Good info in Dr Greger's newsletter

[mochamama]

http://www.veganmd.org/may2004.html

There's some really good info in Dr Greger's (Vegan MD) recent newsletter. Some interesting topics include:
Mercury Contamination in Fish
B. High Carb Diet for Safe Weight Loss without Hunger?
C. Insulin Sensitivity and Vegetarianism
D. Skim Milk Versus Soy Milk: Head to Head
E. Iron Status of Young Vegan Women

[Christa]

Mochamama (& others),

I am curious. I haven't checked out the veganmd site much beyond a cursory glance. However, one of the former vegans on the MDC discussions who felt that her prior vegan diet had ruined her & her child's health, referred to the veganmd as proof.

She linked to some of his talks & said that he felt that a vegan diet would not be good for your health without significant supplementation. Has anyone looked at his stuff in depth? Does this seem to be his general message - that a whole foods vegan diet (without supplements) is not adequate to support health?

[Erin Pavlina]

I was curious about that comment myself. I am planning to learn more about Dr. Gregor soon, just haven't had time. What if vegan MDs were out there saying a vegan diet was not as healthy as we all thought?

[Christa]

I may just be stubborn, but I also am always a little sceptical of nutritional advice from MDs (unless of course they agree with me ;) ) given that medical school does not generally require large quantities of nutrition classes. I am willing to bet that I took more course work in human nutrition in grad school in public health than most MDs do.

Then again, I am also a little hesistant to accept nutritional advice from a lot of RDs (not yours, of course :p ) after having worked at a research university in the human nutrition dept. In the time that I was there, I was so turned off by the fact that so many of the conferences, etc. were being sponsored by the Western Dairy Council, etc. & so much of the money for the dept. came from the USDA.

It strikes me as being much the same as a study funded by the Dairy Council which comes to the conclusion that cow's milk strengthens your bones. The findings may be valid, but given the funding source, how do you know for sure? Most major university nutrition depts seem to be teaching their students with money coming from dairy & meat industry sources. How do we know that the "truths" they are giving their students are really true at all?

[Erin Pavlina]

But he's a vegan MD... what reason would he have to say the vegan diet was not as healthy as we think it is? Know what I mean? He's vegan himself. I don't know. But I know I want to know more.

[Christa]

True, but just b/c he is vegan himself & an MD doesn't mean that he is the final authority on whether a vegan diet is truly healthy. Do let us know what you find, though.

The one "talk" that the woman on MDC linked & I checked out didn't seem to say that a vegan diet was inherently unhealthy. It ran more along the lines of: it is what our bodies evolved to eat, but our wild ancestors ate weeds that had more vitamins & minerals than the iceberg lettuce that we eat now a days. Therefore we need to supplement.

I know that I, for one, do not eat iceberg lettuce. I would have to look at his stuff further, but I am curious if he is of the opinion that a varied vegan diet that includes foods with high vitamin & mineral content (not just low vitamin vegis like cucumbers & some lettuces) is also in need of supplementation.

Anyway, let us know what you come up with if you find the time to check it out.

[Casey]

Dr Greger is definitely not saying that a vegan diet isn’t healthy. I just listened to his “Optimum Vegetarian Nutrition” lecture and the point that he’s making is that veg*ns should be living much longer than meat eaters and have lower rates of heart disease and degenerative brain disease (e.g. Alzheimers), but we don’t because there are a couple of key areas of our diet that are being neglected:
1. vegans tend to have a ratio of omega-6 : omega-3 that is too high because we consume too much omega-6 (processed foods using corn, sunflower, safflower and cottonseed oils) and too little omega-3. His recommendation is to cut way down on processed foods, switch to olive and canola oil and eat 2 tbsp of ground flaxseed everyday.
2. vegans are not getting enough B12 – take a supplement or consume plenty of fortified foods.

More generally he advocates lots of beans, whole grains, greens, fruit and nuts. Don’t use sea salt, buy iodized salt. Pregnant women should take vegan DHA supplements. Eliminate trans fatty acids from your diet. If you consume sufficient calories from healthy foods, you’ll get enough protein. Ensure adequate sources of calcium from foods, fortified beverages/foods or supplements. Eat iron rich foods with sources of vitamin C to enhance iron absorption. Get daily vitamin D (foods or supplement). Make sure your diet includes sources of zinc. Drink water, be active and quit smoking.

I didn’t get the sense that he advocates supplementation as the only way to be a healthy vegan, a varied whole foods diet should take care of most of your nutritional needs – with the obvious exception of B12. That’s an issue that many, many, many vegan advocates and nutritionists have emphasized, veg*ns have to make sure they get B12 and the best way to do it is through a supplement.

[Erin Pavlina]

Alright, that sounds good. I'm glad you know about what he's saying.

It's hard to know what you're getting each day though. I mean, who wants to sit there and figure out how many Omega-6s they got today, ya know? I know I don't want to keep track.

[Casey]

I know what you mean about figuring out your omega-6 to omega-3 ratio - how do you keep track? But apparently if you never use corn, safflower, sunflower or cottonseed oils in your own cooking or baking and you eat very few processed foods that contain those oils AND you eat 2 tbsp of ground flaxseed (or 2 tsp of flax oil) every day, that's all you have to do and your ratio will be just fine. That's all I'm planning on doing, so I hope it works!

[duckie1978]

What's wrong with sea salt? The no iodine thing? That is easily solved. The Hains company sells a sea salt that is iodized.

[Casey]

Yes, his recommendation was more to do with iodine intake than a problem with sea salt itself. Basically if you're going to use salt, make sure it's iodized - since most sea salt is not iodized, he was just making a general statement about using iodized table salt instead. Low iodine levels seem to be a particular problem in UK vegan diets because of iodine poor soil and since there's no iodine fortification of food or salt in the UK, vegans there should get iodine from supplements or iodine-rich seaweed. From the Vegan Society:
"The key to good thyroid function is adequate, but not excessive iodine intake. Intakes in the range 100-300 micrograms per day are desirable, though intakes up to 500 micrograms per day are probably not harmful. If taking supplements go for about 100-150 micrograms per day, to give a total intake of 150-200 micrograms per day."