*September 2004 issue of Dr. Greger's Newsletter*

[Guest guest]

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September 2004 issue of Dr. Michael Greger's Monthly Newsletter

 

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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

 

 

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I. LATEST UPDATES IN HUMAN NUTRITION

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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.

 

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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? "

 

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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]

 

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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.

 

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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

 

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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

 

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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

 

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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)

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

http://www.veganMD.org

 

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