Another Victory for Ignorance

Is there any actual evidence that the growth hormone rBST (recombinant Bovine SomatoTropin -- also known as rBGH: recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone) causes harm to anyone? No.

Can milk be made that is hormone free? No. All milk, including mother's milk, has natural hormones. All cow's milk naturally includes BST. (rBST is a synthetic hormone that is added to increase milk production.)

But a pervasive fear campaign by anti-milk forces have convinced consumers that hormones are dangerous. California Dairies Inc., California's largest dairy cooperative, will stop using rBST as of August, 2007.

It shouldn't be needed, but in the internet world I've learned that the obvious must be said in so many words: I am not in favor of putting untested chemicals into our foods. At the same time I try not to worry about "chemicals" added to foods. Every substance is a chemical, and all too often the word chemical is thrown around simply to frighten people who should know better.

Is rBST untested? Hardly. Wikipedia notes that the:

World Health Organization, American Medical Association, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the European Commission Directorate for Consumer Health and the American Veterinary Medical Association have all found milk from rbST-supplemented cows to be safe for humans and the same as milk from cows not receiving these supplements.

There are no comparable groups who have found that bBST is unsafe, although Health Canada has not approved its use on the grounds that its safety has not been proven rather than any specific health risks it has found in humans.

So why is the California group stopping the use of rBST? Natalie Otis in the Auburn Journal says it's simply because consumers have gotten scared by the controversy.

Regardless of the hormones in milk, Bradley said that there many milk alternative brands on the market as consumers have voiced their needs and manufacturers have responded.

It is simple supply and demand.

"With more people lactose intolerant and impacted by allergies the industry has created options," Bradley said.

Producing options for those with lactose intolerance, a known problem with a known cause and a known cure, is not at all the same as changing milk production based on vague and unproven fears. (Not to mention that no milk at all anywhere is made for people with cow's milk protein allergies.)

Is rBST so unequivocally safe that it is no longer being investigated? Not at all. Research continues daily, even though the FDA approved its use on cows as far back as 1993 and has not changed its stance. It may be that more careful or focused studies will show that rBST create health concerns.

Real health concerns are a true industry problem, and I'm happy to crusade against them at any time. What's in the minds of people today, however, is anything but real:

Kim Bradley, manager at Sunrise Natural Foods in Auburn, said a large percentage of the health food store's customers are searching for organic milk that is free of added hormones.

"I can't say exactly, but I know that milk sales are a big part of the business," she said.

Bradley explained that her customers have expressed that they are concerned about the milk and what hormone-laden products can do to growing children.

"Consumers are worried that the use of drugs is harmful to infants and young children who are still developing," she said. "Consumers don't want to introduce steroids into young bodies."

Bradley explained that another concern is that the hormone RBST reduces body fat and that body fat holds toxins. She is concerned that toxins could be present in the milk supplied by the injected cows.

Toxins? "Toxins" is a scare word, pure and simple. As soon as you read or hear anyone talking about "toxins" in the body or the need to purify the body of toxins, run the other way. Any product that claims to purify your body of toxins is a scam, based solely on scary-sounding propaganda.

I've found a site that appears to give good information about rBST. The site is rbstfacts.org. Its claim is that:

rbSTFacts.org neither endorses nor opposes the use of rbST. Its only goal is to provide a clearinghouse of scientifically-validated information about rbST.

Maybe. The site is owned by DeLaunay Communications, Inc., a Seattle-based PR firm that does work for many large corporate clients including the "Cooking with Kids" site and program of the Dairy Farmers of Washington. And the site:

was developed as a collaborative project by the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) and the Washington Dairy Products Commission (WDPC), a Washington state agency.

No question that RBSTfacts.org is not an anti-milk propaganda site. How neutral you find it will depend on your outlook. Still, there's a huge amount of information, links, and resources there.

I like research. I like facts. I like information. "Better safe than sorry" sounds good in theory and is often the best course to take in fact. There are already so many known dangers to the food supply that we can hardly argue for adding any others.

But disinformation, propaganda, and scare tactics about our food is not the way to go. Taking perfectly good food off the market or banning the possibility of cheaper and more abundant foods because of unproven science and distorted facts is just as harmful to the world in the long run.

Let's think carefully about our foods and make good decisions about what and how we eat. Let's not give in to ignorance. Educate yourself. Be the wisest consumer you can be.

Hydrolyzed casein formula may slash eczema in infants

Here's an important new study from the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (published on-line ahead of print, doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2006.11.017)

"Certain hydrolyzed formulas reduce the incidence of atopic dermatitis but not that of asthma: Three-year results of the German Infant Nutritional Intervention Study," by A. von Berg, S. Koletzko, B. Filipiak-Pittroff, B. Laubereau, A. Grübl, H.-E. Wichmann, C.-P. Bauer, D. Reinhardt, D. Berdel and the German Infant Nutritional Intervention Study Group.

The NutraIngredients.com site has some explanation in words approaching normal English.

Eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis (AD), is one of the first signs of allergy during the early days of life and is said to be due to delayed development of the immune system. According to the American Academy of Dermatologists it affects between 10 to 20 percent of all infants, but almost half of these kids will 'grow out' of eczema between the ages of five and 15.

The researchers, from Marien-Hospital Wesel, Ludwig Maximilians University, Neuherberg's Institute of Epidemiology, and Technical University of Munich, recruited 2252 newborns with a family history of allergy and assigned them to one of four intervention groups: formula containing only cow's milk (control), or formulas with partially hydrolyzed whey, extensively hydrolyzed whey, or extensively hydrolyzed casein.

Cow's milk proteins, which are the most widely used in routine infant formulas, are the most common allergen in infancy, so the study examined formulas in which the proteins were broken down to decrease the chances of allergy.

The German Infant Nutritional Intervention Study (GINI) found that after three years, the partially hydrolyzed whey formula and the extensively hydrolyzed casein formula reduced the period prevalence of eczema by 48 and 47 per cent, respectively, while the cumulative incidence for the extensively hydrolyzed casein formula decreased by 33 per cent, compared to the cow's milk formula group.

"The preventive effect developed in the first year and persisted into the third year, indicating real disease reduction rather than postponement of disease onset," wrote Von Berg.

The researchers also report that children with a genetic history of eczema in their family had a significantly reduced risk of eczema when consuming only the extensively hydrolyzed casein formula.

The researchers emphasize that breastfeeding is still the "gold standard" for preventing allergies, but that hydrolyzed formulas are truly helpful in cases where breastfeeding is not possible.

No Wonder the English Need Dentists

I don't know what it is about the English and their teeth. It's a stereotype that all the late-night comics make fun of.

But when you read Nothing but the tooth, by Angela Epstein, you begin to realize that they seriously need some help.

Nothing worse than nonsense in an article intended to punctuate myths. For example:

DRINKING MILK CAN DAMAGE YOUR TEETH
While milk has an excellent nutritional content, it should only be drunk at meal times as the lactose (milk sugar) content can damage the teeth. For this reason, do not leave milk by a child's bed overnight, as drinking it through the night will mean the teeth are under an acid attack - particularly as neutralising saliva dries up while we sleep.

Two bizarre claims there.

First, the amount of sugar in milk is only about 5%. It is much less sweet than fruit juices or soft drinks. Milk is what you should drink instead of sweeter drinks.

Who says? The UK Food Standards Agency, that's who.

Milk contains vitamins and minerals such as calcium and it doesn't cause tooth decay.

Second, milk doesn't have high acidity, either. According to the dairy scientists at the University of Guelph:

The pH of milk at 25° C normally varies within a relatively narrow range of 6.5 to 6.7.

Since neutral water has a pH of 7.0, milk is just very slightly acid. That's because it has little acid in it, says the University of California at Davis:

The acidity of milk from individual cows ranges from 0.10 to 0.26 %. Herd milk varies less in acidity because of commingling,, but occasionally herds are found where the acidity of the fresh milk is 0.18 % and as high as 0.23 %.

Please take Ms. Epstein out for a good, um, tongue-lashing.

Allergy Steals Your Zest for Life

That headline's a great line, taken from Allergy Alert by the Malaysian Society of Allergy and Immunology (MSAI) in conjunction with the MSAI Congress 2007.

The article continues:

But sadly, allergy is still not accorded the attention and priority that it needs.

Why? Perhaps it is because allergy seldom kills or maims. Yes, life does go on for allergy sufferers, but unless you have an allergy yourself or live with someone who has it, you will never fully understand the impact of allergy on the quality of life. The physical suffering, the mental torment, the emotional struggles, the financial strain and the endless limitations in many aspects of life, ranging from food to sports or vacation to vocation.

In a nutshell, allergy rarely kills but often steals your zest for life.


atopic dermatitis

As 60% of all allergies appear during the first year of life, it is only logical for allergy prevention to be focused on infants and young children. In fact, it is estimated that 35% of children are affected by allergy.

The most common manifestations of allergy in children are food allergy, atopic dermatitis, asthma and allergic rhinitis/conjunctivitis.

As if the misery of one form of allergy, say dermatitis, is not enough, allergies may come in a series called the “allergy march”. Leading this march is atopic dermatitis which is often accompanied by food allergy. A large proportion of children with atopic dermatitis then progress to rhinitis or asthma later in life. Thus, the development of allergic diseases can be life-long.

Up till now, there is still no cure for allergy and prevention remains the only way to stop the allergy march. But before we can put the brakes on allergy, we must know what drives it.

Genetic link

Allergic diseases run in families. If you and your spouse both suffer from allergies, your children will have a 40-60% risk of developing allergies. If only one of you is allergic, then the risk falls to 20-40%.

However, even if both parents are allergy-free, the offspring will still run a 5-15% risk. So, allergy prevention is justified for all infants.

Allergy prevention is not easy, however. The best preventive is to breastfeed your baby for at least the first six months of life. Stay away from highly allergenic foods until the baby is at least a year old. Dairy allergies would make this tricky, since cow's milk formulas and dairy products are normally started much earlier. Still, there are numerous alternative products available today.

Remember, this applies to allergies, not lactose intolerance. Babies do not become lactose intolerant except temporarily if they have an intestinal upset. See Babies Aren't Lactose Intolerant

Win Free Fudge for a Year!

A year's supply of fudge. And I'm talking about dairy-free fudge.

It's not for me. I'm on a permanent healthy diet, remember?

But it's yours for the gorging, and all you have to do is enter and answer a question.

Well, living in the UK would help.

The press release says:

Jim Garrahy’s Fudge Kitchen are giving you the chance to win a year’s supply of free fudge in their new competition at their website, http://www.fudgekitchen.co.uk/.

If you win, the nice people at Jim Garrahy’s Fudge Kitchen will send you a gift box of deliciously mouth-watering handmade fudge every month for a year.

You’ll be able to choose from over 20 flavours including favourites like Traditional Toffee and Vintage Vanilla, to more unusual concoctions like Lemon Meringue and Cappuccino. There’s even a dairy free option for the lactose intolerant.

To enter just visit http://www.fudgekitchen.co.uk/, and answer a simple question to have your name entered into the draw at the end of March. One person chosen at random will then win their free fudge for a year. Details of the winner will be published on the Jim Garrahy’s website in April.

Contact Information
Jim Garrahy's Fudge Kitchen
Josh Whiten
01227 730216
info@fudgekitchen.co.uk
www.fudgekitchen.co.uk

You can also go directly to the contest page on their website.

Lactase Tablets for Children

I recently received a question often asked, so I thought I would repeat the answer here.

What is the recommended dose of lactase for children given their age and weight?

I answered:

Lactase is not a medication. It works only on the lactose that is in dairy products.

Therefore, there is no children's dose of lactase. Your child can safely take whatever amount is needed to reduce the symptoms.

If your child doesn't like taking pills, try a chewable lactase tablet or crush the pill and put it into a food.

There are no side effects to lactase. Any unneeded lactase will simply be eliminated along with other waste.

Gluten- and Dairy-Free Desserts

Connie Sarros was forced to develop gluten-free recipes when her father was diagnosed with celiac disease in 1993.

Sarros began experimenting in her own kitchen, doing some Internet research, and working mostly by trial and error.

"I would write down the recipes that worked and those that didn't I would toss out," she said. After a while, Sarros had put together a small collection, which she had bound into a booklet and gave to her mother for Mother's Day.

Lisa Abraham, of the Akron Beacon Journal, wrote this in an article on Connie, a local resident. Photo credit: Ed Suba Jr. / Akron Beacon Journal.

Connie has written two gluten-free cookbooks, Wheat-Free, Gluten-Free Cookbook for Kids and Busy Adults and Wheat-Free, Gluten-Free Reduced Calorie Cookbook, both available on the Wheat- and Gluten-Free Cookbooks page in my Milk-Free Bookstore. She's working on a new cookbook that should be available in 2008.

It's become much easier for those with gluten allergies, just as it has for those who must avoid milk. The two often go together, as celiac disease can damage the lining of the intestines and create lactose intolerance.

When she first started researching and cooking gluten-free, Sarros, 60, said she could barely find the alternative flours -- rice or garbanzo bean -- typically used in gluten-free cooking.

But as diagnosis of the disease has grown, so has awareness, and companies are responding.

"I would guess that about 15 years ago, there were maybe eight to 10 companies, maximum, that dealt with gluten-free foods. Now there are hundreds," she said.

Celiac disease was once considered very rare, but it is now considered more common than diabetes, Sarros said. Doctors often advise putting children with Down syndrome or autism on gluten-free diets as well, she added.

Food manufacturers, grocery stores, and restaurants have begun to take notice. Outback Steak House has a gluten-free menu, and Wendy's also offers gluten-free items.

Abraham's article also includes wheat- and dairy-free recipes for Chocolate Oblivion, Croatian Walnut Cookies, and Almond Crescents.

Good Allergy Advice from the Mayo Clinic

The Mayo Clinic has an excellent short article titled Preventing food allergy in children up on their web site.

If you're a parent with a child you know is allergic or are worried may be allergy, you should definitely read it.

I'll copy one important section here, about possible allergy prevention:

• Avoid peanuts during pregnancy and while nursing. Eating peanuts during pregnancy and while breast feeding may increase your child's risk for developing a peanut allergy and other allergies — especially if you have a family history of allergies.



• Give your child only breast milk for the first 6 months, if possible. This is the best source of nutrition for your infant — and it may help prevent your child from developing food allergies that can last well into childhood or even adulthood.



• Wait until your child is 6 months old to introduce solid foods. Especially if you have a family history of food allergies, taking steps to prevent early exposure to foods that can cause allergies is a good idea. As a child grows older and the digestive system matures, the body is less likely to absorb food or food components that trigger allergies. Experts believe that waiting to introduce solid foods until your child is 6 months old may help prevent allergies to those foods.



• Introduce cow's milk after one year. Studies show that waiting to introduce cow's milk until your child reaches age 1 reduces the chance your child will develop a milk allergy.



• Introduce eggs at age 2. This may help prevent your child from developing an egg allergy.



• Introduce nuts and seafood at age 3. This may help prevent your child from developing an allergy to these foods. (Do not give your child whole nuts until he or she has molars and can chew them well.)



• Introduce all new foods gradually and one at a time. Before introducing mixed foods that could cause an allergic reaction, introduce each new food on its own. Don't mix foods until you're sure each individual food is tolerated.



• Give your child cooked or homogenized foods. Many foods are less likely to cause an allergic reaction after they are cooked. (However, be careful. A few foods — such as cod and celery — still contain allergy-causing proteins after cooking.)

Before 6 months	Breastfeed only, if possible
6 months	Gradually introduce small amounts of solid foods, and continue breastfeeding
1 year	Introduce cow's milk
2 years	Introduce chicken eggs
3 years	Introduce peanuts, tree nuts and seafood

Lactose Is not Milk Allergy

I'm not sure I'd trust my medical news from a site named DogFlu.ca. At least not medical news about humans.

Take the big news about a story of ancient bones in Europe that I've been covering in DNA Lactose Surprise? Not to Me. and DNA Lactose Surprise Follow-up.

The Dog flu people wrote a story on it too, called Milk Allergy May Come From Our Ancestors.

And they said:

Studying DNA from skelatal remains from ancient European times has allowed researchers to learn that a common milk allergy may have originated with them.

Lactose intolerance is not milk allergy. They are two totally separate conditions, handled in totally different ways in the body. There have been dozens of articles on this appearing in the past few days. All you had to do was read even one.

You also got the results mixed up. And you even spelled skeletons as "skelatons" and skeletal as "skelatal." Three times.

Morons.

Mangoes and Lactase? Don't Think So

Glurge is that nutty stuff that your so-called friends like to pass around to you via email. It may be sappy, or wild, or outrageous, or just plain wrong.

In that last category is an article, "Benefit of the Mango for the Human Health," by a Dr. Martin Hirte.

I've traced it back to this page, which is copyrighted 1997. It's been picked up a number of times over the years, including recently at Disabled-World.com.

Why do I mention it? Because of this line:

The enzymes of the Mango, such as magneferin, katechol oxidase and lactase, clean the bowel of the "filth" within and are an ideal antidote for all toxic effects inside the body. They provide also sufficient resistance to fight any germs and afflictions.

Lactase? In mangoes? I guarantee that's not true.

Worse, when glurge gets bounced around the net for years, it starts to pick up errors. The Gambia Dairy Observer ran the story with this odd variation:

The enzyme list continues with mangneferin, katechol oxidise and lactose that not only protect the mango from insects, but help humans by stimulating metabolism and purifying the intestinal tract.

Give me a break.

Dr. Hirte is apparently a real doctor, with real credentials.

A well known and highly respected professional German health food researcher and pediatrician Dr. Martin Hirte became interested in PREDA dried mango when he first tasted the Filipino Carabao variety of this rare and exotic dried fruit near his home in Herrsching, Munich.

Google finds a number of German-language hits for him. However, I can't find any connection between mangoes and lactase that doesn't trace back to his original paper. Lactase has never been found in any other fruit or vegetable, and there's not the slightest reason to think that a mango would evolve the ability to manufacture lactase when there is not any conceivable use for it in the mango world. I can't find any research of Hirte's that would back up his claim.

It's baffling.

But not as odd as this other reference I found to lactase while searching the web:

IFT was invited to organise in early September of this year “A Taste of Macao” at the Shangri-La hotel in Manila, The Philippines.

A week long presentation of old Macanese favourites such as Caldo Verde, Octopus Salad, Lactase, Deep fried Bacalhau Balls, African Chicken and Mango Pudding had the Filipino public wanting more.

The world is stranger than you can think.

DNA Lactose Surprise Follow-up

The study referenced in Monday's post, DNA Lactose Surprise? Not to Me., has continued to cause comment around the globe.

First, let me give the abstract of the article, Absence of the lactase-persistence-associated allele in early Neolithic Europeans, , by J. Burger , M. Kirchner , B. Bramanti , W. Haak , and M. G. Thomas, from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences site, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 10.1073/pnas.0607187104.

Lactase persistence (LP), the dominant Mendelian trait conferring the ability to digest the milk sugar lactose in adults, has risen to high frequency in central and northern Europeans in the last 20,000 years. This trait is likely to have conferred a selective advantage in individuals who consume appreciable amounts of unfermented milk. Some have argued for the "culture-historical hypothesis," whereby LP alleles were rare until the advent of dairying early in the Neolithic but then rose rapidly in frequency under natural selection. Others favor the "reverse cause hypothesis," whereby dairying was adopted in populations with preadaptive high LP allele frequencies. Analysis based on the conservation of lactase gene haplotypes indicates a recent origin and high selection coefficients for LP, although it has not been possible to say whether early Neolithic European populations were lactase persistent at appreciable frequencies. We developed a stepwise strategy for obtaining reliable nuclear ancient DNA from ancient skeletons, based on (i) the selection of skeletons from archaeological sites that showed excellent biomolecular preservation, (ii) obtaining highly reproducible human mitochondrial DNA sequences, and (iii) reliable short tandem repeat (STR) genotypes from the same specimens. By applying this experimental strategy, we have obtained high-confidence LP-associated genotypes from eight Neolithic and one Mesolithic human remains, using a range of strict criteria for ancient DNA work. We did not observe the allele most commonly associated with LP in Europeans, thus providing evidence for the culture-historical hypothesis, and indicating that LP was rare in early European farmers.

I thought this was well known, but apparently not. The Daily Telegraph in an article by Science Editor Roger Highfield reported:

A study of DNA from skeletons suggest that all European adults living between 6,000 BC and 5,000 BC were unable to absorb lactose – a sugar found in milk.

Their findings back the idea that the ability to digest milk spread only after the introduction of cattle farming in Europe 20,000 years ago.

The rival idea, that dairy farming was pioneered by a small group of Neolithic farmers who were able to tolerate milk, is overturned by the genetic study by a team from University College London and Mainz University, Germany.

Instead, the Neolithic descendants of Palaeolithic (Stone Age) people evolved their tolerance of milk within the last 8,000 years due to exposure to dairy products, making this "the most rapidly evolved European trait of the past 30,000 years," according to Dr Mark Thomas of UCL. "Lactose tolerance is very much a Neolithic invention."

I've never heard of this rival idea. That's the surprise to me. In fact, a search for "reverse cause hypothesis" comes up empty outside of this abstract both on Google and on Google Scholar. MedlinePlus.gov does give hits, but only to irrelevant topics.

More details as I get them.

Eyes Without a Face

I hope there are vegans who read this blog. Vegans with a sense of humor.

Amy Sedaris, whose book I Like You: Hospitality Under The Influence was a sad disappointment, does better with the Amy Sedaris Craft Challenge.

Taking the vegan lament/boast/challenge/oneupmanship of "I don't eat anything with a face" a little too seriously, she challenged people to add googly eyes to non-faces and put the resulting pictures up on Flickr.

The resulting 316 photos can be seen via a link at the page given above. Many are hilariously creative. For those with a sense of humor.

Those with absolutely no sense of humor whatsoever can complain here to people with even less of a sense of humor than you.

Gas Caused by More Than Dairy

Yam Cher Seng, a pharmacist, wrote an article for the New Straits Times that covers a lot of intestinal ground.

INTESTINAL problems are one of the main health issues plaguing our society. They are very common and if you were to ask around, chances are that everyone would have suffered from at least one digestive problem sometime in one’s life.

...

Common symptoms include bloating, belching, flatulence, indigestion, heartburn, gastritis, diarrhoea and constipation.

...

Many people find relief in merely modifying their diet to reduce refined carbohydrates such as white flour, white sugar, white bread, noodles and white rice and increasing their fibre intake.

...

According to the American Dietetic Association, it is recommended that we take about 25-35g of fibre daily.

It is beneficial in regulating bowel movements and adding bulk to the faeces. Regular bowel movements are essential in aiding the body in eliminating toxins, and thus improve intestinal health.

You may achieve this by consuming a variety of vegetables, fruits, whole-grains and pysllium husk. Having regular meal times helps to minimise excessive stomach acid production at any one time and is also good for preventing heartburn and gastric problems.

Excessive gas in the intestines can also be prevented by reducing certain gas-forming food such as broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, onions and legumes.

This is because they contain indigestible sugars that will be broken down by intestinal bacteria to produce gases such as carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide and methane.

Avoiding carbonated beverages may also be beneficial.

...

Stress management is also important because nervous people tend to swallow a lot of air, resulting in build-up of excess gases in the digestive tract.

Try to find time in your busy social life for exercise.

Exercise is also recommended to keep the bowels moving normally and helps reduce stress.

DNA Lactose Surprise? Not to Me.

Big news spreading around the scientific world is an article that isn't even available yet. It's a pre-print - a copy circulated before the official print date - of "Absence of the Lactase-Persistence associated allele in early Neolithic Europeans" by J. Burger, M. Kirchner, B. Bramanti, W. Haak, and M. G. Thomas.

Note: I've edited this post to make the proper link to the abstract available.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences site.

With the recently acquired ability to study human DNA and compare it to DNA taken from bones, scientists have a virtual time machine that can study how humans have changed, or not, since ancient times.

Lactose intolerance is a natural thing to study. The ability to manufacture the lactase enzyme as an adult is a simple mutation that is easy to spot. I posted another item about a different study in December, Milk Mutation "Strongest Signal of Selection", in which I quoted University of Maryland biologist Sarah Tishkoff as saying that the LI mutation arose so quickly and was so advantageous that "it is basically the strongest signal of selection ever observed in any genome, in any study, in any population in the world."

In addition,

Tishkoff's team determined the date range when the mutation likely occurred: 3,000 to 7,000 years ago, which matches up well with the archaeological record that places pastoralization coming to East Africa about 5,000 years ago. The European trait dates back about 9,000 years.

The new study does little more than move that European date closer to the present.

An article, Early Europeans unable to stomach milk by Roxanne Khamsi at NewScientist.com reports that:

Researchers analysing the DNA in Neolithic human remains claim to have uncovered the first direct evidence that modern humans have evolved changes in response to natural selection.

Just 7000 years ago, Europeans were unable to digest milk, according to a new analysis of fossilised bone samples – nowadays more than 90% of this population can.

Well, cool. This is extraordinarily difficult and exacting work and is a major advance in the techniques of gene identification.

But a major finding? Perhaps not.

To determine when this special lactose tolerance evolved in Europe, Thomas’s team analysed the DNA from 55 bone samples belonging to eight Neolithic Europeans. The skeletons were dated to between 5840 BC and 5000 BC.

Eight people. I rail at medical journal articles when the study group is that small, because findings are simply all too likely to show up by sheer chance in small groups. Would you be surprised to find no left-handers in a group of eight people?

It's not quite that simple, of course. The number of ancient bones that usable DNA can be extracted from is limited. We'll learn more about the statistical significance of the study when it is published.

Nobody whose read my book or the earlier, admittedly non-genetic, research on LI should be in the least surprised by these findings, however. While interesting, this news is not exactly news.

If there's more to it than first appears, I'll revisit the subject and fill you all in.

Lactose and Casein

I often get email similar to the following, so it's time to remind people of some basic definitions.

Could you please let me know what difference (if any) there is between casein and lactose intolerance. I'm confused.

Here was my answer:

They are two totally different things.

There's no such problem as casein intolerance, although you may sometimes see the term. Casein is a protein is milk, actually a whole family of similar proteins. The other protein family in milk is whey.

Proteins can sometimes enter the bloodstream where the immune system thinks they are invaders and attacks them. This is called an allergic response. Cow's milk protein allergy is the overall term for several types of dairy allergies, which can be to the casein or to the whey or both.

Some people do get gastrointestinal problems as allergy symptoms, but hives, rashes, respiratory complaints, and a host of other symptoms are more common.

Lactose is the sugar in milk. All people can manufacture lactase, the enzyme that digests lactose, at least until they're weaned. Many adults can as well. But if you don't manufacture enough lactase the undigested lactose can cause symptoms including diarrhea, gas, bloating, and cramps. This is called lactose intolerance.

There's really nothing you can do for a dairy allergy except avoid dairy products.

You can take lactase pills to digest the lactose, however, and these should work as well as having natural lactase.

Let's Eat Out!

Kim Koeller "has spent the last 23 years eating 80% of her meals in restaurants around the world while managing over a dozen food related allergies/sensitivities and celiac/coeliac disease. Robert La France has spent over twelve years in the restaurant industry and devotes his spare time to a passion for the culinary arts. Collectively, they have traveled 2+ million miles across the globe, dined in 30+ countries on 4 continents and have conversational skills in French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish."

They've put together a book for the traveler with allergies or gluten sensitivity, titled Let's Eat Out!: Your Passport to Living Gluten And Allergy Free.

According to the book's description:

The first book dedicated to eating around the corner and around the world while managing ten food allergies including: corn, dairy, eggs, fish, gluten, peanuts, shellfish, soy, tree nuts and wheat. At last! A book that gives you the freedom to eat what you want, where you want and when you want with confidence and ease.

Imagine being able to go to any restaurant, scan the menu, quickly spot the safest choices and ask the right questions to avoid gluten and other hidden allergens in food preparation. Imagine exploring more cuisines and enjoying more meals than you ever thought possible, armed with the right knowledge.

Let’s Eat Out! Your Passport to Living Gluten and Allergy Free provides you with everything from delicious menu items to order in 7 popular cuisines (American Steak and Seafood, Chinese, French, Indian, Italian, Mexican, and Thai) to which questions to ask in safely guiding your decisions.

Let’s Eat Out! offers you peace of mind with less effort, enabling you to have more fun. Inside you will find:

* The collaborative process of dining out
* An approach to eating outside the home
* The restaurant approach to handling special dietary requests
* 7 international cuisines outlining traditional ingredients, gluten awareness, allergy & dining considerations and sample menus
* 175+ savory menu item descriptions and preparation requests
* 65+ ingredient and preparation technique descriptions with sample questions to ask
* 10+ allergen quick reference guides
* 130+ snack and light meal ideas
* 200+ breakfast and beverage suggestions
* 300+ multi-lingual phrases
* 50+ global airlines with special meal options
* 100+ product resources in 15 countries
* 180+ international organizations

You can purchase the book at bookstores, at their website glutenfreepassport.com, or through my Milk Free Bookstore on the Allergy Books and Cookbooks page.

Babies Aren't Lactose Intolerant

The public level of understanding about lactose intolerance has increased about a million per cent since I first heard the term in 1978. That was when I was diagnosed with a problem that was totally new to me.

Today, most people have at least heard the term. Perhaps too many. Ever since I started answering emails from the public I've run into those who know that milk causes some kind of problem and since they've heard the term lactose intolerance, that must be what they have.

Too often that's wrong. Especially when parents are talking about their babies. Hardly any infants under the age of three are lactose intolerant, except for the one percent who at any given time have had their lactase-making ability knocked out by some gastrointestinal illness.

Not only do parents get this wrong, but often dietitians, nutritionists, and even doctors seem to mess this us.

That's why it was refreshing to read Dr. Sue Abell's column in which she gets it all correct.

Poor Dr. Sue got a letter from a mother than contained all the confusion and misunderstandings I so often see from parents:

My daughter is lactose intolerant, just like her father and his mother. I'm concerned about getting enough calcium into her once she's no longer on formula. (My husband won't drink soy milk, so I'm thinking she won't either.) I'm assuming she'll be lactose intolerant for life. She drinks soy formula now and is doing much better.

Dr. Sue's response is too long to quote, so please click the link above and check it out. She starts with a sensible paragraph that cuts through the clutter:

I seriously doubt that your daughter is lactose intolerant, and you'll see why in a moment. It sounds like your baby had some sort of reaction when she drank one of the cow's milk formulas, and she was switched to a soy formula and the symptoms resolved. Or she may have even had symptoms with breastfeeding and improved when you stopped breastfeeding and changed to a soy formula.

Although some immune response symptoms to an allergy can include gastrointestinal problems, allergy and intolerance are totally different problems.

Don't just write to an advice doctor about your child. See your own pediatrician and make sure you ask good questions and listen carefully to the answers.

Another Allergy Scam

These things seem to come in clusters. Just a few days ago I warned you about a dangerous purveyor of nonsense in Beware Allergy Scam - Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Technique (NAET).

Today I found this bothersome story in the Gary Post-Tribune, 'Allergy' scam tab stunned patients by Carolina Procter.

When Barbara Doepping received her allergy test results indicating allergies to dogs and dairy products, she wrinkled her nose, but not because she had to sneeze.

She had a Yorkshire terrier for years and never reacted. She ate yogurt and cottage cheese all the time without trouble.

Now, more than two years later, the 59-year-old Hobart woman learned the doctors who oversaw the testing were indicted on federal charges for giving people unnecessary allergy shots and netting $1.5 million in insurance payments over seven years.

Doctors Oranu Ibekie of Merrillville and Hartley Thomas of Valparaiso face multiple counts of wire fraud for their alleged participation in the scam.

After learning of the indictment last week, Doepping and other area residents talked about how the doctors' alleged scam operation convinced them to have their allergies tested and then billed their insurance companies for as much as $1,500 each.

Seven years! These scammers have been getting away with it since 2000.

No more. Federal agents busted them last week.

The Chicago Tribune reported:

Hundreds of people seeking allergy treatment were scammed into believing they were getting free tests in a scheme that cost insurance companies more than $1.5 million and put patients' health at risk, federal prosecutors have charged.

On Thursday morning, federal agents arrested John Froelich, a 49-year-old nurse from Harwood Heights, and Paul Kocourek, 53, of Chicago.

Eight other people, including four doctors, also were charged in the alleged scheme.

Froelich is accused of leading the scam through a group of companies he operated as the American Institute of Allergy, which allegedly charged patients' insurance companies for tests it advertised as free.

The four doctors charged are Edgar Vargas, of Arlington Heights; Oranu Ibekie, of Merrillville, Ind.; Hartley Thomas, of Valparaiso, Ind.; and Robert Tully, of Mesa, Ariz.

...

During that time, patients who tested positive for allergies were prescribed allergy shots, often without being evaluated by a doctor, prosecutors charged.

In many cases, untrained employees of the allergy institute gave patients the shots under unsanitary conditions, the indictment charged.

Moreover, patients frequently weren't warned of significant health risks they could face from the shots, prosecutors alleged.

Needless to say, there is no American Institute of Allergy other than these operators.

If you have received any "testing" or "treatment" from the American Institute of Allergy, you should contact the authorities. The U.S. attorney's office in Chicago has set up a toll-free line. The number is 866-364-2621.

Pressed Cottage Cheese is Low Lactose

Most cheese is made from casein curds, the lumps formed by the casein protein when the whey liquid is removed from milk. Most of the lactose in milk stays with the whey, so cheese is lower is lactose than almost all liquid dairy products. The aging process for cheese almost literally squeezes even more of the whey out of the cheese, so aged cheeses typically have little to no lactose. The vast majority of people with lactose intolerance (LI) can have at least some aged cheese with no symptoms.

Soft cheeses, on the other, keep more of the whey liquid - that's what makes them soft - and so have lactose levels in between those of regular milk and hard cheese. Check out my Lactose Percentages page on my website.

Cottage cheese is a soft cheese. Those with LI can have some but need to be cautious.

But what about pressed cottage cheese?

You got me. I never heard of it, until I was just asked about it.

But the good news is that pressed cottage is essentially dry cottage cheese: cottage cheese with the whey pressed out of it. Therefore, it's a low-lactose product.



And it comes under a host of aliases: hoop cheese, farm or farmer cheese, baker's cheese, and pot cheese. And it's also similar in manufacture to the Indian cheese paneer and the Mexican queso blanco or queso fresco.

The Cook's Thesaurus gives simple instructions for making your own:

Notes: This mildly acidic fresh cheese is made by pressing much of the moisture out of cottage cheese. Some varieties resemble a very dry, crumbly cottage cheese, while others can be sliced. It's primarily used for cooking. To make your own: Wrap cottage cheese in cheesecloth and place in a colander or strainer nested inside a bowl. Place in the refrigerator until much of the liquid has drained into the bowl.

So enjoy.

Liddells: Australian Line of Lactose-Free Dairy Products

I had a brief note last year, Vaalia Introduces Lactose Free Yoghurt in Australia that also mentioned the Zymil line of lactose-free milks.

I don't pop over to Australia much, so I'm dependent on readers to let me know what the situation is for people with lactose intolerance who live there.

Shaine sent me an email alerting me to Liddell's lactose-free milk. Thanks, Shaine.

Turns out that Liddell's has a whole line of lactose-free dairy products, available there and some also in New Zealand.

They include:

• Full Cream Lactose Free Milk
  
• Lactose Free Low Fat Milk
  
• Lactose Free Skim Milk
  
• Lactose Free Chocolate Flavoured Milk
  
• Lactose Free Yoghurt - Wild Berry & Apricot
  
• Lactose Free Yoghurt - Plain
  
• Lactose Free Lite Cream
  
• Lactose Free Lite Sour Cream

As always, if you know of more lactose-free products - from Australia, New Zealand or any country under the sun - let me know and I'll publicize them here.

Damon's Grill Interactive Allergy Menu

Damon's Grill is a casual dining chain with over 80 locations, mostly in the Northeastern United States.


They just issued a press release about their new "interactive allergy information tool," which is on their website.

You can get their in several ways. Go to the Damon's website at http://www.damons.com/ and click on Our Menu, and then click on the "Click here for Food Allergy information" link in the lower left hand side of that page. Or click on the "Our Menu" link from any page on the Damon's website.

Or go directly to http://www.damons.com/interactivemenu.cfm.

Clicking on any box next to a menu item brings up information on the bottom of the page in which the potential allergens in that item are listed.

Allergens listed are Fish, Shellfish, Milk, Soy, Wheat, Eggs, MSG, Sulfites, and Tree Nuts.

The press release adds:

Before launching the allergy information page this month, a nutrition consultant analyzed the ingredients in nearly 250 Damon's appetizers, salads, salad dressings, soups, side items, entrees, sandwiches, kids' menu, beverages, condiments
and desserts.

"Few casual dining chains offer allergy sufferers and those with other dietary restrictions easy access to the information they need," said Carl Howard, president. "Damon's is taking the lead because our guests asked for the information, and we want to support their efforts to lead healthier lives."

I like that attitude, and I hope that Damon's soon comes to New York so I can check them out.

Beware Allergy Scam - Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Technique (NAET)

I about fell off my chair when I read the story by David Wilcox in the Auburn Citizen.

It's an almost completely positive endorsement of a talk by a chiropractor telling seniors that allergies can be cured by NAET - Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Technique.

You don't get quackery much purer than this:

Straile links NAET with the successful elimination of food allergies such as milk and peanuts. He begins the procedure by placing a patient in contact with a vial of water that has been charged to the frequency of the food item. Through kinesiology, he measures the strength of one arm against that of the arm holding the vial in order to assess the severity of the allergy.

The mind is then desensitized to the stimulus through manual neuromodulation, a procedure that places pressure on the spinal cord in order to send signals to the brain.

Seniors, run if you can! If you can't, take your canes and beat your way to the door.

Here's what the link from Quackwatch has to say:

NAET is a bizarre system of diagnosis and treatment based on the notion that allergies are caused by "energy blockage" that can be diagnosed with muscle-testing and permanently cured with acupressure and/or acupuncture treatments. Its developer, Devi S. Nambudripad, DC, LAc, RN, PhD, is described on her Web site as an acupuncturist, chiropractor, kinesiologist, and registered nurse who practices in Buena Park, California. [my note: since this was written she also claims an M.D. from an Antigua diploma mill]

...

The Bottom Line
NAET clashes with the concepts of anatomy, physiology, pathology, physics, and allergy accepted by the scientific community. The story of its "discovery" is highly implausible. Its core diagnostic approach -- muscle testing for "allergies" -- is senseless and is virtually certain to diagnose nonexistent problems. Its recommendations for dietary restrictions based on nonexistent food allergies are likely to place the patient at great risk for nutrient deficiency, and, in the case of children, at risk for social problems and the development of eating disorders. I believe that practitioners who use NAET have such poor judgment that they should not be permitted to remain licensed. If you encounter a practitioner who relies on the strategies described in this article, please ask the state attorney general to investigate.

The only good thing to say is that the comments on the newspaper page are highly critical of this nonsense.

Article Gets Goat Milk Right

I've denounced the nutty ideas of goat's milk fanciers, the ones who think that goat's milk is somehow magically better for people than cow's milk. See Goat's Milk for Lactose Intolerants? No. and More Goat Milk Nonsense.

So it's only fair to report on an article getting goat's milk right.

I found it in a letter to the editor on the greelytrib.com website.

The letter writer, Stephanie Smith, a spokeswoman for the Western Dairy Council in Thornton, says:

Be careful about comparing goat's milk to cow's milk; there's no difference.

...

The big picture shows milk to be naturally nutrient-rich, delivering various amounts of most of the nutrients people need without a high calorie count. Scientific analysis finds no significant nutritional difference between goat's milk and cow's milk. They contain essentially the same amount of protein, carbohydrate and fat.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, neither goat's nor cow's milk is recommended for infants with cow's milk sensitivity. The good news is that infants usually outgrow allergies to milk proteins by the age of 2. People with lactose intolerance have difficulty digesting lactose -- the carbohydrate in both cow's milk and goat's milk -- and there are many ways to manage this without eliminating dairy foods.

Pasteurization, regardless of whether milk is heated for longer periods of time at lower temperatures or shorter periods of time at higher temperatures, does not significantly affect milk's nutrients. Furthermore, most cows' milk is not ultrapasteurized.

People sometimes complain about "biased" sources, biased by their definition anyone with an interest in the outcome. Somehow the idiots making false statements are never considered to be biased as long as their beliefs are contrary to those of "industry." The truth is that people with the most knowledge sometimes are employed by one side.

Your job as consumers is to get to know enough about the subjects you have concern for to be able to tell when they are just giving the facts out of their expertise and when they are putting a spin on the truth. Here be facts. Goat milk nuts, beware.

Diarrhea Medication May Cure Cancer

It was another lab accident, not all that different from Alexander Fleming's when he discovered penicillin.

Katherine Schaefer, at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, was looking for drugs to treat the inflammation seen in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, both of which cause pain and diarrhea, according to an article sent out by Reuters.

She was testing compounds on cancer cells, because - ironically - cancer cells are so hard to kill that they made great lab subjects.

“I made a calculation error and used a lot more than I should have. And my cells died,” Schaefer said.

A colleague overheard her complaining. “The co-author on my paper said,’ Did I hear you say you killed some cancer?’ I said ‘Oh’, and took a closer look.”

They ran several tests and found the compound killed ”pretty much every epithelial tumor cell lines we have seen,” Schaefer said. Epithelial cells line organs such as the colon, and also make up skin.

It also killed colon tumors in mice without making the mice sick, they reported in the journal International Cancer Research.

Nice as this report is, it's nothing to get hopes high about. Many compounds work in petri dishes and in animal tests. Even the promising ones are a decade away from the drugstore.

No matter. Here is one more piece of evidence that basic research, close observation and understanding of a subject, and a little luck can be the road to great science. This is the real intelligent design. Accept no phony anti-science substitutes.

Soy Island Kids Site

You may be a kid if a flash animation introduction from a talking soybean doesn't make you want to stab your eyes and ears with giant stakes, but once you get past that opening screen, Soy Island has some treats for kids.

It is a product of the Illinois Soybean Association.

Soy Smoothie Recipes

The Kansas Soybean Commission & Association has a soy smoothie recipe page.

Note that not all the recipes are dairy-free, as a few call for yogurt or sherbet.

Science Marches On III: Systemic Enzymes

The lactase enzyme digests the milk sugar lactose. Most humans stop or reduce their manufacture of lactase at some point in their lives, creating the condition we call lactose intolerance when those of us lactase-challenged have dairy.

Fortunately, the lactase enzyme is fairly easy to manufacture artificially. (Or naturally, depending on how you look at it, since live yeasts are used to grow it.)

Similar products like Beano can be used on other hard-to-digest sugars.

Now the medical world is realizing that a whole range of body ailments can be helped through targeted enzymes.

Erika Camardella reports on NaturalProductsInsider.com about some of these discoveries:

Enzyme use goes well beyond dissolving digestive dilemmas. Nena Dockery, M.S., National Enzyme Co., noted within the dietary supplement industry, isolation of new enzymatic activities from natural, non-genetically modified sources has led to new opportunities for their use. “More is being researched in the area of systemic functioning of orally administered enzymes,” she said. “The recently discovered fact that low-grade inflammation may be indirectly related to a large number of chronic disease conditions has uncovered a large area of future enzyme development.”

Mike Smith, sales and marketing manager at Specialty Enzymes, said the two common areas for systemic enzyme use are as an anti-inflammatory and fibrinolytic.

“Serratiopeptidase and nattokinase are two newer enzymes that possess both properties,” he said, “and it is likely that research will yield more of these novel enzymes with systemic applications as interest and understanding continue to advance.” For example, ERC created one systemic blend utilizing enzymes (along with 14 different strains of probiotic bacteria) to create its Nightly Essense™ product.

...


Size aside, enzymes are no small players. The list of possible conditions they could affect continues as they may also assist with gluten intolerance, noted Jim Titus, director of international sales and marketing, Deerland Enzymes. “While enzymes for autism have made great strides over the last number of years, there is some information coming out indicating enzymes (as AN-PEP) have application for Celiac Disease as well,” he said With applications in nutritional formulas, tablets, capsules and blends, Panc-Zyme™ (American Laboratories Inc.) has many naturally occurring enzymes; but, it specifically contains trypsin and chymotrypsin protease, amylase and lipase, and can be used in formulations to hydrolyze proteins in milk, meat and cheeses.

And you knew I was going to get nanotech in here somewhere:

There are several new delivery system technologies on the horizon, but are not practical for use within the dietary supplement industry because of cost constraints, Dockery said, citing nanotechnology-based systems as an example. Another technology being utilized to a limited extent for delivery of supplements containing enzymes involves specialized liquid media within a softgel type capsule or liquid product. However, Dockery cautioned, “The enzymes must be protected in some way from being activated by the liquid, either by coating the enzyme or by manipulating the structure of the liquid itself to prevent interaction with the enzymes.”

Sooner or later, nanotechnology will be the preferred way to get exactly the right medicine to exactly the right part of the body. Pills, capsules, inhalers, even injections can't do it as well. Smaller is better.

Science Marches On II: Lactose Worms

In more news from the world of nanotech, Azonano.com news reports that:

A new molecular "fishing" technique developed by researchers at Duke University and Duke's Pratt School of Engineering lays the groundwork for future advances in hand-held sensing devices.

...

The new technique uses an atomic force microscope (AFM), a device for observing the surface of individual molecules and measuring the force of interactions among them. The AFM includes a tiny cantilever arm with a sharp tip that scans the surface of atomic specimens, and monitoring the deflection of the cantilever provides information about the force of molecular interactions.

The researchers use the AFM's cantilever as a fishing rod, which they bait with a sample of the chemical to be measured in order to catch "fish," actually proteins known to specifically bind the target chemical. They dangle the chemical "worm" in a solution that contains the target chemical and also is stocked with the protein fish. Because the fish are easier to catch with the baited cantilever when there are fewer free worms to compete with, the researchers can quantify the amount of chemical in solution by tallying the number of successful catches.

...

In demonstrating the new method using lactose molecules as the worms and a protein called galectin 3 as the fish, the researchers relied on computerized AFM controls to lower the baited cantilever toward the solution a billionth of a meter at a time.

...

When galectin 3 fish bound the lactose bait, withdrawal of the cantilever registered a greater force. They repeated the process until the bait had made some form of contact at least 350 times.

They found, as expected, that the probability of binding varied with the concentration of lactose in the solution. At low concentrations, binding occurred with the greatest frequency. As the concentration rose, the likelihood of binding declined. The researchers used that probability of binding to calculate the chemical concentration.

Good news. I think.

Science Marches On I: Nanotech Milk

Neil Pendrock, at wine.co.za reports that:

There are nano-filters that can convert red wine into white and even remove lactose from milk providing milkshakes for the lactose-intolerant. These post-modern oompa-loompas can remove the colour from beetroot juice while brewers use them to remove micro-organisms and even viruses. TCA molecules may be removed from corked wine using specially designed nano-filters. Ditto for alcohol and caffeine in coffee.

The dream of Willy Wonka for chewing gum that tastes like a three course dinner is no longer a children’s fairy tail as nano-capsules can be activated in sequence.

No telling exactly when these wonders will be available on supermarket shelves.

'Get Uncorked and Go to Cork!'

I missed scooping the world. Dovid from Ganeden Biotech, the makers of Digestive Advantage, sent me advance word on their new contest on Friday and I put off dealing with it until I had a few minutes to look it over. Ah well, so the press release snuck out just a few minutes ago before I could post this here.

You're still among the very first to get the word, though.

I'll put it out straight: the jokes will write themselves.


Digestive Advantage is promoting its Constipation Therapy probiotic capsules with a story contest on constipation. Grand Prize is a trip to Cork, Ireland. Hence the contest name. 'Get Uncorked and Go to Cork!'

(Dovid is a copywriter, BTW. How much credit or blame he gets for the slogan is yet to be determined.)

Go to the contest site and you'll see the details:

Create a fun story centered on constipation – extra points will be awarded if it takes place in Cork County or Cork, Ireland.

The story should be no longer than 800 words. Be a little unconventional. But, keep it clean and fun. And if you think a photo will enhance your story, feel free to send that as well.

Grand Prize: A trip for two to Cork, Ireland, including roundtrip airfare and hotel!

ENTER NOW TO WIN!

Submit your story either electronically or by mail.
Entries can be sent to:
getuncorked@ganedenbiotech.com

or

GET UNCORKED AND GO TO CORK!
Ganeden Biotech, Inc.
5915 Landerbrook Drive, Suite 304
Mayfield Heights, Ohio 44124

Five finalists will be selected by a panel of judges. Those five essays will be posted online from April 30 through May 11, 2007 at www.ganedenbiotech.com where consumers will vote to select the Grand Prize winner. The winner will be announced on or about May 31, 2007.

No purchase necessary and there is no cost to enter the contest. Promotion ends April 20, 2007. Must be 21 to enter. Complete Official Rules.

Void where prohibited.

All submissions become the property of Ganeden Biotech, Inc.

Watch Out for Sugars Other Than Lactose

I keep telling people there are hundreds of foods that can cause intestinal symptoms similar to those of lactose intolerance. You can't blame everything on dairy.

Now here's a doctor who has the smarts to agree with me.

This is from the website of a TV station in Dallas, Doctor: Stomach Trouble Should Not Go Untreated:

Dr. Lawrence Schiller, of Baylor Dallas, said stomach problems could be serious.

Schiller said sufferers should first examine their diets. If stomach pains develop after eating carbohydrates, the cause could be complex-carbohydrate intolerance, he said.

Sensitivity to dairy could mean lactose intolerance, he said.

The fructose in fruit can cause bloating or cramping, he said. He recommended eating protein alongside fruit to help absorb the fructose.

Technically, true fructose intolerance is fairly rare. But a slight sensitivity to it probably is far more common.

I hate to tell people not to eat fruit. Strive for five, and all that. But if it does bother you, make it part of a meal.

FAAN College Scholarship Essay

FAAN, the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, is holding an Essay Contest that could win a college scholarship for a high school senior who has a documented food allergy.

This $1500 scholarship is available to students who have a documented food allergy. Students should write an essay of 500 words or less on "How food allergies have made a difference in my life." Applicants should complete online application at www.fanteen.org/school/scholarship_contest.php. Deadline: March 1.

Eligibility: Applicants must be…

• Diagnosed with a food allergy (immune system reaction) by a physician. Each finalist will be required to furnish a letter from his or her physician confirming this diagnosis.
  
  
• An undergraduate or graduate student in a program in the United States for the 2007-2008 school year. (You do not need to have selected the school that you will be attending).

For more details, go to their fanteen site and to the “How Food Allergy Has Made a Difference in My Life” page. You will also be able to download the application form at that page.

Rich Products Buys Gluten-Free Manufacturer

You probably know Rich Products as the maker of those stalwarts of the non-dairy creamer business, Coffee Rich and Farm Rich. Coffee Rich®, the nation’s first frozen non-dairy creamer, was introduced way back in 1961, and was the first product I added to my diet when I found I out was lactose intolerant back in 1978.

(No, you're not crazy. You won't find a direct reference to either product on the Rich's website. A rep told me many months ago that they were in the process of redoing the website, but that will probably happen about the same time my redesign of my website happens. BTW, if you can't find Coffee Rich locally, you can order it through amazon.com.)

Anyway, those two products are tiny flecks in the bigger picture. Rich Products is a big-time foodservice giant that's about to get bigger. They've announced that they've acquired GLP Free Manufacturing, a Grand Island-based firm that specializes in producing gluten-free baked goods.

An article in Buffalo Business First adds the details that make this exciting news:

GLP has carved a niche by manufacturing such gluten-free products as sandwich rolls, individually packaged frozen brownies, cookies and other snack items.

"This partnership provides Rich's with access to high-quality, gluten, lactose, trans-fat and peanut-free bakery items tailored for people with Celiac disease," [said Bill Gisel, Rich's president and chief executive officer.]

In time this should make gluten-free products available to more people in more places. When I remember back to 1978 and how few dairy-free products I could find, I cheer at any increase in quality goods for those of us with special diets.

Buttermilk: Cultured and Low-Lactose

The Internet is a strange place. Here it is February 6 and I find an article online, copied from my local paper and dated February 7, that isn't available yet from my local paper.

The article is on buttermilk, the modern version.

Buttermilk used to be a totally different product than the one found on store shelves today. The new buttermilk is cultured with bacteria that work on it somewhat like the ones in yogurt do. They look like this:
Remember, you want them inside you. Really.

And from the article, some basic answers to basic questions.

Question: Why is it called buttermilk?

Answer: True buttermilk is the liquid that is left after cream is churned into butter, explains Marcia Swingle, a "foodways interpreter" at Genesee Country (N.Y.) Village Museum, who demonstrates 19th-century buttermaking at the Mumford museum there.

Q: Does today's cultured buttermilk taste different from sweet cream buttermilk made the traditional way?

A: Yes. Mac McCampbell, chief operating officer at Oatka Milk Products Cooperative Inc., says sweet cream buttermilk is similar to milk but is much richer.

Q: Why can't consumers find old-fashioned sweet cream buttermilk anymore?

A: Consolidation in the dairy industry in the 1950s and 1960s turned old-fashioned buttermilk into the stuff of nostalgia, explains David Brown, a Cornell University food scientist and dairy expert.

Once processing was brought to larger plants at centralized locations, buttermilk's perishability (its shelf life was only a few days) became problematic, Brown says.

Q: How is cultured buttermilk made?

A: Cultured buttermilk starts with pasteurized milk. Then a bacterial culture mix is added to room-temperature milk and allowed to incubate for several hours. Salt is often added for flavor.

Q: What are cultured buttermilk's nutritional qualities?

A: Like regular milk, buttermilk is rich in calcium, vitamins D and A and protein. Some people who are lactose-intolerant might find buttermilk easier to digest than regular milk because some of the lactose has been converted to lactic acid.

A caution, here. Just because buttermilk is cultured doesn't mean that you can gulp it down without thinking. Test smaller quantities first to see if you tolerate it well before going for a glassful.

Sheese Vegan Cheese Alternative

A few months back, Scott Meyers gave me a heads-up to let me know that his company would soon be importing the soy-based vegan cheese alternative called Sheese.

That day is here. A few selected stores in Seattle, Portland, Boulder, and Tempe have it on their shelves but I suspect that most of you will go to VeganEssentials.com for easy ordering.

Their Sheese page has the following information:

Imported from Scotland, Sheese is a delicious alternative to dairy-based cheese that’s firm in texture and is by far the best eat-straight-from-the-package vegan cheese we’ve ever tried. It can also be used in many recipes, too – it takes a bit longer to melt than other vegan cheeses due to the firmness, but it works extremely well in just about any recipe you use. Enjoy slices on crackers (the smoked cheddar is phenomenal all by itself!), baked on macaroni, topping pizza or anything else you miss traditional dairy cheese on. Available in 7 flavors – Gouda, Mozzarella, Blue, Cheddar & Chives, Hickory Smoked Cheddar, Strong Cheddar and Medium Cheddar. 8 oz. (227g) blocks are $9.95 each.

VeganEssentials, as befits its name, has a wide selection of other dairy alternatives for vegans, which means that they'd be perfect for those with lactose intolerance or dairy allergies as well.

In a quick search I found kosher vegan instant creamer, soymilks, vegan whipped cream, vegan chocolates, and non-dairy ranch dressing. Gluten-free products are also available.

Thanks to Scott. And let me and him know what you think when you try them.

New Silk Soymilks

Silk is joining the world of enhanced "functional" products with its new soymilks. Functional food is a buzzword for products that have had fancy new nutrients added to them.


According to the press release:

Silk today announced it is introducing two new creamy, delicious varieties of soymilk - Silk Plus Omega-3 DHA with Martek's life'sDHA and Silk Plus Fiber. Both new varieties offer nutritionally dense and very smart solutions by incorporating all the vitamins, minerals and heart-healthy soy protein of regular Silk, plus added fiber or Omega-3 DHA.

Research indicates most Americans consume only about half of their recommended daily fiber. Silk Plus Fiber not only combines the same creamy vanilla flavor and powerful nutrition consumers love, it also contains five grams of fiber per serving - as much as a large apple or bowl of oatmeal. Silk Plus Fiber is a smart, daily choice for optimum digestive health, and provides 6.25 grams of soy protein and five grams of fiber per eight ounce serving.

Silk Plus Omega-3 DHA with life'sDHA™ has all the goodness of milk - Calcium, Vitamin D and Vitamin A - plus heart-healthy soy protein and life'sDHA™ - a 100% vegetarian and sustainably derived source of Omega-3 DHA. Omega-3 DHA has been linked to a wide range of important health benefits, including brain, eye and cardiovascular health, and there is a large and growing body of scientific evidence demonstrating that people of all ages, from infants to aging adults, can benefit from an adequate supply of DHA omega-3 in the diet.

"Silk has always delivered great-tasting, high-quality soy products to health-minded consumers," said Doug Radi, Silk's Director of Marketing. "By introducing Silk Plus Omega-3 DHA with life'sDHA™ and Silk Plus Fiber, we continue to meet their needs and provide even better choices that fit into their healthy lifestyles."

As with all Silk soymilks, the Silk Plus line is lactose-free, dairy-free and cholesterol-free and is fortified with calcium. Beginning in February 2007, Silk Plus Omega-3 DHA and Silk Plus Fiber will be available in half-gallon sizes at supermarkets and natural food stores nationwide.

You can go to their webpage, silksoymilk.com for more information about the Silk line of products.

National Dairy Council Report Says That African-Americans Need More Dairy

The Journal of the American Dietetic Association is a prestige publication. I've used many of its articles over the years as sources of information.

So when a new report (Dairy Consumption and Related Nutrient Intake in African-American Adults and Children in the United States: Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals 1994-1996, 1998, and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2000, by Fulgoni III V, Nicholls J, Reed A, Buckley R, Kafer K, Huth P, Dirienzo D, Miller GD, JADA, Volume 107, Issue 2, Pages 256-264 (February 2007) comes out that says that:

African Americans in all age groups have lower average intakes of calcium, magnesium and phosphorus and consume fewer servings of dairy foods than non African Americans. African Americans in all age groups do not meet the 2005 Dietary Guidelines recommendation for three daily servings of low-fat or fat-free milk or milk products.

I listen.

The press release is emphatic about the need.

"Researchers continue to monitor populations that are at risk for nutrient deficiencies. In reviewing the science for this report, it was evident that African Americans are missing out on nutrients key to a well-balanced diet," said Greg Miller, Ph.D., a report author and executive vice president of science and research at the National Dairy Council. "We hope this report will remind African Americans to consume nutrient-rich dairy foods everyday as part of a healthy diet. In fact, studies show dairy intake improves overall diet quality; contributes to better bone health; and may help reduce the risk of osteoporosis, hypertension, kidney stones, colon cancer and obesity."

Health professionals continue to recognize the benefits of milk, cheese and yogurt as part of a healthy diet, which together provide nine essential nutrients including calcium, potassium, phosphorus, protein, riboflavin, niacin (niacin equivalents) and vitamins A, D and B₁₂. "It is important for all Americans to follow the Dietary Guidelines, including three servings of dairy everyday," said Albert Morris, M.D., president of the National Medical Association (NMA), the largest and oldest national organization representing Black physicians and their patients in the United States.

The reason for African-Americans avoiding dairy is obvious. The great majority are lactose intolerant.

Oddly, however, the vast majority of African-Americans consider themselves to be exceptions:

A consensus report from the NMA, The Role of Dairy and Dairy Nutrients in the Diet of African Americans, reported that only 24 percent of African Americans believe themselves to be lactose intolerant. [Wooten, W, et. al. The Role of Dairy and Dairy Nutrients in the Diet of African Americans. Journal of National Medical Association. 2004; 96(12):20S-24S.]

So why the low consumption of dairy? I don't know and the press release doesn't explain.

Calcium is available from a number of other foods than dairy, to be sure. I mention some sources in the post More calcium for teens and my LI Links on my website has several links to sites that contain lists of calcium-rich non-dairy foods.

Dairy is still the most concentrated source of good calcium, as well as a food that most people will eat regularly. If you can have dairy it is good for you.

Whatever source you use for calcium - even supplements are better than no calcium - make sure you get your daily requirement. As I said last April, Take Calcium. Every Day. Forever. I meant it then and I mean it now.

Milk + Beer = Bilk

I know, I know. It sounds like an Onion headline.

But it's real, even if it's not coming to a supermarket near you anytime soon.


Unless you happen to be reading this from mainland China.

An article in the Mainichi Daily News reports that a brewery in Nakashibetsu, Hokkaido, developed a novel way of using the surplus milk that had been plaguing the town.

The idea for the drink was conceived after dairy firms threw out a huge amount of surplus milk in March last year. The son of the manager of a liquor store in Nakashibetsu, whose main industry is dairy farming, suggested the idea of producing the milk beer to local brewery Abashiri Beer.

...

Since milk has a low boiling point, the brewery took care to control the temperature during the boiling process so the milk wouldn't boil over. After they put beer yeast and hops into the drink and began the fermentation process, the beverage looked and smelled like tea with milk. However, when fermentation was complete and the drink cooled down, it had the same color as beer.

Since one-third of the drink is milk, the drink has been viewed as a good way to use up milk in the town. The drink got the thumbs-up from 30-year-old resident Kaori Takahashi, who took part in a tasting session.

"It's got a fruity taste, so it will probably go well with sweets as well," she said.

You Are What You Eat - But You Have to Know What That Is

Suffice it to say that I'm a believer in western medicine, sometimes called allopathic medicine. Alternative medicine or complementary medicine is not my thing. I mean, I continually complain that the formal studies carried out by researchers and published in top medical journals are insufficient to give proper answers too much of the time. Imagine my feelings on types of medicines that don't do studies at all but rely on anecdotes.

So I am disposed not to believe in ayurvedic medicine, a 5000-year-old Indian discipline. (Pronounced eye-your-vay-dic, the word comes from the Sanskrit for "pure knowledge of life.")

And an article by Katie Leslie, Ayurveda: The ancient art of 'you are what you eat' at the Frederick News-Post online site just reinforced my unease with these practitioners.

Leslie tells the story of a woman who had ayurvedic medicine recommended to her by her massage therapist. [Insert your own sarcastic remark here.] I am removing all names except for the ayurvedic practitioners.

Both she and her son ... have a history of stomach problems, specifically lactose intolerance. They struggled to find foods that didn't make them feel ill, she said.

They went to see [Dr. Douglas Beech, a chiropractor and ayurvedic practitioner] and his mentor, Vaidya R.K. Mishra in December. Mishra is an ayurvedic dermatologist and researcher. He said his family has practiced ayurveda for thousands of years. (Vaidya is a Sanskrit word given to ayurvedic physicians.)

"Both my son and I were very skeptical about it because it's very foreign to us, with the Indian terms," [she] said. "At first I thought it was very strange, but I feel so much better."

[She] said that in a little more than a month, she's seen dramatic improvements in her health. Her once oft-grumbling stomach is now calm. Best of all, the formerly lactose-intolerant [mother and son] can digest milk with no problem.

And how did Beech accomplish this miracle?

In addition to changing her diet to follow ayurvedic principles, Beech advised her to prepare milk by mixing it with equal parts water, then boil it with cinnamon, clove, cardamom and ginger. The resulting liquid is lighter and more readily digestible, he said.

Uh huh. And it also contains half as much lactose per ounce.

Think about it. Lactose intolerance is a continuum, not an on or off proposition. Most LI sufferers still manufacture some lactase, the enzyme that digests lactose. So they only feel symptoms if they go over the threshold of what the lactase can digest. If you cut the lactose you are consuming in half... Yes, you may feel as if your LI has been cured but you're really just controlling your diet to reduce symptoms. That's something you can do without paying an ayurvedic practitioner.

The mother summed up her experience with these words:

"It just makes sense. It can seem really complicated, but you don't have to know it all. Just take what you need."

The same lesson applies to allopathic medicine. You don't have to know it all. A few basics will suffice. Amazing how much sense actual knowledge about the body can provide.

It's Dangerous to Read the News

Look, I have sympathy for newspaper reporters. Every day they're sent out to cover a story on a subject they know absolutely nothing about. Then they have to come back to the paper and write about the subject in a concise and comprehensive way under an impossible deadline.

No wonder so many reporters aren't good at their jobs.

But, you know, you really should be required to read the beginning of your own story before writing the ending.

Case in point. Health & Fitness editor Amy Bertrand of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Her January 29, 2007 column, Lactose intolerance is a matter of degree dealt with common LI questions:

If someone is lactose-intolerant, can they consume food that is baked or cooked with milk? Is buttermilk under the same category?

She talked to Jennifer Moffett, a dietitian with Christian Northeast Hospital to get an answer.

I can picture how the conversation went. Moffett talked to her for 45 minutes about every aspect of LI. Then Bertrand boiled it down to two sentences, missing the point in the process.

"There are a lot of different tolerance levels among different people... A lot of times people can tolerate yogurt or cheese baked in a product, but some people are ultrasensitive and can't even tolerate margarine"

Well, most LI people can tolerate cheese and yogurt without it being cooked. That's because cooking doesn't affect the lactose content of any dairy product. A high-lactose food will remain high-lactose after cooking. A low-lactose food will be low-lactose even if cooked.

But that's not what got me steamed.

Early in the article she writes this completely correct paragraph:

Lactose intolerance is the inability to make the enzyme lactase in the small intestine. Lactase helps your body digest lactose, the sugar found in milk and milk products.

And then she pulls out this doozy:

Most people can treat lactose intolerance with lactate tablets and other products.

Lactase tablets. Not lactate, a completely different chemical. Lactase. As in the sentences you wrote 100 words earlier.

Sigh. My life is hard.

No-Milk List's Tenth Anniversary

The NO-MILK (Casein/Lactose/Milk-Free) List is a creature from the early days of the Internet. Before there was much to the World Wide Web, people communicated via email topic groups. Think of them much like Yahoo or Google Groups today, but ones done entirely through one's email program.

Ten years ago, yesterday, Don Wiss, creator of the links webpage NoMilk.com - The No Milk Page:
Lactose Maldigestion/Milk Allergy/Casein Intolerance, created an equivalent No-Milk list for those who wanted personal chat and experiences on avoiding milk.

I joined as soon as I heard about it, which was within days of its creation. It's waxed and waned over the ten years, with people joining and leaving and topics depending on who was active at any given time.

I have a lengthy description of how to use the list on my web site on the No-Milk List page, which I am giving myself permission to quote from.

If you are looking for people to talk to about living a nondairy life, you should take a look at the NO-MILK (Casein/Lactose/Milk-Free) List.

Messages can be posted to everyone on the list to ask for help or supply answers to others. Archived resources, on parve foods or nondairy recipes, for example, are also available at http://listserv.icors.org/archives/no-milk.html

I should warn you that Lactose Intolerance is not really the major topic on the list. Most postings are from parents of severely allergic children, whose concerns are somewhat different from our own. They must rigorously avoid foods with even the slightest hint of a dairy product, something I do not recommend for the vast majority of people with LI.

However, I learn things from the postings all the time, so why not check it out for a while in any case?

To subscribe, send an email to:
LISTSERV@LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG

with these words in the body of the e-mail:
SUB NO-MILK YourFirstName YourLastName

When you subscribe you will get all the instructions for the list so you can configure it to your own interests. However, I find it easier to receive each day's posting in a single e-mail. To do this, include SET NO-MILK DIGEST in your e-mail to the list. If you want individual e-mails use SET NO-MILK MAIL instead.

Give it a try. Questions and comments are always welcome.