Retinoid Toxicity strikes again . . .
it wasn't the licorice - it was the tart cherries. A very good source of carotenoids compared to sweet cherries.
So . . . my cherry licorice pudding was a success with my parents, but left me with swollen lymph nodes for a few days, clueless, and then chapped lips and characteristic cheilitis - fissures at the corners of the lips - led me to think, “What have I eaten differently lately?” Easy answer: Cherries and cherry pudding - two batches in fairly back-to-back order. Previous post: Cherry licorice tapioca/garbanzo flour pudding is delicious. (substack.com)
Oh well, the licorice pudding is good too but seems to need a little work yet - watery and beany maybe but more licorice isn’t the answer, coconut milk may be, or powdered pomegranate peel for hydrolysable tannin thickening. The sweetness/sugar could be reduced a little. It is plenty sweet. *Addition, next morning - resampling the thoroughly set and chilled pudding - perfection. The watery/beany flavor just represented that it was still warm and ‘cooking’ kind of as it set. It takes about 6 hours for pudding to set, so it isn’t a last-minute dessert. Instant pudding mixes only set to a soft serve texture rather than setting into a moldable figure.
Licorice Pudding - amazingly good - just like this. I would be comfortable putting it in on a restaurant menu (Vegan, egg free, dairy free, wheat free, corn free, gluten free). the Cherry Licorice Pudding recipe I would increase the licorice powder to 3 tablespoons, or it is a balanced flavor as it is, good as it is. My parents readily ate it with no comments, and they do comment if they don’t like something.
Licorice root has strong antioxidant capacity and includes chalcones: “The isolated compounds were identified as the isoflavans Hispaglabridin A (1), Hispaglabridin B (4), Glabridin (3), and 4'-O-Methylglabridin (2), the two chalcones, isoprenylchalcone derivative (5) and Isoliquiritigenin (6), and the isoflavone, Formononetin (7).” (Vaya, Belinky, Aviram, 1997)
Licorice Pudding recipe
4 ~ 6 Tbs tapioca starch
4 Tbs garbanzo flour (roasted is what I used but raw is also sold).
3 Tbs licorice powder
1 1/2 teaspoons of Gumbo file because the coconut oil wasn’t emulsifying enough.
1/2 teaspoon of salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 rounded Tbs coconut oil
make a slurry and mix well with 1 cup of water and then add it to 3 cups of water in a rice cooker (Porridge setting on my Zojirushi brand), large pot or double boiler.
Stir semi-frequently as it will settle or stick to the sides and that may cause lumps. Stirring frequently is also helping to form the liposomal emulsion. There is a benefit in a creamy liposomal emulsion in that the phytonutrients in the recipe may be encapsulated in more bioavailable liposomes. Stirring helps in their formation - and with a creamy texture - same thing - the liposomes are part of the creaminess. Little phospholipid bubbles form around the coconut oil, holding the oil in suspension in the mostly water mixture.
Once you remove it from the heat, leave it in the pot to cool in the refrigerator and continue to stir occasionally as it cools to speed the cooling and to continue to prevent uneven cooling or a dry layer forming at the surface.
Makes 4-4 1/2 cups. Store in individual 1/2 cup portions for a cute ready to serve pudding cup.
It should thicken and turn opaque when done, or after returning to a boil.
I was able to make that in the rice cooker with all the ingredients added at the same time (rather than cooling a hot sauce with a cold slurry).
A is for arrrrrrrgh.
*Regarding retinoid toxicity and the chapped skin or lip problem - the retinoic acid is literally changing the way the skin grows - so it doesn’t grow well. Retinoids may be causin an inflamed wound reaction rather than normal skin regrowth in rapid growth areas like the tongue/mucus membranes and lips. There is a change to less sebum production, thinner skin, and with reduced function as a protective barrier. (Olson, Ameer, Goyal, 2020) As a child and adult, that is what it seemed like - I couldn’t grow skin. Any little nick would be a cut and not heal well and dryness was constant. Chapsticks and treatments often made things far more painful, and I lost trust in trying new prescriptions or lip treatments.
With just one and a half days of not eating cherry licorice pudding, the chapped lips and fissures are healing and the swollen lymph nodes in my neck are improved and don’t hurt today. I wasn’t as obviously sick as after the 1/4 peach. (a post short series)
Peaches! rich in carotenoids. - by Jennifer Depew, R.D. (substack.com)
Peaches, follow up - the day didn't get better. (substack.com)
Nociceptive pain evaluation - "My everything hurt." (substack.com) *point to where it hurts on the drawing of a person - all of it doctor - it all hurts. Even my teeth and chewing, my hair follicles. Everything hurt - color it all in doctor.
The short story - acute ‘retinoid toxicity’ by peach left me feeling flu-ish and achy like fibromyalgia had been for many of my adult years. This last week I was tired and napped a little and had eyestrain, but also have been up late nights working on my paper so I thought it was deserved tiredness.
Tart cherries are a better source of carotenoids than sweet cherries, (Ferretti, et al, 2010), but not as good as the excellent sources like peaches and carrots. I was having the cherry pudding every day for a week and then made more Cherry Licorice Pudding. Yum.
Cherry licorice tapioca/garbanzo flour pudding is delicious. (substack.com)
Amazing - to find out - at age 56. Wouldn’t it be better to spread the word, get screening and treatment established so that children and adults who are being harmed by carrots, peaches, tomatoes, etc, can stop hurting themselves with otherwise healthy foods?
Disclaimer: This information is being provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of Fair Use it is not intended to provide individual health care guidance. Please seek a functional health professional for individualized health care.
Reference List
(Dark and Booth, 1946) Dark, S. O. S. and Booth, V. H. (1946) “Total carotenoids in carrots,” The Journal of Agricultural Science. Cambridge University Press, 36(3), pp. 192–198. doi: 10.1017/S0021859600012077. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-agricultural-science/article/abs/total-carotenoids-in-carrots/0C7C4426CDD00D6814E9DD9ADB4A53C2.
(Ferretti, et al, 2010) Ferretti G, Bacchetti T, Belleggia A, Neri D. Cherry antioxidants: from farm to table. Molecules. 2010 Oct 12;15(10):6993-7005. doi: 10.3390/molecules15106993. PMID: 20944519; PMCID: PMC6259571. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6259571/.
(Olson, Ameer, Goyal, 2020) Olson, J.M., Ameer, M.A., Goyal, A., 2020. ‘Vitamin A Toxicity’. [Updated 2020 Oct 3]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2020 Jan-. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532916/.
(Vaya, Belinky, Aviram, 1997) Vaya J, Belinky PA, Aviram M. (1997). ‘Antioxidant constituents from licorice roots: isolation, structure elucidation and antioxidative capacity toward LDL oxidation’. Free Radic Biol Med. 23(2):302-13. doi: 10.1016/s0891-5849(97)00089-0. PMID: 9199893. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9199893/
Very interesting & informative!
Thank you!