so, how am i feeling, now?

exceedingly awake - if the problem was that i was tired, i seem to have fixed that problem.

i really do not like sleeping. ever. i know i have to sometimes, but i'd rather not.

i understand that there are health concerns related to undersleeping as well, and i'll have to find a way to balance them.

but, if i thought i was energy-depleted? yeah - i think it turns out i was.

for b6, there's no deep analysis.

the previous dv was 2; the current rdi is 1.7. 2/1.7 = 118%.

here's the data...

banana - 0.433*2 =  0.866 mg

strawberry - 0.047*.75 = 0.03525 mg

avocado -  0.386 mg

kiwi - 0.063*.75 = 0.04725 mg

ice cream - 1.1*0.048  =  0.0528 mg. 

flax seed - 0.033 mg

=======

(.866+.03525+.386+.04725+.0528+.033)/2 =

1.4203/2 = 0.71015 = 

71.015%---->71%

unlisted - 71%

soy - 6

yeast - 3*710/16 = 133

cereal -  25

======================

235%

those numbers are not very different than what was already there, except the 45% boost from the yeast.

red peppers - 0.291*2 =  0.582 mg

pasta - .142 mg

cheese - 0.066*.6 =  0.0396 mg

carrots - 0.138*1.1 =  0.1518 mg

hemp - .10*.6 = 0.06 mg

==================

(0.582 + .142 + 0.0396 +0.1518 + 0.06)/2 =

0.9754/2 = 0.48777

48.77% ---->48.5%

unlisted - 48.5%

yeast - 88%

===============

136.5%

this rounds up a little higher than before, but not a lot.

eggs - 0.085*3 =  0.255 mg

cheese - 0.066*.3 = 0.0198 mg

===================

(.255 + .0198)/2 = 

0.2748/2 = 0.1374

13.74% ----> 13.5%

unlisted - 13.5%

bread - 3.5%

yeast - 88%

==================

105%

that's a little low relative to the old values, but i'm going to wait to see what i plug in before i react further. i could turn the yeast up by another gram, but i'm hoping the meat replacement takes care of it. the one i'm eating right now has 20%/serving, but it's too high in fat (from sunflowers).

coffee:

0.002*4 = 0.008 mg

.008/16 = 0

coffee - 0

soy - 2

=====================

2

overall:

235 + 136.5 + 105 + 2 = 478.5%

b6 at very high dosages (30+ mg, that is 1500%+) should be avoided, but i'm not anywhere close to it being there. 

b7 is next, and it's going to be more like b5. why did the rdi fall so much?

disclaimer:
i've gone to town with a few things - i'm not making up vitamins but rather filling things in. i mean, there's all these "missing vitamin names". what were they, exactly? it also gives me an excuse to work in a few things like choline that are hard to otherwise define as they are essential in some amount but not technically vitamins.

note that these numbers are scavenged and should be interpreted approximately. that's partly why i'm aiming to overshoot on most of it.

	fruit bowl (08:00)										pasta salad bowl (00:00)								fried eggs (16:00)							coffee
	ban ana 2* 118 g	straw ber ies 5-6 75 g	avo cado 2* 75 g	kiwi 1 75 g	soy milk 250 ml	cher ry ice cre am 200 ml	nut. ye ast  1 med tsp 3 g	fort cer eal 55 g	grd flax seed 1 tbsp (7 g)	sum	red pep per 1 200 g	dur um wht fet 100 g + h20	med ched chse 60 g	car rot 1  110 g	hul led hemp seed 1 tbsp 10 g	dre ssi ng	nut. yeast 1 small tsp 2 g	sum	fried eggs 2*70g	med ched cheese 30 g	marg. 2 tbsp	whole wheat bread with germ + flax   (1 slice) (37 g)	nut. yeast 1  small tsp 2 g	juice type 250 ml	sum	brew coffee 700 ml	soy choc 100 ml	sum	total
raison  d'etre	b5,9 b16	b5 c b16	b3,5,9 o-6 k,b16	b5,9 c k,b16	a,d b3,5	a b5	b1,2 b3,5 b6	a,e b3 b5	o-3 b16		b3,6 c	b1,2 b3	a	a b3	b3 o-3		b1,2 b3,6		a b2		a,d,e	o-3	b2	c		caf	feine
a (fat sol) (900 μg rae)	7.08 μg	.75 μg	10.5 μg	3 μg	10 %	13 %	0	15 %	0	40 r:38 c:2	314  μg	0.02 μg	30 %	918 μg	0	-	0	167 r:30 c:137	r:29 c:6.9 μg	15 %	10 %	0	0	-	55 r:54 c:1	0	4 %	4 r:4 c:0	266 r:126 c:140
b1 thiamin (1.2 mg)	.074 mg	.018 mg	0.1 mg	.02025 mg	8 %	.0528 mg	155 %	20 %	.115 mg	214.5 u:31.5	.108 mg	84 %	.0174 mg	.0726 mg	.1275 mg	-	103 %	214 u:27	0.06 mg	.0087 mg	0	10.5 %	103 %	-	119 u: 5.5	0.1 mg	3 %	11 u:8	558.5
b2 [g, j] riboflavin (1.3 mg)	.146 mg	.0165 mg	0.195 mg	.01875 mg	25 %	.253 mg	144 %	24 %	.011 mg	242 u:49	.17 mg	41 %	.2568 mg	.0638 mg	.0285 mg	-	96 %	177 u:40	.684 mg	.1284 mg	0	3 %	96 %	-	161.5 u:62.5	.54 mg	10 %	51.5 u:41.5	633
b3 niacin (16 mg)	1.57 mg	.2895 mg	2.61 mg	.25575 mg	10 %	.1276 mg	65 %	36 %	.216 mg	142.5 n:31.5 f:111	1.958 mg	66 %	.0354 mg	1.0813 mg	0.92 mg	-	43 %	134 n:25 f:109	.114 mg	.0177 mg	0	6.5 %	43 %	-	50.5 n:1 f:49.5	1.36 mg	4 %	12.5 n:8.5 f:4	339.5 n:66 f:273.5
b4* adenine (75 mg)	2.832 mg	0.375 mg	15.9 mg	.339 mg	19.25 mg	.9735 mg	49.38 mg	?	?	118.5	31.8 mg	4.0 mg	4.92 mg	0.77 mg	?	-	32.92 mg	99	2.24 mg	2.46 mg	0	4.514 mg	32.92 g	-	56	?	7.7 mg	10	283.5
b5 pantothenic acid (5 mg)	.788 mg	.0938 mg	2.08 mg	.13725 mg	15 %	.6391 mg	2.25 %	19 %	.069 mg	112 u:76	.634 mg	.431 mg	.246 mg	.3003 mg	.056 mg	yog urt sub	1.5 %	34.5 u:33	2.292 mg	0.123 mg	0	5 %	1.5 %	-	54.5 u:48	1.808 mg	6 %	42 u:36	243
b6 pyridoxine (1.7 mg)	.866 mg	.03525 mg	.386 mg	.04725 mg	6 %	.0528 mg	133 %	25 %	.033 mg	235 u:71	.582 mg	.142 mg	.0396 mg	.1518 mg	.06 mg		88 %	136.5 u:48.5	.255 mg	.0198 mg	0	3.5 %	88 %	-	105 u:13.5	0	2 %	2	478.5
b7 [h] biotin (35 μg)	15	2.5	-	?	30	1	30	86	-	164.5	16.5	1	3	12	8	-	30	70.5	65	1.5	13	3	30	-	112.5	?	12	12	359.5
b8* inositol (myo or lipid) (1000 mg)	20	10	-	102	25	5	10	-	-	172	99.75	70.27	-	-	-	-	10	-	6.3	-	16	50	10	-	-	-	-	-	-
b9 [m, b11, r] folic acid (400 μg)	12	4.5	30	6	6	1	23	34	2	118.5	19	71	3	3	3	-	23	122	18	1.5	0	5	23	-	47.5	4	2	6	294
b10* pABA (100 mg)	~0	~0	-	~0	>0	~0	-	-	-	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
b12 [t] (cyano) cobalamin (2.4 μg)	0	0	0	0	50	20	125	0	0	195	0	0	8.5	0	0	20+	125	133.5	33	4	0	0	125	-	162	0	20	20	490.5
b13* orotic acid (mg)	~0	~0	-	~0	~0	20	-	-	-	20	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
b14* taurine (mg)	~0	~0	-	~0	~0	2	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
b15* pangamic acid	~0	~0	-	~0	0?	~0	-	-	-	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
b16* choline (fat sol) (550 mg)	4	1	4	1	11	5	1.5	1	1	29.5	2	2.5	2	1	-	-	1.5	9	68	1	0	2	1.5	-	73.5	3	4.5	7.5	119.5
b20* [aka I] l-carnitine (25 mg)	~0	~0	-	~0	~0	5	-	-	-	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
c (90 mg)	34	74	25	117	4	0	0	25	~0	279	350	0	0	7	0	-	0	357	0	0	0	0	0	100+	100+	0	0	0	736+
d (fat sol) (15 μg)	0	0	0	0	45	0	0	6	0	51	0	0	2	0	0	20+	0	2	12	1	30	0	0	-	43	0	18	18	114
e (fat sol) (15 mg)	2	1.5	16	10	0	2	0	36	0	67.5	13	1	1	2	7	30+	0	24	9	.5	20	1.5	0	30+	31	0	0	0	122.5
f1* linoleic acid omega-6 (g) (17 mg)	0.1086	0.09	2.534	0.187	1.5	.300	0	1.2	.414	6.3336	.0738	.540	.3462	.0828	2.87	-	0	3.9128	3.23	.1731	1.5	.5	0	-	5.4031	~0	.8	.8	16.45
f2* alpha linolenic acid omega-3 (g) (1.6 mg)	0.0638	0.065	0.165	0.0319	0.2	.200	0	0.2	1.597	2.5227	.041	.024	.219	.0014	.93	-	0	1.2154	.228	.1095	.5	.75	0	-	1.5875	~0	.12	.12	5.45
f1:f2 ratio	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2.51	-	-	-	-	-	2:1	-	3.22	-	-	-	-	-	-	3.40	-	-	-	3.02
k (fat sol) (138 μg)	2	1	39	38	5	0	0	-	-	85	10	1	1	12	0	-	0	24	9	.5	10	.5	0	-	20	0	2	2	131
q1* coenzyme q10 (mg) (30 mg)	0.272	0.075	-	0.0375	.625	.0308	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
q2* pyrrolo quinoline  quinone (mu-g)	3.536	-	-	2.025	.063	.2101	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
s* salicylic acid (mg)	~0	~1	-	~0.375	~0	~0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

* not really.

complete requirements

fat soluble:

- a: 120% of pre-formed + 100% of convertible rae, total daily. 30% + pre-formed per meal.

- choline: 30% + per meal, 120% total

- d: 30% + per meal, 120% total

- e: 30% + per meal, 120% total

- k: 30% + per meal, should not exceed 100%/meal, >120% & <200% total

water soluble (bs & c):

- 300+% total w/ 100% for each meal

- b1: 125% w/each meal

- b2: 131% w/each meal

- b3: 125% w/each meal, but not more than 200% in fortified sources.

- b4: 75 mg w/each meal

- b5: 110% w/each meal

- b6: 118% w/ each meal

- b7:

incomplete requirements legend:

>300% without meeting 100%/meal

+75<=100% each meal    [=+200%<=300% total]

+50<=75% each meal   [=+100<=200% total] 

<=50% each meal    [<100% total]

specific brands used:
- so nice vanilla soy milk
- chapman's black cherry ice cream

- bulk barn nutritional yeast

- vector cereal

- black diamond brand medium cheddar cheese

- selection brand pasta [metro/food basics]

- bulk barn nutritional yeast

- irrestibles brand olive canola oil

- dempster's whole grain double flax bread

- black diamond brand medium cheddar cheese

- natura chocolate soy milk

- no specific brand or type of coffee

diet options:

daily:

2) pasta salad bowl:

- 100 g cooked pasta ----> reduce
- one large red pepper

- one large chopped carrot

- 60 g chopped medium cheddar cheese [12 slices]

- 10 g hulled hemp seeds

- yogurt dressing or canola oil caesar dressing

- 1 tsp nutritional yeast

- glass of pasta water 

+

- tomatoes

- flax seeds (ground!) (probably not) 

- spirulina 

- tahini  

- macademia nuts 

- croutons

- tomato powder 

- caesar dressing (very little b1, 35% e?, some a)

- one tbsp of imitation bacon bits (isoflavones, maybe_

- 5 g chopped crickets [5 crickets]  [b12]

- indoor farmed fish? <----b5, b12

- shittake mushrooms <------b5

- lemon (probably for phytonutrients) 
- garlic cloves (probably for phytonutrients)
- oregano & pepper (probably for phytonutrients)

- kalamata olives (probably not necessary for e) 

- microwaved/chopped broccoli (probably not, due to k and I3C)  <----but, b5

- broccoli leaves or kale or dandelion leaves? (probably not, due to I3C and k) 
- red clover (if locatable or foragable, for phytoestrogens)
- alfafa?

- need 65-85% b5

3) eggs:
- 2 jumbo fried eggs
- 1 slice of whole wheat bread (including the germ!) with flax
- 2 tbsp olive oil margarine

- 30 g sliced medium cheddar cheese [6 slices]

+

- salami (45 g) (25% b1, 8% b2, 12% b3, 5% b5, 11.5% b6, 0% b9, 20% b12)

- rice (100 g) (60% b1, 2% b2, 35% b3, 4% b5, 6% b6, 69% b9)

- soy meat (100% b1, 50-70% b2, 100% b3, 15% b5, 60% b6, 45% b9, 90% b12)
- indoor grown salmon? (50 g) (15% b1, 15% b2, 55% b3, 15% b5, 20% b6, 150% b12) <------can't find

- mushroom sauce (some supplemental b2,/b3/b6, substantive b5)
- + apple juice? (1 cup) (100% c)

- carrot juice (1 cup) (18% b1, 8% b2

- orange juice (1 cup) (15% b1, 4% b2, 5% b3, 5% b5, 5% b6, 19% b9, 207% c, added e?)

- cranberry juice (unsweetened. need added c, has e)

- tomato juice (likewise)

- need (85 b1, 50 b2, 95 b3, 75 b5, 85 b6, 75 b9, 65 b12)

==========

the list of everything i need to get.

added are green

13 vitamins:
1) A
2) B1 (thiamine)
3) B2 (riboflavin)
4) B3 (niacin)
5) B5 (pantothenic acid)
6) B6 (pyridoxine)
7) B7 (biotin)

8) B9 (folic acid)
9) B12 (cyano-cobolamin)
10)  C
11) D
12) E
13) K

15 amino acids:
1) histidine
2) isoleucine
3) leucine
4) lysine
5) methionine
6) phenylalanine
7) threonine
8) tryptophan
9) valine
10) arginine
11) cysteine
12) glycine
13) glutamine
14) proline
15) tyrosine
+ measure 6 non-essential

4 fatty acids:
1) linoleic acid
2) ala
3) dha
4) epa

23 minerals:
1) calcium
2) phosphorus
3) potassium
4) sulfur
5) sodium
6) chlorine
7) magnesium
8) iron
9) zinc
10) copper
11) manganese
12) iodine
13) selenium
14) molybdenum
15) chromium
16) fluoride
17) bromine
18) cobalt
19) tin
20) vanadium
21) silicon
22) boron
23) nickel
24) lead?

carotenoids (not including pro-vitamin a)
1) lutein
2) zeaxanthin
3) lycopene
4) phytofluene
5) phytoene
6) astaxanthin
7) capsanthin
8) canthaxanthin
9) cryptoxanthin

chlorophyll:
1) chlorophyll a
2) chlorophyll b

other molecules required for proper metabolic functions:
1) choline (cannot synthesize properly)
2) coQ10
3) lipoic acid
4) glutathione precursors
5) ergothioneine  (cannot synthesize)   <-----mushrooms
6) pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) (cannot synthesize)   <-----kiwis
7) queuine  (cannot synthesize)    <-----cheese [made in stomach by bacteria]
8) taurine (cannot synthesize properly) <----cheese

9) betaine (more than a choline precursor?)

glucose:
i'm more concerned about diabetes than weight gain, so...
the glycemic index is:
running total...

fiber:
i don't need many different types, i just need some. i'm not worrying about this.

& water

also, let's measure flavonoids:

anthocyanidins:
1) pelargonidin
2) delphinidin
3) cyanidin
4) malvinidin
5) peonidin
6) petunidin
7) rosinidin

flavonols:
1) isorhamnetin
2) kaempferol
3) myricetin
4) quercetin
5) fisetin
6) kaempferide

flavones:
1) luteolin
2) apigenin
3) techtochrysin
4) baicalein (to avoid!)
5) norwogonin
6) wogonin
7) nobiletin

flavanones:
1) eriodictyol
2) hesperetin
3) naringenin
4) hesperidin
5) isosakuranetin
6) pinocembrin
7) sterubin

isoflavones:
1) daidzein
2) genistein
3) glycitein
4) biochanin A
5) formononetin

i should try to measure some further phytoestrogens:
1) matairesinol
2) secoisolariciresinol
3) pinoresinol
4) lariciresinol

5) coumestrol

& finally, let's also measure:
1) saponins
2) ursolic acid (& precursors)
3) cafestol
4) resveratrol
5) ellagic acid
6) coumarin
7) tyrosol
8) hydroxytyrosol
9) oleocanthal
10) oleuropein
11) gingerol
12) phytic acid

they told us distancing would work, and it didn't.

they told us wearing masks would work, and it didn't.

they told us the sinners were spreading it, and they weren't.

and, now they're shutting down everything except the two highest risk categories: schools & churches.

the data suggests that the virus is being spread at after-work parties, after-school activities, house parties and other congregations happening outside of the scope of the authorities - where people aren't being tracked (and i hope they turn their phones off, too). if shutting down restaurants & etc increases the amount of contact happening in these unmonitored spaces, it would follow that increasing lockdowns will increase the spread.

and, that is what we've been seeing in front of us - the stricter the regulations, the higher the spread.

"but, that doesn't make any sense!", cries the authoritarian. "if you set rules, you can measure outcomes."

but, this is just simple arrogance - aristotlian, judaic. backwards.

and, we know it was predictable because i predicted it.

if we had anything approaching an enlightened, science-first government, this would have been the approach from the start - because it's the only thing that makes any sense.

we have instead let the mob rule, with disastrous consequences.

https://gbdeclaration.org/

it's too late - spock's already dead.

you can say goodbye.

that is all.

well, it was going to be one direction or the other (either you give up and accept this has to run it's course or you shut down everything), but this is still pointless, if you're trying to stop the virus.

so, they initially blamed it on the sinners and that didn't work in slowing down the spread.

now, they're shutting down services that are not deemed "essential" to try to get a handle on it. but, schools are still open. and, people are still going to grocery stores and what not.

you'll argue that it will help slow it down at least, but (1) at who's expense? and who benefits? and (2) i actually don't think that that's right, anyways. this is likely not going to move proportionally. rather, there will be an inflection point that determines spread or no spread - and the outcome is more or less binary.

so, if you're going to leave the schools open - and i think you should - then there's likely not a lot of point in closing everything else.

please stay inside if you're vulnerable, because the most frustrating thing about these restrictions is that they won't even work, they'll just make everybody's lives more miserable for a longer period.

the difference between now and the spring is that it is firmly seeded, now, you won't be able to shut it down again, like you did before.

so, now we get to watch cases keep rising, while we sit at home and stare at the wall when we should be out somewhere having fun.

on top of that?

like, does pelosi want to be responsible for putting pence in the presidency?

over what? some stupid personal grudge?

there should be mandatory retirement ages in the senate - and they should be set at or below 75.

there was an article a while back that compared the existing gerontocracy (they're all on the brink of losing it) in the united states to the collapse of the soviet union, and i wrote it off as reaching.

i'm not so sure any more.

i've posted this a few times already, and it's true - this is contemporary politics in the united states: a bunch of stubborn seniors, most of whom should be in jail, but that otherwise belong in homes, bitching at each other over trivialities.

it's like every terrible sitcom you've ever turned off.

if the country wants to get rid of trump - and it seems like it does - then they need to vote him out.

and, if they don't or can't or won't then pelosi needs to grow up and deal with it.

again - there's an election in a few weeks. this is just simply inappropriate, and the message it sends to voters is "we don't care what you choose, we're going to push through what we want, anyways".

it's just absolute and utter contempt for the remotest semblance of any democratic process.

and, it's very ironic - because she's just as mentally degraded as he is.

https://www.thestar.com/news/world/us/2020/10/09/pelosi-unveils-25th-amendment-bid-questions-trumps-fitness.html

hey, if they do find virus in trump's organs, you know what they're going to have to put him on, right?

"but, you need fibre"

yeah. right.

you need electrolytes too, huh?

you'll get plenty of fibre, elsewhere - eat your fruit ripe.

what about fruit?

if you wait to eat fruit when it's ripe, the cell wall converts into sugars and the issue i'm exploring with carrots & mushrooms (and exists with virtually any vegetable) is much less pronounced.

and, it's easy to tell when a fruit is ripe - it's soft, because the cellulose has degraded.

it's for that reason that vegetables may often have higher nutrient contents in theory, but fruits are actually better for you - vegetables (especially "leafy greens") often just end up as useless fibre.

in my diet, bananas, strawberries, avocados, kiwis & red peppers are all fruit. tomatoes are also fruit. only the carrots are difficult to digest.

ok.

so, b6 for reals after pasta.

there's no fancy write-up - it's pretty straight forward. i'm just closing tabs and getting distracted.

the other thing about mushrooms is that they build up toxins incredibly easily, and...

i mentioned a while back that i wasn't excited about bringing them in due to how they're grown. but, i got a little desperate.

if your choices are between cultivated mushrooms (which they drown in shit) and wild mushrooms (which are sponges for pollution), the question of if you can break them down or not seems secondary.

i'm probably better off eating liver - which doesn't mean i'm going to. not yet...

so, was that a myth?

is that debunked?

seems like it, yeah.

but, don't generalize - that doesn't necessarily apply to other foods.

this is a very broad survey, but i'm pulling out two interesting sections:

1) Carrots contain several food matrix components that may affect carotenoid bioavailability. Evidence from a ferret model suggests that the crystalline form of carotenoids in carrot root chromoplasts and dietary fiber both negatively affect bioavailability (Zhou and others 1996). Detailed in vitro research modeling the gastric environment suggests that membrane‐bound carotenoids in spinach chloroplasts are more resistant to solubilization into oil than membrane‐bound and free crystalline carotenoids in the carotene bodies of carrots (Rich and others 2003a). However, blanching, which disrupts most of the organelles, increases solubilization of both β‐carotene and lutein from homogenized spinach by more than 60%, but was shown to have little effect on the solubilization of β‐carotene in carrot juice (Rich and others 2003a).

In raw carrot juice, cell walls are removed and the cellular structures containing chromoplasts are disrupted. Blanching of carrot juice further disrupts the membrane‐bound carotene bodies, but leaves carotene crystals intact (Rich and others 2003a). It was hypothesized that the carotene–carotene interactions in the crystals are more stable against solubilization than the lipoprotein–carotenoid interactions of the blanched spinach. This is in agreement with the observation that heating of carrot juice did not significantly increase carotene bioavailability in ferrets (Zhou and others 1996).

2)  Torronen and others (1996) found a 45% bioavailability of β‐carotene in healthy women from daily intakes of 12 mg as either raw carrots or carrot juice for 6 wk.

that's roughly consistent with the previous study; while i am not surprised that heating carrot juice was not helpful, i am surprised to see no increase in bioavailability from juicing. that would perhaps go back to the first study, which points out that the carotenoids in carrots are mostly in between the cells, rather than within them - and that (1) breaking down the cell walls doesn't release them and (2) they're actually sensitive to heat, due to being outside the cell.

that would mean that pureed carrots are really only more bioavailable because the stuff that gets destroyed in your stomach anyways got stripped out - and you'd might as well eat the same fraction of them raw, instead. that is, pureed carrots are really just more concentrated, they're not really more bioavailable - and it doesn't really have to do with heat, or with granule size. because it's not actually inside the cell, at all...

so, as a source? they're lossy. low efficiency. that's how it is.

you'd might as well just go ahead and eat them raw - but chew them good.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1541-4337.2009.00103.x#ss5-title

this study reinforces the use of fat in absorption, but i need to present a little skepticism - was there retinol in the fat? i can't think of a source of fat without it....

they don't extrapolate.

but, nonetheless.

https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/130/3/503/4686253

so, is that study just trying to sell you more carrots, or what?

and, just to clarify.

the study does make the following clarification:

The average composition of the raw carrot meal consisted of 54.8 µg/g trans β-carotene, 3.02 µg/g cis βcarotene, 25.2 µg/g trans α-carotene, 0.78 µg/g cis αcarotene, 1.42 µg/g lutein (total) and 0.08 µg/g zeaxanthin. We aimed at receiving 15 mg of trans βcarotene in each test meal; therefore the volunteers received 275 g of raw carrots in each test meal. The average composition of the cooked carrot puree meal consisted of 62.5 µg/g trans β-carotene, 2.52 µg/g cis βcarotene, 23.6 µg/g trans α-carotene, 1.18 µg/g cis αcarotene, 1.37 µg/g lutein (total) and 0.05 µg/g zeaxanthin. We aimed at receiving 15 mg of trans β carotene in each test meal; therefore the volunteers received 240 g of pureed carrots in each test meal.

...and, if you were naive, you might conclude that you're using less puree.

but, stop for a moment and ask yourself how much raw carrot you need to get to 240 g of puree. this is the best thing google could give me:

1 pound carrots = 450g = 1 average bunch = 6 – 8 medium or 4 very large = 3 cups chopped = 2 1/2 cups grated = 1 1/3 cups cooked and mashed.

at a factor of 2.25:1, that's 540 g of raw carrot to get 240 g pureed - which is worse than i previously calculated, by a good margin.

i've made my point.

this study looks better at first - it's comparing chopped & raw to pureed & heated. you can maybe argue that chopped v pureed is somewhat unfair, and a better comparison (if you're interested in the effects of heating, specifically) would be to raw, juiced carrots. i guess that's my next google search - what i want to compare to isolate what heating does to bioavailability is either chopped & heated v chopped & raw or pureed & heated v juiced & raw. but, let's take this on as it is, first.

this is a crazy link, and it may accidentally be backdooring something:

https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/49265391/s00394-003-0430-620161001-13513-16gb3qg.pdf?1475325836=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3Dcarotene_bioavailability_fromdifferently.pdf&Expires=1602226312&Signature=OpHSf8uteHB91G5r-xU6mCFxanKvKyJB~AQKlwySoKDJPPCZFSlw7CzeYM5XO53bs71EV6tfmwxpJLTrkvByxw~ngBZvYlY-oKRnNaJLM5OS2ts6w4r2iLANjgphuQyZsWGMLl-xvclTjYvRUgR3sFKFhkZMWB3kuHw3ISeD4RjNl0bspiT2mGo0LlMyUnV1DrwRV9MvP2FqCEtIcKCk-uVJ14olCT~G-VeNjp6Whq1fTGkKXygKWSkCjX1aLMyV~Trwu3nYQZlKl6RIJx3wXIDVp8PD-~v5~w-Sg0aEQUYXL7WWBTXbZQAOT13d~ZT0fdTmATXAuv3EFgMCh4Wv2g__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA

i just pulled it out of a google search, don't look at me.

so, they're arguing that the cooked & pureed has about 20% higher availability than the chopped & raw. qed, right?

but, the trick is that they're standardizing them both at 15 mg, and that doesn't represent the reality that cooking the carrots will decrease the presence of beta-carotene in the sample, in the first place. so, it's an apples-to-oranges comparison.

rather, if i were to combine the two studies, and start with x g of carrot and decide what the best thing to do with it is, i'd come up with the following deductions:

1) if you eat them raw & chopped, you get about 41% of the y μg in the x mg of carrot. so, that's 0.41y.

2) if you puree them (that is steam them, then blend them) before you eat them, you get 65% of the pureed carrot, which is only 40% of the raw carrot. so, you'd start by taking 0.40y and then take .65 of that. in total, that's .26y.

you'd consequently get more out of the 100 g of carrot by eating it raw, even if you can absorb more of the puree, if you prepare a higher amount of it. and, how much would you need for it to balance out?

.4*.65z>.41 <---> z > .41/(.26) <------> z > 1.57692307692.

which is, strangely, about 1 + euler's constant. weird.

so, you'd need to puree 160 g of carrots to get to the same starting point that you had with 100 g of carrots - and, then, yeah, you'll absorb more of the puree. 

but, that's not exactly a useful result...

gram for gram, you're better off with it raw - even when you're giving the puree a headstart by comparing chopped rather than juiced.

this study also found decreases in carotenoid content after cooking in both carrots and broccoli, but argues it's not statistically significant.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1745-4557.2006.00071.x

this study suggests that cooking ruins beta-carotene in squash, too.

i'm not saying you shouldn't cook your vegetables - i'm saying you should be specific in your research and figure out what you want from your food on an item-by-item basis, rather than think in generalities and try to abstract specific results to general theories. that's kind of the basis of modern science - we need to be careful when we make those leaps, because they often fail.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5224544/

so, what's wrong with a study like this, then, that tries to argue you should cook your carrots?

there's three things wrong with this.

1) they give you spinach and carrots at the same time. so, you don't know what is what. when compared to the previous study, beta-carotene in cooked spinach is less degraded than it is in carrots. so, the spinach is going to ruin everything, if you're concerned about carrots.

2) they chop and heat at the same time, so you don't know if the benefit is from heating or chopping.

3) they're measuring a weird isomer of beta-carotene, on top of it.

frankly, this is the kind of study that looks like it was funded by a bottling company.

https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/128/5/913/4722388

and, what about carrots?

carrots are a recent addition, and i'm eating them chopped, which....everything i'm reading says that the best thing you can do is cut plants into the smallest pieces possible. so, try to cut your carrots up.

but, should you cook them to release the carotenoids?

that would appear to be true for tomatoes, and it would appear to be true for broccoli. but, careful - it's not true for carrots:

In contrast, β-carotene retention of cooked carrot, crown daisy, perilla leaf, and zucchini was lower than the raw samples. Our results agree with those of a previous study, which reported to a decrease in β-carotene in carrots after boiling [34]. This low thermal stability of β-carotene observed for carrot could be due to the different intracellular location of β-carotene. Carotene in carrots was found to be located in crystalline chromoplasts with membranes rich in polar lipids.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6049644/

so, heat appears to degrade the beta-carotene in carrots. you want to avoid that...

instead, you want to eat them raw, but chopped up as much as you can - maybe even blended, or juiced. i'm wondering if i shouldn't go for carrot juice, instead. it's just that you're going to get it so processed at the store, and i can't afford to go through a pound of carrots in a juicer every night.

what about peppers? 

peppers are sneaky, because you may want to cook them to release the vitamin a, but in the process destroy the vitamin c. i'm eating them mostly for the c, so i want them raw. if you're eating them for the a, you may want to rethink that.

we can at least ferment cellulose, in the gut. we can't even do that for chitin.

but, if you want to ignore me and take a chance on mushrooms, you basically have to grind them up into a fine powder for them to maybe be worthwhile at all. if chitin is that much worse than cellulose, and we have problems with cellulose as it is, you can imagine how much worse chitin is.