High wheat fiber diets cause a deficiency in vitamin D

This post includes a synopsis of a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition (1983), 49: 213-216 and a recipe for custard with coconut milk.

Study title and authors:
Reduced plasma half-life of radio-labelled 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in subjects receiving a high-fibre diet
A. J. Batchelor and Juliet E. Compston
Gastrointestinal Research Unit, The Rayne Institute, St Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH

This study can be accessed at: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=846684&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S0007114583000318
 

Books:

Cereal grains contain no detectable vitamin D and they may also cause a deficiency of this important vitamin by hindering its absorption.

 

This study investigated the effects of a high wheat fiber diet on vitamin D. Healthy volunteers were either (i) given sixty grams of wheat fiber daily in addition to their normal diet or (ii) told to consume their normal diet.
 
The study found that significantly more vitamin D was excreted (therefore less bioavaiability) on the wheat fiber diet compared to the normal diet.
 
Batchelor notes that the wheat fiber interfered with vitamin D absorption and that a high-fibre diet may explain the development of vitamin D deficiency in Asian immigrants with normal exposure to sunlight.
 
To conclude: High wheat fiber diets cause a deficiency in vitamin D.
 
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Recipe of the day

Custard with Coconut Milk

Ingredients:

Food Mall: Eggs

1 can coconut milk

6-7 egg yolks
1-2 tsp vanilla essence (to taste)

Directions:
1.Put the coconut milk into a small pan over a low heat with the vanilla essence and warm it until it is reasonably warm to the touch when you dip your (clean) finger in the pan and is steaming a little. Don’t let the milk boil (coconut milk can curdle very easily) and keep it moving so that it doesn’t stick, burn on the bottom or develop a skin.

2.Beat the egg yolks together in a bowl and, once the milk is warm, slowly pour the milk onto the yolks a little at a time, beating the yolks in with the milk all the time.

3.Once all the milk is mixed in with the egg and they are completely combined return the milk mixture back to the pan and place over a very low heat (I use the lowest heat setting I can get out of my smallest gas ring) and heat the mix stirring continuously.

4.It is important not to get impatient and turn the heat up at this point, instead letting it heat up slowly. Don’t let it reach simmering point as that will be too much heat and the texture will go grainy. This is where I did things differently. Coconut milk takes a lot longer to turn so in the end I stopped stirring and left it alone, stirring infrequently. After a while it got really thick but had some definite lumps, most of which I could beat out of it again.

5.Once the custard is at your preferred thickness remove it from the heat and serve. If it has got some big lumps in it then strain through a seive first.

Custard with Coconut Milk