Congratulations, Don!

I know I often post articles linking dairy to things like cancer, so I figured I should post this to show I’m not always showing direct links to dairy… here’s an example where dairy has no effect at all:

A new study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, shows that dairy products have no effect on metabolism or weight control. The Swiss study, funded by Nestle, tested the hypothesis that boosting calcium intake promotes weight loss, at least in people who are not already getting adequate calcium. In a crossover design, participants took a 400 mg dairy calcium supplement or a placebo twice a day for five weeks, with a 10-week washout period between the two treatments. Neither treatment had any significant effect on resting energy expenditure or body weight.

The dairy/weight-loss hypothesis has been promoted in dairy industry advertising, but has not held up in clinical trials.

Bortolotti M, Rudelle S, Schneiter P, et al. Dairy calcium supplementation in overweight or obese persons: its effect on makers of fat metabolism. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008;88:877-85.

Lanou A, Barnard ND. The dairy and weight loss hypothesis: an evaluation of the clinical trials. Nutr Rem. 2008; 66:272-9.

Ezra Klein on Michael Pollan and meat subsidies: “We spend billions to subsidize ever cheaper meat. And billions more to treat the ill health that results from our meat-heavy diets. And we will pay billions, even trillions, more, to handle the environmental damage that eventually results from these policies. It’s an incredibly odd state of affairs, like paying someone to touch up your house with lead paint. But we continue doing it because people like meat and because the various industries arrayed around meat — from acutal producers of livestock to the pharmaceutical companies that create the antibiotics to the corn industry which supplies the grain — wield enormous political power.”

China is on the cusp of a breast cancer epidemic, according to the current issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Using data from the Chinese National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Survey, researchers estimated that the current breast cancer incidence—10 to 60 cases per 100,000 women—will increase to more than 100 cases per 100,000 by the year 2021.

Meanwhile, a Japanese study in the International Journal of Cancer adds more evidence that traditional soy products help prevent breast cancer. Using a case-control design, researchers found that women who consumed the most soy products had roughly a 25% reduction in breast cancer risk. The protective effect was limited to ER+, PR+, and HER2- tumors.

Meat intake has risen dramatically in Asia in recent years, and dairy products are now heavily promoted. Traditional rice, soy, and other products have become less fashionable. At the same time, many women are delaying childbirth. These factors appear to contribute to the increasing cancer risk in Asia.

Linos E, Spanos D, Rosner BA, et al. Effect of reproductive and demographic changes on breast cancer incidence in China: a modeling analysis. J Natl Cancer Inst 2008;100:1352-60.

Suzuki T, Matsuo K, Tsunoda N, et al. Effect of soybean on breast cancer according to receptor status: a case-control study in Japan. Int J Cancer 2008;123:1674-80.

In an open letter in The New York Times, Michael Pollan addresses the issues the next president (Obama) will face: “You will need not simply to address food prices but to make the reform of the entire food system one of the highest priorities of your administration: unless you do, you will not be able to make significant progress on the health care crisis, energy independence or climate change. Unlike food, these are issues you did campaign on — but as you try to address them you will quickly discover that the way we currently grow, process and eat food in America goes to the heart of all three problems and will have to change if we hope to solve them.”

Dr. McDougall recently started putting video profiles of his Star McDougallers online. Here are the first two entries:

Vegan Diet Improves Diet Quality, Cardiovascular Disease Risk, and Symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes
A low-fat vegan diet is associated with better diet quality, weight management, and blood glucose control compared to the American Diabetes Association (ADA) dietary recommendations for diabetes, according to a study by PCRM researchers published in the October 2008 Journal of the American Dietetic Association. Ninety-nine adults with type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to follow either a low-fat vegan diet or the ADA dietary guidelines for 22 weeks. The vegan diet significantly improved the Alternate Healthy Eating Index score, which reflects better diet quality and has been associated with lower risk for cardiovascular disease. The vegan group consumed more carbohydrate, fiber, and several micronutrients. The vegan group also lost more weight and displayed better glucose control compared to the ADA group. Long-term adherence to a low-fat vegan diet may reduce the risk of major chronic diseases, particularly cardiovascular disease, in people with type 2 diabetes.

Turner-McGrievy GM, Barnard ND, Cohen J, Jenkins DJA, Gloede L, Green AA. Changes in nutrient intake and dietary quality among participants with type 2 diabetes following a low-fat vegan diet or a conventional diabetes diet for 22 weeks. J Am Diet Assoc. 2008;108:1636-1645.

Foodborne Infection Originates in Meat and Poultry
Ninety-seven percent of human disease from the pathogenic bacterium C. jejuni originates in animals farmed for meat and poultry, according to a study by researchers at Lancaster University, Lancaster, U.K. Researchers analyzed DNA from 1,231 cases of C. jejuni infections in Lancashire, England. Only 3 percent of cases were traced back to environmental contamination or wild animal sources, while 97 percent of cases were traced back to farm-raised chickens, cattle, and sheep. These results implicate livestock as the primary transmission route for the leading cause of gastroenteritis in the developed world, which is thought to infect 2 to 3 million people per year in the U.S. alone.

Wilson DJ, Gabriel E, Leatherbarrow AJ, et al. Tracing the source of campylobacteriosis. PLoS Genet. September 26, 2008;4(9):e1000203.