Gardening Granny's Gardening Pages

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

February 4, 2020 - half over

Begonia

We are now halfway through winter, calendar winter anyway. There are 45 days until the spring equinox. By the end of the month there are 11 hours and 12 min of daylight as we rapidly gain daylight hours. In January we only gained 48 minutes of light in 31 days. In February we gain 69 minutes in 28 days.

This winter has been mild here so far although I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. So far, it’s a zone 7 winter, two zones higher than normal. And as the days start getting longer a return to colder winter weather gets more problematic. Plants have adjusted to the warmer conditions and are starting to come out of dormancy. Temperatures falling below zero now will do more damage than if the weather had been cold all along.

Yesterday was the first at least partly sunny day here in about 10 days. Even though it’s mild the weather has been very gloomy. We had two inches of very fluffy snow on Saturday that melted on Sunday. According to the weather service we are about 20 inches behind our normal amount of snow by this time, but that’s okay by me.

In some parts of Michigan pussy willows are beginning to bloom, I expect to hear of crocus or snowdrops blooming. In fact, I have a single snowdrop in bloom by my deck, with others nearby popping out of the ground. This is the earliest I have ever had snowdrops bloom. My roses have little dieback, the stems remain green and the buds red. I could see the buds swelling on the trees and the yellow cast to the weeping willow across the road that signifies the leaf buds are swelling.

Snowdrop

Yesterday I saw turkey buzzards, they do not usually come back until April. The skunks have been out mating, they are pretty close to their normal schedule. They generally go back into hibernation after a week or two. My resident possum brought a friend home one day last week, but then the two of them disappeared. They, groundhogs and racoons also breed this time of year.

Here in my area and most areas of the country, the groundhog did not see his shadow, so we are supposed to have an early spring. I don’t know how the groundhog thing got started. Basically, anyone could go outside and see if they saw their own shadow. In fact, you just need to look out the window and see if it’s a sunny day. If it’s sunny objects will cast a shadow. There is a movement to stop dragging groundhogs out of their den for this silly ritual. Several years ago, a groundhog died after a newscaster dropped him.

Groundhogs do come out of their burrows once in a while on warm days in the winter. But I’m sure they don’t know when it’s Groundhog Day and come out voluntarily to be a folklore weather forecaster. I think it’s time to stop it. Just use a stuffed groundhog if you must persist in the ritual. If you want to learn more about groundhogs or woodchucks here’s an article on my blog you can read;

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/woodchucks-groundhogs-and-whistle-pigs.html

Caution- don’t rely on herbal remedies for Coronavirus

Already circulating online are many claims for an herbal cure for the new coronavirus. I have read about elderberry syrup, kimchi, honeysuckle concoctions, areca and betel nuts, and various Ayurveda, homeopathy and Chinese medicine remedies being touted as both prevention and cures. Please do not risk your health and that of others by using these remedies or sharing the information with others. Social media has pledged to remove these false sources of information and you can help by reporting them when you see one.

Viruses are not curable by most conventional or natural methods. Prevention by herbal remedies or conventional medicine is also impossible, with the exception of a vaccine, when available. What can prevent the coronavirus is frequent hand washing, staying out of crowded areas, staying away from sick people, and keeping your immune system strong with enough sleep and nutritious foods.

Masks that you buy in the drugstore won’t prevent you from getting viruses either, although they may keep you from spreading any viruses you may have. They may help a little, but don’t count on them to keep you safe.

If you feel you have symptoms of the new coronavirus or the flu, the symptoms are similar, fever, cough, chest discomfort, breathing difficulty, call your doctor or a clinic. They will advise you on what to do. It’s best to call before going to an emergency room, doctor’s office or clinic so they can give you directions on how to prevent infecting others when you arrive. If you aren’t seriously sick, they may ask you to remain home and will tell you what to do. Please stay home from work and away from other people.

Using home remedies to ease symptoms is okay in most cases, just don’t expect them to cure you, keep you from infecting others, or prevent the illness. Chicken soup, warm tea with honey, vapor rubs, aspirin and other things can at least make you feel a bit better.

Right now, the new coronavirus is still quite rare in this country, but the flu is killing thousands. The best thing our government could do would be to ban working with the public while sick, using public transportation when sick or going to stores, restaurants, theaters, schools and other public places while sick. But they won’t. And everyone always thinks they should be the exception to the rule, so we won’t.

Focus on Honeyberry (Lonicera caerulea)

If you have trouble growing blueberries in your soil you may want to try growing Honeyberries. Even if you can grow blueberries you may want to try honeyberries as they ripen much earlier than blueberries. If you are into perennial food plants honeyberry is also a good choice. Other common names include fly honeysuckle, blue honeysuckle and haskap.

The honeyberry is a member of the honeysuckle family. There are several species native to many parts of Asia, Russia, Europe and North America. If you grow only native plants, you may have a hard time deciphering which honeyberries are native. There are many cultivated species, and some are hybrids of species. Since the plants are not invasive, I would not worry about the country of origin. Cultivated species have larger and more abundant fruit.

Honeyberries are extremely hardy plants and may survive were blueberries won’t. Some varieties/species are hardy to zone 2 and all are hardy to zone 4. They are plants of temperate cool climates and above zone 7 there may not be enough winter chilling conditions for fruit to form.

Honeyberry flower

Honeyberries form large shrubs averaging about 4 feet tall and wide, but sometimes reaching 6 feet in favorable conditions. They can be pruned to be a little smaller but too much pruning will reduce fruiting. The plants could be used as a deciduous screen or hedge, but their ornamental qualities are only fair. Fall color is a dull yellow.

While honeyberries don’t require acidic soil like blueberries, they don’t grow well in very alkaline soil either. Soil between 6 and 7.5 pH would be ideal. The soil should be well drained. They do tolerate moist areas if they well drained. After establishment they are fairly drought tolerant also.

Honeyberries can tolerate partial shade, but full sun is needed for good fruit production. In zone 7, some light or partial shade will help keep leaves from scorching.

Since honeyberries are not self-compatible for pollination purposes you will need to have room in the garden for at least two large plants if you want fruit. Gardeners will need to plant two different compatible varieties to get fruit. Catalogs will usually sell two types that can pollinate each other. Do not buy two plants of the same variety, you must have two different varieties to produce fruit and those varieties should flower at the same time. Plants need to be within 50 feet of each other and both plants will produce fruit.

Honeyberries have blue green oval leaves. They leaf out early in spring and start producing vigorous new growth. This new growth is where the flowers and fruit will form. The flowers are pale yellow or white and produced very early in spring. They have a mild sweet scent and a plant in bloom is pretty and attracts pollinators.

Honeyberry fruits are long and tubular. They start out rosy pink and ripen into deep blue. Fruits have pale flat seeds inside that aren’t noticeable when eaten. Usually fruits ripen by late May, generally before strawberries ripen, and are the first fruits in the garden. They are well hidden by the foliage, growing under the leaves and so escape bird bites easier than other berries.

Fruit is easy to harvest when fully ripe. Catalogs use all kinds of fruit comparisons to describe the taste from lemon-blueberry to cherry-grape but the way I would describe it is tart-sweet and bland. Fruit can be eaten fresh, frozen or turned into jelly. It is high in antioxidants and vitamin C.

Honeyberry fruit

Cultivation and care

Gardeners will generally start with small plants, as smaller plants transplant better. Make sure to plant them where you won’t have to move them. It can take 3-4 years to start getting fruit and fruit production increases with age. They can then bear fruit for 20-30 years.

Plant honeyberries 4-5 feet apart in full sun. Keep them watered during the first year as they get established. In the future they probably won’t need watering unless there is an extended drought.

Fertilizing also isn’t needed unless your soil is very lacking in nutrients. However, a light application of a general-purpose fertilizer in early spring at the base of the plants may improve fruit yield.

Honeyberry plants should not be pruned heavily. Fruit forms on new wood that develops in the spring so plants should only be pruned in winter when they are dormant. Remove dead stems anytime. Otherwise a light thinning in the center and reducing the height and width a little if needed is all that should be done. Never remove more than 1/3 of the plant.

In warmer zones honeyberry plants may develop powdery mildew. This is a gray-white coating on the leaves which may cause them to yellow and fall. It won’t kill the plants but will make them look bad. Preventative fungicides can be used in warmer, humid climates.

While birds do eat the berries, honeyberry is not considered to be an invasive plant and seedling plants in the wild are rare. Plants do not sucker or spread by the roots.

If you are a gardener who likes experimenting with the unusual or someone into perennial food plants or edible landscaping the honeyberry may be a good addition to your garden or landscape. Plants are available from many nurseries and are inexpensive compared to other fruits.

Sweet Potato leaves make great salad greens

Are you over-wintering an ornamental sweet potato plant indoors? They do make good houseplants. Unlike regular white or Irish potatoes, the leaves of sweet potato are edible. If you do have a sweet potato plant inside, you may want to harvest some of its leaves for your next salad.

A study done by Louisiana State University and published in Horticultural Science found that sweet potato leaves are very nutritious, being high in Vitamins C, B6, and riboflavin as well as containing other vitamins and minerals. The leaves and young shoots of sweet potato are as nutritious as broccoli, carrots, bananas and other fruits and vegetables.

The leaves and stems of sweet potato leaves and stems are not poisonous and can be added to any salad or eaten alone. Sweet potato leaves and stems can also be eaten as cooked greens, just like spinach and just as nutritious. Just make sure that the sweet potato leaves you use haven’t been treated by pesticides.

Ornamental sweet potatoes

Sweet Potatoes grown for ornamental use come in a variety of colors and even varying leaf shapes. There is no reason ornamental varieties would not be great salad plants. Sweet Potato plants will grow in sunny windows inside during the winter or under a grow light. They do need to be kept in warmer rooms and kept moist to grow well. You could use them for a salad plant all winter and then put them back out as an ornamental container plant.

It’s also easy to start cuttings of sweet potato over the winter simply by putting pieces of stem into a jar of water. Toothpicks can be stuck in a sweet potato from the market and the bottom of the tuber stuck in a jar of water. It should sprout and then you can pot it in potting mix. This could be an excellent project for kids.

February almanac

It’s Leap Year this year so February has 29 days. Adding a day to February, which always seems the longest and dreariest month anyway, seems cruel. So why do we add a day to our year every 4 years? The earth completes a circle around the sun every 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45 seconds. If we did not adjust our calendar every 4 years we would soon be way out of sync between the natural year and the calendar year.

There are other rules to determine a leap year and keep things tidy too. A leap year has to be divisible by 4, for example 2020. But it cannot be evenly divisible by 100 unless it can also be evenly divisible by 400. So, 2000 was a leap year but the year 1900 was not. The year 2100 will not be a leap year either.

There are some interesting traditions surrounding Leap Year/Day. One of them is that on February 29^th a woman can propose to a man. In the Middle Ages if a man did not accept that proposal, he had to buy a woman 12 pairs of gloves. At some point in time this was an actual law.

In many countries it is considered unlucky to be born on February 29^th. In some countries it is considered to be an unlucky year to be married in too. The Henriksen family from Andenes, Norway holds the record for the most children born on February 29 in one family – 3 children. A February 29^th birthday can cause some kinks in the law, for example when does a child born on Leap Day become of legal age? Different countries handle this in different ways.

The full moon is on the 9^th this February and coincides with moon perigee on the 10^th, the closest point the moon comes to earth in the month. This makes for high tides and a better chance of precipitation around this time. It’s called the Full Snow Moon. The moon apogee is the 26^th.

By the 28^th there are 11 hours and 12 min of daylight as we rapidly gain on spring equinox. In January we only gained 48 minutes of light in 31 days. In February we gain 69 minutes in 28 days. It’s leap year so we may gain a minute more. Go sun go!

February is National Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month, American Heart Month, Marijuana Awareness Month, National Bird Feeding Month, National Cherry Month, National Grapefruit Month, and National Bake for Your Family Month.

The 2^nd was Candlemas day as well as Groundhog Day. It is the halfway point through winter and also the beginning of housecleaning for spring. The 5^th is National Pancake Day. The 12^th is Lincolns Birthday, Darwin Day and Plum Pudding day. The 14^th is Valentine’s Day as well as National Condom day, and for those who don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day, it’s also National Library Day. The 15^th is Susan B. Anthony’s Birthday. Presidents Day is the 19^th. Tortilla Chip day is the 24^th, National Pistachio day is the 27^th. National Public Sleeping Day is the 28^th, have fun with that.

The February birth flower is the violet, which symbolizes faithfulness, humility and chastity. African violets are being featured in many stores in February and make a good gift for a gardener. The February birthstone is the Amethyst.

Halva or Sex Candy

Valentines Day is just around the corner. Why not whip up some candy that promises to make your Valentine partner more amorous? Halva is a fudge like candy made from sesame seeds that has been considered an aphrodisiac since at least the 13^th century. All respectable harams in the Mid-East had halva kitchens where dozens of varieties were prepared.

The candy was a trade item eagerly sought by many countries in earlier times and many countries developed their own versions of halva. Health food stores now sell the treat and it is pretty healthy as candy goes.

A halva recipe starts with what we know as tahini, or a paste made from hulled, roasted sesame seeds. Tahini paste has other uses in cooking too. The paste can often be found in the baking or spice section of groceries. You can make your own tahini but that adds an extra layer of work to a halva recipe. Here’s a simple halva recipe.

Ingredients

2 cups honey,

1½ cups tahini paste

2 cups of sliced or chopped nuts. Toasted sliced almonds, toasted pecans or chopped walnuts or pistachios are good choices.

Directions

Line a loaf pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil sprayed with pan spray.

Into a medium sized pan pour two cups of honey (pure honey, not corn syrup honey).

In another pan place 1½ cups tahini paste. Stir it well to combine the oils that often separate out with the solids.

First put the honey pan on low heat and cook until it reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer or soft ball stage. Remove from heat.

Heat the tahini pan until the tahini is just warm, about 120 degrees and thin and smooth.

Pour the tahini into the honey, stirring constantly until it’s smooth and begins to thicken. Stir in your nuts.

Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and refrigerate. Halva should sit at least 12 hours before slicing for best results and is better a day or so later. Tightly wrap uneaten halva with plastic wrap and keep refrigerated to store.

While it is February one can taste the full joys of anticipation. Spring stands at the gate with her finger on the latch.

-Patience Strong

Kim Willis

All parts of this blog are copyrighted and may not be used without permission.

And So On….

Find Michigan garden events/classes here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/118847598146598/

(This is the Lapeer County Gardeners facebook page)

Newsletter/blog information

If you have a comment or opinion you’d like to share, send it to me or you can comment directly on the blog. Please state that you want to have the item published in my weekly blog if you email me. You must give your full name and what you say must be polite and not attack any individual. I am very open to ideas and opinions that don’t match mine, but I do reserve the right to publish what I want. Contact me at KimWillis151@gmail.com

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

January 28, 2020 midwinter musing

Hi Gardeners

Akebia flower

Since the weather has been wet and gloomy, I’ve been finding things to do inside. I get a lot of magazines; the mailperson must hate me even though it’s job security. Some of those magazines are garden magazines, or at least they claim to be garden magazines. Many of them should be classified as catalogs for fancy garden supplies with a few words sandwiched between them.

I get one magazine called Flower. It does have a few flowers in the photos of fancy homes here and there. And it always gives you directions for creating a very fancy floral arrangement in each issue. But mostly it features outlandishly expensive floral wallpaper or a crystal vase with gold inlay that you can buy for only $600. It may show you the home of a famous person and look, there on the mantel is a bouget of roses, in an unusual shade that just matches everything in the room so perfectly.

Guns and Roses is a similar magazine. Not much about guns or roses, but a lot about expensive patio chairs. Better Homes and Gardens occasionally has a very general article about gardening but it’s mostly about homes, although it’s not quite as boring as the others. I get a lot of these magazines free or at very low cost, and after looking through them, I’d never subscribe at the regular price.

I also get Martha Stewart Living. It doesn’t claim to be a gardening magazine, so I can’t complain about that. This month’s issue promised to talk about Martha’s gardens. Martha has 4 gardens actually, at 4 different homes scattered around the country. Some of them have relatively small acreage some are large estates. Martha is seen in pictures planting bulbs or walking along a path in some of the garden pictures.

But there is no mention anywhere about the gardeners who must maintain these gardens of Martha. Because she surely doesn’t, even though the article makes it sound like Martha is the sole caretaker. She’s not even at some of the homes more than a couple weeks a year. And besides, she has all that glitter to glue on place cards and cupcakes to decorate.

It’s no wonder new gardeners often feel frustrated and overwhelmed when they look at gardens like Martha’s, professionally designed, planted and maintained and then at their garden. They wonder why they don’t have a green thumb and why they can’t manage their time better. Because they haven’t been gardening long, they don’t realize the extent of the help those gardens like Martha’s have.

I don’t think it’s wrong for gardeners to hire help, if you can afford to and want to. Many people make a good living being someone else’s gardener. I also enjoy looking at those beautiful professionally designed and meticulously groomed gardens. I just wish when people like Martha show off their gardens, they would acknowledge the work that someone else, or many someone else’s do.

Would it hurt Martha to mention the hard work of this or that person? Would it hurt to explain the labor and time involved in some of those gardens? If Martha really wants to instruct and inspire people, she should be honest about her own gardening involvement and what it truly takes to have gardens like hers. And telling us about the real gardeners would be an interesting story, at least to me.

Don’t even get me started on AARP Magazine, which mentioned in a column this month that people should grow lavender in their bedroom to help them relax. Not put lavender in their bedroom but grow it. Lavender doesn’t grow well indoors. There were some other silly suggestions about herbal plants too. I guess I need to write a letter. Okay, I’ll move on from my rant about magazines.

What do you have blooming inside? I have holiday cactus, pomegranate, hibiscus, begonias, gerbera daisy and geraniums. My amaryllis blooms have faded but another pot is putting out shoots so I will have more blooms in about a month. Having blooming plants inside in the winter makes everything seem more cheerful.

It’s a good time to shop for houseplants and there are many houseplants that can provide you with blooms. African violets, orchids, the “holiday cacti”, anthuriums, azaleas, bromeliads, cyclamen, gloxinia, and kalanchoe are common blooming plants sold at this time of the year.

Food plants lost in time

When we picture early people living in North America growing food, we often think about corn, sunflowers, beans and squash. But before North American people began growing corn or maize, which was domesticated in South or Central America and worked its way north, they were growing at least 5 other types of plants that we classify as grain crops.

Over 4 thousand years ago the archeological record shows us that people in North America were growing crops that provided them with seeds (grain) that could be stored. These crops allowed many cultures that practiced agriculture to flourish and establish larger villages and towns.

Ethno-botanists have proven that at least 4 of these grain crops were selected over time or domesticated, to produce larger seeds and more productive plants. Unfortunately, the domesticated versions of these crops have been lost to time. Once corn became widespread in agricultural societies and especially after European grains arrived, these crops were no longer grown.

Although these plants are no longer grown as crops, you probably know some of them. Indeed, you may consider them weeds in your garden. And researchers are studying these ancient grains to see if they could once again feed people in a changing climate. You might want to experiment with them yourself, or forage some of them.

Goosefoot, or Lambsquarters (Chenopodium album) will probably be the plant most familiar to gardeners across the US and in many other places of the world. It’s a common annual garden weed. Known as wild spinach, the young leaves and plant tops are still eaten by foragers. While it is thought that early indigenous people may also have eaten it as a green, they also grew it for its seeds. They developed several domesticated varieties with larger and more nutritious seeds. There are several species of Chenopodium and species may have crossbred to form the domesticated varieties.

Lambsquarter flowering

Lambsquarters gets its Latin name album, meaning white, because it’s young leaves and seed heads appear to be dusted in white. It produces seeds in mid to late summer. Some plants produce a later fall crop also. Seeds range from round and black to brown and more oval in shape. The seeds found in archaeological sites are larger than the seeds of wild varieties.

Lambsquarter seeds were boiled, roasted or dried and ground into a flour that was used to thicken stews or make primitive breads. They are a good source of carbohydrates and a minor source of fat and protein. About 50-90% of seeds found stored in early archeological sites were from Chenopodium seeds. This plant probably has the best chance to once again become domesticated as a grain crop.

The second most important and most often grown plant in early indigenous cultures was Polygonum erectum or erect knotweed. Gardeners may know several species of knotweed as weeds, although the species once domesticated for grain P. erectum is not as common as other species. There are also knotweeds that have been turned into ornamental plants.

Knotweeds are known for their “knotted” stem nodes, which are often red or purple shaded. The flowers on a “wand” at the top of the plant also look somewhat like knots, or balls. They can be pink, red, green or yellow. The seeds of P.erectum are produced throughout summer and are variable in shape and color.

The domesticated knotweed of earlier times produced smoother and larger seeds than the wild type and it was thought that they were selected to produce a more concentrated harvest time in late summer. Early people used the seeds as a starchy grain in the same way as Chenopodium seeds. The seeds and plants also had medicinal uses, they were used as a dye, and some species of knotweed may have been smoked.

This is a knotweed planted in my yard that is supposed to be
P. erectum. Since ID is difficult I won't swear that it is.

A recent study published in the Journal of Ethnobiology, found that when lambsquarters and knotweed were grown together the yield of both was improved. They produced as much food value as a crop of maize of similar size grown in that time would have produced. Since the seeds are often found together at archeological sites this may be how they were grown.

The other plants that were grown for their grain by early Americans were maygrass, little barley and sumpweed. Researchers have had a hard time growing these as crops in our time, but the plants do still exist in the wild.

Maygrass, Phalaris caroliniana is an annual grass that produces starchy seeds in late spring- early summer when other food is scarce. It is very similar to Canary Reed Grass, a weedy grass of crop fields that is more common now than maygrass. It has more protein than many other grains and is high in vitamins and minerals. It was quite commonly grown in the central Mississippi River valley by the Cahokia culture. It will grow in moist and flooded areas.

Maygrass

Sumpweed, or Marshelder (Iva annua var. macrocarpa) was another plant that grew in floodplains. The domesticated species no longer exists but there is a wild species left in some places. The plant has seeds similar to wheat. The extinct domesticated species had seeds 1000 times larger than seeds on modern wild types.

Sumpweed matures in fall. The seeds are oily and high in protein, calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium, thiamine, niacin, and B-complex vitamins. They would have provided a good, concentrated nutritional food source. However, sumpweed has some draw backs. Like a relative, ragweed, sumpweed is highly allergenic. It also has an odor, which at least to people today, is unpleasant. It may have been harder to process and use than other grains. It was probably the first early grain crop to be lost when corn was introduced into its growing areas.

Sumpweed

The last of the ancient grains, little barley Hordeum pusillum causes some dissention among archeologists. Some believe it was not domesticated but just foraged and stored. Others believe it would have to be cultivated in concentrated plots to be worth gathering, since the seeds were small. Like Maygrass it forms seeds in late spring when food is scarce. It was nutritious and would have been an important food source.

While a few differences have been found in seeds recovered at archeological sites compared to today’s wild grown seeds, the differences do not seem large or consistent. In the wild today dense stands of this plant can be found so it’s possible this plant was just foraged.

Little Barley
University of Missouri photo

We can’t know for sure how the earliest farmers and gardeners in North America grew these grain crops, since there is no written record. And when corn and then European grains were introduced into North America, these crops were slowly abandoned, and we have no surviving cultures growing them. Were the new crops easier to grow? More productive? Tastier? We have no way to know.

It is interesting that to think that we have food crops growing all around us that we might be able to utilize as the environment changes. Gardeners may look at weeds a bit differently when you think of them as domesticated crops gone wild.

More reading

https://pages.wustl.edu/fritz/polygonum-erectum-l.

https://archaeology.uiowa.edu/erect-knotweed

https://archaeology.uiowa.edu/goosefoot

https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/polygonum/erectum/

https://ethnobiology.org/maygrass-phalaris-caroliniana-meaning-early-native-north-american-crop

https://gailewagner.weebly.com/sequence-of-domestication-in-eastern-north-america.html

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/12/191224085707.htm

Should soy oil should be taken off the market?

I am of the age when I remember margarine as something fairly new to the public. It was being touted as preventing heart disease and I remember my mother nagging my grandparents to give up butter and lard and use margarine and shortening. Those products were being made from soy oil and corn oil. Early margarines were white, and you mixed in a little tube of yellow food coloring when you bought it. They also did not taste like butter. I grew up eating margarine and had to reeducate my taste when I found out how unhealthy margarine was.

What is alarming is that we now know margarine is not better for us than butter, and we know that soy oil is widely suspected to be a contributor to, perhaps even a cause of, several deadly diseases. Research has linked soy oil products to obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes and now genetic changes in the brain. Research is pointing to a conclusion that humans should not consume soy oil. Yet soy oil is still in American diets.

Five years or so ago several research reports linked soybean oil to metabolic syndrome, diabetes, obesity and fatty liver disease. We also know that people who are around soybean oil being used to fry foods have a higher risk of lung cancer and restaurants are no longer allowed to deep fry with it. Now new research has found that consumption of soy oil cause changes to the genes in the brains of animals, changes that in humans correspond to Alzheimer’s Disease, autism, Parkinson’s disease and even anxiety and depression.

Research done at UC Riverside, California and published in the journal Endocrinology, found that mice fed a diet high in soybean oil had the functioning of over 100 genes in the hypothalamus changed. The changes did not occur when mice were fed diets high in other fats, like coconut oil.

The hypothalamus is a part of the brain that controls many important brain and nervous system functions, and the reproductive system. It regulates metabolism, growth, body temperature, reproductive hormones, the body’s reaction to stress, and a number of other things. The changes in gene functioning corresponded to changes researchers find in human conditions such as autism, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other conditions related to stress and anxiety.

Researchers are trying to find out what chemicals in soy oil are responsible for the gene damage. They know it isn’t linoleic acid, the chemical in soy oil found to be what causes metabolic syndrome and diabetes. Since those early findings came out crop researchers developed low linoleic acid soy varieties. But when researchers used those varieties in a study they found no difference in how the brain was affected than when normal soy oil was used.

Researchers can’t say definitively yet that soy oil consumption causes autism, Alzheimer’s and so on, but the suspicion is strong that it is at least a contributing cause to those brain disorders. More research studies are being done. Anytime something that is consumed alters genetic expression it is of great concern. Soy oil may be genetically modifying you.

Researchers say they believe tofu and fermented soy sauce would be safe to consume, although no research confirms that. But they urge people to consume as little soy oil as possible. It is especially unwise to consume soy oil in the first 3 months of pregnancy when genes are more easily damaged in the fetus. Drinks made from soy, frequently called soy “milk”, have not been tested yet to see if they could contribute to disease.

Soy oil is the most common oil sold in the US. It’s a highly refined product, you can’t just squeeze the beans, they have to be heated and chemically treated. Soybean oil was first manufactured to be a lubricant, not an edible oil. It was a new cash crop for farmers and supply outstripped demand, so clever people did things like add flavoring to hardened soy oil and sell it to us as margarine. They told us to take the lubricant and fry our potatoes in it.

But while research in the last 10 years is pointing to the fact that soy oil has harmful effects on the human body it’s still in all kinds of food products, in things you wouldn’t even expect oil was needed. It’s cheap and plentiful, especially now that the foreign market for soybeans has been drastically reduced because of the trade war. Even if you don’t use soy oil in your kitchen, you are probably still eating it every day.

Try finding a salad dressing without soy oil. You may get lucky but unless you make your own, most salad dressings contain soy oil. Soy oil is used to roast peanuts and put in peanut butter. It’s still used to fry chips and other snack foods. It’s in bakery items, condiments, frozen dinners, even some canned goods. Read the labels on things in your cupboards and refrigerator, you’ll be amazed. I just found soy oil listed as an ingredient in a cocoa mix.

I think it’s time the government regulates the use of soy, banning it from most food products. Nutritional research is tricky, you don’t want to feed people things that will harm them, and outside a lab it’s really hard to control what people eat in long term studies. If there’s scientific evidence that soy oil may be causing or contributing to metabolic disorders and modifying genes in the brain, even just in animal studies, we should ban the product from the market until independent studies prove that it isn’t harming humans.

I think soy oil is more harmful to humans than trace amounts of pesticides on food that people get worked up over. I avoid soy oil containing products as much as possible, and you may want to do the same. It may be too late for a generation that grew up consuming tons of it, but we may be able to reduce its damage to future generations. What do you think?