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December 6, 2004 |
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In This Issue...
PRO OXIDANTS For a long time, we have believed that antioxidants are all good and that oxidants, also called free radicals, are all bad because they contribute to a wide range of internal problems, including major diseases. However, in Daily Health News, November 15, 2004, I wrote about the connection between oxidants and diabetes Scientists at New York University School of Medicine have published a report on a study that demonstrates oxidants' role in keeping LDL ("bad") cholesterol at lower levels. The doctor who led the NYU study is Edward A. Fisher, MD, PhD, professor of cardiovascular medicine and cell biology. I spoke with him about this study and its implications. THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE STUDY To create LDL, the liver must have a protein called Apo B-100. However, the presence of a type of oxidant called lipid peroxide reduces availability of Apo B-100 to the liver. With less Apo B-100 available to it, the liver can produce only a limited amount of LDL. The fortunate result is that lower levels of LDL cholesterol venture forth into the bloodstream. Again, an oxidant acts as a signal, informing the liver to decrease LDL production. THE RESEARCH To determine how an antioxidant would affect this process, the investigators introduced a high level of vitamin E to the mice liver cells. Once there, the E did its job by attaching to the oxidant, leaving the liver free to create LDL. Result: LDL blood levels rose. Even though this study was done on mice, Dr. Fisher says that it is in line with a previous heart study that proved human subjects taking antioxidants ended up with slightly higher LDL levels than those who were not taking them. Dr. Fisher says this study has caused him and his colleagues to rethink even the way they refer to oxidants in the body. Before the study, they described the presence of oxidants as "oxidative stress." Now they are considering calling it "oxidant signaling." Although these studies support the idea of oxidants' usefulness, Dr. Fisher emphasizes that it's not yet time to sing the praises of oxidants. He describes the value of oxidants in the body with the old real estate saying For example, I wrote some months ago about a large observational study that showed a dramatic reduction in the onset of Alzheimer's disease for people who took vitamins E and C in tandem. But as we have just seen, vitamin E in the liver can allow for production of excess LDL. Daily Health News contributing editor Andrew L. Rubman, ND, notes that this study examined the effects of adding just vitamin E, rather than adding it as a component of broad-based antioxidant intervention. Balance is critical throughout the body. WHAT SHOULD YOU DO ABOUT IT? In the meantime, there are thousands, maybe millions, of people who include antioxidants in their diet and supplement with them. Dr. Fisher reports that although he can't make a correlation between the quantity of vitamin E they gave the mice in the study and the amount humans typically consume, he says that the quantity given to the mice was very high. Consequently, his concern centers on the megadoses of antioxidants that some people choose to take. His advice is to avoid such megadoses, but he says that if your LDL levels are in the acceptable range (below 100 mg/dl for people who are not in the high-risk group for cardiac disease) and you're taking 400 IU of vitamin E each day, there is no reason to stop. People who have higher LDL levels, however, should discuss these findings with their doctor to decide if an adjustment to their antioxidant intake should be made. In a future article, we will examine a late-breaking study associating vitamin E supplementation with cardiac problems. Bottom line: The vitamin E studies suggest using caution against excessive single antioxidant supplementation... and a further reason not to self-medicate HAZARDOUS VITAMINS AND DOSAGES THAT CAN DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH Vitamins can do a lot of good THE POLITICS OF DAIRY The Food Pyramid NUTRITIONISTS SPEAK OUT In interviews, Walter Willet, MD, DrPH, of Harvard's School of Public Health, has said that he worries about people upping their intake of fat-loaded whole milk and the resulting surge of cardiac disease. He also points to such studies as the ongoing Nurses Health Study, which indicate that the calcium in milk doesn't help ward off osteoporosis, and to other studies that link dairy consumption to an elevated risk of prostate cancer. Milk allergies and sensitivities also are an issue To add fuel to the political fire, although traditionally the emphasis on drinking milk is for its calcium, a member of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, the group that determines the government's position on nutrition, was quoted in The Wall Street Journal as saying the primary reason for upping the dairy recommendation had to do with potassium, not calcium. (The Institute of Medicine recently advocated increased potassium intake.) Here's the catch: Potassium is plentiful in many foods, not just milk. You can get potassium by eating bananas, winter squash, potatoes, spinach, avocado, oranges and many more fruits and vegetables... and even bitter chocolate. THE LOW-DOWN ON DAIRY Is there value in the dairy recommendation at all? According to Ron Schmid, ND, author of The Untold Story of Milk: Green Pastures, Contented Cows and Raw Dairy Foods, there absolutely is value in consuming dairy, with one critical qualification: The dairy must be raw milk from grass-fed cows. According to Dr. Schmid, it is not the milk but the processing of it that has created the health problems. (See Daily Health News, June 30, 2003 and Daily Health News, July 1, 2003.) Raw milk from grass-fed cows is free of these problems, he says, yet full of calcium and a bounty of other nutrients, including vitamins A and D. It is possible to purchase raw milk in 35 states, on the farms where it is produced. In two states, California and Connecticut, you can find it in a few retail markets. He also reports that black Americans in his practice have no problems with raw dairy products, a further indication that processed milk has gone astray. If you still don't want to consume dairy Be well,
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The Politics of Dairy
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