HERE IS AN ARTICLE OF INTEREST RELATED TO HEALTH, LONGEVITY, AND OPTIMAL FITNESS. THE DANGER OF EATING MEAT OR ANIMAL BY-PRODUCTS IS NOT A POPULAR SUBJECT AMONG FITNESS FANATICS OR RECREATIONAL BUFFS, BUT IT IS A SUBJECT WITH WHICH RECENT RESEARCH STUDIES ARE RAISING DEFINITIVE CONCERNS.
CRIME FROM THE PALATE ROBS
QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF LIFE...
BY
DR. BILL MISNER, Ph.D.
No meat-eating athlete, especially a strength athlete from American culture, wants to hear that they should not be eating meat because it is "bad" for your health, quality of life, or optimal athletic performance gains.
Is it harmful to health to eat Cholesterol-laden animal by-products? Hundreds of studies on numerous species of rabbits, chickens, and monkeys have conclusively shown that harmful vascular lesions can be produced in both distal and coronary arteries, eventually resulting in heart attacks simply by providing additional cholesterol to the animal's dietary intake. Even when the dietary cholesterol (in animal feed) is too low to significantly raise the blood serum cholesterol levels, lesions in the arterial walls continue to occur and remain in a state of disrepair! Once cholesterol is removed from the diet, the arterial lesions are completely resolved and reversed! (Circulation Research 34:447,1974.)
In a number of studies done on people, those who eat more cholesterol are reported to be at high risk for death, regardless of their numerical blood cholesterol count. (Arch.-Path.Lab.Med. 112:1032, 1988) Jeremiah Stamler, a world-renown expert on heart disease from Northwestern University's prestigious School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois, stated recently, "Dietary Cholesterol has an independent effect on heart disease risk over and above its effect on blood cholesterol." (Nutrition Action Healthletter, July/August, 1997:11)
Is it possible that humans are not meant to eat the fat-sterols from meat? Human Beings differ from carnivorous animals in that they produce slightly alkaline digestive enzymes in the mouth and small intestine during their mealtimes. Carnivorous animals, who thrive on dietary meats, produce acidic digestive enzymes in the mouth and small intestine. Shorter intestinal tracts found in these animals, coupled with the acidic enzyme environment helps these beasts of prey to digest their meals with no cholesterol arterial plaque or scarring at all. The teeth in animals function like incisors for cutting and tearing which works well on meat. Human teeth structures tear in the front of the mouth, but molars for grinding in the rear areas lend themselves best for processing plant foods. Plant eating or vegetarian animals have a similar teeth structural relationship of incisors to molars for processing and digesting dietary greens grown from the lands where they live.
Would man live longer and perform better on a vegetarian diet? It is well documented that the human species who live longest on planet earth are vegetarians, who consume very small amounts of cholesterol from animal or meat sources. The Vilcambas from the Andes of Ecuador, the Abkhasians from the Black Sea area of the USSR, and the Hunzas from the Himalyas of northern Pakistan consume no more than 1.5% of their dietary calories from animal products, yet they live athletically into their 80's , and do not know what retirement means, many working until they die between ages 100-120. On the other hand peoples such as the Eskimos, Laplanders, Greenlanders, and Russian Kurgi, who eat a large percentage of their dietary food intake from animal sources (high total intake of cholesterol and saturated fatty acids) have a life span that seldom goes much beyond 30 years of age. How will becoming a vegetarian affect athletic strength, power, and endurance gains? Performance by endurance athletes such as Dave Scott, multiple World Champion Triathlete, Robert Sweetgall, World's Premier Ultra-Distance Walker, Sixto Linares, World Record Holder for the longest triathlon completed in a single day is here noted; all of these athletes are Vegetarians. Others added to the list are the Olympic Champions Edwin Moses, Paavo Nurmi, Bill Pickering, and Murray Rose! The 1980 Mr. International Body Building title went to Andeaas Cahling, a vegetarian. Stan Price, a vegetarian, held the world record for the bench press. Roy Hilligan, "Mr. America", also is a vegetarian. And the list goes on-and-on... One may evaluate the truth in trial by becoming a vegetarian for the 3-6 weeks it takes to achieve the dietary adjustments; i.e., conversion time needed for the body to adapt its productive digestive enzymes-coenzymes systems.
PRECAUTION: where are athletes to get the necessary protein from foods if they give up or cut down dietary meat intake? The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) established the Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS). The minimum score a food-sourced protein can attain for meeting the dietary needs of human metabolism is 1.0. Soy, egg whites, and milk proteins are rated at 1.0, while the PDCAAS of beef falls short of meeting the athlete's ideal requirement is 0.92! If an athlete gets the quantity with the quality found in a 1.0 PDCAAS from mixing grains, legumes, mixed vegetables, egg whites, or milk proteins, meat may be removed from the diet. Vegetarian athletes are advised to monitor adequate intakes of 1.2 - 2.0 grams protein per kilogram body weight and 25-300 micrograms vitamin B-12 per day. Some vegetarian diets do not contain the required amount of amino acids and cobalamin B-12 necessary for supporting high caloric expenditure demands from training and competitive physical activities. While the suggestion of adapting the vegetarian lifestyle for improved performance and exceptional energy levels may take some additional personal study and practice, it's contribution for reversing vascular lesions, then enhancing arterial health for the "gold medal" quality and quantity of life is logical, and worthy of serious consideration. The proof is indeed in the putting...
Dr. Bill Misner, Ph.D.
REFERENCES:
CIRCULATION RESEARCH, 34:4447, 1974.
ARCH. PATH. LAB. MED., 112:1032, 1988.
NUTRITION ACTION HEALTHLETTER, July/ August 1997:11.
As promised last month, a continuation of Fat Facts follows.
First "essential" fat. What is it? "It" is actually "they" (or some plural form) - fatty acids that are required by the body - but cannot be produced by the body on its own. There is some debate over which ones qualify; but there is some agreement that they come from two families of FAs - omega-3 and omega-6. The essential FA from the omega-3 family is linolenic acid (LA), and from the omega-6 group comes alpha-linoleic acid (LNA). Whatever confusion exists about what is "essential" seems to come from the previously common belief that a third FA (arachidonia acid, or AA) is essential. It is now apparent; however, that it can be produced by our bodies from LA. But, if LA is deficient, AA becomes "essential," and must be included in our diet.
AA helps with maintenance of the structure and function of cell membranes. Food sources include meats and other animal products.
Sources of LNA are flax, hemp seed, canola oil, soy beans, walnuts, and dark green leaves. Flax seeds provide the richest source.
Sources of LA include safflower, sunflower, hemp, soy bean, walnut, pumpkin, sesame, and flax. Fish oils (from cold water fish) are a good source of omega-3 FAs.
Deficiencies of omega-3 FAs can result in neurological and visual problems. And omega-6 deficiencies can result in skin lesions.
Both omega-3s and -6s are classified as polyunsaturated FAs (or PUFAs). A diet with lots of vegetables (and/or vegetable oils) and fish will normally supply more than enough of the PUFAs.
Last month's Fat Facts article introduced the terms "saturated" and "unsaturated". Let's elaborate. Saturated fat is considered a "bad guy" among the fats. It tends to raise blood cholesterol, a risk factor for heart and artery disease. Unsaturated fat, on the other hand, tends to lower blood cholesterol (also a characteristic of a low-fat diet). Unsaturated fats are pretty healthy - an energy source, a cushion for organs, an insulator - all of those previously enumerated positive fat functions. The only real downside is its ease of storage. Saturated fats; however, are not such a benevolent entity. Actually, there are three different saturated FAs (SaFAs) - all contain the same components, but with different chemical structures and numbers of those components: 1) long-chain, 2) medium-chain, and 3) short-chain. The medium and short-chain varieties are relatively benign - mainly used for energy, and not storage. The long-chain variety are the problem. They tend to stick together, and can cause blot clots in arteries. Meats tend to be high in long-chain SaFAs. It turns out that high amounts of refined sugar (typical of many U.S. diets) can be converted to saturated fat; so just cutting down on meat doesn't solve the problem.
Trans-fatty acids deserve to be mentioned here. Many food processing companies add some hydrogen (a process called hydrogenation) to some foods to thicken them The resulting trans-fat (not identified on food labels as fat) appears to raise LDL and lower HDL, as do saturated fats. The bottom line is that when you are food shopping and trying to lower fat, look for "partially-hydrogenated," or just "hydrogenated" in the list of ingredients. If it is high on the list, it might be prudent to leave that "stuff" where you found it.
Some last words on cholesterol: one of the potential fates of cholesterol in the body is to be used to create bile (it helps fat digestion). After that, dietary fiber can carry it out of the body through the end of the digestive tube. Since bile is manufactured from cholesterol, its elimination can reduce body cholesterol - in fact, that's the only way the body can reduce its own cholesterol level.
Finally, here are some suggested levels for cholesterol that are thought to reduce risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD):
Note that these numbers vary from source-to-source. Just to illustrate the lack of consistency on what are "good" or "bad" levels, I recently read an article (I don't remember the source) by a doctor who claimed that total cholesterol levels over 150 put you at risk - that current guidelines are much too high.
For vegetarians of all types, or those who don't drink milk, for whatever reason; the best calcium sources from vegetables are: 1) spinach, 2) Swiss chard, 3) broccoli, 4) cabbage, 5) artichokes, 6) brussle sprouts, 7) celery, 8) snap beans, 9) lima beans, and 10) carrots.
Here is a calcium intake update. This isn't anything new, but it was mentioned in the September 17, 1997 issue of JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), so here is a reiteration. Most adults should consume between 1000 and 1300 mgs per day; as opposed to the 800 previously recommended.
(Q) What is going on with Fen-Phen? It seemed to be a hot weight loss aid, and I think I heard that it was pulled off the shelves.
(A) There were a couple of references to Fen-phen (actually fenfluramine and phentermine) in the August 28, 1997 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.
First, the article "Valvular Heart Disease Associated With Fen-fluramine - phentermine." It states that each drug has been FDA approved as appetite suppressants for treatment of obesity. The two drugs in combination (Fen-phen) may be as effective as either drug taken separately, but with the advantages of lower dosage and fewer side effects. But, in combination, FDA approval has not been granted.
However, a side effect of the use of either drug is pulmonary hypertension. The likelihood of aquiring this problem increases with high dosage for more than three months. The drugs can affect the action of seratonin; which has been shown to cause valvular heart disease from saratonin-like drugs - like ergotamines (migraine medication) and methysergide (?).
Valvular heart disease had not been previously reported for people seeking weight loss, but 24 cases have now been reported.
NOTE that this report was released to the press prior to publication in the Journal because of its significance, and the large number of users. Fen-Phen's success as a weight-loss tool has made it wildly popular, even for the non-obese who just want to lose a few pounds.
The second reference came from an Editorial Comment on the appetite suppressant, Redux (dexfenfluramine); and Pondimin (fenfluramine) - both diet pills, and indicted for potentially causing damage to heart valves. The pulmonary hypertension problem after long-term use has been previously documented; but in one case, a woman who had taken fen-phen for only 23 days, died. The autopsy showed significant obstructive lesions in the pulmonary arteries - indistinguishable from pulmonary hypertension. And an investigation of 32 pulmonary hypertension cases related to taking diet pills, four had done so for a month or less
It is currently unknown why these "diet" drugs cause pulmonary hypertension. In addition to the pulmonary hypertension cases, another report of 24 women with valvular heart disease, showed that the problems developed after an average of only 12 months of use of appetite suppressant diet pills.
The bottom line is that use of these appetite suppressants, individually or together, have the potential for causing both pulmonary hypertension and valvular heart disease.
It was once commonly said that fen-phen was okay for the very obese, but not so often now that heart problems have been shown to appear even after short-term use in some cases.
(Q) In your opinion, is it more beneficial to reduce overall calorie intake to lose weight (ie. diet), or to disregard calories and do cardio every day?
It seems to me that calorie restriction produces a better outcome. For example, my daily cardio includes 20 minutes on the treadmill and 10 minutes on the stationary bike. I power-walk at 4.9 mph and ride the bike at level 3. This burns approx-imately 300 calories in that entire 30 minute time (according to the readings on the equip-ment). Wouldn't it be easier to just eliminate 300 calories from my daily intake to produce the same results without the sweat?
(A) The best answer is that both diet and exercise, together, are "best." You could certainly lose weight by dieting alone, but the 300 calories that you cut out will likely creep back into your diet, with another weight gain. Add-ing exercise helps long term weight management.
A definite benefit to doing cardio workouts is cardiovascular fitness that your diet won't provide. Health and fitness go way beyond losing a few pounds. Adding some weight training also helps both weight control and general health and fitness. And look at these changes as being lifelong, not just to lose a few pounds.
And just as an aside, the "calories used" readout on your treadmill is probably not particularly accurate.
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