Re: How to combine low fat, low sugar, low simple carbohydrates, low oxalate, low purine dietary recommendations. Food shopping. Portions preparations.

On Sat, 30 Dec 2006 00:33:53 +0200, "Juhana Harju"
<spamshantigiriorama.removespam@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Matti Narkia wrote:
: On Fri, 29 Dec 2006 22:41:25 +0200, Matti Narkia <mna@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
:: On Fri, 29 Dec 2006 09:28:13 +0200, "Juhana Harju"
:: <spamshantigiriorama.removespam@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
::: Matti Narkia wrote:
:::: On Thu, 28 Dec 2006 20:56:37 +0200, "Juhana Harju"
:::: <spamshantigiriorama.removespam@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
::::
::::: I agree with this guideline. Some healthy foods that the diet
::::: could include are nuts, fatty fish, tofu, green leafy vegetables,
::::: carrots, tomatoes, pomegranates, blueberries, red onions, olive
::::: oil, citrus fruits, apples, and whole grains.
::::
:::: Until the finding of the study
::::
:::: White LR, Petrovitch H, Ross GW, Masaki K, Hardman J, Nelson J,
:::: Davis D, Markesbery W.
:::: Brain aging and midlife tofu consumption.
:::: J Am Coll Nutr. 2000 Apr;19(2):242-55.
:::: PMID: 10763906 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
:::: <http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/full/19/2/242> (full text)
:::
::: It should be noticed that there might be confounding factors
::: affecting this outcome. One such is the widespread vitamin B12
::: deficiency in vegetarian subjects. The study neglected to measure
::: this confounding factor. The possible role of vitamin B12 has not
::: even been discussed in the study which is a clear omission.
::
:: The vitamin B12 factor seems unlikely in this context, IMHO. The
:: tested population was not known to be vegetarian, and the potential
:: effect of B12 of lack of it would probably have caused an inverse
:: association between at least some vitamin B12 rich food items and
:: cognitive impairment. However, the only food item for which
:: association with cognitive impairment was found, was tofu.
::
: One question, which perhaps should be asked, is whether one of the
: reasons for the relatively high rate of degenerative brain diseases
: among vegetarians is consumption of tofu or/and other soy products?


You omitted the fact that vegetarians often have a very high homocysteine
due to B12 deficiency, and both high homocysteine and B12 deficiency are
related to the higher risk of cognitive decline. This question of B12
deficiency was even more relevant in sixties and seventies when the food
data was collected because B12 supplementation was not as frequent as it is
nowadays.

I did not omit anything, I suggested a question whether _one_ of the
reasons etc. If consumption of tofu and possibly other soy products
turns to have causal relation to brain aging, naturally a study
similar to White et al. should be conducted also among vegetarians,
because there probably are more people among them consuming these
foods than in general population, so the potential associations may be
easier to find. Actually, it would make sense to start that kind of
study already now, because it takes long to finish, and it may help to
some extent to confirm or refute the White et al. study.

To put the study in proper proportions it should be noticed that even those
Japanese-Americans who had a higher risk of cognitive decline had it less
than other Americans consuming a standard American diet.

So, if tofu really had negative effect on brains of
Japanese-Americans, who may be partially protected by the other parts
of their diet, by their genes or by both, it could possibly have even
worse effect on other Americans consuming a standard American diet.
And tofu eating Japanese-Americans don't deserve to have accelerated
cognitive decline even if the decline were still slower than among
other Americans consuming a standard American diet.


--
Matti Narkia
.

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