Answers to Questions from Readers, part 1

I started my Steve Carper's Lactose Intolerance Clearinghouse in 1997. Almost immediately people began writing to me with questions about lactose and lactose intolerance and dairy allergy and milk. I put up the answers to some of the more interesting questions on my web site.

With my 10th anniversary rapidly approaching, I'm taking a look back at my site and its history. I find that most of the questions I was asked 10 years ago are still being asked today.

So I'm gradually going to copy some of those questions over here, updating those few whose answers have changed over the decade. If they spark new questions or comments from you, all the better.

Q. I am so lactose intolerant my pharmacist had to buy a machine so he could make capsules for me without lactose. He informed me that there were other things that could be used in medication instead of lactose, but lactose was the cheapest. Until now I have felt safe with capsules, but my newest medication, a capsule also brand new on the market, has lactose. I called the company, Wythe, and screamed. They made note and according to them they will listen. One voice in the wilderness will achieve nothing. With your following can't we start a movement to have lactose removed from medication PLEASE!!!!

You are not alone and you are doing exactly the right thing. Companies do listen to the people who use their products.
Unfortunately, the number of people as sensitive to tiny amounts of lactose as you are is quite small. That means that manufacturers have little incentive to reformulate their products.

So the more of you who take the time to write to manufacturers and scream, the better. You can get the address from your pharmacist. Or go to a library and find the Physician's Desk Reference, which has the names of all major manufacturers and the ingredients of all major prescription drugs.

Q. I sometimes get LI symptoms 6 to 8 hours after eating a meal, and sometimes even the next day. Is this possible?

Sure is. You get LI problems in two ways: from the water pulled into the intestines by the excess lactose and from the gases produced by the bacteria in your colon that eat the undigested lactose.

Each person and each meal creates different intestinal transit times, as they are called. Food can take ten hours to reach the colon, and then more time for the bacteria to work and to finish up the lactose. You might need two or three days to completely rid your system of the lactose.

Q. I always wanted to know the role of glucose & galactose (digested lactose) in the body and how important they are. Does the absence of these sugars affect the body in any way? Is it completely OK to be without them?

Glucose is only the single most important substance in the body, because it is the basic energy source for all the internal chemistry of the body. Not to worry, though. All carbohydrates (including galactose) eventually get converted to glucose so that the body has a constant supply. As long as you eat a basic healthy diet, you'll always have plenty of glucose.

Q. Have you ever heard of a baby reacting to the lactose in human milk? And does the effect of eating lactose-containing food pass through breast milk the way eating broccoli or cabbage does?

Babies are designed to be able to drink milk for their first couple of years of life. Even mothers in societies in which virtually every adult is lactose intolerant naturally breastfeed infants without any problems.

A very, very tiny minority of babies are born without the ability to drink milk, but I would doubt if this happens once in a hundred million births. By all means try breastfeeding your next child. In the unlikely event that your child has a problem, you will know about it almost immediately and you can make the switch to a non-milk formula without any further harm.

As for lactose passing through milk, you're thinking of allergic reactions, which are very different from lactose intolerance.

Lactose doesn't work that way, and even if it did, breast milk naturally will contain hundreds of times as much lactose as could possibly leak through from foods that you eat.

Don't give it a second thought. Have as much milk as you desire and can safely tolerate.

Q. Are non-dairy creamers really non-dairy?

Yes, non-dairy creamers are lactose-free. Most of them do contain casein in some form, however. Casein is derived from milk protein, which is why some people don't consider them truly non-dairy. People with just LI and not milk allergy should not be affected by any minuscule residue of lactose that may remain after some manufacturing processes.

Potential Allergy Reaction Molecule Discovered

Cure? Breakthrough? Or just a tiny piece of the puzzle?

“A food protein can be perfectly harmless to one person and lethal to another, said [Dr Claudio Nicoletti at the Institute of Food Research in Norwich]. “We have identified the missing molecule that normally keeps immune responses under control and appropriate.”

That statement, from a press release issued by the Institute of Food Research is the tantalizing news issued by Dr. Nicoletti and his team, in collaboration with scientists at the University of Sienna.

In previous research, Dr Nicoletti found that special types of white blood cells called dendritic cells are important in helping the immune system decide on how to respond to foreign molecules. In the latest research, Dr Nicoletti compared the activity of dendritic cells in the gut and in the spleen of allergic and allergy resistant mice. He found that in the gut of susceptible mice, dendritic cells have stopped producing IL-12.

The mice were bred to be allergic to peanuts. Why were they allergic? It is the lack of IL-12, more formally known as Interleukin-12.

What would happen if an allergen was eaten by someone who actually had the IL-12 molecule?

Dr Nicoletti suggests that by delivering an allergen in the presence of IL-12, allergic reactions could be brought back under control.

Since these studies are still being done in rats, the research is a long, long way from having any benefits for human allergy sufferers.

The article, "Production of IL-12 by Peyer's patch-dendritic cells is critical for the resistance to food allergy" will be published online by the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology on Monday 2nd July 2007. It is, of course, not up yet, despite the date, so I'll update this post when it is available.

Zeroing in on Lactose in Cheese

Once again someone has asked why I don't list Kraft Cracker Barrel cheeses on my list of lactose free cheeses. After all, Kraft states right on their packages that the cheeses have 0 grams of lactose per serving.

The reason is simple. I only list real milk cheeses that state they are lactose free.

Wait, isn't lactose free and 0 grams of lactose per serving the same thing?

Oddly enough, no.

The labeling laws allow packagers to round down on many items with less than half a gram of a substance. Fat free items can actually have up to half a gram of fat per serving, for example.

And items can have up to half a gram of lactose per serving and still round down to 0.

What happens, therefore, if an item has, say, 0.4 (four-tenths of a) gram of lactose? There are 28.375 grams in an ounce. 0.4/28.375 = 0.014 = 1.4%.

So a piece of cheese can have up to 1.4% lactose. This is not much lactose, true. And it's also a maximum. We don't know exactly how much lactose in is the cheese because Kraft doesn't say.

And that's the point. Kraft doesn't say. Their cheeses may have 1.4% lactose or it may be much lower. We don't know.

We can be pretty sure, however, that the cheeses are not lactose-free, because a quirk in the labeling laws says that items that are labeled "lactose-free" must really be lactose-free, not just low in lactose. I have to assume that if Cracker Barrel cheeses really were 0% lactose, Kraft would say so.

How much difference does this make? In practice, not much. This is an issue only for those who are lactose intolerant. Those with dairy allergies, or who are trying to keep vegan or kosher already know that cheese is a dairy item and to act accordingly.

And all aged cheeses are very low in lactose, some of them approaching true zero. I don't recommend that you avoid cheeses that state 0 grams of lactose per serving. I eat them myself. There are a number of others beside Kraft, BTW.

I've been having Cabot Cheese light 75% fat free cheese. The labeling on the Cabot website says that it's cheeses have 0 grams of lactose per serving. Yet, I list it on my Reduced-Lactose Milk Products page. Hypocrisy? I hope not. I remembering checking and being assured that Cabot considers its cheeses to be lactose-free.

It's just the principle. If I don't know the true lactose content of an item, I don't put that item up in my Product Clearinghouse. If I can confirm that a 0 grams of lactose cheese is truly lactose free, you'll see it there the next day.

E-Z Gourmet Lactose-Free, Gluten-Free Cookies

E-Z Gourmet has just announced a crunchy line of wheat-free, gluten-free, lactose-free cookies to add to its original chewy cookies.

INTRODUCING... The latest addition to the E-Z Gourmet product line. The Crunchy is available in Chocolate Chip, Cinnamon, Chocolate, and Peanut Butter. Just like our Classic cookies, the Crunchy is made using our closely guarded mixing and preparation methods. Our preparation methods give you a cookie with texture, flavor, and all the health benefits of soy whether you prefer a snack that is soft or crunchy.

Some, if not all, of their cookies are also vegan or sugar-free (sweetened with Splenda) or have other healthy-sounding claims like no trans fat.

Chewy cookie flavors are Apple Cinnamon, Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Heavenly Peanut Butter, Marble Delight, Poppy Seed Pleasure, and Vanilla Chocolate Chip.

Each cookie package (about 11 cookies) is $4.49.

Contact Information:
La Vita Health Foods Inc.
Eli Minz
1-845-368-1340
Glutenfree@ezgourmet.net
www.ezgourmet.net/

Not All Vegans are Created Alike

While searching for examples of people who still claim that "sugar rots teeth" I ran across "Sugar: Leaving a Legacy of Dental Decay, Obesity, and Dysfunctional Immune Systems for our Children, by Michael Dye. Dye is not a fan of sugar. He's not much of a fan of science either, cherry-picking statements out of old books, quoting others with his biases against sugar, mangling digestion, and managing not to cite a single medical journal article.

I found the article on the site of Gerry and Ray Coffey, who are Hallelujah Diet Health Ministers.

Uh oh. That rang a bell. There is a vegan diet book called The Hallelujah Diet, written by George Malkmus. Malkmus also wrote God's Way to Ultimate Health: A Common Sense Guide for Eliminating Sickness through Nutrition. In that book, his co-author was... Michael Dye.

Malkmus is a believer. From the comments on his books at Amazon, he believes in an interpretation of verse 1:29 in Genesis:

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which [is] upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which [is] the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

This is taken to mean that Christians should eat only food and vegetables and that meat was not part of the diet until after Noah's flood.

I can't pretend to understand this interpretation, but it does lead to veganism for its believers.

Unfortunately, Malkmus' Hallelujah Diet goes much further. He has been accused of running an MMP, a multi-level marketing plan, to sell his BarleyMax powder. And what do his diet books tell you to eat to achieve weight loss? You guessed it. BarleyMax powder.

There has been one actual scientific study of The Hallelujah Diet. Food and Nutrient Intake of Hallelujah Vegetarians, Michael Donaldson, Nutrition and Food Science, 2001, Volume 31, Number 6.

This study can be found in full at the diet's website, Hallelujah Acres, at: http://www.hacres.com/diet/research/nutrient_intake.pdf

Why? The author, Michael S. Donaldson, is Director of Research, Hallelujah Acres Foundation, Salisbury, North Carolina, USA.

He finds, not surprisingly, that the diet can work. Why is also not surprising. It is an extremely calorie restricted diet. People who can continue on it are bound to lose weight. Donaldson does not examine whether people can continue on it. He just studies their food intake given on a food diary and analyzes that.

You have to read between the lines of his seemingly positive conclusion:

This dietary pattern, both in food choices
and timing of eating, allows people to adopt a
low calorie diet that is sufficient in most
nutrients with little effort in restricting the
amount of food eaten. This dietary pattern,
when implemented and supplemented
carefully, meets the criteria for calorie
restriction with adequate nutrition, which has
been shown in many species to increase the
average and maximum lifespan of animals, and
to reverse and prevent chronic degenerative
diseases (Weindruch and Walford, 1988). On
low energy diets great care must be taken to
ensure adequate nutrition; if energy intake is
too low (< 50 per cent of DRI) one is at risk of
seriously compromising their health.

Some modifications of this dietary pattern,
to provide vitamins B12 and D, and higher
intakes of iron, selenium, zinc and protein,
may be necessary for successful long-term
health. Regular consumption of nutritional
yeast would help ensure adequate nutrition
for this vegan population; 1.5 tablespoons of
Red Star nutritional yeast (16g) contains 8g of
protein, 8·g of cyanocobalamin, 0.5mg of
iron, 3mg of zinc, and 22·g of selenium. The
use of supplemental vitamin B12 and
supplemental vitamin D during the winter at
high latitudes would cover the most critical
deficiencies of this diet.

He also cites low energy, inadequate nutrients, and that a "compromised" metabolic Vitamin B function was found in 50% of those surveyed.

And that 58% of them ate some animal products. That's correct. Defying a diet based on a religious principle, 82 out of 144 studies found the need to add animal products to a vegan, raw food diet.

I support veganism. And vegetarianism. And meat-eating, for that matter. You can have a healthy diet with any variation of the three.

The more you restrict your diet, however, the more aware you must be of what you do eat and the more care you must take to ensure that you are not depriving your system of what it needs for health.

I absolutely cannot recommend the Hallelujah Diet. Sensible veganism requires more care, more attention, and less of a powder sold by the people who write the books.

Eliminate Cavities with Lower Lactose

Presumably everybody has heard that sugar "rots your teeth." You can find this pretty easily on the internet.

They're wrong. A somewhat more modern explanation can be found in the paper, "Serum Calcium, Phosphate, Fluoride and Lactic Acid in Dental Caries." by Jawed M, Shahid SM, Zia-ul-Islam and Mahboob T. Shiraz E-Medical Journal, Vol. 7, No. 1, January 2006.

The authors make two points. Patients who had cavities (or caries, in dental jargon) had reduced levels of calcium, phosphate, and fluoride; and increased levels of lactic acid.

This suggests ways to reduce or eliminate cavities. Increase the calcium, phosphate or fluoride or decrease the lactic acid.

Addig fluorine to water certainly helps with the first.

Now a Florida dentist, Dr. Jeffrey Hillman, has patented a means of doing the second.

An article by Art Levy at FloridaTrend.com talked about Dr. Hillman's work:

Working in his research lab in 1976, Dr. Jeffrey Hillman accidentally discovered a mutant strain of Streptococcus mutans, the bacteria that causes tooth decay. Unlike typical Streptococcus mutans, this strain was lactose-deficient, meaning that after it gorged on sugar, it didn’t produce copious amounts of lactose acid, the stuff that digs holes in tooth enamel.

...

After years of clinical trials, first on rats and now on people, Hillman’s treatment is moving closer to market. Called Replacement Therapy, it essentially replaces the Streptococcus mutans already in the mouth with a modified, lactose-deficient strain. “It may take six months to a year, but eventually our strain will kick out the disease-causing strain,” he says. “A one-time treatment can give lifetime protection.”

You might well wonder what "lactose acid" is. It's our old friend "lactic acid" misunderstood by someone lacking in basic science.

Dr. Hillman still needs FDA approval, so don't expect to pour bacteria into your mouth any time soon. And don't get grossed out by the idea of pouring bacteria into your mouth. You probably do that every day, but just call it probiotics, or even yogurt. Bacteria can be your friend if you only let them.

Fabulous Fudge Factory Dairy-Free Confectionery

While I was on the Redwood Wholefood Company website, I found their Fudge Factory, "unique dairy free fudge from Devon."

Special recipe with soya milk to taste as good as full dairy fudge. How? Because it's made in Devon where confectioners understand fudge. A product to satisfy an increasing number of customers who are lactose intolerant as well as vegetarians and vegans who choose to avoid dairy produce and GMOs.

Dairy free fudge is a rare item, so I hope those of you looking for a small indulgence are aware of this treat.

Redwood Wholefood Company Named Best Vegan Company

In the first ever Vegan Environmental Awards, the UK firm Redwood Wholefood Company was named Best Vegan Company.



An article in the Northampton Chronicle and Echo said that:

The awards, organised by vegan company Yaoh, were designed to recognise the unique positive contribution of the vegan lifestyle to the environment by focusing attention on some of the stars from the vegan community.

Thousands of British vegans voted for their favorites in the competition.

Redwood won because:

The company’s aim throughout its ten-year history has been to create innovative and inspirational meat-free foods that reflect the principles of veganism – namely health, compassion towards animals and concern for the environment.

The entire range of Redwood products are healthy and suitable for vegetarians, vegans and those with dietary needs – be it religious or medical.

Every product is free from lactose, cholesterol, hydrogenated fats and artificial colours or preservatives.

Redwood Foods are also available in Spain and in Australia.

As I try to point out, vegan foods are perfect for those who are lactose intolerant or want or need to avoid dairy for any other reason.

I'd tell you who else won Vegan Environmental Awards, but even though the awards were given out as far back as June 10th, their website still hasn't been updated. [!] Can anyone explain this?

KidsAllergyStop.com

Foods that are dairy-free, or free of other potential allergens, are easier to get today in ordinary supermarkets than ever before.

Even so, not every supermarket has a wide selection of these foods, which often are produced by local or regional firms.

What about online? I just discovered KidsAllergyStop.com.

KidsAllergyStop.com is your one stop for finding kid-friendly help for your allergic child. Whether your child has food allergies, environmental allergies, or related conditions like eczema and asthma, we have allergy-safe food and candy, eczema-friendly skin and bath products, non-toxic home and laundry cleansers, medical equipment and gear, books and even toys to help your child deal with their allergies and start having fun being a kid again.

They have pages for various allergens, as well as a product grid if you need to find foods that are free of more than one.

The Dairy Food page is not terribly impressive, as it turns out. My website lists hundreds more products. The advantage of KidsAllergyStop.com is that you can simply click on the product and order it.

Offline contact info:
SpotOn Products, Inc.
1595 Peachtree Parkway, Suite 204-175
Cumming, GA 30041
1-800-984-6169
email: info@kidsallergystop.com

The Quest for Food

There are many books about eating, and a growing number on food. However, there are very few books that analyze why humans eat the way they do.

One of the few writers who make it his work to tackle this subject was Marvin Harris. I wrote a tribute to him and his books when he died. (The link for that other tribute site I mention on that page no longer works.) There have been few books since that emulated him.

While browsing at Amazon, though, I came across a new scientific text that looks to contain a fascinating look at the entire physiological and genetic processes of eating, from basic metabolism on up.



The book is The Quest for Food: A Natural History of Eating, by Harald Brüssow.

Book Description

The Quest for Food: A Natural History of Eating is a collection of essays that surveys eating through time, from the perspective of a biologist.

The quest begins in prehistoric times with religion and the exploration of the connection between food and sex. This leads to an investigation of the deep links between food and culture, exploring the basic question of "what is eating?" The second section embarks on a biochemistry-oriented journey tracing the path of a food molecule through the central carbon pathway until it is decomposed into CO₂, H₂O and ATP. The third section delves into the evolution of eating systems, beginning with the elements of the primordial soup through the birth of single cell organisms such as bacteria and archea. We then follow this evolution in the fourth section through higher developed organisms: from the first organisms in the ocean to the ones on land. The next two sections explore the stories of food from an ecological, then behavioral viewpoint, leading the reader from animals to early hominids, and into human history. The final section takes apart an anthropocentric view of the world by presenting man as prey for the oldest predators: microbes. The text closes with an agronomical outlook on how to feed the billions.

The goal of The Quest for Food is to catalyze discussions between scientists working in food science, and those in biological and biomedical research.

The Table of Content - which goes on for six pages! - is a marvel of interest.

I'm not sure if I'll ever get to read it. The cover price is a staggering $119.00. I'm trying to convince myself that it is as essential as it sounds. The fact is that much of the rot that is published about milk, dairy allergy, lactose intolerance, and for that matter all other health matters stems from their authors having a totally inadequate understanding of how food and digestion works.

I'm talking myself into buying it. The sacrifices I make!

UK Quacks Winning the Game

I spend a lot of time complaining about the state of health reporting from the UK. See, just as the most recent example More Bad Info from the UK and especially take a look at the series of comments made.

I'm not alone. A huge controversy has erupted because an English professor's anti-quack blog was removed from the server of the University of London because of a complaint from the quack!

James Randi has a report in the June 15, 2007 issue of his SWIFT newsletter. A reader reported there:

I have come across the worst news of its kind I have encountered from the UK (lately, at least). Professor David Colquhoun has been ordered to remove his very informative and entertaining anti-quack site from the University College London server by the Provost at the request of Alan Lakin, husband of nutritionist Ann Walker. Colquhoun commented that "cleanser of the lymphatic system," a claim Walker made for red clover, was "meaningless gobbledygook." This was enough to get him kicked off.

Events have moved swiftly, pardon the pun. Colquhoun's DC's IMPROBABLE SCIENCE page has a new home and will soon be readmitted to the University's servers.

As Randi wrote, however:

And we highly recommend readers to read the Goldacre account, then go to this new website, but be prepared to spend an hour there just assessing the sad state of affairs in UK medicine as it competes with quackery.

Beware of any health claims made by any product that can't be backed up. Beware of health claims made for or against dairy that you might read in newspaper articles from those who have no idea what they're talking about. Fight the quacks. It may not be the most inspirational slogan ever devised, but it will do the world a world of good.

Late Breaking News. Darwin Not Lactose Intolerant

You may not remember the kerfluffle in the news a couple of years ago when some researchers announced that they had determined that the cause of Charles Darwin's chronic illness was lactose intolerance. It was one of the first items I posted on the blog.

In a recent issue of Notes and records of the Royal Society of London, which I keep on the coffee table right next to US magazine, a pair of Chilean doctors [I'm not making any of this up] have concluded that he suffered from Crohn's Disease.

This explains his upper abdominal pain, his flatulence and vomiting, as well as his articular and neurological symptoms, his 'extreme fatigue', low fever and especially the chronic, relapsing course of his illness that evolved in bouts, did not affect his life expectancy and decreased with old age, and also the time of life at which it started. It apparently does not explain, however, many of his cutaneous symptoms.

They rule out lactose intolerance as a cause.

I'm so relieved.

The reference is Notes Rec R Soc Lond. 2007 Jan 22;61(1):23-9.

Benecol Adds Tropical Fruit Flavored Soy Drinks

Benecol, the European giant of cholesterol-lowering margarine fame (see Functional Nondairy Makes Europe Healthier), has announced a soy drink that also says it lowers "bad" cholesterol.

The press release I found at TalkingRetail.com says:

Responding to a customer need to produce a product suitable for over seven million people in the UK who are either lactose intolerant, or just wishing to avoid dairy for ethical or health reasons, Benecol have designed a dairy-free tropical drink.

Customers can enjoy just one healthy and nutritious mini bottle of Benecol Tropical Fruit & Soya Drink a day for a simple, delicious way to lower their cholesterol.

Only Benecol foods contain the unique active ingredient Plant Stanol Ester, which has been clinically proven to reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol by up to 14% in over 30 scientific studies. All the products in the range contain this unique ingredient and just one bottle of Benecol Tropical Fruit & Soya Drink with a meal is enough to lower cholesterol to help maintain a healthy heart.

The benefits of the new Tropical Fruit & Soya Drink are:

- Low in saturated fat
- Lactose free
- Made from non-GM soya
- Suitable for vegetarians
- Just 30 Calories per drink
- Clinically proven to reduce cholesterol

The perfect choice for those looking for a dairy free cholesterol-lowering product.

Benecol was first launched in Finland in 1995, after a public health initiative to lower the nation’s cholesterol. After its pioneering success in Finland, Benecol became the first product of its kind available in the UK and Ireland in 1999 – maintaining a strong commitment to keeping hearts healthy. The Benecol range now includes tasty yogurts, yogurt drinks and spreads.

Some Benecol products have made their way to the US, so we'll have have to wait and see if and when these arrive.

Soyatoo Nondairy Whipped Soy Topping

I recently discovered that Now and Zen, the maker of Hip Whip whipped topping, no longer seems to be in business.

While I was trying to discern that company's fate, I stumbled across a reference to a replacement item that sounds even better: Soyatoo!® Soy Whip™.

At the company's website, Soyatoo is described as:

»Real cream at last!« A dream come true for everyone who wants or has to avoid dairy products.

Soyatoo!® Soy Whip™ is the first completely vegetarian whipped cream. It behaves and tastes just like normal whipped cream, but it contains no milk or any other animal ingredients.

Soyatoo!® Soy Whip™:

▪ is 100 % vegan & free of cholesterol
▪ contains 40 % less fat than classic whipped cream
▪ is gluten free
▪ contains 0% trans fat and is heart-healthy
▪ is perfect with fruit, desserts & beverages
▪ has incredible flavor and texture and no soy bean taste
▪ comes in a practical spray can

Soyatoo!® Soy Whip™ is the culmination of creative know how of the company Tofutown.com, which is based on twenty-five years of experience in soy products. Soyatoo!® Soy Whip™ is a significant step forward for non-dairy milk and cream alternatives.

Calling it "real cream" is one of my pet peeves, but I suppose if those of us who are lactose intolerant or dairy allergic think of it as resembling in taste and/or appearance real cream, it's acceptable puffery. But real should be reserved for real, darn it.

Ingredients are:

organic soy milk (water, soybeans), organic coconut oil, organic fractionated palm kernel oil, organic sugar-beet syrup, organic maltodextrin*, tartaric acid, carrageenan, sea salt, natural vanilla flavour // propellant: nitrous oxide

Soyatoo is available at specialty stores and at larger retailers like Whole Foods.

Enjoy Life Snacks

I do most of my weekly shopping at the flagship Wegman's Food Market, the store that all supermarkets want to grow up to be.

Yet somehow I didn't notice, until an article in the Elmira Star-Gazette pointed it out, that Wegman's is now carrying the Enjoy Life line of products.

Here's how they describe themselves in the press release:

Enjoy Life offers 19 products including soft-baked cookies, snack bars, granola, bagels, semi-sweet chocolate chips and trail mix that are specially made to be gluten-free and free of the eight most common allergens (no wheat, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, fish or shellfish). They are also all natural, trans-fat free and made in a dedicated nut- and gluten-free bakery.

In addition, the company offers a helpful Food Allergy & Intolerance Survival Guide that consumers can download online at the company’s newly updated website, www.enjoylifefoods.com, or by calling 888-50-ENJOY.

Of course, they've been around since 2001 and can be found at many outlets, including Whole Foods Market (CA), New Seasons Market (OR), Sprouts Farmers Market (AZ, CA, TX), Clark's Nutrition (CA), Dillon's, Fry's, Kroger, King Sooper, & Smith's in addition to Wegmans.

More Bad Info from the UK

I go away for a week and the world's press is full of articles with dubious information. Coincidence?

As always, the worst offender is to be found from the U.K. This one would be laugable if it weren't so infuriating.

This week dispenser of bad info is Nick Joshi in the Telegraph newspaper.

Here's the question he was asked:

I am 64 and was diagnosed as lactose intolerant three years ago. I have eliminated cow's milk from my diet but, on occasion, I'm still bloated and uncomfortable after eating, so I think the intolerance may be broader than diagnosed.

Two years ago I developed scalp psoriasis, which I find very difficult to control. Are the two conditions linked and is there anything else I should avoid?

I use soy products in place of cow's milk.

Looks straightforward. Gave up milk and replaced it with soy. Still has symptoms which are classic symptoms of an allergic response.

Diagnosis: soy allergy or some other food allergy, right?

Don't be silly.

He still thinks it's lactose intolerance. He does not mention the word allergy even in passing.

This is the unbelievable advice he gives.

Some studies suggest that lactose intolerance is associated with dermatological conditions such as eczema and psoriasis.

Cite them, please? Cow's milk protein allergy is associated with these symptoms but I know of no studies that says LI is.

Certain medications such as antibiotics, and even iron supplements, can reduce the body's ability to produce lactase, as can the natural ageing process.

Again, no. I know of no studies that says any medications or antibiotics can interfere with the ability to manufacture lactase. He's clearly confusing this with the known effect of antibiotics killing off the "good" bacteria in the colon that digest lactose, a completely different mechanism

Why does he spout this nonsense? Here's a possible clue.

Lactose may not be the only intolerance you have, and a holistic practitioner will be able to work out what kinds of foods your body dislikes.

There are qualified medical doctors who take a holistic approach to the body. This is sensible since the body is a series of interrelated systems.

However, whenever I see the words "holistic practitioner" on the internet, they always seem to be in the context of someone spouting horrendous misinformation about the human body. Be very cautious concerning any purported advice from holistic practitioners. See a qualified doctor instead.

And for pity's sake, stop sending health questions in to U.K. newspaper columnists. You'd be better off consulting a magic eight-ball.

$3800 Mistake

When you're peddling a research report for the astounding price of $3800 you'd think you'd take the time to be sure your pitch has been proofread.

Not the Datamonitor people. Or perhaps the blame goes to the shoddy coders at Pharmaceutical Business Review Online.

Whichever. One of them is responsible for this:

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common disease affecting 1020% of the total adult population...

Despite the substantial impact IBS can have on sufferers' well being, about 7080% of sufferers have not been formerly diagnosed.

Wow! No wonder those of us with IBS feel so lousy. We each have it ten times over.

And this in a report whose justification of its price is so that you can:

Quantify the key target segments of the IBS patient population across the seven major markets

Quantify your press releases first, please.

Baby Formula Comparison Charts

There is no one right way to imitate mother's milk in a baby formula. And that's not even looking at the fundamental question of whether it is to be cow's milk-based, soy-based, or based on hydrolyzed proteins. A multitude of nutrients can be added and those in a variety of portions and amounts. The complexities are enormous and each family has to decide for themselves which combination works best for their child, and for their budget.

The Nature's One firm makes baby formulas. I don't know anything about them; this is not a recommendation or endorsement, nor do I have anything against them.

What I can say is that they feature a nutritional comparison page that offers charts in Abode's .pdf format that compare their formulas' nutrient composition against a number of other brand name formulas in the categories of dairy, soy, and organic formulas and oral electrolytes.

The charts look to be both comprehensive and informative. It may be useful to print them out and study them for guidance when you look into the question of formulas for your baby.

Breastfeeding: Any Time, Any Place, It's Still Good

Breastfeeding is a subject that seems to drive people insane. Despite my public stance of encouraging breastfeeding for any woman who is able to do so, I've been attacked by fanatics because I also give advice on formulas to women who can't or even won't breastfeed. For some women, breastfeeding is an absolute. All women should do it. I'm not sure what they're supposed to do with their baby if they can't. Give it for adoption, I suppose. This is apparently a position equivalent to that of abstinence for sex education. There is an enormous amount of proof that abstinence doesn't work as a policy, but that matters not to its advocates. Better to have a failed, unworkable, counterproductive policy than change one's mind.

Did you know that 38 U.S. states have laws stating that women have the basic right to breastfeed in public? I don't know why the other 12 don't. Perhaps it's too obvious for them to bother with.

Yet the fanatics persist. Breastfeeding, they say, is obscene. Horrid. Indecent. (Twenty-three states have exempted breastfeeding from any violation of their indecency laws.) A photo of actress Maggie Gyllenhaal breastfeeding her child started an uproar. Here's another photo of her doing so, less blurry than the original.



Are you properly shuddering in horror? Why not? You can clearly the entire side... of her baby's head.

Don't believe me that breastfeeding is sickening? Check out this letter from a woman - a woman, mind you - writing in to the Dear Amy advice column to say that:

I am as uncomfortable knowing that a woman is breastfeeding even if the mother is wearing a tent, as I would be with a couple groping each other with all their clothes on. It just isn't public entertainment.

Well, no, it isn't. It's a function vital to the health of babies. All children should be breastfed for at least the first six months. It doesn't happen. No more than about 30% of American women do so.

In a Newsweek article Karen Springen wrote:

Even formula makers say "breast is best." Nursing reduces a baby's risk of diarrhea, ear infections, urinary-tract infections and bacterial infections (and perhaps food allergies, obesity and diabetes). It also lowers a mom's risk of breast and ovarian cancer—and, since it burns 500 calories a day, helps her lose weight. And it's free, while formula costs about $1,500 a year.

Look, the human body is not obscene. Nudity by itself is nothing special. It can't harm anyone, even children. Breastfeeding was witnessed by children and adults for the first 99,900 of humanity's 100,000 years of existence without corrupting anyone, slowing down progress, disrupting morals and ethics, or contributing to blindness.

It is time to put these antiquated notions about the human body in the same cultural trashcan as putting coverings on piano legs so as not to offend someone's delicate sensibilities. Encouraging breastfeeding is as valuable and as productive as encouraging energy conservation. Sorry, I forgot that that's controversial too.

When American society gets into these fits of collective insanity, the only thing to do is shock it back to its senses. If you run into those who object to a mother's discreet breastfeeding of her child, shout "nipples" at them at the top of your lungs. See if they get the message.

Basic Frozen Dessert Primer

It's over 90°F (32°C) in much of the country, so frozen treats are a must.

There are a million varieties and Terry Kay Bargar of the Andover Townsman breaks them down for us.

Homemade ice cream does not have to be difficult to make. Basically there are two forms — one with eggs (a custard base) and the other without eggs ("Philadelphia-style"). Add some sort of milk product (milk, cream, soy milk … the list is quite lengthy) and flavoring (vanilla, fruit, chocolate, herbs, etc.), chill in the fridge and then pour into your ice cream maker. This is the one caveat: you must own an ice-cream maker, either electric or hand-cranked. These machines spin the ingredients around, slowly begin the freezing process and thereby add air to the mixture, which turns cream into fluffy ice cream. Set the results in the freezer for a few hours to insure frozen firmness.

Ice milk simply is a lower-fat version of ice cream.

Gelato is Italian ice cream made from more egg yolks but less cream. Despite the ingredients, it contains less fat than its American counterpart and is generally denser and richer.

Frozen yogurt has the texture of ice cream but has active bacterial cultures and less fat.

Sherbet is a fruited ice cream made with low-fat milk, egg whites and fruit. Don't confuse it with sorbet, however, which contains no milk products | only fruit and sweetener and tastes tart. Back in Victorian times, and even at high-end restaurants today, you'll find sorbet served as a palate cleanser between courses.

Frozen custard is at every beach in America. Creamier and softer than ice cream, it's the perfect treat to eat between tanning and swimming.

Tofutti is made from, you guessed, tofu. It's not my dessert of choice, but for those who want a lactose-free treat then Tofutti is worth trying.

Granita is the one exception to the ice-cream maker necessity. Sweetened liquid, especially coffee, is frozen in a pan and scraped with the tines of a fork at regular intervals. It resembles snow but tastes much more flavorful!