RE: Vegetable Glycerine (long)

[Guest guest]

The correct link is:

http://www.dadamo.com/columns/begin/ask2.pl?20021213.txt

But here's the column in it's entirety:

Sweet Potpourri: All About VEGETABLE GLYCERINE !

Where can I find vegetable glycerin you spoke about? Can you substitute it

for honey? Is it equally acceptable for all blood types? I don't know

anything about it. Can you talk about it please. Maddy

* * * *

Judging from reader response, vegetable glycerine is a hot topic ~

especially since the Holiday " baking season " is upon us! Let me first offer

a general introduction to veg gly, what it is and how it works in the body.

Here is an excerpt from one of 's Ask Dr. D. columns in which he

addressed queries on the reformulation of the food bars. His text is in

blue, and I've added my own layman's comments, [bracketed, in purple].

Glycerine is a humectant. . . Glycerine(ol) is a trihydric alcohol (not a

carbohydrate), and is the building block of all plant oils and nearly all

animal fats. Without a humectant to hold moisture, any [food supplement] bar

would be a rock-solid brick within hours of production. Glycerine is the

only effective humectant that can be used by non-secretors, since it can be

shunted to either fat metabolism or glucose production, depending on

metabolic status.

Glycerine can be a carb on occasion, a fat precursor on occasion, a

phosphoglyceride precursor on occasion, and it can simply pass through the

body unused. [in other words, it fills the body's energy need of the moment,

without jarring serum sugar levels or stimulating fat storage.] For

non-secretors, this is perfect. Thus, although it is there [in the food

bars] for moisture retention, it also tends to optimize fat<->carb<->fat

conversion which is genetically a problem with non-secretors.

The mentor that introduced me to the concept that lectins can exert

metabolic effects in hampering weight loss was fond of having his patients

drink glycerine as a way to 'prime' the conversion of fat cell bound

glycerol back to glycogen-glucose [in other words, release & convert stored

fat for use in the body as " energy " :-)].

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What is vegetable glycerine, which you recommend as a sweetener? The local

health food stores have never heard of it.

Hi, ~ here's your chance to foster continuing education at your HFS!

;-D Heritage and NOW are the two brands I've seen in my city's many organic

grocers ~ you could ask your store manager to order it for you (NOW is

cheaper, and as far as I've been able to ascertain it, the products are

entirely identical). However, for the best price, you might consider buying

it online. Take a look at Harvest Moon Health Food's NOW glycerine page--

it's the lowest retail price I've seen for that item. enjoy!

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Help...STAT!In one of your responses to an O woman whose GI tract had been

ravaged by erythromycin, you listed a protocol from a German using rice,

blueberries & mineral water. Later in the same article, you suggested the

use of vegetable glycerine, but not how or how much. Can you clarify with a

quick answer? Thanks much. You're all doing a great job. Joyce

* * * *

Hi Heidi; I own a small health food shop and am a firm believer in the Blood

Type Diet. There have been several references on this web site about

vegetable glycerine being used for diabetics as a blood sugar stablizier

and, most recently, as a sweetener for O non-secretors. There are no

instructions for use on the bottles I purchased for the shop. Would you

please give some quidelines for usage? I have several customers that are

asking for this information. Thanks. Sharon in Alaska

Greetings, Ladies ~ As Sharon noted, veg gly bottle labels do not specify

dosages for medical conditions. If they did, they'd be in violation of the

law. :-} Since it is not an FDA-approved drug, its manufacturers legally

cannot in any way advertise (label) it as a treatment for health problems.

The most they can say is that it's pure and edible ~ you will see that note

on the bottle.

So, keeping the protocol advocated by 's mentor in mind, substitute it

in every case where sugar, saccharine, aspartame, honey, molasses, or any

other sweetening agent would be used. It will quietly but effectively help

resolve hypoglycemia, diabetes, and insulin resistance -- as long as the

appropriate blood type diet is followed, naturally! If someone continues

eating all the wrong foods, especially a " wheatitarian " diet, adding a

supplemental sweetener will have little more effect than that of a

pea-shooter against a Sherman tank. There is no standard dosage, but that's

OK ~ just think of it as a healing food, and use it freely!

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Dear Heidi: I am an O, non-secretor. Since we cannot use certain vegetables,

I thought I saw that vegetable glycerine is made from coconut oil, and if

that is true, can we O non-secretors still use it as coconut is an avoid for

us. I thank you for all your suggestions you give us whether they are for my

type or not because they help me structure more into the way of thinking

about and eating the correct types of foods for my body and I try to

evaluate myself as I continue. Gwen

* * * *

How can vegetable glycerine be OK for all types when it has coconut oil? I'd

really like to try it! Thanks ~ carolyn (0+sec)

* * * *

Hello Heidi, again, Sorry, I overlooked the " lectin-free " bit for vegetable

glycerine, derived from coconuts. So it really is quite safe? I wonder if

it's available in Holland. Don't much feel like ordering it all the way from

USA! It would cost as much as the bottle? Cheers, Liesbeth

Hey there, Gwen & Carolyn ~ In 's explanation, above:

" Glycerine(ol) is a trihydric alcohol (not a carbohydrate), and is the

building block of all plant oils and nearly all animal fats. "

Glycerine is properly called " glycerol. " It's found all over the place in

plant & animal fats in the form of glycerides. Now: an alcohol does not

contain the lectin present in the substance from which it was processed.

Glycerine is plain old CH2OHCHOHCH2OH, nothing more, nothing less. This is

also not the kind of 'alcohol' found in beer, wine & spirits ~~ that's

" ethanol " . So whether your glycerine comes from palm oil, coconut oil, or

whatever: as long as it is labelled as 100% pure glycerine and OK for

ingestion, it is safe, safe, safe for everybody! :-D

Hello, Liesbeth ~ I am sure there are glycerine manufacturers in Europe. It

has been used in medical laboratory applications and in herbal compounds for

many years. I went to www.alltheweb.com/advanced and entered " glycerine " as

the main search term, then specified results in Dutch. There were over 1400

hits, and many of them appeared to be sales sites for food-grade glycerine.

Do the search and see what you find! :-)

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Hello Heidi! Great job with the column :-) I read with great interest your

mention of glycerine as being an acceptable sweetener for O's. I followed

the attached link for the NOW glycerine, but there was no mention of the

source so I called the company and was told it was palm oil, not coconut. Is

it still ok? Do I need to search out a brand whose source is coconut? I did

an extensive web search and wasn't able to come up with many other sources

that weren't selling it in 55lb tubs! As a fellow O nonnie I'd appreciate

any insight or additional information you have on this. Also, do you know

why stevia is an avoid for O non-secretors? It seems the most natural sugar

alternative as well as having been an ingredient in the original O bar.

Thanks!! Dianne

* * * *

Heidi, I have extensively researched this and have not found a single maker

of ingestible vegetable glycerine that uses coconut as their source. All the

manufacturers I have contacted derive their glycerine from palm oil. I

checked Typebase and palm oil is not listed. Is it o.k. for O non-secretors?

I know you're swamped with questions, but I purchased a bottle and don't

want to open it unless I know it's not an avoid (I can still return it to

Whole Foods). Thanks a bunch! Dianne

Hi, Dianne! :-) No matter what its source, it's going to be CH2OHCHOHCH2OH

plain and simple. No room for a lectin in there! The label on the NOW bottle

I have specifies coconut, but we doan' care. :-D It is a BLESSING for

nonsecretors, especially we near-sweetenerless Os. Tastes just like sugar,

works like a charm in baked goods (even adds a bit of leavening), and

actually helps normalize our metabolisms. See the link to the Harvest Moon

page, above, for the 16-oz bottles.

About stevia: years ago, Steve Shapiro broke off a leaf from one of his

stevia plants and handed it to me. He said that stevia was used medicinally

in South America, and questioned its new popularity as a " sweeten anything "

product. I noticed a tiny funny/woozy feeling from eating that fresh leaf ~

nothing to phone home about, but there was a little something going on. I do

not know exactly why specified stevia as an O-non avoid ~ but I trust

my own reactions, and I think Steve & both had good points there.

Often, people feel frustrated by the limitations suggested by the BTD

because they feel they are missing out on the widely advertised benefits of

a product -- like stevia or algae or wheat germ -- and later discover that

these one-size-fits-all benefits turned out to be a waste of money (or much

worse) in their individual case. At least on the sweetener front, we now

have a great alternative for everyone ~ so pop over to your HFS (or that

webpage) and stock up! :-D

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Hi Heidi! I still haven't contacted Solaray about the red yeast rice. But in

one month of taking it, my cholesterol number fell (down from 346 and 300 on

the last two tests, respectively) to 208! So it definitely works. My problem

is: is it working because I'm taking a drug? Ack! I'm looking into that and

will report back. I don't have the HDL/LDL breakdown at the moment anyway.

But my real reason for writing right now is that I can't find vegetable

glycerine on TYPEbase. Sounds like you eat it, so it should be fine for

O-NS? If so, that's got to be a huge step up from molasses, LOL! And even

for me, a B-NS, it's a nice change from honey or even rice syrup, both of

which impart a distinct flavor. Anyway, any plans to get it on the list? Is

there anyone who can't have it? Kathy

Hey there, Kathy ~ Yeah, red yeast rice is little short of miraculous for

lowering high cholesterol. I am SO happy about your results so far!! No,

it's not a 'drug' ~ although drugs have been designed " from " it. Now, go

back and read that Chinese Red Yeast Rice site!! LOL!

We'll be adding veg gly to TYPEbase 3, and thanks for the reminder ~ and the

progress report! Take care, dear! :-)

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.. . . and many thanks to everyone!!! :-D