If your making medibles or canna caps, or infusing gylcerin gel you really need to know about lecithin. It comes in three forms, powder, granuals and liquid. I have only used the powder. It is an emulsifier ......
What is an emulsifier?
When water and oil are mixed together and vigorously shaken, a dispersion of oil droplets in water - and vice versa - is formed. When shaking stops, the phases start to separate. However, when an emulsifier is added to the system, the droplets remain dispersed, and a stable emulsion is obtained.
An emulsifier consists of a water-loving hydrophilic head and an oil-loving hydrophobic tail. The hydrophilic head is directed to the aqueous phase and the hydrophobic tail to the oil phase (see figure 1). The emulsifier positions itself at the oil/water or air/water interface and, by reducing the surface tension, has a stabilising effect on the emulsion.
As an emulsifier when you mix it in glycerin gel with hash oil it makes the two dis-similar liquids mix. Alone the gel and the oil are like oil and water, they do not mix well. So we have that, it mixes oils and other liquids. And what most people do not realize is that it also helps in edibles with our uptake. Hash oil by itself is very thick and sticky. When we eat edibles the oil has to pass through our intestinal walls to be taken up in our bodies, no other way to do it in edibles. Hash oil is not taken up efficiently do to it's characteristics. When you add and mix in lecithin, the smaller oil particles are more easily taken up. So you get more bang for the buck so to speak. The oil won't make you higher, you just get a more efficient uptake, so less is more. You will need much less hash oil when you use lecithin to get the same effect. So in the case of canna caps you can use less plant material (or oil)to get the same effect or use the same plant materials for a greater effect.
I bought my lecithin off the net in powder form, and found it may be the easiest to work with. It melts in infusions quickly. It might leave a yellowish color, and very little taste, but a creamy texture. You can also get it in capsule form from health stores (70% of our brains is lecithin) But I would not recommend to buy it that way due to the cost. A lb of powdered lecithin is relatively cheap ($12-15). Because there is little difference in price i get organic soy based lecithin and have not tried other versions.
So if you make and use medibles, extractions, infusions, or caps IOW, if you eat your meds, you really need to check out using lecithin.....
I won't dwell on it but we have found coconut oil works very very well in infusions and extractions and replaces all of our other oils and even butter in canna recipes, and of course it works even better with lecithin.............Scrappy
Wiki link below.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lecithin
Properties and applications
Lecithin has emulsification and lubricant properties, and is a surfactant. It can be totally metabolized (see Inositol) by humans, so is well tolerated by humans and nontoxic when ingested; some emulsifiers can only be excreted via the kidneys.
Lecithin is used for applications in human food, animal feed, pharmaceutical, paint, and other industrial applications.
Applications listed by one manufacturer, in addition to food applications, include:[4]
In the pharmaceutical industry, it acts as a wetting, stabilizing agent and a choline enrichment carrier, helps in emulsifications and encapsulation, and is a good dispersing agent. It can be used in manufacture of intravenous fat infusions and for therapeutic use.
In animal feed, it enriches fat and protein and improves pelletization.
In the paint industry, it forms protective coatings for surfaces with painting and printing ink, has antioxidant properties, helps as a rust inhibitor, is a colour-intensifying agent, catalyst, conditioning aid modifier, and dispersing aid; it is a good stabilizing and suspending agent, emulsifier, and wetting agent, helps in maintaining uniform mixture of several pigments, helps in grinding of metal oxide pigments, is a spreading and mixing aid, prevents hard settling of pigments, eliminates foam in water-based paints, and helps in fast dispersion of latex-based paints.
Lecithin can also be used as a release agent for plastics, an antisludge additive in motor lubricants, an antigumming agent in gasoline, and an emulsifier, spreading agent, and antioxidant in textile, rubber and other industries.
[edit] Use with food, and health effects
The nontoxicity of lecithin leads to its use with food, as an additive or in food preparation. It is used commercially in foods requiring a natural emulsifier or lubricant. In the food industry, it has multiple uses: In confectionery, it reduces viscosity, replaces more expensive ingredients, controls sugar crystallization and the flow properties of chocolate, helps in the homogeneous mixing of ingredients, improves shelf life for some products, and can be used as a coating. In emulsions and fat spreads, it stabilizes emulsions, reduces spattering during frying, improves texture of spreads and flavour release. In doughs and bakery, it reduces fat and egg requirements, helps even distribution of ingredients in dough, stabilizes fermentation, increases volume, protects yeast cells in dough when frozen, and acts as a releasing agent to prevent sticking and simplify cleaning. It improves wetting properties of hydrophilic powders (e.g., low-fat proteins) and lipophilic powders (e.g., cocoa powder), controls dust, and helps complete dispersion in water.[4] It can be used as a component of cooking sprays to prevent sticking and as a releasing agent.
For example, lecithin is the emulsifier that keeps cocoa and cocoa butter in a candy bar from separating. In margarines, especially those containing high levels of fat (>75%), lecithin is added as an 'antispattering' agent for shallow frying.
It is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for human consumption with the status "generally recognized as safe." Lecithin is admitted by the EU as a food additive, designated by E number E322. Research studies show soy-derived lecithin has significant effects on lowering serum cholesterol and triglycerides, while increasing HDL ("good cholesterol") levels in the blood.[5][6] However, studies on egg lecithin have been inconsistent and contradictory since the 1920s.[7]
New studies suggest gut bacteria metabolites of choline promote atherosclerosis in mice through TMAO production and "augmented macrophage cholesterol accumulation and foam cell formation".[8] Mice fed with egg-yolk derived lecithin developed arterial plaque in spite of no increase in cholesterol or triglyceride levels.[9]
[edit] Compatibility with special diets
A proven benefit and suggested use for lecithin is for those taking niacin to treat high cholesterol. Niacin treatment can deplete choline, necessitating an increased amount of lecithin or choline in the diet.[10][11][12][13][14] Egg-derived lecithin may be a concern for those following some specialized diets. Egg lecithin is not a concern for those on low-cholesterol diets, because the lecithin found in eggs markedly inhibits the absorption of the cholesterol contained in eggs.[15] There is no general agreement among vegetarians concerning egg-derived lecithin; vegans and lactovegetarians would likely abstain from it.
What is an emulsifier?
When water and oil are mixed together and vigorously shaken, a dispersion of oil droplets in water - and vice versa - is formed. When shaking stops, the phases start to separate. However, when an emulsifier is added to the system, the droplets remain dispersed, and a stable emulsion is obtained.
An emulsifier consists of a water-loving hydrophilic head and an oil-loving hydrophobic tail. The hydrophilic head is directed to the aqueous phase and the hydrophobic tail to the oil phase (see figure 1). The emulsifier positions itself at the oil/water or air/water interface and, by reducing the surface tension, has a stabilising effect on the emulsion.
As an emulsifier when you mix it in glycerin gel with hash oil it makes the two dis-similar liquids mix. Alone the gel and the oil are like oil and water, they do not mix well. So we have that, it mixes oils and other liquids. And what most people do not realize is that it also helps in edibles with our uptake. Hash oil by itself is very thick and sticky. When we eat edibles the oil has to pass through our intestinal walls to be taken up in our bodies, no other way to do it in edibles. Hash oil is not taken up efficiently do to it's characteristics. When you add and mix in lecithin, the smaller oil particles are more easily taken up. So you get more bang for the buck so to speak. The oil won't make you higher, you just get a more efficient uptake, so less is more. You will need much less hash oil when you use lecithin to get the same effect. So in the case of canna caps you can use less plant material (or oil)to get the same effect or use the same plant materials for a greater effect.
I bought my lecithin off the net in powder form, and found it may be the easiest to work with. It melts in infusions quickly. It might leave a yellowish color, and very little taste, but a creamy texture. You can also get it in capsule form from health stores (70% of our brains is lecithin) But I would not recommend to buy it that way due to the cost. A lb of powdered lecithin is relatively cheap ($12-15). Because there is little difference in price i get organic soy based lecithin and have not tried other versions.
So if you make and use medibles, extractions, infusions, or caps IOW, if you eat your meds, you really need to check out using lecithin.....
I won't dwell on it but we have found coconut oil works very very well in infusions and extractions and replaces all of our other oils and even butter in canna recipes, and of course it works even better with lecithin.............Scrappy
Wiki link below.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lecithin
Properties and applications
Lecithin has emulsification and lubricant properties, and is a surfactant. It can be totally metabolized (see Inositol) by humans, so is well tolerated by humans and nontoxic when ingested; some emulsifiers can only be excreted via the kidneys.
Lecithin is used for applications in human food, animal feed, pharmaceutical, paint, and other industrial applications.
Applications listed by one manufacturer, in addition to food applications, include:[4]
In the pharmaceutical industry, it acts as a wetting, stabilizing agent and a choline enrichment carrier, helps in emulsifications and encapsulation, and is a good dispersing agent. It can be used in manufacture of intravenous fat infusions and for therapeutic use.
In animal feed, it enriches fat and protein and improves pelletization.
In the paint industry, it forms protective coatings for surfaces with painting and printing ink, has antioxidant properties, helps as a rust inhibitor, is a colour-intensifying agent, catalyst, conditioning aid modifier, and dispersing aid; it is a good stabilizing and suspending agent, emulsifier, and wetting agent, helps in maintaining uniform mixture of several pigments, helps in grinding of metal oxide pigments, is a spreading and mixing aid, prevents hard settling of pigments, eliminates foam in water-based paints, and helps in fast dispersion of latex-based paints.
Lecithin can also be used as a release agent for plastics, an antisludge additive in motor lubricants, an antigumming agent in gasoline, and an emulsifier, spreading agent, and antioxidant in textile, rubber and other industries.
[edit] Use with food, and health effects
The nontoxicity of lecithin leads to its use with food, as an additive or in food preparation. It is used commercially in foods requiring a natural emulsifier or lubricant. In the food industry, it has multiple uses: In confectionery, it reduces viscosity, replaces more expensive ingredients, controls sugar crystallization and the flow properties of chocolate, helps in the homogeneous mixing of ingredients, improves shelf life for some products, and can be used as a coating. In emulsions and fat spreads, it stabilizes emulsions, reduces spattering during frying, improves texture of spreads and flavour release. In doughs and bakery, it reduces fat and egg requirements, helps even distribution of ingredients in dough, stabilizes fermentation, increases volume, protects yeast cells in dough when frozen, and acts as a releasing agent to prevent sticking and simplify cleaning. It improves wetting properties of hydrophilic powders (e.g., low-fat proteins) and lipophilic powders (e.g., cocoa powder), controls dust, and helps complete dispersion in water.[4] It can be used as a component of cooking sprays to prevent sticking and as a releasing agent.
For example, lecithin is the emulsifier that keeps cocoa and cocoa butter in a candy bar from separating. In margarines, especially those containing high levels of fat (>75%), lecithin is added as an 'antispattering' agent for shallow frying.
It is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for human consumption with the status "generally recognized as safe." Lecithin is admitted by the EU as a food additive, designated by E number E322. Research studies show soy-derived lecithin has significant effects on lowering serum cholesterol and triglycerides, while increasing HDL ("good cholesterol") levels in the blood.[5][6] However, studies on egg lecithin have been inconsistent and contradictory since the 1920s.[7]
New studies suggest gut bacteria metabolites of choline promote atherosclerosis in mice through TMAO production and "augmented macrophage cholesterol accumulation and foam cell formation".[8] Mice fed with egg-yolk derived lecithin developed arterial plaque in spite of no increase in cholesterol or triglyceride levels.[9]
[edit] Compatibility with special diets
A proven benefit and suggested use for lecithin is for those taking niacin to treat high cholesterol. Niacin treatment can deplete choline, necessitating an increased amount of lecithin or choline in the diet.[10][11][12][13][14] Egg-derived lecithin may be a concern for those following some specialized diets. Egg lecithin is not a concern for those on low-cholesterol diets, because the lecithin found in eggs markedly inhibits the absorption of the cholesterol contained in eggs.[15] There is no general agreement among vegetarians concerning egg-derived lecithin; vegans and lactovegetarians would likely abstain from it.
