[764] in Vegetarian_Support_Group
fascinating vegan health study (long!)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Matthew Krom)
Tue Jan 30 13:37:42 1996
To: vsg@MIT.EDU
From: krom@media.mit.edu (Matthew Krom)
Date: Tue, 30 Jan 96 13:36:50 -0500
I received this from the "Vegan Action" mailing list... especially
interesting to me is the research goal to determine "from what do vegans die?"
! Matt
(p.s. Michael Klaper is one of the physicians who appeared in the "Diet for a
New America" video)
------- Forwarded Message
Date: Mon, 29 Jan 96 22:06:20 -0800
From: Leor Jacobi <leor@mellers1.psych.berkeley.edu>
To: List <vn@mellers1.psych.berkeley.edu>
Subject: Vegan health Study (fwd)
Subject: Dr.Klaper/Vegan Health Study
Institute of Nutrition Education and Research
1601 North Sepulveda Boulevard
Manhattan Beach, California 90266-5133
Phone/Fax: (310) 374-3733
Michael A. Klaper, M. D.
Director
All is going well with me and, for a change, I am very busy.
I am starting to write a book (or two) on nutrition and healing,
one for physicians, working title, Everything You Wish You Learned
About Nutrition in Medical School, and then, most likely, will
present that same informatio ic form, entitled, Everything
You Wish Your Doctor Knew About Nutrition.
I am now the host of two radio programs entitled "Sounds of
Healing," both broadcast live on Mondays. The one-hour afternoon
show is heard in the Washington, D.C. area by 200,000 listeners,
and includes phone interviews, health experts, as well as call-ins
from my very responsive listening audience. My evening program, for
30 minutes (soon to expand to one hour), is heard by 8 million
listeners, coast to coast, on Cable Radio Network (a radio station
heard over a cable TV channel, usually with graphics or notices on
the television screen, or the cable guide channel). It airs at
4:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time; 7:30 Eastern Standard Time. I am
really enjoying being a radio host, and many good connections are
coming from these programs.
You'll be interested to know that our non-profit Institute of
Nutrition Education and Research has just been granted some "seed
funding" for the "VEGAN HEALTH STUDY," whose goal is to
characterize, to the greatest extent possible, the unique
biochemistry and physiology produced by pure vegetarian diets,
investigate the suitability of such diets for the general
population, and to answer some basic questions, possibly including
- - but not limited to - the following:
1. As people change their diets from animal-based to plant-based,
precisely what changes occur in the blood, fat, nervous
system, and other tissues, especially re: free radical loads,
inflammatory states, vascular flow, hormone levels, immune status,
etc.?
2. What are normal "vegan" serum levels for Vitamin B-12,
holotranscobalamin II, ferritin, immune globulins, hormones, etc.?
3. How does the gastrointestinal system of the newly vegan
adult, after years on a high-fat, low fibre, North American-style
diet, accommodate to the task of extracting its nutrients
exclusively from low-fat, high-fibre, plant-based foods?
4. Do deficiencies of any nutrients develop after many years
on a vegan diet?
5. What are causes of morbidity and mortality among vegans?
(From what do old vegans die? Or young vegans, for that matter...)
6. In view of their lower protein intake, what are advisable
levels of daily calcium ingestion for vegans? Similarly, what are
optimal intakes for Vitamin B-12, zinc, essential fats, etc.?
7. Does a high-carbohydrate, grain-and-potato-based, vegan
diet engender chronically high insulin levels - with resulting
adverse effects upon blood vessels, pancreas (pancreatic
hypertrophy), fat stores, etc.?
8. We have all seen vegan people who do not look well -
underweight, sallow complexion, low energy levels, etc. - despite
an apparently healthy diet and lifestyle. What is the reality of
their situation? Is their vegan diet failing to supply required
nutrients, or do they have a problem in absorption? Perhaps we are
observing an immune-mediated reaction to a particular dietary
component... Or perhaps there is another mechanism altogether,
creating the appearance of an inadequacy in the vegan diet, when
the actual culprit might be a relative dysfunction of digestive
secretions, intestinal brush border enzymes, intestinal mucous
viscosity, liver enzyme induction, etc.? There may be as yet
unknown factors and processes at work, producing synergistic
effects. I believe these "failure to thrive" vegan people represent
a very important subgroup and deserve to be carefully studied.
9. The people who "used to be" vegetarian, but who say they
"feel better when they add some animal protein back into their
diet," are also an important subgroup. Are these people a distinct
metabolic category of humans - Homo sapiens who are metabolic,
obligate carnivores? If so, what characterizes them biochemically
and physiologically? What is the animal-based nutrient that
improves their feelings of well being? Could a functional
equivalent to "animal-nutrient X" be supplied through plant-derived
food sources?
10. Do vegan people who live in cold climates, or who are
engaged in strenuous physical activity, differ in nutritional
requirements - and actual food intake - than vegan people in warmer
latitudes or those who live less physically demanding lives?
11. Is the physiology of vegan strength and/or endurance
athletes different from their omnivorous teammates? If so, how?
12. Most people who follow a low-fat, vegan diet eventually
develop a lean body configuration - yet, not everyone does. I know
several adults who have been vegan for over ten years, and yet who
carry excess body fat despite their low-fat, whole foods, vegan
diet. Assuming no violation of the second law of thermodynamics,
what explains this phenomenon? What does it tell us about the
metabolism of these vegan people and of their food choices?
STUDY DESIGN
Phase 1 - Preliminary Preparation
a) An extensive review of the literature, covering all
previous studies involving vegan nutrition, will be conducted.
b) A 4 to 6-page, detailed questionnaire, covering individual
health history, nutritional history including current food
choices, experiences (positive and negative) before and since
becoming vegan, etc., will be prepared.
c) Arrangements will be made with appropriate facilities for
laboratory testing, data collection, etc. (See Phases 4 and 5
following.)
Phase 2 - Recruitment of Subjects
At the beginning of the Study, announcements requesting
participation of vegans, ex-vegans, and people in transition toward
a vegan diet, will be placed in publications such as "Vegetarian
Times," "Ahimsa," (American Vegan Society), "Vegetarian Voice"
(North American Vegetarian Society), and "Vegetarian Journal"
(Vegetarian Resource Group), etc. Notices will also be placed in
newsletters of local and international vegan, vegetarian, and
environmental organizations, as well as Jain, Hindu, and other
vegan-friendly religions. Notification will also be posted on the
numerous vegan computer "bulletin boards" and "web sites" on the
Internet.
If we "light up" the vegan network by announcing the "Vegan
Health Study," I feel many people will want to take part. We could
increase participation by offering a "premium" (for no extra cost)
- - a free copy to each participant of their own laboratory results.
I'm sure many people would be willing to donate a little blood,
saliva, or other bodily fluid, in return for accurate
determinations of their levels of Vitamin B-12, cholesterol,
hemoglobin, thyroxin, etc.
Phase 3 - Questionnaire
The questionnaire will be mailed to those who respond to the
printed notices.
Phase 4 - Laboratory Determinations
I am consulting with other clinicians and researchers,
including Martin Lee, Ph.D., Director of Great Smokies Diagnostic
Laboratories, Asheville, NC, nutritional biochemist, T. Colin
Campbell, Cornell University, internist, Leo Galland, M.D., and
others. With the advice of these experts and others, we will
determine the "leanest" battery of laboratory tests on blood, and
(possibly) urine, saliva, and/or stool, that would permit the most
accurate characterization of vegan biochemistry and physiology for
the minimum of inconvenience and expense.
Participants would be sent a package containing specimen
containers and instructions for collecting urine, stool, and/or
saliva specimens. Vacu-tainer tube(s) would be included with a
slip requesting venipuncture service at a local laboratory, along
with a mailer to return the tube(s) to the Study's processing lab.
(Arrangements will be made to reimburse the local laboratory for
the phlebotomy.)
If resources permit, some volunteer subjects could be studied
further - e.g., endoscopies for analysis of digestive secretions
and tissue sampling of GI tract mucosa, absorption studies, PET
scans, etc., in order to elucidate particular aspects of vegan
physiology in greater detail.
Phase 5 - Data Collection and Analysis
The collected data would be analyzed and prepared for journal
publication through the Vegan Health Study division of the
Institute of Nutrition Education and Research, possibly in
conjunction with an established university department of nutrition,
physiology, epidemiology, public health, etc.
* * * * * *
The Study has been funded at an initial level of $30,000 per
year for the first two years, with further funding anticipated from
several other sources. I view it as a major opportunity to learn
more about optimizing plant-based diets - knowledge of potentially
great value as we enter the twenty-first century, with an exploding
human population and diminishing resources.
Of course, I will greatly value your ideas and suggestions
about basic mechanisms at work in the questions the Study will
consider, as well as ways we could make the Study more accurate and
clinically relevant. In the future, as the Study progresses, we
will be interested in recruiting subjects. At that time, if there
are people with whom you are acquainted who may be appropriate for
the Study - "established" vegans, "new" vegans, "failed" vegans,
etc. - and who you think may enjoy participating, we will be most
grateful if you would consider making their names available (with
their permission) to our Institute.
Since laboratory costs will devour most of our initial
funding, and because we would like the Study to extend beyond two
years, if you know of anyone who might be interested in providing
a tax-deductible donation to support this research project in
vegetarian nutrition, I would be deeply appreciative if you put us
in contact. If you have any questions regarding the Vegan Health
Study, for the next several months you can reach me more directly
at:
E-mail: mklaper@igc.apc.org
I look forward to your thoughts about all of the above, and
send you my best wishes for a New Year filled with health,
happiness, prosperity, and peace.
Love,
Dr. K.
- --
| / | /
|/ |/ Greg Christopher
| |
| | stork@best.com
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