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Forced rhubarb, a vegetable deprived of sunlight, is having a renaissance (2019)

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Re: Forced rhubarb, a vegetable deprived of sunlight, is having a renaissance (2019)

#61
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, spinach is only rich in oxalic acid, not in calcium. No vegetable is really rich in calcium, which is why it is recommended for vegans to take calcium supplements. After you ingest oxalic acid, it will find calcium in your body, where it is abundant in blood and in the other extracellular fluids (like sodium and chloride, most calcium stays outside the cells). Too much oxalic acid will form insoluble precipitates…

You are completely wrong. There are many quality sources of calcium in plants. For example legumes, nuts, seeds, dark leafy greens including spinach.

You would have to eat like 5 cups of legumes every day to get enough iron that way if you're a woman. That's almost two pounds. Nuts or greens would be an even higher amount.

Re: Forced rhubarb, a vegetable deprived of sunlight, is having a renaissance (2019)

#62
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are completely wrong. There are many quality sources of calcium in plants. For example legumes, nuts, seeds, dark leafy greens including spinach.

Most living beings contain calcium, including all plants, but in quantities that are too small for the needs of anyone who has a calcium-based skeleton, unless you eat daily larger quantities of plants than are practical for most humans (e.g. eating between 1 kg and 2 kg of nuts each day, depending on what kind of nuts they are). Dark leafy greens are not "quality sources of calcium". One would need to eat several ki…

I'd encourage you to go to cronometer.com and put in reasonable servings of the food items they listed (not several kilograms of just one food and washing your hands of the conversation) and seeing what nutrients you end up with. You may be surprised.

Add some nut milks in there, too.

> Any vegan must take up to a dozen supplements to maintain optimal health

This is some bottom tier anti-vegan flame bait. Had I seen this sooner, I wouldn't have even responded.

Re: Forced rhubarb, a vegetable deprived of sunlight, is having a renaissance (2019)

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is why so many rhubarb dishes (rhubarb pies, and desserts) are so often served with ice cream and vanilla sauce based on milk products. The calcium in those neutralize any potential issues of the oxalic acid.

I would be interested to see a source for the claim that milk products are paired with rhubarb for that reason.

At least in Finland this is common knowledge and pretty much every house has rhubarb growing in the yard somewhere.

Re: Forced rhubarb, a vegetable deprived of sunlight, is having a renaissance (2019)

#64
post #52

Belgian endive is another vegetable grown in the dark. Vertical farming, no LEDs needed, harvest in 25 days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPr06HDnttU

But first the crop needs a whole season in the sun. You grow normal green endive, pull the whole plant, chop the head, then you’re growing the second flush in the dark from the root mass. Effectively using all the stored energy from the root for one final round of leaf production, but no light prevents photosynthesis and you get Belgian endive.

Re: Forced rhubarb, a vegetable deprived of sunlight, is having a renaissance (2019)

#65
post #64
post #52

Belgian endive is another vegetable grown in the dark. Vertical farming, no LEDs needed, harvest in 25 days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPr06HDnttU

But first the crop needs a whole season in the sun. You grow normal green endive, pull the whole plant, chop the head, then you’re growing the second flush in the dark from the root mass. Effectively using all the stored energy from the root for one final round of leaf production, but no light prevents photosynthesis and you get Belgian endive.

Just like with rhubarb.

Re: Forced rhubarb, a vegetable deprived of sunlight, is having a renaissance (2019)

#66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most living beings contain calcium, including all plants, but in quantities that are too small for the needs of anyone who has a calcium-based skeleton, unless you eat daily larger quantities of plants than are practical for most humans (e.g. eating between 1 kg and 2 kg of nuts each day, depending on what kind of nuts they are). Dark leafy greens are not "quality sources of calcium". One would need to eat several ki…

I'd encourage you to go to cronometer.com and put in reasonable servings of the food items they listed (not several kilograms of just one food and washing your hands of the conversation) and seeing what nutrients you end up with. You may be surprised. Add some nut milks in there, too. > Any vegan must take up to a dozen supplements to maintain optimal health This is some bottom tier anti-vegan flame bait. Had I seen…

I happen to be a vegan myself, so it is weird to be accused of "anti-vegan flame bait".

Precisely because I am a vegan and I am aware of the difficulties that I had to surpass when switching to a vegan diet and also of the health problems encountered by some relatives who followed a vegan diet, but without adequate supplementation, because they believed the bad advice that is easy to find on the Internet, I felt the need to reply to these comments that perpetuate myths.

Much of the advice for vegans that can be found on the Internet is completely BS, some of which must have been written by false vegans who have never followed their own advice, while the other suggestions must have been written by rich vegans who do not care whether they pay $5 or $50 for a meal, so they believe that e.g. buying plant protein extracts that are 5 times more expensive than animal meat is a rational food choice.

Now I am happy for switching to a vegan diet, but this change took several years, until I have found adequate methods to ensure the correct daily intake for all nutrients, without paying more for food than before and without gaining weight rapidly.

Re: Forced rhubarb, a vegetable deprived of sunlight, is having a renaissance (2019)

#68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd encourage you to go to cronometer.com and put in reasonable servings of the food items they listed (not several kilograms of just one food and washing your hands of the conversation) and seeing what nutrients you end up with. You may be surprised. Add some nut milks in there, too. > Any vegan must take up to a dozen supplements to maintain optimal health This is some bottom tier anti-vegan flame bait. Had I seen…

I happen to be a vegan myself, so it is weird to be accused of "anti-vegan flame bait". Precisely because I am a vegan and I am aware of the difficulties that I had to surpass when switching to a vegan diet and also of the health problems encountered by some relatives who followed a vegan diet, but without adequate supplementation, because they believed the bad advice that is easy to find on the Internet, I felt the…

> they believed the bad advice that is easy to find on the Internet

I'm with you 100% on this. But vegans needing a dozen supplements for optimal health is a different claim than bad internet nutrition advice leading people astray from optimal health.

If you personally feel like you need a dozen supplements even as an informed vegan, I would give you some resources or at least refer you to a dietitian.

A controversial point of my own to some people is that vegans should and often must embrace "processed foods" to hit optimal protein goals. Foods like seitan, textured vegetable protein, tofu, and ultra-processed vegan products have the highest protein density. Yet the fear of processed foods is vogue on social media, and there are plenty of green mommy vegan blogs that will list a cup of lentils as a protein heavy-hitter yet never mention TVP, seitan, etc. There is also plenty of other vegan cringe online like the no-oil vegans who minimize dietary fat.

But that wouldn't mean you can't get sufficient protein on a vegan diet.

Social media and Youtube nutrition advice is horrible for everyone, I think. My own father has been convinced that butter is a superfood by Youtube quacks. They also convinced him to quit his blood pressure meds and that the carnivore diet is so healthy that you can dispose of any cautionary blood panel markers—they simply don't apply to you anymore.

Re: Forced rhubarb, a vegetable deprived of sunlight, is having a renaissance (2019)

#69

According to my father, "rhubarb" is what the extras say in crowd scenes in TV and film. They mumble, "rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb" and it gives the impression of muted, indistinct background conversations. By the same token, the choral singer who forgets the lyrics during a performance can sing "watermelon, watermelon" until she gets to a place where she recalls the words. The philosophy is that, as long as you get a…

There’s a whole film about ‘Rhubarb’, prompted in part, I think, by that premise.

https://youtu.be/EOiwJkMvIYI

Re: Forced rhubarb, a vegetable deprived of sunlight, is having a renaissance (2019)

#70

Mentioned in the article, but forced rhubarb grows so fast you can hear it. This soundcloud file suggests hearing it in a darkened vault by candlelight would be extraordinary experience! https://soundcloud.com/rhubarb-rhubarb-rhubarb/a-mass-of-pop...

I don't quite understand: constantly, for days? It seems there would be a finite # of buds to burst, and especially at the frequency (4-6 hz?) and relatively finite size of the dark greenhouse...I'm really surprised this is a phenomenon for more than hours. There must be a TON of buds?
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