Re: Is oily fish really healthy?

"pearl" <tea@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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"Joe the Aroma" <schizam2001@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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"pearl" <tea@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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"Juhana Harju" <shantigiriorama@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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pearl wrote:
: "Dave" <prplbn@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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:: As a scientist this review doesn't change my recommendations one
:: iota. I'm not alone. Tom Sanders, Professor of Nutrition, King's
:: College, London who is often quoted as being dismissive of
:: supplementation says " It is disappointing that when the vast
:: majority of the evidence points to the positive benefits of
Omega-3
:: Fish Oils for heart, that one review paper can cause so much
concern
:: amongst consumers." Dr Mike Knapton, director of prevention and
care
:: at the British Heart Foundation "People should not stop consuming
:: omega-3 fats or eating oily fish as a result of this study."
::
:: I couldn't agree more. There is nothing in this study that makes
me
:: cautious about recommending eating oily fish three times a week
:: and/or taking an omega 3 rich fish oil supplement every day, not
:: just for your heart, but also your brain, joints, skin and immune
:: system.

I agree.

I disagree. The long-chain FAs EPA and DHA are not essential.
Our bodies can synthesise them from short chain fatty acids.
We've been over this, Juhana. Some groups may benefit from
direct supplementation of long-chain fatty acids, but in that case
algae- which is where fish get their FAs from - can easily fulfil
that need. No concentration of methylmercury or other toxic
pollutants to worry about, no cruelty, sustainable - no concerns
about any further depletion of wild fish, or crossbreeding with
escapees from fish farms, disease, etc. It's not rocket-science!

Seems to me that people want to continue eating 'foods' which
are known to raise cholesterol levels and increase the risk of
cardiovascular disease, i.e. animal fat, protein and cholesterol,
but then mitigate effects by eating another fatty animal food.

All that's needed is to consume a healthy diet in the first place.

For how much longer are we going to rely on others instead of
getting our act together? Thought we were the intelligent ones?

Lack of animal protein leaves people malnourished.

That is pure fallacy. Does a lack of animal protein leave elephants
malnourished? Rhinos? Try a tug-o-war with a horse sometime.

'What are the essential biochemical properties of human metabolism
which distinguish us from our non-human primate relatives? One, at
least, is our uniquely low protein requirement as described by Olav
T. Oftedal who says:

"Human milk has the lowest protein concentration (about 7% of
energy)
of any primate milk that has been studied. In general, it appears
that
primates produce small daily amounts of a relatively dilute milk
(Oftedal
1984). Thus the protein and energy demands of lactation are probably
low for primates by comparison to the demands experienced by many
other mammals." - The nutritional consequences of foraging in
primates: the relationship of nutrient intakes to nutrient
requirements,
p.161 Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences vol 334,
159-295, No. 1270

One might imagine that given our comparatively 'low protein' milk,
we would not be able to grow very fast. In fact, as the image on the
right shows, human infants show very rapid growth, especially of
the brain, during the first year of life. Human infants are born a
full
year earlier than they would be projected to, based on comparisons
with other animals. This is because of the large size their brains
reach.
A human infant grows at the rate of 9 kg/year at birth, falling to
3.5 kg/year a year later. Thereafter its growth rate is about half
that
of a chimpanzees at 2 kg/year vs. about 4.5 kg/year. Humans are
relatively half as bulky as the other great apes, thus allowing
nutrients
to be directed at brain development and the diet to be less
demanding.
The advantages of such an undemanding metabolism are clear.
Humans delay their growth because they 'catch up' later, during
puberty as seen on the graph. Even so, the growth rate never reaches
that of a newborn infant who grows best by only eating breast milk.
...
According to Exequiel M. Patiño and Juan T. Borda 'Primate milks
contain on the average 13% solids, of which 6.5% is lactose, 3.8%
lipids, 2.4% proteins, and 0.2% ash. Lactose is the largest
component
of the solids, and protein is a lesser one'. They also say that
'milks of
humans and Old World monkeys have the highest percentages of
sugar (an average of 6.9%)' and when comparing human and non
human primate milks, they have similar proportions of solids, but
human milks has more sugar and fat whereas the non human primate
milks have much more protein. They continue 'In fact, human milk
has the lowest concentration of proteins (1.0%) of all the species
of primates.' Patiño and Borda present their research in order to
allow other primatologists to construct artificial milks as a
substitute
for the real thing for captive primates. It is to be expected that
these
will have similar disasterous consequences as the feeding of
artificial
bovine, and other false milks, has had on human infants.

Patiño and Borda also present a table which compares primate milks.
This table is shown below and identifies the distinctive lower
protein
requirements of humans. [see link]

Undoubtedly these gross metabolic differences between humans
and other mammals must have system wide implications for our
metabolism. They allow us to feed heavily on fruits, and may
restrict other species from choosing them. Never the less, many
nutritional authorities suggest that adult humans need nearly double
(12% of calorific value) their breast milk levels of protein,
although
it is accepted that infant protein requirements for growth are
triple
those of adults. The use of calorific values might also confuse the
issue since human milk is highly dilute (1% protein), and clearly
eating foods that might be 25 times this concentration, such as
meat, are massive excesses if constantly ingested. Certainly the
body might manage to deal with this excess without suffering
immediate problems, but this is not proof of any beneficial
adaptation. It also needs to be pointed out that berries, such as
raspberries, may yield up to 21% of their calorific value from
protein, but are not regarded as 'good sources' of protein by
nutritional authorites. There are millions of fruits available to
wild animals, and blanked generalisations about the qualities
of certain food groups, need to be examined carefully, due to
some misconceptions arising from the limited commercial fruits
which we experience in the domestic state.

The weaning of a fruigivorous primate would clearly demand
the supply of a food with nutritional characteristics similar to
those of the mothers milk. We must realise that supportive
breast feeding may continue for up to 9 or 10 years in some
'primitive' peoples, and this is more likely to be representative
of our evolutionary history than the 6 month limit often found
in modern cultures. This premature weaning should strike any
aware naturalist as being a disasterous activity, inflicting untold
damage. However, what we do know of the consequences is
that it reduces the IQ and disease resistance of the child, and
that the substitute of unnatural substances, like wheat and
dairy products, is pathogenic.

Finally we need to compare some food group compositions
with human milk in order to establish if any statistical similarity
exists. This would demonstrate that modern humans have
inherited their ancient fruigivourous metabolism. This data is
examined below in the final sections of the article.
....'
http://tinyurl.com/dahps

'Relating Chimpanzee Diets to Potential Australopithecine Diets
Conklin-Brittain, Nancy Lou
Wrangham, Richard W.

We report data using an ape model to reconstruct the nutrient
composition of the frugivorous diet of our last common ancestor
with African great apes. We aimed to determine whether the
African ape clade, from which hominids evolved, has any unusual
features. We studied frugivory by comparing chimpanzee diets to
that of three species of cercopithecine monkeys in Kibale Forest,
Uganda.

Data came from a 12-month period that showed inter-monthly
variation in fruit abundance. The monkeys consumed stable
nutrient levels except for lipid, which was low (3.2 +/- 2.0 %
dry matter (DM)), but peaked at about 9% DM during ripe fruit
abundance. Chimpanzees also consumed low lipid and sugar diets
during fruit poor seasons. Protein intake reflected each species'
fallback food: leaf consumption kept the protein levels high for
monkeys (16.7 +/- 1.9% DM); chimpanzees relied on herbaceous
piths and maintained a low protein intake (9.5 +/- 3.0% DM).
Fallback food was probably also responsible for the high fiber
(NDF) intakes by monkeys, which was not significantly
different from chimpanzees' (32.4 +/- 3.6% NDF versus
33.6 +/- 4.5% NDF respectively).

Three conclusions emerge: fat intake was low for all frugivores,
protein intake was low for chimpanzees, and fiber intake was
high for all species. Our data (from a lipid-poor habitat) show
that high lipid or high protein is not needed for normal health and
reproduction of chimpanzees. Therefore, hominids were probably
capable of living on a low-fat, low-protein diet such as would be
provided by fibrous roots commonly found in a seasonal woodland
environment.


http://www.cast.uark.edu/local/icaes/conferences/wburg/posters/nconklin/abstract.html

Every vegan I know, every
male vegan at least, is bone thin. Definately within or under proper
BMI
but
far from healthy looking. Lot's of vegans eat processed junk too. I
know
a
girl who tried to make a vegan cake and overcompensated for the lack
of
milk
and eggs with mounds of sugar, disgusting and far from healthy.

'Analyses of data from the China studies by his collaborators
and others, Campbell told the epidemiology symposium, is
leading to policy recommendations. He mentioned three:

* The greater the variety of plant-based foods in the diet,
the greater the benefit. Variety insures broader coverage
of known and unknown nutrient needs.

* Provided there is plant food variety, quality and quantity,
a healthful and nutritionally complete diet can be attained
without animal-based food.

* The closer the food is to its native state - with minimal
heating, salting and processing - the greater will be the
benefit.
..'
http://www.sdearthtimes.com/et1101/et1101s18.html

'Well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets
are appropriate for all stages of the lifecycle, including
during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood and
adolescence. Appropriately planned vegetarian diets
are healthful, nutritionally adequate and provide health
benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain
diseases.' These 'certain diseases' are the killer epidemics
of today - heart disease, strokes, cancers, diabetes etc.

This is the view of the world's most prestigious health
advisory body, the American Dietetic Association and
Dietitians of Canada, after a review of world literature.
It is backed up by the British Medical Association:

'Vegetarians have lower rates of obesity, coronary
heart disease, high blood pressure, large bowel
disorders, cancers and gall stones.'
....
http://www.vegetarian.org.uk/mediareleases/050221.html

Vegetarian.org.uk and Earthtimes? Haha, real unbiased sources you got
there,
Pearl. Let's do comparisons of vegan and animal protein consuming
bodybuilders (the former do exist) for example.

.

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