lactic acid, which helps breakdown foods to make them easier to assimilate and works as a preservative to extend the shelf life of foods. Whey added to soups, stews, and marinades adds a richer flavor, while it enhances protein and general nutrition.  It also works to tenderize meats when added to marinades, and a small amount can improve the texture of bakery products.  Whey can also be consumed as a stand-alone drink, served either hot or cold.  Using it in smoothies and fruit and vegetable drinks that are not heated preserves its enzymes, which are heat-sensitive and are lost in cooking.

Since I cannot yet buy whey in volume and must make my own from yogurt, I use it sparingly.  So, of all the possible uses in the kitchen, I most often use whey as a soaking agent for beans and grains to reduce phytic acid, an enzyme inhibitor and nutrient blocker.  Adding a tablespoon or two of whey to the soaking water of beans and grains can reduce cooking time and improve digestibility.

Whey in the preparation of whole grains, beans, and legumes to degrade phytic acid.  Most of the phosphorus of plant foods is stored in the outer husk of grains, beans and legumes, nuts and seeds in the form of phytic acid.  Phytic acid, which protects the seed from germination, inhibits the normal intestinal absorption of major minerals—calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, manganese, and copper—as well as digestive enzymes such as pepsin and amylase.  Soaking grains, beans, nuts, and seeds in water degrades phytic acid, making the minerals in these foods easier to assimilate while it frees enzymes for digestion.  Adding to the soaking water a tablespoon or two of whey accelerates this process.  Whey added to the soaking liquid of grains also adds to nutrition if as a practice you cook grains in the soaking water.   [The soaking water from beans should be discarded and replaced with fresh water for cooking.]

Because, like whey, sourdough contains lactic acid, we might think of sourdough as a proxy for what lactic acid can do to diminish phytic acid in grains and other seed-type foods.  Counter-top soaking for a period of 12-24 hours can dramatically reduce phytic acid, as illustrated below.

Soaking grains in water and whey, or any acid for that matter, degrades phytic acid (a good thing), while it also makes grains more digestible (both good and bad).  When grains are digested and assimilated rapidly, they can cause blood sugar to spike, a factor that with time is linked to insulin resistance, diabetes, and obesity.   Eaten alone, acid-soaked whole grains can cause even greater spikes in blood sugar than refined grains!  But this is easily resolved by adding a protein or a fat like butter easily dampens this blood sugar effect.  Adding a pat of butter to grains that have been soaked in whey not only dramatically reduces the blood sugar spike, but it also helps the body absorb the minerals in the grain, since the body requires fat to assimilate minerals.

Whey in baking.  When used in bread dough, whey adds nutrition, renders a crispy browned crust, and retards spoilage. Whey can be substituted for up to one-third of the water called for in a recipe.  Adding some whey improves the rise of bread dough, especially in winter.  While I have not tried it myself, whey can also be substituted for water when mixing batter for pancakes, muffins, and scones.   Remember that substituting whey for water can affect the leavening.  If a recipe calls for baking soda, no adjustment is needed; however, if a recipe includes baking powder, add ½ teaspoon of baking soda as a neutralizer for every one cup of whey that you use.

Whey in fermenting.  Experts in the field like Sally Fallon and Nancy Lee Bailey use whey when fermenting vegetables to make sauerkraut, pickles, and other ferments.  As Bailey suggests, “whey can be used in non-dairy fermentations, such as vegetable fermentations like sauerkraut, to enhance the growth and conversion of the active bacteria, assuring more potential success with your fermentations.”

But not everyone agrees that whey should be used to ferment.  Sandor Katz as well as Kelsy of The Liberated Kitchen use only salt in fermenting fruits and vegetables.  Their logic is that milk bacteria thrive on lactose, and since milk bacteria are not the same type of bacteria that reside in the soil and thrive on plants, bacteria from cultured milk play no logical role in the fermentation of vegetables.

I appreciate both views.  If you ferment, you can see which method gives you a better product.  There are several advantages to adding whey—it enhances the nutritional value of a ferment; it accelerates fermentation and acts as a preservative, so you may need less salt when fermenting; and it adds an extra complement of healthy bacteria to support the good bacteria/microbial environment in the body.

Whey in place of water in smoothies, soups, stews,casseroles, and gravy stocks.  As mentioned earlier, whey can be consumed as a stand-alone drink, served hot or cold, but using it in cold drinks is preferred.  The reason is that heating whey destroys the good bacteria and enzymes, so some of the better kitchen applications are choices that do not involve heat.  In the warm summer months, blender-made smoothies and cooling summer soups are a perfect way to use whey.  Whey goes particularly well with citrus fruits and apple cider, as well as juiced fruits/berries, carrots, celery, and tomatoes.  Experiment with a high-powered blender and your own favorites on a hot summer day.  As noted earlier, since fresh whey has no carbohydrates to speak of, its low-glycemic effect can help blunt the blood sugar impact of fruit drinks.

You can also use whey in soups, stews, casseroles and gravies for a richer, fuller flavor, while adding protein, vitamins, and minerals.  Heating, of course, will destroy the healthy bacteria and enzymes.

How to Make Whey Using Yogurt

Try to use a good traditional (not thick Greek style) yogurt made from the milk of grass-fed cows.  Mermaid Farm and Hawthorne Valley are examples that I am able to purchase on Martha’s Vineyard.  Line a colander or large strainer with strong cheese cloth, placing the strainer over a bowl just large enough to hold the strainer.  Stir the yogurt and gently pour it into the cheese cloth.  Allow the yogurt to sit for about 8 hours, which will produce about one pint of whey and 2 cups of soft cheese.  The cheese can be spread on bread or used to make cheese cake.  Whey keeps about six months in the refrigerator; the soft cheese, for about a week.

Glossary

Whey is the watery residual left in cheese making when milk curdles, forming curds of cheese.  Whey is high in easy-to-assimilate proteins, as well as lactose, enzymes, and minerals.  Whey contains Lactobacilli, the primary bacteria that transform lactose into lactic acid.

Lactic acid is the major acid created in fermentation.  The bacteria in milk digest lactose, breaking it down to lactic acid.  As lactic acid builds up, it works to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria.

Phytic Acid (phytate) is a nutrient/enzyme inhibitor.   Phytic acid is concentrated in the bran portion of grains where it binds phosphorus.  Phytic acid in the form of phytate blocks the body’s ability to absorb calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc, as well as the digestive enzymes pepsin and amylase.

Sourdough is a natural leavening agent created when wild bacteria and yeasts circulating in warm air begin to feed on flour when it is mixed with water.  Sourdough acts to preserve baked goods, while it also reduces phytic acid and enhances the nutritional quality and assimilation of baked products.

Reading Resources

• Nancy Lee Bentley, Truly Cultured;  Sandor Katz, Wild Fermentation; Sally Fallon, Nourishing Traditions.
• Sally Fallon, Nourishing Traditions, Washinton, D.C., New Trends Publishing, Inc., 2001, p. 29.
• H. R. Freund and M. Hanani, “The Metabolic Role of Branched-Chain Amino Acids,” Nutrition 2002; 18
• (3): 287-288.
• Jay R. Hoffman, “Protein—Which is Best?” Journal of Sports Science and Medicine; 3(3): 118-30.
• J. V. DeMarco Neu and N. Li, “Glutamine:  Clinical Applications and Mechanisms of Action,” Current
• Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care 2005; 5 (1): 69-75.
• E. Annie Proulx and Lew Nichols, The Complete Dairy Foods Cookbook.
• Joseph E. Pizzorno Jr. and Michael T. Murray, Textbook of Natural Medicine, pp. 681-84.
• N. Rukma Reddy and Shridha K. Sathe, Food Phytates.
• http://theliberatedkitchenpdx.com/basics/why-i-dont-use-whey-as-a-vegetable-fermentation-starter/
• http://library.thinkquest.org/CRo215162/dairy.html   

Recipes—Using Whey in the Kitchen

The first recipes below are taken from The Complete Dairy Foods Cookbook by Annie Proulx and Lew Nichols.  Afterward, I have included smoothie recipes that incorporate whey.  These are perfect for a hot summer day when fresh fruits and vegetables are plentiful.  I have adapted the smoothie recipes from www.smoothiesweb.com and they are marked with an asterisk.  May these recipes give you ideas for incorporating whey into your own favorite recipes.

Cold Cucumber Cream Soup (serves 4)

• 3 large firm cucumbers
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 3 cups whey
• 1 cup milk
• ½ onion, thinly sliced
• ½ cup light cream

1. Peel, seed and slice the cucumbers

2. Melt the butter in a saucepan, then cook the cucumbers over low heat, 10 minutes.

3. Blend in the flour; then gradually add the whey, stirring constantly.

4. In a separate saucepan, scald the milk with the onion slices, then strain the milk into the cucumber mixture, stirring constantly.  Simmer 10 minutes.

5. Puree the soup in a blender; cup by cup, and stir in the cream.  Chill several hours in the refrigerator before serving.

Snow Pea Yogurt Soup (serves four)

• 1 pound snow peas
• 1 cup chopped watercress, tightly packed (set aside a few sprigs for garnish)
• 2 cups whey
• 1 tablespoon chopped shallots
• 2 cups yogurt
• 1 tablespoon chopped chives

1. Cook the snow peas in a steamer over boiling water until just tender.  Set aside.

2. In a heavy pan, put the watercress, whey and shallots and simmer 15 minutes.

3. Puree the watercress stock in a blender until smooth, then return to the pan.  Add the snow peas and heat slowly.  Do not boil.

4. Mix 2 or 3 tablespoons into the yogurt, then stir the yogurt into the soup.  Serve at once, garnishing each bowl with the chopped chives and a spring of watercress.

Buttermilk Carrot Soup (serves 4 to 6)

• 2 pounds carrots, sliced
• 2 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and diced
• 4 cups whey
• 4 tablespoons butter
• ½ cup chopped shallots
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed
• ¼ cup coarsely chopped almonds
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger root
• 1 teaspoon grated horseradish

1. Simmer the carrots and potatoes in the whey until tender.

2. Melt the butter in a skillet and sauté the shallots, garlic and almonds for 5 minutes.

3. In a blender, puree the shallot-garlic mixture, cup by cup with the carrot-potato mixture.  Return to the saucepan where the carrots and potatoes were simmered.

4. Blend in the buttermilk and heat thoroughly until hot.  Stir in the horseradish and ginger root.  Serve at once.

Yogurt Gazpacho (serves four)

• 2 large tomatoes, quartered
• 1 sweet pepper, seeded and sliced
• 1 Spanish onion, peeled and sliced paper-thin
• 1 cup peeled, seeded cucumber
• ½ cup chopped mixed herbs:  such as marjoram, parsley, tarragon, thyme, savory, chives, basil, oregano
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• ½ cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 3 cups whey
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 cup stale whole grain bread cubes, ½ inch by ½ inch
• 2 tablespoons butter

1. Place all the vegetables, herbs and garlic in a large wooden bowl and chop them very fine.  (A blender pulps the ingredients too severely.)

2. Slowly beat in the olive oil, lime juice, whey and yogurt.

3. Chill several hours.

4. Just before serving saute the bread cubes in the butter in a heavy skillet until they are brown and crisp and sizzling hot.  Ladle the cold soup into chilled bowls and top with the hot croutons.

Moroccan Almond Milk (serves 6)

• ¾ cup whole blanched almonds
• ¼ cup honey
• 3 cups whey
• 1 ½ cups milk

1. In a blender, combine the almonds, honey and whey.  Blend until smooth, then strain, getting as much liquid as possible.

2. Add the milk and chill thoroughly.  Stir well before serving.

Sweet Cider Cream (serves four to six)

• 2 cups freshly pressed sweet cider
• 2 cups vanilla ice cream
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 cup cold whey

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until thick.

Breakfast Drink (serves one)

• 1 medium-sized carrot, grated
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 cup whey
• 1/3 cup yogurt

Put the carrot, honey and whey into a blender and blend until smooth; then briefly blend in the yogurt.

Strawberry Smoothie* (serves one)…A Basic Guide for Creating Other Fresh Fruit Smoothies.

• 1 cup strawberries
• 1/4 cup whey
• 4 ice cubes
• 1 tablespoon honey

1. Add the water and strawberries to the blender first

2. Pour in the honey, blend, and then add the ice cubes.

3. Blend on low and gradually move to high until everything is a red fruity liquid.

4. Then blend for another 30 seconds to aerate.

5. Pour into a glass and enjoy.

Blueberry Smoothie* (serves one)

• ½ cup frozen blueberries
• ½ cup vanilla yogurt
• ½ cup whey
• 2-3 tablespoons honey
• 2-3 ice cubes (optional)

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Peachy Watermelon Smoothie* (serves two)

• 2-3 cups watermelon, seeded
• 1 cup vanilla yogurt
• 1 cup strawberries
• 1 peach, pitted
• ½ cup whey

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Raspberry Smoothie* (serves two)

• 1 cup raspberry yogurt
• ½ cup whey
• 1 cup frozen raspberries
• ¾ cup frozen strawberries
• 2 tablespoons honey (optional)
• 2 cups ice

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Spiced Carrot Smoothie* (serves one)

• ½ cup apple juice
• 1 cup cooked, chopped carrots
• ¼ cup applesauce
• ½ cup whey
• 1 tablespoon honey
• ¼ inch piece of gingerroot, peeded
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

Combine apple juice, carrots, applesauce, gingerroot and cinnamon and blend from low to high until creamy.  Season with salt and cayenne pepper to taste.

Sweet Veggie Smoothie* (serves two)

• 1 cup organic apple juice
• 1 cup sliced apples
• ¼ cup applesauce
• ½ cup sliced carrots
• ½ cup cucumber, peeled and sliced
• ½-1 cups whey
• 1-2 tablespoons honey (optional)
• 2 cups ice
• Dash of cinnamon or nutmeg (optional)

Blend until smooth.

Berry/Carrot Smoothie* (serves two)

• ½ cup raspberries
• ½ cup strawberries
• ½ cup blueberries
• 1 cup whey
• 1-2 tablespoons honey
• 1 cup organic apple juice
• 2 cups ice
• 1 small carrot, sliced

Blend until smooth.

Tomato Smoothie* (serves two)

• 2 cups chopped tomatoes
• ½ cup whey
• ¼ cup apple juice
• ½ cup carrots
• ¼ cup chopped celery
• Tabasco or hot sauce to taste
• 2 cups ice

Blend until smooth.

* = Adapted from www.smoothieweb.com

1. Mark Jenner, Ph.D., “Tasty Waste?…No, Whey!” [↩]
2. Biotechlearn.org [↩]
3. The chart is based on a whole egg as 100.  The nitrogen from whey that the body is actually able to absorb is 96%; human milk, 95; chicken egg, 94; cow’s milk 90, etc. [↩]
4. For complete discussion of glutamine, branched-chained amino acids, and whey’s nutritional profile, see Textbook of Natural Medicine by Joseph Pizzorno Jr. and Michael Murray. [↩]
5. See New York Times,“In Good Health?  Thank Your 100 Trillion Bacteria” by Gina Kolata, June 13, 2012; and, “Tending the Body’s Microbial Garden” by Carl Zimmer, June 19, 2012. [↩]
6. E. Annie Proulx and Lew Nicholes, The Complete Dairy Foods Cookbook. [↩]

To read this newsletter in an easy-to-read pdf form, click here to download the newsletter  The Food Chain and Soy   Thank you.

“Why use the poor chicken as a machine to produce meat when you can use a machine to produce ‘meat’ that seems like chicken.”…Mark Bittman, “A Chicken without Guilt,” 2012

I am a big fan of Mark Bittman and love his minimalist style of cooking.  Just a few wholesome, fresh ingredients cooked to perfection and you have a splendid meal.  What could be easier and more delicious?

Because Mark Bittman has been a proponent of “real” food, his recent New York Times article, “A Chicken without Guilt” advocating soy-enhanced chicken took me by surprise.  Soy chicken loses sight of nature’s delicately constructed web that we call the “food chain” and soy’s natural role as a soil enhancer within it. Traditionally, soy has never been a staple food crop because it can undermine health.  Instead, soy was planted in rotation to fix nitrogen into the soil, a “green manure” to be plowed under to support and nourish the growth of traditional food stuffs like rice, millet, barley, and wheat.

But in our modern culture, soy in its many industrially-processed forms such as soy oil, soy protein isolate and soy lecithin has crept into most packaged, proceeded foods and fast foods, as well as into snack foods like chips, dips, crackers, cookies, cakes, muffins, other baked goods, and energy bars.  Soy is also added to TV dinners and frozen entrees, and it is a hidden ingredient in fast foods.  We consume veggie patties, burgers, chicken nuggets, French fries, vegetable oils and salad dressings without thinking that we are consuming soy.  Sadly, soy also enters school cafeterias as filler in hamburger patties, lasagna, and spaghetti sauce.  Soy’s high-protein/low-fat profile helps schools meet the current Federal low-fat (30%) guideline.

Soy’s popularity is the result of the marketing muscle of seed companies like Monsanto, Cargill, and Archer Daniels Midland and of large food conglomerates like Kraft, General Mills, and Heinz.  Food companies like to use soy in prepared foods because it is cheap and has a long shelf life.  To win consumer acceptance, food companies have billed soy as a low-fat, high-protein, low-cholesterol “health” food.

What is not generally understood is that soy can undermine health, particularly when consumed regularly.  Soy was never a mainstay of any food culture.  For some centuries, soy has been used in the Far East, but as a condiment and in fermented forms like miso and tempeh.  By experience, the Chinese knew to be wary of soy.  They recognized that soy required long, slow fermentation to neutralize its phytic acid, a mineral blocker,and render it digestible.¹  Rather than soy, which accounts for only a fraction of total calories, pork has been the Chinese dietary mainstay, as well as meat broths to which a bit of tofu is often added.  The Chinese have long understood the dangers of soy and that these dangers are cumulative.

For Mark Bittman to popularize soy chicken would add yet another layer of soy to our soy-laden supply of convenience foods; lead us further down the road of soy acceptance; and compound its inherent risks.  Profit-driven food companies fail to tell us that soy is an anti-nutrient and that soy can create mineral deficiencies that are linked to neurological, fertility, digestive, and other health problems.   Beyond soy’s inherent issues, industrially-processed soy protein isolate (SPI) that is added to entrees and infant formula is denatured through high heat and chemical (hexane) extraction, and carries with it toxins and carcinogens from processing.  To make SPI into palatable “chicken,” “ham,” or “beef” the food industry adds flavor-enhancing additives like MSG, which are excitotoxins/neurotoxins linked to neurological problems.

When foods need factory-generated high-heat, high-pressure, and chemical solvents for processing—like soy, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and refined vegetable oils—we would be wise to avoid them.

This newsletter makes the case for “real,” humanely raised animals and animal products to supplement plant-based proteins, not soy chicken that breeds its own dangers to our health.   We need the complete, easy-to-assimilate proteins (and fats) of animals and we need animal manure for soil enrichment.  What we do not need is more soy entering our already soy-saturated food supply to undermine our health and the fledgling, sustainable animal husbandry efforts that are beginning to take root across the nation.

Honoring Nature’s Food Chain, Honoring the Herbivore

Sun… Producers (Plants)… Consumers (Herbivores)…Omnivores (People)…Decomposers (Bacteria, etc.)

Nature’s food web is delicately balanced.  The sun is the energy source that enables green plants, through photosynthesis, to make food in the form of glucose/calories and expel oxygen, a waste product from photosynthesis, to sustain animal life.   Predator becomes prey:  Green plants are kept in check by herbivores, which are checked by carnivores; as omnivores, we keep all others in check (but ourselves).  Overpopulation threatens every link of the chain, just as any dislocation in the chain threatens all in the hierarchy.

Advocates of soy substitutes in place of chickens² and other grazers (herbivores like deer, sheep, goats, cattle) seem to forget the valuable role played by herbivores in the food chain.  For sustainability, we depend on ruminant animals to eat grass—to digest its cellulose that we cannot—and then return nutrients to the soil through their waste products.  Ruminants, with their multi-chambered stomachs, neutral stomach environment, and perpetual cud chewing and swallowing provide the perfect environment for bacterial fermentation to degrade the cellulose in green plants.  In the ruminant’s stomach, bacteria feed on cellulose and hemicellulose—the carbohydrate polymers of the plant cell walls (these are not digestible by most animals)–and the ruminant then feeds on the fermentation by-products and the bacteria themselves.³  This is yet another example of the food chain’s miraculous web of host and parasite; predator and prey.

With age, more animal foods?    My own experience suggests that as we get older, we need to gradually shift the balance of what we eat  from raw toward more cooked foods.  With age, digestive fires flicker and digestive enzymes wane.  Cooking is a form of pre-digestion.  Cooking does some of the work of digestion by breaking down foods so that they are easier to manage.  ⁴   Animals also pre-digest food for us.  They eat plant foods that we cannot digest; foods that might otherwise go to waste.  From grass, herbivores create animal proteins that are complete and easy to assimilate, as well as fats with a favorable omega-3/omega-6 profile.⁵

It is also my experience that animal products aid digestion in yet another positive way:  Animal foods like meat, poultry, and eggs are low-fiber, contractive⁶ foods that help to “anchor” expansive fruits, vegetables, and other high-fiber foods.  A diet of beans, legumes, grains, vegetables and fruits can provide too much fiber.  Animal products act as “ballast” to balance plant-based foods, especially vegetables and fruits [just as proteins do for alcohol (sobriety) and sugars (to curb metabolic stress)].  Animal proteins, when used in moderation alongside a plant-food diet, including plant-based proteins from beans and grains, support health without overly taxing  the environment.

No matter your age, herbivores are increible walking protein factories that create pre-digested, easy to assimilate proteins and minerals, while enriching the soil through their waste products.  Moreover, when animals eat plants and we eat animals, the ruminant is the one that  contends⁷ with phytates, lectins, oxalates, and saponins, which are the natural toxins and anti-nutrients that plants manufacture to defend themselves against insects and predators.   We escape these toxins and nutrient-blockers  that are found in soy and other plant foods when we eat proteins via animal products.

A note about vegetarian diets:  Vegetarian diets tend to work best for younger adults armed with a powerhouse of digestive enzymes and more “digestive fire.”  They can also work for those willing and able to devote time and attention in the kitchen to careful soaking and adequate cooking of beans and grains and meal planning to assure complete proteins.   Soybeans and other beans/ legumes lack the amino acid methionine.   Grains lack lysine.   So, unlike animal products that provide the complete complement of balanced, easy-to-assimilate essential amino acids, neither beans nor grains is a complete protein when eaten in isolation.  Careful soaking and cooking can disarm many anti-nutrients found in beans and grains, and when combined, they make a complete protein, but one that is inferior to animal products.  Vegetarian protein lacks heme iron found in red meat, as well as tryptophan, the amino acid building block of serotonin, that helps regulate appetite, sleep, and mental well-being.  Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy products are rich sources of tryptophan.  Vegetarians may also miss out on healthy animal fats, both from fish (omega-3s) and land animals (omega-3s, -6s, saturated fats and cholesterol), which the body requires for proper cellular function, mineral absorption, neurological processing, synthesizing hormones, and satiety—feeling satisfied after a meal.

A “real” chicken without guilt—One that is pastured and locally slaughtered.  We honor the food chain when we treat our meat animals with respect, allowing them to range freely and forage upon what they were designed to consume—in the case of chickens, grass and bugs in addition to grains.  Pasturing chickens and other grazing animals is both efficient and cost-effective and what nature intends.  We also honor animals and their place in the food chain when we provide local slaughter, humanely with respect and a sense of gratitude.   Taking life in this way is part of the life and death, checks and balances, natural cycle of the universe.

Awareness can return us to a better path.  Thankfully, the many fledgling animal husbandry efforts sprouting up around the country, undertaken by young, entrepreneurial farmers, signal that awareness IS growing.  The important role that we can play in forging a healthier, more sustainable world is to demand good food, both plant and animal.  When we pay a bit more for sustainably-raised food we may avoid the longer-term costs associated with illness, lost productivity, and the medical costs of chronic disease.  (The medical costs of a person with diabetes, for example, is $13,000 a year.)

When we demand good food by supporting local farmers and paying a bit more for sustainably-raised food, wholesome food usually appears.  Statistics from the USDA database are an encouraging indication of how our dollars can bring change:  By numbers (not acreage) about 90% of all farms in this country are still owned by individuals, where the average annual cash agricultural receipts totals no more than $10,000.  This suggests that a broad network of farmers exist that are not highly capitalized and locked into a specific type of farming.  It would seem that these “thousand points of light” could rather quickly respond to consumer demand for more local, sustainably-raised foods.

The Martha’s Vineyard model.  Martha’s Vineyard is a vivid example of how demand for good food can encourage supply.  Island Grown Initiative is a volunteer, non-profit group that supports local agriculture (and portable slaughter).  It strives to increase both the supply and demand for locally grown food.  Island Grown Schools is a farm-to-school program that connects students to local farms and farmers; brings agriculture and growing experiences (through student raised-bed gardens) to all schools; and avoids soy denatured fillers by serving student-raised and locally grown foods in school cafeterias.  See: http://www.islandgrown.org;   https://mail.google.com/mail/?tab=wm#inbox/1369226b2b9c952b;

http://www.jamieoliver.com/us/foundation/jamies-food-revolution/news-content/ali-berlow-isl-grown-initatives-amp-edib

The Hidden Dangers of Soy⁸    

“Soy is the phenomenon of the times, [marketed as] the ‘healthy alternative’ to meat, the ‘non-allergenic’ dairy, the ‘low-cost’ protein that will feed the millions, the infant formula that is ‘better than breast milk,’ and the ‘wonder food’ for the New Age.”       …Sally Fallon

 

“Soy contains many anti-nutrients, including trypsin inhibitors, lectins, saponins, phytates, all naturally occurring growth-depressing factors.”       …. Kaayla Daniel

 

“Second generation soy products [proteins, flavorings, and emulsifiers added to prepared foods] are manufactured using high-heat and pressure, chemical solvents, acids and alkalis, extruders and other harsh tools that are very likely to contain or produce toxic or carcinogenic residues, yet these are billed as ‘health foods.’  These treatments result in lower amino acid bioavailability and poorer protein quality.”         …Kaayla Daniel

 

Soy has come from nowhere in the short space of the last 50 years to creep, in its many fractured forms,  into most packaged, processed and fast foods, as well as into foods served in school cafeterias.   The commercial food industry loves soy because it is cheap and extends a product’s shelf life.  Soy oil led to soy’s first use as a cash crop, with soy flour, soy grits, soy nuts, and soy nut butter among the early products that were produced commercially.  More recently, highly denatured, second generation soy derivatives—soy proteins, hydrolyzed soy protein, and lecithin—have been invented from the industrial residues left over after extracting soy oil.   Today, the two major products that propel industry profits are soy oil and soy protein derivatives, both of which are liberally added to packed, processed foods.

Soy oil.  Most supermarket vegetable oils such as Wesson are 100% soy oil, while some are blends of soy with corn and/or other cheap, denatured oils.  Liquid soy oil is refined at high-temperatures, deodorized, and lightly hydrogenated.   Most soy oils are more fully hydrogenated and sold as margarines and shortenings.  Soy accounts for 80% of all vegetable oils; 90% of oils used in commercial salad dressings and margarines; and 75% of all salad and cooking oils combined.⁹

Denatured soy proteins.  Soy protein derivatives include textured soy protein, soy protein isolate, and hydrolyzed vegetable protein.  Soy extenders like soy protein concentrates and isolates hold meat patties together; soak up moisture and fats to prevent shrinkage; and boost protein while lowering fat content.

Textured soy protein (TSP) is used as filler in meat products to extend shelf life and prevent meat from shrinking during cooking.  To mimic beef, pork, and chicken, the food industry often adds the neurotoxins glutamate, aspartate, and/or MSG to TSP—toxins on top of the glutamate TSP contains as a result of processing.

Soy protein isolate (SPI), which is low in fat and 90% protein, is added to a host of packaged foods, including energy bars, ‘health’ shakes, meat patties, hot dogs, and cafeteria foods.  Food companies love to use SPI to boost protein and lower the fat content of foods, especially when supplying schools and other institutions where they must meet low-fat guidelines.

Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) is usually derived from soy.  It is used by the food industry as a flavoring agent, and contains the neurotoxins glutamate and aspartate.

Soy’s “Success” Story.  How did soy, a crop traditionally used in rotation to fix nitrogen in the soil rather than as a foodstuff, infiltrate the processed food industry?  In part it is the story of the Soy Growers Association (founded in 1920) and the seed conglomerates Monsanto, Archer Daniels Midland, and Cargill who teamed up decades ago to aggressively market soy.   Soy was given a boost during World War II as a substitute source of protein when meat was scare, but it was only in the 1960s with the growth of packaged, processed, and fast foods that soy really found its calling.

In the early postwar years, food companies turned to “first-generation” soy products, using soy oil and soy flour in a host of products, from salad and cooking oils to margarine and baked goods.   Food companies were attracted to soy oil because it was cheap and had a long shelf life (there was nothing left to go rancid).  The allure of soy flour to commercial bakeries was not only price, but also its high-protein, low-cholesterol profile and its ability to keep items moist so that they seem fresh longer.

In more recent times, the soy industry has introduced “second generation” products—protein derivatives like TSP and SPI (mentioned above); artificial food flavorings like hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP), an excitotoxin; and lecithin emulsifiers.  High heat, oxidizing agents (like hydrogen peroxide), solvents (hexane), and alkalis and acids are used to produce these products from the residual waste left over after extracting soy oil.  Processing often leaves behind in these second generation products toxic and carcinogenic residues…nitrosamines, lysinoalanines, heterocyclic amines, chloropropanols, fuanones, hexane, and neurotoxins.¹⁰

Of the several soy protein derivatives, a major concern is SPI, because it is pervasive and undetected. It is silently added to many processed foods and the major component of soy infant formula.  SPI consumption has increased ten-fold since 1979.  As a filler to processed foods, SPI increases the need for the fat soluble vitamins E, K, D and B12 as well as for calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, and zinc.  SPI is created by spinning soy protein into fibers using a process borrowed from the textile industry.  These fibers are hard to digest, irritate the digestive tract, and create flatulence. ¹¹

A Dozen Problems Presented by Soy:

1. Soy is not a health food and is not a reliable, balanced source of sustainable protein.  While soy does contain all essential amino acids, it lacks adequate levels of methionine.  Soy protein analogs are not well absorbed and can increase the amount of B12 needed by the body.
2. Soy contains protease inhibitors that interfere with digestive enzymes like trypsin and protease, putting an extra burden on the pancreas.  The result can be digestive problems and inefficient protein digestion and assimilation.  Trypsin inhibitors also interfere with normal growth.
3. Soy’s oligosaccharides interfere with digestion and can cause abdominal pain, bloating, and gas.
4. Soy contains high levels of phytates which block the absorption of calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, and zinc.  Soybeans have more phytates than other beans.  Unlike other plant foods, the phytates in soy are especially difficult to diffuse, even after soaking and cooking for hours and hours.  Soy is best fermented over a long period of time, and even then it is wise to use it only sparingly.
5. Soy is among the top seven allergens—after peanuts, treenuts, milk, eggs, shellfish, fish, and wheat.¹²  As much as 80% of all soy sold in this country is genetically modified.   Consuming genetically-modified foods can contribute to allergies.
6. Soy contains goitrogens, which interfere with the natural creation of thyroid hormones.  Unlike other goitrogenic foods like broccoli and Brussels sprouts where goitrogens are disarmed by cooking, the goitrogens in soy are isoflavones that are neutralized only by solvent extraction.
7. Soy’s phytoestrogens inhibit the thyroid and may cause hypothyroidism and thyroid cancer.
8. Soy infant formula, which accounts for 25% of the U.S. market,¹³ is associated with thyroid disease.¹⁴
9. Soy’s phytoestrogens interfere with endocrine function and can affect fertility of both men and women.  Phytoestrogens can also foster breast cancer in women.
10. Soy contains high levels of manganese, which is linked to ADD and ADHD.¹⁵
11. Soy is bad for bones.  It depletes the body of vitamin D, calcium, and magnesium, all key nutrients for strong bones.  Soy is also low in fat, and fat is needed for the body to absorb minerals.
12. Soy interferes with normal growth, a result of many of the factors enumerated above.

Additional Problems Presented by Commercially- Manufactured Soy By-Products:

1. Soybean oil embodies all the problems of other refined vegetable oils like corn, safflower, and canola.  These oils are processed at high temperatures, deodorized, and stripped of all nutrition for a long shelf life.  Like other vegetable oils, soy oil is inflammatory and is often hydrogenated to serve cooking and baking needs.  As a denatured, inflammatory oil, it is linked to chronic disease.
2. Soy protein concentrates and isolates (SPI and TSP) that are used as fillers contain glutamate, aspartate and/or MSG, neurotoxins that are formed during processing.  More flavor- enhancing MSG is often added to make TSP and SPI palatable.
3. Soy proteins are fragile.   SPI and TSP lose much of their protein quality from high-heat and chemical extrusion.
4. SPI, which is 90% protein, low in fat, and comes with a long shelf life means that food companies love to add it to a vast array of prepared foods and fast foods.  But for the consumer, SPI increases the need for fat-soluble vitamins E, D, and K, as well as vitamin B12, while it also interferes with the absorption of calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, and copper.  Toxins (lysinoalanine) and carcinogens (nitrosmines) from processing are also among concerns about SPI.
5. Soy is naturally high in aluminum, but processing greatly increases the aluminum content of manufactured soy byproducts.   SPI, which is used in infant formula, contains 100 times the amount of aluminum found in breast milk.  High levels of aluminum can harm the nervous system and the kidneys.¹⁶
6. Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) is usually derived from soy, not other plant foods that are lower in protein.  Used by the food industry as a flavoring agent, it contains the neurotoxins glutamate and aspartate.
7. Through hexane extraction, lecithin is derived from soy residues that contain solvents and pesticide residues.  Lecithin is a preservative and is added as an emulsifier to many prepared foods to control texture and prevent fats and water from separating.

Conclusion

 When we think of soy, we often think of vegetarians.  We may also think of the many Americans who now enjoy the popular snack, edamame.  But, when it comes to soy, we rarely think of the group that is perhaps at greatest risk, the “meat-and-potatoes” people—those who would never dream of eating soy. 

When soy creeps silently into everyday foods, particularly with creative analogs that, with the help of taste-enhancing neurotoxins like MSG, fool us into eating soy chicken, it is time to stop, think, and recognize the value of home cooking.  Time spent shopping for wholesome food and cooking in the kitchen is (unless you have a reliable outside resource for healthy prepared foods) the only way to know what we are eating and where our food comes from.  Spending time in these ways can make all the difference to our health, the health of our families, and the health of our planet.

Copyright 2012 Pathways4Health.org

1. Phytic acid chelates calcium, iron, magnesium and zinc to prevent their absorption;  It also inhibits digestive enzymes:  pepsin for protein digestion in the stomach, trypsin in the small intestine; and amylase to convert carbohydrates into simple sugars. [↩]
2. Chicken is an omnivore because it forages not only on grasses but also insects and worms. [↩]
3. Roderick  Mackie “Mutualistic Fermentative Digestion in the Gastrointestinal Tract:  Diversity & Evolution.”  Integrative and Comparative Biology 42,# 2, 2002, 319-26 http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/42/2/319/ [↩]
4. For a fascinating discussion, see Richard Wrangham, Catching Fire:  How Cooking Made Us Human. [↩]
5. http://pathways4health.org/2011/01/10/the-ideal-omega-3-6-balance-in-grass-fed-animal-products/ [↩]
6. http://pathways4health.org/2010/03/02/%E2%97%84-expansive-yin-and-contractive-yang-foods-%E2%96%BA/ [↩]
7. Bacteria in a ruminant’s stomach produce great amounts of phytase so cows, sheep, and goats easily deal with phytic acid.  See Ramiel Nagel, “Living with Phytic Acid.” [↩]
8. Kaayla Daniel’s 450-page, thoroughly-researched and documented The Whole Soy Story is a definitive work on soy.  It delves into the many sides and scientific risks of soy and is an important counterbalance to the present-day aggressive marketing of soy as a health food.  Much of what I highlight here is based upon Daniels’ research.  Quotes are from pp. 1; 121; and 156, respectively. [↩]
9. Daniel, pp. 97-100. [↩]
10. Weston A. Price Foundation, Soy Alert. [↩]
11. Daniel, pp. 92-94. [↩]
12. Daniel, 271. [↩]
13. Daniel, 150. [↩]
14. WAPF [↩]
15. Daniel, 253 [↩]
16. WAPF [↩]

To read this newsletter in an easy-to-read  pdf  form, click here to download the file: March/April 2012 Newsletter. Thank you.

A part of good health means attuning to the energy of the seasons.   Energy and health go hand in hand because the essence of life itself really boils down to energy:  The conglomerate of minerals that make up the human body comes to life through energy in the form of electrical impulses that help us think, move, and craft ourselves into who we uniquely become as individuals.

City living and modern conveniences tend to desensitize us from the natural change in seasonal foods, lifestyle, and energies, but in the past, cultures sustained themselves locally and lived by the seasons.   Harsh winters forced families to hunker down and live within a small radius, huddled by the wood stove or the keeping room fire.  Surviving the dormant winter season required strategies for rationing scarce resources.   Winter survival also demanded planning during the prior planting and harvest seasons; a cooperative family effort; and favorable weather conditions.

In the past, winter’s few possibilities and limited stimulation imposed itself as a time of rest.   Long weeks of bone-chilling cold, close quarters, and isolation from the outside world also required ingenuity, as family members had to rely for amusement on simple pleasures and their own inner creativity.  These conditions left plenty of time to develop strength of character and a firm sense of self.

In these modern times, I get to taste the best of this seasonal life by spending dark winter evenings in our 1803 Cape house located deep in the Massachusetts woods.  With its original modest windows and multiple fireplaces, now supplemented with a state-of-the-art heating system, I enjoy the comforts of modern life, but with the romance associated with the lifestyle of New England some 200 years ago.  Living in this way makes it easy to imagine, as winter drew on for our forebears, their almost desperate desire for spring, as well as their sense of gratitude when February, March, and April days lengthened exponentially.  As my 94-year-old father, who grew up on a small rural Missouri farm, tells it, spring brought many joys, not the least of which was liberation from the bedraggled suit of long underwear that was sewn on in the fall and “shorn away” each spring.

In the past, people observed animals in the wild to guide them to seasonal foods that were safe to eat.  In the spring, animals came out of their winter isolation/hibernation to munch on surface roots (rhizomes), as well as shoots, sprouts, and cleansing bitter greens.  Seeds that lay fallow in the frozen ground all winter, sprouted into first-growth alkalizing foods packed with nutrition—vitamins; minerals; enzymes; chlorophyll; antioxidants; fiber; and other phytonutrients—the perfect liver cleansing, energetic, and nutrient boost/ antidotes to the heavy, acid-forming, monotonous staples of the winter pantry.

Relishing Winter’s Darkness in A Modern World

Finding Darkness, Winter.  Today, the expansive energy and stimulation of television, computers, and electronics of all kinds present not only opportunities but also a special set of challenges to the individual.    We can best welcome the expansive energy of spring, when we are able to retreat in order to relish and restore ourselves during the contractive phase of winter.  But how do we do this?  How do we connect with our inner selves amid the sea of electronic stimulation?   How do we develop our individual self against the “inner breeding” of four-five hours of daily television?  How, when we tune into the same nightly news programs and read from the small remaining cluster of national newspapers?  Mobility and stimulation ask little of us ; rarely are we called upon to lean on our own inner resources.  Yet the strength of our democratic culture to sustain itself is built upon education, diversity, and a broad spectrum of points of view.

Eating Locally, Seasonally.  Regional climates and foods affect local attitudes, customs, and behaviors, so foods grown and eaten locally and seasonally also support individuality and cultural diversity.  This is because plants, as rather simple forms of life, are adaptogens.  They stand on the forefront of environmental and climate change to supply seasonal energy and nutrients for our survival.  For example, plants that grow in cold, harsh climates are generally more tonifying , strengthening, and warming compared to plants that grow in warmer climates, which tend to be cooling and moistening.   Because plants adapt quickly to environmental change, they supply seasonal energy and nutrients for our survival.

Today, our massive supermarkets with food flown in from around the globe can be a blessing, particularly to the wise shopper, but mega-stores make it easy to lose sight of and attunement to foods that are local and seasonal.   Yes, we can buy cooling foods like cucumbers, zucchini, and melons in winter, but the variety of supermarket choices, no matter the season, can lead to confusion about what and how much to eat, as well as to a loss of connection to our body’s seasonal and nutritional needs.

Fast food and packaged foods take this one step further.  Fast food chains’ standardized décor and menu guarantee an expected dining experience and the brand assurance that a Big Mac or Papa Pizza will taste the same, whether purchased in Kennebunkport, Louisville, or Seattle.  Likewise, a child downing a Twinkie or a bowl of Cheerios will eat the same meal, whether in Alaska or Florida.  Within our media-driven culture, the homogenization of food tastes and preferences devalues individuality.  The vast array of food choices and uniformity of prepared foods nationwide have quashed much of the former American pride in ethnic and regional cuisines—coloration sadly lost to time.

Choosing the North Face.  Wild crafters, recognizing plants as adaptogens, traditionally seek herbs that grow in the harsh, windy conditions of the north face of the mountain because these are the herbs that have the greatest strength, stamina, and healing power.   Our forebears lived on the north face.  They had few tools for escape.

Today, in a world that we can far more readily manipulate to assure comforts and ease, we can benefit from choosing the north face in some daily lifestyle choices—to walk when we could ride; to cook from scratch when we could purchase prepared foods; to read or do handicrafts when we could watch TV.  Through science and technology, we have constructed an ever larger south face of our mountain, promising warmth, artificial light, comforts, conveniences, and gratification.  But what happens to our own individuality and to our civilization if as a people we continually take the easy step, the south-face choice?

In a world of artificial light, we need darkness all the more—darkness where we can find peace to restore our souls, uniqueness, and creativity.  Darkness leads to light, to enlightenment.  When we relish winter, we are ready for fresh life, energy, and possibility—all that Spring has to offer.

Spring Foods

Foods that attune us to the dry, cold weather—hearty soups and stews; sweet, “sticky” root vegetables and dried fruits; nuts and seeds; warming/moistening grains (e.g., oats); red meats and roasted marrow bones— are warming, sustaining and perfect for winter.  But these are also acid-/mucus-forming foods that require a little spring cleaning once winter bids farewell.  Spring invites us through the foods that burst forth from the first thawed ground—sprouts, shoots, and all kinds of leafy bitter greens and pungent roots and rhizomes—to lighten up and allow our body to do a thorough seasonal cleaning job.

Spring greens and sprouts are alkalizing and detoxifying.  They are low in fat and full of revitalizing, rejuvenating (DNA/RNA) life force energy.  They are also packed with vitamins, minerals, cleansing chlorophyll, fiber, antioxidants and other phytonutrients.  They break up excesses accumulated over the long winter season by reducing mucus and expelling toxins as the body seeks to do its natural spring cleaning chores.

Spring greens, sprouts, and pungent roots and rhizomes also help detoxify the liver, the major organ associated with spring.  The liver serves many functions in the body; one of its most important is to filter and breakdown toxins that can result from general overeating, as well as from alcohol, drugs, oily and fried foods, heavy meats, pesticides, and chemicals.  A liver overwhelmed by winter eating and drinking habits can be revitalized by the alive, biogenic (“transferring life”) sprouts and by other chlorophyll-rich foods offered by spring.

To assist the liver and the body as a whole in the spring, we need lighter, cooling foods that are generally bitter and pungent (to dispel mucus); pungent (to move energy); and sour (to assist the liver, break up heavy fats, and relieve indigestion and stagnation).

Sour.  Sour, the color green, the liver/gall bladder, and the emotion anger are all associated with spring according to Chinese Five Phase Theory.  A liver overwhelmed by heavy foods and toxins can stagnate energy (“Qi”), leading to anger, depression and mood swings, and the inability to plan and make decisions.  The sour flavor is cooling; has a drying, astringent effect; and acts on the liver to relieve congestion.  Lemon tea, simply lemon and hot water, is a good example of a fitting antidote to a heavy meal.   So is sauerkraut, which goes with hot dogs/meats.   Fruits and berries that are sour and cooling—grapefruit, lemons, apples, mango, pears, and strawberries— also assist the liver and fit a spring diet.

Bitter.  Bitter foods are cooling and downward draining.  They help rid the body of excess fluid and damp conditions that can lead to spring colds, asthma, allergies and congestion.  Spring gives us plenty of these light, bitter foods through the plethora of leafy spring greens and vegetables like asparagus.  Also good are vegetables in the cabbage family such as bitter Brussels sprouts, kale, and broccoli rabe.

Pungent.  Pungent foods, such as onions, garlic, ginger, watercress, radishes, and turnips are also fitting for spring.  Pungent foods help clear the lungs and large intestine, stimulate digestion, and move Qi to relieve stagnation.  Pungent foods also move energy upward and outward and help the body breakup and dispel mucus, particularly from mucus-forming foods like dairy.   [Dairy is cooling.  No matter the season, dairy products, if tolerated, are best consumed in moderation; at room temperature; and away from the cold and flu season since dairy is a favorite food of bacteria.  Scientists use dairy in the lab to grow bacteria, but we need not do the same.]

Spring foods to emphasize.  In Spring, people who are generally balanced will want to eat foods from all five flavors—sour, bitter, sweet, pungent, and salty—but with less emphasis on the sweet, salty sustaining foods of winter and more upon the bitter, pungent, and sour detoxifying foods of spring.  At this time of year, it is best to try to limit red meat and dairy which are mucus-forming.  Also try to rotate from wheat and oats to the more drying bitter/sour grains such as rye and amaranth, as well as buckwheat, corn, millet, and quinoa, all of which are drying and cleansing compared to oats and wheat.  Because wheat allergies can result from heavy reliance on wheat throughout the year and from poor food combining when proteins are eaten with wheat (e.g., sandwiches, pizza),  consider rotating in spring to more seasonally-appropriate, non-gluten grains–quinoa, millet, and buckwheat.

Below are listed foods by category that are neutral to cooling, and either bitter, pungent, or sour.  If listed more than once, foods embody more than one taste.  Foods that are not listed are either warming or exclusively sweet or salty or a combination and therefore more fitting for seasons other than spring.

Cooling-to-neutral temperature foods that are bitter:  Vegetables—lettuce, broccoli rabe, celery, chicory, dandelion greens, escarole, endive, mustard greens, rutabaga, turnips, olives; Fruits—none; Grains—amaranth, rye [both grains are also drying, in keeping with spring.]

Cooling-to-neutral temperature foods that are pungent:  Vegetables—bokchoy, broccoli rabe, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, radish, rutabaga, turnip, watercress;  Fruits—none; Grains—none.

Cooling-to-neutral temperature foods that are sour:  Vegetables—none; Fruits—apples, grapefruit, lemon, grapes, mango, pears, pineapple, plum, strawberries [most of these are both sweet and sour]; Grains—barley, millet [millet is also drying].

Note:  A devoted rotation to spring bitter and raw foods will not generally work well for people who are deficient, have cold conditions, and/or weak digestion.   Cooked foods and foods that are sweet in flavor are more strengthening and tonifying and may be appropriate throughout the year for some individuals with cold and/or deficient conditions.  In the same spirit, it may make sense for someone with heavy congestion and excess heat conditions to eat cooling, cleansing raw foods and bitter greens throughout the year.  A person’s physical profile should take precedence over seasonal food considerations.

Growing Sprouts

Spring brings to mind many foods—asparagus, peas, a rich variety of spring bitter greens, and early strawberries ripening under the bright May sun.  But, for me, nothing quite captures the revitalizing transition from dark, dormant winter to the bright, enlivening energy of spring like sprouts.  Sprouts vividly reveal the life force of a seed miraculously coming to life.  They are one of the most nutrient-dense foods imaginable; they detoxify the liver; support the immune system (T-cells); and, they are full of life force energy.   Sprouts are biogenic, alive foods that appear to pass their essence (RNA, DNA) as a live force when eaten (see below).1   Sprouts contain all the nutrients and energy to support a mature plant; when we eat sprouts, we acquire the essence of the mature plants but without the bulk.  Growing sprouts in your home is easy to do in any season, but to do so now can be both emotionally satisfying and nutritionally sound.

Sprouts and health.  Shoots and sprouts are tender and loaded with nutrition to help support the plant on its journey to maturity:  When a seed sprouts, it starts quickly to develop a rich array of nutrients to support the mature plant that it is to become.  According to Steve Meyerowitz, who has devoted much of his life to the science of sprouting, in the first 5-10 days, young seedlings attain their greatest nutrient density; vitamins increase many-fold; and complex starches are broken down to make beans and grains more digestible.  (As a related point, sprouting can prevent allergies to wheat or other offending grains.)   According to Steve Meyerowitz, with the germination of a seed:

1. “Nutrients are broken down—protein into amino acids, fats into essential fatty acids, starches to sugars, and minerals chelate or combine with protein in a way that increases their utilization.  This…increases nutrition and improves digestion and assimilation…the reason sprouts are considered predigested food.
2. “Proteins, vitamins, enzymes, minerals and trace minerals multiply from 300 to 1200 percent.  Chlorophyll develops in seeds that become green plants.  Certain acids and toxins that can interfere with digestion are reduced or eliminated.  Size and water content increase dramatically.”².

Viktoras Kulvinskas, an early pioneer in the science of sprouted food, sprouts provide nucleic acids (think DNA, RNA), which are key elements of cell growth and regeneration.  These increase by as much as 30-fold through sprouting.   Ann Wigmore calls sprouts biogenic (alive) foods, to distinguish them from bioactive raw fruits and vegetables.  Biogenic foods—sprouted grains, beans, nuts and seeds—are able to transfer their life energy to us when we eat them.  This may shed light on why David Wetzel  of Green Pasture.org believes that first-growth spring grasses provide a stem-cell component that underlies the mysterious health benefits of X-factor butter oil.  (See January/February 2012 newsletter on vitamin D).

Counter-top sprouting.  Growing sprouts can be as simple or complex as you wish it to be.  You can purchase professional sprouting equipment such as vertical sprouters and sprout bags, or you can simply have fun with good seeds and a large jar fitted with a mesh top.

Counter-top sprouting can be done in any home and during any season. It requires no long-term commitment and makes no mess.  You need neither yard nor soil,  hoe nor gardening gloves.  All that is required is a large jar; a screened lid; good, organic sprouting seeds; water; and a few consecutive days when you can rinse, shake, and drain the sprouting seeds each morning and evening. This step keeps the seeds cool and moist.

Sprouting seeds takes a week or less. You may want to grow sprouts regularly; or you might prefer to dabble now and then, washing the jar and setting sprouting aside until you are once again in the mood. For children, growing sprouts in a jar on the countertop is a perfect first-growing adventure, one that can encourage eating greens, the major food missing from their diets.
The simple steps for sprouting are:

• Put about 2 tablespoons of sorted, organic seeds, or ¼-1/2  cup grains, beans, or legumes in a clean two-quart jar fitted with a screen top (or a square of cheese cloth, nylon, or mosquito netting)  held in place by a canning jar ring, string, or strong rubber band.  This screened opening permits easy rinsing, draining, and air ventilation.  Use a one-gallon jar if you choose to sprout more seeds, though keep in mind that while 2 tablespoons looks like a small quantity of seeds, sprouts need plenty of space to grow and to prevent overcrowding.
• Cover the seeds with plenty of filtered water that is free of chlorine, and let it sit overnight, or about 8 hours.  Some seeds require only 6 hours of soaking, while beans and grains with tough exteriors may benefit from a soak as long as 24-36 hours. There are also mucilaginous seeds that require no soaking at all, although this may not be the best approach for sprouting seeds like this. For more information on seeds and soaking times, you can refer to www.sproutpeople.org.
• At the end of the soaking period, and with the screened lid firmly in place, pour off and discard the water.
• Cover the seeds with plenty of fresh water, swish them around inside the jar, and drain once again. Then turn the jar upside down and set it at an angle; a dish drainer works well for support. Keep the seeds out of direct sunlight, though ordinary room light and indirect sunlight are both fine.  A room temperature of 60-70 degrees is ideal because growing sprouts produce heat. Rinsing the sprouts morning and evening prevents them from overheating in a jar that traps heat; it also keeps the sprouts moist.   [If you grow sprouts in warmer temperatures, you may want to give them cooling baths more frequently than twice a day.]
• Repeat the above step twice a day, morning and evening, for several days, until the seeds are well-sprouted and, if applicable, starting to turn green (not all sprouts are green in maturity).
• When you are ready to harvest your sprouts (grains are sweetest and beans/legumes have the highest protein levels after just 2-3 days; greens need longer in order to develop chlorophyll), rinse them and then pour them onto a towel to air dry. Place dry sprouts in a covered container, lined with a paper towel, and refrigerate.  They should keep for a week or more and can be used in salads and sandwiches, or for juicing.

Note:   Because sprouts are cleansing and detoxifying, they may work less well for older people in the “winter, drying-out” phase of life.  At age 64, I find I need a good complement of sweet round and root vegetables plus good fats and oils in all seasons of the year, and I must consume sprouts rather sparingly.

Reading Resources

Chinese Medicine and Five Phase Theory:

Harriet Beinfield, L.Ac and Efrem Korngold, L.Acl O.M.D., Between Heaven and Earth

John W. Garvy, Jr., N.D., D. Ac., The Five Phases of Food:  How to Begin

Ted Kaptchuk, O.M.D., The Web that Has No Weaver

Giovanni Maciocia, The Foundations of Chinese Medicine

http://pathways4health.org/2010/03/01/chinese-5-phase-theory/

Food Energies and “Kitchen Medicine”:

Steve Gagne, The Energetics of Foods

Harriet Beinfield, L.Ac and Efrem Korngold, L.Acl O.M.D., Between Heaven and Earth, 323-379.

Annemarie Colbin, Ph.D., The Natural Gourmet

Paul Pitchford, Healing with Whole Foods

http://pathways4health.org/2010/08/30/sept10-seasonal-harmony/

http://pathways4health.org/2010/09/16/oct10-signatures-2/

Sprouting:

Viktoras Kulvinskas, Sprouts for the Love of Every Body

Steve Meyerwitz, Sprouts, The Complete Guide to Sprouting; www.sproutman.com

Ann Wigmore, The Sprouting Book; The Wheatgrass Book

Spring Recipe:  Pathways4Health Non-gluten, Moist Cornbread with Drying Grains of Spring/Summer

1 cup cornmeal                                                                 1-2 eggs, beaten, depending on size

1 cup millet flour                                                              1 cup cooked pureed squash or sweet potato

2 t. baking powder                                                          1 cup organic milk, or soy, rice, almond milk

2 T. sugar; 1 t. salt (optional)                                       1 t. vanilla (optional)

¼ cup softened butter or coconut oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and oil a 9” square pan.  In a bowl, mix dry ingredients, including sugar if you want a slightly sweet cornbread to eat like you would a muffin.  Cut in shortening.  In a separate bowl, beat egg(s); add squash, milk, and vanilla.  Gently fold dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, pour into the well-greased pan.  Bake at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes.

Pureed squash makes this a moist cornbread that is light, gluten free, and attuned to spring/summer because corn and millet are both drying grains.

Appendix:  Eating by the Seasons, the Sun’s Seasons in Contrast to the Calendar Seasons

Our calendar seasons do not correspond with the sun’s energy footprint.  We actually gain about one hour more sun time (roughly 3 ½ hours in total) in the winter quarter, December 21-March 21, than we do in “official” spring season, from the spring equinox to the summer solstice, March 21-June 21.  To synchronize to the sun, we may feel like eating spring foods in late February and early March if the weather is warm enough and we feel the need to shift to lighter fare after weeks of heavy winter eating.

Monthly Footprint of Changes in Sunlight

(Based on New York City; Derived from Date and Time)

Copyright 2012, Pathways4Health.org

1. Ann Wigmore, The Sprouting Book, v, 6, 15, 16. [↩]
2. Steve Meyerowitz, Sprouts, The Complete Guide to Sprouting, 93 [↩]

To read this newsletter in an easy-to-read  pdf  form, click here to download the file: January/February 2012 Newsletter. Thank you.

“If I had to give you a single secret ingredient that could apply to the prevention—treatment, in many cases—of heart disease, common cancers, stroke, infectious diseases from influenza to tuberculosis, type 1 and 2 diabetes, dementia, depression, insomnia, muscle weakness, joint pain, fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, and hypertension, it would be… vitamin D.”              …Michael F. Holick, Ph.D, M.D.

“Vitamin D may be one of the most fundamentally important building blocks available to us for creating and sustaining vibrant health…Yet vitamin D is also considered to the ‘the most toxic of all vitamins.’”        …Chris Masterjohn, April, 2011, Weston A. Price Foundation

Vitamin D is essential for good health, not only for the bones and teeth, but also for metabolism, genetic expression, and to support the body’s other non-skeletal systems—cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, nervous, muscular, immune, reproductive and endocrine.  Given this breadth, vitamin D is linked to the prevention of a host of chronic diseases  including cancer, diabetes and obesity, heart disease, autoimmune disorders, and, of course, rickets and osteoporosis.  Science now appreciates that the cells of the body are equipped with vitamin D receptors.  This helps to explain the far-reaching roles of vitamin D in maintaining good health.  Yet, according to Michael F. Holick, Ph.D., M.D., who has spent his life researching vitamin D, it is “the most common nutritional deficiency in the world.”1

Rather than a vitamin, science presently recognizes vitamin D as a hormone that works synergistically with other hormones within a complex matrix of body chemistry to affect metabolic and cellular function, as well as genetic expression.   To be effective, vitamin D must act in tandem with vitamin A, as well as vitamin K.  Vitamin D depletes vitamin A, so even modest amounts of vitamin D without sufficient A can lead to vitamin D toxicity.²  Likewise, vitamin A can become toxic without adequate levels of vitamin D.³

For good health, therefore, while we need to be aware of safe, reliable sources of vitamin D, we must also consider vitamin D within the context of our intake of the right kinds of vitamin A and K.   Science is just beginning to unravel the vitamin D story.  Vitamin D may come in far more forms than the D2 and D3 recognized today.  Vitamin D research promises to be one of the more exciting health fields of the future.

Sources of Vitamin D

How we obtain vitamin D—through sunshine, supplements, or food—is a personal decision.  Sunshine and supplements have advantages, but, as you might guess, they also come with their own limitations and risks.  Food presents limits, too, since few foods are rich in vitamin D.  How we obtain vitamin D is a choice that depends upon health and life style, diet and personal tastes, geographic location, skin type, and age.

Sunshine 

Throughout time, plants, animals, and people have been drawn to the sun.  Plants bend to catch its rays.  Animals, especially those that are vitamin D deficient, know to bask in its light.  We are no different—after a bone-chilling winter, nothing feels better than to spread a blanket and stretch out in the sun.  Given that our cells and hence our tissues, and arteries are equipped with receptors for vitamin D, it is not surprising that we are naturally and intuitively drawn to the sun’s warmth and healing powers.

Thanks to the benevolence and good planning of Mother Nature, it is possible for us to get in warmer seasons enough vitamin D from sunshine to last all winter.   We do this by taking in UVB radiation through the skin and transforming it via the liver to calcidiol, known as 25(OH)D, the water-soluble, storage form of vitamin D that can be deposited in our fat cells for future use.⁴  For enough UVB radiation to store vitamin D to sustain us through the year, we generally need 15-30 minutes of unprotected exposure several times a week between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., April through October.  Exposure should be over much of the body since a specific surface of skin produces only a finite amount of vitamin D, no matter the length of time in the sun.

Obtaining vitamin D from the sun has several advantages.   It is free.  It can, by encouraging the body to produce endorphins, 5 lift our spirits and provide a sense of well-being.  Sunshine helps regulate our circadian rhythms to help us sleep.  It is a natural source of vitamin D that many experts believe cannot, even with prolonged exposure to the sun, lead to vitamin D toxicity.⁶⁷  And, as noted, if enough sun is taken in during the summer months, it can be stored by the body in sufficient quantity to last all winter.

Scientists specializing in vitamin D research now believe that “sunshine vitamin D” provides many photo-nutrients that extend beyond our current understanding of vitamin D.   Sunshine is the most natural source of what we might think of as “full spectrum” vitamin D.  Scientists have discovered that the body, taking in UVB radiation through the skin, makes not only vitamin D as we know it but also other vitamin D metabolites with potential health benefits not yet understood.   Ancient cultures perhaps knew to use the sun for healing.  One of the sun pioneers in more contemporary times was Arnold Rikli (1823-1906), known as the “sun doctor” and regarded as the founder of heliotherapy.  Rikli used natural sunlight in many drugless institutions in Europe to cure tuberculosis, bone and skin diseases, and to accelerate wound healing.⁸

Another aspect of sunshine and health relates to UVB radiation’s positive effect on body chemistry by entering the iris of the eye.   John Ott, best known in the 1950s-60s for his work in the early days of time-lapse photography of plant life, was a pioneer in this field.  Ott discovered that sunshine entering the unprotected iris of the eye affects the pineal and pituitary glands to aid in the proper chemistry and hormone balance of the body.  As an arthritis sufferer, he discovered this by accident.  Ott had long observed the positive benefits that sunshine held for plants and animals, and he extrapolated this to his own improved health when he broke his glasses and began to notice a great improvement in his arthritis condition (glass screens out 99% of the sun’s UVB radiation, but none of the UVA radiation that causes wrinkles).  He was one of the first to link sunlight and the retinal-hypothalamic-endocrine system and its role in the body’s chemistry and hormonal balance.⁹  [This same principle is used with laying hens to boost egg production in the shorter days of fall and winter, since artificial light entering the eye stimulates a hen’s pituitary gland for an increased yield.]

While we do not understand all the benefits of ultra violet exposure, the fact that Nature provided melatonin in our skin and yet few vitamin D-rich foods suggests that we are supposed to get at least some vitamin D through sunshine.  Given the broad spectrum of ultra violet wave lengths, we might think of sunshine much like we do a whole food, with factors that work synergistically and in ways that cannot be fully appreciated with a microscope.

Of course, sunshine is not a trouble-free source of vitamin D.  While sunshine may help prevent specific types of cancers such as breast, prostate, and colon, among its well-publicized drawbacks are the risks of cataracts and non-melanoma skin cancer, as well as wrinkles, which is a price of UVA exposure.¹⁰

Another problem is that some people cannot convert enough sunshine to vitamin D to meet their needs.  Included are: 

• People living in the mid- and high-latitudes (above 35 degrees latitude, which comprises the northern two-thirds of the United States), where in winter the need for cold weather clothing and the low arc of the winter sun prevent acquiring sufficient sun-based vitamin D.
• Darker-skinned people because they have more melanin in the outer layers skin which curtails their ability to make vitamin D from sunlight.¹¹
• Babies who are breast-fed because breast milk lacks vitamin D.
• Older adults because with time the skin is less able to efficiently synthesize vitamin D; people who are obese because fat cells retain vitamin D and resist releasing it into the blood stream when needed.
• Individuals with celiac or other conditions that make it difficult to digest fats. 
• People who live and work indoors through the midday hours; and
  
• All who generously apply sunscreens or try to avoid the sun-related risks listed above.

Well, that is just about all of us!  With such a long list, it is not hard to see why Michael Holick, a pioneer in vitamin D research, believes Vitamin D to be the most pervasive nutritional deficiencies in the world.  While figures concerning vitamin D deficiency vary, at perhaps the upper end, a 2009 Harvard study suggests that 70% of Caucasians, 90% of Hispanics, and 97% of African-Americans have deficient blood levels of vitamin D.¹²  [These statistics can raise questions about the validity of current vitamin D tests.]

Allow me to stop for a moment to make a side comment about the sun.  Leaving out concerns about the ozone layer, I believe that a large part of the present-day problem with sun exposure is rooted in our indoor lifestyle and our modern nutrient-deficient diet, particularly with respect to vitamin A and K2.  Traditional cultures consumed ten times the vitamin A¹³ ( and I suspect a similar or even greater multiple of vitamin K2) that we do.  These two vitamins are important because they are vital working partners with vitamin D and, as such, important antidotes to relatively excessive levels of vitamin D.  In addition, until the industrial revolution, which brought city life and with it, rickets as a major health problem, people worked outside without sunscreen throughout the year and could adjust to the sun, gradually building up melatonin.

Regarding diet, our modern processed foods lack antioxidants to diffuse free-radical damage.  They also lack the vital animal based, fat-soluble forms of vitamins A (retinol) and K that are essential partners to work alongside vitamin D in the body.   Preformed vitamin A is different from plant-based provitamin A–beta-carotene and the carotenoid group–little of which may be converted in the body to vitamin A.  And, vitamin K2 is different from plant-based vitamin K1 which is associated with blood clotting.

Foods that supply vitamin A and K2 include liver and other organ meats, fish eggs, and eggs and butter/animal fats from grass-fed animals.  Vitamin K2 is also found in lacto-fermented vegetables (the kind made without vinegar that need refrigeration) like sauerkraut, pickles, and fermented fruits (see July/August 2009 newsletter).  The point is that none of these foods, which were staples in the diet of traditional cultures, would be high on our list of favorites today.  If we get a lot of sun, we need to consume some of these foods.  In any event, given our modern lifestyle and contemporary diet, it is only logical that stretching out on a sandy beach for a week or two of summer sun can invite trouble.

Finally, while sunshine may provide a potential array of photonutrients to support health (some, in ways that we do notfully understand), by the same token, the erosion of the ozone layer may pose new health risks.   We can only assume that sunshine may bestow untold benefits as well as perhaps untold risks not faced by prior generations.

Vitamin D Supplements

Because vitamin D is naturally present in few foods, vitamin D supplements are often recommended by doctors for people who want to avoid sun exposure and/or who may not be able to convert sunshine into a sufficient quantity of active vitamin D.  For most of us who are indoors spending long hours at a desk, vitamin D supplements may seem to be the answer.   They are convenient, reasonably priced, and easy to take.  In addition, unlike sunshine, their potency does not decline as we age—a fact that is also true of foods rich in vitamin D.   On the negative side, the quality of supplements, in terms of their ingredients and processing, may vary and the dosage stated on labels may not be reliable.  In addition, vitamin D from supplements is quickly dissipated in the body (its half-life is just two-three weeks) compared to the long-lasting effects of vitamin D from sunshine.  And, supplements do not impart the sun’s “feel-good-feeling,” nor do they help to regulate circadian rhythms.¹⁴

But, above all, the greatest strike against supplements is that they are the most likely of the three vitamin D options…sunshine, supplements and food…to cause vitamin D toxicity.  Put simply, it is easy to overdose when taking supplements because of the toxicity risk inherent in even modest doses of vitamin D when the other essential fat-soluble partners of vitamin D, vitamins A, possibly E (vitamin E’s role with D is not yet understood), and K2, are lacking in the diet.  In addition, synthetic supplements, whether  vitamin D or A, are far more  likely to build to toxic levels than these vitamins in their natural forms..¹⁵  And, as mentioned earlier, vitamin D testing appears to have its pitfalls so “normal” readings may not be conclusive.

Vitamin D in Foods

Foods that naturally contain vitamin D are not common to the American diet.  Yet, the few good sources (mostly fatty fish, such as salmon) do present  certain advantages—they can be assimilated equally by young and old; they incorporate other nutritional cofactors; and, (unless rich sources like cod liver oil or lard are used with abandon), their low levels of vitamin D pose little risk of vitamin D toxicity.  Some foods, such as cow’s milk, nut and seed milks, yogurt, orange juice, and boxed cereals are now fortified with vitamin D.  Milk was first fortified in response to a major outbreak of rickets in the 1930s, a result of city living.  It is important to read food labels since not all milk, yogurt, juice, and cereal are fortified with vitamin D.

Vitamin D3 and D2.  Vitamin D3 is synthesized by our skin, as well as the skin and oils of the fur of animals.  As a second stage, the liver converts it to 25(OH)D, or calcidiol, the more water-soluble storage form that can be deposited in fat cells and carried in the blood to be bound to the vitamin D binding protein, DBP.  This can be activated as 1,25(OH)2D, or calcitriiol, when needed.   How vitamin D is stored and carried in the body is instructive because it suggests what kinds of foods are rich in vitamin D, as shown in Table 1, below.

How vitamin D3 is synthesized is also important to appreciate the difference between D3 and D2.  Vitamin D2, often used to fortify foods, is produced commercially by irradiating yeast.  The fact that both D2 and D3 resolve rickets has led some to believe that they are equivalent, but there appear to be subtle differences. Unlike D3, vitamin D2 does not bind well to DBP and therefore only fractionally raises calcidiol levels of the blood.¹⁶  [As noted, beyond D2 and D3, there may be a host of other forms of vitamin D yet to be discovered.]

As an introductory comment to Table, I used two measures of daily vitamin D requirements—400 IUs, the official government guideline; and 1000 IUs, which is still a conservative level and perhaps a better intake for optimal health.  I included pork blood in italics, not as a food source for us in modern times, but to illustrate the high vitamin D content of blood.  Blood is consumed as a source of vitamin D by the Masai of Africa and also by animals that eat insects or animals of prey.

Lard.  Lard deserves a special comment.  My parents each grew up on rural Midwest farms in the 1930s and 1940s where lard from free-range pigs was used as a staple in daily cooking and baking.  Surviving as they did to the cholesterol/fat-phobic decades of more recent times, my mother and father often bemoaned the large amounts of lard that they ingested as children.  My parents (with no access to cod liver oil’s vitamins D and A), stayed active well into their 90s, and I wonder if lard was, in fact, their true saving grace.  Lard provided a rich source of vitamin D and, because vitamin D works to prevent obesity and diabetes, lard may have helped them stay warm, trim and happy in their active outdoor life.  And, sources of vitamin A to complement this D were just beyond their doorstep in the eggs from their barnyard chickens and butter from their grass-fed cows—a homemade formula for their vibrant health.

Fatty Fish.  The more appetizing source of vitamin D3 for many people is oily fish like salmon, mackerel, herring, and sardines.  How do fish, living underwater and away from the sun make vitamin D?  …Not so much from sun exposure to their oily skin since they spend most of their life deep underwater.  Instead, most of the vitamin D3 in fatty fish is a by-product of the plankton that they eat.  Plankton contain vitamin D precursors that fish are able to synthesize.  Many oily fish, if eaten with the skin and bones, provide a healthy array of oils, including EPA and DHA, as well as calcium.

Mushrooms. The skin of mushrooms acts much like our own, taking in UVB radiation to synthesize vitamin D.   Mushrooms are the only plant-based food with natural vitamin D.  Several companies market sun-dried mushrooms with significantly higher vitamin D content than fresh mushrooms.  More recently, Monterey Mushrooms of California developed with the USDA fresh mushrooms sold under the Sun Bella label that are grown with ultra violet light.  The company advertizes that just 3 ounces, or about four or five mushrooms, provide 100 percent of the daily requirement (based on 400 IUs).

Table 1:  Selected Food Sources of Vitamin D; %Daily Value 400 IUs and 1000 IUs

Source:  USDA; Weston A. Price Foundation.org; Green Pasture.org; Pathways4Health.org

Fermented Cod Liver Oil

You need very little; it is easy to store; and it needs no cooking.

“There is hardly a disease in the books that does not respond well to cod liver oil, and not just infectious diseases but also chronic modern diseases like heart disease and cancer.”¹⁷

This is my favorite source of vitamin D because, unlike the foods listed above, it is naturally balanced with vitamin D’s vital partner, preformed vitamin A.  Cod liver oil also contains health-supporting quinines, EPA (for inflammatory response) and DHA (for brain and neurological function), and omega-3,-6,-7, and -9 oils.  A teaspoon or two over breakfast along with X-Factor butter oil (which provides vitamin K2) works well for me.   Also, for people with an aversion to its taste, fermented cod liver oil comes both in flavors and capsule form and can be taken with orange juice to blunt any aftertaste.

Fermented cod liver oil that is made in accordance with tradition often contains ten times the vitamin A relative to vitamin D, but the amount of A to D is inconsistent; these amounts vary according to the diet of the specific catch and the season (summer cod livers have more oil than those taken in winter and are less potent—the less oil in a liver, the more potent the oil).

Fermented cod liver oil should not be confused with commercial brands that are cleaned and deodorized using alkali refining, bleaching, and deodorization.    Because people often buy cod liver as a source of EPA and DHA, some deodorized brands do not bother to add back lost vitamins, and hence have low levels of vitamin A and no vitamin D.  Such a product can lead to vitamin A toxicity if over-consumed.  Other brands—the majority of cod liver oils sold—are cleaned and deodorized, and synthetic vitamins A and D are added back after processing.  When labels contain exact levels of vitamins A and D, it is a sign that they fit this latter category.  Read labels carefully.  Traditional cod liver oils, such as sold by Green Pastures; Radiant Life; and Dr. Ron’s UltraPure may not list vitamin A and D levels.  Lack of labeling can be a good sign, indicating that it is a natural product created without commercial processing and the addition of synthetic, measureable forms of vitamins A and D.

While dosage recommendations can vary, a dose of high-vitamin fermented cod liver oil is generally half that of regular cod liver oil.  Guidelines provided by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig of the Weston A. Price Foundation are as follows:

• Children aged 3 month to 12 years:  ½ teaspoon, providing approximately 4650 IU vitamin A and 975 IU vitamin D;
• Children over 12 years and adults:  1 teaspoon or 10 capsules, providing 9500 IU vitamin A and 1950 IU vitamin D;
• Pregnant and nursing women:  2 teaspoons or 20 capsules, providing 19,000 IU of vitamin A and 3900 IU vitamin D.¹⁸

All cod liver oils in the United States are tested for contaminants like mercury, cadmium, lead, and PCBs by the Association of Analytical Communities.  Mercury, which is water soluble, is not a concern.  It may be present in the flesh of fish but it is not contained in fish oils.¹⁹

Why don’t we hear more about cod liver oil?  Per capita cod liver oil consumption is less than one-twentieth that of our parents or grandparents generation.[20]  Cod liver oil has gone out of style, perhaps because we can now purchase vitamin D supplements, and perhaps, too, because we eat food more for pleasure than for health—with broad-based medical coverage, it is easy to leave the rest to doctors and drugs.  Another very important reason that cod liver oil has fallen from favor is that it has no large constituency of support.  Unlike synthetic drugs that can be patented and sold for multiples of their production costs, cod liver oil is a food, with little profit-generating power.

While naturally-produced cod liver oil has no broad constituency, it’s cause has been taken up by the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF), a not-for-profit organization to further the pioneering work of Weston Price.  In addition, cod liver oil has devoted people like David Wetzel who, through his non-profit company Green Pastures.org, produce traditional fermented cod liver oil and X-Factor butter oils.  These are nutrient-dense products for optimal health that provide the important vitamin D, A, and Activator-X (vitamin K2) dietary factors discovered by Dr. Weston A. Price in his surveys of healthy, robust traditional cultures around the globe during the 1920s and 1930s (see Nutrition and Physical Degeneration).  It is hard to think of anything that delivers so much for so little.

Important  Summary Points About Vitamin D and Its Partners, Vitamin A and K2.

• Vitamins A and D combine to affect gene expression, which carries important implications for cancer and a host of other chronic diseases.  In the words of Chris Masterjohn, “Vitamins A and D are both precursors to nuclear hormone, which are molecules that bind to receptors, travel into the nucleus, bind to DNA or specific target genes, and control the expression of those genes…turning them on and off, up and down.”
• Vitamins A and K2 are needed to offset vitamin D to protect against bone demineralization and soft tissue calcification.   Kidney stones, calcified joints and arteries, cardiovascular disease…all are tied to deficiencies of vitamin A and K2.
• Vitamins A and K2 protect against vitamin D toxicity.  High levels of vitamin D deplete vitamin A, and must be balanced with compensating amounts of vitamin A and K2 to prevent toxicity.²⁰ 
• Active forms of vitamins A and D together signal cells to make specific, vital proteins for important bodily processes, but once created, these proteins can only function in the presence of vitamin K2.  One example of this relates to proper bone calcification:  Only when vitamins A and D are both present can cells produce osteocalcin, a protein that oversees the deposition of calcium and phosphorus salts in teeth and bones, but osteocalcin can only accumulate when it has been activated by vitamin K2.²¹  Vitamins A and K2 both assure the proper disposition of calcium in the bones and teeth (K2 actually encourages dentin to re-mineralize, helping to reverse tooth decay).²²

In conclusion, taking vitamin D in isolation can create imbalances and health problems:  too much vitamin D without adequate levels of vitamin A and K2 can weaken bones and lead to the calcification of soft tissues, including the heart, kidneys, and arteries.  Too much vitamin D in isolation can cause vitamin A and vitamin K deficiencies.  At the same time, vitamin A and vitamin K work to prevent vitamin D toxicity.   Thus, even small amounts of vitamin D can be detrimental if vitamin A and vitamin K2 are deficient.

Designing a Personal Strategy

As mentioned previously, how we choose to obtain vitamin D is a personal decision. My purpose in writing this newsletter has been to try to help you sort through enough information, both about vitamin D and its necessary complementary cofactors…vitamins A and K …that you may choose a way to obtain these nutrients–one that fits your lifestyle, personal tastes and eating habits. My own personal strategy for obtaining sufficient vitamin D and A involves taking a modest daily serving of naturally fermented cod liver oil (for vitamins A and D), along with X-Factor butter oil (for K2  and saturated fat.  [Saturated fat helps the body assimilate the highly unsaturated fatty acids of cod liver oil.  Cod liver oil is highly unsaturated and cannot be utilized and stored effectively without adequate amounts of saturated fats from grass-fed animals.]  .  For anyone with an aversion to its taste, fermented cod liver oil (not to be confused with well-known commercial, deodorized brands that lack natural vitamins A and D) comes both in flavors and capsule form.

In springtime as the days lengthen and the weather warms, I cut back on cod liver oil and begin to work gradually into the midday sun.  This is a hedge to capture what may be other health benefits from the sun’s photo-nutrients that reach beyond vitamin D as we know it today.  I also take off my glasses for brief periods to let some sun enter my eyes, an approach inspired by the work of John Ott, who discovered in the 1950s-1960s positive hormonal benefits of UVB radiation passing through the iris of the eye to the pineal and pituitary glands.  Of course, the risk of using the sun may involve non-melanoma skin cancer and cataracts.  These are tradeoffs balanced against the potential prevention of more serious chronic diseases.

My research and my own personal experience lead me to believe that the judicious use of traditionally fermented cod liver oil and X-Factor butter oil is an effective, balanced, convenient strategy for acquiring vitamin D and A.  Cod liver oil comes with far-reaching benefits, from the reversal of tooth decay to improved behavior and mood.   I have taken a modest daily serving of fermented cod liver oil along with X-Factor butter oil for several years; I have not had a cavity and I have never felt better.  If you decide to try these, be patient—it may take about six weeks to feel a difference.

Good Sources of Cod Liver Oil and X-Factor Butter Oil 

• Green Pasture (402-858-4818), www.greenpasture.org
• Dr. Ron’s Ultra-Pure, Additive Free Products (877-472-8701), www.drrons.com
• Radiant Life (888-593-8333), www.radiantlifecatalog.com

Reading Resources:

Sunshine, Health, and Vitamin D:

• Michael Holick, Ph.D., M.D., The Vitamin D Solution.
• Chris Masterjohn, “From Seafood to Sunshine:  A New Understanding of Vitamin D Safety,” WAPF.
• John N. Ott, Health and Light; Light, Radiation and You.
• Weston A. Price, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.
• NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, “Vitamin D,” http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD

Vitamin A:

• Sally Fallon and Mary Enig, Ph.D., “Vitamin A Saga,” WAPF.
• Sally Fallon, “Update 2 on Cod Liver Oil/Vitamin A,” WAPF.
• Elson Haas, Staying Healthy with Nutrition.

Vitamin K2 and X-Factor Butter Oil:

• Chris Masterjohn, “On the Trail of the Elusive X-Factor:  A Sixty-Year Mystery and Vitamin K,” WAPF.

Cod Liver Oil:

• Sally Fallon Morell and Mary Enig, Ph.D., “Cod Liver Oil Basics and Recommendations,” WAPF.
• Sally Fallon Morell, “Cod Liver Oil:  Setting the Record Straight,” WAPF.
• Sally Fallon Morell, “A Response to Dr. Joe Mercola on Cod Liver Oil,” WAPF.
• Chris Masterjohn, “Science Validates the Benefits of Our Number One Super Food,” WAPF.
• Krispin Sullivan, “Cod Liver Oil:  Number One Super Food,” WAPF.
• David Wetzel, “Cod Liver Oil Manufacturing,” WAPF.
• David Wetzel, “Update on Cod Liver Oil Manufacture,” WAPF.

Additional Readings:  The voluminous journal articles cited in the WAPF readings listed above.

Copyright 2011, Pathways4Health.org

Appendix:  A Technical Reference to Vitamins D, A, and K

These vitamins work in partnership and must be balanced to achieve the maximum benefit and to avoid vitamin D and/or vitamin A toxicity.

 “Most …[vitamin D] recommendations, like most of the research on vitamin toxicity, fail to take into account the interaction between vitamins A, D and K, which may be the most critical point to address in a discussion of vitamin D’s toxicity…there is compelling evidence to support the premise that vitamin D toxicity results from a relative deficiency of vitamins A and K.”²³ 

 

“Vitamin A is an essential factor in vitamin D’s hormonal function and vitamin K is necessary to activate the proteins made in response to vitamins A and D.  Vitamin D toxicity appears to result from a depletion of vitamin K, and animal evidence suggests that even small amounts of vitamin D increase the need for vitamin A.  Therefore, we must ask a most important question when we consider the various studies on vitamin D requirements and vitamin D toxicity:  what was the dietary context in which the vitamin D was consumed?”²⁴

 

“What is clear is that the protective and synergistic context of a nutrient-rich diet [especially in relation to vitamins A and K2] is not only underappreciated, but is essential to consuming vitamin D in a way that provides optimal benefit and maximum safety.”²⁵

 

Vitamin D

Vitamin D and the Prevention of Disease.  Vitamin D deficiency was originally associated with rickets, since vitamin D is required for proper calcium absorption.  Now we believe that vitamin D plays a vital role not only for strong bones and teeth but also for the prevention of chronic disease.  Vitamin D deficiency is linked to many forms of cancer—breast, prostate, colon, ovarian, lung—and even melanoma; heart disease, hypertension, and stroke; type 1 diabetes; obesity and type 2 diabetes; multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia; kidney disease; asthma and upper-respiratory disease; and neurological function including Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.  Vitamin D levels also affect mood and depression, sleep, and a person’s general mental outlook on life.²⁶

Vitamin D requirements and testing.  Vitamin D recommendations range from the United States’ Institute of Medicine’s 200 IU/day for adults under the age of 50 to as high 4,000 IU/day, a level believed safe by Drs. Vieth and Heaney, two vitamin D authorities.  The official government guidelines call of 400 IUs/day of vitamin D, a level most experts believe is too low for optimum health.   Michael Holick recommends 2,000 IUs for most people, but two to three times this amount for the obese (since fat cells store vitamin D and only reluctantly release it to the blood stream).  At the higher end, Dr. Reinhold Vieth and Dr. Robert Heaney suggest 3,000-4,000 IU daily, levels they believe to be both optimum and safe.²⁷

The preferred vitamin D test measures calcidiol, termed 25 (OH) D, the non-active, storage, circulating form of vitamin D produced by the liver.  This is the precursor to activated vitamin D, known as calcitriol, or 1,25-vitamin D.  Some people question the value of testing, arguing that appropriate levels of vitamin D are difficult to establish because people react to vitamin D differently and because vitamin D levels need to be interpreted in the context of an individual’s overall diet and general nutrition.

Vitamin D toxicity and deficiency symptoms.  While rare, vitamin D toxicity symptoms include nausea, vomiting, constipation, thirst, depression and strange behavior, weight loss, and elevated calcium levels that can lead to calcification of the kidneys and arteries.²⁸   High levels of vitamin D also create problems by consuming vitamin A to then leave less vitamin A for its important functions (see below), including the prevention of soft tissue calcification.  Thus, kidney stones and heart disease are linked to excess vitamin D in relationship to vitamin A.²⁹    Similarly, vitamin D is required to prevent vitamin A toxicity:  Vitamin A is stored in the liver and other organs; vitamin D supports the utilization of vitamin A to prevent vitamin A toxicity.³⁰

Vitamin D deficiency symptoms include many types of chronic pain, including bone and muscle pain, sternum and shin bones tender to the touch, pitted nails, as well as kidney disease, Crohn’s disease, osteoporosis, osteopenia, osteomalacia, and rickets.

Vitamin D and vitamin A as Working Partners.  German scientist F. Thoenes in 1935 discovered that vitamin D does not work alone, but rather in tandem and in a variety of ways with vitamin A.  Thoenes also discovered that a relative deficiency of vitamin A can lead to vitamin D toxicity.  From modern molecular biology, we now understand that select enzymes in the body convert, in a two stage process, vitamin D and A into hormones³¹ that bind to specialized receptors, travel to the nucleus, bind to DNA of specific genes to affect gene expression, thus having broad implications for a person’s health.  Because vitamin A acts as a signaling partner with vitamin D in this process, the presence of vitamin D will increase the turnover of vitamin A to help prevent vitamin A toxicity,³² while sufficient vitamin A also helps to prevent vitamin D toxicity.

Optimum ratio of vitamin D/vitamin A:   There is no ideal ratio.  People react differently to vitamin D.  The ideal ratio varies with the individual, based on skin type, genetics, and the season of the year.³³

Vitamin A

“Only Animal fats contain vitamin A and vitamin A is present in large amounts only when the animals have a source of carotenes or vitamin A in the diet, such as green pasture, insects and fish meal.”³⁴

Vitamin A Contrasted to Beta Carotene.   Like vitamin D, which has two major forms in D3 and D2, there are also two main types of vitamin A.  Preformed vitamin A, or retinol, is the animal-based, active form of vitamin A, which is found in liver and fish liver oil, fish eggs, egg yolks, and milk products/butter from grass-fed cows.  Provitamin A (beta carotene), in contrast, is found in plant-based foods, mostly yellow and orange vegetables and fruits and dark leafy green vegetables of the carotenoid family.

Plant sources of vitamin A are not equivalent to animal sources because the conversion of beta-carotene (the easiest carotene to convert) is inefficient.  This conversion is carried out in the upper intestinal tract and also in liver but the process requires more than five units of beta-carotene to produce one unit of retinol.   And, it is poorly performed by individuals with diabetes, low-thyroid function, liver problems, celiac disease, or those who consume little fat or high amounts of refined vegetable oils.  In addition, other factors such as vigorous exercise, stress, alcohol, drugs, zinc deficiency, and winter weather can hamper the conversion of beta-carotene to vitamin A.   Butterfat works as a helpful offset, not only for its vitamin A content but also because it can stimulate bile salts required for the conversion of beta-carotene to vitamin A.³⁵

Vitamin A and the Prevention of Disease:  Critical to our daily functioning and survival, vitamin A is stored in the liver and other organs to be ready for ready future needs.   Vitamin A is a key fat soluble vitamin that is required for the proper assimilation of minerals and water-soluble vitamins.  Specifically, vitamin A is important for vision; growth and healing; healthy skin, bones, and teeth; protein digestion; immune function, proper cellular function and genetic expression, and the prevention of free-radical damage.

Vitamin A Toxicity and Deficiency.

 

“…over a quarter of Americans consume less than half the RDA [of vitamin A].  If people eating diets low in vitamin A begin supplementing with vitamin D… the danger of such a low intake of vitamin A may be greatly increased.”³⁶

 

Rich sources of vitamin A are present only in animal fats from animals that eat green grass and insects (e.g., eggs from barnyard chickens).  These are not, of course, the kind of foods that are mass produced on today’s huge commercial farms.  As we have traded food quality for quantity, vitamin A deficiency now appears to be a far greater risk than vitamin A toxicity:  the average vitamin A intake of the typical American is one-tenth that of traditional cultures who ate organ meats, eggs from free-ranging hens, and butter from grass-fed animals.

Also, traditional fats which are rich in vitamin A provide their own safeguard for the liver because saturated fats protect against liver damage (why we intuitively pair wine with cheese and pate?).  This antidote action of saturated fat is in stark contrast to refined vegetable oils that actually promote the negative effects of toxins like alcohol and drugs to create damage to the liver.³⁷

Vitamin A toxicity is far more likely from synthetic vitamin A (retinol) than from vitamin A obtained through whole, traditional foods.  Synthetic vitamin A is used in supplements and is also added to fortified foods such as margarine and breakfast cereals.³⁸  As Fallon and Enig note,

“While some forms of synthetic vitamin A found in supplements can be toxic at only moderately high doses, fat-soluble vitamin A naturally found in foods like cod liver oil, liver, and butterfat is safe at up to then times the doses of water-soluble, solidified and emulsified vitamin A found in some supplements that produce toxicity.  The vitamin D found in cod liver oil and butterfat from pasture-raised animals protects against vitamin A toxicity and allows one to consume a much higher amount of vitamin A before it becomes toxic. ”³⁹

 

Beta-carotene and Vitamin A Toxicity.  Beta-carotene (in yellow and orange vegetables and fruits and dark leafy green vegetables) cannot cause vitamin A toxicity because the body converts beta carotene only when vitamin A is needed—a wise choice because the body uses up significant enzyme reserves in its conversion.  When huge amounts of beta carotene are consumed over time (such as drinking great quantities of carrot juice) the skin can turn a orange-yellow color, a condition known as carotenosis.  This carries no medical repercussions and quickly rights itself once beta carotene consumption is reduced to normal levels..⁴⁰

Symptoms of Vitamin A (retinol) Toxicity.  Signs include pressure headaches, a result of a swelling of the brain; nausea and vomiting; irritability; dizziness; hair loss; dry, itchy skin; weight loss; liver enlargement; stunted growth; dry, bleeding lips; and birth defects when high doses are taken in pregnancy.⁴¹

Symptoms of Vitamin A Deficiency.  Night blindness is one of the first signs of deficiency.  Other signs include skin problems, dandruff and lack-luster hair, insomnia, and fatigue.  Vitamin A deficiency also cripple immune function and is linked to a variety of forms of cancers, including breast, cerevical, prostate, lung, and stomach cancers.

Vitamin K

“Vitamin K2 is the substance that makes the vitamin A- and vitamin D-dependent proteins come to life.  While vitamins A and D act as signaling molecules, telling cells to make certain proteins, vitamin K2 activates these proteins by conferring upon them the physical ability to find calcium.  In some cases these proteins directly coordinate the movement or organization of calcium; in other cases the calcium acts as a glue to hold the protein in a certain shape, but in all cases, the proteins are only functional once they have been activated by vitamin K.”⁴²

We now understand that vitamin K2 is the special activating factor that Weston A. Price intuitively knew to be in butter from grass-fed animals.  Price appreciated that what he called “Activator X,” which was found in the butter, organs, and fat of animals grazing on luxurious green grass, was a necessary complement to cod liver oil.  When taken together, they worked synergistically for the treatment of tooth decay, for normal growth and development, reproduction, brain function, and to prevent the calcification of arteries associated with heart disease.

Vitamin K1 Contrasted to K2.   Vitamin K1 is plant-based and is found in green vegetables and oils, particularly olive oil.  Vitamin K2 is produced by animals grazing on vitamin K1 in the form of rapidly growing green plants, and it is also found in lacto-fermented plant foods like sauerkraut.  Vitamin K1, although generally plentiful in the diet, is poorly absorbed; in contrast, the body is able to absorb virtually all the vitamin K2 that is consumed.  Because the typical diet contains about ten times the K1 compared to K2, vitamin K2 has been little researched until recent decades, yet its implications for good health are far reaching.

Sources of vitamin K1 (phylloquinone) are dark green vegetables such as asparagus, broccoli, kale, spinach, and sea vegetables.   Foods high in vitamin K2 include natto, a fermented soy food and by far the highest source of K2 (although lacto-fermented foods do not contain the same form of K2 as animal products—a difference that may or may not be important).  Vitamin K2 is also found in goose liver; hard cheeses; egg yolks; butter; chicken liver; chicken; turkey; ground beef; calves liver; and sauerkraut.

Vitamin K1 and K2 and the Prevention of Disease.  Vitamin K1 is associated with blood coagulation but offers no protection against soft tissue calcification.  Vitamin K2 protects against vitamin D toxicity.  Importantly, too, vitamin K2 directs calcium to the bones and teeth and away from soft tissues where it does not belong.  In so doing, it prevents the calcification of arteries, other soft tissues, and heart disease.   Weston Price found that the combination of traditional cod liver oil and butter oil from animals grazing on rapidly growing grass:

• Reverses tooth decay.  It stopped tooth decay and even encouraged the dentin to develop and remineralize;⁴³
• Reverses bone loss and even increases bone mass with people suffering from osteoporosis;⁴⁴
• Protects against heart disease, with heart disease now linked to vitamin K deficiency.  While it prevents the calcification of arteries, it also protects against inflammation and the buildup of white blood cells and lipids that are also involved with atherosclerosis.⁴⁵
• Protects the brain and nervous system to ward off dementia and prevent seizures.⁴⁶

Vitamin K Toxicity.  Neither vitamin K1 or K2 is toxic.

Vitamin K2 Deficiency.  Deficiency can cause vitamin D toxicity.  Deficiency can also lead to dental cavities, osteoporosis, and the calcification of soft tissues—cardiovascular disease, kidney stones, and joint problems.   A lack of vitamin K2 is also linked to some forms of cancer, seizures, and dementia.

Recognizing the scarcity of traditionally-raised animal foods, I believe that naturally fermented cod liver oil (vitamins A and D) and X-Factor butter oil (vitamin K2) taken together is one of the easiest and best ways to obtain vitamin D with its balanced co-factors.  These, which are sold by nonprofit establishments and backed by research of the nonprofit Weston A. Price Foundation, seem to be sound choices in a world fraught with uncertainties about the best choices for our health and well being.

Copyright 2011, Pathways4Health.org

1. Michael Holick, Ph.D., M.D., The Vitamin D Solution, xviii. [↩]
2. F. Thoenes, qtd. in Chris Masterjohn, “From Seafood to Sunshine,” 12, April 08, 2011. [↩]
3. Sally Fallon, “No Proof that Vitamin A is Toxic,” Weston A. Price Foundation, June 15, 2010. [↩]
4. The skin takes in UVB rays and transforms previtamin D3 via the liver to calcidiol, the storage form of vitamin D which can enter the blood stream to be converted by the kidneys into active vitamin D.  The best test for vitamin D status is to measure 25(OH)D levels, although many experts doubt the validity of any type of vitamin D test. [↩]
5. Holick, 219. [↩]
6. Nature provides two safeguards related to sunshine and vitamin D toxicity.  Any skin surface produces a limited amount of vitamin D before it begins to degrade at the same rate that it is synthesized.  And, sun exposure leads to the buildup of melanin, which slows the synthesis of vitamin D.   Hollis Adams, “Vitamin D:  Synthesis, Metabolism and Clinical Measurement,” qtd. in Chris Masterjohn, “From Seafood to Sunshine,” WAPF, 2011. [↩]
7. It is true that safeguards built into the skin, including melatonin, provide protection against vitamin D toxicity, but this must also be viewed within the context of a nutrient-rich diet with sufficient vitamin A and K2 (see discussion, that follows). [↩]
8. Kirchfeld and Boyle, Nature Doctors. [↩]
9. John Ott, Health and Light and Light, Radiation, and You. [↩]
10. Early sunscreens blocked UVB radiation that causes sunburn, but not UVA rays that affect the deeper layers of skin to cause wrinkles.  These sunscreens lent a false sense of comfort—no sunburn did not mean that the skin was safe.  Today, most sunscreens are “full-spectrum” to also protect against UVA radiation. [↩]
11. Fortunately, African Americans appear to have greater genetic protection from osteoporosis and broken bones than those who are more fair-skinned. [↩]
12. AA Ginde, MC Liu, and CA Camargo, Jr, “Demographic differences and trends of vitamin D insufficiency in the US population, 1988-2004.”  Archives of Internal Medicine 2009 Mar 23; 169 (6): 626-32. [↩]
13. Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, Ph.D., “Vitamin A Saga.”  Weston A. Price Foundation. [↩]
14. Holick, 147, 219. [↩]
15. Sally Fallon and Mary Enig, “Vitamin A Saga,” 8. [↩]
16. Masterjohn, “Seafood to Sunshine,” 9, 10. [↩]
17. Krispin Sullivan, “Cod Liver Oil:  Number One Super Food.”  Weston A Price Foundation.org. [↩]
18. Sally Fallon and Mary Enig, “Cod Liver Oil Basics and Recommendations.” WAPF. [↩]
19. Krispin Sullivan, “Cod Liver Oil:  Number One Super Food.” WAPF. [↩]
20. J. Pepping Adams, “Vitamin K in the treatment and prevention of osteoporosis and arterial calcification.” (2005) [↩]
21. Chris Masterjohn, “On the Trail of the Elusive X-Factor,” 5. [↩]
22. Masterjohn, X-Factor, 6. [↩]
23. Masterjohn, “Seafood to Sunshine,” 2. [↩]
24. Masterjohn, “Seafood to Sunshine,” 17. [↩]
25. Masterjohn, “Seafood to Sunshine,” 25. [↩]
26. Michael Holick, Ph.D., M.D., The Vitamin D Solution, for complete discussion of the vitamin D link to these diseases. [↩]
27. Robert Vieth, “The Pharmacology of Vitamin D, including Fortification Strategies” and Robert Heaney, “The Vitamin D Requirement in Health and Disease.” [↩]
28. Holick, 220. [↩]
29. Masterjohn, “Seafood to Sunshine,” 12. [↩]
30. Chris Masterjohn, “Science Validates the Benefits of Our Number One Superfood,” 4. [↩]
31. Sally Fallon Morell, April 30, 2009, 5. [↩]
32. Masterjohn, 3,7. [↩]
33. Masterjohn, “Science Validates…,” 6. [↩]
34. Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, Ph.D., “Vitamin A Saga,” 4. [↩]
35. Fallon and Enig, 4. [↩]
36. Masterjohn, “Science Validates…,” 5. [↩]
37. Masterjohn, “Seafood to Sunshine,” 9. [↩]
38. Fallon and Enig, 8. [↩]
39. Fallon and Enig, “Cod Liver Oil Basics and Recommendations,” 2, from Myhre, et al., “Water-miscible, emulsified, and solid forms of retinol supplements are more toxic than oil-based preparations,” American Journal of Clinical  Nutrition, 78 (2003) 1152-9. [↩]
40. Elson Haas, Staying Healthy with Nutrition, 97. [↩]
41. Haas, 97. [↩]
42. Chris Masterjohn, “On the Trail of the Elusive X-Factor,” 5. [↩]
43. Masterjohn, “The Elusive X-Factor,” 6. [↩]
44. Vermeer C, et al., “Beyond deficiency:  potential benefits of increased intakes of vitamin K for bone and vascular health.” European Journal of Nutrition 2004; 43: 325-335, qtd. in Masterjohn, “The Elusive X-Factor,” 9. [↩]
45. Masterjohn, “The Elusive X-Factor,” 9. [↩]
46. Masterjohn, “The Elusive X-Factor,” 12. [↩]

To read this newsletter in its  pdf  form, click here to download the file: November/December 2011 Newsletter. Thank you.

And every… meat offering shalt thou season with salt;… with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt… Leviticus 2:13

Salt is good… Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another… Mark 9:50

The cure for anything is salt water—sweat, tears, or the seas…Isak Dinesen

This newsletter is a sequel to Gift of the Sea, Sea Vegetables.  Salt and its relationship to health is controversial, which is the main reason for writing.  Salt is also confusing:  There are many new hand-crafted sea salts that are beginning to be produced today, so sorting out sea salts can be a bit like knowing how to choose fine wines—we need to ask where and how they are produced.  For every traditionally-crafted sea salt, there are many industrial salts on the market today that label themselves “sea salt.”

I just read about a couple in Amagansett, Long Island who recently decided to devote their lives to making salt from the waters at their local beaches.¹  Apparently due to the recent and growing appreciation for wholesome, traditional food and as a reaction against standardization that is affecting other aspects of food production, there is an ongoing revival of the art of hand-crafted salt making—on our own shores and in spotty locations around the globe.

Overview.  I gave little thought to salt during my early years in the kitchen.  Table salt filled our shaker and was the staple for all our cooking needs.  Over time, I shifted to sel gris, a Celtic sea salt for cooking and baking.  And, some years ago, I replaced our family’s salt shaker with a salt grinder because I knew that grinding salt exposes fresh surface areas and this enlivens salt and makes it taste saltier, so we use less.  Currently our grinder holds pink crystal Himalayan salt, a salt mined from the Himalayas, but a sea salt nevertheless.

As often happens when researching a simple subject, the journey leads in many directions.  It is the same with salt.  Reading has taken me into the long history of salt through the centuries:  the political power it gave to many, including the Romans, the Mayans, and the Hapsburgs; the growth of cities and trade routes; and, the magical and sacred powers that it held for cultures throughout time.   Early agrarian cultures that did not depend on wild game.  ((Animal flesh is sufficiently salty to sustain life.  The typical person contains the equivalent of three to four salt shakers of salt, which is some indication of the saltiness of animal flesh.  Also, see Table 1 that follows.)) for food knew they needed salt to sustain life—both for themselves and their precious grazing animals.  Thus, most traditional cultures valued salt more highly than gold or silver, and they used it for healing, renewal, and for sacred purposes.

Sea salt is really evaporated sea water, of course.   Subtracting out water’s hydrogen and oxygen molecules, artisanal sea salt mirrors the mineral composition of the seas from which sprang the first forms of early life.  Modern science tells us that sea salt is a rich array of essential and trace minerals which closely and proportionally mirror the mineral salts of the human body.   When mixed with water, sea salt becomes an electrolyte, capable of conducting electricity to support cellular communication and neurological function.

Salt is probably the only natural food (as opposed to synthetic sweeteners and chemical additives) we eat that is not from a plant or animal.   Derived from the oceans, salt is really the mineral product of the weathering of rocks from the continents around the globe.  From its earthly origin, salt has the power to ground us in a harried, hurried world.

Salt, an antidote for radiation, also has the capacity to diffuse “electric smog,” the radiation by-product of our modern lifestyle of cell phones, television and computer screens, and other electronic devices.  As an illustration, salt mines are often used as the holding areas for nuclear waste.  In a related fashion, negative ions generated from churning salt water at the beach help mollify the positive ions that we absorb from our modern electronic/screen-based lifestyle.²  Salt water’s therapeutic effect is one of the reasons that we feel refreshed after a long stroll on the beach.

While not true of fractured refined table salt, hand-harvested artisanal sea salt is a whole food.  Until the last century or so when salt began to be produced in massive quantity by vacuum chambers for de-icing roads and industrial purposes , salt was precious and expensive.  It was mined or manually harvested to sustain the life of domestic animals, to preserve food before electricity and refrigeration, and to aid digestion and accent the flavor of foods.  With its power to build itself into elaborate crystal patterns, artisanal sea salt, like other whole foods, appears to have a life force and “intelligence” all its own.  Sea salt may work in the body in ways very different from common table salt and in ways that we may never fully unravel with a microscope.

Sea Salt, Table Salt, and Salt for Health

Sea salt and table salt.  All the sea salt in the world, whether found deep within mountain ranges, from salt flats, or evaporated by sun and wind in salt marshes, has its origin in the oceans and seas.   Ocean water contains the complete array of earth elements, more than eighty in all.  Water—oxygen and hydrogen—accounts for 95% of the oceans and seas, with minerals explaining the remaining 5%.  Of these, the vast majority is salt, the chemical sodium chloride.

We think of salt as sodium, but it actually contains more chloride:  Excluding sea salt’s moisture content, which generally runs about 5%, natural sea salts are roughly 54% chlorine, 30% sodium, 4% magnesium, 2 ½ % sulfur, and 1% for each calcium and potassium.  The remaining 7%-8% is comprised of 75 or so other minerals and trace minerals.³  As Mark Bitterman notes, nine of the major eleven elements of the body are found in the primary eleven elements of the oceans and seas.    The minerals in sea salt, unlike table salt, not only appear in a similar ratio to be the body, but they are also balanced and in a natural form that is easy to assimilate.

Table salt, in contrast, is highly refined salt; the moisture and complementary minerals are removed and anti-caking agents are added back for easy pouring.  Most mass-produced salt is used for hundreds of industrial purposes.  Only three percent of worldwide industrial salt production goes to food, with a large share simply used for road de-icing as well as industrial and chemical uses.⁴

Table salt, then, is sea salt that has been refined (heated to temperatures as high as 1200F degrees) and bleached to create dehydrated white, uniform crystals of pure sodium chloride.  Table salt, NaCl, is similar to white sugar, C,H2,O :  both are pure chemicals with the trace elements and moisture extracted.  To refi salt, the FDA allows companies such as Morton to add up to 2 percent anti-caking agents, needed to prevent the fine uniform crystals from clumping.   Additives usually include the anti-caking agents, calcium silicate, sodium ferrocyanide, or magnesium carbonate; and, less often, aluminum calcium, ammonium citrate, ferric silicon dioxide, magnesium silicate, propylene glycol, silicate, sodium aluminosilicate, and calcium phosphate.⁵ Other ingredients called humectants may also be added to prevent the anti-caking agents themselves from clumping and caking.

Iodine is a key mineral needed to prevent goiter.  It is naturally present in sea salt, but because it is a highly unstable element, it quickly evaporates away during the industrial refining process.  To prevent goiter, iodine (as potassium iodide, potassium iodate, sodium iodide, or sodium iodate) is often added back to table salt after refining is complete.  Sugar as dextrose and/or other ingredients such as sodium thiosulfate, sodium carbonate, or sodium bicarbonate⁶ are then added to stabilize iodine and make it bind to refined salt’s fine uniform crystals.  The popular Morton brand of table salt, much of which is produced from San Francisco Bay brine, is generally iodine as potassium iodide with the anti-caking agent, calcium silicate.

As mentioned above, sea salt is a whole food that is balanced to meet the body’s general mineral needs and in a form that can be readily assimilated.  After eons when people thrived on natural sea salt, we might wonder how the body is able to adapt in such a short time to modern table salt.  While part of our modern salt cravings may relate to our desire for grounding in a quick-paced, electric smog, stressful world, I suspect another part of our salt cravings may be rooted our body’s search for the essential minerals in sea salt that are refined away.  And, perhaps part of the reason that as a nation our health is suffering from consuming too much salt is that table salt creates imbalances in the body—the body may not be able to handle concentrated sodium chloride that lacks the complementary minerals of natural sea salt.  We can never fully know the implications for the body of eating fractured versus whole foods.  But, before we consider the problems related to salt consumption, let’s take a brief look at the important role that natural sea salt plays to promote good health.

Some important functions of salt in the body.  Using an Eastern lens, Chinese Five-Phase Theory⁷ tells us that salt is associated with the water element; the winter season of the year; the kidneys, bladder, and adrenals; the bones and teeth, and the ears and hearing; and, with will power and vitality and, conversely fear.  Like winter, salt is cooling and contracting, and its direction of energy in the body is inward and downward.   Salt crystals bring clarity and focus to thinking.  Salt moistens and softens; it stimulates the kidneys and adrenals (salty foods can perk us up when we are tired).  Mineral-rich salt strengthens the bones and teeth when used moderately, but in excess salt weakens the bones and the kidneys.⁸

Salt brings balance to the body in many ways.  It is contractive to counter the many expansive foods in our modern diet—refined sugar, refined flour products, sugary drinks, and alcohol.  As a contractive food, it may seem surprising that salt also goes well with other contractive foods like eggs and meat.  The reason is that meat and eggs, as well as grains and beans, are acid-forming foods.  Salt with its rich mineral composition is an alkalizing antidote; it also sharpens the taste of these otherwise bland foods.

So, apart from its ability to preserve food, taste is the obvious reason we put salt on the food we eat.  We are programmed to like the salty taste.   We crave “salty” second only to “sweet.”  Salt enhances “sweet” and tempers the flavors “bitter” and “sour.”  Salting home-cooked food also makes sense because salt aids digestion (chloride and hydrochloric acid), particularly of heavy proteins and starchy foods, potatoes and grains.   Finally, like sea vegetables and when used in cooking or at the table, sea salt can add minerals to vegetables and other home-cooked whole foods.

The Western lens and modern science adds additional perspective about salt:  Chemistry tells us that salt combines with water to create vital electrolytes needed to conduct electricity for cellular communication and brain/neurological function.  Salt helps us focus; it helps us think.

Both the sodium and chloride in salt perform other vital functions in the body.  The three major fluid systems of the body, the blood, lymph, and extracellular systems are salty and require salt for normal functioning.   Sodium is needed for the regulation of many body functions—for the nervous system; muscle contraction and proper heart function; fluid balance; digestion and the absorption of nutrients; the construction of some hormones; and, the regulation of blood pressure, to list a few.

Unlike sodium, chloride, the dominant component in sea salt, cannot be obtained through other foods.⁹ But, like sodium, chloride is an electrolyte supporting nerve and muscle function.  It is needed in a myriad of other body functions:    Chloride helps maintain proper blood pressure, volume and Ph balance; and, it supports digestion and immunity.

The Salt “Problem”

If you have read this far, you know by now that I believe a key problem with salt is the kind we use.  After all, we consume no more salt (in fact less) than a century ago, so why should salt be a problem?¹⁰. Granted, some of our modern health problem with salt may be related to lifestyle factors and to our potassium-deficient dietary habits (see potassium/sodium discussion that follows).  But shouldn’t we also question how the body reacts to pure sodium chloride as a substitute for the mineral-rich sea salts that have always been part of traditional diets?

We are advised today to remove the salt shaker from the table.  Yet, the shaker contributes ever so modestly to our salt consumption.    The problem appears to be not so much the salt shaker but that we purchase so much food that is prepared by others.  These commercial foods are designed to enhance taste and pleasure (blending salt, sugar, and fat) so that we come back for more, again and again.   When we purchase foods prepared by others, whether at the grocery store, restaurants, or fast food establishments, we relinquish our control over our salt intake.  Statistics regarding our modern food habits help to put the salt shaker into perspective:

• About 10%  of our sodium intake comes naturally and directly through the whole foods we eat (largely from meat, poultry, fish, and shellfish; sea vegetables; and high-sodium vegetables like celery, beets, and carrots…see Table 1 that follows);
• A little more than 5% is added through home cooking;
• Roughly 75%-80% of the salt we consume is hidden in processed and restaurant foods.
• Only 5% is added as a condiment at the table, mostly as refined table salt from a shaker ((My blended estimates from figures quoted in The Textbook of Natural Medicine, 1763.))

Salt warnings are generally based on scientific studies that show a link between salt and high blood pressure (salt helps to regulate blood volume, blood pressure, and the flexibility of blood vessels¹¹ ) and, to a lesser degree, a link between salt and cancer.  But these studies do not use sea salt for testing.  We do not know if sea salt would lead to salt sensitivity and hypertension in the same way that table salt appears to.  In defense of this research, I have to allow that, since table salt is what we generally consume, it is the logical choice for research.  But should the finding of scientific studies that use table salt be extrapolated to naturally-harvested sea salts?  And, shouldn’t conclusions about salt intake also be made within the context of a person’s overall diet:  in particular, how much potassium a person consumes relative to sodium?

Sodium in the context of potassium we consume.   If you recall from high school science, the body needs to maintain potassium and sodium (the sodium/potassium pump) in a delicate balance to transport fluids in and out of every cell, to create energy for cellular/neurological communication, and generally to sustain life.  Leaving science aside, it is sufficient here to say simply that the body needs adequate potassium to balance sodium.

Many scientific studies suggest that a diet high in sodium and low in potassium is linked to high blood pressure, cancer, and cardiovascular disease and that a diet high potassium and low in sodium can significantly reduce the risk of these diseases.  While excessive sodium and deficient potassium often lead to high blood pressure, particularly for people who are salt-sensitive,¹² studies also suggest that simply cutting back on sodium does not go far enough.  To lower blood pressure, lowering sodium intake must be coupled with higher levels of potassium.¹³

Unfortunately, for most people the potassium/sodium ratio is out of balance both due to how much salt (hidden in foods) we consume, and to how little potassium (as we skimp on potassium-rich fruits and vegetables) makes it into our diet.  Experts believe that we need about 1 gram of sodium per day, yet the typical American consumes 10 times this amount.¹⁴ Both epidemiological and experimental research suggest that for good health, a person’s potassium-to-sodium (K:Na) ratio should be at least 5:1.  For most Americans (from our reliance upon highly salted prepared products and restaurant foods), this ratio is tipped 10-fold in the opposite direction:  The typical American’s potassium/sodium ratio is 1:2, rather than >5:1 as recommended by health professionals.¹⁵

Table 1 on the following page is my effort to illustrate the favorable potassium/sodium relationship that results naturally from a whole foods diet:  All unprocessed foods—fruits, vegetables, beans, grains, seeds, as well as meat, poultry, and fish that I randomly sampled —have favorable K:Na ratios.  The opposite is true of all processed foods—they all contain far too much sodium relative to potassium.  A bagel, for example, with only 74 milligrams of potassium and 360 milligrams of sodium would have to have >1800 milligrams (360×5) of potassium to bring it to the >5:1 recommended guideline.  Thus, it is easy to see how consuming refined carbohydrates and other processed foods can quickly lead to potassium deficiencies.

Table 1 illustrates several specific ideas:

• Most fruits and vegetables are extremely rich in potassium with potassium/sodium ratios that are many multiples above the K:Na guideline of  >5:1.
• While most fruits have very high K:Na ratios because they have little or no sodium, this is not the case with all vegetables.  Some vegetables like celery and beets are not only rich sources of potassium, but they also have a meaningful sodium component.  This explains the generally lower K:Na ratios of these and other vegetables compared to most fruits.
• Dried fruits like raisins and peaches are particularly high in potassium.  Through a process called biological transmutations, a raisin has 4-5 times the potassium of a fresh grape.  Drying fruits also elevates sodium levels, however, so that the K:Na ratios of raisins and dried peaches are no more favorable than for their fresh counterparts.

Table 1:  Potassium/Sodium Content of Selected Foods

(milligrams per serving)

Source:  Pathways4Health, computed from the  Nutrition Almanac by Lavon Dunne.

• Other plant foods such as whole grains, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds are rich sources of potassium.
• Animal flesh is also a good source of potassium and, while also a good source of sodium, it has a healthy K:Na ratio.  This is also true of most fish, with the exception of tuna.
• The natural sodium in animal-based foods explains why early hunter/nomads did not need to search for salt as did later agrarian cultures…animal flesh provided the salt needed for survival.

Obviously, what Table 1 illustrates is  that the way to boost potassium relative to sodium is to prepare food at home whenever possible.  If you do not cook, try to consume large quantities of fruits and vegetables.  When shopping for packaged foods in the grocery store, read labels for both the sodium and the potassium content.  Become familiar with foods with a favorable potassium/sodium profile.  Many experts believe that boosting potassium relative to sodium can help lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of cancer.  Potassium is one of the keys reasons that anti-cancer diets stress consuming large quantities of fruits and vegetables  across a color spectrum.

And, a final comment on salt and health:  Recognizing the importance of sodium in the context of potassium intake, it seems logical that to interpret any study about salt and high blood pressure/cardiovascular disease, or salt and cancer, we need to know not only a subject’s salt intake, but also how much potassium a person consumes.

Becoming a Salt Gourmet.

A simple maxim seems to follow from the above:  The more whole foods we buy and prepare ourselves, the more leeway we have to experiment and have fun with artisanal, hand-crafted, mineral-rich salt, both through cooking and at the table.  Because prepared foods explain 70%-80% of the salt consumed by Americans, just cooking meals that emphasize potassium-rich whole foods solves much of the problem.   With the recent, albeit spotty, revival of traditional artisanal salt-making around the globe, there are many gourmet salts to explore and choose from.

An appreciation of fine salt dates back at least to the 15^th Century and Jean, duc de Berry whose bejeweled saltcellars were presented at the table, one to accompany each new course.¹⁶  In this spirit, we are beginning to appreciate that artisanal salts, like a good wine, can richly complement most foods. High quality artisanal salt, like the complexity of a fine wine, comes in many varieties, each with its own nuance of flavor and texture, a product of local environment, climate, and artisanal tradition.  Also, like wine, salts can be confusing.  Let taste be your guide and expect to pay more for quality.  Because salt is used in small quantities, if can be the best investment and complement to any meal.

A Guide to Some Popular Sea Salts.

“After thousands of years of struggle to make salt white and of even grain, affluent people will now pay more for salts that are odd shapes and colors.”…Mark Kurlansky

Hand-harvested French sea salts produced at the mouth of the Loire—from Noirmoutier, Bourgneuf, Guerande, and the Ile de Re—are some of the oldest and still most reliable sources of wind and solar evaporated sea salts.  These salt marshes and supplementary artificial ponds were first developed when the land was controlled by the Vikings, who needed salt to preserve their catch of cod.

In 1972 a small group of surviving French salt makers formed Le Groupement des Producterus de Sel to create quality and production standards and to begin to expand and market Celtic sea salt to global markets.  From these producers come two high-quality, mineral-rich artisanal sea salts, which are the first two listed below:

• Fleur de sel—the finest quality French salt, consisting of delicate flakes that embody a special nuanced aroma derived from organic elements that are incorporated in the evaporation process at the surface of the salt ponds.¹⁷  Fleur de sel crystals form on the pond surface and must be skillfully raked off and harvested before they have time to sink to the gray porcelain clay pond bottom.  Fleur de sel is expensive and its character and crunch should be savored as a condiment.  Like a great wine, its delicate, nuanced character as well as its “crunch” raises it to a level too fine to be used for cooking.

• Sel Gris—like fleur de sel, “gray salt” is an artisanal solar-evaporated, irregular-crystal salt that is full of moisture and trace minerals. It is harvested by raking crystals from the bottom of the clay open-air evaporating ponds soon after they form and sink to the bottom.  Thus, sel gris contains small amounts of porcelain clay that gives it a gray coloration.  In contrast to kosher and mined salts that lack moisture and dry out foods during roasting, baking, and cooking , the high moisture content (13%) means that sel gris can be used in cooking to seal in a food’s flavor and natural juices .  As Mark Bitterman suggests, “Sel gris is the most natural and cost-effective choice for anyone looking to replace artificially refined salts such as table salt, koshering salt, or mass-produced salt.”¹⁸   French fleur de sel and sel gris can be purchased on line,  http://www.celticseasalt.com/. 

• Non-French Sel Gris—other artisanal solar evaporated sel gris sea salts, each with its own character stamped by the land and environmental conditions, are harvested in other parts of the globe.  Mediterranean artisans use salt evaporating pans that are lined with basalt, sand, or concrete, which impart a different quality from the clay pans of Brittany.  In contrast, Philippine producers line their dark mud salt fields with tiles to assure greater purity and ease of harvesting.¹⁹

• Traditional salts—this is a broad catch-all category.  Traditional salts are salts that are allowed to accumulate at the bottom of the evaporating pan for months at a time (in contrast to the daily harvesting of natural-crystals sel gris) so that much more can be harvested.  While rich in minerals, the resulting crystals are large and irregular and are generally ground mechanically to finer crystals.   Sel marin is an example.

• Flake salts—are flat and thin, unlike the dense granules of traditional salts.  While some fine quality flake salts such as Maldon from the south coast of England are from carefully raking salts from the surface of brine and are true artisanal products, many flake salts are produced mechanically by rolling granulated salt.²⁰  Flake salts give a short-lived, bold, intense punch to foods.²¹

• Rock salts—these large, hard-crystal salts are mined from within the earth.  Here, they have been compressed by pressure over millions of years so they lack moisture.   They tend to be less mineral-rich than solar evaporated salts and their mineral complements vary with location. Their low moisture content and the beauty of colored crystals characteristic of many varieties make them an ideal choice for salt grinders.  Himalayan pink salt, which is aggressively marketed by Pakistani producers, is a popular example of rock salt.

• Kosher salt—an industrial salt with a harsh flavor that lacks the natural minerals or moisture of sea salt.  Its course texture is artificially manufactured.  It is not a true sea salt.²²

• “Sea salt”—many salts that claim to be sea salts are really industrial salts from salt water bodies contiguous to dense population areas, such as Morton salt, which is largely mined from San Francisco Bay.  Industrial “sea salts” are washed, ground, and often include anti-caking agents.²³ It is wise to research and read the labels of any sea salt that you buy.

Storing Sea Salt

Moist sea salts like fleur de sel, sel gris, and other hand-harvested moist salts lose some of their quality when they are allowed to dry out.  They should be stored in a glass, air-tight container, with small amounts placed on the table as a condiment and then promptly sealed again after use.  Salts that have lost some moisture can be restored by stirring in 1 teaspoon of water for every 8 ounces of salt.²⁴

Salt Shopping Guide:

Individual Producers/Marketers:

Andes pink salt (714-522-0700)

Celtic sea salt (800-867-7258) and www.

Sea Works unrefined sea salt (800-656-3668)

Tropical Salt Corporation (877-323-6611)

Specialty Salt Retailers (providing a wide spectrum of salts):

The Meadow, www.atthemeadow.com

Saltworks, www.saltworks.com

Salt Traders, www.salttraders.com

Kalustyans, www.kalustyans.com

Reading Resources:

Mark Bitterman, Salted

Mark Kurlansky, Salt:  A World History

Harold McGee, On Food and Cooking

Sally Fallon Morell, “The Salt of the Earth,” http://www.westonaprice.org/vitamins-and-minerals/the-salt-of-the-earth

Paul Pitchford, Healing with Whole Foods.

Joseph Pizzorno, Jr. and Michael T. Murray, Textbook of Natural Medicine.

Rebecca Wood, The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia.

Sea Salt Recipe:  Rib Steak in Salt Crust

Sel gris with its high moisture content was the traditional salt used in salt crust cooking.  With heat, the inherent moisture of sel gris forms a crust to seal in a food’s natural moisture.  Unfortunately today, many salt crust recipes call for kosher salt, which is cheap and dehydrates food.   This recipe restores the traditional way of using high-moisture sel gris to seal in the natural juices of steak.

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 two-rib bone-in rib steak (about 3 pounds, 2”-3” thick)

1 t. freshly cracked black pepper

2 pounds sel gris, such as sel gris de l’ile de Noirmoutier

2-5 T. water

Leaves from 2 rosemary sprigs

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Heat a heavy iron skillet over high heat for 10 minutes until very hot.  Add the olive oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan.  Pat the surface of the steak dry and season with the cracked pepper.  Brown the steak on both sides, 1-2 minutes per side.

Have ready a baking dish just large enough to hold the steak.  Press the sel gris between your fingers.  It should be moist enough to stick together.  Otherwise, stir in a few tablespoons of water until the salt is moist enough to cling together when firmly pressed.

Spread the sel gris ½ inch thick in the baking dish.  Scatter half the rosemary leaves over the salt.  Place the steak on top and scatter the remaining rosemary leaves over the steak.  Pack the salt around the steak until it is completely encased.  Bake for 30 minutes for rare, or 40 minutes for medium-rare.

Serve with your favorite herb butter.

Source:  Mark Bitterman

Copyright 2011 Pathways4Health.org

1. Amagansett Sea Salt, www.amagansettseasalt.com. [↩]
2. See Paul Pitchford, Healing with Whole Foods, 202. [↩]
3. Calculated from Mark Bitterman, Salted, 33. [↩]
4. Bitterman, 25. [↩]
5. Bitterman, 191. [↩]
6. Bitterman, 191. [↩]
7. See http://pathways4health.org/2010/03/01/chinese-5-phase-theory/ [↩]
8. See Paul Pitchford, 196-204. [↩]
9. Sally Fallon Morell, “The Salt of the Earth:  Why Salt is Essential to Health and Happiness,” 31. [↩]
10. Fallon, 30 [↩]
11. Fallon, 31. [↩]
12. Salt sensitivity varies with the individual and seems driven by genetic makeup, age, stress, exercise, and the relationship between sodium and potassium in the foods that a person consumes. [↩]
13. Adequate levels of calcium, vitamin C, folic acid, vitamin B6, and omega-3 oils also appear to be helpful.  For a discussion and bibliography of journal studies, see Joseph Pizzorno, Jr. and Michael T. Murray,Textbook of Natural Medicine, 1762-1767. [↩]
14. Harold McGee, On Food and Cooking, 642. [↩]
15. Pizzorno and Murray, 1763. [↩]
16. Mark Kurlansky, Salt: A World History, 146-7. [↩]
17. McGee, 642. [↩]
18. Bitterman, 78. [↩]
19. Bitterman, 55. [↩]
20. McGee, 641. [↩]
21. Bitterman, 77. [↩]
22. Bitterman, 185. [↩]
23. Bitterman, 189-90. [↩]
24. Bitterman, 199. [↩]