Malaysia pork porridge

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Healthy Pork Porridge

Malaysian Pork Porridge

Porridge has been known as comfort food, especially during the time of sickness and also healthier choice of morning breakfast for many who knows the value that it brings. Today I will bring you the local delight of Malaysia very own “Pork Porridge” ingredients and discuss the goodness it has and suggested improvement to make up for the weak point in commercialized pork porridge.

Ingredients :

• 1 cup of rice
• 4 cups of water
• 1 serving of ground pork meat
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 serving of ginger root and onion leafs
• ¼ teaspoon of sesame
• ¼ teaspoon of vegetable oil(hydrogenated oil)

Nutritional Value

Graphic1.1:Adapted from www.livestrong.com to roughly estimate our porridge nutrient content.

Metabolism Pathway Involved

Carbohydrate Metabolism

The digestion begins in mouth where salivary enzymes will breakdown polysaccharides into disacharides and some monosaccharides. Carbohydrates are further hydrolyzed to produce glucose (monosaccharides) from sucrose (disaccharides) in the small intestine. The gastrointestinal tract will absorbed glucose and relases them into bloodstream. The concentration of blood sugars is manipulated by three hormons, insulin, glucagon and epinephrine. Insulin acts to stimulate the transfer of glucose into liver, muscles and other cells.

Excess glucose will be converted to glycogen by a process called glycogenesis and stored in liver and muscles. When body needs it, glycogen will be converted to glucose again by the process glycogenolysis. Generally glucose is used directly to supply energy and to generate pyruvate and ATP by the metabolic process called glycolysis. Pyruvate will be converted to acetyl CoA and enter citric acid cycle to generate more ATP.

Fat Metabolism

Fat will be broken down to glycerol and fatty acids, then enter the cell. Fatty acids come from food, fat cells, carbohydrate and some amino acids. Digested fats are transported in the blood as chylomicrons. The main pathways for fat (lipid) metabolism are called lipolysis, beta oxidation, ketosis and lipogenesis.

Fat breakdown (Lipolysis) and beta-oxidation occurs in mitochondria. These are cyclic reactions where two carbons are removed from the fatty acid to produce acetyl CoA. This acetyle CoA will be the main substrate for krebs cycle to produce ATP, CO2 and H2O.(The Nemous Foundation”What Cholesterols?http://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/qa/cholesterol.html>, Accessed on 23th Febraury 2009)

Protein Metabolism

Protein, an essential food component to build cellular cells, enzymes and vital regulator of gene expression. Protein will be broken down to amino acids, and are metabolized to glycogen or fat. Protein will only be used as energy metabolism for the body when carbohydrate and fats supply are not available.

When amino acids are metabolized, they are converted to acetyl CoA and enter the kreb cycle to produce ATP. The end products of protein catabolism are CO2, H2O, ATP, urea and ammonia. Vitamin B6 acts as a cofactor in transamination reactions. Transamination converts amino acids to L-glutamate and form ammonia through oxidative deamination. The liver is the main site of metabolism for most essential amino acids. (“The Nemous Foundation”Learning About Proteins,http://kidshealth.org/kid/stay_healthy/food/protein.html> Accessed on:23th February 2009)

What’s Good in this Porridge?

It contains carbohydrate are the major source of energy fuel for human being. Glucose is a vital nutrient supply to brain and neurons as they cannot utilized fat for energy. Protein from pork meat contains more essential amino acids compare to vegetable protein that lack of some of the amino acids. It helps in construct hemoglobin (red blood cells) in our body and building muscle for our body activities. The fats content from pork also play a vital role in maintaining healthy skin and hair, insulating body organs against shock, maintaining body temperature, and promoting healthy cell function.

The pork porridge contains several micronutrients such as:

• Vitamin A-Aids in vision, regulation of gene expression, immunity ,growth and development, nutrients interaction and red blood cell production.
• Vitamin B1 and B2- aids in growth, digestion and maintains the nerves healthy.
• Vitamin B3- Helps in production of hemoglobin(red blood cells)
• Vitamin B12- Important in developing the central nervous system and cell building and cell building.
• Iron- Aids in oxygen transport and storage, electron transport and energy metabolism, antioxidant and beneficial pro-oxidant functions, oxygen sensing and DNA synthesis
• Calcium- Constructing strong bones in our body, cell signaling and cofactor for enzymes and proteins.
• Folic acid- Aids in nucleic acid metabolism, amino acid metabolism and nutrients interaction

(“Linus Pauling Institute”Micronutriens,http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter>, Accessed on: 24^th February 2009)

What’s Bad in this Porridge?

The porridge from the shop has some weaknesses. They used pork’s fats in their minced meat. Consuming too much of these nutrients in long term will cause atherosclerosis and heart attack. They also added high amount of table salt (sodium chloride). Therefore, it’s not suitable for diabetic or hypertension patient to consume the porridge. The porridge was heated all day, thus the nutrients in the porridge are reduced significantly. The porridge also lack of fibers in the meal. Insufficient fiber intake may lead to constipation problems.

Graphic 1.2. This is a photo of porridge taken from a hawker stall at Restoran Ngen Ngen

How we can improve?

The key word to improving this dish lies in balanced proportion and preserving the natural goodness on this dish by altering the cooking method, substitute ingredients of better and healthier choice.

• Minimize cooking time – pressure cooker to prepare base porridge. Avoid continuous reheating to preserve nutrient value in porridge.

• Broth to be added separately with uncooked minced / sliced pork. Lean pork meat recommended.

• Add carrots,broccoli,organic Alfalfa sprouts,mushroom and garlic to increase the intake of fiber, vitamins & minerals in this dish.

• Use olive oil instead of normal cooking oil.

• Use table salt sparingly for a healthy cooking practice

Graphic 1.3. The improved version of the porridge as suggested above. Carrots & broccoli are steamed to maximize the nutritional value retained when cooked.

Thank you for reading!

Done by:

Diana Hu Ping Ping [1000614642]
Hee Fat Loy [100512777]

*Special Acknowledgement : The ingredients of the pork porridge contributed by a hawker name Mr Lai from Restoran Ngen Ngen near Taman Len Seng.



References

1. Charles E. Ophardt, 2003. Carbohydrate Metabolism [Online]. Available from: http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/600glycolysis.html [Accessed 26 February 2009].
2. Lance Armstrong foundation, Nutrition Facts [Accessed 24 February 200]. Available from: http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/nutrition-calories/food/generic/pork-meatball-ginger-porridge_331)
3. Sareen S., Jack L. Smith, James L. Groff, 2009. Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism. 5th Ed. Canada: Wadsworth-Cengage Learning, pg 68-70.
4. (“The Nemous Foundation”Learning About Proteins,http://kidshealth.org/kid/stay_healthy/food/protein.html> Accessed on:23th February 2009)
5. (The Nemous Foundation”What Cholesterols?http://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/qa/cholesterol.html>, Accessed on 23th Febraury 2009)
   
6. (“Linus Pauling Institute”Micronutriens,http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter>, Accessed on: 24^th February 2009)
7. ( “The Daily Plate,LLc” Pork Ginger Porridgehttp://www.thedailyplate.com/nutrition-calories/food/generic/pork-meatball-ginger-porridge_3311/>, Accesed on 24^th of February 2009