Food lecithin

Food. Lecithin is a widely used nutritional supplement rich ia polyunsaturated fatty acids, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidjhnositol, and organically combiaed phosphoms, with emulsifying and antioxidant properties (38). 

The Definition of Lecithin. The definition that is used for food lecithin is a mixture of polar and neutral lipids with a polar lipid content of at least 60% . Note that this is different from the scientific usage where lecithin is used as a trivial name for phosphatidylcholine. 

Instant foods. Lecithin has been used as a wetting agent and emulsifier in instant foods. Foods including cocoa powder, instant drinks, instant cocoa and flavored coffee, powdered protein drinks, coffee whiteners, instant puddings, cake mixes, and instant toppings are widely employed applications for specific lecithins. The most common method to incorporate lecithin is as an external coating on the powder particles. The particular lecithin to be employed largely depends on the hydrophilicity or lipophilicity of the powder system (7). 

Canned food emulsion. Another emulsification application for lecithins is in canned pet foods. Lecithin can help maintain homogeneity within the ingredient mixture during pumping to the cans, can reduce fat capping and crystallizing within the can, and can keep gravies and sauces consistent and smooth, without separation while stored in the cans. Lecithin is used at 0.25% to 0.75% of the canned pet food formula to achieve these effects (315). 

Dor-Lee . [Van Den Bergh Foods] Lecithin (phospholipids) emulsifier for foods, Cheung gunt... 

Food lecithin is made fi om speciahy selected high quality crude oils, because its refining is difficult and bleaching using hydrogen peroxide is not permitted in Europe. For some purposes, lecithin is subjected to fractionation to increase the phosphatidylcholine content, which is a more valued compound than other phosphohpids. 

Commercial lecithin is a mixture of phos-phatides and glycerides obtained in the manufacture of soya bean oil. It gives a thick yellow emulsion with water, and is widely used in the food and other industries. 

Lecithin is added to foods such as mayonnaise as an emulsifying agent to prevent the fat and water from sepa rating into two layers... 

Animal Feed. In animal feeds (1—3% lecithin) lecithin is an emulsifier wetting and dispersiag agent energy source antioxidant surfactant source of choline, organically combiaed phosphoms and iaositol and Hpotropic agent. It is used ia a milk replacer formula for calves (approximately 10,000 t of lecithin ate used for this purpose) and for veal production, ia mineral feeds, poultry feeds, fish foods, pet foods, and feeds for fur-beating animals (30). 

Liposomes. Lecithin, and mote specifically purified phosphohpids, ate used to produce liposomes (39) for the food (40), cosmetics, pharmaceutical, agrochemical, and technical fields. 

Release Agents. Lecithin (2—10%) is used as a surfactant and antisticking agent in sprays for cookware and in lubricants and release agents for general food appheation and industrial purposes. 

Choline occurs widely in nature and, prepared synthetically, it is available as an article of commerce. Soybean lecithin and egg-yolk lecithin have been used as natural sources of choline for supplementing the diet. Other important natural-food sources include Hver and certain legumes (18—22). 

One excellent UV protector for foods is PABA, a B vitamin. Likewise, many of the same antioxidants we ingest as health supplements—such as vitamin C and a similar chemical, erythorbic acid vitamin E and lecithin, a source of the important nutrients choline and inositol—occur naturally in food. 

This requires the provision of the precursor choline which is often given as lecithin (phosphatidyl choline), a natural source of choline found in many foods such as eggs and fish. Large doses (9-10 g) have to be given, probably to overcome the body s... 

In addition to phenolic substances, there are other components present in foods which have no antioxidant activity of their own, but which increase that of phenolic antioxidants. They are called synergists, and they should be accounted for in any discussion of antioxidant activity. Polyvalent organic acids, amino acids, phospholipids (lecithin) and various chelating agents belong to this group. Proteins may modify the efficiency of antioxidants as they react with the reaction products of both antioxidants and synergists. 

Phosphatidylcholine, commonly known as lecithin, is the most commonly occurring in natnre and consists of two fatty add moieties in each molecule. Phosphati-dylethanolamine, also known as cephahn, consists of an amine gronp that can be methylated to form other compounds. This is also one of the abundant phospholipids of animal, plant, and microbial origin. Phosphatidylserine, which has weakly acidic properties and is found in the brain tissues of mammals, is found in small amounts in microorganisms. Recent health claims indicate that phosphatidylserine can be used as a brain food for early Alzheimer s disease patients and for patients with cognitive dysfunctions. Lysophospholipids consist of only one fatty acid moiety attached either to sn-1 or sn-2 position in each molecule, and some of them are quite soluble in water. Lysophosphatidylchohne, lysophosphatidylserine, and lysophos-phatidylethanolamine are found in animal tissues in trace amounts, and they are mainly hydrolytic products of phospholipids. 

Satue-Gracia MT, Heinonen M and Frankel EN. 1997. Anthocyanins as antioxidants on human low-density lipoprotein and lecithin-liposome systems. J Agric Food Chem 45 3362—3367. 

I also figured out that certain foods were contributing to my brain fog, so I avoided those and started making my breakfast from an immune support recipe I was given, with milk thistle, lecithin, flax seed and all kinds of things in it. Gradually, my total load of chemicals was reduced and I got my brain back. Then there was so much hope ... 

No mention was made of the alcohol v. ether extraction of foods but in their paper reporting the results of feeding fat-free diets Osborne and Mendel stated clearly that none of the foods had been extracted with hot alcohol. Furthermore, they found it difficult to believe (this was in mid-1912) that skimmed milk could contain an important lipoid (fat-like substances such as lecithin, e.g.) in any adequate amount, "while... butter, which must contain some compounds of this type [is] inadequate." (32)... 

---