Breaking news! Eating food can lower cholesterol!

A paper was recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showing that foods can lower cholesterol levels; specifically... LDLs (the so-called "bad cholesterol").  The foods that were used in the experimental group were:

- margarine enriched with plant sterols

- viscous fibers such as oats and barley

- soy protein from soy milk, tofu or soy “meats”

- peanuts and nuts from trees

- peas, beans and lentils

That doesn't mean you should go out and stock your fridge with only these items.  In fact, any well balanced plant-based diet will do.  

For those of you who are regular readers, you know that I hate when pharmaceutical companies sponsor research that shows that their drugs are awesome.  Well, this particular study was partially funded by food companies.  And the 8 of the 20 authors received fees from these companies.  So I guess the pendulum swings both ways.  The food company Unilever provided funding (Bertolli pasta, Lipton teas, Slimfast, Hellman's mayonaisse) as did grain manufacturer Viterra.

More Good News for Vitamin D

We've heard about the wonders of vitamin D.  The list of benefits only seems to grow.  It appears that vitamin D has the potential to protect against colon cancer.  Over 142,000 Americans are diagnosed with colon cancer each year and over 50,000 Americans die from it.

New research demonstrated that activation of the vitamin D receptor protected against the development of malignant tumors.  Additionally, it protected against the development of larger and more aggressive tumors.  Keep in mind that most Americans have vitamin D deficiency (or insufficiency).  Whatever term you want to use (which depends on the actual levels), the key point here is that the vast majority of us are walking around with low levels of vitamin D. 

Consider these other risk factors from the Mayo Clinic.  Low fiber/high fat diet, sedentary lifestyle, obesity , diabetes, smoking and alcohol.  Throw in low vitamin D and you can see that many of us have colons that are ticking time bombs.

Strange Headlines

"Milk Better Than Water to Rehydrate Kids"

I just read this amazing headline and read through a piece describing this research.  It was conducted at McMaster University and followed 8-10 year old children.  The researchers found that milk led to better hydration after exercise.

The research director, Brian Timmons, states, "Milk is better than either a sports drink or water because it is a source of high quality protein, carbohydrates, calcium and electrolytes...milk replaces sodium lost in sweat and helps the body retain fluid better. The milk also provides protein, needed by children for muscle development and growth, not found in the other drinks."  

There is no doubt that hydration is important.  But from a purely physiological perspective, it just doesn't make sense that milk hydrates better than water.  Discussing the presence of carbohydrate and protein in the context of hydration is a red herring.  Extreme protein deficits can certainly impair hydration levels but after normal exercise for 8-10 year olds, it is very unlikely that there were protein-related hydration issues.

The icing on the cake here is the disclaimer at the end:

"The study is funded by Dairy Farmers of Canada."

One has to ask, "Can this research be trusted?"  The people that make milk funded study to see if milk is better than water.  Surprise!  It is better than water.  

Is this kind of terribly biased research worthy of an actual headline?  I don't want to go into a tirade on milk.  If you've read my posts on milk, you know that it deserves an objective look.  But research like this clouds the picture and is darn near propaganda.  It's marketing under the guise of research.  Ugh.