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Nutrition

Peer-Reviewed Scientific Articles​

Growth and development of British vegan children

October 2, 2019 No Comments

URL: https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/48/3/822/4716540

Journal: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Publication Date: 09/1988

Summary: The growth and development of children born of vegan mothers and reared on a vegan diet has been studied longitudinally: All of the children were breast-fed for the first 6 mo of life and in most cases well into the second year of life. The majority of children grew and developed normally but they did tend to be smaller in stature and lighter in weight than standards for the general population.

Key Takeaways

Children raised on vegan diets may require longer breast feeding times, and tend to be shorter and lighter than the general population.

Children Raised on Vegan Diets Do Not Reach Their Developmental Potential

Bioavailability of vitamin B-6 from plant foods

October 2, 2019 No Comments

URL: https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article-abstract/48/3/863/4716385

Journal: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Publication Date: 09/1988

Summary: Bioavailability of vitamin B-6 from plants is low compared to animal products. Fiber and pyridoxine glucoside reduce the bioavailability.

Key Takeaways

Fiber in plant foods prevents the absorption of nutrients such as Vitamin B6. Animal products have greater bioavailability of vitamin B6.

Fiber In Plant Foods Decreases Bioavailability of Nutrients Such as Vitamin B6

Nutritional vitamin B12 deficiency in a breast-fed infant of a vegan-diet mother

October 2, 2019 No Comments

URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/3948463/?i=2&from=/15645284/related

Journal: Clinical Pediatrics

Publication Date: 04/1986

Summary: Case report of breast fed infant of vegetarian mother that developed severe vitamin B12 deficiency

Key Takeaways

Vegetarian diets are low in vitamin B12, and breast feeding mothers who are depleted in this nutrient may cause deficiencies of B12 in their infants.

Infantile B12 Deficiency May Occur If Mother Is On Vegetarian Diet

The Effects of Vegetable and Animal Protein Diets on Calcium, Urate and Oxalate Excretion

October 2, 2019 No Comments

URL:  https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1464-410X.1982.tb13602.x

Journal: British Journal of Urology

Publication Date: 12/1982

Summary: Meat eating subjects were compared to vegetarians. Higher protein intake, particulary animal protein, was linked to higher urinary calcium excretion. Higher calcium intake was linked to decreased oxalate excretion. Higher vegetable protein intake, but not meat protein intake, was linked to higher urinary oxalate excretion.

Key Takeaways

Based on urinary excretion, meat based diets were higher in calcium and lower in oxalates and vegetarian diets were higher in oxalates.

Vegetarian Diets Have More Oxalates and Less Calcium Than Meat Based Diets

The carnivore connection: dietary carbohydrate in the evolution of NIDDM.

December 29, 2018 No Comments

URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7895958

Journal: Diabetologia.

Publication Date: 12/1994

Summary: We postulate a critical role for the quantity and quality of dietary carbohydrate in the pathogenesis of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). Our primate ancestors ate a high-carbohydrate diet and the brain and reproductive tissues evolved a specific requirement for glucose as a source of fuel. But the Ice Ages which dominated the last two million years of human evolution brought a low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet. Certain metabolic adaptations were therefore necessary to accommodate the low glucose intake. Studies in both humans and experimental animals indicate that the adaptive (phenotypic) response to low-carbohydrate intake is insulin resistance. This provides the clue that insulin resistance is the mechanism for coping with a shortage of dietary glucose. We propose that the low-carbohydrate carnivorous diet would have disadvantaged reproduction in insulin-sensitive individuals and positively selected for individuals with insulin resistance. Natural selection would therefore result in a high proportion of people with genetically-determined insulin resistance. Other factors, such as geographic isolation, have contributed to further increases in the prevalence of the genotype in some population groups. Europeans may have a low incidence of diabetes because they were among the first to adopt agriculture and their diet has been high in carbohydrate for 10,000 years. The selection pressure for insulin resistance (i.e., a low-carbohydrate diet) was therefore relaxed much sooner in Caucasians than in other populations. Hence the prevalence of genes producing insulin resistance should be lower in the European population and any other group exposed to high-carbohydrate intake for a sufficiently long period of time.

Key Takeaways

Over the course of millions of years, the dietary patterns of humans and our ancestors have gone through some changes. Before the ice ages, it is likely that our ancestors ate a higher carbohydrate diet, but when the ice ages came along we were forced to eat a diet of mostly protein and fat. The ice ages lasted about two million years and therefore made it so individuals who could adapt to this high protein and fat diet were more likely to survive. But, after the ice ages humans began farming and returned to a higher carbohydrate diet. Populations that began farming earlier such as Europeans likely have adapted better to higher carbohydrate diets and are therefore less likely to become diabetic in the modern era.

Two Million Years Of Ice Ages Selected For Humans To Consume A High Protein and Fat Diet

The Effect of an Exclusive Meat Diet Lasting One Year on the Carbohydrate Tolerance of Two Normal Men

December 6, 2018 No Comments

URL: http://www.jbc.org/content/83/3/747.full.pdf

Journal: Journal of Biological Chemistry

Publication Date: 06/1929

Summary: This publication reviews the effects on the carbohydrate tolerance of two men after consuming a diet of only meat for 1 year.  Dr. Vilhjalmur Stefansson spent over 11 years in arctic exploration, during 9 years of which he lived almost exclusively on meat. Stimulated by this experience, Stefansson and Andersen, the latter a member of one of the expeditions, voluntarily agreed to eat nothing but meat for 1 year while they continued their usual activities in the temperate climate of New York.

Key Takeaways

After consuming an all meat diet for a long period of time, the body becomes unable to metabolize carbohydrates properly until they are reincorporated in the diet for a period of time. After two weeks of a general diet with carbohydrates, there will be no abnormalities in carbohydrate metabolism. This is physiologic insulin resistance, and insulin sensitivity will recover with the addition of carbohydrates to the diet.

You Will Fail A Glucose Tolerance Test On A Carnivore Diet. Don't Be Worried Though

The Effects on Human Beings of a Twelve Months’ Exclusive Meat Diet

December 6, 2018 No Comments

URL: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/267994

Journal: Journal of the American Medical Association

Publication Date: 07/1929

Summary: Results of intensive clinical and laboratory studies on two explorers who consumed an all meat diet for one year.

Key Takeaways

Two arctic explorers consumed an all meat diet for 1 year and experienced positive health benefits. Eskimos also consume an all meat high fat diet and do not have modern chronic diseases.

What Can We Learn From The Eskimos and Explorers Who Eat All Meat?

Prolonged Meat Diets with a Study of Kidney Function and Ketosis

December 6, 2018 No Comments

URL: http://www.jbc.org/content/87/3/651.full.pdf

Journal: Journal of Biological Chemistry

Publication Date: 02/1930

Summary: This publication reviews the metabolic effects of consuming a diet of only meat for 1 year.  Dr. Vilhjalmur Stefansson spent over 11 years in arctic exploration, during 9 years of which he lived almost exclusively on meat. Stimulated by this experience, Stefansson and Andersen, the latter a member of one of the expeditions, voluntarily agreed to eat nothing but meat for 1 year while they continued their usual activities in the temperate climate of New York.

Key Takeaways 

Two men ate an all meat diet for 1 year. They had no adverse health effects. They lost weight. One had decreased blood pressure and the other's remained constant. Their urine was more acidic due to excretion of acetone produced from ketosis, and there was no negative effects in the kidneys.

Two Men Did A Carnivore Diet In 1930, What Happened?

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