Posted by Larry Hoover on July 4, 2003, at 19:43:42
In reply to Re: vegetarianism/mental health problems?, posted by bookgurl99 on July 1, 2003, at 17:51:50
I've just done a couple hours of web-searching on exorphins, protein fragments from common foods which have opioid-receptor activity.
There are far more of these peptides (proteins) than I had previously thought, and they are found in other foods, too. I'm going to have to give some serious thought to trying a grain/dairy exclusion diet, just to see if it affects my sense of well-being. My sister is a celiac, so it is quite possible I share that genetic trait.
What was most disconcerting about my search results, however, wasn't just discovering how commonplace these exorphin peptides are. No. What was incredibly disconcerting was discovering that food industry scientists discuss ways to purposefully process foodstuffs in such a way as to maximize the exorphin content. They even created a possible name for these derivatives, "formones", shortened from food hormones. It makes the food ingredient "modified milk ingredients" take on a new, and scary, meaning. Just what the hell is really being added when "modified milk ingredients" are an ingredient in a processed foodstuff?
I'm troubled by this subject right now. I'm going to go watch TV.
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:237849
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030701/msgs/239309.html