Nutrition Biophysics : An Introduction for Students, Professionals and Career Changers

Foreword
Preface
Contents
1 Biological Foundations of Our Nutrition
Abstract
1.1 Why We Eat
1.2 Oil and Water: More Than Just Essential
1.3 Fatty Acids—A Look into Fat Molecules
1.3.1 Physics and Chemistry Determine Physiology
1.3.2 Plants Show the Way
1.3.3 It’s All About the Biological Function
1.3.4 Animal or Plant-Based?
1.4 Macronutrients—Function and Structure
1.4.1 Carbohydrates
1.4.2 Proteins
1.4.2.1 The Protein Lever
1.5 Micronutrients—Small Atoms and Molecules, Big Impact
1.5.1 Minerals and Trace Elements
1.5.2 Micronutrients: Vitamins
1.5.2.1 Fat-Soluble Vitamins
1.5.2.2 Water-Soluble Vitamins
1.6 Fat and Water—Solvents for Flavors and Taste
1.7 Taste as a Driving Force of Evolution
1.8 Alcohol Dehydrogenases—The Step Towards More Food in the Evolution of Early Humans
1.9 The Control of Fire—The Beginning of Better Nutrition for Modern Humans
1.10 Glutamate Taste—Fire and Protein Hydrolysis
1.11 What Is Really in Plants—The Fundamental Problem of Raw Food
1.12 Decay, Fermentation, and Digestion: Intestines and Microbiome
1.13 How Do We Digest Food? What Are Valuable Ingredients?
1.14 The Evolutionary Advantage of Animal Foods
1.15 The Advantage of Cooking for Nutrition and Bioavailability
1.16 Digestion is Life, is Physical Chemistry
1.16.1 The Advantages of Cooking are Measurable
1.16.2 Physicochemical in-vitro Intestinal Models
1.17 Apes Would Choose Cooked Food
1.18 What the Body Wants—and How It Tells Us
References
2 Recognizing Food, Learning to Eat: A Look into Evolution
Abstract
2.1 Hunters, Gatherers, Energy Gainers
2.1.1 Scavenging and Hunting—Nutrition before the Utilization of Fire
2.1.2 Effort and Yield of Hunting and Gathering—The Energy Balance
2.2 Animal Foods—High Energy Gain
2.3 Fat, Brain, Bone Marrow—Sources of Essential Omega-3 Fatty Acids
2.4 Fatty Acids: Function, Structure, and Physical Properties
2.5 The Omega-6/Omega-3 Ratio of Foods
2.6 Offal—Forgotten and Valuable Foods
2.6.1 From Early Hominids to Homo Sapiens
2.7 Sedentism—Fundamental Change in Food and Nutrition
2.7.1 Grains and Starch: Additional Food Sources
2.7.2 The Fundamental Dietary Change
2.7.3 Consequences of Sedentism—The Third Revolution in Evolution
2.8 Lactose Tolerance—Point Mutation in DNA: Lactose Tolerance as a Result of Selection Pressure
2.9 Fermenting and Fermentation—in the History of Food Culture
2.9.1 Fermentation of Vegetables
2.9.2 Asia—Advanced Culture of Fermentation
2.9.3 Fermented Beverages, Hot Drinks
2.9.4 Miso, Fish Sauce, Soy Sauce & Co—Brilliant Examples of (Complete) Fermentation and Flavor
2.9.5 Safety and Advantage of Fermented Products
2.9.6 Kokumi— Perpetual Umami Companion for Millennia
2.10 Germination as a Universal Cultural Technique for Food Enrichment
2.11 The Origin of Human Chemical Sensing
2.12 The Cultural Imprint of Universal Molecule Classes—Beloved Flavors
2.13 Culinary Triangle and Structuralism: The Universal Basis of Human Nutrition
2.13.1 The Molecular-Evolutionary Variant of the Culinary Triangle
2.13.2 Cooking Cultures in the Light of the Culinary Triangle
2.14 Conclusion
References
3 Consequences of Early Industrialization on the Molecular Composition of Food
Abstract
3.1 Neolithic—The Modernization of Food
3.1.1 Natural Fats, Industrial Fats, trans Fats
3.1.2 Cholesterol and Cell Membranes
3.1.3 Phytosterols
3.1.4 Cholesterol, LDL, and HDL—What Is Good, What Is Bad?
3.1.4.1 When Does LDL Become “Bad”?
3.1.5 Margarine, Fat Mixtures & Co
3.2 The Early Economic Models Using the Example of Agriculture
3.3 Industrial Animal Production and BSE (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy)
3.3.1 Contemporary Industrialized Agriculture
3.3.2 The Early Beginnings of Industrialization
3.3.3 Animal Food for Ruminants?
3.3.4 Prion Hypothesis—Physical Infections
3.3.5 The Well-Intentioned Attempt to Impose Omega-3 Fat on Sheep
3.3.6 Intensive Fattening, US-Beef—Other trans Fats
3.4 Staple Food Bread: Physics, Chemistry, Nutrition
3.4.1 Grains
3.4.2 What can be learned from the germination of grain
3.4.3 Wheat Bread and Aids—Industrial and Natural Methods?
3.4.4 Dough Properties, Dough Processing, and Gluten
3.4.5 Yeast and Sourdough—Dough Leavening, Fermentation
3.4.6 Heating of Gluten: Vulcanization of the Network
3.4.7 Starch and Water Management in Baked Bread
3.4.8 The Taste of Bread
3.4.9 The Early Regional Bread Culture
3.4.10 Nixtamalization—Ancient Grain Technology of Gluten-Free Cereals
3.4.11 A Look Into the Modern World of Additives Using Bread as an Example
3.4.11.1 Additives in Industrially Produced Breads
3.4.11.2 The Effect of Emulsifiers
3.4.11.3 L-Cysteine—Molecular Manipulations in the Gluten Network
3.4.11.4 Non-natural and Wheat-Alien Additives
3.5 Food Spoilage and Preservation Methods
3.5.1 The Desire for Preservation
3.5.2 Drying, Canning, and Sterilizing
3.5.3 Hurdle Concept and Barrier Theory
3.6 Misunderstood Preservation Methods
3.6.1 Example of Misunderstood Industrialization—Liquid Smoke
3.6.2 Example of a Misunderstood Water Binding with Polyols—Sorbitol
3.6.3 Example of a Misunderstood Preservation—Rosemary Extract
3.7 Consumer Precariousness
References
4 Molecules Determine Our Food
Abstract
4.1 Where We Come From
4.1.1 Genesis 1.0—In the Beginning was the Singularity
4.1.2 Genesis 2.0—Elementary Life is Based on Self-organized Interfaces and Molecular Copy & Paste
4.2 The Beginning of Ancestor Worship
4.2.1 From Ancestor Worship to Religion
4.2.2 Non-structuralist (Food) Cultures
4.3 Basic Food Meat: Physics, Chemistry, Taste
4.3.1 Proteins Everywhere
4.3.2 The Modern Western Individual and the Inclination Towards White Meat
4.3.3 Many Studies, Little Clear Insight
4.3.4 Of Heme Iron and Cancer
4.3.5 Once Guilty, Always Guilty
4.4 The Chinese Restaurant Syndrome and the Chemistry of Umami Taste
4.4.1 Mother’s Milk Sets the Example: Umami and Sweet
4.4.2 Comparison of Mother’s Milk, Dashi, and Chicken Broth
4.4.3 The Umami Taste as a Result of Purine Metabolism
4.4.4 The Synergy Effect between Glutamic Acid and Nucleotides
4.4.5 Consequences for the Philosophy of Taste
4.5 Glutamate and Nucleotides as Flavor Enhancers are the Cause of Global Cooking Cultures
4.5.1 How Taste Chemistry Determines Cooking Culture
4.5.2 From Hidden Glutamate in Yeast Extract
4.5.3 Artificial and Natural Glutamate?
4.6 Umami Never Comes Alone
4.6.1 The Chinese Restaurant Syndrome—Biogenic Amines and Secondary Products
4.7 Glutamic Acid and Its Function Beyond Taste
4.8 Physics of Sugar: Taste, Water Binding, Preservation
4.8.1 Sugar and Natural Sugar Alternatives
4.8.2 The Sweet Receptor
4.8.3 Metabolism and Sugar
4.8.4 Glycemic Index
4.8.5 Glucose versus Fructose
4.8.6 Honey, Rice, Maple, and Agave Syrup
4.8.7 Fruit Remains Valuable
4.8.8 Sugar is much more than just Sweet: OH loves H2O
4.8.9 The Appeal of Sucrose, and Why Stevia is not Always an Alternative
4.8.10 What is the Purpose of Additives in Jam?
4.8.11 Conclusion: Is Sugar Poison or Not?
4.9 Lipid Digestion: Colloid Physics During the Gastrointestinal Passage
4.9.1 Stomach and Small Intestine—Mainly Colloid Physics
4.9.2 The Path of Fat from the Mouth to the Intestine
4.9.3 Bile Acids, the Other Side of Cholesterol
4.9.4 Long-chain Fats (n > 12)
4.9.5 Medium-chain Fats (12 > n > 6)
4.9.6 Plant Fats, Nuts, and Oilseeds in the Digestive Tract
4.9.7 Oleosins—Very Special Proteins
4.10 Basic Food Milk: Physics, Chemistry, Nutrition
4.10.1 Raw Milk Proteins—Macro, Micro, Nano
4.10.2 Structure and Composition of Milk Fats
4.10.3 Milk—Raw and Pasteurized
4.10.4 Whey Protein—A Glutathione Supplier
4.10.5 Milk—Raw vs. Homogenized
4.10.6 Raw Versus Homogenized Milk in Digestion
4.10.7 Homogenized Milk and Atherosclerosis
4.10.8 a1- and a2-β-Casein
4.10.9 Micro-RNA in Milk
4.10.10 Cow’s Milk Exosomes as Information and Drug Transporters
4.10.10.1 Cow Milk Exosomes in the Digestive Tract
4.10.10.2 The Zurich Experiment—The Key Lies in Bile Acids
4.10.10.3 Endogenous and Exogenous miRNAs
4.10.11 Milk Makes the Difference
References
5 Physical Chemistry of Nutrition and Dietary Forms
Abstract
5.1 Healthy? Harmful? Where are the Dividing Lines
5.2 From Observational Studies and Popular Interpretations
5.3 The Inevitability of Acrylamide
5.3.1 Acrylamide—Brand New and Yet Ancient
5.3.2 Acrylamide and Non-Enzymatic Browning Reaction
5.3.3 Acrylamide—Amino Acids and Sugar
5.3.4 Acrylamide—Amino Acids and Fats
5.3.5 Glycidamide—Fatty Partner of Acrylamide
5.3.6 How relevant is glycidamide?
5.3.7 The Influence of pH Value, Water Activity, and Fermentation on Acrylamide Formation
5.3.8 Asparaginase—A New Enzymatic Tool for Acrylamide Reduction?
5.3.9 The Other, Good Side of the Maillard Reaction
5.4 Biological Value and Food Proteins
5.4.1 Biological Value
5.4.2 Liebig’s Minimum Theory
5.4.3 Classic Definitions of Biological Valency
5.4.4 Collagen Drinks—Collagen Against ellulite?
5.4.5 Biological Valency and Bioavailability are Different
5.5 Intolerances and Gluten-free Baked Goods
5.5.1 Gluten-Free
5.5.2 Wheat Germ Lectins
5.5.3 Amylase-Trypsin Inhibitors
5.5.4 Why is Wheat Intolerance Increasing?
5.5.5 Is Gluten-Free Healthy?
5.5.6 Gluten-Free—Often Nutrient-Poor
5.5.7 Super Grain Teff?
5.6 Carbohydrates: Structure and Digestion
5.6.1 Complex Carbohydrates
5.6.2 Whole Grain Flour during Intestinal Passage
5.6.3 Dietary Fiber
5.7 Nitrate and Nitrite
5.7.1 Nitrate, Nitrite, and Stoked Fear
5.7.2 Nitrate, Nitrite—A Search for Traces
5.7.3 Nitrosamines
5.8 Raw Food Diet: Physical-Chemical Consequences
5.8.1 Only Raw Food is Healthy? Stories of the Homo Non Sapiens
5.8.2 Structure and Mouthfeel—Macronutrients and Dietary Fiber
5.8.3 Micro-nutrients
5.8.4 Temperature and Nutrients
5.8.5 Interfaces Between Enzymes and Vitamins
5.8.6 Blanching, Enzyme Inactivation, and Vitamin C
5.8.7 Pseudo-Raw Enjoyment—A Matter of Food, Time, and Temperature
5.9 Paleo-Diet
5.9.1 Back to the Stone Age
5.9.2 The Paleo Hypothesis—Adaptation, Maladaptation
5.9.3 For or Against Paleo? What Does Science Say?
5.10 Vegan—Exclusive Exclusion and Missing Links
5.10.1 The Radical Food Elite
5.10.2 Health Benefits?
5.10.3 Vitamin D
5.10.4 Essential Fatty Acids: EPA and DHA
5.10.5 Supplementation Necessary
5.10.6 Fermentation and Germination as Systematic Methods in Plant-Based Nutrition
5.10.7 Example Nattō
5.10.8 Free From Animal—Vegan Substitute Products
5.10.9 Industrial Processes for Surrogate Products
5.10.10 Structuring of Proteins
5.10.11 Leghemoglobin as a Hemoglobin Substitute
5.10.12 The Modified Culinary Triangle of Modern Industrial Culture
5.11 Clean Meat—Cultured Meat from the Petri Dish
5.11.1 Meat without Animals
5.11.2 Technical Problems and Solutions
5.12 Insects
5.13 Mushroom Proteins—New Research Findings
5.14 Fast Food, Highly Processed Foods—Curse or Blessing?
5.15 Superfoods
5.16 Secondary Plant Compounds
5.16.1 Polyphenols
5.16.2 Carotenoids: Delocalized π-Electron Systems
5.16.3 Why Plants and Seeds Cannot Be Superfoods
5.17 The Value of Natural Science in Nutrition
5.18 What Does “Healthy” Actually Mean?
References
6 Pleasure and Nutrition
Abstract
6.1 Hygiene and Pleasure
6.2 A Dilemma of Food Production
6.3 Detoxifying Food and a Few Contradictions
6.4 Understanding of Research is Dwindling
6.4.1 Recognizing Connections
6.4.2 Why Mechanically Separated (or Deboned) Meat is Good in Essence
6.5 Tradition and Enjoyment: Meat and Sausage from Home Slaughtering
6.5.1 What We Know About Meat and Sausage
6.5.2 Warm Meat Processing: Fundamental Advantages on a Molecular Scale
6.5.3 Cold Meat Processing: Systematic Physical Deficits in Microstructure
6.6 Home Cooking is Worth Its Weight in Gold
6.6.1 Control It, Do It Yourself
6.6.2 Forgotten Vegetables, Secondary Vegetable Cuts, Root-to-Leaf
6.6.3 Pure Pleasure
6.6.4 Intramuscular Fat: Fancy Flavour Enhancer
6.7 Nose-to-Tail, Taken Seriously
6.8 Game (Venison), Organic Meat from the Forest
6.8.1 Meat Doesn’t Get More Natural Than This
6.8.2 Red and White Muscle Fibers
6.9 The Salt Issue
6.9.1 Salt in the Kitchen
6.9.2 Salt and Osmosis
6.9.3 Salt and Humans
6.9.4 Salt and Interactions at the Atomic and Molecular Level
6.9.5 Salt is Not Equal to Salt
6.9.6 Salt is Not a Poison
6.10 Lot Makes You Full, Complex Makes You Satisfied!
6.10.1 More is Not Always Better
6.10.2 Variety and Combinatorics – Complexity on the Plates
6.10.3 Excitement and Variety
6.11 Hunger—A Western Luxury
6.11.1 The Forgotten Hunger
6.11.2 Autophagy
6.12 What We Will Eat in the Future
6.12.1 We Eat What We Used to Eat
6.12.2 Insects, But Not Only
6.12.3 New Foods to Discover: Duckweeds
6.12.4 Spirulina: Hype or Opportunity?
6.13 Ikejime−Gentle, Sustainable, and Umami-Promoting Cultural Technique
6.13.1 Taste-Driven Cultural Technique
6.13.2 The Molecular Aspects of Ikejime Slaughtering
References
7 Conclusion—Or: What Remains?
Abstract
7.1 Reading and Better Understanding Critical Studies
7.2 It’s Not Just About the Amino Acid Balance
7.3 Bioactive Peptides: Small but Essential Features of Protein Origin
7.4 Should We Eat Everything?
References