Southwestern - The Vegetarian Resource Group
Southwestern - The Vegetarian Resource Group Southwestern - The Vegetarian Resource Group
SCIENTIFIC UPDATEBy Reed Mangels,PhD, RD, FADAA REVIEW OF RECENT SCIENTIFIC PAPERS RELATED TO VEGETARIANISMFast Food ConfidentialDuring a recent study, researchers collected 480 samplesof hamburgers and chicken sandwiches from BurgerKing, McDonald’s, and Wendy’s in three locations insix cities. The samples were tested using a method thatshows what the animals used to produce these items hadbeen fed. The researchers had been told by the suppliersof meat to the fast food chains that they used “localfarms” that fed “mixed grains.” In contrast, all of thechicken and 93 percent of the beef examined came fromanimals that had been fed an exclusively corn-baseddiet. This suggests that the animals had been fed corn,rather than grass or other grains, to rapidly fatten themup prior to slaughter. In addition, relatively high levelsof a form of nitrogen found in samples was said to indicatethat the animals had been confined rather thanoutdoors. While this may not be news to vegetarians,researchers hope that their findings will spark consumers’curiosity about the origins of their food.Jahren AH, Kraft RA. 2008. Carbon and nitrogen stableisotopes in fast food: Signatures of corn and confinement.Proc Nat Acad Sci 105:17,855-60.Gluten-Free Vegan Diet MayLower Bad Cholesterol andReduce Inflammation in Peoplewith Rheumatoid ArthritisRheumatoid arthritis affects more than 1.3 millionadults in the U.S. It is an autoimmune disease, whichmeans that the symptoms are due to a person’s immunesystem attacking his or her own body. Besides joint pain,people with rheumatoid arthritis are also at increasedrisk for heart disease. Swedish researchers studied 66people with rheumatoid arthritis. Thirty-eight of themwere randomly assigned to follow a gluten-free vegandiet for a year, while 28 were assigned to what theinvestigators called a “well-balanced non-vegan diet.”The gluten-free diet was based on corn, rice, millet,buckwheat, and sunflower seeds; it did not containwheat and other sources of gluten. Thirty subjects onthe vegan diet and 28 on the non-vegan diet completedat least three months of the study and were included inthe analyses. The group on the vegan diet lost significantlymore weight and had reduced levels of LDL (bad)cholesterol. They also had lower levels of an indicatorof inflammation. This study was quite small, so additionalresearch is necessary to corroborate these results.Elkan A-C, Sjoberg B, Kolsrud B, et al. Gluten-freevegan diet induces decreased LDL and oxidizedLDL levels and raised atheroprotective naturalantibodies against phosphorylcholine in patientswith rheumatoid arthritis: a randomized study.Arthritis Ther 10(2):R34. Epub 2008 Mar 18.Dietary Improvements Seenin People with Type 2 DiabetesFollowing a Lowfat Vegan DietType 2 diabetes affects close to 11 percent of U.S. adultsand costs $174 billion a year in medical costs alone.A lowfat vegan diet has been shown to be part of aneffective treatment for type 2 diabetes (). A recentstudy looked at dietary changes made by participantsfollowing a lowfat vegan diet to treat type 2 diabetes.Ninety-nine men and women with type 2 diabeteswere assigned to either a lowfat vegan diet or a standarddiabetes diet and then studied for 22 weeks. Thegroup eating the vegan diet reported higher intakesof carbohydrate, fiber, beta-carotene, and vitamin Ccompared to their pre-study diet. The other group hadlower intakes of iron; this was not the case for the vegangroup. Both groups had difficulty meeting recommendationsfor vitamins D and E, calcium, and potassiumand consumed too much sodium. The vegan groupincreased their intake of vegetables, fruits, nuts, andsoy protein, while the other group increased theirintake of soy protein and nuts. Both groups decreasedtheir intake of harmful trans fats. These results suggestthat a lowfat vegan diet can lead to a healthier overalldiet in people with type 2 diabetes. Of course, peoplewith diabetes should consult with their health careprovider before making marked dietary changes.28 Issue Two 2009 VEGETARIAN JOURNAL
Turner-McGrievy G, Barnard ND, Cohen J, et al.2008. Changes in nutrient intake and dietaryquality among participants with type 2 diabetesfollowing a low-fat vegan diet or a conventionaldiabetes diet for 22 weeks. J Am Diet Assoc108:1636-45.High-Fat Dairy Productsand Eggs Associated withIncreased Risk of Heart FailureEver wonder what the heart does? It’s actually a pumpthat moves blood throughout our bodies. What happensif your heart isn’t working properly? Heart failure iswhen the heart can’t pump enough blood, leading toa back-up of blood and fluid in the lungs, swelling(edema), tiredness, and shortness of breath. Heart failureis a serious condition and is associated with 300,000deaths a year in the United States. High cholesterollevels, high blood pressure, and diabetes all increase riskfor heart failure. A large study of subjects in Mississippi,North Carolina, Minnesota, and Maryland recentlyreported on dietary factors that increase risk of developingheart failure. More than 14,000 people werestudied. People who had heart failure were more likelyto have a higher intake of high-fat dairy products andeggs. Higher intakes of whole-grain foods were associatedwith a lower risk of heart failure. If you’re concernedabout heart failure, it seems prudent to reduceor avoid eggs and high-fat dairy products and to eatmore whole grains.Nettleton JA, Steffen LM, Loehr LR, et al. 2008.Incident heart failure is associated with lowerwhole-grain intake and greater high-fat dairyand egg intake in the Atherosclerosis Risk inCommunities (ARIC) Study. J Am Diet Assoc108:1881-87.Vegetarian Diet May ReduceOxidative Damage AssociatedWith AgingAntioxidants such as vitamin C, beta-carotene, andvitamin E are believed to protect cells in our body fromdamage by free radicals. Free radicals can be producedfollowing exposure to cigarette smoke, pollution, radiation,and other harmful substances and may play a rolein the development of cancer, heart disease, and otherhealth problems, as well as aging. Vegetarian diets wouldbe expected to contain generous amounts of antioxidants,which are frequently found in fruits and vegetables.Do vegetarians actually have less damage due tofree radicals (oxidative damage)? A study conductedin the Slovak Republic examined this question. Fourgroups were examined: young lacto-ovo vegetarianwomen, young non-vegetarian women, older lacto-ovovegetarian women, and older non-vegetarian women.Young women were 20-30 years old; older women were60-70 years old. The older vegetarians had significantlyless evidence of DNA breaks, suggesting less oxidativedamage compared to the older non-vegetarians. Thismay have been due to higher blood levels of vitamin Cand beta-carotene in the vegetarians’ diets. No differenceswere seen in the younger women; both groupshad results similar to those of the vegetarian women.These results suggest that a vegetarian diet with generousamounts of fruits and vegetables can reduce theamount of oxidative damage commonly seen with aging.Krajcovicova-Kudlackova M, Valachovikova M,Paukova V, et al. 2008. Effects of diet and age onoxidative damage products in healthy subjects.Physiol Res 57:647-51.How Quickly Did You EatYour Lunch Today?Does eating quickly have any relation to weight? As youmay have guessed, it seems to. Japanese researchersstudied more than 4,000 adults and asked the researchsubjects if they would describe their typical eatingspeed as very slow, slow, medium, or fast and if theyusually ate until they felt full. They also measured thesubjects’ height and weight. Nearly 46 percent of menand 36 percent of women said that they ate quickly.Approximately 50 percent of the men studied and 58percent of the women reported eating until they feltfull. Subjects who reported that they ate quickly andthose reporting eating until they felt full were heavierand had a higher BMI than other subjects. Those whoboth ate quickly and ate until they felt full had an evenhigher risk of being overweight than did those whoonly had one of these behaviors. If you eat very quickly,try slowing down a bit. You’ll feel better, and you mightreduce your risk of becoming overweight as well.Maruyama K, Sato S, Chira T, et al. 2008 Oct 21. Thejoint impact on being overweight of self reportedbehaviours of eating quickly and eating until full:cross sectional survey. BMJ 337:a2002.VEGETARIAN JOURNAL Issue Two 2009 29
- Page 1 and 2: VOLUME XXVIII, NO 2Super Savory Pan
- Page 3 and 4: MANAGING EDITOR: Debra WassermanSEN
- Page 5 and 6: l e t t e r sVRG’s MEMORIALAND HO
- Page 7: about too-big chunks of tomatoesfal
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Turner-McGrievy G, Barnard ND, Cohen J, et al.2008. Changes in nutrient intake and dietaryquality among participants with type 2 diabetesfollowing a low-fat vegan diet or a conventionaldiabetes diet for 22 weeks. J Am Diet Assoc108:1636-45.High-Fat Dairy Productsand Eggs Associated withIncreased Risk of Heart FailureEver wonder what the heart does? It’s actually a pumpthat moves blood throughout our bodies. What happensif your heart isn’t working properly? Heart failure iswhen the heart can’t pump enough blood, leading toa back-up of blood and fluid in the lungs, swelling(edema), tiredness, and shortness of breath. Heart failureis a serious condition and is associated with 300,000deaths a year in the United States. High cholesterollevels, high blood pressure, and diabetes all increase riskfor heart failure. A large study of subjects in Mississippi,North Carolina, Minnesota, and Maryland recentlyreported on dietary factors that increase risk of developingheart failure. More than 14,000 people werestudied. People who had heart failure were more likelyto have a higher intake of high-fat dairy products andeggs. Higher intakes of whole-grain foods were associatedwith a lower risk of heart failure. If you’re concernedabout heart failure, it seems prudent to reduceor avoid eggs and high-fat dairy products and to eatmore whole grains.Nettleton JA, Steffen LM, Loehr LR, et al. 2008.Incident heart failure is associated with lowerwhole-grain intake and greater high-fat dairyand egg intake in the Atherosclerosis Risk inCommunities (ARIC) Study. J Am Diet Assoc108:1881-87.<strong>Vegetarian</strong> Diet May ReduceOxidative Damage AssociatedWith AgingAntioxidants such as vitamin C, beta-carotene, andvitamin E are believed to protect cells in our body fromdamage by free radicals. Free radicals can be producedfollowing exposure to cigarette smoke, pollution, radiation,and other harmful substances and may play a rolein the development of cancer, heart disease, and otherhealth problems, as well as aging. <strong>Vegetarian</strong> diets wouldbe expected to contain generous amounts of antioxidants,which are frequently found in fruits and vegetables.Do vegetarians actually have less damage due tofree radicals (oxidative damage)? A study conductedin the Slovak Republic examined this question. Fourgroups were examined: young lacto-ovo vegetarianwomen, young non-vegetarian women, older lacto-ovovegetarian women, and older non-vegetarian women.Young women were 20-30 years old; older women were60-70 years old. <strong>The</strong> older vegetarians had significantlyless evidence of DNA breaks, suggesting less oxidativedamage compared to the older non-vegetarians. Thismay have been due to higher blood levels of vitamin Cand beta-carotene in the vegetarians’ diets. No differenceswere seen in the younger women; both groupshad results similar to those of the vegetarian women.<strong>The</strong>se results suggest that a vegetarian diet with generousamounts of fruits and vegetables can reduce theamount of oxidative damage commonly seen with aging.Krajcovicova-Kudlackova M, Valachovikova M,Paukova V, et al. 2008. Effects of diet and age onoxidative damage products in healthy subjects.Physiol Res 57:647-51.How Quickly Did You EatYour Lunch Today?Does eating quickly have any relation to weight? As youmay have guessed, it seems to. Japanese researchersstudied more than 4,000 adults and asked the researchsubjects if they would describe their typical eatingspeed as very slow, slow, medium, or fast and if theyusually ate until they felt full. <strong>The</strong>y also measured thesubjects’ height and weight. Nearly 46 percent of menand 36 percent of women said that they ate quickly.Approximately 50 percent of the men studied and 58percent of the women reported eating until they feltfull. Subjects who reported that they ate quickly andthose reporting eating until they felt full were heavierand had a higher BMI than other subjects. Those whoboth ate quickly and ate until they felt full had an evenhigher risk of being overweight than did those whoonly had one of these behaviors. If you eat very quickly,try slowing down a bit. You’ll feel better, and you mightreduce your risk of becoming overweight as well.Maruyama K, Sato S, Chira T, et al. 2008 Oct 21. <strong>The</strong>joint impact on being overweight of self reportedbehaviours of eating quickly and eating until full:cross sectional survey. BMJ 337:a2002.VEGETARIAN JOURNAL Issue Two 2009 29
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