I’m not sure how long its been this way, but I just saw that the PaleoVeganology blog is now available by email. I highly recommend it. I am very rarely interested in reading anything about nutrition that isn’t published in scientific journals (Ginny’s articles excepted, of course), but this blog is fascinating.
Check it out: paleovegan.blogspot.com
From time to time, I get messages from people on dialysis who want to know more about how to eat vegan while on dialysis. I send them to this short page of resources (link). But, I have never had any sort of ongoing communication with a vegan on dialysis.
I thought it could be helpful to start a page on this blog where vegans on dialysis can post about their experience and any hints they have. So if you are out there, please let us know how you’re doing and what you have learned.
Thank you!
A study was published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association’s August issue doing an analysis of protein and weight gain. The odd thing about it was that they used data from a cohort of male employees of the Chicago Western Electric Company — from the 1950s!
In any case, they found that, after 7 years of follow-up, animal protein intake was associated with being overweight and obese, but vegetable protein was the opposite — inversely associated with being overweight. This would be a no-brainer except that they found this independent of calories, fat, and carbohydrate. The findings were highly significant.
The researchers theorized that the different amino acid composition of the animal vs. vegetable protein could account for the difference.
It would have been interesting to see a cohort study done like this in which fat-free mass was included as a variable. In other words, did the people eating more animal protein have a higher muscle mass leading to a higher body mass index (the measure of overweight and obesity)? But even if it did, I’d be surprised if it could make up for the high level of statistical significance. Further research is needed!
Citation
Bujnowski D, Xun P, Daviglus ML, Van Horn L, He K, Stamler J. Longitudinal Association between Animal and Vegetable Protein Intake and Obesity among Men in the United States: The Chicago Western Electric Study. J Am Diet Assoc. 2011 Aug;111(8):1150-1155. (Abstract)
Monday, August 22, will mark the first day of Dr. Michael Greger’s 365 day marathon of posting a new video about nutrition every day for a year!
It all happens at the new site, NutritionFacts.org – all free of charge.
At NutritionFacts.org you will find summaries of the latest research on a host of topics related to veg nutrition. You name it, Dr. Greger has probably researched it and made a video.
Check it out!
Good news from Germany:
Germany’s Strongest Man Is A Vegetarian
Excerpt:
Now I have proven finally, that being vegetarian makes you a better athlete!
It certainly proves that being vegetarian does not prevent someone from being extremely strong.
As promised in my post of July 29, Update: Vegan D3, I corresponded with Stephen Walsh, PhD of the UK Vegan Society about giving their seal of approval to the company Vitashine for vitamin D3.
Dr. Walsh said that they met with the company and that they were satisfied that the D3 in their product is vegan. Vitashine claims to get the D3 from lichen.
I then found a study that confirmed that at least some species of lichen grown in some locations contain vitamin D3:
Wang T, Bengtsson G, Kärnefelt I, Björn LO. Provitamins and vitamins D2 and D3 in Cladina spp. over a latitudinal gradient: possible correlation with UV levels. J Photochem Photobiol B. 2001 Sep 1;62(1-2):118-22. Abstract | PDF
The next logical question is whether vegans should go to the trouble of getting vitamin D3 instead of using vitamin D2. I would suggest that unless you are having problems raising your levels of vitamin D using D2, it is unnecessary.
One bit of advice I have is to take vitamin D with some fat to help increase absorption. I base this only on the fact that vitamin D is fat soluble – I do not know of any trials studying this.
Back in February, The Wedge Natural Foods Co-op in Minneapolis printed an article by Jennette Turner, My Vegan Challenge to Oprah, in which she disparages vegan diets. The Wedge just printed an alternative view, Vegan Diets: Sorting Through the Myths, written by co-author of Vegan For Life, Ginny Messina. There should be nothing new here for JackNorrisRD.com readers, but it’s a great overview of vegan diets.
Ginny also has an article about a recent report from EPIC-Oxford, Vegetarian and vegan diets protect against diverticular disease, on Examiner.com from July 29, 2011. I will be updating VeganHealth.org with this info just as soon as I can get around to it.
As many of you know, the form of vitamin D made from plants is vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol), whereas the vitamin D from animals foods is vitamin D3. Some research has indicated that, especially in very large doses, D3 is more effective than D2.
Today, a reader (thanks again, Ivan!) pointed me to a company, Vitashine, that is selling a Vegan Society (UK) approved vitamin D3:
http://www.vitashine-d3.com/
I’m going to look into this more with the Vegan Society to hopefully get some details.
In the meantime, Vitashine’s website does not instill confidence with this statement:
“Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) is the form of Vitamin D produced by the body after sun exposure. Vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) supplements are widely sold on the market, but D2 needs to be further converted by the body to become active.”
Vitamin D3 also needs to be further converted by the body to become active. Whether it’s D2 or D3, both the liver and the kidney need to act upon it to convert it, respectively, to calcidiol and then calcitriol. Calcitriol is the active form of the vitamin.
That said, I hope their “D3” really is D3.
Stay tuned…
A reader (thanks, Ivan!) passed on a 2005 paper that I had missed:
La Guardia M, Venturella G, Venturella F. On the chemical composition and nutritional value of pleurotus taxa growing on umbelliferous plants (apiaceae). J Agric Food Chem. 2005 Jul 27;53(15):5997-6002.
Abstract | Paper
Ivan sent it to me regarding the vitamin D3 the researchers claimed to have found. I’m skeptical that the they were correctly distinguishing between D2 and D3 given that they make a reference to ergosterol which is a substrate for D2, not D3.
However, I was surprised to see that they also measured vitamin B12 (analogues). So, I added the following to B12 in Tempeh, Seaweeds, Organic Produce, and Other Plant Foods:
A 2005 study from Italy found significant amounts of vitamin B12 analogue in mushrooms (33). 250 g of P. nebrodensis contained 4.8 µg of vitamin B12. They used an immunoenzymatic assay. From the paper, it appears that the soil did not have organic waste of any kind. It is not clear if the B12 analogue was active.
Ryan Henn, organizer of Vegans in Vegas, put together a 16 minute video of interviews he did with myself, Robert Lucius, Joe Connelly, Nathan Runkle, Dan Mims, Jason Wyrick, and others who attended the event. The emphasis was on men and veganism. Link