Another Romaine Outbreak: Not again??

Tis the season to not have romaine lettuce on the dinnner table. Another outbreak with E. coli bacteria has recently raised some concerns that this is becoming all too common.

As yet, I have seen no information on how this recent outbreak occurred; however other outbreaks have been possibly linked to where the lettuce was grown with the use of contaminated irrigation water. Why don’t we realize that lettuce fields growing close to feedlots (CAFO’s) is not a very good idea?

E.coli poisoning is a very troublesome illness and consumers should realize that it results in some people with serious kidney failure and possibly a lifetime of trouble. I taught an infectious disease course and many students were shocked to read real life accounts of just how dangerous and sometimes fatal this bacteria can be.

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The First Thanksgiving?

A Brief History of Thanksgiving Foods

“ The turkey is certainly one of the most delightful presents which the New World has made to the Old.” Brillat Savarin.

Most of the traditional Thanksgiving foods we now eat on this holiday are foods that originated or were Native to the Americas. The word for turkey in French is dinde, short for poulet d’inde since they thought that the turkey came from the West Indies of Columbus days. The turkey was popular in England before the Pilgrims came in 1620.

Turkeys don’t migrate so they were some of the first Native Americans and were available all year. Turkeys are easy to hunt – when one is shot, the others freeze in place. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t encourage shooting turkeys – we have lots of wild turkeys here in Western North Carolina. Many times I’ve had to stop and wait until they cross the road. I once encountered a few hens walking in the woods, followed by a male who wanted to impress them by making a racket and spreading his tail feathers – of course, the “girls” totally ignored him and went on without a nod – I kind of felt sorry for him

Potatoes had reached Europe early in the Columbian Exchange (thanks to Christopher Columbus). Potatoes had an interesting history – they were native to Peru, a Spanish colony and enemy of England, and went from Peru to Europe and then returned to New Hampshire with Scottish-Irish settlers in 1723. It is thought that the idea of mashing them with butter and milk also came form Scottish-Irish influence.

Cranberries were native to New England. Cranberries and blueberries were mashed with sour milk and used as paint as well as for food. To this day, these colors or variations of these colors are used in New England colonial homes.

Many types of squash had reached Europe, but pumpkin was unknown at that time. Pumpkin was used in the early colonies, but did not appear in cookbooks until Amelia Simmons in 1796 wrote the first printed American cookbook. She referred to it as “pomkin”. You may prefer pecan pie – and these are also of American origin. Originating in central and eastern North America and the river valleys of Mexico, pecans were widely used by pre-colonial residents.

Cornbread and sweet potatoes (both being native to the Americas) round out our traditional Thanksgiving fare. Archaeological studies indicate that corn was cultivated in the Americas at least 5600 years ago and American Indians were growing corn long before Europeans landed here. The probable center off origin is the Central American and Mexico region but since the plant is found only under cultivation, no one can be sure.

The sweet potato has a rich history and interesting origin. It is one of the oldest vegetables known to mankind. Scientists believe that the sweet potato was domesticated thousands of years ago in Central America. Christopher Columbus took sweet potatoes back home to Europe after his first 1492 voyage. Sweet potatoes spread through Asia and Africa after being introduced in China in the late 16^th century.

So as you enjoy your Thanksgiving this year, give thanks to the Americas for our traditional foods that are truly “made in America”.

BTW –Many of the foods we find on our Thanksgiving table today, weren’t available back when the colonists celebrated the First Thanksgiving in Plymouth. The first historical descriptions of the first Thanksgiving do not mention turkey – only “wild fowl” (not identified) and five deer. The party was in 1621 with fifty-one Pilgrim men, women, and children hosting ninety men of the Wampanoag tribe and their chief, Massasoit. It was in the fall to celebrate the good harvest of corn (wheat and barley weren’t as successful) and lasted three days.

Have a great Thanksgiving Day from Food, Facts & Fads. SJF

The 2020 Dietary Guidelines: A Sneak Peak?

Every five years the Dietary Guidelines for Americans are reassessed with the hope that the information for the consumer is based on the latest scientific evidence.Sometime In 2020 we shall see the results of the current Dietary Guideline’s Committee conclusions (we hope the conclusions are based on sound science and free of the influence of the food industry.)

A disturbing possibility is that we may not find this happening – more than half of the DG Committee is reported to compose of members from the food industry. Also, the list of issues has been restricted as to what types of foods can be Included. If this is true, we may have to ignore the new Guidelines and rely more on the recommendations from the past (i.e. the 2015 Guidelines that may be less corrupted by bias.)

We shall see. Stay tuned. Let’s give them a chance before we criticize or praise them too much. In my opinion, we need to have guidelines we can trust to be the latest ones we know or think we know based on good science – it looks like global obesity is on the rise.

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Vegetarians: It’s Not Just Vitamin B12

We so often warn vegetarians that they need to find a reliable source of vitamin B12. However, iron is a nutrient that is assumed to be adequate in the vegan diet, but due to its bioavailability issues, it is often not enough to prevent an iron deficiency, especially in women and children. Iron deficiency is a disorder that results from a depletion of iron stores in the body. It is characterized by weakness, fatigue, short attention span, poor appetite, increased susceptibility to infection, and irritability.

How does iron function in the body?

Oxygen enters the lungs.
Oxygen attaches to iron in hemoglobin and myoglobin (found in red blood cells and muscle cells.
Oxygenated hemoglobin transported in blood to body cells, drops off oxygen.
Iron in hemoglobin then picks up carbon dioxide from cells and transports it to the lungs.
Carbon dioxide is released from iron in hemoglobin
Carbon dioxide is exhaled from the lungs.

This function of iron operates smoothly when the body’s supply of iron is sufficient. Unfortunately, that is often not the case. For example, a 3-ounce hamburger and a cup of asparagus both contain approximately 3 milligrams of iron, but 20 times more iron can be absorbed from the hamburger than from the asparagus. See the following article for why this occurs and what to do about it. Souce: Judith E. Brown, Nutrition Now, 7th edition

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The SAD diet: A global approach

When discussing the Standard American Diet, diet advice keep emphasizing what not to eat and ignores the more important aspects of a healthy diet, in other words, what to eat. This article addresses a more detail about how the SAD may be killing us, not only in our country but how it affects other countries when their populations adopt more Western ways of eating and often stray from their traditional diets.

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Calling Dr. Kellogg

When in the supermarket, have you noticed lately the extent of the cereal aisle? How many choices do we need? A lot of people start the day with their favorite. For example, an all-time favorite of Frosted Flakes states on the box – “Sweetened Flakes of Corn Cereal.” but also contains wheat starch. But what else do we find?

First we see that primarily, 1/1/4 cup serving provides us with:

No fat or cholesterol (that’s fine)
Total Carbohydrate: 37 g. (eh)
Of that there are 0 grams of fiber and 15 grams of added Sugars (not so good)
They also throw in a few milligrams of iron, 70% percent thiamine, and 10% each of niacin, vitamin B6, folate, pantothenic acid and zinc – that’s about it.

They do provide some entertainment on the box with a fun game of FIND A PENGUIN FRIEND (sort of a take off of Where’s Waldo.) if you get bored eating the cereal.

How did all this begin? In other words, how did we get here?

CALLING DR. KELLOGG

By Sally J. Feltner, M.S, PhD.

John Harvey Kellogg was born in 1852 in Tyrone, Michigan and died at the age of 91 in Battle Creek, Michigan He was a medical doctor and graduated from New York University Medical College at Bellevue Hospital in 1875. He married Ella Ervilla Eaton in 1879 and had no biological children except for 42 foster children, legally adopting eight of them before Ella died in 1920. He had one brother, Will Keith Kellogg.

After medical school, he became the chief physician in 1866 at the Western Heath Reform Institute of Battle Creek, founded by the Seventh Day Adventist leader, Ellen G. White. This soon became the Battle Creek Sanitarium, aka “the San” and its health principles were based on the Church including vegetarianism. Through the years, the San had many notable patients/guests that included former President, William Howard Taft, arctic explorers Stefansson and Amundsen, writer and broadcaster, Lowell Thomas, aviator Amelia Earhart, playwright George Bernard Shaw, athlete Johnny Weissmuller, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and actress Sarah Bernhardt.

Dr. Kellogg believed that almost all disease began in the stomach and bowels and promoted daily yogurt enemas to clean the intestines. He also encouraged his guests to practice breathing exercises and mealtime marches to promote proper digestion during the day. He strongly believed in nuts which he thought would save mankind in the face of decreasing food supplies and developed a patent for making peanut butter. He also thought that coffee was unhealthy for the liver and that indigestion was the leading cause of death. Most spices were unhealthy and vinegar was a “poison, not a food.”

While a medical student in New York in 1874-75, Kellogg began to be aware of the need for ready-cooked foods, at least ready-to-eat cereals. As part of the “Sans” menu, Kellogg and brother Will made several grain products by forcing wheat grain through rollers to make sheets of dough. One time, the dough seemed overcooked and the dough when flattened emerged as a flake. After this, the sanitarium became famous for its wheat and corn flakes. Many guests had complained that the hard biscuits they served had played havoc with their teeth, so the invention of the flake alleviated this issue.

Kellogg believed that most disease is alleviated by a change in intestinal flora; that bacteria in the intestines can either help or hinder the body; that pathogenic bacteria produce toxins during the digestion of protein that poison the blood; that a poor diet favors harmful bacteria that can infect other tissues of the body; that the intestinal flora is changed by diet and is generally changed for the better by a well-balanced vegetarian diet favoring low-protein and high fiber foods. Ironically, the theory that intestinal bacteria influence some disease states is gaining favor recently – maybe Kellogg was correct to a point.

By 1905, the Kellogg brothers were selling their corn flakes under the name of the Sanitas Company and had competition from a number of other companies in Battle Creek. One of his former patients, C. W. Post had started his own cereal company and Kellogg accused Post of stealing his corn flake formula. Will Kellogg wanted to add sugar to their cereals, but Dr. Kellogg disagreed with him. C.W. Post added sugar to his cereal however. Will left the Sanitarium and started the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company in 1906. The brothers had a strained relationship over business dealings in which Will sued his older brother. The case lasted for most of the rest of their lives with Will eventually winning the suit.

John Harvey continued to run the San but due to the Depression, it was sold. He did establish another health institute in Florida.

So this is a brief history of the vast ready-to-eat cereal industry we presently enjoy. Lately there has been a recommendation to lower our sugar intake and cereals are often named as “culprits.” Even though Dr. Kellogg was often thought of as eccentric in his beliefs, his thoughts on adding sugar to his corn flakes may have been prudent and Tony the Tiger would not be in so much trouble today with its added sugar content.

I wonder what John Harvey would think now.

Stop The Diet Debate, Please!

From an article, entitled End the Diet Debate by Victoria Lambert, MS, RD comes the following:

“Please stop discussing, debating and and researching the optimal human diet. We already know what it is.”

I agree as there is no such thing as the Perfect Diet. We all eat different things – whether we call ourselves Carnivores, Herbivores or the most common, Omnivores. The following article makes a lot of sense that everyone should think about when it comes to food acceptance. It can be simple by doing three things: Eat your vegetables, cook at home, eat less processed food for starters. It is what you make it and the degree of simplicity is dependent on your lifestyle (a new trend in medicine and nutrition).

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What Does “Fattening” Mean?

Spaghetti, Noodles, Tomatoes, Pasta

A term used for decades to describe foods that would make one gain weight was the expression of “fattening”.

Moderate avoidance (though not totally responsible) of these foods became the conventional wisdom to help avoid weight gain and became a dieter’s mantra. In fact, food history indicates that body-weight was relatively stable until about the late 1990’s in the United States. At that time, dietary advice had shifted to low-fat diets with the added disadvantage of food companies at the time replacing fat in their food products with more carbohydrate-containing foods.

Keep in mind- basic biochemistry tells us that all carbohydrates (except for dietary fiber) are eventually converted to glucose in the body to be used for energy. We are further reminded that some carbs are referred to as “starchy” (bad) and others as “non starchy” (good ).

The following article further elucidates the term of what are now commonly referred to as “white foods” and refers to their state of processing – refined or unrefined and how they may participate in our current obesity epidemic.

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The Microbiome: What We Know

Friendly Bacteria

The microbiome is one of the hot topics in the world of diet and nutrition science. Many claims are being made that attempt to associate “healthy” and “unheathy” microbes in the gut with certain diseases, e.g. Parkinson’s, depression and even autism.

Here are some facts:

The gut microbiome is the most complex ecosystem in the world.

Diversity in the microbiome leads to health and is governed by our diet.

Seventy percent of Americans have digestive related symptoms or disease.

Diets can change the biome in 24 hours; however, usually this change is temporary.

Probiotics are not the only answer. Prebiotics may play more of a role in feeding the microbiome and keeping it healthy. Short chain fatty acids called butyrate and other metabolites can be the fuel for intestinal bacteria. It may be protective against the dangerous low-grade inflammation thought to be caused by a high-fat /high sugar diet or artificial sweeteners.

Prebiotic Foods:

Jerusalem artichokes	Sauerkraut
Onions	Maple Syrup
Chickory root (inulin)	Peas
Garlic	Legumes
Leeks	Eggplant
Bananas	Honey
Fruit	Green Tea
Soybeans	Yogurt, cottage cheese, kefir

Best Advice: EAT YOUR VEGETABLES!

The composition of the microbiome can help to shape a healthy immune system.

In my opinion, we still are in the infancy stage in knowing just what microbes are helpful or harmful and how they affect our health. We do know that treatment with fecal transplants can help to treat a persistent condition called Clostridium difficle or C. diff that can occur after using antibiotics or being in the hospital. Just recently, a friend of mine says she had the disease without taking antibiotics or being hospitalized; therefore, it may occur in the community as well.

The following article provides some common sense knowledge about this topic with some advice on dealing with the issue of diet, prebiotics and probiotics for our health.

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The Myths and Realities of Dietary Supplements

Dietary Supplements: The Myths and Realities

In 1994 Congress passed the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, which led to an explosion of manufactured compounds which are now number to more than 80,000 products on the market and the number continues to grow. Types of dietary supplements include:

Vitamins and minerals (Vitamin C and E, selenium)
Herbs (botanicals such as ginseng, ginkgo)
Proteins and amino acids (chondroitin sulfate, creatine)
Hormones, hormone precursors (DHEA, vitamin D)
Fats (fish oils, EPA, DHA)
Other Plant extracts (garlic capsules, fiber, echinacea, green tea)

A recent edition of Consumer Reports (December 2019) has provided a very comprehensive article by Kevin Loria entitled “Shop Smarter About Supplements” that everyone should read if you take any dietary supplements to fully understand why consumers should be aware of the realities, both positive and negative of these products. Americans place lot of trust in diet supplement safety even though they are largely unregulated.

Here are some FACTS: Source: Consumer Reports

Percentage of Americans who take a supplement at least once a week: 68%
Percentage of Americans who take a supplement once a day: 54%
Percentage of Americans who say “supplements are safe”: 71%
Percentage of Americans who think supplements are tested by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA): 48%
Percentage of Americans who think the term “natural” means a supplement is safe or wholesome: 33%
Percentage of Americans who think supplements are safer than Rx or over-the-counter drugs: 38%
Percentage of Americans who think supplements usually work as well as Rx drugs: 32%

However, under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, diet supplements do not have to be tested prior to marketing or shown to be safe or effective. Although they are often advertised to relieve certain ailments, they are not considered to be drugs. They are not subjected to vigorous testing to prove safety or effectiveness, as drugs must be. The FDA largely relies on any claims from the manufacturers. It has been shown that many industry-funded studies only favor positive results and many negative effects never see the light of day. So when you read in a headline for a supplement, “clinical trials have shown…,” the bias of the manufacturer of the study results may be suspected.

In fact, each supplement label must include the following declaration of any claim:

“This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.”

To summarize the realities:

FDA does not approve, test, or regulate the manufacture or sale of dietary supplements.
The FDA has limited power to keep potentially harmful dietary supplements off the market.
Dietary supplements often do not list side effects, warnings, or drug or food interactions on product labels.
Ingredients list on dietary supplement labels may not include all active ingredients.
Dietary supplements may not relieve problems or promote health and performance as advertised.
Many products may remain on the market because “there’s a strong placebo effect.”
“People will feel better if they think they’re going to feel better.”

What Can You Do?

Purchase supplements labeled USP (U.S. Pharmacopeia) and Consumer Laboratories (CL). They are tested for purity, ingredients and dose but does not address product safety of effectiveness directly.
Terms such as release assured, laboratory tested, quality tested, and scientifically blended on supplement labels guarantee nothing.
Check expiration dates on supplements.
Choose supplements containing 100% of the Daily Value or less.
Take supplements with meals.
Avoid calcium supplements made from oyster shells, bone or coral calcium. They may contain lead or aluminum.
Store supplements where small children cannot get at them. A high incidence of trips to the ER involve overdosing of a certain supplement by young children. Taking a large dose of iron can be life-threatening that can damage the intestinal lining and and may cause liver damage.
Tell your health provider about the supplements you take. Consult your provider about health problems before you start taking supplements to try to treat health problems with herbal supplements.

Source: Judith E. Brown, Nutrition Now, 7^th Edition.