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Thread: 10 Health Benefits of Gelatin

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    10 Health Benefits of Gelatin

    Jello isn’t the only gelatin on the market, but it’s definitely the most popular. It not only tastes good to many people, but gelatin also has some health benefits. Don’t believe? Read on.


    1. Muscle growth: According to the Gelatin Manufacturers Institute of America, gelatin contains lysine, an amino acid that is important for muscle growth. It would seem, then, that eating gelatin would help growing muscles, especially for athletes and those who want a more muscular build.

    2. Metabolism: Gelatin contains another amino acid, arginine, which is supposed to help the body’s metabolism. A stronger metabolism means more calories are getting burned, so it’s not impossible eating some gelatin could help you lose weight. However, a word of warning: One study has found that an arginine supplement could be deadly to those who have suffered a heart attack; so if you’ve had a heart attack, foods containing arginine are probably not right for you. Check with your doctor or cardiologist.

    3. Losing weight: Gelatin does not contain fat and usually has no sugar or cholesterol in it. Which means gelatin is a pretty good food for those of us watching our waistlines. Jell-O even makes sugar free and low calories desserts, if you are interested.

    4. Joint conditions: Suffering from stiff or sore joints? Gelatin might be able to help, especially before the condition worsens. Gelatin contains lots of amino acids important in helping to prevent the weakness and degeneration of cartilage in joints. Gelatin likely won’t help to heal a joint condition, but it possibly could prevent the situation from growing worse.

    5. Finger nails: Remember all those amino acids in gelatin? They also help to strengthen finger nails and over a period of time can help to heal up cracked or roughened finger nails. Also, gelatin has a lot of protein, which is good for nails. If you suffer from weak nails, especially ones that break easily, you might want to try some gelatin in your diet.

    6. Hair: Gelatin is also known to help hair grow stronger, faster and longer. Gelatin also helps to keep hair healthy and shiny. What is it about gelatin that promotes all this great hair? It’s the high amounts of protein. Just in case you need to know for dietic or religious purposes, most gelatins sold in stores are made from animal; however, gelatins can be made from some plants, most notably seaweed, so check those ingredient labels on the boxes of gelatin you might consider purchasing.

    7. Protein boost: Gelatin itself has a lot of protein, but unfortunately nearly all that protein is protein the body can already make for itself. Thus a diet in gelatin alone is not healthy. That being said, studies have shown that the protein in gelatin does help give a boost to proteins in other foods. In other words, just as an example, if you eat a steak full of protein then add a little gelatin to your meal, the protein in the gelatin helps the protein in the steak to be more nutritional for your body. So, if you need protein, you know what to do. Add a little gelatin to your diet.

    8. Drink purifier: According to the Gelatin Manufacturers Association of Asia Pacific, gelatins are often used in the making of alcoholic beverages, such as wine and beer, and even in some juices and ciders. The reason for this is that gelatin acts to congeal impurities, allowing for easier separation of the impurities from the drink itself. If you happen to be a home brewer or juicer, I suggest contacting the folks at Knox gelatin for any recipe advice.

    9. Skin health: Gelatins are used in plenty of cosmetics. Why? For two reasons. First, the gelatin acts as a thickening agent, thus helping makeup and other cosmetics to remain to the skin longer and more easily. Second, we’re back to the proteins again. All that protein in gelatins is good for keeping up a good looking skin tone.

    10. Digestion: Gelatin can also help with digestion, especially with foods that can be rough on the digestive system, such as meats and dairy and nuts and even some beans. The gelatin helps these foods to ease through the stomach and intestines.


    Read more: http://healthmad.com/nutrition/10-he...#ixzz1EuqF0dUI



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    Re: 10 Health Benefits of Gelatin

    I used to love Jello, can I get healthy kind with no corn syrup or food colorings?
    Thanks for posting this!
    O tempora, O mores!<br />&quot;Only the small secrets need to be protected. The big ones are kept secret by public incredulity&quot; <br />Marshall McLuhan

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    Re: 10 Health Benefits of Gelatin

    Wow I knew Dots were awesome!
    -Hillbilly 8)

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    Re: 10 Health Benefits of Gelatin

    The gelatin used in treating alcoholic beverages shouldn't make it into the end product. Also, "impurities" is a strong word, here. It serves to clarify the beverage via ionic charge attaching to and dropping out suspended particles such as yeast and proteins that would otherwise cloud the beverage especially upon chilling. It does remove some impurities such as yeast wastes (eg. phenols and esters) that are deleterious to the beverage style but the yeast does a better job of that on its own if left to condition.

    Here's some science to explain the mechanism.

    The rest of the article is fairly shoddy as well.

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    Re: 10 Health Benefits of Gelatin

    According to the Gelatin Manufacturers Institute of America
    Yeah...

    According to the Corn Refiners Association, high fructose corn syrup rocks!

    http://www.sweetsurprise.com/

    Ask the makers (or others highly vested in production and sales) of anything, and they will all tell you how great their stuff is, while conveniently leaving out the bad news.

    By way of decoction, thou shalt do wort.

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    Re: 10 Health Benefits of Gelatin

    Believe it or not, gelatin actually was studied extensively (back in the day). Dr. Francis Pottenger (who's known for his studies on cats and nutrition) recommended taking it three times a day, with each meal.

    Here's an article that cites some of the old studies, and goes into the health benefits as well:

    Broth is Beautiful
    http://www.westonaprice.org/food-fea...beautiful.html

    "When broth is cooled, it congeals due to the presence of gelatin. The use of gelatin as a therapeutic agent goes back to the ancient Chinese. Gelatin was probably the first functional food, dating from the invention of the "digestor" by the Frenchman Papin in 1682. Papin's digestor consisted of an apparatus for cooking bones or meat with steam to extract the gelatin. Just as vitamins occupy the center of the stage in nutritional investigations today, so two hundred years ago gelatin held a position in the forefront of food research. Gelatin was universally acclaimed as a most nutritious foodstuff particularly by the French, who were seeking ways to feed their armies and vast numbers of homeless in Paris and other cities. Although gelatin is not a complete protein, containing only the amino acids arginine and glycine in large amounts, it acts as a protein sparer, helping the poor stretch a few morsels of meat into a complete meal. During the siege of Paris, when vegetables and meat were scarce, a doctor named Guerard put his patients on gelatin bouillon with some added fat and they survived in good health.

    The French were the leaders in gelatin research, which continued up to the 1950s. Gelatin was found to be useful in the treatment of a long list of diseases including peptic ulcers, tuberculosis, diabetes, muscle diseases, infectious diseases, jaundice and cancer. Babies had fewer digestive problems when gelatin was added to their milk. The American researcher Francis Pottenger pointed out that as gelatin is a hydrophilic colloid, which means that it attracts and holds liquids, it facilitates digestion by attracting digestive juices to food in the gut. Even the epicures recognized that broth-based soup did more than please the taste buds. "Soup is a healthy, light, nourishing food" said Brillant-Savarin, "good for all of humanity; it pleases the stomach, stimulates the appetite and prepares the digestion."

    It's best to consume the gelatin in broth, but sometimes I like to sprinkle this gelatin in meat dishes or soups:


    You should be able to get it at the health food store, especially if they already carry Bernard Jensen's products.
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    Re: 10 Health Benefits of Gelatin

    Why Broth is Beautiful: Essential Roles for Proline, Glycine and Gelatin
    http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/513-why-broth-is-beautiful.html

    Several years ago Knox Gelatin introduced a new product named Nutrajoint with great fanfare. This supplement contains gelatin, vitamin C and calcium, and advertisements touted "recent scientific studies" proving that gelatin can contribute to the building of strong cartilage and bones.

    In fact, the evidence goes back more than a century, and not only established gelatin’s value to cartilage and bones but also to the skin, digestive tract, immune system, heart and muscles.

    These early studies, however, have fallen off the radar screen of Knox as well as that of nearly everyone else. So it was not surprising in 1997 when the editors of the Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter advised consumers not to buy Nutrajoint or similar supplements because the idea that gelatin can contribute to the building of strong cartilage and bones "is a theory that has yet to be investigated." As for the theory itself, they sniffed that it "sounds tidy--rather along the lines of ‘you are what you eat.’" In conclusion, they stated that even if Nutrajoint worked as claimed, it would be totally unnecessary because "the body can manufacture its own proline and glycine as needed and therefore suffers no shortfall.

    The notion that the body can create proline and glycine is, of course, the reason that neither amino is considered "essential." The ability to manufacture them easily and abundantly as needed, however, is probably true only of people enjoying radiant good health.Common sense suggests that the millions of Americans suffering from stiff joints, skin diseases and other collagen, connective tissue and cartilage disorders might be suffering serious shortfalls of proline, glycine and other needed nutrients

    To understand why these nutrients might be so critical to joint health, I consulted several textbooks and learned that hyaline cartilage, the most common type in the human body, derives its strength from a dense, criss-crossing, ropey network of collagenous fibers, and its resilience from the gel-like matrix into which these fibers are embedded.

    According to a textbook on bone disorders,2 proline and glycine play starring roles in the collagenous fibers built from gigantic proteins containing some 1,000 amino acids each. Glycine contributes one-third of the total aminos.

    Glycine is a tiny amino with a talent for structuring very tightly packed chains. The other aminos that figure prominently are proline and hydroxyproline, an uncommon team with a passion for twisting themselves into tightly wound, left-handed helixes, then switching directions and twisting to the right into a superhelix. These little twisters form tight, tough, rodlike macro molecules, which in turn form thicker rods called fibrils. No wonder cartilage can have such impressive tensile strength.

    The remarkable resilience of cartilage comes from its gelatinous matrix. Far from being a jiggling blob of all-natural Jello, this matrix is highly structured with complex proteins and sugars. Best known are the proteoglycans that wind over, under and around the collagenous fiber network. As the name suggests, these giant molecules are comprised of proteins and sugars. Their primary job is to get and hold water, and they were designed to be very, very thirsty. Accordingly, their elaborate structure includes a central strand of hyaluronic acid on which hang as many as 100 of the biggest proteins found in the body. These in turn, divide into chain gangs known as chondroitin sulfates and keratin sulfates. In electrical terms, these chains carry negative charges and so repel each other. By keeping their distance from each other, they create space for the very water they attract.

    Living amidst the proteoglycans are the cartilage cells--chondrocytes--whose jobs are to regulate cartilage metabolism, manufacture the giant proteoglycan molecules and collagenous fibers and build new cartilage as necessary. To do so, the chondrocytes need the right nutrients delivered in the right proportions by the water and synovial fluid that feeds cartilage. Not surprisingly, those nutrient needs include lots of the very aminos that collagen and cartilage are made of: proline and glycine. Although the textbooks don’t come right out and say so--and the Tufts editors scorn the very concept--common sense suggests that--cartilage wise, at least--we might very well be "what we eat."

    In fact there is solid scientific backing for this common sense observation. Research on proline and glycine is far from a growth industry, but a few good studies exist and serve to clarify the essential nature of these supposedly "inessential" aminos. Most of the researchers believe that both proline and glycine should at the very least be considered "conditionally essential" (along with arginine, cysteine, glutamine, serine, taurine and tyrosine)3, which means that under most conditions, the body cannot make enough of these compounds and must get them from food.

    Even more interestingly, this modern research suggests that many of the long-forgotten 19th and early 20th century studies should be looked at anew.

    [...]


    Gelatin: The Traditional Way to Ensure Adequate Proline and Glycine in the Diet

    For many people the simple act of steering clear of low-protein diets and including sufficient protein might do the trick. Protein eaters who still come up short might choose to self medicate by taking proline and glycine supplements, but would be advised to order a custom-blended amino acid formula based on results of an amino acid assay test.

    A better solution would be to improve their collagen status by adding gelatin to their diets in the form of gelatin-rich broth used in soups, stews and sauces. This traditional food, which has nearly disappeared from the American table, fits the "you are what you eat" prescription to a T. Manufactured gelatin is also a useful item in that it is nothing less than heat-denatured collagen. However, because manufactured gelatin contains small amounts of MSG, it should be avoided by those who are sensitive to it.

    Gelatin is especially rich in proline and hydroxyproline. According to a food industry website, it contains 15.5 and 13.3 grams per 100 grams of pure protein respectively. It also contains 27.2 grams of glycine per 100 grams pure protein. Lysine and hydroxoylysine needed for collagen synthesis are present in the smaller amounts of 4.4 and 0.8 grams per 100 grams pure protein. Others sources provide somewhat different figures (depending on the ingredients used in gelatin manufacture and the quality of their sources), but they all consistently show high levels of proline, hydroxyproline and glycine.

    Gelatin, then, is rich in the proline and glycine components that people need, but weak in methionine, histidine and tyrosine and utterly lacking in tryptophan. Accordingly, textbook writers from the 19th century on have rated gelatin a "poor quality protein." But in spite of its seeming limitations, gelatin was valued for its medicinal benefits for thousands of years and was long considered a panacea for everything from skin and joint disorders to digestive distress to heart ailments.

    Gelatin first began to fall out of favor in the 19th century when scientists demonstrated that a diet of bread and gelatin alone could not support life.30 The obvious conclusion--that gelatin is not a replacement for meat or other dietary protein--hardly means that it has no place at all in our diets. On the contrary, a substantial body of evidence exists suggesting that gelatin should have a very big place.

    Unfortunately, most of these early studies are hard to locate, having been published in 19th century and early 20th century journals that are not found in most medical libraries. The two most valuable sources are a fascinating 1937 article by Francis Pottenger, MD, on the value of gelatin in digestion, and a copy of an obscure but very valuable 1945 book Gelatin in Nutrition and Medicine by N.R. Gotthoffer, Director of Research for Grayslake Gelatin Company, Grayslake, Illinois. In his foreword to this 162-page book, Gotthoffer states that he spent 18 years between 1927 and 1945 studying the scientific literature on gelatin.

    Dr. Gotthoffer published his findings several years after Dr. Pottenger announced his theories and research on the value of gelatin in health and digestion with great fanfare in 1937, at the Annual Meeting of the American Therapeutic Society in Atlantic City. "Gelatin may be used in conjunction with almost any diet that the clinician feels is indicated," said Pottenger. "Its colloidal properties aid the digestion of any foods which cause the patient to suffer from ‘sour stomach.’ Even foods to which individuals may be definitely sensitive, as proven by the leucopenic index and elimination diets, frequently may be tolerated with slight discomfort or none at all if gelatin is made part of the diet."31

    By then, Dr. Gotthoffer had already turned up many earlier studies supporting gelatin’s role in digestion. Early in this century researchers showed that gelatin increases the utilization of the protein in wheat, oats, and barley, though not of corn; that the digestibility of beans is vastly improved with the addition of gelatin; and that gelatin helps the digestion of meat protein.32 The last appears to confirm the subjective reports of many people who say that meats found in soups and pot roasts--cooked with bones for a long time in a liquid to which a touch of vinegar has been added--are easier to digest than quickly cooked steaks and chops, and why gelatin-rich gravies are at the heart of many culinary traditions.

    Confirming recent studies showing that glycine helps infants grow properly, Gotthoffer reports the existence of more than 30 years of research studies showing that gelatin can improve the digestion of milk and milk products.

    Accordingly, nutrition textbook writers of the 1920s and 1930s recommended that gelatin be included in infant formulas to help bring cow’s milk closer to human milk. Gotthoffer’s explanation was that the "curd obtained from the coagulation of woman’s milk was softer and more easily digested than that of cow’s milk. However, when gelatin was added to cow’s milk, a curd of equally desirable characteristics was formed. In addition, gelatin exerted a very important influence on the milk fat. It served not only to emulsify the fat but also, by stabilizing the casein, improved the digestibility and absorption of the fat, which otherwise would be carried down with casein in a lumpy mass." As a result, infants fed gelatin-enriched formulas showed reduced allergic symptoms, vomiting, colic, diarrhea, constipation and respiratory ailments than those on straight cow’s milk.33

    Likewise Gotthoffer found studies showing that convalesing adults who have lost weight because of operations, dysentery, cancer and other illnesses fare better if gelatin is added to their diet. "It is said to be retained by the most sensitive stomach and will nourish when almost nothing else will be tolerated," wrote L. E. Hogan in 1909.34 One reason gelatin was recommended so highly for malnourished individuals was that it diminishes the amount of complete protein needed by the body.
    Doom is always 6 or 8 months away.
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    Re: 10 Health Benefits of Gelatin

    [continued]

    The "sparing" effects of gelatin on protein were of particular interest to many early researchers. By "sparing protein," they meant that the body is less likely to cannabilize the protein stored in its own muscles, a common occurrence during fasting or during rapid weight loss from illness. Gelatin thus helps keep the body in what today’s nutritionists call "nitrogen balance." As Carl Voit, a researcher who spent ten years studying gelatin, wrote in 1872, "By being itself decomposed, it prevented the breakdown of protein in the body and thus exerted its remarkable sparing powers." He found that gelatin alone, however, was not able to build up protein supplies in the body.35

    Gelatin and Digestion

    Voit also found that gelatin improved digestion because of its ability to normalize cases of both hydrochloric acid deficiencies and excesses, and was said to belong in the class of "peptogenic" substances that favor the flow of gastric juices, thus promoting digestion.36

    Gelatin’s traditional reputation as a health restorer has hinged primarily on its ability to soothe the GI tract. "Gelatin lines the mucous membrane of the intestinal tract and guards against further injurious action on the part of the ingesta," wrote Erich Cohn of the Medical Polyclinic of the University of Bonn back in 1905. Cohn recommended gelatin to people with "intestinal catarrh"--an inflammation of the mucus membrane now called irritable bowel syndrome. Interestingly, the type of gelatin used in follow-up experiments done on people with even more serious intestinal diseases was specified as a "concentrated calves foot broth."37 This form of gelatin would have been rich in cartilage and bone and presumably provide a better amino acid profile than straight collagen.

    Today clinical nutritionists see more and more cases of dysbiosis--imbalances of "good" and "bad" bacteria in the intestinal tract. In that the fermentative disturbances that result are linked to allergies to grains and/or excessive carbohydrate consumption, it is fascinating to find that a researcher named C.A. Herter spoke directly to that point back in 1908:

    "The use of gelatin as a foodstuff in bacterial infections of the intestinal tract has never received the attention it deserves. The physician is not infrequently confronted with a dietetic problem which consists in endeavoring to maintain nutrition under conditions where no combination of the ordinary proteins with fats and carbohydrates suffices to maintain a fair state of nutrition. The difficulty which most frequently arises is that every attempt to use carbohydrate food is followed by fermentative disturbances of an acute or subacute nature which delay recovery or even favor an existing infection to the point of threatening life. A great desideratum, therefore, is a food which, while readily undergoing absorption, shall furnish a supply of caloric energy and which at the same time shall be exempt from ordinary fermentative decomposition. Such a food exists in gelatin."38

    Years later Schwick and Heide found that excess hydroxyproline-containing proteins in serum and urine provides a reliable marker of pathological conditions. They posited that the breakdown of collagen most probably results from an antigenic reaction. "Not so long ago the opinion prevailed that gelatin was not antigenic or immunogenic. However, with the introduction of sensitive immunological methods -- particularly the haemagglutination techniques --antibodies against gelatin could be demonstrated. It was surprising to find antibodies against gelatin in human and animal serum of individuals who had never been injected with gelatin or collagen." Schwick and Heide added that this occurs frequently in cases of rheumatoid arthritis and other degenerative joint diseases. 39

    Though they offered no explanation for this pathological occurrence, many clinical nutritionists report that rheumatoid arthritis and degenerative joint diseases reverse when priority is given to the healing of the GI tract and of "leaky gut" syndrome (in which incompletely broken down proteins cross the mucosal barrier and enter the bloodstream and tissues only to be attacked by the immune system). Because healing protocols generally involve the avoidance of antigenic foods, Schwick and Heide’s findings might lead some readers to put gelatin on their already long list of foods to avoid.

    However, gelatin is precisely what the turn-of -the-century doctors ordered, not only to heal digestive disorders and the intestinal mucosa but all allergies. Gelatin was even sometimes injected as a plasma or blood substitute.40 More recently, John F. Prudden, MD, DSci discovered that therapeutic doses of cartilage (which always contains copious amounts of proline and glycine) dramatically improved rheumatoid arthritis as well as other degenerative joint conditions and inflammatory bowel diseases.41

    Additional evidence comes to us recently from a team of Russian researchers. In an article in Pathophysiology, they reported that gelatin will protect gastric mucosal integrity, at least in lab rats subjected to ethanol-induced mucosal damages.42

    Doctors of the past also once knew the value of gelatin in treating celiac disease. In 1924, a researcher named Haas stated that the response of patients to a low-carbohydrate diet in which gelatin "milks" were given at the noon and evening meals was "striking and almost uniformly good results were obtained over a period of about ten years."43

    Today many people have solved their digestive problems by following the food combining rules popularized in the bestseller Fit for Life by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond (Warner, 1985), which was inspired by the work of natural hygiene pioneer Herbert Shelton. Particularly pertinent here is the rule that warns us never to eat protein foods with starches. The reason is that they are supposedly digested on different timetables in the gut, upping the likelihood of indigestion.

    Dr. Pottenger, however, found that if gelatin is included as part of the meal, digestive action is distributed throughout the mass of food and digestion of all components proceeds smoothly.44

    A more recent theory that has helped many people’s digestion is laid out in the book Eat Right 4 Your Type by Peter J. D’Adamo (Putnam, 1996). Yet the very grains that Dr. D’Adamo has found to be a problem for people with Type O bloods are easily digested if soaked, then cooked in a gelatin-rich broth. Type A people--who typically lack the abundant secretions of hydrochloric acid (HCl) necessary for easy digestion of meats--find meats far easier to digest if they are served with a gelatin-based gravy, cooked in a gelatin broth or served after drinking a cup of properly made soup and, as we have seen, gelatin may even increase their production of HCl. Finally gelatin can alleviate the allergic reactions and sensitivities that Dr. D’Adamo has related to blood Types B and AB. Thus gelatin not only opens up the dietary possibilities for each blood type but can prove a boon for married couples of different blood types who would obviously prefer to eat the same meals.45

    Fifty years ago Pottenger pointed out a reason that raw food diets can be so effective in reversing disease and contributing to rejuvenation. "Man’s food in the raw state consists largely of hydrophilic (water loving) colloids. The heat of cooking on the other hand . . . precipitates the colloids of our diet. This change in colloidal state alters the hydration capacity of our foods so as to interfere with their ability to absorb digestive juices." Happily for those who prefer their food cooked, Dr. Pottenger went on to explain that this digestive problem could be easily remedied by adding one-half ounce to one ounce of gelatin to a cooked meal of meat, potatoes, vegetables and fruits. 46
    Edgar Cayce--the "Sleeping Prophet" whose extraordinary psychic readings have often anticipated modern medical science by decades--also had good things to say about gelatin and digestion. In his readings he recommended that gelatin be consumed to help the assimilation of vitamins, help the glands function better and to optimize energy and health. Particularly relevant was Cayce’s counsel that raw vegetables and salads be eaten with gelatin.47

    Gelatin and the Liver

    Early research has also indicated that gelatin helps the liver. This is plausible in that the liver uses the amino acid glycine for detoxification, and its ability to detoxify is limited by the amount of glycine available. Back in 1935, Reuben Ottenberg, MD wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association: "It has been suggested that the administration of extra amounts of proteins containing an abundance of glycine (such as gelatin) will help the work in the liver. This seems particularly plausible since the recent work of Quick, who has shown that the ability of the liver to perform this protective synthesis is limited by the amount of glycine available."

    Ottenberg concluded with the recommendation that patients with jaundice and other liver problems take 5 to l0 grams of gelatin per day either in the form of food or as a powdered medicinal supplement.48

    Gelatin and Bone Health

    Interestingly enough, Gotthoffer didn’t find a lot of studies supporting the role of gelatin in joint and bone health, though a 1907 Italian study established that gelatin injections increased the calcium in the circulating blood, which in turn was shown to stimulate bone building.49

    Recent studies, however, do support such use. A Japanese study reported on protein undernutrition, lowered bone mass and osteoporotic fracture. Mice were fed for ten weeks with a low-protein diet containing either 10 percent casein or a combination of 6 percent casein and 4 percent gelatin. The bone mineral content and bone mineral density of the femur were significantly higher in the group given 6 percent casein plus 4 percent gelatin. The researchers concluded, "these results suggest that gelatin has differential effects on bone mineral density and body weight in protein undernutrition."50

    A 1999 German study also proved the truth of the saying "Man ist was man isst." Their study was inspired by reports of the positive influence of gelatin on degenerative diseases of the musculo-skeletal system and curiosity about the "therapeutic mechanism and the absorption dynamics." Mice fed radioactive gelatin hydrolysate were compared to control mice administered radioactive proline. They found that 95 percent of the gelatin was absorbed within the first 12 hours, and the labeled gelatin found in the tissues was similar to that of labeled proline with one exception--the absorption and accumulation of gelatin in the cartilage was twice as high. This suggested a salutary effect of gelatin on cartilage metabolism that would not occur with the ingestion of proline alone. They concluded, "These results demonstrate intestinal absorption and cartilage tissue accumulation of gelatin hydrolysate and suggest a potential mechanism for previously observed clinical benefits of orally administed gelatin."51

    In 2000, Dr. Roland W. Moskowitz of Case Reserve University published the results of his review of the literature on collagen hydrolysate in the treatment of osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. He was particularly impressed with clinical studies that suggested that 10 grams of pharmaceutical grade collagen hydrolysate per day were enough to reduce pain in patients with osteoarthrisis of the knee or hip and that gelatin held a significant treatment advantage over the placebo. For bone patients, Moskowitz concluded that studies of the effects of calcitonin (a hormone known to participate in calcium and phosphorus metabolism with and without a collagen-hydrolysate-rich diet showed that calcitonin plus the gelatin inhibited bone collagen breakdown far better than calcitonin alone.52

    The big question is why so many early studies showing the healing power of gelatin have languished in obscurity. The easy explanation is that after the 1930s, pharmaceutical drugs were widely prescribed for ills that were once healed with gelatin.

    A more complete explanation is that many of the results of the early studies could not be replicated. Reading Gotthoffer’s compendium, it is evident that one scientist would find that gelatin helps prevent, say, muscular fatigue, the next would find some benefit and a third would see no benefit at all. And so on with anemia, jaundice, ulcers and other ailments. Not being able to repeat and verify results, scientists probably moved on to other substances and apparently never found the key to why gelatin sometimes worked well and sometimes did not.

    Why were the studies so variable in their results? The most probable explanation is that the substance described as "gelatin" was not consistent from study to study.

    Most commercial gelatins today are brewed exclusively from pigskins or cowhide and so include no cartilage or bones. Years ago, however, some commercial cartilages came from mystery blends of cartilage, bones, skin and other junked animal parts. All these combinations differed in terms of their physical and chemical characteristics and in their physiologic actions. Gotthoffer reported that even glue was sometimes sold as gelatin. Complicating matters further, some of the so-called "gelatin" studies were done with the isolated amino acid glycine.53

    Given the inconsistencies and hazards of gelatin manufacture, it is no wonder that studies were inconsistent. As for using gelatin today for therapeutic benefits, the highest quality product would come from making gelatin at home using skins, cartilage and bones from organic chicken or meat. As Dr. Pottenger was wont to say: "A big stock pot is the most important gift a bride could receive."54

    Whatever form of gelatin is used, it should never be cooked or reheated in the microwave. According to a letter published in The Lancet, the common practice of microwaving converts l-proline to d-proline. They write, "The conversion of trans to cis forms could be hazardous because when cis-amino acids are incorporated into peptides and proteins instead of their trans isomers, this can lead to structural, functional and immunological changes." They further note that "d-proline is neurotoxic and we have reported nephrotoxic and heptatotoxic effects of this compound."55 In other words, the gelatin in homemade broth confers wonderous benefits, but if you heat it in the microwave, it becomes toxic to the liver, kidneys and nervous system.

    [...]
    Doom is always 6 or 8 months away.
    ~EE_

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    Re: 10 Health Benefits of Gelatin

    [continued]

    Not By Gelatin Alone

    Historically, gelatin ingestion has caused health problems but nearly all the documented cases occurred when the subjects were fed excessive amounts of gelatin and little else. This occurred quite frequently during the early to mid 19th century when people running hospitals, soup kitchens and poor houses tried to economize by serving gelatin at every meal in the form of bouillon, gelatinous biscuits and other gelatin-based edibles--or inedibles as the case may be. Gelatin bashers have long been fond of quoting one scientific study in which dogs died after a few weeks on a gelatin diet. While it was true that the dogs died, Gotthoffer argued that "no account was taken of the fact that the animals refused to eat the food after a few days."59

    Remember also that the amino acids in gelatin, like all amino acids, can only be properly utilized when the diet contains sufficient fat-soluble activators--vitamins A and D--found exclusively in animal fats. So don’t hesitate to put cream in your broth-based soups and sauces, and include other sources of vitamins A and D in your diet, such as butter, egg yolks and cod liver oil.

    These days no one is worried about eating too much gelatin, though a lot of people are worried about eating any gelatin at all. The fear is "Mad Cow" disease. An industry website (it does not reveal its sponsor) states that gelatin today is "hide gelatin," never made from brains, and that processing procedures such as degreasing, acid demineralization, alkaline purification, washing, filtration, ion exchange and sterilization reduce the chance of bovine spongiform encephalopathy to less than zero.60 Whether this is honest information or a public relations spin, or a little bit of both, is not known, and research into this subject is outside the scope of this paper. In 1992, the FDA took the fear seriously enough to forbid the import of any cow products including gelatin from countries where BSE occurs, but lifted the ban on gelatin in 1997. The main reason was that there have been no cases to date implicating either commercial or homemade gelatin in "Mad Cow" disease or any other neurological disorders.61

    In favor of gelatin are thousands of years of historical reports and several hundred years of studies, most of which suggest that gelatin-rich broth is the key to turning a quivering blob of ill health into a sturdy specimen of good health. As the South American proverb puts it, "Good broth can resurrect the dead."62
    Doom is always 6 or 8 months away.
    ~EE_

  10. #10
    Iridium zap's Avatar
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    Re: 10 Health Benefits of Gelatin

    A Dr. told my mom that I should drink it hot when I was little, I don't know why, other then I bruised easy.
    The harder I work, the Luckier I get!

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