As I continue to experiment with weight loss, I have hit upon a way to maintain my weight. For breakfast, I drink a celery leaf/distilled water/toasted banana leaf beverage that helps me function through the morning until lunch. I think it acts similarly to green tea. Then at lunch and dinner, I drink a homemade broccoli/cacao nib/gelatin bevereage. Here are the steps for the smoothie/beverage I make:
(1) Dissolve beef gelatin powder (about 1 tablespoon) in distilled water (about 1/2 cup) in a jar.
(2) Blend at high speed raw unsweetened cacao nibs (about 1/2 tablespoon), fresh rinsed broccoli florets (about 1 cup), and distilled water (about 2/3 cup) until steaming (for me, this means approximately 49 seconds in a Blendtec blender).
(3) Pour the contents of the blender from step (2) into the jar from step (1) and mix. Dilute with more distilled water to the preferred consistency. Drink throughout the meal.
I think the smoothie works because step (2) makes a sulfur molecule--I think it might be the HS⎺ ion--which then attaches to an amino acid or small peptide in the hydrated gelatin to make a molecule similar to cysteine, taurine, or hypotaurine.* Consuming this sulfur-containing molecule via the smoothie throughout the meal seems to give a weight maintenance benefit similar to that obtained by drinking some varieties of wine throughout a meal.
* For a possible mechanism of action, see Kulakowski EC, Maturo J. Hypoglycemic properties of taurine: not mediated by enhanced insulin release. Biochem Pharmacol. 1984 Sep 15;33(18):2835-8. doi: 10.1016/0006-2952(84)90204-1. PMID: 6383406. Online at https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-2952(84)90204-1: "Pretreatment with taurine (200 mg/kg, i.p.) attenuated the rise in serum glucose levels at 0.5 hr after glucose administration. In addition, taurine also prevented the rise in serum immunoreactive insulin levels. The taurine analogue hypotaurine produced a similar inhibition in the rise of both serum glucose and insulin levels while β-alanine, the carboxylic acid derivative of taurine, was totally ineffective. The enhanced glucose clearance can be explained by an increase in deoxyglucose accumulation in skeletal muscle and liver. In the liver, a 50% increase in glycogen synthesis was observed. A possible interrelationship between taurine and insulin receptor is discussed."
