First, I would like to thank Staffan for his very interesting and
instructive post.
>From: Staffan Lindeberg <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Fat, milk and salt
>
>>We cannot understand how dairy products per se can be blamed for the CHD
>>epidemic.
>
>But I can. Per capita intake of milk is the single environmental factor
>which is most strongly related to international ischaemic heart disease
>death rates [103], and for males of 19 OECD countries the negative relation
>between mortality from ischaemic heart disease and wine or alcohol intake
>was reduced to non-significance by controlling for dairy products [104].
>But epidemiology can never prove causality. The cause could be some
>undiscovered lifestyle factor which is related to milk intake.
Or it could be associated with an autoimmune response to alpha casein.
Attachment of milk-derived proteins to vascular walls could incite a
lymphocyte attack that would result in vascular leakage, increased
fibrinogen, and consequent plaquing of the vascular walls. It is a concept
I have previously voiced suggesting a gliadin-induced autoimmune attack on
the vascular walls. But perhaps the facts support a milk-derived protein as
the primary major pathogen in much CHD.
>
>Or it could be something else in the milk than saturated fat. Dr Jeffrey
>Segall has suggested that it is lactose [105] and recently argued that
>'International data show stronger correlations of mortality from ischaemic
>heart disease with per capita supply of dairy products excluding fat than
>with dairy fat, and of estimated lactose than with dairy fat or margarine
>and other processed fats (positively) and vegetable oils and fats, fat of
>fish or wine (negatively). Butter and cheese, which have a low content of
>lactose, show moderate and zero correlations, respectively.
These might equally be interpreted as suggestive of causation by
milk-derived proteins. But, as you said, a correlation does not constitute
causation. Can anyone instruct me as to the content of intact milk protein
in cheese?
>Populations
>with low or intermediate prevalence of adult lactose absorbers have a lower
>supply of dairy products excluding butter (and therefore of lactose), and a
>lower mortality from ischaemic heart disease, than populations with a high
>prevalence of absorbers.
Again, the hypothesis of a protein-driven autoimmune attack on vascular
walls might find considerable support in this correlation.
>Specific national and ethnic data suggest that a
>diet low or relatively low in lactose, in populations with low or
>relatively low prevalence of lactose absorbers, is more consistently
>associated with protection against ischaemic heart disease than are high
>intakes of unsaturated fatty acids, wine, alcohol or dietary fibre.
> In
>seven countries with a high consumption of dairy products (six at least
>with a high prevalence of lactose absorbers), trends in ischaemic heart
>disease mortality appear to have reflected changes in the supply of milk
>(and therefore of lactose), but not consistently of butter or inversely of
>unsaturated fatty acids.
What is the protein content of butter?
> The findings reviewed in this paper call for
>further investigation of the subject, epidemiologically and biochemically'
>[106].
Thanks to previous posts from Staffan, I am aware that a great deal of
antibody testing has been done in association with atherosclerosis. Is
anyone aware of any specific anti-casein testing? What about
anti-endomysium? Anti-reticulin? anti-gliadin?
I would be very grateful for information along these lines.
>
>In order to be absorbed, lactose is split by the intestinal enzyme lactase
>into glucose and galactose. Paleolithic human adults did not drink milk and
>were probably, like most adults of the world today, incapable of absorbing
>lactose [107]. Accordingly, galactose is one of the few nutrients that did
>not enter the metabolic system of adults during human evolution.
Did lactase develop in some populations, in response to some other
evolutionary pressure or accident? Does it serve some other dietary
function besides splitting lactose?
>
>>...the Masai (high consumption of whole milk products, no CHD)...
As the traditional Masai diet does NOT include gluten, perhaps they lack
the intestinal permeability necessary for the absorption of intact
milk-derived proteins. Perhaps the multifactorial cultural mix of a highly
glutenous diet, to induce the intestinal permeability, in combination with
milk consumption, and perhaps other factors, are all necessary to the
current epidemic of CHD.
>
>Segall states that, among the Masai, 'the milk is consumed largely
>lactose-fermented, and the prevalence of lactose absorbers in adults can be
>assumed to be low because that in children aged 5-14 years is estimated to
>be 38 per cent [108]' [106].
>
>This is crucial. Does anyone else know whether the Masai really ferment(ed)
>their milk?
It is only crucial if you are looking at the sugars, not the combination of
proteins.
>
>>Assuming that man's tastebuds are not superfluous, but nature's way of
>>guiding him to the food he needs, let us examine the notion that the
>>cave man diet satisfied only the bitter, sour or pungent portion of his
>>tasting apparatus, and not the salty or sweet.
>
>Obviously our tastebuds lead us to the sweet, but sweet foods during
>evolution differed dramatically from most sweet foods today regarding
>nutrient density. Personally I would be at least 25 kg heavier if I had let
>my tastebuds guide me through the supermarket.
Or, perhaps, we evolved eating a great deal of fats and meats, and in their
current dietary paucity, we have learned to substitute those foods which
are sweet and energize us. As a celiac, I have experienced dramatic changes
in my taste for sweets.
>
>Yes of course, we are all very similar. But meat and blood are low salt
>foods and substantial evidence suggests that, since nature has not prepared
>the cave man and his woman for excess salt, increasing their salt intake to
>western standards would increase their risk of hypertension, stroke, heart
>failure, esophageal and gastric cancer, kidney stones and osteoporosis
>[109]. Hunter-gatherers by the sea may have added sea water or even sea
>salt to their foods. But sea salt is only 65 per cent sodium chloride, the
>rest is potassium chloride and magnesium sulphate, and in any case the
>sodium to potassium ratio would not have been as high as for westerners.
Loren Cordain has also asserted a connection between gastric cancer and
salt consumption, but I'm afraid I lack the biochemical background to grasp
the concept. Could someone suggest a resource that would bring me up to
speed on that point?
>I am not aware of any evidence that that we do not get more salt than we
>need from unsalted meat, fruit and saturating vegetables [111]. If Enig and
>=46allon have references please share them with us. I have several thousand
>colleagues here in Sweden who would be very happy to find arguments for
>giving pills in stead of dietary advice to patients with high blood
>pressure (although the effect of pills on their health is lousy [112-114]).
Salt cravings are very common among celiac patients. And, given recent
postings on the celiac listserv, reduced HCL is also a common problem among
celiacs. Would any one be willing to speculate on this issue?
>>Some studies have shown that with low salt diets, hypertension becomes
>>worse.
I would be very interested in citations supporting this claim. If these
reports included other dietary information, they might hold some very
valuable clues to an enhanced understanding of the underlying pathology.
For instance, if the dietary gluten or casein intake is high, in these
rogue investigations that show increased hypertension on low salt, then
there is support for the notion of an underlying autoimmunity. If,
conversely, magnesium is low, the hypertension may reflect dietary
deficiencies in minerals and vitamins.
Some very interesting work is currently demonstrating that some vitamins
aid some cancer patients in their battles against malignancy. But that is
another story.
Again, I am always grateful to Staffan (along with many other list members)
for his very informative posts.
Best Wishes,
Ron Hoggan Calgary, Alberta, Canada
http://www.panix.com/~donwiss/hoggan/
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