Why does my food turn purple when using psyllium husk?
Ever try and make some keto-friendly bread and the whole thing comes out a shade of purple? While the colour is quite nice to look at, you don’t really want to see that in your food!
Why does psyllium husk turn food purple?
The seeds used to make psyllium husk powder actually have a slight purple hue. However, when they are ground the purple isn’t so apparent and only really develops during baking.
You might be thinking if the purple affects the taste? Luckily, it actually doesn’t affect the flavour or texture at all and is purely cosmetic. Of course, it can put you off the food a bit but there are ways to prevent it!
Why eat psyllium husk powder on keto?
Psyllium husk can act as a great replacement for gluten in low carb flours like almond & coconut flour. That’s because when psyllium husk is combined with water, it gels and makes the dough become elastic.
Of course, I would be remiss to not mention that it’s high in fibre and can work wonders in helping to keep you regular. That’s because it’s about 88% fibre and about 85% of that is soluble fibre.
Soluble, just means that it attracts water and helps to soften your stool and slow digestion, promoting a feeling of fullness.
On the other hand, insoluble fibre helps to move your stool through your digestive tract and can help to bulk them out.
Typical nutrition per 100g – Calories: 50kcal, Protein: 0.9g, Carbs: 0.2g, Fibre: 85g
Best ways to avoid purple food with psyllium husks
There are a few ways to avoid producing purple food when using psyllium husk powder. Personally, I always go for option 1 and haven’t seen a purple keto bread roll in a long time!
1 – Buy particularly well-reviewed brands
A major benefit of buying your keto ingredients online is that you can have a read of all the reviews. For psyllium husk, it’s particularly useful as you can see if anyone mentions if it turns your food purple.
The first one below is the brand I tend to buy, but it looks like it’s out of stock quite a bit! The next one seems good and someone in the reviews mentioned that it doesn’t turn food purple.
- ●● Organic Blond Psyllium Husk - 500g ●●
- ●● 99% Pure grade - Premium Quality
- ●● Natural Fiber ●●
- Now comes in a kraft, foil lined pouch with an airtight seal for security and freshness
- Psyllium seed husks also known as ispaghula, isabgol, or psyllium.
- They are portions of the seeds of the plant Plantago ovata, (genus Psyllium husks can be taken by pregnant women, but it is advisable to check with you health care professional
- Psyllium husks should be taken 30 minutes before a meal with plenty of water, 2-3 times a day.
- They have no known contra-indications with any medication and is safe for diabetics. Psyllium husks are safe for children under 11 years old, but is advisable to check with your health care professional. It is also safe to take long term
Blond psyllium husk powder seems to be the best for avoiding purple foods as well as organic varieties. I’ve found that the cheaper brands tend to use more mass-produced methods and seeds that result in purple bread!
Check out the reviews of NKD Living Psyllium Husk Powder (500g) | Tested for Heavy Metals, Micro-Organisms and Pesticides (500g), you can see that there are quite a few that mention the problem with purple!
However, not all is lost! If you do end up with some psyllium husk that turns your food purple you can try and remedy it by checking out option 2 (below).
2 – Use an acid to bleach the husks
If you’re stuck with some purple producing psyllium husk then you can use an acid that will bleach the purple hue out of the powder! Of course, adding an acid is going to affect the taste by adding a slightly sour flavour.
Lemon juice – add a small amount of it to a portion of the psyllium husk powder called for in the recipe and leave it for a few minutes. It should turn into a bit of a blob which can be worked into your recipe. Better yet, give it a quick whizz in a blender to turn it into a gel, then add it back to the rest of the powder.
Citric Acid – easy to buy in powder form (Wholefood Earth Citric Acid 1kg | Anhydrous | Food Grade) and much better than using lemon juice! Just add 0.5 tsp for every tbsp of psyllium husk powder.
Keto psyllium husk recipe ideas
You can’t go wrong with a nice warm bowl of keto protein porridge. Super simple to make and great for digestion! I like to use a bit of psyllium husk powder in it to help thicken it and keep me feeling fuller for longer!
