Hi -
I'm a meat eater now, and plan to keep eating meat. Here's the article [one
of them] that I saw. I'm not thinking about switching diets. I seem to have
adequate B-12 levels with my animal protein diet.
Joe from NH
Last Thursday, January 11, 2001, the USDA released the full report of
their yearlong review of the diet literature. In reviewing the
diets, the USDA grouped the popular diets into three categories.
1) High Protein, Low Carb
- Dr. Atkins
- Protein Power
2) Moderate Fat, Adequate Protein
- DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension)
- Weight Watchers
- USDA Food Guide Pyramids
3) Very Low Fat, High Carb, Adequate Protein
- Pritikin Program
- Dean Ornish
The USDA repost said that the High Protein diets were the worst and
not recommended. They said the moderate fat diets were the best and
the most nutritionally adequate, and they said that the Pritikin and
Ornish very low fat diets were nationally inadequate in B12, Zinc,
and Vitamin E.
I obtained the executive summary of the report the night before it was
released, and wrote a brief response to the report, which I both read
and distributed at the center. I am sending this brief response out
to the list as many of you have asked me to respond. A more detailed
response will be forthcoming and will also be sent as a editorial to
the major newspapers and to Agriculture Senator Dan Glickman who
sponsored the report. For now, I will just address the points that
were made about the nutritional adequacy of the diet.
The Brief Response.
It is important to point out that the material the USDA reviewed on
Pritikin was outdated. The USDA reviewed the book "The New Pritikin
Program" which was written by Pritikin in 1985. In 1998, Pritikin
published "The Weight Loss Breakthrough" and in 2000 Pritikin
published "The Pritikin Principle". In all fairness, they should have
reviewed our most current recommendations.
As part of the weekly lecture series here at the center, I go through
a complete analysis of the Pritikin Diet as served here at the
center.
1) The USDA report says the Pritikin and Ornish diets are deficient in
vitamin B12, specifically because "these diets are low in meat".
While this statement about being "low in meat" may be true for the
Ornish diet, which excludes most all animal protein, the Pritikin
diet, does allow 3-4 oz of animal protein a day and also 1-2 servings
of fat free dairy. Meat and animal products are often thought of as
the best sources of B12.
First, B12 is not derived from animal products but is produced by
bacteria. These bacteria live in animals, including us, the human
animal. We produce some B12 each day in our digestive system.
Second, allowing for 3-4 oz of animal protein a day and 2 servings a
day clearly meets the "dietary" requirement for B12. In addition,
many food products, such as soy milk, cereal and grain products that
many of you may be consuming, are fortified with Vitamin B12.
Third, in the U.S., 95% of all cases of B12 deficiency occur in
the "meat" eating population. Therefore, a lack of B12 in the
diet is not always the primary cause of B12 deficiency.
There are other "metabolic" and "environmental" issues which
I will discuss at a later time.
Fourth, the analysis of the diet as served here at the center,
shows a B12 content of 265% of the US RDA for B12.
2) They say we are deficient in Vitamin E.
First, according to my analysis, our diet as we serve it here
has 100% of the RDA for vitamin E in it, and this is at the
new RDA level for vitamin E, which was raised last year.
Second, the RDAs were not designed to analyze "individual" diets on a
"daily" basis. The RDAs were designed to analyze the diets of
"populations" (or groups) of people over periods of "time", and
therefore, have a 33% (2 Standard deviations) "safety margin" or
"buffer" built into them. By setting the standard higher, they make
sure they include a wider group of the population. In analyzing the
diet for an individual person for an individual day, you only need to
meet 67% of the RDA to be "adequate". We clearly meet the
adequate level AND the RDA level.
Third, one of the major points emphasis in the latest Pritikin
material is the importance of consuming whole unrefined grains. Many
nutrients are found in the whole grains that are not found in the
refined grain. If the USDA based its analysis on a typical diet
using refined foods ( which are lower in Vitamin E then
unrefined grains) it is possible that their analysis would
have come up short of the RDA. Currently, whole grains
account for only 1% of the typical American diet.
3) They say we are deficient in Zinc.
First, our diet as we serve it here has 10 mgs of zinc, which is 67%
of the RDA for men and 84% of the RDA for women. This is based on the
US RDA for zinc (15 mg for men, 12 mg for women). Remember, in order
to be adequate, a single days diet has only to meet 67% of the
RDA. We meet this level for men and clearly surpass this level for
women.
Second, the U.S. sets is level on zinc based on its estimates that
only 20% of the zinc found in the typical U.S. diet is absorbable.
The World Health Organization (WHO) bases its zinc recommendations,
which are much lower (9.4 for men, 6.5 or women) on people who eat a
mostly "unrefined" plant based diet (like the diet we recommend). The
WHO recommendations for zinc are lower then the USA recommendation
because absorbability of zinc on such a diet is 30%, 10% higher then
on a typical US diet. Knowing this and applying this, our diet
clearly has enough zinc in it and surpasses the WHO recommendations
for both men and women. Refined grains have a lower zinc absorption
rate, so again, focusing on unrefined foods is important.
I will have a more detailed response to the USDA in the near future,
including a thorough analysis of the moderate fats diets they
recommended as the best diets and why I do NOT recommend
them. In the meantime, realize that the best diet for your health
is a low fat, high carb, and high fiber diet as we recommend
at the Pritikin center, as I have been personally recommending
since 1983, and have been recommending on these updates
for over 8 years now.
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