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The Importance of Vegetable Oils in Our Life
If you were to look around with the eyes of a physician seeking a medicine, then it can be said that we live in a world of medicines, for there is no substance in nature that would not be suitable for a medicine.
(Ancient Buddhist proverb)
Since prehistoric times people have used various vegetable fats in their food. Vegetable oils improve the taste qualities of food, provide a feeling of satiety, and are a concentrated source of energy in the food allowance and a valuable building material for the cells and tissues. Modern humans often obtain many more calories from their food than they are able to expend in their sedentary way of life and many fewer vitamins and essential fatty acids, which are literally "burned" during the stresses that accompany people throughout their lives. How much fat and which fats should be obtained in a food allowance? Dietitians assert that attention should be paid not only to the quantitative limits of fats in the diet, but also to the quality of the fat products consumed. The best source of the necessary fats for children and adults, for healthy and sick persons, is Cedar Nut Oil (See footnote 1), an ancient Russian product.
The Siberian cedar (Pinus sibirica)-a mighty tree reaching a height of 40 metres, with a trunk diameter from 1.5 to 2 metres-grows slowly, lives up to 500-800 years, its fruitful period begins at 40 to 50 years, the cedar cone takes a long time to ripen, the second year following its flowering. The medicinal properties of the cedar have been well-known for a very long time, the young shoots, needles, bark, and resin are used as raw materials for medicines, but the principal component of value for people are the cedar nuts and products prepared from them.
Applications of Cedar Nut Oil
The medicinal properties of Cedar Nut Oil have been well-known for a long time. As long ago as the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the cedar nut was an item of export-Russia sold up to 5 million kilograms of the nut each year to Sweden, England, Persia, and other countries. "In Switzerland they are used in chemist's shops, they are used to make a milk that is prescribed for chest illnesses... because of their penetrating, delicate, and partly balsamic oil, they were effectively used by people with consumption," wrote the Academician P. S. Pallas at the end of the XVIII century. Comments about the medicinal properties of the Siberian cedar are found in monastery records. The monks grew "cedar orchards" around their monasteries, and outside of Yaroslavl in the XVI century the Tolgskaya Cedar Grove was laid out. Some cedars in that grove have been preserved to our day and are abundantly fruitful.
Russian physicians have used the oil from cedar nuts in the treatment of hypertension, atherosclerosis, stomach ulcers, and have also used it externally-they have treated burns, bruises, and performed inhalations with the oil, as well as baths and massages. In recent years the interest of scientific medicine in the Siberian cedar has grown, fundamental and clinical studies are providing scientific explanations for the beneficial effects of the cedar nut on the health of humans, effects that were well-known from the experience of folk medicine. To date, the chemical structure of cedar nuts has been adequately studied, the richness of this structure is responsible for the broad range of useful effects of cedar products on the human body. Regular use of Cedar Nut Oil enriches the food allowance with essential foodstuffs-polyunsaturated fatty acids, amino acids, fat-soluble vitamins, and macro- and micro-elements.
Cedar Nut Oil is a rich source of natural antioxidants. These properties have been established for vitamins E and A, the carotinoids, nicotinic acid, in mineral substances such as magnesium, calcium, zinc, manganese; in sulphur-containing amino acids. In recent years, the problem of the peroxide oxidation of lipids and the antioxidant status of the organism have attracted active attention. In normal conditions of vital activity, many important metabolic and physiological processes occur with the formation of free radicals. They are involved in the accumulation and biotransformation of energy, provide for the detoxification of certain foreign compounds, participate in the work of the nonspecific immunological protection system of the organism. In the normal situation, the intensity of the processes of free-radical oxidation is maintained at a specified level by a complex antioxidant defence system, which includes a whole series of vitamins, enzymes, micro-elements, amino acids, and certain hormones (thyroxine, the estrogens). In physiological conditions, the peroxide oxidation of lipids and antioxidant defence represent a single system, which is in a state of dynamic equilibrium and capable of self-regulation. The pollution of the external and internal environment of an organism with toxic substances, constant psychological and emotional stress, significant physical loads, the use of a large quantity of refined carbohydrates and animal fats in food lead to the exhaustion of the natural antioxidant defence systems and excessive activation of free-radical oxidation. When free radicals enter into chemical reactions, they damage enzyme systems, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids, and lead to disruptions in the functions of the cells, they are regarded as the causes of many acute and chronic illnesses, including atherosclerosis, cardiovascular diseases, oncological diseases, premature aging of the organism, and reduction of the life span. Maintaining the antioxidant defence systems of the organism at an optimal level of functioning plays an important role in disease prevention and health. In this respect, great hopes are being placed on antioxidants of plant origin, since they possess great affinities with the tissues of the human organism, exhibit, as a rule, little toxicity, and, with judicious use, do not cause overdoses.
Cedar Nut Oil is an effective natural antioxidant and may be used for the preventive treatment of any illness, as a means for maintaining the antioxidant status of the organism.
The high content and optimal ratio of mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids, phospholipids, fat-soluble vitamins, and amino acids, which have a lipotropic action, make it possible to recommend the inclusion of Cedar Nut Oil in healthy diets for the prevention of disruptions in lipid metabolism and its use in the alimentary therapy of persons suffering from obesity and atherosclerosis.
Cedar Nut Oil is traditionally used in the treatment of colds, as a general strengthening agent and agent that increases the nonspecific immune defences. It is used in the form of oil inhalations or taken internally. The carotinoids (provitamins A), vitamins E, B, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and micro-elements that make up Cedar Nut Oil display an alleviating and anti-inflammatory effect on the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract, increase the process of regeneration in them, and stimulate the local immune defence system.
The ability of Cedar Nut Oil to hasten the processes of the regeneration (renewal) of mucous membranes is also put to use in the treatment of disorders of the gastro-intestinal tract. Clinical studies carried out at the Tomsk Scientific Research Institute for Health Resort Studies of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation have demonstrated that the inclusion of Cedar Nut Oil in the comprehensive treatment of ulcers of the stomach and duodenum leads to a reduction of the scar formation period of the ulcer. Cedar Nut Oil is well tolerated by patients. When diluted with milk, Cedar Nut Oil displays an anti-inflammatory effect in cases of accompanying cholesystitis and hepatocholecystitis.
Cedar Nut Oil has found wide application in cosmetology. With only Cedar Nut Oil on hand, it is possible to provide proper care of the skin-it can be used to cleanse, nourish, and protect the skin on any part of the body. Cedar Nut Oil dissolves well and removes all dirt, it provides the clean skin with valuable nourishment and vitamins-the antioxidants of Cedar Nut Oil protect the skin from the aggression of oxygen radicals, postpones the aging processes-on the surface of the skin fats form the thinnest film, which retains moisture but does not prevent the skin from breathing. Together with this, it is good to combine the external application of Cedar Nut Oil with its use in food, in order to act on the skin "from the inside."
Importance of lipids for the human body
Don't get carried away, but pay the necessary attention
I. P. Pavlov
Lipids play an important role in the vital activity of the body. The overall quantity of fat in a healthy person makes up 10-20% of the body mass, in the case of obesity it can reach 50%. Several classes of lipids exist, which differ significantly from each other in structure and biological functions. Strictly speaking, fats (triglycerides) are the esters of higher fatty acids and glycerin. In the body, they serve as the main source of energy and create reserves of energy material. Among the food substances, fats possess the greatest energy value-the combustion of 1 gram of fat produces 9 kcal, the combustion of proteins and carbohydrates produces approximately 4 kcal. In many tissues, even with a balanced diet, fats are used almost exclusively to obtain energy, while glucose is retained for the tissues, especially those that need it (brain, erythrocytes). Fats fulfill protective functions. Fatty capsules are formed around vitally important organs (kidneys, sexual glands, thymus, etc.) that hold them in their normal anatomical position and protect them from shifting and injury. On the surface of the skin, fats form a water-repellent film that protects the tissue both from loss of moisture as well as from over-moisturization, and also has an anti-microbial action. In addition, subcutaneous fat creates a thermo-insulating covering for the body. Fats are poor heat conductors, and protect internal organs from overcooling. Fatty tissue is the site of the formation of the hormone leptine, which has an all-round influence on the human body.
Complex lipids-these are complexes of lipids and proteins (lipoproteins), derived from orthophosphoric acid (phospholipids or phosphatides), with sugars (glycolipids), with polyatomic alcohols (sphingolipids, etc.), and also a whole series of compounds. Complex lipids fulfill plastic functions-together with proteins they serve as the basic structural components of cellular membranes.
Lipids also include compounds that are not derivatives of fatty acids-steroids. Their most common representative is cholesterol, it is included as a structural element as part of cellular membranes, and also serves as the precursor of a series of other steroids-cholic acids, steroid hormones (hormones of the adrenal cortex, sexual hormones), and vitamin D.
The simplest in structure of the lipids are the fatty acids, which serve as the intermediate products of lipid metabolism, and also take part in the biological regulation of cellular functions.
Fatty acids may be saturated and unsaturated. In saturated acids, the bonds between the carbon atoms are maximally saturated, unsaturated fatty acids contain one or more double (unsaturated) bonds, on whose site oxygen may join. Fatty acids with one double bond are called monounsaturated. The most common monounsaturated acid in human fat tissue is oleic acid, among the other fatty acids its proportion is 55%. Oleic acid is involved in the regulation of cholesterol metabolism, it facilitates the increase in blood of the level of high density lipoproteins, which transport cholesterol from the tissues to the liver for utilization. This cholesterol is not atherogenic, or "good," its high level in the blood is an antirisk factor for the development of atherosclerosis.
Fatty acids with two (linoleic acid), three (alpha linolenic acid), four (arachidonic acid), and more double bonds are called polyunsaturated.
Polyunsaturated fatty acids are subdivided into Omega classes depending on the location of the double bond, closer to the methyl or Omega-carbon. Monounsaturated oleic acid and palmitic acid are designated as Omega-9 and Omega-7 respectively, and the polyunsaturated fatty acids linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid, as Omega-6 and Omega-3. Two polyunsaturated fatty acids, linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid, are indispensable (essential) for humans, since they are not synthesized in the body and must come from the outside, from food products.
Polyunsaturated fatty acids perform a number of important physiological functions in the body: they are part of cellular membranes, they have an influence on the metabolism of other lipids-they stimulate the removal of excess cholesterol from the body, prevent its deposit on the walls of the blood vessels; they participate in the metabolism of several vitamins (thiamine and pyridoxine), they have an immunomodelling action, increase the resistance of the organism to infectious diseases and the action of unfavourable factors from the external environment. In animals that have received a fat-free food allowance, a shortening of the life span has been noted. A deficit of essential polyunsaturated acids has a particularly negative effect on the growing organism, linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid are essential for growth and the normal development of the brain, organ of vision, sexual glands, kidneys, and skin.
Linoleic and alpha-linolenic fatty acids are the forebears of two families of polyunsaturated fatty acids-Omega-6 and Omega-3, including the eicosanoids: prostaglandins, leucotriens, thromboxanes, which are tissue hormones.
The Omega-6 family is represented by linoleic acid, which, in the presence of the necessary enzymes, in the body becomes gamma-linolenic acid. Gamma-linolenic acid is the precursor of dihomogammalinolenic acid, which is the precursor of the first series of prostaglandins and arachidonic acid, the precursor of the second series of prostaglandins.
Alpha-linolenic acid becomes eicosopentenoic acid, the precursor of the third series of prostaglandins, and docosohexenoic acid.
The metabolism of linoleic acid (18 carbon atoms, two double bonds) and alpha-linolenic acid (18 carbon atoms, three double bonds) is linked to additional desaturation, that is, the increase in the number of double bonds and the lengthening of the basic chain made up of carbon atoms. As a result, arachidonic acid has 20 carbon atoms and 4 double bonds, eicosopentenoic acid has 20 carbon atoms and 5 double bonds, docosohexenoic acid has 22 carbon atoms and 6 double bonds. Arachidonic, eicosopentenoic, and docosohexenoic acid are called long-chain fatty acids. They are important structural components of the cellular membranes of all organs and tissues, but their content is especially great in the brain, retina of the eye, and in the reproductive cells.
It should be noted that the metabolism of Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids occurs with the involvement of exactly the same enzymes, which elicits the occurrence of competing reactions between the two families. An excess of the fatty acids of one class may slow the transformation of the acids of the other class, lowering their activity and modifying their biological action.
Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids are the precursors of the eicosanoids (prostaglandins, thromboxanes, leucotriens), which fulfill the functions of local tissue hormones, which regulate numerous functions, including tonus of the blood vessels, musculature of the bronchial tubes and uterus, the degree of the inflammatory reaction, the activity level of the cells of the immune system, the processes of blood coagulation, and a number of others. In addition, the direction of the action of the eicosanoids of the Omega-6 and Omega-3 family are directly opposite. Prostaglandins, which form Omega 6 from fatty acids, narrow the apertures of the blood vessels and bronchial tubes, increase inflammation, increase blood coagulation. Prostaglandins-derivatives of the Omega-3 fatty acids-dilate the bronchial tubes and blood vessels, reduce inflammation, reduce the aggregation of blood platelets, and reduce the formation of blood clots in the blood vessels. Sometimes the first are called the "bad" prostaglandins, and the second, the "good" prostaglandins. However, this assessment is incorrect. It is precisely on the principle of opposing actions that the processes of the regulation of tissue homeostasis are based. For that reason it is important not to oppose these two classes of fatty acids, but to observe a balance between them. Since the source of Omega-6 and Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids are food products, it is necessary to know their content and ratio in the food allowance.
Because they perform such significant functions in the human body, fats are an important component of the food allowance. In order to maintain optimum health, it is necessary to keep to the general rules of sound nutrition and the consumption of fats in particular. The average physiological requirement of fats for the healthy person is approximately 30% of the overall calorie content, a third of the consumed fats must be made up of vegetable oils. In some special diets, the proportion of vegetable oils is increased to 50% and more (the rest being nuts, fruits, vegetables, eggs, milk). Fats improve the taste of food and cause a feeling of satiety, in the metabolic process they can be formed from carbohydrates and proteins, but they cannot be replaced completely. The food value of fats is determined by their fatty-acid content, the presence of essential nutritional factors, the degree of assimilability and digestibility. The biological activity of alimentary fats is determined by their content of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids. Since the basic source of polyunsaturated fatty acids is vegetable oils, they also possess the greatest biological activity. The degree of assimilability of vegetable oils is also high, on the average this indicator comes to 97-98%.
Fatty oils of plants are a concentrated energy and building reserve, concentrated in the seeds and other organs of plants. The basic role of stored fats in a plant is their use for food during the germination of seeds and the development of the bud; in addition, they play the important role of protective substances, which help the plant endure unfavourable environmental conditions, in particular, low temperatures. Fats of hibernating seeds promote the preservation of the bud in cold conditions. In trees, in the transition to the dormant state, reserve starch becomes fat, which raises the frost-resistance of the trunk. The greatest calorific capability is possessed by unsaturated fats, for that reason the plants of the northern latitudes contain them in the highest quantities. Vegetable fats are essentially made up of triglycerides-esters of glycerin and fatty acids. Approximately 75% of vegetable fats are made up of the glycerides of only three acids-palmitic acid, oleic acid, and linoleic acid. The fats of some plants contain specific fatty acids that are characteristic only to them. Triglycerides may be monoacids and heteroacids (mixed). The overwhelming majority of fats are a mixture of heteroacidic triglycerides. Fatty acids in vegetable fats may be saturated and unsaturated. The biological value of vegetable oils depends also on their content of accompanying substances-phospholipids, waxes, steroids, fat-soluble vitamins, pigments, photochemical compounds contained in plants and giving the oils a specific direction of action.
Characteristics of Cedar Nut Oil
Cedar Nut Oil is obtained from the purified kernel of the cedar nut by means of cold pressing, which makes it possible to preserve the useful properties of all its components. Unrefined Cedar Nut Oil is light yellow with a greenish hue, a slight nutty aroma, and the highest taste qualities, several orders higher than the best edible oils-olive, almond, peanut.
The fatty-acid component of Cedar Nut Oil is characterized by a high content of mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids (Table 1).
Table 1. Content of fatty acids in some of the most common vegetable oils (in % of the total mass)
|
|
|
Type of oil |
Saturated fatty acids |
Monounsaturated
fatty acids |
Polyunsaturated fatty acids |
Oleic (class 9) |
Linoleic (class 6) |
Linolenic (class 3) |
Cedar Nut Oil |
10-15 |
25-30 |
44-60 |
25-50 |
Linseed oil |
8-10 |
14 |
25-30 |
21-30 |
Soya oil |
7.2-15.1 |
32.5-35.6 |
51.7-57 |
2-3 |
Olive oil |
9.1-14.2 |
70-87 |
4-12 |
- |
Sunflower oil |
9 |
33.3 |
39.8 |
- |
Corn oil |
11.9 |
44.8-45.4 |
41-48 |
- |
Hempseed oil |
4.5 |
14 |
65 |
16 |
Grape oil |
12 |
18 |
70 |
- |
Sesame oil |
14 |
40 |
43 |
- |
|
|
|
|
In the previous section, mention was made of the necessity to maintain a balance between the various classes of fatty acids. The optimal ratio between the Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids has not yet been definitively established, this problem is actively being discussed in the scientific literature. In the typical diet of a modern person, the ratio of Omega-6/Omega-3 is in the range of 10:1 to 25:1. The World Health Organization recommends an adherence to the ratio from 4:1 to 10:1, while doing so one should strive to increase the proportion of Omega-3 fatty acids, since an excess of Omega-6 fatty acids has even worse consequences for health. Studies on the type of nutrition in the Paleolithic period and features of the nutrition of modern hunter-gatherers make it possible to suppose that, in the food allowance of our ancestors, the ratio between the Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids was more balanced and came to approximately 1:1. The development of new technologies in plant growing and animal husbandry led to the replacement of some types of fats by others. Many cultivated plants contain a significantly smaller quantity of Omega-3 fatty acids in comparison to wild plants, correspondingly also the oil of domestic animals eating feed from cultivated plants is also depleted in Omega-3 fatty acids in comparison to the meat of wild animals, in addition to all this more and more scientists are relating the consumption of meat to the appearance and development in people of such terrible diseases as cancer, atherosclerosis, diseases of the vessels and heart, for that reason one should try to replace meat with natural plant food.
In Cedar Nut Oil the ratio of the Omega-6/Omega-3 fatty acids is approximately 2:1. What attracts our attention is the high content of monounsaturated oleic acid, which is necessary for the normal metabolism of cholesterol. The use of polyunsaturated fatty acids in food requires a concomitant increase in the intake of tocopherols, natural antioxidants, which protect fatty acids from free-radical oxidation. It has been determined that for 1 g of polyunsaturated fatty acids, 0.6 mg of tocopherols should be taken, moreover in the most active forms-alpha and gamma tocopherols. This balance has been observed in Cedar Nut Oil, its content of alpha-tocopherol comes to 55 mg.
The kernel of the cedar nut contains a high quantity of phospholipids-6.9% (in Cedar Nut Oil, it is 1.3%), which exceeds its content in all nut and oil crops. The most common phospholipids are the phosphatidylcholines (old name: lecithins), whose constituents are glycerin, unsaturated fatty acids, and the vitamin-like substance choline, related to phosphoric acid. Phosphatidylcholine is an interchangeable substance, it can be synthesized in the organism in the presence of all the necessary elements, including the essential amino acid methionine. Phosphatidylcholine is of fundamental importance in nutrition, it promotes the digestion, absorption, and proper metabolism of fats, increases bile secretion, normalizes the metabolism of cholesterol, reduces the accumulation of fats in the liver. Cedar Nut Oil also contains phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerin, phosphatidylinositol, and phosphatidic acid. What attracts our attention is the presence in Cedar Nut Oil of cerebrosides, sulpholipids, and glycolipids, which are nonspecific for plant substances.
Unrefined vegetable oils always contain associated substances, which are extracted together with fats, dissolve in them, and have an influence on their physico-chemical, organoleptic, and, primarily, their pharmacological properties. These substances make up the so-called nonsaponifiable residue of fat. In Cedar Nut Oil, the associated substances are represented by pigments, phytosterols, triterpine hydrocarbons, and fat-soluble vitamins.
Pigments cause the colouring of natural fats, and are mainly represented by chlorophylls and carotenes. Chlorophyll, which is found in the oil, displays its activity also as a medicinal agent. Chlorophyll has a toning action, increases basic metabolism, stimulates the regeneration of the tissues, and possesses bactericidal properties. Chlorophyll-the green pigment of plants-is related in its chemical construction to the hemoglobin of the human erythrocyte. This makes it possible to explain the fact that chlorophyll taken with food has an influence on the blood system-it promotes an increase in the quantity of leucocytes, erythrocytes, and hemoglobin.
Sterols and esters make up the greater part of the nonsaponifiable residue of oils. A distinction is made between sterols of plant origin (phytosterols) and those of animal origin (zoosterols). The most common phytosterol is sitosterol, of the zoosterols it is cholesterol. Sitosterols, in particular the most studied of them beta-sitosterol, has a hypocholesteremic effect, lowering the absorption of cholesterol in the intestines; it displays estrogen, anti-tumor, fungicidal, and bacteriostatic (reduces the growth and multiplication of bacteria) activity. In recent years it has been determined that phytosterols may be included in lipid formation in humans and animals, for example, in the membranes of erythrocytes.
Cedar Nut Oil contains the steroid squalene, which is an intermediary product in the biosynthesis of cholesterol.
Triterpene carbohydrates form triterpene saponins, and are part of the essential oil, they have bactericidal, anti-inflammatory, and expectorant actions.
Cedar Nut Oil is a rich source of fat-soluble vitamins and some B vitamin groups.
Vitamin D regulates the metabolism of calcium and phosphorus, ensures that these substances are absorbed in the intestines and deposited in growing bones, thus ensuring the strength of bones and teeth. Vitamin D promotes the assimilation of magnesium, which is also necessary for the building of bone tissue. Vitamin D has an influence on the permeability of cellular and subcellular membranes to calcium ions. It is synthesized in the organism as a result of the action of sunlight on the skin. The formation of the biologically active form of the vitamin occurs in the liver and kidneys. Vitamin D insufficiency is widespread among very young children, and plays an important role in the development of rickets. In adults, D vitaminosis occurs rarely, and manifests itself in the form of osteoporosis. Vitamin D is toxic, with the unreasonable use of concentrated preparations, hypervitaminosis may develop, for that reason it is important that it enters the body in a natural form, with food products.
Vitamin PP (niacin, nicotinic acid) participates in reactions involving cellular respiration and intermediate metabolism, since it is incorporated into proteins that carry out oxidation-reduction reactions; it improves carbohydrate metabolism, has a positive effect on mild forms of sugar diabetes; it lowers the level of cholesterol in the blood; it normalizes the secretory and motor functions of the gastro-intestinal tract, it has a positive effect on stomach ulcers; it displays a vasodilatory effect. In avitaminosis, pellagra ("rough skin") develops, typical of which is dermatitis (inflammation of the skin), a disturbance of the functions of the gastro-intestinal tract, lesions of the oral mucous membrane, mental disturbances. Niacin is formed in the body from the amino acid tryptophan, 60 mg of tryptophan makes 1 mg of niacin.
A kernel of the cedar nut ripened to the milky stage contains 64 mg of vitamin C.
A kernel of the cedar nut contains a large quantity of mineral substances-2.6%-which represents a collection of macro- and micro-elements.
Significant from a dietary point of view is the content of phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, copper, zinc, and iodine. The presence of the listed macro- and micro-elements classifies the kernel of the cedar nut as a natural source of the mineral substances that play an important role in many biochemical processes in the human body.
Cedar Nut Oil contains nitrogenous compounds, represented mainly by free amino acids. Among them are all the essential amino acids-valine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, threonine, tryptophan, phenylalanine-and the nonessential amino acids-arginine, histidine, tyrosine, alanine, glycine, proline, serine, asparagine, glutamine.
The importance of amino acids for the body depends above all on the fact that they are used for the synthesis of proteins. In addition, a large number of substances of a non-peptide nature used in special functions are formed from amino acids. These substances include choline (a constituent of phospholipids), taurine (involved in the metabolism of cholic acids), and heme (a component of hemoglobin). The amino acid tyrosine is the precursor of the hormones of the thyroid gland, the catecholamines-adrenaline and norepinephrine-are constituents of the dark-coloured pigments, the melanins, which determine the colour of the skin and hair. The melanins are also found in the pigmented layer of the retina of the eyes. Derived from histidine is the biogenic amine-histamine-which plays the role of a local hormone. A small quantity of vitamin PP (niacin) is synthesized from tryptophan in the body, in addition, tryptophan is the precursor of the neuromediator serotonin, on which the emotional state of the organism depends, an insufficiency of serotonin is characteristic of depressive conditions.
Some amino acids themselves have a biological activity. The amino acid lysine increases the nonspecific resistance of the body, influences the tone of the cardiac vessels, and lowers the level of cholesterol in the blood. Methionine prevents the deposit of excess fat in the liver, protects liver cells from the influence of toxic substances, and participates in the synthesis of phosphatidylcholine. The amino acids alanine and glycine play the role of inhibiting mediators in the brain, while glutamic acid and aspartic acid play the role of stimulating mediators. The amino acid arginine increases the nonspecific resistance of the body, alleviates spasm of the blood vessels, lowers the level of cholesterol in the blood, and is an essential amino acid in the growth period of children. The sulphur-containing amino acid cysteine is a natural antioxidant.
RUSSIAN CONSUMER SOCIETY
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FOOTNOTES
1) Cedar Nut Oil - widely known as Pine Nut Oil in North America.
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Black Walnut Pesto Recipe
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
1 head elephant garlic
1 cup olive oil, plus about 2 Tablespoons for basting
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup fresh cilantro or parsley leaves
1 cup walnuts
1 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup black walnuts
1/4 cup dark-colored miso
1/4 cup lecithin granules
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
In a covered, oiled casserole dish, bake the garlic for 40 minutes, basting occasionally with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Let cool and then peel.
Meanwhile, in a food processor or by hand, chop the basil and cilantro or parsley. Add the garlic and process or chop again. Add the walnuts and pine nuts. Process or chop until finely chopped.
Add the miso, lecithin, and remaining cup of olive oil (or Cedar Nut Oil for richer taste) and process until well mixed.
Black Walnut Pesto will keep, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks, covered with a thin layer of olive oil (or Cedar Nut Oil).
Serve it on pasta, as a dip, or as a spread for crackers or bread.
Yield: 3 cups
Mixed Salad With Pears and Raisins
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
1 cup golden raisins
Water
1/2 pound mixed greens (baby spinach leaves also are good)
2 pears, cored and diced
2 medium carrots, cut into matchsticks
3 Tablespoons pine nuts
Salt, to taste
3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Extra-virgin olive oil, to taste
Preparation:
Place the raisins in a medium bowl and cover with warm water. Allow to soak at least 20 minutes, or until quite soft.
Toss the greens, pears, and carrots together in a nonreactive large bowl. Sprinkle pine nuts and salt over the salad.
Once the raisins have plumped, drain and gently squeeze to remove excess water. Add the raisins to the top of salad. Sprinkle the balsamic vinegar over the salad, then repeat with olive oil.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
For Educational purposes only
This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
These articles come directly from researchers and are passed on to everybody. The company assumes no liability for any content in these articles.
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