Category: General

Anti-Soy Fiction

I just read a citizen’s petition to FDA by Gail Elbek calling for the removal of soy because of antinutrients (trypsin inhibitors and phytates) and endocrine disruptors. Gave me a bit of a laugh, but I expect it will scare a lot of unwitting people.

The outrageous claims Ms. Elbek makes are not grounded in any science. Soy phytotoxicity is going to “kill our children”? Please. I’m not about to throw out my soy milk, tofu and soy sauce. What’s next? Spinach. Spinach contains a lot of phytates. Many raw foods like raw soybeans contain all sorts of anti-nutrients, but that’s why we dehull, cook, or ferment these raw foods. Most anti-nutrients are eliminated just by the processing.

There is a point to be made about high amounts of concentrated phytoestrogens (soy isoflavones) in a few dietary supplements, which are often marketed to women as natural hormonal therapy. These are basically drugs of which we don’t know enough about. The research is still out on whether or not they’re beneficial or if they can do harm.

But, again, there’s really not really anything raise eyebrows regarding levels of isoflavones in tofu or other soy products. The low levels of isoflavones that are in them are probably even good for you. So even if we ever did offer a soy protein shake, I don’t think I’d be too worried. We mustn’t forget that there have been more than 40 human clinical studies on soy protein’s health benefits. Not to mention that an entire, but relatively insignificant, country called China pretty much subsists on soy.

Want a reason to get drunk?

An incredibly risky one? If you happen to drink methanol, then you’ll end up in the emergency room with an IV intended to get you drunk as fast as possible.1 2 If the treatment isn’t applied immediately you could end up blind or worse.1,2p426

Methanol may be good for certain racing cars, but it’s toxic to human beings because the body’s liver oxidizes it to produce formaldehyde.2p387,426 This particular aldehyde is highly reactive in the body, damaging cells and their vital proteins including DNA.2p426,4 Even the fumes of formaldehyde may be cancerous.1,3 Formaldehyde in the body will lead to loss of eyesight, respiratory failure, convulsions and death.2p426

To keep the liver from oxidizing methanol to formaldehyde, the ER personnel will use ethanol as a distraction.2p426 Ethanol, the by-product of yeast found in alcoholic drinks, is oxidized by the liver using the same enzyme that oxidizes methanol.2p387,426 In fact, it is preferred by the enzyme, which helps minimize production of formaldehyde through “competitive inhibition”.2p426

The product of ethanol oxidation is acetaldehyde, which is less toxic.2p426 Acetaldehyde will give a person a hangover in the morning and too much over time can lead to fatty liver disease, but its effects are nowhere near those of formaldehyde.2p430 The liver detoxifies acetaldehyde to etanoic acid and then used as an caloric energy source.2p430

1. Antizol. Methanol poisoning overview. Available at: http://www.antizol.com/mpoisono.htm. Accessed on September 30, 2008.

2. Denniston, KJ, Topping, JJ & Caret, RL. General, Organic, And Biochemistry, 5th ed. New York: McGraw Hill; 2007:426.

3. National Cancer Institute. Formaldehyde and cancer: Questions and answers. Available at: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/risk/formaldehyde. Accessed on September 30, 2008.

4. Salariino, AJ, Wiley, JC, Lechner, JF, Grafstrom, RC, LaVeck, M & Harris, CC. Effects of Formaldehyde, Acetaldehyde, Benzoyl Peroxide, and Hydrogen Peroxide on Cultured Normal Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells. Cancer Research, vol 45; 1985 June. Available at: http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/reprint/45/6/2522?ck=nck. Accessed on September 30,2008.

Women and Asians can’t hold their alcohol as well as European men

If you thought it interesting that women have less of aldehyde dehydrogenase, then you’ll no doubt be interested to know that many Asians have a deficiency.(1) This is why Chinese, Japanese and Koreans can be much more sensitive to alcohol than Europeans and Americans of European ancestry.(1) You’ll notice that Asians with this deficiency are susceptible to alcohol-induced flushing.(1)

The adaptation that those of European ancestry have to be able to handle alcohol may be due differences of water intake in the continents, according to Sharon Moalem, Ph.D.(2) To reduce disease by avoiding pathogens in the water, early Asians boiled water for drinking tea.(2) Early Europeans, however, may have used fermentation so the alcohol would kill the pathogens.(2)

1. Wall, TL, Peterson, CM, Peterson, KP, Johnson, ML, Thomasson, HR, et al. Alcohol Metabolism in Asian-American Men with Genetic Polymorphisms of Aldehyde Dehydrogenase. Annals of Internal Medicine; September 2007:127(5)376-379. Available at http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/127/5/376. Accessed on October 4, 2008.

2. Moalem, S. Survival of the Sickest: The Surprising Connections Between Disease and Longevity; 2006. New York: HarperCollins.

What fluids should I use before my marathon?

Marathon runners can become dehydrated due to the extreme physical activity. What types of fluids should they consume in order to rehydrate their cells?

When you’re dehydrated, water is the hypotonic solution of choice for speedily moving via osmosis from blood directly into body cells that need rehydration (Tortora & Derrickson, 2006). Marathon runners, however, may need a little more solutes in the solution.

The physical exertion of running can create need of other nutrients for these athletes. Regular sweating and using up of glycogen calls for needs of carbohydrates to maintain blood glucose and salts for proper balance of plasma osmalility (Chen & Zimmerman, 1978). Sports drinks can offer an answer for proper running, but too many solutes in a drink would stop its hydration ability.

A good sports drink should remaining effective as a hypotonic solution, but still provide steady electrolytes, carbohydrates and possibly even vitamins. The extra sodium, according to British researchers of Loughborough University, results in improved performance (Merson et al, 2008). Thus, marathon runners should apply this knowledge for best results.

References

Cohen, I. & Zimmerman, A.L. (1978). Changes in serum electrolyte levels during marathon running. South Africa Medical Journal, 25:53(12):449-53.

Merson, S.J., Maughan, R.J. & Shirreffs, S.M. (July, 2008). Rehydration with drinks differing in sodium concentration and recovery from moderate exercise-induced hypohydration in man. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 103(5):585-94.

Tortora, G.J. & Derrikson, B. (2006). Principles of Anatomy and Physiology. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Should I see a nutritionist or stick to dietary guidelines?

We may all be made of flesh and blood, but each one of us has a body with unique differences. These varying individual distinctions can call for custom measures when it comes to needs for health. For these reasons good clinicians can accept established dietary guidelines as a general route for a population to make sensible eating choices, but, when appropriate, offer a tailored alternative to provide best results for a patient.

A suitable deviance from normal recommendations, for example, may be to take milk and cheese off the menu for patients of Native American and African ancestry. Lactose intolerance has been found by Cambridge researchers to affect these populations indiscriminately, which should lead clinicians to diverge from the US Department of Agriculture’s guidelines of dairy intake when caring for such affected patients (Scrimshaw & Murray, 1988).

For others increasing dietary intake of dairy may be useful. An athletic patient seeking nutritional advice may find herself or himself encouraged to supplement with protein from dairy whey directly after exercise since Australian researchers have just found that this practice may speed recovery of muscle (Buckley et al., 2008).

Customization of diet should not be limited to genetic and other physical variations in patients. The clinician who discovers a four-year-old girl’s inclination to refuse vegetables may recommend her concerned parents try a more-likeable chewable vitamin in place.

The examples given suggest person-centered care may be better for all. A community has benefited, however, from a fixed norm developed by public policy. Guidelines should not be considered as strict, but should help the grocery store and restaurant offer options while sensitive to the health of customers as well as help the lay person make smart daily food choices.

Selected References

Buckley, J.D., Thomson, R.L., Coates, A.M., Howe, P.R., Denichilo, M.O., & Rowney, M.K. (Sept, 2008). “Supplementation with a whey protein hydrolysate enhances recovery of muscle force-generating capacity following eccentric exercise.” Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. [Ahead of print]. Retrieved Sept. 5, 2008, from Pubmed online database.

Scrimshaw, N.S. and Murray, E.B. (Oct.1988). “The acceptability of milk and milk products in populations with a high prevalence of lactose intolerance.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 48(4 Suppl):1079-159.

A&P? Can’t I just memorize my vitamins?

If you just read the side panel of a Wheaties box while eating breakfast in the morning you’ll already know you need vitamins A, Bs, C, and E. The milk carton next to the cereal you know is a good source of calcium and vitamin D. Why should you know about anatomy and physiology?

Understanding the whole picture is, of course, why we break down a complex anything into its parts, including an organism. Cut the body apart into sagittal or transverse sections to discover its cavities and viscera and you learn quite a bit about how a little morsel of might end up in the mouth and through the gastrointestinal tract.

As you read these words, you begin to understand the direction of the point of this paragraph. Just as it is the job of a writer to understand how words can be used for impactful sentences that create powerful paragraphs, the nutritionist can use the alphabet of nutritional elements for supporting his or her patient’s body at optimal levels.

The anatomy-physiology nutritionist considers bodily needs from a chemical and cellular level as well as analyzing detection and responsiveness of an organ-system. That kind of nutritionist is one that brings holistic results to a patient, one that does good and no harm, one that can be trusted, the type of nutritionist I aspire to be.