Howdy Folks!
I wanted to let y’all know about a project “The Sisson” has been working on for a long time which will change the world as we know it.
The innovation???
COLD FUSION!!! Woo-hoo!
Wait, no, it’s not cold fusion, it’s….COLD THERMOGENESIS!!!
Wait, that’s not right…let me check my notes…ok, here it is: Avocado oil based MAYONNAISE!
Now, that may not seem like an earth shaking innovation, but if you are trying to eat healthy and support ecologically minded products, this is a pretty big deal. Let’s take a page from high school writing class and do a little compare and contrast of conventional mayonnaise and Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil Mayo:
Standard Mayo
Take a gander at this ingredient list:
Soybean oil. Water. eggs.Sugar.Calcium EDTA. CHECK!
So, I’m not a big fan of soy. The ecological story is a disaster, it’s a common allergen, and it contains an annoyingly high concentration of oxidizable polyunsaturated fats. Sugar…I know there are some health gurus who will tell us sugar is benign. That’s crap. I was reading a paper the other day that puts puts average lifetime consumption of sugar for Westernized populations at more than 5,000lbs. Do we REALLY need sugar in our FAT? EDTA is a chelating agent that acts as a preservative by binding potentially reactive metal ions. I used this stuff a lot in my chemistry days and honestly, it’s not THAT toxic, but one can find better options. Eggs-I hope I don’t need to tell you these are not Farmer Brown’s eggs from the farmers-market.
Hippy Fail Mayo
Check out this ingredient list for the hippy version of mayo:
Canola oil. Eggs (pasteurized, NOT pastured!). water. Honey. Vinegar. Lemon juice.
I’ll be honest, this IS an improvement over the above example. Canola oil has a lower concentration of oxidizable polyunsaturated fats, but this is a story of “bad, better, Best.” I’m not concerned about getting a little canola oil when I’m eating out, but when you talk about using a decent amount of the stuff in a dressing or sauce…well, we can do better than that. On the ecological side canola oil is the darling of folks like Monsanto. I try to be pretty pragmatic about things, but I really can’t get excited about providing market share for those folks. I could make an argument that honey is a better option than sugar from a sustainability perspective, but again, do we need sugar in our fat? Lemon juice is used here both for flavoring and a preservative. Likely a better option than EDTA!
Primal Mayo
An ingredient list as clean and lean as The Sisson’s abs!
Avocado Oil. Organic Cage-Free Eggs. Organic Egg Yolks. Organic Vinegar (From Non-GMO Beets). Sea Salt. Rosemary Extract.
Avocado oil is sustainable and low in highly-oxidizable polyunsaturated fats. Pastured, organic eggs should be a pretty easy sell on the ethics, sustainability and quality story. Vinegar from sustainable, non-GMO beets is a nice option and this acts similar to the lemon juice above as both a flavor enhancer and a preservative. Now, what the heck is rosemary extract? Rosemary extract is a powerful antioxidant that works a bit like vitamin E. It’s been used in herbal medicine for years and has some interesting clinical applications.
So, is Primal Kitchen’s Avocado Mayo Chuck Norris Tears? No, but it’s a solid, well conceived product. My only complaint to date is that they do not have 1-gallon jars.
Yet.
I’ve talked for a long time about the need to develop products and markets supporting sustainable, ethically sourced food. Here ya go. If you are interested in checking out this fantastic product, you can get that through Thrive Market. If you have not signed up for Thrive, or if this is the first time you have heard about them, you can get more background info here.
Primal Kitchen Mayo contest
If you need a little kick in the britches to check out the avocado mayo and Thrive in general, this ought to do it. Folks who sign up get entered to win:
I love thrive and I love the primal mayo. My only complaint is that there’s no lemon juice for that slight lemon flavor I love in mayo. I still could go for a gallon jar though!
I can’t wait to try some of their products…eating Paleo demands being organized but it would be wonderful having some time saving products on hand when I either don’t have the energy or ingredients available. AWESOME!
hi Robb
Sounds like a great product but why would you not make your own?
Wayne-
Some people make their own clothes, I tend to buy mine! Seriously though, what is this? Convenience, right? Maybe you stash one of these at work. Or maybe you have 2 kids under 3, a seriously busy work life and do a lot of travel (me) and the admittedly short process of making homemade mayo is just not in the cards. I used to make HUGE 8 quart batches of homemade kraut but have only managed one pot in the past year. So, I buy the Bubbies live culture stuff.
My body produces abnormally high amounts of cholesterol regardless of dietary consumption. Current ldl numbers are around 136. Hdl 56. Triglycerides 45. I exercise regularly. Any ideas on how to naturally lower ldl?
Jim-
IMO you need to get your LDL-P and LP(a) checked. Cholesterol as a standalone is not a good indicator of CVD risk IMO. To better understand all this I highly recommend Chris Kresser’s High Cholesterol Action Plan: http://robbwolf.com/shop/recommended/high-cholesterol-action-plan/
I’d love to try it!
Last week I read an article about food additives, and in it they mentioned how rosemary extract is often a case of “clean labeling” some chemically antioxidants to keep food longer. Is that the case here?
“Picking up a salami, even the most guarded shopper might relax when they see rosemary extract on the ingredients list – but rosemary extracts are actually “clean-label” substitutes for the old guard of techie-sounding antioxidants (E300-21), such as butylhydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylhydroxytoluene (BHT). Food manufacturers use them to slow down the rate at which foods go rancid, so extending their shelf life.”
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/21/a-feast-of-engineering-whats-really-in-your-food
Laurence-
YES. Food that is not prepped and eaten immediately (or frozen) MUST have some kind of anti-oxidant and or antimicrobial activity. Otherwise one ends up selling this REALLY toxic stuff called “mold.” That article is pretty frustrating to be honest as the person clearly does not have a chemistry background, nor consulted with anyone on the topic. In traditional food preparation we had salting, and fermentation…and that was about it. Later came canning, but the use of citric acid, ascorbic acid, rosemary extracts, etc. are to function as antioxidants and or as antimicrobial agents.
I often see people concerned about “chemicals” in food. In our known universe we have matter, and energy. If it’s matter, it’s made of a “chemical.” That article paints BHT as some kind of franken-chemical, but it’s an antioxidant (again, working on similar chemical principles as Vit-E) which is sold as…get this…A nutritional supplement:http://www.amazon.com/BHT-Butylated-Hydroxytoluene-250mg-capsules/dp/B002KCC9LY?gclid=CNrLm9i92sQCFcHm7AodK0YA2g
Laurence- Let me know if this helps, or makes the topic muddier.
I was asking because since I read the article so recently it was still close to my thoughts and I was still curious. I’m very happy with your answer and I am not concerned at all, since I too would rather not eat mold! I can make my own mayo, and if I were to buy this one, it would be so it can stay in the fridge a bit longer! Thanks for the reply!
Glad to help!
I didn’t see Rosemary Extract in the ingredient list you pictured. Where did you see that?
Vicki- The Rosemary extract is listed on the website for the product…let me ask about that: http://primalkitchen.com/products/mayo/
Vicki-
So, the bottle I took a photo of was one of the earlier batches and did not THEN contain rosemary extract. The current version does. I’ll update that when Mark’s folks ping me a photo.
For my own part, I will be glad to see it for sale in other venues. Nothing against Thrive, its’ just…too many memberships too many places, too many bulk orders just for free shipping. Makes my head spin, and I’m not signing up for yet another paid membership. When I can order it somewhere else I will definitely give it a try!
I took your advise and ordered a jar from Thrive… Good lord, Can I sign up for monthly deliveries? This stuff is yummy and extremely convenient to whip up a batch of egg or tuna salad… Thank you for the tip!
This stuff is the BOMB! I purchased it when I joined Thrive a couple of months ago and then went to reorder and it was sold out. Happily it’s back in stock and I was able to order 4 jars….Yes! it should come in Much Bigger jars. It makes everything better, YUM!
I purchased this about a month ago. Three jars were offered for a good price. This is the best mayo I have ever eaten. Gifted one jar to my cousin and he can’t believe how wonderful it tastes.