**************************************
September 2004 issue of Dr. Michael Greger's Monthly Newsletter
*******************************************************
CONTENTS (online at http://www.veganmd.org/newsletters.html )
I. Latest Updates in Human Nutrition
A. Full-Fat Salad Dressings Healthier than Fat-Free
B. Prostate Cancer and Milk
C. Reversing Arteriosclerosis with Pomegranate Juice
D. Vegan Children: A Recent Review
E. Vegetarian Athletes: A Recent Review
F. Endometriosis and Diet
II. Live Paratuberculosis Bacteria Found in U.S. Milk
III. USDA Food Pyramid Comments-We only have two days left!
IV. Grassroots Animal Rights Conference workshop proposals
V. Update on Mad Cow Disease
VI. Personal Update-The Atkins legal threat
*******************************************************
I. LATEST UPDATES IN HUMAN NUTRITION
-----------------------------------------------------------
A. Full-Fat Salad Dressings Healthier than Fat-Free
There is a misconception in the vegetarian movement that all fat is
bad for you. In reality, there are good fats (those found in nuts),
bad fats (saturated animal fat), great fats (omega-3's found in flax
seeds) and killer fats (trans fats found in both animal fat and
hydrogenated oils used in processed foods). Although experiments on
nonhuman animals show conflicting results (as usual), the human data
is quite good. For example in the Harvard Nurse's Study, after
following over 75,000 women for a decade, those that put oil and
vinegar dressing on their daily salad had less than half the cardiac
mortality compared to those who, for instance, used fat-free
dressings. They cut their risk of dying from a fatal heart attack in
half with Italian dressing! Those that used dairy or egg-based creamy
dressings, of course, had zero benefit.[1]
Canola oil-based salad dressings are an important source of omega-3
fatty acids in this country. For example, one tablespoon of Annie's
Goddess Dressing contains about 25% of your daily recommended omega-3
intake--add a tablespoon of ground flax seeds or a handful of walnuts
to your salad and you're basically set for the day.
The Harvard researchers are concerned about people switching over to
fat-free dressings. They conclude their report with the sentence "Our
findings suggest that a reduction in consumption of foods such as
oil-based salad dressings... may increase the risk of fatal ischemic
heart disease."[2]
Eating a source of fat with your salad greens (or any vegetable for
that matter), also helps the absorption of critical nutrients. Your
intestines require the presence of fat to absorb carotenoid
phytonutrients like beta-carotene and lycopene. A new study published
in the August issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
found that fat is essential.[3]
Researchers at the University of Iowa gave people nice salads
containing spinach, romaine lettuce, grated carrots and cherry
tomatoes. With the dark green leafy spinach in there, the salad was
just packed with cancer-fighting antioxidant carotenoids, but it's
not what you eat, it's what you absorb. And the researchers found
that "Essentially no absorption of carotenoids was observed when
salads with fat-free salad dressings were consumed." So be sure to
include some source of fat at your meals. The healthiest sources of
fat, of course, are from unrefined whole foods. So by adding nuts and
seeds or avocado to your meal you not only get all their nutritional
benefit, but you enhance your absorption of other nutrients in the
rest of the meal.
Don't be a fatphobe :)
-----------------------------------------------------------
B. Prostate Cancer and Milk
Prostate cancer is now the single most common cancer among men in the
United States and is on the rise in almost every country in the world
as they adopt a more meat and dairy centered diet.[4] Does drinking
cow milk really increase a man's risk for developing this killer
cancer, though? Yes, according to a meta-analysis of 11 independent
studies published this summer. Milk-drinking men seem to have about a
70% greater chance of developing cancer of the prostate. In fact the
case against milk is so strong and consistent that even if 50 new
studies came out all failing to show any link between milk and
prostate cancer, the balance of evidence would still indict milk as a
significant cancer risk factor.[5]
Although the butterfat in dairy may play a role, the researchers
blame the hormones in milk as the likely culprit. "Because commercial
milk is mainly produced by pregnant cows in developed countries," the
researchers claim, "it contains considerable amounts of estrogen."
Combined with other growth hormones in the milk designed to make a
calf gain 100 pounds in 50 days,[6] cow milk may promote the growth
of hormone-sensitive cancers.
Milk is for babies.
-----------------------------------------------------------
C. Reversing Arteriosclerosis with Pomegranate Juice
Folk medicine has been extolling the medicinal qualities of
pomegranates for thousands of years. Modern science has been a bit
slow catching up, but with the fruit's intense ruby red color, it
should come as no surprise it has topped the antioxidant charts,
blowing blueberries right out of the water. But Israeli researchers
have just permanently placed pomegranates on the map with a landmark
study published this summer in the journal Clinical Nutrition.[7]
The researchers took a group of people coming into a vascular surgery
clinic with severe carotid artery blockage--the arteries in their
neck providing blood flow to their brain were 70-90% obstructed. Half
of the patients were then instructed to drink a little less than a
quarter cup of pomegranate juice every day for a year.
At the end of the year, the arteriosclerotic plaques in the arteries
of those who did nothing predictably worsened, thickening 9%, closing
their arteries off even further. But in the pomegranate juice group,
after just 3 months the plaques in their arteries shrank 13%. By 9
months the plaque was down 26%. And after one year of drinking less
than a quarter cup of pomegranate juice a day, the arteriosclerotic
lesions were 35% reversed. The investigators attribute the
anti-arteriosclerotic properties of pomegranates to the antioxidant
polyphenols (which I talk about in my new Stopping Cancer DVD).
So should we start forking out $4 a bottle for that "Pom Wonderful"
juice that started popping up in grocery stores? Well, you can get
cheaper (and organic!) pomegranate juice in your natural food store,
but the whole fruit is always preferable to juice--you get the
additional benefits of the fiber and other nutrition discarded during
processing. Expect to start seeing pomegranates in your local produce
section as the growing season peaks around October.
-----------------------------------------------------------
D. Vegan Children: A Recent Review
Vegan babies are sprouting up all over. The medical journal
Pediatrics in Review recently took on the topic in an article
entitled "Vegan Diets in Infants, Children and Adolescents." Out of
the Children's National Medical Center in D.C., the assessment noted:
"Multiple experts have concluded independently that vegan diets can
be followed safely by infants and children without compromise of
nutrition or growth and with some notable health benefits."[8]
The health benefits of raising children vegan are particularly
pronounced now in the context of our childhood obesity epidemic. Ever
since the landmark autopsy reports on soldiers who died in the Korean
War[9] and the Vietnam War,[10] we have known that young adults can
have advanced coronary artery disease. Now we're finding fatty
cholesterol buildup in the arteries of children as young as 2 years
old.[11] No wonder Dr. Benjamin Spock, the most esteemed pediatrician
of all time, recommended that all children be raised vegan in the
latest edition of his world-famous Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care,
the best-selling book in American history (second only to the
bible).[12]
This new review of pediatric vegan nutrition is in line with the
position of the largest organization of nutrition professionals in
the world, the American Dietetic Association, who declared
"Well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are
appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during
pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence."[13]
What is meant by well-planned, though? Vitamin B12 of course, which
is especially critical during infancy, and attention paid to adequate
energy, protein and mineral intake. For details, read Feeding Vegan
Kids at http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/kids.htm by Reed Mengels, the
nutrition advisor for the Vegetarian Resource Group.
"Of course it takes time and thought to feed vegan children," writes
Dr. Mengels, "Shouldn't feeding of any child require time and
thought?"
-----------------------------------------------------------
E. Vegetarian Athletes: A Recent Review
The July/August issue of the journal Nutrition had a review on the
"Nutritional Considerations for Vegetarian Athletes." The last
comprehensive review of athletic performance and vegetarianism was
over 5 years ago.[14] Not much has changed.
There still hasn't been a single well-controlled long-term study on
the effects of vegetarian or vegan diets on athletes, but the best
science we have so far suggests that there are no consistent
differences in strength, fitness, or performance between vegetarian
and nonvegetarian athletes. Vegetarian athletes seem to perform just
as well as their flesh-eating counterparts.[15]
The review addressed the role of creatine. Creatine is a compound
found in your muscles that your body produces to facilitate quick
bursts of energy. People who eat the muscles of
others--meat-eaters--tend to build up higher levels of creatine than
vegetarians. While this has not been shown to offer a competitive
advantage, there is some evidence that massive creatine
supplementation may offer additional benefit for vegetarian athletes
who may have lower baseline levels.[16,17] The level of creatine
supplementation typically used, however, is the equivalent of eating
about 10 pounds of meat a day,[18] the safety of which has not been
established.[19] The review concludes that "the most prudent
conclusion is that more data on the long-term safety profile are
needed before creatine supplementation can be endorsed for athletes,
vegetarians, or others."[20]
-----------------------------------------------------------
F. Endometriosis and Diet
Up to 50% of menstruating women have endometriosis,[21] a condition
that can result in excruciating chronic pain and infertility. The
only cure is radical surgery. And no one even knows exactly what
causes it, or even clearly what the risk factors are.[22] A new study
just published, though, offers some insight into the development of
this disease.
Studying hundreds of women with confirmed endometriosis, Italian
researchers found that those eating just one daily serving of meat
(beef or pork--poultry was not studied) seemed to double their risk
of developing endometriosis. Eating fresh fruit, on the other hand,
seemed to drop their risk 20% and eating just a single serving of
green vegetables every day may cut your risk of developing
endometriosis in half!
So to help prevent this painful condition, women may want to eat more
greens and less beings.
*******************************************************
II. Live Paratuberculosis Bacteria Found in U.S. Milk
There has been a media blackout in this country about one of the most
important nutrition stories of the year, the recent finding of live
paratuberculosis bacteria in retail milk purchased from stores in
Wisconsin, California and Minnesota, proving that the organism can
indeed survive pasteurization.[23]
In the view of Dr. Hermon-Taylor, leading paraTB researcher and
Chairman of the Department of Surgery at St. George's Medical School
in London, "There is overwhelming evidence that we are sitting on a
public health disaster of tragic proportions."[24]
Although thousands die from food poisoning every year in the United
States, most sufferers only experience acute self-limited episodes.
Up to 15% of those that contract Salmonella, however, go on to get
serious joint inflammation that can last for years. An estimated
100,000 to 200,000 people suffer from arthritis arising directly from
food borne infections each year in the United States.[25]
One of the most feared long-term complications of food poisoning,
however, is Guillain-Barre syndrome, in which infection with
Campylobacter, a bacteria infecting up to 90% of Thanksgiving turkeys
every year in the United States, can lead to one being paralyzed for
months on a ventilator.[26]
Some scientists now fear, though, that an even more serious disease
may be infecting our food supply. The United States has the highest
incidence of Crohn's disease in the world, a devastating lifelong
gastrointestinal condition.[27] The United States also has the
highest incidence on the planet of a similar disease in cattle called
Johne's disease.[28] We know that Johne's disease is caused by a
bacteria called Mycobacterium paratuberculosis, and more and more
evidence is accumulating that human Crohn's disease may be caused by
this bacteria as well.[29]
Drinking milk from cows infected with Johne's disease is how people
are exposed to paratuberculosis.[30] Although these bacteria are
found free-floating in milk, their transmission may be facilitated by
their presence inside pus cells.[31] This is a particular problem in
the United States, as we have the highest permitted upper limit of
milk pus cell concentration in the world--almost twice the
international standard of allowable pus cells (750,000/ml vs.
400,000/ml)[32] By US federal law, Grade A milk is allowed to have
over a drop of pus per glass of milk.[33]
Despite research showing that by hiding in fat droplets, pus cells,
and fecal clumps in milk[34] paraTB might be able to endure
temperatures much higher than currently used in pasteurization,[35]
the FDA and the USDA have continued to deny this pathogen could
survive pasteurization. Now that the bacteria has been found growing
in pasteurized milk taken right from supermarket shelves here in the
U.S., their position is no longer tenable.
Why haven't we heard about this is the press? In an editorial
entitled "Media and Censorship," the editor-in-chief of the Cleveland
Free Times wrote: "The dairy lobby is notoriously powerful inside the
Washington DC beltway. And a tax on dairy farmers helps the dairy
industry spread its advertising dollars around generously (most
notably the 'Got Milk?' ad campaign), to the point where the
wholesomeness of milk goes virtually unquestioned in the media. How
else can it be explained that the possible link between a bacterium
in milk and Crohn's disease is virtually unknown in the United
States, despite front-page coverage in England and other places
around the world?"[36]
The dairy industry knows what kind of time bomb they're sitting
on.[37] An article in Milk Science International entitled "Is
Mycobacterium paratuberculosis a possible agent in Crohn's Disease?"
warns that "the present state of knowledge is... potentially
catastrophic for the dairy industry..."[38]
Every few hours, another child in this country is diagnosed with
Crohn's disease and may be condemned to a life of chronic
suffering.[39] The balance of evidence strongly suggests a causative
link between Mycobacterium paratuberculosis in milk and Crohn's
disease.[40] This public health issue has been at the periphery of
the dairy industry's agenda for years, a nagging concern on the back
burner.[41] Now that live paraTB bacteria have been found in retail
milk here in the U.S., we need to move this issue to the front burner
and we need to turn up the heat.
For background on this critical issue, please read my article at
http://www.veganoutreach.org/health/gotmilk.html and for updates on
this evolving crisis, go to http://www.crohns.org
*******************************************************
III. USDA Food Pyramid Comments--We only have two days left!
The reason I needed to get the September issue out early is because
we only have two days left to mail in our comments to the USDA.
The USDA is for the first time updating their 12 year old Food Guide
Pyramid and is accepting public comments up until August 27th.
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association is urging it's members to
write in and tell the USDA to stuff the pyramid with beef,
complaining that young children simply don't eat enough meat.[42]
Similarly, Poultry Times and the American Meat Institute are ensuring
meat-friendly comments continue to flow in during these final days.
The Atkins Corporation even has an action alert featured prominently
on their website to encourage people to write in and urge the USDA to
base the pyramid around meat. We definitely need to add our voices to
the mix.
The USDA is not accepting emailed comments. We actually have to mail
them a letter postdated no later than this Friday, August 27th. Maybe
you want to encourage the USDA to emphasize healthier plant-based
sources of protein such as beans and nuts in their "meat" group? Or
maybe you'd rather them change the "Milk" group to the "Calcium"
group and feature leafy green vegetables, the healthiest source of
the mineral? This is our chance to have our voices heard!
Letters need to be mailed to:
The Food Guide Pyramid Reassessment Team
USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion
3101 Park Center Drive Room #1034
Alexandria, VA 22302
*******************************************************
IV. Grassroots Animal Rights Conference workshop proposals
I'm very excited to be involved in the planning of the very first
Grassroots Animal Rights Conference, which will be taking place Feb
18-21, 2005 at NYU in New York City. Its guiding principle is to
empower, organize and motivate the grassroots by promoting discussion
and skill sharing workshops at an affordable, accessible, and
inclusive conference. Please check us out at
http://www.grassrootsAR.org and get involved.
We are now accepting proposals for activities to take place during
the conference (workshops, plenaries, protests, etc). Anyone can
submit a proposal for any activity, including sessions/events that
you would like to facilitate or speak at, or activities you would
like to see run by others (e.g. speakers you would like to hear at
the conference). Workshop proposals can be submitted directly online
at: http://www.armedia.org/garc/workshop.htm
*******************************************************
V. Update on Mad Cow Disease
In May, the findings of the British tonsil and appendix survey I've
been telling everyone about for years were finally published. Years
before the symptoms of the human form of mad cow disease
start--terrifying hallucinations, dementia, psychosis--the deadly
prions can be detected building up inside the body. So British
researchers got the brilliant idea to just go through the thousands
of tonsils and appendixes that were taken out of people during
routine surgery to see how many people were infected and awaiting
what Britain's Health Secretary called the "worst form of death"
imaginable.
Based on the results, thousands of young people in Britain alone seem
destined to die in the coming years from mad cow disease.[43] Worst
case scenario? A half a million people dead.[44] Or at least that's
what we thought up until last month.
Up until now, every single known human death from mad cow disease has
been in people with a relatively uncommon genetic makeup. Most
estimates as to how many people would eventually succumb have been
based on the fact that only a minority of the population even seemed
susceptible. But I and others have been warning that those with the
rarer genetic makeup may just be falling sick earlier than the rest
of us. And in August 2004, autopsy results were published showing mad
cow infection in an individual with the majority genetic makeup
common to most of the general population. This opens up the
possibility of 30 million more human carriers of mad cow disease in
Britain alone.[45]
*******************************************************
VI. Personal Update--The Atkins legal threat
A huge thank you to everyone who offered to help me find legal
representation to fend off the attempts by the Atkins Corporation to
intimidate me for speaking up about their "nightmare of a diet" (as
the American Dietetic Association calls it) on my website
http://www.AtkinsFacts.org
None other than the one and only Steven Wise stepped forward to help
me fend off threats from Atkins, Inc. Author of such classics as
"Rattling the Cage" and "Drawing the Line," he has a wealth of
experience defending activists from frivolous corporate defamation
lawsuits and is even taking time off from his vacation to take on the
case.
So if the Atkins Corporation is stupid enough to put their diet on
trial I have but three presidential words for them: BRING IT ON! We
all remember the McLibel trial, right? Dubbed "the biggest corporate
PR disaster in history",[46] McDonald's Corporation spent up to $15
million in an attempt to silence London Greenpeace activists from
handing out pamphlets documenting McDonald's corporate abuses.
McLibel became the longest running trial in English history, forcing
McDonalds executives onto the stand, generating 60,000 pages of
testimony, and providing a forum for activists to bring out the truth
behind the golden arches.
The verdict was devastating for McDonald's. The judge ruled that they
"exploit children" and workers, produce "misleading" advertising, and
are "culpably responsible" for cruelty to animals. You can order the
upcoming McLibel documentary, which one reviewer called "an often
hilarious expose of big business arrogance," on DVD at
http://www.spannerfilms.net/shop
Hopefully we can expose the truth behind the Atkins Corporation and
their diet in the same way the London activists exposed McDonalds.
But I need your help.
Even with Steven Wise's generously discounted rate, the legal fees
are starting to mount. There are so many wonderful worthy causes out
there (the Eastern Shore Sanctuary and Education Center, for example,
at http://bravebirds.org/ has just recently fallen on hard times), so
I feel a bit uncomfortable asking for help. In fact there are other
activists that need legal funds too, like SarahJane Blum who was
arrested for the courageous open rescue of unspeakably tortured ducks
from a foie gras factory farm (donate to help her fight at
http://gourmetcruelty.com/donate.php).
But if you believe in my work, if you want to help support me in
exposing the reality behind the Atkins Diet, please consider donating
to the "Michael Greger Legal Fund" by going to my homepage at
http://www.veganMD.org and clicking the donate link at the bottom. Or
send a check to me at 185 South St #6, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130.
Thank you for considering helping me draw this line in the sand, to
help me stand up against this corporate bully and expose the truth
behind the low carb lies.
*******************************************************
REFERENCES:
(Full text of specific articles available by emailing
article-request@DrGreger.org)
1 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 69(1999):890
2 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 69(1999):890
3 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 80(2004):396
4 European Journal of Cancer 37(2001):S4
5 Nutrition and Cancer 48(2004):22
6 NorthEast DairyBusiness August 2002:24
7 Clinical Nutrition 23(2004):423
8 Pediatrics in Review 25(2004):172
9 Journal of the American Medical Association 158(1955):912
10 Journal of the American Medical Association 216(1971):118
11 New England Journal of Medicine 4 June 1998
12 Spock B, Parker S. Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care. New York,
NY:Pocket Books, 1998
13 Journal of the American Dietetic Association 97(1997):1317
14 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 70(1999):532S
15 Nutrition 20(2004):696
16 European Journal of Applied Physiology 82(2000):321
17 Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 35(2003):1946
18 Sports Medicine 18(1994):268
19 Journal of the American Dietetic Association 99(1999):593
20 Nutrition 20(2004):696
21 American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 129(1977):245
22 Postgraduate Medicine 107(2000)
23 Cheese Reporter 19 August 2004
24 Chemist & Druggist 2000 Jan 29:11.
25 USDA: APHIS: ORACBA. Revue scientifique et technique
(International Office of Epizootics) 1997 Aug;16(2):337-41
26 Cornell Cooperative Extension Food and Nutrition 1998 Nov/Dec
27 American Journal of Surgery 145(1983):546
28 PARA. MAP in the United Kingdom. 1999.
http://www.crohns.org/government/uk.htm
29 http://crohns.org/articles/index.htm
30 Proceedings of the International Colloquium on Paratuberculosis 5(1996):353
31 European Commission: Directorate -- General Health & Consumer
Protection; Directorate B -- Scientific Health Opinions; Unit B3.
SANCO/B3/R16/2000. Adopted 2000 Mar 21:49
32 Smith KL, Hogan JS. Milk quality -- a worldwide perspective.
Annual Proceedings of the National Mastitis Council; 1998; St. Louis,
Missouri.]
33 Assuming a billion lymphocytes/ml as a reasonable defining
concentration of pus, regulations per [Heeschen WH. Codex regulations
and food safety. Bulletin of the International Dairy Federation
1997;319:24], a standard 20 drops/ml, and a "glass" as 500 cc, Grade
A milk may have more than seven drops of pus per glass.
34 USAHA. Report of the USAHA Committee on Food Safety; 1998 Oct 5;
Minneapolis, Minnesota
35 Grant IR, Ball HJ, Rowe MT. A novel staining technique for
assessing clumping and viability of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis
cells during pasteurization. Proceedings of the International
Colloquium on Paratuberculosis 5(1996)
36 Project Censored. PARA Newsletter 2000 Jul:2
37 Wisconsin Agriculturist 1997 Dec.]
38 Milk Science International 1997;52:311-6
39 Wisconsin Agriculturist July 1998
40 European Commission: Directorate -- General Health & Consumer
Protection; Directorate B -- Scientific Health Opinions; Unit B3.
SANCO/B3/R16/2000. Adopted 2000 Mar 21:4
41 Wisconsin Agriculturist December 1997
42 National Cattlemen's Beef Association.
http://hill.beef.org/viewNEW.asp?DocumentID=260
43 Journal of Pathology 21 May 2004
44 Daily Mail (London) 21 May 2004
45 Lancet 13 August 2004
46 Guardian 28 March 2002
*******************************************************
If anyone missed previous months, check out my newsletter archive at
http://www.veganMD.org/newsletters.html
Until next month,
Michael
--
(206) 312-8640
mhg1@cornell.edu
http://www.veganMD.org
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HEART FAILURE: Diary of a Third Year Medical Student (full text now
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The thinker that most changed my life: Noam Chomsky
http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/index.cfm
The single article that most changed my life:
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