Suck It Up: Sneaky Pairings For Absorbing Nutrients

If you’re like me, your eating habits here are borderline atrocious. I blame the fact that time and space have conspired to take the majority of us Beijingers away from those wonderful days when our mothers, bless their hearts, made sure we ate healthy and balanced meals.

Now that we’re fending for ourselves, we’d best make the most out of any nutrients that we get around to eating. That’s where nutritional synergy comes in. Pairings of ingredients and their respective cooking methods all influence the bioavailability of certain nutrients – which is just nerd talk for “how much of the good stuff our bodies actually absorb.”

Here are some easy pairings to take advantage of while you’re out. Just keep in mind that these are informal suggestions, not medical advice. In other words, don’t sue me.

Salad + Fat
I’ve always thought we added nuts and dressing to salads to distract us from the fact that we’re eating leaves, but studies have shown that the healthy oils found in nuts and olive oil can actually help your body absorb more of the key nutrients from the raw vegetables. When it comes to salads, Element Fresh and Wagas are obvious choices, but you can also go beyond the lettuce patch for great raw veggie mixes at Middle Eastern spots. Cedar’s avocado salad (RMB 30) and Biteapitta’s tabbouleh (RMB 35) are both great.

Nuts also earned bonus points from certified nutritionist Olivia Lee because they reduce hunger hormones. A handful of nuts go a long way toward helping you actually feel full when scarfing down those leafy greens.

Black Pepper + Turmeric
Isn’t it nice when spices play nicely together? Black pepper acts like a signal-boosting antenna for turmeric; when consumed together, the pepper potentially increases the absorption of the yellow spice’s active ingredient by a jaw-dropping 2000 percent. Who cares? Well, that active ingredient, called curcumin, is a phytonutrient that acts as a great anti-inflammatory, so it can calm an upset stomach and help with prostate problems. Also, scientists are looking into its ability to help fight cancer. Booyah.

The chicken kallimirch (RMB 55) at Ganges has a generous amount of black pepper to go with turmeric, which is also present in all of their curries.

Black Pepper + Red Wine
While we’re on the subject of black pepper, I’ve got another synergistic pairing that I think you’ll like. Piperine, the alkaloid that gives pepper its distinctive heat, improves absorption of resveratrol, the compound that contributes to red wine’s heart-healthy and cancer-fighting characteristics. You shouldn’t have any trouble finding a decent glass of wine to go with a peppery dish in this city, but, if you need some pointers, Modo’s staff says their beef tenderloin (RMB 168), pork loin (RMB 148), pork belly (RMB 128) and duck breast (RMB 128) all contain a dose of black pepper.

Deep-frying + Vegetables
I was also pleased to find a study from the Journal of Nutrition that repor ted deep-fried vegetables as having better bioavailability of beta-carotene. The authors, from National Taiwan University, tested a deep-fried sweet potato ball. Kudos to them for eliminating some of the guilt in ordering those sweet potato fries at Fatburger (RMB 28) and Grinders (RMB 30).

Tomato + Oil
I’ve been looking for excuses to eat pizza since before I was tall enough for the Mad Hatter teacup ride at Disneyland, so this next one’s my favorite.

The people in lab coats who play with food have found that lycopene (the antioxidant so commonly associated with tomatoes and often linked to fighting cancer, diabetes and even infertility) is more bioavailable in tomato paste, ketchup or oily tomato sauces than in raw tomatoes.This may not be the conclusion we’re meant to draw, but all I’m hearing is “Eat pizza and pasta – the oilier, the better!”

Not that I’d ever advocate overeating, but you can get plenty of lycopene from Hercules’ spaghetti bolognese on Mondays when their pasta is all you-can-eat for RMB 60. (It comes with a glass of wine, too, so throw on some black pepper and knock two off the list.) For a particularly saucy pie, try the lasagna pizza at La Pizza (RMB 98), which comes with gorgeous gobs of ricotta and mozzarella.

Iron + Vitamin C – Caffeine
When you got a runny nose as a kid, you were probably forced to chew on those grainy Vitamin C tablets since it’s known as the all-time immunity booster. But nutritional scientists have found that it also helps with the absorption of iron. Non-heme (or “non-blood,” aka plant-based) iron is more difficult for our bodies to absorb, making the presence of Vitamin C all the more crucial. That means Popeye should have been downing some OJ with his cans of spinach to get those crazy forearms. Nola’s spinach salad (RMB 33) comes with a helping of sweet potato, which, aside from being a betacarotene powerhouse, also lands an honorable mention for Vitamin C.

I’ve got some bad news for you on this one, though – consumption of caffeine actually inhibits intake of iron. So, if you’re getting that spinach wrap at Wagas (RMB 50), you might want to skip the latte.

Soy + Salmon
There’s an isoflavone in soy that helps you absorb Vitamin D better, thereby decreasing your risk for cancer. Salmon’s an excellent source of Vitamin D, so head to your neighborhood sushi bar to ward off those carcinogens. Obentos’ salmon sashimi salad (RMB 70) comes with a soy-ginger dressing that should do the trick. Tuna also works, so the next time you’re at Hatsune, order a dish of yama kake (RMB 55), which comes with diced tuna, avocado and soy sauce.

Click here to see the September issue of the Beijinger in full.