Tag: grains

• Zinc, Selenium and the Immune System

  Zinc and selenium are important micronutrients required for the immune system to function effectively along with vitamins A, C, E, B6, B12, C, D, E and folic acid and the trace elements iron and copper.

  Both insufficient and excessive intakes of zinc and selenium can have negative consequences on the immune status.

  For the majority of people, low selenium intake is not a major issue. Whole-grains provide provide a more than adequate supply for vegans.

  A serum selenium test shows a short-term status of selenium whilst red blood cell selenium reflects a long-term status.

  Before consuming large amounts of selenium in foods or supplements, it is important to know the true status of your selenium.

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  6 August 2021

• Harvard Researchers Paid to Support Sugar

  A recent story that has been appearing on the internet is that Harvard Researchers Paid to Support Sugar and this is the reason why sugar and carbohydrates have been exonerated in their role of causing heart disease. Fats and saturated fats have unfairly blamed for the obesity and heart disease epidemic.

  The article states that, "Early warning signals of the coronary heart disease (CHD) risk of sugar (sucrose) emerged in the 1950s."

  "By the 1960s, 2 prominent physiologists were championing divergent causal hypotheses of CHD: John Yudkin identified added sugars as the primary agent, while Ancel Keys identified total fat, saturated fat, and dietary cholesterol. However, by the 1980s, few scientists believed that added sugars played a significant role in CHD, and the first 1980 Dietary Guidelines for Americans [4] focused on reducing total fat, saturated fat, and dietary cholesterol for CHD prevention."

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  6 March 2020

• Rural Indian Regional Diets

  Despite India's reputation for a healthy, vegetarian cuisine, it is not justified. Only 1.6% of Indians are vegan, 24% are lacto-vegetarian. 3% add eggs to their lacto-vegetarian diet which leaves 72% consuming meat.

  The Indian population has the highest prevalence of diabetes worldwide and exhibits high-risk metabolic profiles at younger ages and lower body mass index than their Western counterparts. There are significant regional variations to this observation.

  The reasons why Asian populations exhibit diabetes at a lower threshold than western populations are not known.

  According to WHO mortality statistics, India is ranked 17 for Low Birth Rate, 37 for Diarrhoeal Diseases, 40 for Tuberculosis, 60 for Malnutrition and 62 for Influenza & Pneumonia out of 183 countries.

  Given the current increase in consumption of meat and oils and a decrease in grains, the prevalence of obesity and diabetes is likely to continue.

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  29 February 2020

• Impact of Gluten-free Diets

  There is a substantial difference between a standard western diet and a gluten-free diet. If a gluten-free diet is no warranted, a gluten-free diet may have unintended health consequences that are not beneficial as well as creating an additional inconvenience.

  Consumption of complex carbohydrates (polysaccharides) and dietary fibre can be significantly less.

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  1 January 2020

• Wheat and Inflammation

  William Davis is largely responsible for the low-wheat, low-gluten diets with the publication of his book Wheat Belly. In this book he states that we live in a ‘whole grain world’ and that wheat is responsible for the majority of our modern illnesses including wheat.

  Find out what the role of wheat is in inflammation.

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  26 December 2019

• Are Healthy Diets More Harmful to the Environment

  On December 14, 2015 an article titled Vegetarian and “Healthy” Diets Could Be More Harmful to the Environment was published on the Carnegie Mellon University website.

  The article quotes Paul Fischbeck, a professor of social and decisions sciences and engineering and public policy at the institute.

  He was a co-author of a paper Energy use, blue water footprint, and greenhouse gas emissions for current food consumption patterns and dietary recommendations in the US.

  Professor Fischbeck is quoted in the website article, stating:

  “Eating lettuce is over three times worse in greenhouse gas emissions than eating bacon. Lots of common vegetables require more resources per calorie than you would think. Eggplant, celery and cucumbers look particularly bad when compared to pork or chicken.”

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  15 September 2019

• 2040 Documentary

  2040 is a documentary by Damon Gameau that targets a young audience to convince them that they can make a difference to planet Earth’s well-being using technology that we all ready have at our disposal.

  The key areas addressed in the documentary are transport, electricity production, agriculture, marine permaculture (kelp farming) and education.

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  14 September 2019

• When Vegan Diets Do Not Work

  It is not uncommon for people to claim that they have tried a vegan diet and it simply did not work for them. Not all vegan diets are healthy.

  Much publicity is given to the longevity of the people of Japan and Okinawa (an archipelago that stretches from southern Japan to Taiwan). However, the population with the longest lifespan and the highest levels of health on the planet is the vegan Californian Seventh-day Adventists.

  People are not predisposed to vegan diets or otherwise. When it comes to nutrition, we are pretty much the same – allergies being one significant difference.

  Below are components of a healthy whole-food, plant-based diet. Many people on a unhealthy vegan diet are missing a number of important components of an optimal diet.

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  27 April 2019

• How do Your Genes Affect Obesity and Diabetes

  The purpose of the DIETFITS Trial was "to determine the effect of a healthy low-fat (HLF) diet vs a healthy low-carbohydrate (HLC) diet on weight change and if genotype pattern or insulin secretion are related to the dietary effects on weight loss".

  It a popular area of research to determine if there are genetic causes of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, autoimmune disease, depression and any other illness or condition that is plaguing our society.

  This area of research ignores the fact that often our genetics does not determine health outcomes.  Ignoring this will not solve the problems of our society's rapidly failing health.

  The conclusions of this paper are:

  In the 12-month study, there was NO significant difference in weight change between a healthy low-fat diet compared with a healthy low-carbohydrate diet.

  Neither of the 2 hypothesized predisposing factors [genotypes] was helpful in identifying which diet was better for whom.

  Frequently the problem is not that complicated.

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  7 November 2018

• Production and Consumption of Grains in Australia

  A comprehensive report of the production and end use of grains in Australia is produced annually for the Feed Grain Partnership that represents stock feed producers and consumers.

  Below are some details regarding production and the use of Australian grains.

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  29 January 2018