This is incredible news. I wonder how much they’ll rob people for it:
As I recall, the whole dietary cholesterol-restriction thing was completely discredited some 15 or so years ago. So that was a long time for people to be derived of a cheap, healthy source of protein. Why does it take doctors so damned long to come around to the research?
Dietary cholesterol, one of the most closely monitored and regulated ingredients on American plates because of its believed link to heart disease, is making a comeback. When the federal government updates the guidelines of what we should be eating every day for good health — if it takes the advice of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee— cholesterol will no longer be listed as a “nutrient of concern.”
That means adults will no longer be advised to limit cholesterol in the diet to 300 milligrams a day because it is not associated with increased risk of heart disease.
The federal government’s new guidelines, which are expected in the next few weeks, don’t mean we can eat unlimited amounts of liver, shrimp or other cholesterol-rich foods. Moderation is still encouraged, but it does mean you can enjoy whole eggs in an omelet, instead of only egg whites.
The advice on dietary cholesterol is one of the most anticipated, surprising changes in the U.S. nutrition guidelines. Every 5 years a massive effort is made by the federal government to update recommendations for what makes up a nutritious and healthful diet.
Developing the guidelines is a daunting task which starts with expert scientific panels convening in small subcommittees to discuss the newest research in a particular area. They provide recommendations to the DGAC committee; the committee’s job is submit a report on the best scientific information available, and any changes reflected in the new science.
It’s quite a turnaround on cholesterol advice, but after reviewing new scientific papers, the DGAC committee, the major advisory panel to the U.S. government, did not find a health reason to restrict or limit intake to 300 mg a day for most people (a large egg has about 200 mg, all in the yolk).
So I’ve been writing down everything I eat for the past month (Excel spreadsheets are so useful!), trying to figure out the specific source of my unpleasant gastrointestinal woes. I was supposed to see this holistic specialist who puts everyone on a total elimination diet (my friend Maya was on the verge of throwing herself off a cliff when she did it), but of course the appointment I made four months in advance was on the day of the alleged blizzard last week and now I’m on the waiting list for cancelled appointments. Oh joy.
So I went to see my primary care doctor instead. Right away, he said, “Sounds like food sensitivities.” (Which was reassuring, because I can’t tell the difference between that and diverticulitis anymore.) I told him about the specialist, and how she puts everyone on a two-month diet of “nos”: No caffeine, sugar, gluten or dairy.
“I understand why she does that, but it’s a little extreme for most people to stick to,” he said. “I don’t think you have the attention span for that. Why don’t we do this instead? Cut out dairy for two weeks, and then we’ll cut gluten the two weeks after that. Those are the most common causes, and we’ll have some idea of what we’re dealing with.”
This seems a lot more doable, and I was pretty relieved he didn’t tell me to go off caffeine. If I don’t have my one cup of weak tea in the morning, I start falling asleep by 10:30 or so. Weird, right?
Caffeine is my secret weapon; I always keep a couple of midget cans of Coke or Pepsi around for emergency migraine repair. As soon as I start seeing migraine auras, I slam the cola and lie down with my eyes closed until it passes. Also good when I have really bad sinus headaches — I put the cold cans on my sinuses before I drink them.
Dairy does seem to be a major problem. Last week, I ran out of olive oil and had to cook my eggs with butter — not good. I’ve started using non-dairy creamer in my tea, which is awful, but at this point, the illusion of cream is enough. But dairy is in so many things, it makes me dizzy thinking about it.
I’ve finally admitted I can’t eat Chinese food, either. I don’t know if it’s the MSG or what, but it causes a general inflammation response — my knees hurt so bad, I could hardly walk upright for the past two days, and my hands and back really hurt. I’m much better today.
Next I’ll test Vietnamese food, maybe I’ll get lucky. I hope so.
And then, the gluten. That one will be hard; I love bread. And cookies, and cake. I went to this gluten-free bakery in the Italian market that everyone raves about, but the bread tasted like sawdust. It’s easier to do gluten-free goodies because you can load them up with sugar. That sort of defeats the purpose, though.
We already have a pretty strong established link between car exhaust during pregnancy and autism. It’s a serious risk factor:
For the new study, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, researchers in California analyzed some 500 children living in that state: roughly half had autism and half did not. The kids’ mothers gave an address for each and every home in which they had lived during pregnancy and the child’s first year of life. Researchers took that information — along with data on traffic volume, vehicle emissions, wind patterns, and regional estimates of pollutants like particulate matter, nitrogen oxide, and ozone — to estimate each child’s likely pollution exposure. According to the study, children in the top 25% of pollution exposure (using one of two different pollution scales) were far more likely to be diagnosed with autism than kids in the bottom 25% of the pollution scale.
The researchers stress, however, that their study does not definitively prove that pollution is the root cause of autism.
“We’re not saying that air pollution causes autism. We’re saying it may be a risk factor for autism,” says Heather Volk, lead author on the new study and an assistant professor of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California. “Autism is a complex disorder and it’s likely there are many factors contributing,” she says.
Continue reading “While everyone is so concerned about vaccines”
And if she was in a Catholic hospital, it could have been so much worse.
Why it works better than typing.
