Don’t Drink It!!

New research has been published stating that drinking milk will help prevent coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke. Oh, please! That is like saying that red meat is heart healthy. Milk is loaded with saturated fat. Leave a glass of milk sitting on the counter and watch the clumps of fat appear. Saturated fat is NOT good for you.

Why would these researchers conclude that it is? Well, I did a little sleuthing and found out (surprise, surprise) that at least one of the researchers, Dr. Ian Givens, is associated with the British Dairy Industry [Centre for Dairy Research]. http://www.feedforhealth.org/default.asp?ZNT=S0T1O734

Givens et al. state that compared to men (in Britain) who did not ingest any dairy products, those who did drink milk or eat other dairy products were healthier. This research evidently has yet to be published in a journal, so I do not know how the study was conducted.

However, since the vast majority of adults in the world cannot process dairy products past weaning age due to lack of the enzyme lactase, it seems highly improbable that those adults who drink and eat saturated dairy fat (primarily those of northern European ancestry) would have less CHD and strokes than does the rest of the world’s populations.

On the up side, not all fats are bad for the heart. Omega-3 fatty acids found in fatty fish such as salmon and sardines are good for the heart. And the brain. [See my blog Vegging Out below.] And, according to new research, the eyes: eating foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids helps prevent age-related macular degeneration and blindness. http://ajp.amjpathol.org/cgi/content/abstract/175/2/799

So, forget the milk and cheese. They don’t do a body good. Instead, add sardines, salmon, and even walnuts to your diet if you are really interested in helping your heart and preventing strokes.

Salud!

Food Fight

Do you need to eat grains and dairy for good health? Is a bowl of cereal with milk a good way to begin the day? Does every body need milk? The answer to all three questions is a big NO! The overwhelming majority of the world’s populations cannot handle milk after infancy: it causes acute gastric distress. Significant numbers of individuals also are sensitive to the gluten found in wheat, oats, and barley. Their health is sub-optimal when they eat grains.

But the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) either is unaware of these facts (hard to believe) or does not care. Why? Because they are more interested in maintaining the profitability of Agribusiness than in maintaining the optimal health of consumers. Yes, they are concerned about food safety which does, obviously, impact consumer health. However, beyond food safety is the issue of nutrient optimization; and it is here that the USDA’s hand-in-glove relationship with Agribusiness takes precedence over what is best for the consumer.

Over the past decades, the public has been indoctrinated into believing that grains and dairy are the basis of good health. First there was the Four Squares with grains and dairy each having their own square. Then there was the Food Pyramid with grains forming the foundation and dairy taking up a significant chunk of the upper levels. The current iteration is a revised pyramid with conical stripes running from base to tip called My Pyramid. This version is designed to take into account an individual’s gender, age, and activity level in designing a pyramid just for that individual. Or so says the USDA.

I tried using it when it was first posted online a few years ago. The results were not too surprising, or too different from prior recommendations, and included a daily intake of three glasses of milk. I decided to see what the results would be for other gender and age combinations. The biggest change was in daily calorie intake. One constant: no matter what age/gender combination I used, everyone was told he/she needed three glasses of milk each day. Hmm…

I would suggest that you try this for yourselves, but when I tried to log on to the site today, I got a “website cannot be found” message even though the USDA origin page shows that it was recently updated. Maybe the USDA is doing an upgrade? I don’t know. But keep checking so that you can try it yourself and let me know what you find out.