more responses

Taylor-- It may have been a rhetorical question, but I'm going to answer anyway. You asked why people are critical of different ways of eating. I think you're on to something when you say that they may be a little guilty about their own diet. Beyond that I think there is something to be said about our loved ones who didn't eat right. A couple of generations ago there were far more farmers than there are today. They lived on a farm, they ate meat at every meal and had whole, unpasteurized milk. That was the way of life, and life "on the farm" has become a symbol of the manly man that is indestructible. A plant based diet is confronting these established norms.

Additionally, many people's grandfathers were farmers. Manly men that ate lots of beef and worked hard. When you eat a plant based diet to improve your health are you saying that "my" grandfather could have lived longer if he had eaten a better diet? Are you saying if I could have influenced "my" grandfather's diet he wouldn't have died of a heart attack at age 57? Are you blaming me for my grandfather's death? That's a difficult conversation to have, and if it was your grandfather, it is difficult to admit that this man could still be with you if he hadn't been such a "manly man" in the way he ate. Who's ever heard of a vegetarian farmer?

There's a lot of social and personal issues that come with drastic changes in diet. Some people even take it personally. I have talked to my grandparents about the amount of meat that they eat and health. They aren't going to change and we sort of avoid the conversation now, but I care so much about them that I would like nothing more for them to increase fruit and vegetable consumption and decrease meat consumption so they can be here for as long as possible. It's worked for them for over 80 years, why change now? Well it could increase energy levels and improve some health issues and improve so many things that they don't even know are wrong, but habits are hard to change and I would rather not argue with them.


Laurel-Anne-- To start I will give the correct answer... I don't know and I don't think that there is anyone in the world who knows. There has been no research (that I know of) that has been done on that and the theories out there are rather speculative. But, this is MY blog so I'm going to give an answer based on the research I have done. You're right, heat denatures proteins, so the pasteurization process should denature some proteins, but not all. There are also some proteins that will "spontaneously renature", especially short simply proteins like insulin. I do not see how denaturing the proteins would increase the insulin response. If intact (not denatured) proteins get into the system and influence our bodies that could have some serious effects on insulin response, but if anything pasteurization would decrease the likelihood of that happening. I can't see how raw milk could improve the insulin response in milk, but that doesn't mean that I'm right. I've also seen some other reported benefits of raw milk besides the insulin response, but that's not an area where I'm very well read.

responses

I've still got a few outstanding questions that I should answer.

Kate, generally fat is stored as fat so it comes into the body in its storage form. it is taken to the liver and then around the body to be deposited, I would say that it is done within minutes, certainly not more than a couple of hours. If you were to eat a fat free diet (which is nearly impossible) you can convert carbohydrates and protein to fat through a process called de novo lipogenisis. I don't know how long this would take, but it isn't very efficient and although it is physiologically possible, your body will normally just burn the carbohydrates and store more fat since we always tend to have a little of that in the diet. I also think that it's important to point out that a fat free diet isn't necessarily a good diet and if you are eating a healthy diet that doesn't contain more calories than you will be expending, you will not store a significant amount of fat.

Veronica asked about weight gain and aging. As people age their basal metabolic rate decreases so you burn fewer calories to maintain life. To avoid weight gain you have to either eat less or exercise more (actually both is the best option). Exercise is important to maintain muscle mass (which decreases with age) and thereby minimize the decreases in metabolic rate. Eat right and you'll be able to maintain a healthy body weight. I should point out that this is easier said than done. We develop eating habits that are hard to change, yet our bodies change requiring that we make some changes.

Vertigo asked about recent milk studies that related milk consumption with weight loss. I've seen them, they do exist. First off, all of the studies included a calorically deficient diet that included milk. With or without milk, if there is a caloric deficiency you will lose weight. I know, they showed that those drinking milk lost more than those who didn't. It's also important to recognize that drinking milk is generally recognized as a healthy behavior because it is associated with drinking less soda. People who follow "healthy" diets also consume more fruits and vegetables and fewer meats and sweets. There's more to this than just milk. It is also important to point out that every study I've seen has been funded by the milk industry in some way which leaves them suspect. I'm not convinced, but I could be wrong. Here's another cartoon from that great site

Taylor and Emily have adopted the diet... Good work. It's hard when your spouse isn't completely on board. The vast majority of Americans could see huge health benefits from changing their diets. They are unwilling for whatever reason. Instead people take all sorts of pills to make them feel better and have more energy, etc. A good diet and regular activity will do that for you at far less cost and it works even better than drugs.

If I missed any questions, let me know.

Milk

This post sort of belong with the Paleo-diet post, but this was the subject of my master's thesis, so it needs its own page. I'm going to cover a lot here, so hang on for the ride.

Next time I will talk about baking soda as performance enhancing drug.

I will continue to take requests. If there are topics that you want covered, please let me know. Remember that when you stop giving recommendations I'll have to revert to my own ideas. I've got a great post in mind about my use of soap.

Milk... where do I start. OK, my master's thesis established that there is a dissociation between the glycemic and insulinemic indices in whole and skim milk. (Now that I've got the first sentence down, the writer's block is gone so I will revert back to English).

When you consume a food containing carbohydrates your blood sugar will increase. In order for blood glucose to get into cells it needs GLUT 4. Insulin levels in the body will increase after you consume a food in order to bring GLUT 4 molecules to the surface of the cell and allow glucose into the cell. Normally, increases in insulin are closely linked to increases in glucose (this makes sense because the insulin is needed to clear glucose from the blood).

My thesis studied whole and skim milk. When you drink a glass of milk your blood glucose levels go up a little (GI=30 which is low). Blood insulin increases three or four times what you would expect. That really doesn't make sense because you don't need that much insulin to deal with the glucose in the system. But it happens and I don't think it's good.

Previous studies established that the glycemic and insulinemic response to milk were not different when a person consumed lactose (just the sugar component of milk). I originally wanted to study whether it was the protein in milk that caused the dissociation between the glucose and insulin response. Unfortunately, I blew up a couple of pressure cookers trying to denature proteins and then the milk was chunky and I couldn't get anyone to drink it (actually it didn't taste bad, but when the milk go stuck in you teeth it caused an almost instant gag reflex). It didn't take long for me to figure out that I could buy whole fat and skim milk in the store and I was able to determine that it was not the fat component in milk that causes the dissociation.

Sorry, that was a little side-track into memory lane. So who cares if insulin and glucose are dissociated? The real question is, what does your body do when insulin is high, but there is no glucose to go into cells? Your body will protect against this because you need sugar in the blood to fuel your brain. So cells become resistant to insulin so that your brain can continue to function. Insulin resistance is a beginning step of diabetes, so this isn't looking good for milk. I should also mention that your body is quite resilient, and I certainly don't think that milk is the sole cause of diabetes. In many people it is a contributor to diabetes, but many people will drink milk their whole lives and never have an issues with diabetes. The body is resilient.

Speaking of insulin, what else does it do? First off, milk will cause an insulin spike, but so will drinking diet colas or anything with excessive sugar in it. Chronically elevated insulin levels (frequent in people who consume lots of sweets) are associated with elevated levels of growth hormone, earlier age of menarche, increased height, increased obesity, increased cancer, and numerous other health issues. Milk is known to increase insulin levels and a recent study showed that regular meat consumption also increased insulin levels. Notice how milk is associated with increased height, not because of calcium intake, but because of elevated insulin levels that increase growth hormone. People will often ask me whether I tested organic milk. No I didn't, but I don't think the results would differ because this is an insulin thing, not growth hormone or whatever they shoot into the cows. I'm sure the growth hormone doesn't help anything, but organic will not solve the problems behind milk.

Yes, I just said that milk "building strong bones" was due to insulin, not calcium, so where should I get my calcium? Orange juice or other fortified stuff. Really the issue with calcium is due to expulsion and not intake. The US has one of the highest milk consumption rates in the world, and also one of the highest osteoporosis incidence rates in the world. Other countries where well over half of the population is lactose intolerant or don't drink milk for religious reasons have far lower osteoporosis rates. Do you still believe all that garbage that the dairy council feeds you through the food guide pyramid? Most people call it marketing, but the dairy council has succeeded in embedding their marketing in the education system so now we call it education, but they were just as wrong as when they called it marketing. Sorry, I have some issues with the dairy council, their marketing money is seeing its way into far too many organizations that are trying to promote health.

Recovery drinks (sorry, no transition there, I needed to get away from the dairy council before my blog was overtaken and the entry ruined). Chocolate milk is a good one because insulin is high and sugar content is also high which allows for easy restocking of glycogen stores. It should be noted that this is a good recovery drink for an athlete after a vigorous workout or competition. This isn't needed unless you have spent hours at your activity working your tail off and you plan on doing it again the next day.

Since I finished my master's thesis, I have not purchased any milk. We did buy a soy-milk maker which works pretty well, but no more cow juice for this family.

So where do we get our calcium? (I'm ready to return to the calcium topic after counting to 10 so as not to do bad things to the dairy council). Everyone in the family takes a calcium supplement (just to be safe), but I don't know that they are really needed. There are three components to building bone (not just drinking milk like the dairy industry would have you think).

First, your bones need a stimulus to build. Our bodies are incredible, they rebuild themselves based on how they are being used. Bones bend (just slightly) when they impact the ground or bear more weight than usual. The bending of the bone stimulates bone growth and inhibits bone breakdown. The absence of bone bending promotes bone breakdown and inhibits bone growth. In order to grow strong bones you must participate in weight bearing exercise (running, walking squats, etc.) Notice that swimming and cycling are NOT on that list, that is because they aren't weight bearing and many swimmers and cyclists actually have relatively weak bones because they aren't stressed enough to make them bend. So if you're here from fatty's, and you ride regularly, you need to be doing something else (like running or jumping) to stress your bones.

Second, your body needs to be neutral (as in not acidic). The typical American diet is very acidic. In order for your blood to remain at a constant pH, your body uses a buffer called calcium bicarbonate. Calcium bicarbonate comes from your bone matrix, is used to buffer acidity and is then excreted in the urine. The most acidic foods are colas, processed foods and meats, especially processed meats like ham, bacon, sausage and bologna. The most basic (as in alkaline) foods are fruits and vegetables. Even citrus fruits have a net basic effect on the body (I don't understand this, but I've heard it from several different sources, so I've accepted it). Grains are acidic, but not as acidic as meats. The best thing that you can do for your bones is eat lots of fruits and vegetables (as long as you already exercise).

Third, your body needs a source of calcium. Fruits and vegetables do contain some calcium (not much and it's not easily absorbed), and this may or may not be enough to build strong bones (that is why my family supplements). There is a limit to the amount of calcium your body can absorb in a day, so mega dosing calcium will just make for calcified poop. I don't want to downplay calcium intake, you have to have it, but if you're mega dosing on calcium and eating an acidic diet, you are still flushing most of the calcium down the toilet.

I chose that order for bone health on purpose... exercise, basic diet and calcium intake. It takes all three.

I think that is all that I have to say about milk. Tomorrow I will talk about the performance enhancing effects of baking soda. It should be exciting.

Vote

I know that the November elections are long gone, but really I don't think that is where the power lies. Lobbyists have far more power than we do as voters (because the lobbyists have money). So if we want to see changes the votes that we cast at the polls is of little significance compared to the vote that we cast at the cash register.

So I'm not a fan of the system and I express that at the polls, but it really doesn't do much good. I'm not big on the idea of sitting around and doing nothing, and I feel that we have a far more powerful vote to cast that doesn't pass through the bureaucracy of our government. Almost every time we provide money for a good or service, we are supporting a powerful lobbying group in Washington. Even if the product we are buying and the store we are patronizing are not associated with lobbying groups, they listen to the consumer based on what we buy.

Really, at heart I'm a capitalist. I believe that businesses will fail, survive or excel based on the products they provide the consumer. With that said, it is important for the consumer to take a stand against those products that they feel shouldn't exist. I want to point out a few examples and how they impact us in various ways.

First of all is wrapping paper. I know it's tradition, it's festive, it's the way we use to surprise people. What I hate is that it is not recyclable and completely wasteful. Demanding wrapping paper be made of a material that can be recycled would be a step in the right direction. Even better would be to use old newspapers instead. Then we use the product and reuse it to hide a gift and it still has the potential to be recycled. Why would companies continue to produce wrapping paper that is used for a short period of time and then does nothing more than contribute to landfills? Because you buy them! You vote to fill the landfills every time you wrap a gift in that stuff. It's a powerful vote. We no longer have wrapping paper in our home and we use alternative means of wrapping gifts. I asked family not to use traditional wrapping paper on the gifts for our family, but every gift that we received from outside of our home was wrapped in non-recyclable gift paper. I find that frustrating.

Second we'll hit on milk. Although I don't think milk is good for human consumption, I don't think it's the worst food available either. I offer this example to demonstrate a point, not to persuade you to stop drinking milk. Every time you purchase milk or dairy products you are contributing the the National Dairy Council which has a powerful lobbying group in Washington. What do they lobby? Among other things, they make sure that milk is given to all WIC participants and is a "handout" (although I'm sure the grocer and dairy still get their money from the product being given away) to those in need. Milk is also influential in schools and this is one of my biggest complaints about the dairy industry. Schools are a place for education, not marketing. There have been big arguments recently about advertising in the halls of schools which is really all about making money for business and NOT about benefiting our children and the future generation. Milk doesn't advertise in halls (well, maybe they do, I don't know that for sure), but I do know that the dairy industry provides curriculum for health teachers to ease the burden of having to come up with a lesson plan. Long before advertising in hallways became an issue, milk was advertising in the classroom, spreading the propaganda and encouraging milk consumption. It's really a great marketing idea, but I don't send my kids to school to be marketed to, I send them to learn how to think for themselves. In addition to health reasons, I don't buy milk because I am unwilling to support their unethical marketing practices. Every time that you buy milk you are voting for marketing in schools.

McDonald's recently spent lots of money on a survey of their customers to find what they wanted. The survey concluded that customers wanted more healthy choices in salads, yogurt, etc. McDonald's responded by introducing product lines that reflected the desires of the customer. It turns out that people don't buy the healthy choices at McDonald's, so the line was discontinued or at least down-graded (I don't really know, I haven't been to McDonald's in at least 5 years). Kudos to McDonald's for trying, but what you pay money for speaks far louder than your vote on a survey.

My final rant will be about WalMart. Recently, I have found many good things that WalMart is doing. They have decided to reduce the packaging on products that they are carrying. They carry organic (although not locally grown) produce, and they employ elderly and handicapped persons that would likely not be able to find employment elsewhere. Those are wonderful things that I would like to support, but I won't through WalMart. The reason is that this Mega-store is too powerful. They demand low prices from their manufacturers. If the manufacturer is unable to meet that price Walmart goes elsewhere. I'm a capitalist, that should be OK with me, but not when it forces manufacturers (and even Chinese manufacturers) to pay their employees less and essentially abuse the human resources of a company in order to get Walmart to buy their products. Walmart even does this to their own "associates" who do not make a livable wage. It's unfortunate, I choose to vote against Walmart every time I spend money, yet I still have to pay taxes that support Walmart employees who are unable to meet their financial responsibilities because they are not being appropriately compensated by the big business.

As I think of who will read this blog (if anyone makes it this far, it ended up a little longer than originally anticipated) I think of how global this is. For example, Vertigo is a Canadian (I think) living in Japan, yet he has a powerful vote in the US. Every time he goes to the store he chooses to buy US made goods, or others. If he votes for the companies he gives his money to, regardless of what country that may be in. So who do you think the Russians vote for? the Chinese? Who do you vote for?