Nexus - 0903 - New Times Magazine-pages

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usually implicated in cancer causation,"' and not meat per se. sources of a variety of nutrients, as any food/nutrient table will Furthermore, cooking methods seem to play a part in whether or — show. Nutrients like vitamins A, D and several of the B-complex not a meat becomes carcinogenic.” In other words, it is the vitamins, essential fatty acids (in small amounts), magnesium, chemicals added to the meat and the chosen cooking method that —_zinc, phosphorus, potassium, iron, taurine and selenium are abun- are at fault, not the meat itself. dant in beef, lamb, pork, fish, shellfish and poultry. Nutritional In the end, although sometimes a connection between meat and factors like coenzyme Q1O, carnitine and alpha-lipoic acid are cancer is found, the actual mechanism of how it happens has elud- also present. Some of these nutrients are only found in animal ed scientists." This means that it is likely that other factors foods; plants do not supply them. besides meat are playing roles in some cases of cancer. Remember, studies of meat-eating traditional peoples show very | MYTH #6: Saturated fats and dietary cholesterol cause little incidence of cancer. This demonstrates that other factors are heart disease, atherosclerosis and/or cancer, and low- at work when cancer appears in a modern meat-eating person. It fat, low-cholesterol diets are healthier for people. is not scientifically fair to single out one dietary factor for blame, This, too, is not a specific vegetarian myth. Nevertheless, peo- while ignoring other, more likely candidates. ple are often urged to take up a vegetarian or vegan diet because it It should be noted here that Seventh Day is believed that such diets offer protection Adventists are often studied in population against heart disease and cancer, since they analyses to prove that a vegetarian diet is are lower or lacking in animal foods and fats. healthier and is ciated with a lower risk Although it is commonly believed that sat- for cancer (but see a later paragraph in this urated fats and dietary cholesterol "clog" section). While it is true that most members . arteries and cause heart disease, such ideas of this Christian denomination do not eat Trans fatty acids, as have been shown to be false by such scien- meat, they also do not smoke or drink alco- tists as Linus Pauling, Russell Smith, George hol, coffee and tea, all of which are likely opposed to saturated Mann, John Yudkin, Abram Hoffer, Mary factors in promoting cancer.“ fats, have been shown by Enig, Uffe Ravnskov and other prominent overlooked in vegetarian studies, though | FeSearchers such as Emig, | oy. ihr anerial plaque is primarily com: their Church urges moderation, Mormons do Mann and Fred posed of unsaturated fats, particularly mcr geom meat Asai hs | Kummerow to be | byte nes an th tt alcohol and caffeine. Despite being causative factors in Trans fatty acids, as opposed to satu- t study that they had a 22% lower rate accelerated researchers such as Enig, Mann and for cancer in general and a 34% lower atherosclerosis, coronary Fred Kummerow to be causative factors heart disease, cancer and other ailments. mortality rate for colon cancer than the in accelerated atherosclerosis, coronary US average.* A study of Puerto heart disease, cancer and other ail- Ricans, who eat large amounts of fatty ments.” Trans fatty acids are found in pork, nevertheless revealed very low such modern foods as margarine and rates of colon and breast cancer.” vegetable shortening and foods made Similar results can be adduced to with them. Dr Enig and her colleagues demonstrate that meat and animal fat have also shown that excessive omega- consumption does not correlate with 6 polyunsaturated fatty acid intake from cancer.*’ Obviously, other factors are refined vegetable oils is also a major at work. culprit behind cancer and heart disease, It is usually claimed that vegetarians not animal fats. have lower cancer rates than meat-eaters, but a 1994 study of veg- A recent study of thousands of Swedish women supports Dr etarian California Seventh Day Adventists showed that, while Enig's conclusions and data. It showed no correlation between they did have lower rates for some cancers (e.g., breast and lung), saturated fat consumption and increased risk for breast cancer. they had higher rates for several others (Hodgkin's disease, malig- However, the study did show, as did Enig's work, a strong link nant melanoma, brain, skin, uterine, prostate, endometrial, cervi- between vegetable oil intake and higher breast cancer rates.” cal and ovarian), some quite significantly. In that study, the The major population studies that supposedly prove the theory authors actually admitted that "Meat consumption, however, was that animal fats and cholesterol cause heart disease, actually do not associated with a higher [cancer] risk" and that "No signifi- not prove it upon closer inspection. The Framingham Heart Study cant association between breast cancer and a high consumption of _is often cited as proof that dietary cholesterol and saturated fat animal fats or animal products in general was noted".“* intake cause heart disease and ill health. Involving about 6,000 Further, it is usually claimed that a diet rich in plant foods like people, the study compared two groups over several decades at whole grains and legumes will reduce one's risks for cancer, but _ five-year intervals. One group consumed little cholesterol and research going back through the last century demonstrates that saturated fat, while the other consumed high amounts. carbohydrate-based diets are the prime dietary instigators of can- Surprisingly, Dr William Castelli, the study's director, said: cer, not diets based on minimally processed animal foods.” ..the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one The mainstream health and vegetarian media have done such an ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the person's serum effective job of "beef-bashing" that most people think there is cholesterol ... we found that the people who ate the most cho- nothing healthful about meat, especially red meat. In reality, lesterol, ate the most saturated fat...ate the most calories, however, animal-flesh foods like beef and lamb are excellent weighed the least and were the most physically active. sources of a variety of nutrients, as any food/nutrient table will show. Nutrients like vitamins A, D and several of the B-complex vitamins, essential fatty acids (in small amounts), magnesium, zinc, phosphorus, potassium, iron, taurine and selenium are abun- dant in beef, lamb, pork, fish, shellfish and poultry. Nutritional factors like coenzyme Q10, carnitine and alpha-lipoic acid are also present. Some of these nutrients are only found in animal foods; plants do not supply them. Kummerow to be causative factors in APRIL — MAY 2002 NEXUS ¢ 27 Mann and Fred www.nexusmagazine.com