This post outlines all of the ingredients used in my recipes, as well as branding and sources, where applicable. Note that unlike Rob, I am publishing brand information. No one is paying me for this, I am doing it because processing methods can affect nutritional content, and for accuracy reasons I cannot recommend a brand of product for which I do not have reliable nutritional information. Substitute at your own risk (many food manufacturers are willing to provide more complete nutritional information if asked). In addition, I want to go over some concerns with some of the nutrients (for instance, how does calcium/iron interaction affect the iron uptake of my recipes).
Ingredients:
| Ingredient | Brand | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Vanilla Protein Powder | Naturade Total Soy | Walmart/Sam's Club |
| Country Fresh Milk Powder | Augason Farms | Walmart |
| Tomato Powder | Augason Farms | Walmart |
| Dehydrated Strawberries | Augason Farms | Walmart |
| Whole Grain Oat Flour | Bob's Red Mill | Local Grocery |
| Soy Lecithin | Bob's Red Mill | Local Grocery |
| Flaxseed Meal | Bob's Red Mill | Local Grocery |
| Olive Oil | Any | Local Grocery |
| Brown Sugar | Any | Local Grocery |
| Baking Cocoa Powder | Any | Local Grocery |
| Dried Basil | Any | Local Grocery |
| Turmeric | Any | Local Grocery |
| Cinnamon Powder | Any | Local Grocery |
| Iodized Salt | Any | Local Grocery |
| Salt Substitute | Morton | Local Grocery |
Note that buying in bulk will save significant amounts of money. Just buying the spices and salt in bulk reduced the costs of my recipes by close to a dollar a meal.
Also, many of the ingredients marked "Local Grocery" are available at Walmart and Sam's Club. I believe Walmart superstores typically carry Bob's Red Mill products, and I have seen them at Fred Meyer's as well. The salt substitute does not strictly have to be Morton's, but I would recommend comparing the nutritional information (especially potassium) to make sure whatever you use has enough. (Morton's has images of their labels on their web site.) Also, a "Low Sodium" salt is not a good substitute. You might be able to replace the salt and salt substitute with "Low Sodium" salt, but I suggest carefully comparing sodium and potassium values to make sure the balance is not upset by doing this.
Calories:
So far, all of my recipes are fairly low calorie. The highest calorie one is around 2,200 calories, while the current lowest is around 2,000 calories. If you need more calories, do not increase how much you make and drink. As mentioned, many of the nutrients are near their upper limits, and adding more could be harmful. Instead, there are some "empty calorie" food products you can add, which will increase the calories without increasing the nutrients.Olive oil contains only small amounts of vitamins K and E and potassium. As such, you can add a large amount without significantly affecting the nutrition. Fats add about 9 calories per gram.
The strikethrough text above is under review for replacement. While cornstarch is a more complex carb than sucrose (white sugar), it actually has a slightly worse glycemic index and almost the same glycemic load as sucrose. The result has been that around an hour after a "meal," my blood sugar has dropped to 82, which is considered very low for during the day (it is a normal fasting blood sugar). While the fiber content keeps my blood sugar fairly stable at 82, it is still too low for normal daily activity (in practice, I get a headache from it). Sources of lower glycemic index carbs include fruits and whole grains (I would avoid corn though). I increased the oat flour a bit for today, but any more will push the manganese over the upper limit. The high tomato recipe is probably also better, given that tomato is a fruit, and fruit sugars (fructose) have a low glycemic index. Another potential solution is to add more soy protein, but a soy protein without added vitamins (Bob's Red Mill soy protein will probably be my choice). To solve this problem, I am going to find glycemic indices for all of my ingredients, and try to balance that as well. Once I have a solution, I will remove the strikethrough text and replace it with the new information. I may also have to revise some of my recipes.
According to this: http://www.nrv.gov.au/disease/macronutrient.htm, protein should account for between 15% and 35% of your calories, fats should provide 20% to 35% of your calories, and carbs should provide 45% to 65% of your calories. My recipes fit within these guidelines, however, when adding calories, it is probably wise to make sure that the additions do not upset the balance.
Nutrition concerns:
This section includes some safety information, as well as answers to common questions about meal replacement drinks.I have mentioned this before, but in my recipes, some of the nutrients are near their upper limits. This means, it would be unwise to add a snack to your diet while using these recipes, unless you adjust the recipes to account for any nutrients the snack contains. That said, my recipes are (so far) pretty filling, so you should not need a snack while using them. The nutrients to be most careful of are manganese (I'll go into this more later), calcium, and iron. Balancing these while getting enough of other nutrients has been difficult, so these three nutrients are near their upper limits.
The first common concern I want to address is the affect of calcium on iron uptake. In the references section (at the end), I have provided links to my sources. Research has found that calcium can impede iron uptake. What this means is that when calcium and iron are eaten together, the calcium has some affect on the digestive tract that prevents it from absorbing as much iron. Many people have worried that regular use of meal replacement drinks will result in iron deficiency due to this effect. While this may be possible, the evidence only weakly supports it.
Studies have shown that high amounts of dietary calcium does reduce iron intake in humans. Some studies have found that this effect plateaus at about 300mg of calcium per day. In other words, at 300mg of calcium per day, adding more calcium will not increase the effect any further. Other studies found that people with diets that are already high in calcium are less affected by this. This implies that a tolerance can be gained to the calcium. Scientists are not worried that this effect will cause iron deficiency in the bulk of American population, however, recommendations have been issued that pregnant, breastfeeding, or menstruating women should try to consume their calcium in different meals from their iron.
In my recipes, iron is already close to the upper limit. The calcium is also very high. Given that the effect does not increase over 300mg of calcium per day, the high magnitude of calcium should make little difference. None of the studies cited showed more than a 75% reduction in iron intake (and most showed considerably less). Since the iron in my recipes is well over 32mg, and the recommended daily value is 8mg, a 75% reduction will still leave the total iron over the recommended daily value. In short, given the high amount of iron in my recipe, there is no concern that the high calcium will result in iron deficiency.
A second concern is the fact that the phytic acid in the oat flour can chelate the iron, zinc, calcium, and magnesium in the mixture, making it unavailable to the body. Since the zinc, calcium, and magnesium are at least close to twice the recommended intake, this is not a concern for them. This is also true of the iron, with one possible exception: The effect of the calcium and chelation from the phytic acid could potentially reduce iron absorption below the recommended intake. That said, evidently vitamin C reduces this effect on iron, and the 75% reduction from calcium is the highest observed reduction. In other studies, no more than 60% reduction was observed. In addition, since most Amercians get enough calcium already, it is likely that the tolerance effect that was observed will further reduce the affect of calcium on iron uptake. In conclusion, while it is possible that calcium and phytic acid could gang up on the iron enough to be a problem, it is extremely unlikely due to the high volume of iron in my recipes.
Now, I want to go over a few safety things again. My recipes may contain ingredients that people with certain allergies or health conditions should avoid. I am trying to have enough variety that anyone can find at least one recipe that they can use, however, I cannot promise that I will be successful. Those with food allergies are responsible for checking labels to make sure no allergens that will affect them are present. For health conditions, the biggest thing to be careful of is the potassium chloride salt substitute, which can be toxic to people with certain kidney issues. If you are not sure, consult your doctor before trying this. It would probably be a bad idea to take vitamin supplements while using these recipes as well, because of how close they are to the upper limits for some nutrients (and, really you should not need vitamin supplements, since all of my recipes cover all known essential nutrients). People with unusual dietary or nutritional needs should also consult a doctor before trying this. (This includes pregnant women, people older than 70 years old, and people with diabetes.) Also, don't use my recipes for children, unless they specifically state that they are for children (I do plan on making some, but I am still testing the adult versions).
I said I would mention manganese again. According to some sources, food sources of manganese do not count against the upper limit. In theory, this means that if the manganese goes over the upper limit, but is mostly from food sources, no symptoms of toxicity will occur. That said, I do not think it is worth the risk if it can be avoided.
Non-essential nutrients:
Rob's formula contains a number of non-essential nutrients that have some evidence that they are beneficial. These include lycopene, omega-3 oils, lutein, alpha-carotene, vanadium, creatine, CoQ10, and MSM (a sulfur supplement). I want to discuss how these play into my recipes.First, the creatine and CoQ10 are already produced in the body. Athletes sometimes use these as supplements because they help promote muscle growth, but the average person produces plenty without supplementation. To my knowledge, none of my ingredients provide these, but they do not need to for a vast majority of people (even athletes do not need these, they use them to augment natural muscle growth).
Next, many of my ingredients naturally provide some of these. For instance, the tomato powder contains lycopene and MSM. Most plants contain vanadium, especially the oat flour. The flaxseed meal contains a large amount of omega-3 oils. Lutein is found in most plants and especially in leafy green vegetables, which would include the basil in my recipes. Similarly, alpha-carotene is found in dark green vegetables, which would include basil. Many of the above nutrients are found in multiple sources in my ingredients. Since no recommended daily values have been established, there is no way to determine if sufficient amounts are provided, but since these are currently considered non-essential nutrients, the fact that they are provided at all is good.
In conclusion, all of the above non-essential nutrients that may be of value to the average person are well covered by the ingredients in my recipes. That said, I still do not recommend that these recipes be used as the sole nutritional intake for long periods of time. It is fairly likely that there are some essential trace nutrients that we are not yet aware of, which my recipes may be lacking. As such, eating "normal" foods regularly (at least 2 days a week) is still a good idea to avoid possible malnutrition.
Non-nutrient ingredients:
Unlike Rob, I do not plan on including ginseng or ginkgo. This is partially because they either have potentially harmful side effects or the benefits are not well proven. Also, I have no intention of adding stimulants. The improved nutrition of my recipes should be a good enough energy boost. That said, there are some non-nutrient ingredients I may include for nutritional reasons.One of the normal ingredients in my recipes is cinnamon. Besides providing some useful nutrients, it has been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects that can be beneficial to people with allergies or problems like asthma. It turns out that it has another, fairly strong, beneficial effect. Studies have shown that cinnamon has a strong effect on increasing insulin sensitivity. This is very useful for people with type 2 diabetes, as well as those with pre-diabetes (according to some doctors, this group includes most Americans). The best effects have been shown for 3 grams of cinnamon daily, so some of my future recipes will have this (my recently finished 5th recipe has 3 grams of cinnamon).
Another ingredient I will add to the list, but only as optional, is stevia. Actually, this will be one of the refined stevia powders like Truvia or Purevia. Real powdered stevia leaves have some nutrients that may cause problems with my recipes. Now, before discussing the benefits, I want to point out that some degree of toxicity has been found when consuming large amounts of stevia. As such, I would recommend against adding more than one packet (a single serving) to my recipes. Stevia will not be listed in the normal ingredient list of any recipe, because the refined powders have no nutritional value, so adding refined stevia will not push anything over its upper limit. Now, the reason someone might want to add stevia is the same as cinnamon. Stevia has been shown to increase cell response to insulin. Unlike artificial sweeteners, this effect is not due to taste (the sweet taste tends to trigger insulin production, even for artificial and low calorie sweeteners). Like cinnamon stevia increases insulin sensitivity, which will help keep a lower and more stable blood sugar level.
This insulin sensitivity thing is a big deal. What typically causes type 2 diabetes is chronically high blood sugar, which is common in Americans due their sugar rich diets (which is why many doctors argue that most Americans have pre-diabetes). Increasing insulin sensitivity will result in a lower average blood sugar level. This, in turn, will help prevent or treat type 2 diabetes. This can be an extremely good thing. Note, however, that if you already have blood sugar issues, you should consult your doctor before making any dramatic changes to your diet (including drinking soylent or adding cinnamon or stevia).
The turmeric was also added primarily for its strong anti-inflammatory effect (it has been theorized that the common use of turmeric is responsible for the low cancer rate in India).
Disclaimer:
So maybe I know a lot about this, because I have spent a lot of time researching over the last few weeks. By no means does this make me an expert. As I have said before, I am a computer scientist, not a nutritionist or food scientist. I make no claims regarding my recipes, and I take no responsibility for any harm they might cause. Your health is your own responsibility. Please use the information I provide responsibly and carefully.Nutritional information:
The documents in this file, except the Naturade one, were sent as attachments directly from the producers:https://sites.google.com/site/rybecarethdar/nutrition.zip
Not all of my ingredients have complete nutritional information from the manufacturer (especially spices and generic ingredients). For holes in data, most of my information came from nutritiondata.self.com. For the dehydrated strawberries, I had to estimate many values by scaling values for raw strawberries from nutritiondata.self.com. The molybdenum in the basil and oats was not available from nutritiondata.self.com either, so my information on that comes from wholefoodcatalog.info.
There is now a spreadsheet with the known nutritional information in the zip file. Note that I converted all measurements to weight, including IU units for vitamins A, D, and E. While I think the D and E are accurate, it is possible that the A is not (the conversions depend on the specific molecule, and vitamin A has many different molecular forms). I do not consider this an issue, since my recipes certainly have enough vitamin A, and there is no known upper limit. So regardless of accuracy, they have enough, but not a toxic amount.
Research:
Nutritional recommendations (these are the ones I used for my recipes):http://www.iom.edu/Activities/Nutrition/SummaryDRIs/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/Nutrition/DRIs/5_Summary%20Table%20Tables%201-4.pdf
These are the FDA guidelines:
http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/LabelingNutrition/ucm064928.htm
Recommended intake for macronutrients (from Australia):
http://www.nrv.gov.au/disease/macronutrient.htm
Iron calcium interaction:
http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FNRR%2FNRR13_02%2FS0954422400000706a.pdf&code=be4f8c5fd8629c03a22b52fd9ff5084a
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/68/1/96.full.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1600930
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/53/1/106.abstract
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/68/1/3.full.pdf
Insulin sensitivity enhancers (cinnamon and stevia):
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14633804
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23140911
Other:
For most of the other stuff, I used Wikipedia as an initial reference and then looked up more specific information based on what I learned there.
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