Is a vegetarian diet good for the brain?

[psychostasis]

But there's no such thing as the blanket label "toxins". It's just nonsense, not supported by scientific research

Could you cite those studies, please? How you are sure these are unbiased investigations? Are not the pharmaceutical and meat corporations who finance such research?

For example, there is still much controversy regarding the genotoxicity of non-ionizing radiation.

See: Evidence that Electromagnetic Radiation is Genotoxic: The implications for the epidemiology of cancer and cardiac, neurological and reproductive effects
Dr Neil Cherry (He is a biophysicist and EMR meta analyst). June 2000. Lincoln University, New Zealand.
For presentations in May to NZ Parliament and June 2000 in Italy, Austria, Ireland and at the European Parliament in Brussels.

Neurological effects:

Brains are very electromagnetically sensitive because our sight, thoughts, memories, learning and emotions use complex electromagnetic signals. Research in Germany in the post war period proved that human brains detect and use extremely small natural low frequency (ELF) EMR signals, Wever (1974), Konig (1974). Since RF/MW signals induce higher currents in human tissues and low frequency signals it is inevitable that we will observe neurological effects from chronic RF/MW exposures.

Recent studies have revealed some neurological dose response relationships for sleep disturbance, Multiple Sclerosis and Suicide at extremely low exposures to RF and ELF exposures. Beale et al. (1997) found significant dose response for psychological symptoms, including anxiety and depression, living in proximity to high voltage powerlines. This strongly confirms the sensitivity of human brains to EMR exposure.

 

[billvon]

Brains are very electromagnetically sensitive because our sight, thoughts, memories, learning and emotions use complex electromagnetic signals.

This is woo. Brains do not use complex electromagnetic signals. Brains PRODUCE very low levels of electromagnetic signals as a byproduct of the system they actually use, which is chemical in nature.

Research in Germany in the post war period proved that human brains detect and use extremely small natural low frequency (ELF) EMR signals, Wever (1974)

No. Wever showed that strong (2.5 V/M) artificial broadband signals (not ELF) could have a slight effect on sleep cycles - moving them forward or backwards slightly, not interfering with normal sleep.

 

[psychostasis]

In the context of quack and alternative medicine the term "toxin" is used to refer to any substance supposed to cause ill health

A diet high in calcium has been implicated as a probable risk factor for prostate cancer. (17) In a Harvard study of male health professionals, men who drank two or more glasses of milk a day were almost twice as likely to develop advanced prostate cancer as those who didn’t drink milk at all.

Clearly, although more research is needed, we cannot be confident that high milk or calcium intake is safe.

Source: Calcium and Milk: What’s Best for Your Bones and Health? Harvard University. The Nutrition Source.

 

[psychostasis]

No. Wever showed that strong (2.5 V/M) artificial broadband signals (not ELF) could have a slight effect on sleep cycles - moving them forward or backwards slightly, not interfering with normal sleep.

Neil Cherry has a Ph.D in biophysics!
You too?

 

[spidergoat]

Could you cite those studies, please? How you are sure these are unbiased investigations? Are not the pharmaceutical and meat corporations who finance such research?

No, because the burden of proof is on those making the claim.

...This strongly confirms the sensitivity of human brains to EMR exposure.

So what? That's like saying that since people often die from drinking too much water, that people shouldn't drink water. The existence of a study doesn't determine what's likely to be true in science, it's just the start.

 

[spidergoat]

A diet high in calcium has been implicated as a probable risk factor for prostate cancer. (17) In a Harvard study of male health professionals, men who drank two or more glasses of milk a day were almost twice as likely to develop advanced prostate cancer as those who didn’t drink milk at all.

Clearly, although more research is needed, we cannot be confident that high milk or calcium intake is safe.

Source: Calcium and Milk: What’s Best for Your Bones and Health? Harvard University. The Nutrition Source.

That's a specific substance which can be tested. Nowhere does it say that "toxins" accumulate in the body. Or that they can be "detoxed" which is the biggest scam in quack medicine.

 

[Jeeves]

In fairness, purges involving fruit juice and raw vegetables are probably useful in curing a hangover, losing weight or psyching the subject up to do something more positive about their health than buy a gym membership they never use. In that sense, they're de-toxing their own bad habits.... at least for a day.

 

[spidergoat]

If it has a psychological effect, I'm fine with that. But let's not reject science-based medicine.

 

[psychostasis]

No, because the burden of proof is on those making the claim.

I'm just curious.

VIDEOS:

(I am not allowed to post links yet). Please watch the videos.

1. Resolving the Health Care Crisis: T. Colin Campbel at TEDxEast. Author: T. Colin Campbell - youtube channel: TEDx Talk.

2. Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death. Author: Michael Greger – youtube channel: NutritionFacts.org.

T. Colin Campbell is an american biochemist who specializes in the effect of nutrition on long-term health. He is the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University.

Michael Herschel Greger is an american physician, author, and professional speaker on public health issues. He is a graduate of the Cornell University School of Agriculture and the Tufts University School of Medicine. He started eating a plant-based diet in 1990. He is currently the Director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and Humane Society International.

After watching these videos, I started to worry about the amount of animal protein I consume and its potential link with cancer, heart disease, etc.

Do you think these findings are pure speculation?

STUDIES:

1. Vegetarian dietary patterns and mortality in Adventist Health Study 2.
JAMA Intern Med.2013 Jul 8.

Orlich MJ1,Singh PN,Sabaté J,Jaceldo-Siegl K,Fan J,Knutsen S,Beeson WL,Fraser GE.

DESIGN:
Prospective cohort study; mortality analysis by Cox proportional hazards regression, controlling for important demographic and lifestyle confounders.

2. JAMA: Vegetarian Diets Associated With Lower Risk of Death.

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: 3 P.M. (CT), MONDAY, JUNE 3, 2013

3. BRITISH JOURNAL OF CANCER: VEGETARIANS LESS LIKELY TO DEVELOP CANCER THAN MEAT EATERS.
Key TJ, Appleby PN, Spencer EA, Travis RC, Allen NE, Thorogood M, Mann JI.Cancer incidence in British vegetarians. Br J Cancer. 2009 Jul Epub 2009 Jun 16: A study conducted in part by scientists at Oxford University’s Cancer Epidemiology Unit[1]indicates that vegetarians develop some cancers, including bladder and stomach cancers and leukemia, up to 45% less than persons who eat red meat.

4. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Does low meat consumption increase life expectancy in humans? 1,2,3, September 2003.

1. Pramil N Singh. 2. [URL='http://ajcn.nutrition.org/search?author1=Joan+Sabat%C3%A9&sortspec=date&submit=Submit']Joan Sabaté, and 3. Gary E Fraser[/URL]

+ Author Affiliations

1. 1From the Departments of Epidemiology & Biostatistics (PNS, JS, and GEF) and Nutrition (JS), School of Public Health, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda.
5. The Lancet. Mortality up to age 90 by fresh fruit consumption in the Health Food Shoppers Study. Vol 357 • June 30, 2001.

6. NCBI: Dietary and lifestyle determinants of mortality among german vegetarians.

 

[Jeeves]

There is no doubt that the typical American diet is murderous. That's not exclusively down to meat: there are other fats besides the ridiculous amount of bacon they put on everything (Would you believe, on a chocolate brownie?). There is also way too much salt and sugar, peanuts, dairy products and corn. The biggest problem is simply that: too much.
But also, even the most conservative dietary charts put one serving of meat next to one serving of cereal plus two servings of vegetable. No, a burger doesn't qualify, because the wooden tomato slice has almost zero nutritional value and ketchup is not a vegetable.
You would die if you had no water for a week. If you ate nothing but meat for a week, you would not die... but eating nothing for a week would be less harmful and eating only raw fruit and vegetables for a week would be more beneficial. It's best of all to have the right quantity of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, roughage, vitamins and minerals, in the right proportions, at reasonable intervals.

Probably, aware vegetarians (people who chose that route after learning the facts) are healthier than unaware carnivores. It would be hard to put together a study that compared people with different diets who were equally conscientious and informed about their food choices, over the decades it would take to arrive at definitive results.

 

[psychostasis]

Probably, aware vegetarians (people who chose that route after learning the facts) are healthier than unaware carnivores. It would be hard to put together a study that compared people with different diets who were equally conscientious and informed about their food choices, over the decades it would take to arrive at definitive results.

I am very skeptical about vegetarianism, but the conclusion of Colin Campbell and Michael Greger, both prestigious researchers, is that humans should be vegetarians.

Have you seen the videos?

With all due respect, but Dr. Colin Campbell says animal protein is cancerogenic. He does not say too much fast food is cancerogenic, he says humans should be vegans (plant-based diet).

Dr. Michael Greger says that normal cholesterol levels do not actually prevents us against a heart attack, the leading cause of death in the world, he says we need lower levels of cholesterol to prevent us against a heart attack, and the only way to achieve it is becoming vegan.

I recommend you to see some other videos of Dr. Greger, as well as those of Colin Campbell.

 

[psychostasis]

Probably, aware vegetarians (people who chose that route after learning the facts) are healthier than unaware carnivores.

DESIGN:
Prospective cohort study; mortality analysis by Cox proportional hazards regression, controlling for important demographic and lifestyle confounders.

Dr. Campbell has evaluated the carcinogenicity of animal protein in laboratory rats, I also know he has done the most extensive epidemiological study on vegetarianism, The China Study.

 

[Fraggle Rocker]

The purpose of life is to accomplish something, not to simply live as long as you can keep your body alive. And in order to accomplish things, we have to be reasonably happy.

Human anatomy makes it clear that we're expected to eat meat.

• We have sharper teeth than most of the other primates. (Remember that our ancestors hadn't invented fire, so they had to chew their meat raw!)
• We can get all of the amino acids we need from meat.
• To assemble a meat-free diet requires skill. We can't get all the amino acids we need from the nuts and seeds that we can eat raw; we also need amino acids from grains, which we can't digest without cooking them. (Another reason that our ancestors ate so much meat.)

 

[Jeeves]

Since the ancestors did invent fire, the grist-mill and the pestle in order to take better advantage of more kinds of food, is there anything to stop us using our brains and inventions to overcome these minor challenges? I've encountered no obstacles to in 35 years to a healthy, balanced ovo-lacto vegetarian diet, and I know of some fairly prominent people http://www.thekitchn.com/the-heart-attack-free-diet-cnn-154900 who manage very well on a vegan diet. Our ancestors who ate raw meat lived to a ripe old age of 40, if they were lucky, shivered, bled and scratched a lot of that time. I'm not convinced they're the best role-model for modern happiness.

 

[psychostasis]

To assemble a meat-free diet requires skill. We can't get all the amino acids we need from the nuts and seeds that we can eat raw; we also need amino acids from grains, which we can't digest without cooking them. (Another reason that our ancestors ate so much meat.)

Very interesting! It means Raw Foodists are in danger of nutritional deficiency? Could you quote the study?

A physician told me lacto-ovo vegetarian diets are poor in myelin (a fatty white substance that surrounds the axon of some nerve cells. It is essential for the proper functioning of the [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nervous_system']nervous system)[/URL] and valine (an essential amino acid).

See:
Relationships between cobalamin, epidermal growth factor, and normal prions in the myelin maintenance of central nervous system
NCBI. Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2014 Oct

Bioavailability and potential uses of vegetarian sources of omega-3 fatty acids: a review of the literature. NCBI. 2014

 

[psychostasis]

Since the ancestors did invent fire, the grist-mill and the pestle in order to take better advantage of more kinds of food, is there anything to stop us using our brains and inventions to overcome these minor challenges? I've encountered no obstacles to in 35 years to a healthy, balanced ovo-lacto vegetarian diet, and I know of some fairly prominent people

Bill Clinton is a vegan, Paul McCartney, Bjork and Moby are vegetarians.
But they are not scientists, their jobs don't consist in getting the full potential of their brains.

Do you know any prominent scientists who are vegetarians?

 

[psychostasis]

Spidergoat mentioned the Inuits as a clue that a diet based on meat does not have a negative impact on health when confounder factors exist such as health awareness, exercise, etc:

See:

Cancer patterns in Inuit Nunangat: 1998–2007
NCBI. Published online 2012 May 15. Int J Circumpolar Health. 2012

Conclusions

Life expectancy of residents of Inuit Nunangat is 11 years shorter than that of other Canadians, with almost half of this difference due to deaths from cancer (1)

Cancer incidence has increased substantially among all circumpolar Inuit living in Canada, Alaska, and Greenland (2). This trend is especially true for lung cancer where rates for Inuit men and women are the highest in the world (2)

Study design

Cancer cases were geographically linked to either Inuit Nunangat or the rest of Canada using postal codes or other geographic information. Population estimates were derived from the 2001 and 2006 censuses.

Methods

Cancer cases were combined from 1998 to 2007 for Inuit Nunangat and the rest of Canada. Age-standardised incidence rates were calculated for all site cancers and sub-sites by sex. Standardised rate ratios between these 2 areas were calculated for all site cancers and sub-sites.