jmg@houxk.UUCP (10/10/83)
In response to a request from a subscriber on the net I am posting a brief general description of a macrobiotic diet. By order of percentage content a macrobiotic diet consists of: 50% or more whole grains such as wheat, rye, oats (or oatmeal), beans, peas, rice, barley, nuts, and so forth. 30% approx. vegetables 10% approx. fruit 10% approx. meat (either fish or fowl - red meat is very rarely, if ever, used. Dairy products are very rarely, if ever, used) All meats are completely out of the diet for someone who is suffering from cancer. All the food should be fresh or dried, not canned or processed in any way and must be free of any foreign matter such as preservatives. All synthetic foods are completely out. (Once while reading the label of a soft drink can I noticed that one of the principal ingredients was anti-freeze. I can't remember the chemical name right now.) The food is prepared in a variety of ways but rarely boiled, usually cooked in a pressure cooker or fried. Seasoning is used very little or not at all. This is said to make the food taste bland in the beginning, but gradually people begin to appreciate the natural flavors of foods. This is about the limit of my knowledge on the subject at the present time since I haven't had time to read in detail the books I recently acquired.
stanwyck@ihuxr.UUCP (Don Stanwyck) (10/11/83)
I am very surprised that a "Macrobiotic" diet would encourage the use of fried foods. In addition to the fats, cholesterol (sp?), and calories, it has been known since shortly after WW2 that frying mutates the fat cells (especially in animal fats, but to some degree in vegetable fats as well) and makes them into a cancer-like cell. Shortly after WW2, during which so many households saved all their bacon grease for collection and reuse, a great number of stomach cancers were noted. It was quickly discovered that (as stated above) frying caused mutation of the cells into a cancer or cancer-like cell type, apparently invoking a growth of cancerous cells in the people who digested such. I'm not a doctor, or even a medical professional. My source is primarily articles sent to me by my mother, a certified cytology supervisor. She works with a pathologist in the Sacramento, CA area doing research on and detection of cancer.
dyer@wivax.UUCP (Stephen Dyer) (10/12/83)
Frying does not "mutate fat cells." There are few, if any, intact cells in rendered animal fats--what's more, all the cells that are present are dead! Same goes for vegetable oils. Even if "fat cells" could cancerous within food, this would have no effect on the development of human cancers (though I guess its a tragedy of sorts for the food.) Fats can become rancid, especially after repeated use for frying. Oxygen combines with the unsaturated fatty acids, forming peroxides and epoxides, compounds with known mutagenic potential. I was not aware of any epidemiological studies on this subject, but common sense tells you that rancid fats aren't particularly desirable. It's often recommended to squeeze a capsule of Vitamin E into oils which are to be used repeatedly--Vitamin E is an anti-oxidant, and prevents rancidity. /Steve Dyer decvax!wivax!dyer decvax!genrad!wjh12!bbncca!sdyer
bch@unc.UUCP (Byron Howes ) (10/12/83)
As Steve Bellovin has already pointed out, burnt food, especially bacon or other cured meats, is very likely to contain nitrosamines -- known and potent mutagens. This is most likely the causative agent in the higher than normal rate of stomach cancer among families using recycled bacon grease after World War II. While technically frying ddoes not 'mutate cells' it does produce compounds that have been linked with higher-than- normal incidences of cancer. I suspect that breaking a capsule of vitamin E into your cooking oil isn't going to do a whole lot one way or the other. While vitamin E is indeed an anti-oxidant in its normal environment, its use as a cooking preservative has been neither tested nor proven. The best technique I know of for keeping oils from going rancid is to buy smaller amounts at more frequent intervals -- paying careful attention if possible to the product dating codes. <FLAME ON!!!> This business of advertising unproven techniques as cures for cancer, myopia, bunions or bad breath is a practice which is at best unethical and at worst illegal. Although macrobiotics may seem on the face of it to be a rather benign therapy, for persons suffering from certain metabolic or intestinal disorders it could be extremely harmful. While I share the general unease about the actions and philosophy of the AMA, and would heartily agree that a large proportion of the MDs in this country are less competant than I would like them to be, I would urge that people considering any form of self-medication in the form of diets, "trendy" chemicals or unusual exercises consult a physician before doing so. The results of medical and epidemiological research are quite within the reach and intellectual grasp of anyone on the net. "Science News" for one, regularly reports the state of research into the relationship between diet and cancer and into the environmental causes of various diseases. It is an 8 to 16 page magazine, written for the layman, that is relatively inexpensive and comes out once a week. If you are interested in the subject, read. Don't believe and transmit what may be misinformation gathered from people who only dimly know what they are talking about. <flame off> Byron Howes UNC - Chapel Hill decvax!duke!unc!bch
spaf@gatech.UUCP (10/25/83)
The statement was made (in the article to which this is a followup) that
while reading the label on a softdrink can it was noticed that one of
the principle ingredients was anti-freeze.
There is a very distinct difference between ethylene glycol and
propolene glycol. I'm not especially keen about the number and kinds
of additives in some of my foods, but they haven't started adding
Prestone to any of them yet!
--
Gene Spafford
School of ICS, Georgia Tech, Atlanta GA
CSNet: Spaf @ GATech ARPA: Spaf.GATech @ UDel-Relay
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