Lindow Man, whose preserved body was found in a peat bog in Cheshire,
England in 1984 is one of the more extensively studied of the so called
"bog mummies" (1).   The principal last meal of Lindow Man likely
consisted of a non-leavened  wholemeal bread probably made of emmer
wheat, spelt wheat and barley.    Unleavened, whole grain breads such as
this represented a dietary staple for most of the less affluent classes
during this time.    Excessive consumption of unleavened cereal grains
negatively impacts a wide variety of physiological functions which
ultimately present themselves phenotypically.     The well documented
phytates of cereal grains sequester many divalent ions including Ca, Zn,
Fe and Mg which can impair bone growth and metabolism.   Further, there
are antinutrients in cereal grains which directly impair vitamin D
metabolism (2,3), and rickets are routinely induced in animal models via
consumption of high levels of cereal grains (4).
        Less well appreciated are the ability of whole grains to impair
biotin metabolism.   My colleague, Bruce Watkins (5), as well as others
(6,7) have shown that biotin deficiencies can be be induced in animal
models  by feeding them high levels of wheat, sorghum and other cereal
grains.    Biotin dependent carboxylases are important metabolic
pathways of fatty acid synthesis, and deficiencies severely inhibit the
chain elongation and desaturation of 18:2n6 (linoleate) to 20:4n6
(arachidonic acid).   Human dietary supplementation trials with biotin
have shown this vitamin to reduce fingernail brittleness and ridging
that are associated with dificiencies of this vitamin (8).
        Careful examination of the photograph of Lindow's man fingernail
(still attached to a phalange of the right hand, reference (1, p66) show
the characteristic "ridging" of biotin deficiency.   It is likely that
regular daily consumption of high levels (>50% daily calories) of
unleavened cereal grain breads, which Lindow man may have consumed,
caused a biotin deficiency, which in turn caused nail ridging.


                                REFERENCES

1.      Stead IM, Bourke JB & Brothwell.  Lindow Man. The Body in the
Bog. Ithaca, N.Y. , Cornell University Press, 1986.
2.      Batchelor AJ et al.  Reduced plasma half life of radio labelled
25- hydroxy vitamin D3 in subjects receiving a high fiber diet. Brit J
Nutr 1983;49:213-16.
3.      Clement MR et al.  A new mechanism for induced vitamin D
deficiency in calcium deprivation. Nature 1987;325:62-65.
4.      Sly MR et al.  Exacerbation of rickets and osteomalacia by
maize: a study of bone histomorphology and composition in young baboons.
Calcif Tissue Int 1984;36:370-79.
5.      Watkins BA.  Dietary biotin effects on desaturation and
elongation of 14C linoleic acid in the chicken. Nutr Res 1990;10;325-34.
6.      Blair R et al.  Biotin bioavailability from protein supplements
and cereal grains for growing broiler chickens. Int J Vit Nutr Res
1989;59:55-58.
7.      Kopinksi JS et al.  Biotin studies in pigs. Biotin availability
in feedstuffs for pigs and chickens. Brit J Nutr 1989;62:773-780.
8.      Hochman LG et al.  Brittle nails: response to daily biotin
supplementation. Cutis 1993;51:303-05.

                                        Cordially,


                                        Loren Cordain, Ph.D.
                                        ESS Dept
                                        Colo State Univ