Oh, nigari

About a month ago, MJ visited her in-laws and got caught up in a new diet fad. Now she puts a few drops of nigari, liquid magnesium salts, into her Diet Coke. She claims that it has helped her drop several kilos.
Perhaps I should have been insulted by the implication, but I was surprised and pleased when Tod brought home a bottle of nigari yesterday. You can buy it in any grocery store–it’s used to coagulate soymilk into tofu. He remembered our conversation about nigari from a few days ago, I guess.
Well, I did some poking around. Magnesium is a good mineral. It helps bind calcium to bones, it makes you regular (think “milk of magnesia”), helps your heart, and studies indicate that migraines might be caused by a magnesium deficiency.
So for the next few weeks, I’ll try nigari in my coffee. The first sip confirms that it does change the taste, but it’s not unpleasant. More like brewing a different kind of bean than taking medicine.
I am a little concerned that this is going to start some horrible chain of fad dieting–I shudder as I recall the difficulties I’ve had cooking for guests who were on no fat, no carbs, mostly rice crackers, only oat bran, no sauces, and exclusively protein diets over the years.
But perhaps a few drops of nigari is more like taking vitamins than eating an unusual diet. If I lose weight, find myself headache free and feel healthier, I’ll report back.