Spices

[rysmom14]

Hello board friends!

I am having a hard time with spices. I have been going back through everything and every ingredient that my son eats and trying to see if I am missing something that is causing his labs to still be elevated.

I recently had a question about parsley because right now I only use salt, pepper and dried parsley.  Someone provided the following website ( which is wonderful by the way!).  csidcares.org/treatment/food-composition-database/

 I looked up some spices it says that parsley has total sugars listed as  7.3g/100g.  The breakdown shows 2.8 glucose, .42 fructose, 4.1 sucrose, 0g lactose, 0g maltose.I also tried to look up fennel seeds as I was hoping to be able to add some of this to fresh pork I just got from a local farm. The fennel is reading 12.5g/100g, but the break down shows all zeros for glucose, fructose, sucrose, lactose, and maltose.

what does this mean?  I am wondering if I should just keep all spices cut out for now?  I know many of you have said that spices have such a low amount of fructose and the amount used is so small that you don't count them. 

so a couple things:

1. is fennel seeds to high in total sugar to use for anyone in the amount that would be used to flavor pork( trying to make a homemade sausage)

2. how am I supposed to read the g/100g measurement?

3. should I only be concerned with the fructose/ sucrose grams listed rather than the overall sugars?

Thanks for all the help!

[antonia]

I tend to, when looking at this kind of data, to compare it to the data of something known to be safe such as white rice. If you compare white rice to brown rice this will give you a sense of how much extra fructose is not okay. With herbs and spices you really have to pay attention to what's being measured. Fresh herbs, roots, etc. being much heavier by weight than dried, I go more by 'feel' than actually trying to make calculations. Compare a 'safe-er' dried herb, like Basil, to dried parsley for example, one leafy green to another (or apples to apples so to speak).

If you're seeing all zeroes for the sugar breakdown that probably means the data does not exist. When I look at sucrose I tend to cut the amount in half and add it to the fructose total since sucrose is 50% fructose (sucrose is one glucose and one fructose molecule linked together). This is probably over simplifying and not very accurate but gives me a general sense of how much sucrose is not okay. Also, there are other fructose containing fibers and alcohols (eg - fructans and sorbitol) that occur naturally in plants that are most likely not listed or measured.

Given that this kind of data may not be all that accurate, often doesn't exist and, if it does, is a lot of work to calculate I rely more on HFIers experiences with them than anything else. I've also taken to making a lot of my own infused oils and animal fats to get flavor into my daughter's food under the theory that fructose is water soluble and won't leach into a pure fat (oil, ghee and tallow). Sometimes I make different blends such as taco, curry, citrus, etc. and insert them where ever the fat is added in a recipe or just drizzle them on after cooking if applicable. Palmera seems to do well with these infused fats but since she's not diagnosed I can't say with certainty that this is safe.

This is my approach to herbs and spices! Hope that helps some.

[colormist]

I was going to respond, but Antonia has pretty much covered it! Infused oils is a good idea!

I also read (a long while back) about cooking with a satchet--which is removed from the food before serving. This /might/ be a way to get the flavor without the fructose? I haven't tried it myself, so I'm not certain. But since you're removing the herb entirely from the dish, you don't have to worry about eating the herb. I'm not sure if the fructose would leak out into the food or if it would stay in the leaf/seed.

An example of cooking with an herb satchet: www.marthastewart.com/272901/herb-sachet-for-cooking

[ukbill]

Rysmom14
1st question is he getting any Dextrose / Glucose?
2nd how much digestible fiber is he getting?
3rd For how has he been on a safe diet?

The amount of sugar in the bit of Fennel seeds you will use will cause no problems, most of the sugar is from the fiber in the seed shell digesting in the intestine.
If you are using fresh parsley use only the green frond like leaves at the top not the stalks. they tend to hold far more Fructose than the leaves.
Analysis of plants to find particular compounds is very difficult and little to no way to prove one way or another if they are in any way accurate.

[rysmom14]

thanks all,

I like the infused oil ideas a a lot. I don't know hoe well that would work with making sausage though?

Bill, his diet contains no dextrose and no glucose. it is extremely limited and cut back. the very cut back version has been going on for about 6 month, but he has been diagnosed for 2 years, so we have been following the best we can since then. of course the beginning was much harder with the learning curve.

I don't really know about the digestible fiber. he eats a lot of the same things. cheese, meat and pasta.

[antonia]

For flavored meats such as taco meat, I brown and cook the meat with salt and pepper to taste, drain the excess meat fat off and then add the infused oil back in for flavor. It seems like this would make the meat very greasy but it doesn't, it actually helps keep the meat moist and from drying out. You might be able to do this with sausage, drizzle the flavored oil on after you cook it. Palmera seems to like plain, ground pork patties, salted and nicely browned, over anything else so I've never tried it.

WARNING: If you plan to store homemade infused oils do some research on how to do it safely! It can grow botulinum bacteria when stored at room temperature as well as in the refrigerator. I do make extra infused oil and store it in the freezer now. This makes it convenient for for quick, weeknight meals. I also use dried herbs, seeds and barks, over fresh, heat the oil up on the stove to infuse it and strain it well because it's safer (and easier too). As soon as it's cool enough, I drizzle it into small, condiment sized Tupperware containers or ice cube trays and get them immediately in the freezer.