[permaculture] [Fwd: [SANET-MG] Jerusalem Artichokes, An Overlooked Market
Pat Meadows
pat at meadows.pair.com
Fri Apr 4 16:16:56 EDT 2008
On Fri, 4 Apr 2008 18:40:38 +0000, you wrote:
>
>
>Re: artichokes, I'm wondering whether or not they have been "overlooked" because they simply don't make a very good food source.
>
>I remember reading an article in the British Journal of Medicine talking about how inulin, the main chemical in Jerusalem artichokes, is not digestible by the human gut. This is presumably why Jerusalem artichokes are "great" for dieters, so the promotional emails go, but I doubt that many people realize that they are "great for dieters" in the same sense that eating sawdust or any other non-digestable organic substance is "great".
>
>Part of me is always hoping that Jerusalem artichokes really are a great food, and that somehow I've misunderstood something about the varieties that are out there or how it behaves in the human gut. I kind of doubt that a different variety of J.a. magically avoids this problem, since the problem has to do with the basic way the plant stores its energy, rather than some incidental feature that could be bred out of it. Nevertheless, if anyone who knows more about the plants or nutrition can weigh in here, I'd really appreciate it.
I *think* you are misunderstanding somewhat. I believe that Jerusalem
artichokes don't raise blood sugar very much, but I don't think they are
actually indigestible.
Nutritional info: http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c20dc.html
Pat
-- Northern Pennsylvania
http://www.entire-of-itself.blogspot.com/
'Every one of us can do something to protect and care for our planet.
We should live in such a way that makes a future possible.'
- Thich Nhat Hanh
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