Brain, Food, & Stress

I'm wrapping up my undergrad experience. It pains me to say so for some reasons and thrills me for others. It is only natural to complete things, enjoy the satisfaction of that, and look fondly on the journey that you've made. Life is full of these defined periods of time and defined areas of focus. I completely failed at keeping up with this blog while going to school. So the 6 of you that actually follow me, I apologize. I did succeed at my schooling though. I am graduating with honors and a degree in Applied Nutrition and a minor in Biology with a focus in Anatomy/Hematology.  The future is bright, as it always has been. I am moving to Beavercreek Ohio to live with two of my bestfriends and one of my heroes, Molly and Ty, and the captain- respectively. I will be doing a dietetic internship at Miami Valley Hospital and soon take a test to become a registered dietitian. I can't believe it is all happening finally.

The name of this post is brain, food and stress. Three things that I've been closely intertwined with lately. First the brain, i've had to stuff so much in mine if you saw me you'd see a body with a stuffed turkey head walking around(remember that friends when Monica did that?!). Not really but yes, I've learned so much and I'm excited to share it all. Food... well that's obvious- it's my passion. And, finally stress- I've been under a lot of it lately. So these things have been present with me or affected me lately... yet I want to write and explain a little bit about how they all play on one another... in everyone... not just Caitlin Rose.

I am going to do this in two posts, some of the science then some of the corresponding behaviors.

 Science and Background Stuff

You may be interested to know that the same neurotransmitters in the brain that are important for normal feeding and intake also participate in the "fight or flight" response when people are under stress. For those of you that care they are: serotonin, dopamine, acetylcholine and norepinephrine.

These neurotransmitters are made up of different building blocks. The amino acid tyrosine is made to build serotonin. Tryptophan(you know that turkey I had on my head a minute ago, that is where you get this guy) makes up dopamine and norepinephrine. Tons of vitamins and enzymes are also required to make up these chemical transmitters.

Serotonin

This neurotransmitter(NT) increases the appetite for carbohydrates (especially sweets). When the carbohydrate need is met the preference should switch to protien. In adequate amounts of serotonin may cause depression. This vagus nerve communicates by way of this NT to get messages from the brain to the GI tract. Excess serotonin causes slower stomach emptying(slower digestion), bloating, and constipation. A serotonin deficiency can be caused by abnormal excitation of "fight or flight" response. 

Acetylcholine

Acetylcholine can both excite and inhibit other mechanisms in the brain. It helps control emotional processing, learning, memory regulation and taste aversion. When cortisol(stress hormone) levels are high it stimulates and depresses the adrenal axis of the brain. This can decrease thyroid function. So keeping cortisol low can help to make sure proper functioning of this NT. Cortisol is increased with excess, excess carbs or poor regulation of blood sugar.

Norephinephrine

This NT can excite or inhibit as well. It indirectly integrates a stress response and can cause decreased desire for food intake when physiologic stress is present. It stimulates the adrenal system to breakdown and use energy. It can also slow down other body functions during times of high stress.

Dopamine

The happy NT. It can be increased with food makes people happy. It is the reward NT. It works to also reinforce learning in the brain. So when you eat the brain learns this is good and it makes us happy.

Eating is Some Complex Business

The body and brains regulation of eating is a very complex process. Eating is necessary for survival, we all know that. So is sex for that matter(the survival of a species)... and it involves a lot of dopamine too, but I digress. The central nervous system has a lot of redundancy in order to help ensure eating and survival.

Eating is often regulated by emotions, time of day and surroundings. The hypothalamus is the major regulator of this all. Long-term regulation of feeding(eating) is related to maintaining adequate fat stores for survival(thank you evolution). Leptin is secreted in the hypothalamus, other places in the brain, the placenta, skeletal muscle and the gi tract. It has immune function too, but that isn't our main focus here. Leptin and insulin act on the hypthalamus and cause a slowing of building pathways, building protiens, muscle etc. Ingestion of food generates increases in leptin. When there is a period of no eating(or fasting), the leptin levels fall. It comes from fat tissue and is a hormone(which is just a fancy way of saying it helps tell somewhere else in the body to change what it is doing).

High carb meals and low fat meals produce higher leptin levels. More leptin means more energy storing. More carbs, more signals to store store store! That doesn't mean you should stop eating carbs. But they should be a part of an overall balanced diet.

More later on how this all comes together in changed behaviors... for now this is just some of the basic science that goes into it.

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned!

Yummy Arugula and English Pea Salad

One of my favorite things to do is eat. You know this already though. I take great pleasure, however, in eating delicious food out and about and then coming home and recreating those yummy dishes. The other day I was perusing the deli at my local health food store, New Frontiers, and tried a salad that piqued my interest. It was an arugula and english pea salad. I figured I could tweak the ingredients a bit to work with my new eating preferences(no dairy, the salad had parmesan in it). This is what I came up with and it was too good not to share.

Throw together in a bowl:

~2 cups arugala

~about an eighth of a red onion diced

~about 1/2 to 1 cup of frozen sweet or english peas (set out on the counter for a while to defrost- yea, a while... this isn't science)

~I had already shredded carrots so I just thew a hand full of those in there too

~I used a sheep's milk cheese that has a flavor somewhat similar to parmesan(shredded of course)...I think I used about a quarter cup grated.

Toss all of that together and then add dressing (below)

~EVOO - 2 parts

~Rice Wine Vinegar - 1 part

These below add to taste

~Salt

~Pepper

~Red Pepper Flakes or Cayenne

~Garlic Powder or Fresh Garlic
~Maybe a little agave or maple syrup for a slight sweetness(not a lot)

Then smile and send me a message letting me know what you think of it!

B Nut and a Busy Girl

It rained yesterday and today in San Luis Obispo which drew this busy student to the cozy confines of her apartment. I was going to settle for some left over chili(not really settling, but you know) and corn bread for dinner when this beautiful butternut squash was screaming from my counter top "EAT ME". Have you ever been yelled at by a squash? It's an unnerving, unexpected occurrence. Who was I to forbid this squash from a timely roasting?  So I set off upon the task of making soup out of what I had "laying" around.

 I cut the top and bottom of the squash off and then peeled the skin. With a spoon I scooped the grainy, seedy bits from the center. Then I placed in a pan with some salt, pepper, and a little EVOO(thank you Racheal Ray) and placed it in the oven for about 30 minutes at 425 degrees(that's my best guess- I didn't really  notice what the temperature I had turned it on to was).

 The b nut squash after about 10 minutes (below).

 So I melted about 2 Tbsp of butter in a heavy pan and cut up a sweet yellow onion. I put it in the pan and let it turn translucent. I sprinkled salt, pepper, cayenne, nutmeg and some ginger on it.

 Once the butternut squash was brown, soft, kind of caramelized and sweet to the taste I pulled it out of the oven and tossed into the sauce pan.

 I let the onion and bnut get brown and the bottom of the pan to get "sticky". Then I poured in chicken broth to just cover the mixture.

 After boiling for about 5 minutes I put in my magic bullet(yea you read that right) and blended the heck out of it. Then I tasted it. I could have stopped there... but I didn't. 

 A can of light coconut milk.

 Then I added two different kinds of curry powder, coriander, black pepper, more ginger, cayenne pepper and a dash of maple syrup.

 As soon as I was convinced it was savory, sweet, and superbly spicy I served in my favorite mug, with a dash of goat cheese, cilantro and cayenne pepper on top! Voila!!! It was  brilliant. I was so bummed that I didn't have someone to share it with until I then realized I would have to share it. So as much as I love you all... I am glad to have had this pot of wonder all to myself!

Here's to a spectacular night of studying, being cozy inside, and reading a great book.

Orange Juice and pH

I have heard many times people say that they have had a glass of orange juice and now their stomach is more acidic than before the glass of OJ.

This is an interesting explanation of whatever it is that they think is going on.

Your stomach has a pH level of at or around 2. That is very acidic! More acidic than battery acid. (don't go drink battery acid now) As a note, the lower a number has a pH, the actually more acidic it is. So 2 is much more acidic than say a pH of 4.

The pH of an orange is at or around 5 and so is that of the juice of an orange. When you drink the juice of an orange it travels down your esophagus and through the lower esophageal sphincter(this is the lever, if you will between the esophagus and stomach). When that pH of about 5 liquid hits the stomach at a pH of about 2 do you think it makes the stomach go down to 1.5? No if anything it would raise the pH of the stomach. But interestingly enough, it doesn't. 

The stomach adjusts immediately to maintain a pH within the range it must to effectively digest the juice and other food items ingested.  But think about it. This makes sense. If you eat bread... at a pH of closer to 7 and it enters the stomach, again at pH 2, does it stand to reason that the bread would raise the pH of the stomach? No. The stomach must maintain a low pH in order to do the processing which it does. 

So what you ask happens when you have OJ and your stomach feels more acidic than normal?

I guess it could be a lot of thinks. Perhaps you ate 2 pancakes, 3 slices of bacon, an omelette, hash-browns, a cup of coffee, and OJ. Look at the picture of the stomach above, it will fill and even before it reaches maximum capacity the liquid/food stuffs could be leaked back up through the lower esophageal sphincter before it even touches the top of your tummy. There could also be other things going on. But suffice it to say that the pH of your stomach must be maintained to do it's job. No matter what you put in there, provided your pancreas is doing it's job properly of making the digestive enzymes, the pH of the stomach will remain relatively the same. 

Blood

 So if I didn't scare you off by the title of the post and by my handy-dandy iPhone photo then you are in for some fun facts!

First of all, you should know, that is MY blood in the cuvette shown above. In fact, from the bottom to the top of the yellow-clearish looking fluid you are looking at my blood.

The bottom portion is the formed elements of my blood. This includes all of the "heavier pieces of the blood". So that would be the red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets(or little pieces of blood cells that are no longer whole cells). The yellowish colored fluid is my blood plasma. You have this too(actually you have all of these parts in your blood). But the yellow portions is basically the liquid portion of blood.

You may be wondering how I was able to get my blood in this cuvette and separate it out as I have. The short answer is in my anatomy and physiology class. Last night I had my first lab portion of the class for the quarter. We pricked our own fingers and drew our own blood and did a number of tests on it.

Since you are dying to know I have O negative blood type(more on blood types to follow in a different post).

In this picture you have illustrated for you a simple way to determine your hematocrit level. You literally draw blood in a cuvette as shown above. Then you put it in a machine called a centrifuge... this is similar to a ride you may have been on at the local fair where it spins you around and around and gravity pulls you against the wall as you spin(remember that Patch?)... this just spins all of the heavier parts to the bottom. You could also just hit the cuvette against a hard surface for a long time until it separates that way. The centrifuge is faster. 

What is hematocrit you ask? It is the percentage of formed elements(the actual cell parts of blood) divided by the total volume of blood.

amount of formed elements       x 100

amount of liquid

This is important because it helps indicate a number of health risks...If you have elevated hematocrit levels you might have an infection or if you have lower levels you might be hemorrhaging somewhere in your body. A normal range for most people is in between 38% and 46%. In men it is generally closer to 45% and women it is closer to 40%. A lot of factors influence this but one main factor is monthly menses of woman(in layman's terms- a girl's period).  

We also measured the amount of hemoglobin in our blood. That was cool!

More on this stuff later.  Just trying to be better at updating.  Eventually I'll relate this stuff to nutrition... for now just the raw facts. :)

~Reality Check~

Welcome to the world of blogging! I may have been a bit over excited about blogging all the fun and useful information I am learning in school. Optimistic may be a better word for it actually. While I would love to give you weekly updates(I AM striving for it), the fact of the matter is you might just end up getting a summary of what I learned big picture from each class that I took. My hope is that my posts will still be interesting and helpful; perhaps it will even be a little glimpse into what my life is like on the central coast(which was one of my goals with blogging in the first place-since most of my friends and loved ones live no where near me!)

In the next week I hope to at least give you an update on useful information and recaps of my classes last quarter:

Child and Maternal Nutrition

Nutrition in Aging (yep, that's right... for you old folks)

BioChemistry (I know you are thinking "yikes!")

You'll be happy to know I made the Dean's list and received  an A in both my Nutrition classes(with over 100% in my Child and Maternal Nutrition class) and I made a B+ in Biochem. I was not very happy about the B + but you probably will say you are proud. Thank you for that.

Okay so look back this week for the class updates and info on the classes that I'm taking this quarter.

Just for a treat: Here is a picture of Christmas dinner my mom and I made.

Eggplant Parmesan

Yummy Beans and Bell Peppers

Arugula Salad with Pomegranate seeds, Strawberries, Strawberry Dressing(homemade) and Pecans.

Okay... stay tuned.

Also just as an aside and yet most importantly: you should know that God continues to bless and prosper my efforts here. I am continually amazed by how much He has helped and provided for me. Prayer really works... and God really cares for me. I am thankful and blessed.

Signing out for now,

~Caitlin

 

Steam Cooking vs. Browning

***Warning- there is a little science behind this post... but I'll try to keep it simple and interesting!***

So school is about to start here in lovely, coastal California at CalPoly(2 days and counting). I am excited to learn lots of fun and interesting things to share with you all(all ~ 3 of you that read my blog). :)

This quarter I am taking two Nutrition courses: Child & Maternal Nutrition and Nutrition in Aging. Basically that should cover everyone except for middle age men~I don't think many of you(middle aged men) read my blog anyways and generally you(middle aged men) still have unfairly fast metabolisms, so perhaps you won't be at a loss.

Until the quarter commences and you start seeing Nutrition through the life cycle posts: here is one for all audiences(read ages)!

BROWNING

So why do grilled vegetables taste better than steamed? And why do fried potatoes taste better than boiled ones? And why do you prefer grilled chicken to a poached bird? Let me tell you... the secret is in the browning.

We encounter browning in many different forms. The crust of your bread is browned, the outer edge of your french fry is browned, your coffee beans are browned, maple syrup is even browned; and believe it or not dried & condensed milk is even browned! Browning that beef strip in your stroganauf before slow simmering it for an hour not only helps it to be tender, but oooooohhhh boy- it makes it yummy.

This incredible browning reaction is more formally called "Maillard Reactions" after Louis-Camille Maillard, who first described it in the early 1900s. This is where we get nerdy- so watch out!

Maillard browning is a nonezymatic browning(enzymatic browning is what happens to your bananas as they ripen~or what doesn't happen to your guacamole because you prohibit it with lime juice). Maillard reactions are more like carmelization. Carmelization(also a browning method) is a decomposition of sugars. Maillard browning occurs when you combine an amino acid with a reducing sugar(in the presence of heat) and they get it on! This process of getting it on makes your food yummy!

How to get a good Maillard reaction: high temperature, intermediate moisture levels and alkaline conditions.

Why low moisture you ask? Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius or 212 degrees Fahrenheit. A Maillard reaction happens at 154 degrees C and 310 degrees F. If too much moisture is involved then food will cook more quickly because of the heat released when water transitions from liquid phase to vapor/gas phase(which takes place at the boiling point). Since the boiling point is much lower than the temperature Maillard reactions occur, the food will be done by the time you get a chance to brown it.

While a Maillard reaction isn't the only chemical reaction contributing to browning in meat and other foods, it is the most abundant reaction.

Browning contributes to smell, texture, visual appeal, and most importantly flavor in cooked food. I think we can all agree that the afore mentioned aspects are important to a well-rounded and enjoyable food experience. Even still, taste is the most important!

Does a Maillard browning reaction alone affect the quality of flavor in a cooked item? No, and I cannot pretend otherwise. For instance, in order to effectively brown your food while cooking at such high temperatures you often need to protect food from burning... we like to do this in America with butter, or more recently fad-u-lous(read fabulous... but it is a food fad): EVOO(extra virgin olive oil- thanks Rachel Ray). Of course fat makes food taste good, so that helps the taste buds out... but not generally our waistlines. So what are we to do?

So here is my suggestion. Ready?

Okay... now are you ready?

In the instance of your steamed vegetables: lightly pan fry them, even just for a minute in a light amount of oil before you finish by steam cooking them them... or do it at the end.  Do it at some point in the cooking process... because it will end up tasting better.  Remember high heat! Low moisture! So on second thought... do it at the beginning.

And yes that picture of beer means that beer also takes part in the Maillard browning reactions. That picture was for bubba.

Alright well... I bid you adieu until I have more interesting things to share.

God Bless and eat yummily.

~C