Diet and Disease

Vitamin D Hypothesis – A Role in COVID-19 Mortality Rates?

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Vitamin D Levels Appear to Play Role in COVID-19 Mortality Rates

By analyzing publicly available patient data from around the globe, Backman and his team discovered a strong correlation between vitamin D levels and cytokine storm — a hyperinflammatory condition caused by an overactive immune system — as well as a correlation between vitamin D deficiency and mortality.

The research is available on medRxiv, a preprint server for health sciences.

The role of vitamin D in the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 infection and mortality

In conclusion, we found significant crude relationships between vitamin D levels and the number COVID-19 cases and especially the mortality caused by this infection. The most vulnerable group of population for COVID-19, the aging population, is also the one that has the most deficit Vitamin D levels.

Vitamin D has already been shown to protect against acute respiratory infections and it was shown to be safe. It should be advisable to perform dedicated studies about vitamin D levels in COVID-19 patients with different degrees of disease severity.

Many years ago I approached my former personal care physician and asked to have my Vitamin D level checked.

“What the hell for?”

“I would like to know my Vitamin D blood level to see if I need to take a supplement.”

“Just get outside in the sun for around 20 minutes a day.”

“Just order the test.”

And he did.  Less than a week later Doc called me back to let me know I had Vitamin D deficiency.  I’ve been taking a daily supplement since.

Vitamin D deficiency is now recognized as a pandemic. The major cause of vitamin D deficiency is the lack of appreciation that sun exposure in moderation is the major source of vitamin D for most humans. Very few foods naturally contain vitamin D, and foods that are fortified with vitamin D are often inadequate to satisfy either a child’s or an adult’s vitamin D requirement. Vitamin D deficiency causes rickets in children and will precipitate and exacerbate osteopenia, osteoporosis, and fractures in adults. Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with increased risk of common cancers, autoimmune diseases, hypertension, and infectious diseases. A circulating level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D of >75 nmol/L, or 30 ng/mL, is required to maximize vitamin D’s beneficial effects for health. In the absence of adequate sun exposure, at least 800–1000 IU vitamin D3/d may be needed to achieve this in children and adults. Vitamin D2 may be equally effective for maintaining circulating concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D when given in physiologic concentrations.

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 87, Issue 4, April 2008, Pages 1080S–1086S, https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/87.4.1080S
Published: 01 April 2008

An interesting hypothesis that needs more research.

Update 05.16.20

Journal Reference:

  1. E. Laird, J. Rhodes, R.A. Kenny. Vitamin D and Inflammation: Potential Implications for Severity of Covid-19. Irish Medical Journal, 2020; 113 (5): P81 [link]

Journal Reference:

  1. Petre Cristian Ilie, Simina Stefanescu, Lee Smith. The role of vitamin D in the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 infection and mortality. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research, 2020; DOI: 10.1007/s40520-020-01570-8

 

 

Meat Intake and Colorectal Polyps

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Meat Intake and Colorectal Polyps

Research professor of medicine Martha Shrubsole, Ph.D., and colleagues at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have published the first study to evaluate intakes of meat, cooking methods and meat mutagens and risk of developing sessile serrated polyps (SSPs, also called sessile serrated lesions). Shrubsole previously reported that consuming high levels of red meat increased the risk of developing all types of polyps, but that the likelihood of developing SSPs was two times greater than the risk of developing adenomas and hyperplastic polyps (HP).

Conventional colorectal adenomas are the precursor lesions for most colorectal cancers. SSPs, however, represent an alternative pathway to carcinogenesis that may account for up to 35 percent of colorectal cancers. Because a diagnostic consensus for SSPs was not reached until 2010, few epidemiologic studies have evaluated risk factors.

 

Visceral fat delivers signal to the brain that hurts cognition

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“We have identified a specific signal that is generated in visceral fat, released into the blood that gets through the blood brain barrier and into the brain where it activates microglia and impairs cognition.”

Visceral fat delivers signal to the brain that hurts cognition

Quote and article link presented without the usual sarcasm.

Molecule found in oranges could reduce obesity and prevent heart disease and diabetes

In mice, so don’t start gorging on oranges.

Sorry, sarcasm restriction didn’t last long.

Early studies on the diet suggested red wine was a major contributor to the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet because it contains a compound called resveratrol, which activated a certain pathway in cells known to increase lifespan and prevent aging-related diseases. However, work in Mashek’s lab suggests that it is the fat in olive oil, another component of the Mediterranean diet, that is actually activating this pathway.

Olive oil in the diet may also help mitigate aging-related diseases

 

Taco Bell is launching an all-vegetarian menu feature with 50 meat-free items

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Taco Bell is launching an all-vegetarian menu feature with 50 meat-free items

I’ve been following the Vegan Tsunami for some time now.  See here, here, and here, 2018-The year vegan junk food went mainstream.

A few things to remember:

  • The media is extremely loud on this subject and the percentage of vegetarians in the United States is approximately 5% or less.
  • Fast food is still fast food, meat or no meat.
  • My post is not an endorsement.

I haven’t eaten at a Taco Hell in years.  And the availability of 50 meat free items is not going to entice me to start eating there again.  If you’re eating less meat for health reasons that’s fine.  But don’t pursue your meat-free lifestyle with fast food.

 

 

Alcohol consumption in later life and reaching longevity: the Netherlands Cohort Study

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Key points

  • The highest probability of reaching 90 years of age (longevity) was found for men and women drinking 5– < 15 g alcohol/day (or 0.5–1.5 glass/day); the exposure–response relationship was significantly non-linear in women.
  • Usual drinking pattern and binge drinking were not significantly associated with longevity, but the risk estimates indicate to avoid binge drinking.
  • The estimated modest risk ratios (RRs) should not be used as motivation to start drinking if one does not drink alcoholic beverages.
Results

 

We found statistically significant positive associations between baseline alcohol intake and the probability of reaching 90 years in both men and women. Overall, the highest probability of reaching 90 was found in those consuming 5– < 15 g/d alcohol, with RR = 1.36 (95% CI, 1.20–1.55) when compared with abstainers. The exposure-response relationship was significantly non-linear in women, but not in men. Wine intake was positively associated with longevity (notably in women), whereas liquor was positively associated with longevity in men and inversely in women. Binge drinking pointed towards an inverse relationship with longevity. Alcohol intake was associated with longevity in those without and with a history of selected diseases.

 

Alcohol consumption in later life and reaching longevity: the Netherlands Cohort Study

Hormesis?

High-protein diets boost artery-clogging plaque

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High-protein diets boost artery-clogging plaque, mouse study shows

In mice.

The mice on the high-fat, high-protein diet developed worse atherosclerosis — about 30% more plaque in the arteries — than mice on the high-fat, normal-protein diet, despite the fact that the mice eating more protein did not gain weight, unlike the mice on the high-fat, normal-protein diet.

“This study is not the first to show a telltale increase in plaque with high-protein diets, but it offers a deeper understanding of the impact of high protein with the detailed analysis of the plaques,” Razani said. “In other words, our study shows how and why dietary protein leads to the development of unstable plaques.”

Pass (on) the Chips

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Eating Ultraprocessed Foods Tied to Diabetes Risk

Higher intake of ultraprocessed foods (for example, packaged snack foods) is associated with increased risk for type 2 diabetes, according to a prospective study in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Over 100,000 French adults completed a series of 24-hour dietary recall questionnaires over a 2-year period. During a median follow-up of 6 years, roughly 820 participants were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

After adjustment for body-mass index, physical activity, and other confounders, participants who ate more ultraprocessed foods were at higher risk for diabetes. In particular, the risk increased by 13% with each 10% increase in the proportion of diet comprising ultraprocessed foods.

The authors note that in previous studies, ultraprocessed foods have been linked to increased risks for cancer, cardiovascular disease, and mortality.

JAMA Internal Medicine article (Free abstract)

Background: Physician’s First Watch coverage of ultraprocessed foods & mortality (Free)

NEJM Journal Watch is produced by NEJM Group, a division of the Massachusetts Medical Society. Copyright © 2019 Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.

Junk food = bad.

Fake Burgers = also bad.

The GMO Problem in Fake Burgers

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For starters if you need a primer on fake burgers read the following Epicurious article:

Everything You’ve Ever Wondered About Meatless Meat, Explained

And for the GMO angle read the article below:

Earth Watch: It’s Not the Cow, It’s the “How”

While at the grocery store I saw these in the refrigerated section next to the beef.

VegNews.SmithfieldVeganMeatLine

Photo: courtesy of VegNews.

Earlier this year a veggie magazine got pretty pumped about this meat free burger (see link below).

World’s Largest Pork Producer Launches Plant-Based Breakfast Patties, Burgers, and Meatballs

But with nary a word on the downsides.

Of course I picked up the package despite the pricey price tag of $6.99 for two patties.  The list of ingredients was too long to read.  My mind immediately said “highly processed” and I skipped the list.  Instead my eyes saw the deeply discounted price of $0.99.  Ninety nine cents.  Less than a buck.  I didn’t buy any.  No one else in the store seemed to be buying any either.

An earlier post of mine focused on meat alternatives in fast foods.  My conclusion was and is fast food is fast food whether prepared with meat or with a meat alternative.

For the moment this is still a free country (I live in the US).  I am not going to tell anyone what to buy or what to eat.  I’ve eaten both of the leading brands of bleeding plant based meatless burgers.  Both tasted fine but after digging in a little deeper I won’t be buying or eating any more of these plant based bleeders from any major corporation.

It’s better to make your own veggie burgers.