Lula Restaurant and Distillery

Cleopatra Queen 2017

On the first night of parades this year - a very wet first night - we ended up in the newly opened Lula Distillery and Restaurant on Saint Charles. By asking our waiter, Byron, some questions about the distillation process, we got a private tour of the distillery guided by one of the owners, Jess Bourgeois. Jess's story can also be found on the Lula web site.

The space is very big - half an event space and half the restaurant and distillery. I wish I had taken photographs... the still is behind glass and is beautifully shiny. Jess probably spent 20 minutes or so with us and walked us through the entire distillation process. I learned on his web site that he attended several courses on distillation, including one at Cornell University. Cornell is big in the wine industry, too, so I recalled fondly a course I took way back when with Dr. Smart when he came out to the Paso Robles wine country in California. I think he was visiting with UC Davis, but I honestly don't recall; it was a long time ago. I liked a trellis system about which he educated us, Smart-Dyson ballerina.

Anyway, a nice respite from the rain at the restaurant. My cucumber collins was quite refreshing. I enjoyed my Creole Slaw salad and the cheeseburger was delicious. I had the boudin egg rolls, too, which I enjoyed, but did need to use the molasses fig sauce to cover up some of the gaminess of the boudin. (Was that liver in there? I know organ meats are rich in nutrients, but I still can only really enjoy foie gras.)

The spirits have not yet been entered into competitions. I think they are still working on the formulas/recipes. The make vodka, gin and rum.

I will happily go again.

Whole grains boost longevity

Photo and aricle taken from The Week Magazine - July 1, 2016 edition.

At least they are not advocating for white flour... and I suppose wild rice isn't mentioned because it is a seed, rather than a grain. I still find that I am happier without the grains in general... though I did just make some sourdough bread with kefir as the liquid and I ground my own wheat berries in my nutribullet. I also let the dough rise for over 24 hours. I am *hoping* the natural yeast and other microbes digested some of the grains so that it is easier for me to digest if I should indulge in a slice or two with grass fed butter.

Eating whole grains like oats, quinoa, and brown rice can help you live longer, new research suggests. A meta-analysis of 14 long-term studies involving nearly 800,000 men and women found the people who ate three or more servings of whole grains (48 grams) each day had a 20 percent lower risk of dying early than those who ate none, NBCNews .com reports. Having three servings of whole grains per day was also associated with a 25 percent lower risk of death from heart disease and a 14 percent lower risk of death from cancer than just one daily serving. “There are many biological pathways that would explain why whole grains are beneficial,” says study author Qi Sun of Harvard University’s School of Public Health. Unlike white or refined grains that have been milled and stripped of their nutrients, whole grains contain the entire grain kernel, which provides fiber, iron, and several B vitamins. Fiber improves cholesterol levels, helps insulin sensitivity, and promotes satiety—the feeling of being full after eating—which reduces the risk for obesity-related health issues and stroke.

ADHD drug misuse rising

I wish these kids/young people would choose a better diet than these drugs. There seems to be increasing amounts of research which suggests that what we eat is creating this issue for us... get some kimchi and be done with it, for goodness sake!

Image taken from here

The misuse of stimulants prescribed for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is skyrocketing, a new study reveals, as college students and young professionals turn to the drugs for a mental edge. Researchers from Johns Hopkins University found that from 2006 to 2011, nonmedical use of the common ADHD drug Adderall surged 67 percent among 18- to 25-year-olds. During that time, emergency room visits associated with abuse of the medication increased by 156 percent. Almost three-quarters of the people who used Adderall for a nonmedical reason didn’t have a prescription, suggesting they had taken drugs meant for someone else. The researchers warn that habit-forming ADHD drugs can have significant side effects, including anxiety, elevated blood pressure, and seizures. “Many college students think stimulants like Adderall are harmless study aids,” study author Ramin Mojtabai tells ScienceWorldReport.com. “But there can be serious health risks.”

Again taken from the March 4th edition of the Week Magazine.

Michael Pollan's 'Cooked' Netflix Series & BREAD

I did have other thoughts while listening to the television show, besides belly button beer.

Mr. Pollan talks about big, bad gluten and how we are all avoiding it. (I have recently learned by an elimination process that eating bread/flour will swell my fingers over night and make my knuckles sore in the morning; the soreness does go away as the day goes on. I can choose, now, if I want that feeling in the morning or not.)

What did excite me, though, was his thoughts that perhaps if we returned to real flour and a fermentation process, eschewing the commercially made quick-rise yeasts, we might be able to eat bread again. I did rather feel that I didn't particularly have a problem after enjoying the bread at the New Orleans restaurant Coquette, which is made with a starter/sponge and 'rests' overnight. They will kindly share their recipe for bread, if you ask. As I understand it, the recipe originated with the chef's mother.

While listening to Splendid Table I learned about a group of women who have opened up a flour mill in Asheville, NC called Carolina Ground. Their whole deal is to make healthy flour and to keep it closer to the community. Even in the television show they talk about a wheat economy and how wheat is being shipped all over the world, with real ripples in the system when invasions happen in the world's 'breadbaskets' (i.e. Ukraine). We, in America, are not as effected by that kind of thing, but cultures/countries which eat bread as a staple are hardest hit.



I may be back in the business of making and eating bread... my bread, from my home, from my yeast.

Making a starter, apparently the yeast is robust!

Now I am just thinking that I need to visit Carolina Ground as I travel between New Orleans and DC. Perhaps I can visit a newly discovered cousin when I take my night-time break 9 hours in to the trip.

Michael Pollan's "Cooked" Series and Belly Button Beer

I enjoyed the second 2 episodes of "Cooked" last night (as I started a new needle point. I mention that because I could stitch and listen, rather than watch.) I read, and loved, the book a couple of years ago. As my readers might imagine, I was particularly intrigued by the 'earth' section of the book, about fermentation. As perhaps my readers recall, I make my own kefir (both milk and water), pickles, yogurt, kombucha (I've tried both coffee and tea), and hard cidre. I even have a 1/2 bottle of concord grapes percolating, but I do not have high hopes for that.

I was going to share this following tidbit from the Week Magazine regardless, but combining these two pieces of information seemed worthwhile.

In the television show, Michael Pollan indicates that we do not know when humanity took the bubbling wheat porridge and cooked it to make bread. He does indicate that perhaps we started farming so that we might have alcohol... as we gathered and then located a source of sugar that we might turn in to alcohol. He does not mention, as one might conclude, that bread is the solid form of beer.... But that is neither here nor there for my observation.

I was intrigued by Michael Pollan's idea that a bowl of porridge was left on it's own by mistake and yeast and other microbial life forms found their way to that source of food. For here we have a delightful story of young people naturally recreating that fermentation 'Big Bang':

Australian brewers have created a tangy new beer using an unusual, locally sourced ingredient: yeast grown from their own belly-button fluff. Staff at Melbourne’s 7 Cent craft brewery began by swabbing their belly buttons and cultivating yeast colonies. One fragrant strain went into Belly Button Beer, a white beer with hints of “fresh orange zest and toasted coriander seeds,” the brewery said. Company founder Doug Bremner said drinkers shouldn’t be put off by the yeast’s origins. “Yeast is yeast,” he said. “This beer is no different from any other beer out there.

Though the Week Magazine put the above tidbit in their 'It Must Be True, I Read it in the Tabloids' section of their publication, the Smithsonian shared it here: Australians make beer out of belly button lint

It Must be True... I read it in the tabloids

I guess I found a lot in the February 12th edition of the Week, though I probably read the magazine much later...

WTF? Get this woman some Rakfisk (fermented fish) so that she can populate her microbiome with some beneficial bacteria!

A Norwegian woman believes she was “born into the wrong species” and is in fact a cat trapped in a human’s body. The 20-year-old, known as Nano, realized she was a feline four years ago, and has since taken to padding around her house on her hands and knees, while wearing a fake cat’s tail, ears, and a pair of pink fluffy paws with which to groom herself. She frequently meows, and claims she has a feline ability to see in the dark as well as a cat’s loathing of water and dogs. “My psychologist told me I can grow out of it,” Nano says, “but I doubt it.”

I mention the fermented foods only because it seems there are a lot of connections between gut health and mental health through the vagus nerve.

Missing Microbes - by Dr. Martin Blaser

Wow is all I can say. The premise is that we have wiped out all the good microbes along with the pathogens in both our bodies and our environment through antibiotics, mostly. Dr. Blaser is suggesting/hypothesizing that our recent chronic diseases are a result of our badly made choice to declare war on the microbes in our environment.

I like the idea that microbes are even more important than us... I mean, just think, we came from primordial ooze, why would we think they are somehow fewer or less important that we are? Apparently we have 10 times as many microbe cells on and in our bodies than we do human cells. I remember being struck by the fact that if we removed the fecal matter from our digestive tracks we would learn that the microbes in our GI tract weigh as much as our brains... suggesting, they are as important an organ to our survival as our brains... I liked that idea.

It was also suggested that perhaps it is the microbes in and on our bodies that 'made' us human... That combination of microbes allowed us to evolve in this manner.... I like that idea, too.

We have explored/discussed microbes and health in a few other places:
Here, for example about mood and digestion.
here, in the very first month of writing my blog about health, travel, genealogy and fiber art.
And here, where we discuss gluten, but ignore what Dr. Blaser has suggested about the fact that perhaps we are killing the microbes which can process the gluten in our systems.

All I know is that I am going to do my best now to eat more fermented vegetables/foods to reintroduce some beneficial microbes, not going to wash my hands as often (some people think that is so gross, but if I know I have been around someone who is fighting a cold/sick I will wash my hands), I will add some prebiotics to my diet,  What else???? Hmmm. I may be crazy, but I am a one person army to reintroduce healthy microbes in to my world and that of my family... whether they want them or not!

Gut Microbiome

I am so excited! I only learned about it this morning, and the course has already begun - a free on-line course on Coursera about the human gut microbiome. Of course the lead professor is from Australia (I assume from his accent) because that is where I originally heard about 'transpoosions'. On a Radiolab podcast interviewing folks in Australia who were doing leading edge research on the bacteria in our digestive tracks.

I spend a lot of time now experimenting with fermenting foods. I have some pickles going right now, plus some yogurt and some asparagus. I recently read that asparagus is particularly good as a pre-biotic, the food we eat which our gut microbiome wants as their food. Other prebiotics include foods such as Jerusalem artichokes and raw onions. (I have been adding raw onions to my salads much to the dismay of my house guests.)

I just found this list of prebiotic foods:

Dandelion greens.
Garlic and onions (and any vegetables in that family, e.g. leeks)
Asparagus.
Bananas.
Chicory (used in coffee substitutes)

We need to find a lawn with lots of dandelions now, don't we?

Here is a link to one of the Radiolab podcasts on the subject. Poop the Magic Gut Cure I am not sure this is the one I first heard, but I love Radiolab, so I am sure it'll be a great listen.

The course is based out of Colorado.



And here one can see the pickles, the asparagus, the kombucha and my attempt at hard cider....

Decreased social anxiety among young adults who eat fermented foods -- ScienceDaily

I am still learning how to share interesting information through my blog. Apparently just clicking on the Blogspot icon at the bottom of the article does not share the entire article, just a link. (see below)

Given the interesting subject matter, it occured to me I might want to follow one or two of the authors/researchers, but that didn't prove obvious to me either, but I did find a psychiatry journal website which gives an executive summary of the article:

Highlights

• •This study investigated the relationship between fermented foods and social anxiety.
• •Fermented food consumption, neuroticism, and exercise predicted social anxiety.
• •Fermented food consumption and neuroticism interacted to predict social anxiety.
• •Fermented foods should be further investigated as an intervention for social anxiety.

Abstract

Animal models and clinical trials in humans suggest that probiotics can have an anxiolytic effect. However, no studies have examined the relationship between probiotics and social anxiety. Here we employ a cross-sectional approach to determine whether consumption of fermented foods likely to contain probiotics interacts with neuroticism to predict social anxiety symptoms. A sample of young adults (N=710, 445 female) completed self-report measures of fermented food consumption, neuroticism, and social anxiety. An interaction model, controlling for demographics, general consumption of healthful foods, and exercise frequency, showed that exercise frequency, neuroticism, and fermented food consumption significantly and independently predicted social anxiety. Moreover, fermented food consumption also interacted with neuroticism in predicting social anxiety. Specifically, for those high in neuroticism, higher frequency of fermented food consumption was associated with fewer symptoms of social anxiety. Taken together with previous studies, the results suggest that fermented foods that contain probiotics may have a protective effect against social anxiety symptoms for those at higher genetic risk, as indexed by trait neuroticism. While additional research is necessary to determine the direction of causality, these results suggest that consumption of fermented foods that contain probiotics may serve as a low-risk intervention for reducing social anxiety.

So, there you have it.... A summary.

Of course the question becomes what fermented foods....? Beer? Wine? Kombucha? Cheese? Yogurt seems obvious, and sauerkraut... but how much sauerkraut can you eat? I think most pickles are 'pickled' with vinegar, which might be the only fermented ingredient... so, does that mean we need to make our own vinegar? So, I am a little uncertain about whether I am eating enough probiotic food to keep my anxiety levels to a manageable level or if I should eat more fermented food. (See, you can perceive my anxiety level in that statement alone!)

Decreased social anxiety among young adults who eat fermented foods -- ScienceDaily