Snippets from the International Press

Vegan Diet OK, But Nutrients Needed

It is possible to feed an infant a vegan diet and provide the proper nutrients, experts said, as long as the diet includes breast milk or soy-based formula.

Dr. David Horwitz, clinical associate professor of pediatrics at New York University in Manhattan, said infants need a diet that contains proper amounts of protein, carbohydrates and fat to ensure healthy body and brain development. Breast milk is the most complete source in the early months, he said.

“Babies are mammals, and the natural suckling or dependency of the human race on human milk is about one year, give or take a few months,” Horwitz said.

An infant who does not get either breast milk or an infant formula that has been designed to match the nutritional components of breast milk - such as a soy-based formula - runs the risk of malnutrition, he said.

“Babies’ nutritional needs are very specific,” he said.

But studies have shown breast feeding is in fact more common among mothers who are vegan - those who do not eat any source of animal protein, including meat, dairy or eggs, said Virginia Messina, an adjunct professor and expert in vegetarian nutrition at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, Calif. “There’s probably more of a focus on doing what is natural,” she said.

If an infant in a vegan family is not getting breast milk in the first 12 months, he or she should go on a soybased infant formula, Messina said. After the first birthday, she recommends that an infant stay on a fortified soy-based milk, which is a good source of protein, calcium and vitamin D.

Wahida Karmally, director of the Irving Center for Clinical Nutrition at Columbia University, said parents raising a child on a vegan diet need to be careful to make sure there’s enough zinc, vitamin B12 and iron, and she recommends that parents “seek professional help, unless they have extensive [nutritional] knowledge and education.”

Messina agreed, although she said she was wary of creating the impression that a vegan diet “is difficult. I don’t think it’s that hard. It’s just different.”

It is easier in a vegetarian diet, which is less strict than a vegan diet and can include dairy products and eggs, to get sources of protein, fat and other nutrients. But Messina said a child in a vegan family can be introduced to a host of healthy foods, such as mashed cooked beans, tofu and grains. She also recommends that vegan parents not restrict fats. “Plant fats [such as nuts] are good for you,” she said. And if a child is a picky eater or is not getting some nutrients, such as vitamin D, calcium, vitamin B12 , iron or zinc, she recommends a supplement.

(Newsday, Inc. April 30, 2002)

Cooking Hikes Beneficial Phytochemicals In Tomatoes

Cooking tomatoes — such as in spaghetti sauce — makes the fruit heart-healthier and boosts its cancerfighting ability. All this, despite a loss of vitamin C during the cooking process, say Cornell food scientists. The reason: cooking substantially raises the levels of beneficial compounds called phytochemicals. Writing in the latest issue of the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry (April 17), Rui Hai Liu, M.D., Cornell assistant professor of food science, notes, “This research demonstrates that heat processing actually enhanced the nutritional value of tomatoes by increasing the lycopene content — a phytochemical that makes tomatoes red — that can be absorbed by the body, as well as the total antioxidant activity. The research dispels the popular notion that processed fruits and vegetables have lower nutritional value than fresh produce.”

Tomato samples were heated to 88 degrees Celsius (190.4 degrees Fahrenheit) for two minutes, a quarterhour and a half-hour. Consistent with previous studies, vitamin C content decreased by 10, 15 and 29 percent, respectively, when compared to raw, uncooked tomatoes. However, the research revealed that the beneficial trans-lycopene content of the cooked tomatoes increased by 54, 171 and 164 percent, respectively.

Levels of cis-lycopene (which the body easily absorbs) rose by 6, 17 and 35 percent, respectively; and antioxidant levels in the heated tomatoes increased by 28, 34 and 62 percent, respectively. Antioxidants protect the human body from cell and tissue damage, which occurs when harmful molecules called free radicals, released as oxygen, are metabolized by the body.

Lycopene, a carotenoid responsible for the red color in tomatoes and other fruits, has long been known as a powerful antioxidant that decreases cancer and heart-disease risk. Carotenoids, along with phenolic acids and flavonoids, are all phytochemicals, the nutritionally beneficial active compounds found in every fruit and vegetable.

While the antioxidant activity in tomatoes is enhanced during the cooking process, vitamin C loss occurs when the food’s ascorbic acid is oxidized to dehydroascorbic acid and other forms of nutritionally inactive components.

“Ultimately, this could increase consumers’ intake of fruits and vegetables and could possibly reduce a person’s risk of chronic disease.” Liu’s co-authors on the research paper, “Thermal Processing Enhances the Nutritional Value of Tomatoes by Increasing Total Antioxidant Activity,” are Cornell graduate students Veronica Dewanto and Kafui K. Adom, and a visiting fellow in Liu’s laboratory, Xianzhong Wu. The research was funded with Hatch funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service.

(UniSci Daily 23-Apr-2002)

US: Mad Deer

Wisconsin: No way to guarantee state deer safe to consume

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin cannot guarantee hunters it is safe to eat the deer they kill this year because of the presence of chronic wasting disease in the state’s herd, the secretary of the Department of Natural Resources said. But Darrell Bazzell also stressed there is no scientific study that has shown the fatal brain disease poses any threat to humans, and the only deer that have tested positive have been concentrated near Mount Horeb in southwestern Wisconsin.

In an interview Monday with The Associated Press, Bazzell said the state will do what it can to inform hunters about the disease and the risks it may pose and let them make the decision whether to consume the venison they harvest. “Clearly, hunters will have to make some tough choices this fall,” Bazzell said. “We cannot guarantee 100 percent a clean bill of health.”

The DNR and other agencies have requested $4 million in state funds to combat chronic wasting disease, while Gov. Scott McCallum has asked the federal government for $15 million to aid the effort. Bazzell said even if the money is approved, there will be limited opportunities for hunters to have the deer they kill tested for the disease. No lab in Wisconsin currently is equipped to test for chronic wasting disease, and a portion of the requested money would be used to establish such a lab at the University of Wisconsin.

Last year, more than 291,000 deer were killed during the fall hunt. That was significantly less than the record of 433,511 killed in 2000. Wisconsin wildlife officials want 10,000 to 15,000 deer killed in the fall hunt tested for the disease, leaving “very limited opportunity” for hunters to have the deer they harvest tested, Bazzell said. Those opportunities could be determined by the number of private labs in operation by fall. The state has received contacts from several private labs interested in beginning the work, but Bazzell said it was too soon to identify them or determine when they could begin operation.

State scientists still are trying to determine how best to focus its testing, but it likely will be concentrated in the area where deer tested positive, Bazzell said. “We’ll probably not be able to meet the demand that’s going to be there,” he said.

The DNR announced Feb. 28 that three bucks shot by hunters last November near Mount Horeb tested positive for the disease, also referred to as mad deer disease. In March and April, landowners and DNR sharpshooters killed 516 deer in Dane and Iowa counties in an unprecedented hunt. Tests showed 11 of those deer had the disease, which causes them to grow thin, act abnormally and die. Michigan officials said last week that the state will prohibit imports of deer and elk for one year because of chronic wasting disease. And in March, the Michigan Department of Agriculture banned shipments of the animals from Wisconsin. The latest order extends the ban to cover all imports. Michigan has about 900 deer and elk farming operations, which receive imported animals.

Experts believe the disease is spread by animal-to-animal contact. Bazzell said the state also hoped to complete within the next few weeks a brochure it will distribute to hunters and deer processors with directions on handling deer carcasses to ensure against spread of the disease. The DNR has created a link to its Web site that is updated daily with new information, Bazzell said.

(Associated Press, 30 April 2002)