On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 866
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Mostofthemstoretheirenergynotinstarch
but in oil, a more compact, concentrated
chemicalform(p.121).
Nutsaremuchlessimportantinthehuman
dietthangrainsorlegumesbecausenuttrees
don’tbegintobearuntilyearsafterthey’re
planted,andcan’tproduceasmuchperacreas
thequick-growinggrainsandlegumes.The
biggestexceptiontothisruleisthecoconut,a
staplefoodinmanytropicalcountries.
Anotheristhepeanut,whichisalegumewith
anuncharacteristicallyoily,tenderseed,and
whichcanbegrownquicklyinmassive
numbers.
SeedsandHealth
Ourseedfoodsprovideuswithmany
nutritionalbenefits.Tobeginwith,they’reour
mostimportantstaplesourcesofenergyand
protein,andcarrytheBvitaminsthatare
requiredforthechemicalworkofgenerating
energyandbuildingtissue.Infact,they’re
suchagoodsourceoftheseessentialnutrients
thatcultureshaveoccasionallyreliedonthe
grainstooheavily,andsufferedfromdietary
deficienciesasaresult.Thedebilitating
diseasecalledberiberiplaguedrice-eating
Asiainthe19thcenturywhenmilling
machinesmadeiteasiertoremovethe
inconvenient,unattractiveouterbranlayer
fromricegrains—andalongwithittheir
thiamin,whichtherestofthelargely
vegetariandietcouldn’tmakeup(meatsand
fisharerichinthiamin).Adifferent
deficiencydiseasecalledpellagrastruckthe
ruralpoorinEuropeandthesouthernUnited
Statesinthe18thand19thcenturies,when
theyadoptedcornfromCentralandSouth
Americaasastaplefood,butwithoutthe
processingmethod(cookinginalkalinewater)
thatmakesitsstoresofniacinavailabletothe
humanbody.
Beriberiandpellagraledearlyinthe20th
