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Dear Reader,

Welcome to Yummy Lummy. 😊 Yummy Lummy is a blog for readers who live alone and are keen to cook meals for themselves. If you’re part of a couple, I hope the recipes are adaptable for you, too.

I also share my opinions on topics others may (or may not) be interested in. With my recent change in diet (SAD→CSIRO TWD→LCHF), the blog’s emphasis is shifting to sharing my opinions on some food and non-food-related topics. Your comments are welcome, even if I disagree.

I cite most journal articles or books I’ve read and mentioned. You can see the citations at the bottom of the post.

Introduction

I hope you’ve had a good week.

While driving this week, I nearly hit an eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus). When I first arrived in Canberra, kangaroos were replete. The local government has kept numbers in check with a careful program of culling by professional shooters. With extra fencing along main roads, the number of dead kangaroos on the streets is much smaller.

It got me thinking about eating some kangaroo this week. 🦘

World Toilet Day

Tomorrow, Sunday, is World Toilet Day. In the days when I was eating a carbohydrate-rich, low-fat diet, I was always keen to know where the nearest toilet was because my irritable bowel was unpredictable when it came to the urge to purge.

These days, because I’m eating a low carbohydrate diet, my stools are much better in terms of the Bristol stool chart, and my bowel frequency is more manageable. That doesn’t mean I don’t get sudden urges; I still do, but life is a lot easier to manage. I think I’ll still be keenly interested in the location of the lavatories. If you’re in Australia, we have an Australian Government funded toilet map for public conveniences. It’s part of the national continence program.

This week, I met with other medical practitioners and regulatory affairs scientists at work. The topic of discussion was faecal microbiota transfer (FMT). The main speakers were a gastroenterologist and a regulatory affairs expert. I was asked to share my clinical experiences with FMT, and a new phrase has entered my workplace lexicon, “Gary’s super stools”.

What have I been watching?

Star Trek: The Next Generation

I’m now in season 5. Gene Roddenberry had already died when this season finished production, but his influence remains. The Star Trek ethos centred on a future where humankind evolves beyond conflict and petty behaviour to be morally and ethically mature. That doesn’t mean conflict and petty behaviour aren’t encountered in space and amongst other humanoid and non-humanoid sentience.

What have I been reading?

Kangaroo and food safety

Last week, I was reading about ducks; this week, it’s been kangaroos. Specifically, I was reading papers about the contamination of kangaroo meat.

Most specialist microbiologists and infectious diseases physicians will mention toxoplasmosis when asked about the risks of eating undercooked kangaroo meat. Most people don’t want to overcook kangaroo because it’s lean. That’s why pasteurisation using sous vide gives a good result. (Mirza Alizadeh et al., 2018)

I know some readers have left comments on the blog before that they’ve never been sick after eating kangaroo, which is excellent. Most people don’t have a problem. The problem is if someone who is immunocompromised, e.g., an organ or bone marrow transplant recipient, is infected via a muscle cyst, which is a lower risk than from a tachyzoite from feline faeces, toxoplasmosis brain abscesses are life-threatening. Fortunately, in Australia, most commercial licensed suppliers know that freezing helps reduce the risk, while proper cooking is necessary to minimise the risk.

There are also other risks associated with eating kangaroo meat, including salmonellosis and finding too much lead from being shot. (Geesink et al., 2017)(Shapiro et al., 2020)(Borkens, 2021)(Ratnasiri & Bandara, 2017)(Hampton et al., 2023)(Dubey et al., 2021)

Fibre and Crohn’s disease

Fibre is becoming a controversial topic in human nutrition. The widely held view is that fibre helps keep the human microbiota in good condition. Fibre is converted to saturated fats by bacteria, and the human colon absorbs the saturated fat. However, the downside of fibre is its inflammatory properties and people with inflammatory colon diseases may suffer from them.

Unlike most other primates, humans don’t have a large caecum for fermenting fibre (hindgut fermentation). The human alimentary tract may not need dietary fibre.

I read an interesting paper by a group that examined why fibre-deficient exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) works in patients with Crohn’s disease. EEN is a type of medical nutrition therapy that involves replacing all food and drinks with a specialised liquid formula for a period, usually 6-12 weeks. The formula is designed to provide all the nutrients, including fat, calories, protein, vitamins, and minerals.

The authors looked at a commensal bacterium, Mucispirillum, which becomes pathogenic when nourished by fibre (i.e., a pathobiont). The authors demonstrated that using a fibre-deficient diet managed the symptoms of Crohn’s disease in a mouse model. (Kuffa et al., 2023.) I love the entirety of microbiology beyond my specialty clinical training and experience.

What have I been listening to?

Podcasts relevant to the conflict involving Israel and Palestine.

Each week, the pastor of the church I worship in sends an e-mail with links to podcast shows and articles he’s listened to and read over the preceding week. This week, Tim shared a few shows that discuss the conflict between the people of Israel and Palestine from a reformed evangelical Christian perspective.

One of the results of listening to these shows is that I stumbled on a show featuring N. T. Wright, who was talking about his new book on Paul’s letter to the Romans. I have bought the audible book and plan to listen to it soon.

Recipe

Unlike most other meat sold in Australia, kangaroo meat can potentially contain cysts of Toxoplasma gondii. While the faeces of cats and other animals may transmit tachyzoites, muscle meat cysts still pose a potential problem. For that reason, kangaroo meat should be frozen before sale and then appropriately cooked to ensure cysts are inactivated.

Many people in Australia and other countries (that farm kangaroos for meat production) have never been concerned about the parasite load in wild or farmed kangaroos. They will eat it in a way that is not near a pasteurisation temperature. (Mirza Alizadeh et al., 2018.) Most people infected with Toxoplasma gondii will have no appreciable effect. The encysted parasite will exist dormant for years. The problem occurs in people who become immunosuppressed (especially transplant recipients) and develop symptoms of a lesion. Often, the lesion is in the brain. It used to be expected in patients with advanced HIV infection. To be fair, the likelihood of this occurring is remote, but it remains a possibility.

Equipment

• Precision cooker
• Water bath
• Frypan
• Gas torch

Ingredients

• Kangaroo
• Duck fat
• Iodised cooking salt to season the roo meat.

Instructions

1. Dry brine the meat overnight. Dry brining means seasoning the meat with salt and putting the steaks on a rack uncovered in the refrigerator.
2. Place the meat and duck fat into a vacuum bag. I do this because kangaroo meat is lean and doesn’t have much fat.
3. Cook the meat at 55 °C for 2 hours to ensure medium doneness and sufficient time and temperature for pasteurisation.
4. Remove the meat from the bag and dry the surface with a paper towel.
5. Sear the skin in a hot frypan and finish with a gas torch (if necessary).  
6. Serve the kangaroo with vegetables or eat it with extra seasonings like iodised flaky salt and freshly ground black peppercorns. If you’re following a meat-only diet, just the meat will be more than sufficient to satisfy your hunger. If you’re low-carbohydrate eating, the meat and some plant-based real foods like avocado, leafy green leaves, olives, and tomatoes are a good combination. If you’re not concerned with carbohydrates, potato mash, rice or pasta with gravy would go well with the meat. If you’re vegetarian or vegan, this animal meat won’t be suitable. I’m unaware of any commercially produced faux kangaroo meat suitable for plant-only eaters.
7. Always give thanks to the Lord.
8. Eat with whatever implements you prefer. Eating with your fingers is okay, in my opinion. For this meal, I used a knife and fork.

Thoughts on the meal

Kangaroo is not my favourite meat. I like beef and lamb. Kathleen loves kangaroo. I hope she enjoys how I cook kangaroo.

In my opinion, kangaroo has a neutral taste and chewy texture. It benefited from a lot of flaky salt and black pepper. The duck fat meant it seared better. While it would not be my last meal if I were on death row, I’d rather kangaroo every night of the week than ultra-processed food. (Cordova et al., 2023.) I’d also prefer real kangaroo over faux kangaroo meat.

If you’ve never eaten kangaroo or wallaby, it’s worth a go so you can decide for yourself. I know many people love the taste and texture of roo meat. The best macropod meat I’ve tasted was raw wallaby tail, done in a fashion similar to steak tartare. I should probably measure my anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies. 🤔

Fun stuff

Needless to say, I will not be participating in fairy bread festivities.

Disclaimer and comments

This post and other posts on this blog are not medical or health advice. I’m sharing my personal experiences from my lived experience. My opinions remain mine.

For health advice, see your regular medical practitioner. For diet advice, consult with appropriately registered professionals.

References

Borkens, Y. (2021). Toxoplasma gondii in Australian macropods (Macropodidae) and its implication to meat consumption. International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife, 16, 153–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2021.09.004

Cordova, R., Viallon, V., Fontvieille, E., Peruchet-Noray, L., Jansana, A., Wagner, K.-H., Kyrø, C., Tjønneland, A., Katzke, V., Bajracharya, R., Schulze, M. B., Masala, G., Sieri, S., Panico, S., Ricceri, F., Tumino, R., Boer, J. M. A., Verschuren, W. M. M., Van Der Schouw, Y. T., … Freisling, H. (2023). Consumption of ultra-processed foods and risk of multimorbidity of cancer and cardiometabolic diseases: A multinational cohort study. The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, 100771. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2023.100771

Dubey, J. P., Murata, F. H. A., Cerqueira-Cézar, C. K., Kwok, O. C. H., Su, C., & Grigg, M. E. (2021). Recent aspects on epidemiology, clinical disease, and genetic diversity of Toxoplasma gondii infections in Australasian marsupials. Parasites & Vectors, 14(1), 301. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-021-04793-4

Geesink, G. H., Van Den Heuvel, A., & Hunt, W. (2017). Meat quality attributes of Agile Wallabies. Meat Science, 133, 173–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci.2017.06.016

Hampton, J. O., Pain, D. J., Buenz, E., Firestone, S. M., & Arnemo, J. M. (2023). Lead contamination in Australian game meat. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 30(17), 50713–50722. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-25949-y

Kuffa, P., Pickard, J. M., Campbell, A., Yamashita, M., Schaus, S. R., Martens, E. C., Schmidt, T. M., Inohara, N., Núñez, G., & Caruso, R. (2023). Fiber-deficient diet inhibits colitis through the regulation of the niche and metabolism of a gut pathobiont. Cell Host & Microbe, S1931312823004201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2023.10.016

Mirza Alizadeh, A., Jazaeri, S., Shemshadi, B., Hashempour-Baltork, F., Sarlak, Z., Pilevar, Z., & Hosseini, H. (2018). A review on inactivation methods of Toxoplasma gondii in foods. Pathogens and Global Health, 112(6), 306–319. https://doi.org/10.1080/20477724.2018.1514137

Ratnasiri, S., & Bandara, J. (2017). Changing patterns of meat consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in Australia: Will kangaroo meat make a difference? PLOS ONE, 12(2), e0170130. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0170130

Shapiro, A., Bosward, K., Mathews, K., Vincent, G., Stenos, J., Tadepalli, M., & Norris, J. (2020). Molecular detection of Coxiella burnetii in raw meat intended for pet consumption. Zoonoses and Public Health, 67(4), 443–452. https://doi.org/10.1111/zph.12707

Legend

BMI = Body mass index.

CGM = Continuous glucose monitoring.

CSIRO TWD = Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Total Wellbeing Diet.

FMT = Faecal microbiota transfer.

LCHF = low-carbohydrate healthy-fat eating.

Red meat = is the meat of mammals, including pork.

SAD = Standard Australian diet (rich in carbohydrates, poor in healthy fats, and heaving in processed and ultra-processed products).  

T2DM = Type 2 diabetes mellitus.

TOS = Star Trek: The Original Series

TNG = Star Trek: The Next Generation