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What is Gelatin, and why do we need it?

Oldvatr said:
You omitted chicken and fish as sources too.
Gelatin is a dense protein for a start. It contains the following amino acids - Proline , choline, glycene, and glutamine that are essential in maintaining and synthesising collagen in our bodies. They also help protect muscle.snd joint maintenance. It helps reduce osteoarthtitis and osteoporosis. It is not just a cheap filler, and many vegetarians suffer deficiencies by avoiding it.

My grandparents were bought up to eat the bone marrow from the sunday joint and had specisl spoons to extract it. They also brewed beef broth from the caracass bones, and there were jars of beef or chicken extract available from the chemist to assist patients recover from illness. Not the same as marmite or vegemite at all. You do not get any of this from a supermarket shelf and is one of the aspects of the Old Times that may have actually made sense.
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calves foot jelly was a well know invalid food.
 
lucylocket61 said:
calves foot jelly was a well know invalid food.
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My wife has sometimes used pigs trotters in her cooking. We tried to get some from the butchers a few years ago and was told that the local hoteliers and restauranteurs snapped the trotters up for gelatin for restaurant food.
 
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WuTwo said:
Marmite and vegemite are both vegan products and always have been.


Carrageenan, I believe. Link to Amazon's purchase page. I like it; very useful.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Special-Ingredients-Carrageenan-Premium-Quality/dp/B00G0RVEOI
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Each to their own. Personally I react badly to MSG, so if the following article is true, the I for one should be avoiding products with red seaweed extracts in them
\https://unblindmymind.org/2014/02/carrageenan-and-the-glutamate-connection/

You are correct about marmite and vegemite, I should have referenced Bovril and OXO and other gravy substitutes Where do they get the B6 and B12 that is used to fortify marmite, I wonder?
 
Oldvatr said:
Each to their own. Personally I react badly to MSG, so if the following article is true, the I for one should be avoiding products with red seaweed extracts in them
\https://unblindmymind.org/2014/02/carrageenan-and-the-glutamate-connection/

You are correct about marmite and vegemite, I should have referenced Bovril and OXO and other gravy substitutes Where do they get the B6 and B12 that is used to fortify marmite, I wonder?
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it is found naturally in the yeast. Its an leftover from the brewing industry, or it used to be.
 
lucylocket61 said:
it is found naturally in the yeast. Its an leftover from the brewing industry, or it used to be.
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Yep - a vegan staple ingredient is yeast flakes (usually in the form of Engevita). I add it to lots of the cooking - flavour enhancement, and B vitamins. I'm particularly partial to it sprinkled on my grilled tomatoes.
 
Oldvatr said:
Each to their own. Personally I react badly to MSG, so if the following article is true, the I for one should be avoiding products with red seaweed extracts in them
\https://unblindmymind.org/2014/02/carrageenan-and-the-glutamate-connection/

You are correct about marmite and vegemite, I should have referenced Bovril and OXO and other gravy substitutes Where do they get the B6 and B12 that is used to fortify marmite, I wonder?
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Luckily I get along fine with MSG, and love soy sauce! Particularly partial to my home made tofu with soy sauce & spring onions which @michita introduced me to.
 
Great news, I might try these for hypos now as I can’t have jelly babies because they contain gelatine :)

Especially useful that they have a bit more sugar in, as stock hypo treatment drinks like lucozade have had their sugar content decreased by recent rule changes.
 
WuTwo said:
Luckily I get along fine with MSG, and love soy sauce! Particularly partial to my home made tofu with soy sauce & spring onions which @michita introduced me to.
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Hi @WuTwo So I tried home made tofu again on Easter weekend but I think I used too much nigari I had to throw away the end product .... tasted really bad >_<... I will try again :-)
 
Have they replaced the gelatin in Jelly Babies?
 
Guzzler said:
Have they replaced the gelatin in Jelly Babies?
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This is the latest list of sweeties from the Vegan Womble. There are more than I had thought! I shall be shopping for hypo treatments next time I go to the shops.

https://veganwomble.co.uk/vegan-sweeties-found-in-uk-shops/


Edited to add - the list is updated by members on a continual basis, and they try to maintain separate up to date lists for the supermarkets. The Unofficial supermarket lists include all the items that are accidentally vegan.
 
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WuTwo said:
I don't know. I'm going to check with the Womble because if they have I might just use them as my hypo sweets. I'm looking to replace the Oreos which can be a bit slow, and there is no doubt that jelly babies would be faster
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I used to like Jelly Babies occasionally (and fruit pastilles) but sadly...

On the subject of tofu, sorry but I find the texture similar to soggy polystyrene.
 
Guzzler said:
I used to like Jelly Babies occasionally (and fruit pastilles) but sadly...

On the subject of tofu, sorry but I find the texture similar to soggy polystyrene.
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I bet if you ate a Fruit Pastille now you’d probably gag on the sugar. I wouldn’t mourn their loss too much :D
 
Jim Lahey said:
I bet if you ate a Fruit Pastille now you’d probably gag on the sugar. I wouldn’t mourn their loss too much :D
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I certainly did not enjoy the mince pie at Christmas and pre dx I adored them.
 
WuTwo said:
This is the latest list of sweeties from the Vegan Womble. There are more than I had thought! I shall be shopping for hypo treatments next time I go to the shops.

https://veganwomble.co.uk/vegan-sweeties-found-in-uk-shops/


Edited to add - the list is updated by members on a continual basis, and they try to maintain separate up to date lists for the supermarkets. The Unofficial supermarket lists include all the items that are accidentally vegan.
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Luckily for me I now eat a fresh, whole foods diet so there are very, very few ingredients to check and so I only really have to keep an eye on carbs. Job's a goodun.
 
Guzzler said:
I used to like Jelly Babies occasionally (and fruit pastilles) but sadly...

On the subject of tofu, sorry but I find the texture similar to soggy polystyrene.
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Have you never tried crunchy fried tofu chips? I pinched the recipe off @Mel dCP and now it's a family favourite. Also, the firmness of tofu depends on the maker. I make silken for whipping into seitan, and extra-firm (very) for eating and cooking. The two types taste different and behave differently. I know it's silken that can be used for desserts but I don't make desserts as my husband won't eat them - got no sweet tooth at all.
 
WuTwo said:
Have you never tried crunchy fried tofu chips? I pinched the recipe off @Mel dCP and now it's a family favourite. Also, the firmness of tofu depends on the maker. I make silken for whipping into seitan, and extra-firm (very) for eating and cooking. The two types taste different and behave differently. I know it's silken that can be used for desserts but I don't make desserts as my husband won't eat them - got no sweet tooth at all.
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Since I gave up low carb bread (made with soy) and 99% of processed foods (an awful lot of which now contain soy products of one sort or another) I have found that my gut issues have completely disappeared. Thanks for the information but I will not be exploring different ways to have a foodstuff that I'm not fussy on anyway.
 
WuTwo said:
Have you never tried crunchy fried tofu chips? I pinched the recipe off @Mel dCP and now it's a family favourite. Also, the firmness of tofu depends on the maker. I make silken for whipping into seitan, and extra-firm (very) for eating and cooking. The two types taste different and behave differently. I know it's silken that can be used for desserts but I don't make desserts as my husband won't eat them - got no sweet tooth at all.
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You are always so helpful @WuTwo :happy: ps I have never tried crunchy fried tofu chips.
 
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