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Vitamins in general

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010

Vitamins for seniors

I've written several posts on calcium intake and, in reviewing them for the book I'm working on, noted I had mentioned, but not detailed, my thoughts about vitamin D. So I've been researching source material on the subject and wanted to bring you up to date on my take on the new recommendations for how much we should be getting.

Let's begin with vitamins in general. A reasonable starting definition of  a vitamin is an organic compound that is required in tiny amounts and can't be synthesized by the body. So until the 1930s, when vitamin C was first made by chemical means, all our vitamins came from our diet.

Vitamins are divided into water-soluble and fat-soluble varieties. The former include vitamin C and the B vitamins, B1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 12; the latter include vitamins A, D, E and K. Various others have been proposed and later found to be capable of synthesis by humans, thus accounting for the missing letters and numbers.

Water-soluble vitamins are not well-stored by the body and must be regularly replenished. Vitamin C, for instance, in studies conducted on conscientious objectors in Britain during WW II and in Iowa on prisoners in the 1960s, is depleted in a few weeks to as long as six to eight months depending on the degree of "pre-loading". The British Navy started giving lime juice to its sailors in 1795 to prevent them from developing scurvy on long voyages.

On the other hand excess intake of these is less likely to have toxic effects.

Fat-soluble vitamins are stored in the liver and various fatty tissues, need not to be taken quite as regularly  and conversely are more likely to be toxic when taken in excess.

Those are, of course, sweeping general statements.

So let's go back to how we get our vitamins and a few controversies. The famous chemist and two-time Nobel pre winner Linus Pauling, proposed in 1970 that taking larger doses of vitamin C could reduce the incidence of the common cold. He later expanded his claims to include mega-dose vitamin C as beneficial for a variety of ailments, including cancer.

A large series of well-designed and double-blind studies disproved the former claim and the Mayo Clinic conducted three controlled studies from 1979 to 1985 that showed patients with advanced cancer who were given 10,000 milligrams of vitamin C a day had no improvement when compared to pateints given a placebo.

So we take 500 milligrams of vitamin C a day. Can you get enough of the 13 vitamins from your diet? Sure if you work at it. Does the requirement for various vitamins change with age? I think the answer if clearly yes and, for instance, we're now taking a large dose of B12 daily as recent data suggests seniors may malabsorb this crucial vitamin.

And B12 is water soluble, so if I take a little bit more than I need I'm not going to worry about it.

But then there are the fat-soluble vitamins and I'll write more about them and especially about vitamin D in my next post.

Posted in Food Additives, medically-oriented background info, supplements | 1 Comment »

The Fifth Taste

Friday, November 12th, 2010

Glutamic acid

I was reading an article in the Harvard's HEALTHbeat, one titled "An assault on salt?" and saw a reference to something I knew next to nothing about, umami--"the so-called fifth taste." That lead me to an April, 2010 publication crafted jointly by Harvard's Department of Nutrition and the other CIA, the Culinary Institute of America. That latter publication, "Strategies for cutting back on salt" is something I'll write about another time. In the meantime I decided to look up  more about umami.

I knew about the other four tastes: sweet, sour, salty and bitter, but had only heard the term umami used in context, not what it meant or how long it's been around. Apparently sweet, sour and salty were the original three recognized tastes, then a Greek philospher, Democritus deduced, probably after eating something he didn't like, that some foods are bitter. And things stayed that way, with four basic tastes (some would add spicy and astringent) until the late ninetenth centurywhen the famous French chef Escoffier invented veal stock.

About the same time a Japanese chemist, Kikunae Ikeda, while trying a seawees soup called dashi, sensed there was another taste. He wrote that it was the component that produced the flavor of meat, seaweed and tomatoes. Eventually, in 1908, he isolated a single chemical, a glutamate and later patented MSG. He used the Japanese word for delicious as the name for this new flavor and synthesized it; perhaps adversely affecting the seaweed industry in doing so. I got some of this from an online extract I found from a book titled Bozo Sapiens: why to err is human by Michael and Ellen Kaplan. I really enjoyed the short piece I read and ordered a copy of the book.

Subsequently scientists have found a receptor for umami; these cells don't have nerve synapses to other nerves, but instead secrete a neurotransmitter, ATP, that excites the sensory fibers which convey taste stimuli to the brain.

So like salt and sugars, food chemists can add umami to fats and induce us to want more and more. David Kessler, MD, JD, the former FDA head, is quoted as saying the standard joke in the restaurant chain business is, "When in doubt, throw cheese and bacon on it." Aged cheese has umami and bacon is said to have six different kinds of umami.

We just ate daikon and beets for dinner, both from our CSA, Grant Family Farms; we'll have grapes for dessert. If umami is a road to obesity and staying away from prepared foods the road to weight control, we were on the mark tonight.

Posted in Food Additives, Healthy eating, medically-oriented background info, Obesity, Weight Loss | No Comments »

I changed topics in mid-post; now it's on iodine

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010
Salt pig with kosher salt

salt pig with kosher salt

I read an article from the Harvard Heart Letter on beating high blood pressure with food. I wanted to trace back the source data, a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) in June 2010, especially after reading a number of NEJM letters to the editor in an October edition of the journal.

Then I got sidetracked by the iodine aspects of the diet, noting that one of the letters suggested a low salt intake could result in iodine deficiency.

I'm on a no-added-salt diet myself (for high blood pressure). I've been on one for thirty years and my BP is excellent, especially now that I'm lean (151.6 pounds this morning, about what I weighed in 8th grade). So I probably meet the new, lower United States salt intake recommendations, about 1,200 mg of sodium for those of us who are over 50, are African Americans, have hypertension or diabetes; that's 70% of all Americans.

My wife and I frequently use kosher salt when we cook. It contains no iodine, whereas common table salt is iodized. So do I need to switch to using regular salt? My calculations said iodized salt, added at 1/2 tsp. per day would contribute 1190 milligrams of sodium and about 100 micrograms of iodine.

Iodized salt

So where should we get our 150 micrograms a day of iodine (that's the suggested intake for adult men and women, although pregnant women should get 220 micrograms and lactating women 270 micrograms). Those seem to be standard recommendations, although I've read some that vary a little from those figures.

I found a stark reference in another NEJM letter saying iodine deficiency affects more than 1/3 of the world's population, an estimated 2.2 billion people. It is the foremost cause of preventable mental retardation worldwide and even in its mild forms can affect the brain function of  kids.

My wife and I take a senior multivitamin daily; my reading indicates that almost all of those contain 150 micrograms of iodine. But a Boston University Medical Center study of prenatal vitamins, found considerable variance from the listed iodine content in many brands, both OTC and prescription. They suggested pregnant women should take prenatals that contain potassium iodide and urged the drug companies to make sure their products contain enough iodine as potssium iodide, since the amount of iodine in kelp varies considerably.

Then there's the question of dietary iodine. Another study, reported at the April 2010 meeting of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) was titled "Iodine Content of Fast Foods Contributes Little to Iodine Levels in the Body." That study noted only one fast food chain consistently used iodized salt and that milkshakes and one chain's chicken sandwiches had the most iodine (the primarily latter from constituents other than the chicken).

Over the years since the 1971 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), to the 2000-2001 NHANES, mean urine iodine levels fell by over 50%. We haven't got a widespread iodine deficiency problem in this country...yet.

The AACE president said, "The way to protect the general public from iodine deficiency is to make sure there is more regular use of multivitamins containing  potassium iodide,"

So with all that as background, and reading that we can tolerate iodine intakes of 1,000 to 1,1000 micrograms a day if we're over age 4, I'm not going to increase my salt intake, but I will continue my varied diet, perhaps eat more seafood, and take my senior vitamin daily.

Posted in Food Additives, Governmental Efforts, medically-oriented background info | 1 Comment »

A guest blogger warns us about MSG

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010
Liana Werner-Gray

Liana Werner-Gray

I want to start this post by introducing a young friend who recently moved to New York from Australia. Her blog often features topics similar to mine. Our belief sets sometimes differ markedly, but overlap much more often than I would have initially thought. Let me know what you think about her comments on MSG.

Liana Werner-GrayWerner-Gray was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1987, but grew up mostly in Alice Springs in Australia's Northern Territory. She attended Charles Darwin University in Alice Springs before relocating to New York City where she currently resides. She is the creator of  "The Earth Diet", a diet plan she designed following her Miss Earth Australia 2009 People's Choice win. With the environment in mind and health of the world population, she pursued the idea of eating only foods that nature intended for 365 days. Werner-Gray started a daily online blog to share her journey with the world. She began the diet on Saturday, October 24, 2009.  She also developed "I Love Earth", a program designed to help children reduce their carbon footprint.Here's a link to Liana's blog and then I'll paste in her recent post on MSG.Thoughts: How is MSG manufactured?

This blog is thanks to Truth In Labeling. Processed free glutamic acid (MSG) is created when protein is either partially or fully broken apart into its constituent amino acids, or glutamic acid is secreted from selected bacteria. A protein can be broken into its constituent amino acids in a number of ways (autolysis, hydrolysis, enzymolysis, and/or fermentation). In general, these processes are referred to as "hydrolyzation" of protein. When a protein is hydrolyzed, the amino acid chains in the protein are broken, and individual amino acids are freed. Acids, enzymes, and/or fermentation processes are used to hydrolyze protein. These processes are discussed in some detail in food encyclopedias -- wherein articles on glutamic acid and "monosodium glutamate" are generally written by persons who work for Ajinomoto, Co., Inc., the world's largest producer of the food ingredient "monosodium glutamate."

Today, the glutamic acid component of the food additive "monosodium glutamate" is generally made by bacterial or microbial fermentation wherein bacteria used are often, if not always, genetically engineered. In this method, bacteria are grown aerobically in a liquid nutrient medium. The bacteria have the ability to excrete glutamic acid they synthesize outside of their cell membrane into the liquid nutrient medium in which they are grown. The glutamic acid is then separated from the fermentation broth by filtration, concentration, acidification, and crystallization, and, through the addition of sodium, converted to its monosodium salt.

According to The Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients:

"Monosodium glutamate can generally be produced by three methods: (1) hydrolysis of proteins such as gluten or proteins present in sugar beet wastes, (2) synthesis, and (3) microbial fermentation. In the hydrolysis method, the protein is hydrolyzed with a strong mineral acid to free amino acids, and the glutamic acid is then separated from the mixture, purified, and converted to its monosodium salt, [monosodium glutamate]. This used to be the major method of [monosodium glutamate] manufacture. Currently most of the world production of [monosodium glutamate] is by bacterial fermentation. In this method bacteria (especially strains of Micrococcus glutamicus) are grown aerobically in a liquid nutrient medium containing a carbon source (e.g., dextrose or citrate), a nitrogen source such as ammonium ions or urea, and mineral ions and growth factors. The bacteria selected for this process have the ability to excrete glutamic acid they synthesize outside of their cell membrane into the medium and accumulate there. The glutamic acid is separated from the fermentation broth by filtration, concentration, acidification, and crystallization, followed by conversion to its monosodium salt [monosodium glutamate]." (Leung, A. and Foster, S. Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients Used in Food, Drugs , and Cosmetics. New York: Wiley, 1996. pp 373-375.)

Creating processed free glutamic acid (MSG) by bacterial fermentation is not openly discussed by the glutamate industry, and it is not generally discussed in detail in food encyclopedias. It seems strange to us that when Ajinomoto discusses the way in which "monosodium glutamate" is manufactured, they talk about it being made from beets, corn, or some other crop, instead of describing their use of bacteria (which may be genetically engineered) and their process of bacterial fermentation.

It used to be that when any ingredient contained 78%-79% processed free glutamic acid (MSG), and the balance was made up of salt, moisture, and up to 1 per cent impurities, the product had to be called "monosodium glutamate" and had to be labeled as such. The FDA required that other MSG-containing ingredients be identified by names other than "monosodium glutamate." Never has the FDA required mention of the fact that an ingredient contains processed free glutamic acid (MSG). Presently, the FDA refers to the 6th edition of the Food Chemical Codex for their definition of "monosodium glutamate."

While the glutamic acid in "monosodium glutamate" is generally produced through bacterial fermentation, the glutamic acid in the other MSG-containing ingredients is made through use of chemicals (hydrolysis or autolysis), enzymes (enzymolysis), fermentation, or a complex cooking process wherein reaction flavors are produced from a combination of specific amino acids, reducing sugars, animal or vegetable fats or oils, and optional ingredients including hydrolyzed vegetable protein.

In acid hydrolysis, crude gluten or other proteinaceous starting materials are generally hydrolyzed by heating with hydrochloric acid. The chemical hydrolysis with hydrochloric acid is said to be efficient, but almost any organic substance in the raw material is hydrolyzed, resulting in desired reactions such as hydrolysis of proteins, carbohydrates, fats (triglycerides), and the unwanted formation of mono and dichloro propanols, which are carcinogenic. The FDA has admitted, and even pretended to address the fact, that processed free glutamic acid created by acid hydrolysis contains carcinogenic mono and dichloro propanol ( Food Chemical News, December 2, 1996. Pp.24-25).

The FDA has also admitted that processed free glutamic acid found in reaction flavors which are produced from a combination of specific amino acids, reducing sugars, and animal or vegetable fats or oils, and optional ingredients including hydrolyzed vegetable protein is also carcinogenic (Lin, L.J. Regulatory status of Maillard reaction flavors. Division of Food and Color Additives, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA. August 24, 1992; Food Chemical News. May 31, 1993, p 16).

Processed free glutamic acid (MSG) carries with it material not found with unprocessed glutamic acid. Unprocessed glutamic acid in higher organisms is L-glutamic acid, only. Processed free glutamic acid (MSG) is both L-glutamic acid and D-glutamic acid, and is accompanied by pyroglutamic acid and other impurities. The impurities differ according to the materials and methods used to produce the glutamic acid. Under certain circumstances, processed free glutamic acid is accompanied by mono and dichloro propanols (which are carcinogenic) or heterocyclic amines (which are also carcinogenic).

By FDA definition, processed free glutamic acid (MSG) is "naturally occurring," because the basic ingredient is found in nature. "Naturally occurring" does not mean that a food additive is being used in its natural state. "Naturally occurring" only means that the food additive began with something found in nature. By FDA definition, the ingredient "monosodium glutamate" is natural. So is hydrochloric acid. So is arsenic. "Natural" doesn't mean "safe."

There are a number of straightforward bold faced lies used by the glutamate industry in defending its contention that exposure to free glutamic acid found in processed food does not cause adverse reactions including hives, asthma, seizures, and migraine headache; could not possibly cause brain damage, learning disorders, or endocrine disturbances; and could not possibly be relevant to diverse diseases of the central nervous system such as addiction, stroke, epilepsy, schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, and degenerative disorders such as ALS, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease. Central to their argument is the lie that the processed free glutamic acid used in processed food is identical to the glutamic acid found in unprocessed, unadulterated food and in the human body.

Source: Truth In Labeling


Posted in Food Additives, medically-oriented background info | 3 Comments »

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