High dietary cholesterol helps to prevent diabetes

Published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, doi:10.3945/ajcn.2009.28441 Vol. 91, No. 6, 1627-1633, June 2010

Predicted 25-hydroxyvitamin D score and incident type 2 diabetes in the Framingham Offspring Study 1,2,3,4
Enju Liu, James B Meigs, Anastassios G Pittas, Christina D Economos, Nicola M McKeown, Sarah L Booth and Paul F Jacques
1 From the Jean Mayer US Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University Boston MA (EL NMM SLBPFJ); the General Medicine DivisionDepartment of Medicine Massachusetts General HospitalHarvard Medical School Boston MA (JBM); the Division of Endocrinology DiabetesMetabolism Tufts Medical Center Boston MA (AGP);the Friedman School of Nutrition SciencePolicy Tufts University Boston MA (CDE NMM SLBPFJ).
2 None of the sponsors had any role in the design of the study; the design was exclusively the work of the authors.
3 Supported in part by the US Department of Agriculture, under agreement no. 58-1950-7-707, National Institute of Aging (AG14759), and the Framingham Heart Study of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (contract no. N01-HC-25195); and by an American Diabetes Association Career Development Award (JBM), NIDDK K24 DK080140 (JBM), R01DK076092 and R21DK078867 (AGP), and the Beverage Institute for Health and Wellness (CDE).
4 Address correspondence to PF Jacques, Epidemiology Program, Jean Mayer US Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, 711 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02111. E-mail: paul.jacques@tufts.edu.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/91/6/1627
 
The objective of the study was to examine the relationship between vitamin D status and incidence of type 2 diabetes. In the study the vitamin D levels of 3,066 men and women were analysed for 7 years.

The study found that those with the highest vitamin D levels had a 40% decreased risk of diabetes compared to those with the lowest vitamin D.
 
Vitamin D can be obtained from sunshine and foods. Interestingly, foods that provide this vitamin - all of which are animal foods, such as butter,eggs, liver, organ meats and seafood - tend to be high in cholesterol. In fact one of cholesterol's many functions in the body is to act as a precursor to vitamin D.

So, no cholesterol and no animal foods = low vitamin D. Therefore low vitamin D = higher rates of diabetes.

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Meat offers protection from Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular ischemic damage and inflammatory diseases

Published in the Curr Med Chem. 2005;12(20):2293-315.

Carnosine and carnosine-related antioxidants: a review.
Guiotto A, Calderan A, Ruzza P, Borin G.
Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry of CNR - Padova Unit, Italy. andrea.guiotto@unipd.it

This paper can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16181134
 
Guiotto states that carnosine (beta-alanyl-L-hystidine) is commonly present in mammalian tissue and can inhibit disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular ischemic damage and inflammatory diseases.
 
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Meat offers protection from diabetes and has anti-aging properties

This post features a synopsis on a study published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2006 May;1067:369-74 and a recipe for a quick steak.

Study title and authors:
Would carnosine or a carnivorous diet help suppress aging and associated pathologies?
Hipkiss AR.
Centre for Experimental Therapeutics, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts' and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, UK. alanandjill@lineone.net

This paper can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16804013
 
In this review of the effects of carnosine, Hipkiss notes that carnosine (an amino acid) acts as an antioxidant and is found exclusively in animal tissues.
                                                                                                                                           Books:

The review found:
(a) Carnosine suppresses the formation of advanced glycosylation end products, which therefore protects from the complications of diabetes which advanced glycosylation end products promote.
(b) Dietary carnosine has improved the behaviour of autistic children.
(c) Carnosine rich diets may help prevent alzheimers. In old age, blood levels of homocarnosine decrease by more than 10-fold and high levels of advanced glycosylation end products are associated with alzheimers. So a carnosine rich diet offers protection from alzheimers by suppressing the formation of advanced glycosylation end products.

This review found that carnosine can supress the formation of dangerous advanced glycosylation end products and may give protection from diabetes, autism and alzheimers.

The richest sources of dietary carnosine are beef, poultry and pork.

 
Carnosine may be the reason that people who include meat in their diets have lower levels of the dangerous advanced glycosylation end-products compared to vegetarians. 

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Recipe of the day

Quick Steak
 
serves 3-4
 

Ingredients:                                                                                                  Food Mall: Rib-eye steak

1 1/2-2 lbs ribeye or T-bone steak

1-2 tablespoons cracked pepper
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
 
Instructions:
Sprinkle steaks with pepper and press in.
 
Melt butter and olive oil in a skillet.
 
Saute steaks a few minutes a side until desired doneness.

Diets high in sugar lead to chromium losses of up to 300%

Published in Metabolism Volume 35, Issue 6, June 1986, Pages 515-518

Effects of diets high in simple sugars on urinary chromium losses
Adriane S. Kozlovskya, b, Phylis B. Mosera, b, Sheldon Reisera, b and Richard A. Anderson, a, b
aUSDA, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, Beltsville, Md, USA.
bthe University of Maryland, Department of Food, Nutrition, and Institution Administration, College Park, Md, USA.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WN4-4C4WCSW-HS&_user=10&_coverDate=06%2F30%2F1986&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1451986716&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=7971b93ae3741a92bfd13d4ecc4349f6&searchtype=a
 
Kozlovskya noted that compared to the reference diets, consumption of the high sugar diets increased urinary Chromium losses from 10% to 300%. 
 
The data demonstrates that consumption of diets high in simple sugars causes Chromium losses; this coupled with marginal intake of dietary Chromium may lead to marginal Chromium deficiency, which is associated with impaired glucose and lipid metabolism.

Foods rich in Chromium include Beef, Liver, Eggs, Chicken, Oysters, & Butter.

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High fibre bread leads to deficiencies in calcium, magnesium, zinc and phosphorus

This post includes a summary of a study published in the Journal of Nutrition April 1, 1976 vol. 106 no. 4 493-503 and a recipe for oyster perloo.

Study title and authors:
Decreased Absorption of Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc and Phosphorus by Humans due to Increased Fiber and Phosphorus Consumption as Wheat Bread

John G. Reinhold, Bahram Faradji, Parichehr Abadi and Framarz Ismail-Beigi

Medical Research Unit, Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Nemazee Hospital, and the Departments of Biochemistry and Medicine, School of Medicine, Pahlavi University, Shiraz, Iran

This study can be accessed at: http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/abstract/106/4/493
 
During a 20 day period of high fiber consumption in the form of bread made partly from wheaten wholemeal, two men developed negative balances of calcium, magnesium, zinc and phosphorus.

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Recipe of the day

Oyster Perloo

Ingredients:

Food Mall: Oysters

1 qt. oysters, drained

4 slices bacon
1 medium onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 small bell pepper, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Fry bacon in heavy Dutch oven until crisp. Remove bacon. Saute' onions, celery and pepper in bacon grease until onions are translucent. Crumble bacon and return to pot. Add drained oysters and cook until they release juice, 1 to 2 minutes.

Oyster Perloo

Executive Summary

Executive Summary

York’s Healthy Kitchen will be living the practice of thinking globally and acting locally. Our efforts are aimed at eliminating world hunger by helping to address the basic food needs of people in greater York, Pennsylvania. We believe that nutritious life sustainable food is a human right. Our model is based on the operation of One World Everybody Eats in Salt Lake City, Utah; SAME (So All May Eat) Cafe in Denver, and One World Spokane.

What is unique about this approach is that “there is no regular menu. Whole and when possible, in season organic food is prepared in small batches and served to patrons who choose their own portions of soups, salads, entrees and desserts. To help with portion control, we offer small, medium and large plates. Patrons are expected to pay a fair and respectable price for the food that they have eaten. Price guidelines are available. One World Spokane has found that the privilege of choosing portion size and price leads to little or no food waste.”

No one, however, is turned away. “If a diner does not have sufficient money to leave, they are encouraged to exchange an hour of service. Our philosophy is that everyone, regardless of economic status, deserves the chance to eat healthy food while being treated with dignity.”

The community kitchen is a proven model that “attracts an economically diverse clientele, which makes it sustainable and builds a stronger broad based community. There are volunteer positions available daily for those who want to earn meal vouchers or to contribute their time. We will provide one meal voucher for each hour of service. Children eight years and under can eat on their parent's voucher. We will serve a complimentary meal that is available to everyone and is the perfect nutritional solution for those with little time and money.” The motto of the “One World Everybody Eats” founder Denise Cerreta is "a hand up, not a hand out," meaning, anyone can eat.

York’s Healthy Kitchen is a not for profit business enterprise that seeks the support of the whole community: Business and Political Leaders, Local Farmers, Grocers and Cooperatives, Culinary Schools, Faith Communities and Non-profit groups. The café style operation is located in Downtown York City to be convenient and accessible to all. We invite all of our York area neighbors to become a part of this life sustaining and environmentally sustainable community kitchen.

One Month to House

In one month from today, Cute Man and I will close on our new house, take possession of the keys, and start the next phase of our life together. After 6 years living in our basement abode, I really understand the concept of Home not being about the four walls and the stuff inside it. No matter where we live, home will always be where Cute Man and I are together. So moving into this new house is about so much more than materialism. It represents the culmination of an extreme amount of effort and accomplishment for us both.

When we got together, I was a complete financial mess. It was so bad that I didn’t even know how bad it was. It took 4 years to pay off my $20,000 debt and still longer to get myself on an even keel – living below my means has never come naturally! Even now, I struggle to keep focused on my goals and not overspend. Cute Man, on the other hand, has always had a firm grasp of his financial situation, never overspending, but living paycheck to paycheck nonetheless in those early days. Home ownership was something neither of us could really visualize.

But here we are. Learning to save has been the biggest change for both of us. I am a huge fan of the automatic savings plans over at ING. Each check, money for emergencies and for upcoming house expenses is automatically deducted from checking and moved to my savings accounts. I don’t need to remember, it just happens. Cute Man likes to manage it manually, but we both have found a way to make it work. Sure, I’ve had to dip into that fund many a time for unplanned expenses and even just plain old overspending. But being my own safety net is gratifying in itself. I don’t need to carry a balance and pay interest for the privilege of goofing up from time to time.

All this is not to say that we’re not psyched out of our minds that we’ll be moving into our very own brand new home! Although it’s not the most important thing, it is fantastic and fun to think about all the space and general newness of it all. I dream about our granite countertops at night! And that’s OK. As the date approaches, I get more and more excited and impatient. The time period leading up to closing is going to be jam packed for both of us so I’m hoping that will serve to distract me a little. I never would want to wish any part of my life away – I’m sure we’ll look back at our time in our basement apartment fondly someday! “Those were the days, when life was easy and uncomplicated…” Yeah, right.

So, one month from tonight Cute Man and I will be picnicking in our new living room on Chinese takeout and sleeping on an air mattress – at Home.