Food Science QnA

[tansrb]

Hi guys. I'm currently studying a diploma in food science course and would like to expand my knowledge. I'd thus be starting off this thread for anyone and everyone to start asking food related questions, preferably towards the scientific areas for me to research and answer them. Feel free to clearify something you've wanted to know but couldn find the answer to it.

hope this thread works 

[victaru]

what are the benefits of going vegetarian? considering the fact that singapore vegetarians eat all those "fake" meats which are made of gluten, are those healthy?

[julius]

what are the benefits of going vegetarian? considering the fact that singapore vegetarians eat all those "fake" meats which are made of gluten, are those healthy?

And i found that most vegetarian food are oily. Not all but mostly.

And i would like to know too. 

[victaru]

what are the benefits of going vegetarian? considering the fact that singapore vegetarians eat all those "fake" meats which are made of gluten, are those healthy?

And i found that most vegetarian food are oily. Not all but mostly.

And i would like to know too. 

i agree.. they have a tendancy to fry or deep fry stuff...

i'd rather just eat vegetables....

but won't going pure vegan gives you a lack of nutrients that can only be found in meats?

[tansrb]

okay. lets look at what makes people choose to be vegetarians first.

we have a couple of options being:
1) Religious purposes. hardcore believers of various religions have turned to being vegetarians due to their faith in their various Gods. for example, monks of buddhism usually choose to go vegetarian. i've also known jews turning vegetarian.

2) Health purposes. Be it to encourage themselves to lose weight, or just to maintain a healthy body, these people choose vegetables mainly because meat has a higher fat content than greens. thus, be it for a certain time period, or throughout their whole life, these vegetarians choose to eat vegetables for their weight/"health".

3) Morality. I assume you have read news on people rioting against the killing of "innocent animals" for food? they fall in this category. Vegetarians who fall in here are usually either ovo- or lacto-vegetarians. however, stricter ones CAN be vegan. the terms would be explained later on. These people maintain that animals should have an equal right of living, hence shouldnt be killed for whatever purposes, be it food or game.

4) Background. Kids who grow up in a vegetarian family is likely to stay the same throughout their lives through habit.


For people originating from 3 and 4, usually they consume food that might be deep fried as they live by no rule about salads etc. however there might be others who find that strictly salads etc to be consumed, hence deep fried vegetarian food would be usually a treat for them
people of religious and health teachings would usually NOT eat from normal vegetarian stalls unless there's no choice. especially group 2, who in my knowledge wouldnt go near these fried stuff as they're once again, bad for health.
usually, vegetarian food stalls deep fry their food to cater to the general public if they feel like having these foodstuff.

Okay. what are the different vegetarians?

1) Ovo-vegetarians: they consume all vegetables and no meat, with the exception of eggs. there are no dairy products included in their diet.
2) Lacto-vegetarians: something like the opposite to ovo-, they consume no meat, with the exception of dairy products, but no eggs.
3) Lacto-ovo-vegetarians: anyone willing to consume dairy products and eggs, but strictly no meat.
4) Vegans: pure vegetarians. refuse to consume eggs nor dairy.

it's getting late. tmr i'll talk about the benefits and disadvantages of going vegetarian.
--UPDATE 27TH MAY---
alright I'm back! not exactly the "tmr" i expected but i was on a project last night.
ok back to the question.

What are the benefits of going vegetarian?

Depending on individuals, the fact that one is not consuming meat is already considered as a benefit to them. especially towards health paranoid and animal rights people. Another benefit to some would be that they would be consuming what is the lowest fat content one can have in a meal (of course, if their greens are not deep fried). Also, you realise that these years, all food related diseases are more or less focused on meat as the main cause (think Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy and the recent Bird and Swine flu). Eating greens thus "lower" their percentage of getting those.

Of course, eating less meat = less fat = MUCH less health problems related to the heart, and lesser risk of developing cancer, high blood pressure, and other diseases related to obesity. Meat also takes longer to digest in the stomach, and are the main cause for tiredness and lethargic feelings. however a vegetarian digests his/her food very fast, making her more "energitic" in a way.

Disadvantages of going vegetarian?

Lots. First and foremost, the lack of nutrients in meats make vegetarians disadvantaged. of course, the protein count in meat can be replaced by soy milk. however, if we compare directly 100g of soy beans with 100g of chicken meat, we can see that the soy has only 12.35 g of protein as opposed to the 30.57 g of protein the chicken has. That's twice as much protein we consume more than vegetarians in a normal meal, or twice as much soy they have to take than us eating a portion of chicken to get the same amount of protein the chicken has. Other than protein, we also look at calcium, vitamin B12, iron and zinc as potential defiency sources for vegetarians
I mentioned earlier that vegetarians would eat little fats. However, that might be a bad thing too, as fats and carbohydrates play a huge role in the development of the body's central nervous system
A vegetarian would also have to look for food stalls that specially cater to their needs. Even with Singapore's huge amount of food stalls, it's still a very hard task. Same goes for restaurants.



We have looked at the various topics of vegetarianism and i hope you learn more out of it. In conclusion, yes, there are some benefits to being a vegetarian, but due to the fact that no meat is consumed, one would thus consume less of some nutrients and much more of another, whcih is of course, something which we would not want in a healthy, balanced lifestyle.

hope you guys learnt from this. thanks for the question victaru.

[Lss]

calories in food stated on the back of boxes are what you obtain experimentally using a calorimeter right?

how would it apply to a real world scenerio? as different people and different food item would be digested and absorbed at different levels.


we have been told that people gain weight when you eat more calories than you are expend but we also know about conservation of mass a physics law. would the answer be no given the question can a human gain more weight than the total weight of food,water,air he/she takes in in a day? (sounds stupid does it  )

[tansrb]

calories in food stated on the back of boxes are what you obtain experimentally using a calorimeter right?

how would it apply to a real world scenerio? as different people and different food item would be digested and absorbed at different levels.


we have been told that people gain weight when you eat more calories than you are expend but we also know about conservation of mass a physics law. would the answer be no given the question can a human gain more weight than the total weight of food,water,air he/she takes in in a day? (sounds stupid does it  )

thanks again. will answer this tmr.

-space reserved-

[tansrb]

vegetarian question fully answered. open to comments and any further questions 

[Junliang]

vegetarian question fully answered. open to comments and any further questions 

Correct me if i am wrong, but i don't see any answers/comments for those "fake" vegetables..
like those fake cha siew, fake  etc.

[direcow]

vegetarian question fully answered. open to comments and any further questions 

Correct me if i am wrong, but i don't see any answers/comments for those "fake" vegetables..
like those fake cha siew, fake  etc.

From wiki:
"Gluten is a composite of the proteins gliadin and glutenin. These exist, conjoined with starch, in the endosperms of some grass-related grains, notably wheat, rye, and barley. Gliadin and glutenin compose about 80% of the protein contained in wheat seed."

It works similarly to using soy based proteins as a substitute for animal proteins.

(and I guess you mean "fake" meat, and not vegetables, using meat to replace veggies would be weird.)

so:

Lots. First and foremost, the lack of nutrients in meats make vegetarians disadvantaged. of course, the protein count in meat can be replaced by soy milk. however, if we compare directly 100g of soy beans with 100g of chicken meat, we can see that the soy has only 12.35 g of protein as opposed to the 30.57 g of protein the chicken has. That's twice as much protein we consume more than vegetarians in a normal meal, or twice as much soy they have to take than us eating a portion of chicken to get the same amount of protein the chicken has. Other than protein, we also look at calcium, vitamin B12, iron and zinc as potential defiency sources for vegetarians
I mentioned earlier that vegetarians would eat little fats. However, that might be a bad thing too, as fats and carbohydrates play a huge role in the development of the body's central nervous system
A vegetarian would also have to look for food stalls that specially cater to their needs. Even with Singapore's huge amount of food stalls, it's still a very hard task. Same goes for restaurants.

would be basically relevent.

one would like to know that taking too much soy proteins has been linked to increased estrogen levels - that can wreck all kind of havoc on male fertility.

Also, there are people allergic to gluten - best to avoid most of the fake meats.

[Junliang]

vegetarian question fully answered. open to comments and any further questions 

Correct me if i am wrong, but i don't see any answers/comments for those "fake" vegetables..
like those fake cha siew, fake  etc.

From wiki:
"Gluten is a composite of the proteins gliadin and glutenin. These exist, conjoined with starch, in the endosperms of some grass-related grains, notably wheat, rye, and barley. Gliadin and glutenin compose about 80% of the protein contained in wheat seed."

It works similarly to using soy based proteins as a substitute for animal proteins.

(and I guess you mean "fake" meat, and not vegetables, using meat to replace veggies would be weird.)

so:

Lots. First and foremost, the lack of nutrients in meats make vegetarians disadvantaged. of course, the protein count in meat can be replaced by soy milk. however, if we compare directly 100g of soy beans with 100g of chicken meat, we can see that the soy has only 12.35 g of protein as opposed to the 30.57 g of protein the chicken has. That's twice as much protein we consume more than vegetarians in a normal meal, or twice as much soy they have to take than us eating a portion of chicken to get the same amount of protein the chicken has. Other than protein, we also look at calcium, vitamin B12, iron and zinc as potential defiency sources for vegetarians
I mentioned earlier that vegetarians would eat little fats. However, that might be a bad thing too, as fats and carbohydrates play a huge role in the development of the body's central nervous system
A vegetarian would also have to look for food stalls that specially cater to their needs. Even with Singapore's huge amount of food stalls, it's still a very hard task. Same goes for restaurants.

would be basically relevent.

one would like to know that taking too much soy proteins has been linked to increased estrogen levels - that can wreck all kind of havoc on male fertility.

Also, there are people allergic to gluten - best to avoid most of the fake meats.

Oh..okay..
oops lol, yup, should be fake "meat" haha.

Thanks =)