Luise Kunkle wrote:
Dear Luise,
I understand the contradictions in people's opinion - but there is no
contradiction if you read the original research.... which I make it my
job to do:-)
It's the *interpretation* of the research that goes wrong, and which
leads to crazy suggestions.
For example:
In 1991 Hills research study fed cats a diet of high soy protein plus
40% fat and they found that this damaged the kidneys. If they fed less
soy protein also with 40% fat, then the kidneys were less damaged.
Those are the research facts. Those you can believe.
Dr Delmar Finco was a researcher working for Hills on the project.
The conclusions made however were what was publicized, and still tosdqy
are the source of the training of doctors and vets everywhere! The
conclusion Hills made was that "High protein diet damages kidneys".
Dr Finco did not like the *conclusions*. Nor did he like the 40% fat
aspect, and the fact that some cats gagged so much on the fat, that they
failed to eat their quota. So as an independent researcher (not working
for Hills any more) he and separate other research studies designed
better research:
They set up food using appropriate protein (chicken not soy), reasonable
fat, and ranging in protein content from 18% to 56%. Tested this on cats
with half the usual kidney (surgically removed).
The result: Cats on 56% protein did best, and those on 18% did worst.
This is what to remember - the facts of the research.
Subsequent additional research has explained the problem with soy
protein. It has a different ratio of amino acids from those the cat is
designed to eat. During digestion, left-over amino acids have to be
handled by the kidney - raising the BUN, and causing damage over time.
This too is fact and not conclusion.
However - if you go to the average doctor or vet, you will be told that
if you have damaged kidneys you should eat a low protein diet. Why?
Because Hills is a VERY powerful company and has touted their
*conclusions* from 1991 far and wide, with "free lectures on nutrition"
at the medical schools.
So what do you want to believe?
The doctors trained by Hills at the medical schools - or the actual
research results, minus any "conclusions" convenient to the researcher?
I like to make my own conclusions. The result is that when my
endocrinologist discovered I had kidney damage and told me to eat a
low-protein soy-based diet, I knew from my own reading of the reswearh
that this came straight from the Hills 1991 study. The kidneys are
damaged by soy and the more damaging soy you eat, the more the kidneys
are damaged by the soy. MY OWN conclusion putting that together with the
other subsequent research, was to eat instead a high protein diet, based
on meat, fish and egg - which I did. I worked to get grams of protein
per day to equal my weight in kilograms.
The result?
Six months later (this was in 2004) the endocrinologist did the lab
tests on my kidneys again to see how much worse they were, because -
per her studies - kidneys do not repair, and she hoped the low soy
protein diet would slow the damage.
However she found them undamaged with all results "normal" to her
great surprise.
So to go back to your concern to find "which kinds of food are healthy
and which are not" - it takes a hard good look at the actual research to
find truth where there is varied opinion, and one also finds from such
"good research" as I call it, that peple are all differnt (surprise
surprise) and that many factors need to be considered to devise the best
individual diet.
For example, blood type is a factor; *I* claim constitutional-TYPE is a
factor; anti-inflamamtory characteristics are very important; food needs
to be planned in proportion to the condition of health of the
individual, the activity levels, the environment and so on.
But overall - it is high protein of the right kind, that is healthy over
low protein.
The story that meat/protein lines the blood vessels is an erroneous
conclusion. What lines the blood vessels with arterial plaque is
glycation products plus cholesterol made from stored carbohydrate (which
is stored as "bad" fat, centrally.)
That mainly affects men. Heart attacks in women are different and are
caused not so much by blockage of a stiffened artery as by spasm of the
artery. Spasm can be triggered by a high fat meal sooner than 6 hrs
after the previous high-fat meal however.
So again - we are all different and specifics count.
NO research shows a direct correlation between cholesterol and heart
attacks....it's all supposition from statistics, and the conclusions
(often wrong as I mentioned) from the stats. There IS a direct
correlation per newer research between c-reactive-protein and heart
attack - and this is easy to get low using an anti-inflamamtory high
protein (meat,fish,egg) diet.
My advice is that in all things you need to know what the research
actually shows and not what the researchers conclude from it.
Namaste,
Irene
--
Irene de Villiers, B.Sc AASCA MCSSA D.I.Hom/D.Vet.Hom.
P.O. Box 4703 Spokane WA 99220.
www.angelfire.com/fl/furryboots/clickhere.html (Veterinary Homeopath.)
"Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt one doing it."