Blood Type Diet - Peter d'Adamo

[Vulcan59]

Hi Psyche,

People come to heart surgery as the last option, usually in emergency conditions when there is a life threatening experience and after that, they go back to their health care providers.....

I have to disagree slightly. In my line of work, the slightless aberration in a ECG or a stress test readout will require you to undergo the minimum of an angiogram and if that is abnormal it's either a bypass or an angioplasty to keep your licence. So if you chose not to do it, then you are grounded.

Of course the the medical checkups are supposedly done for the safety of the travelling public but yet none of the biannual medicals that we have to go through has prevented an inflight infarct or other medical issues leading to an incapacitation of the pilot. There has been numerous cases of pilots having heart attacks or other medical issues that had resulted in the aircraft diverting or in some case catastrophic accidents resulting in numerous casualties.

 

[JEEP]

OK - I found this although it doesn't directly correlate to raw milk:

BACKGROUND: Increased prevalence of atopic disorders in children may be associated with changes in types of childhood infections, vaccination programmes, and intestinal microflora. People who follow an anthroposophic way of life use antibiotics restrictively, have few vaccinations, and their diet usually contains live lactobacilli, which may affect the intestinal microflora. We aimed to study the prevalence of atopy in children from anthroposophic families and the influence of an anthroposophic lifestyle on atopy prevalence. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, 295 children aged 5-13 years at two anthroposophic (Steiner) schools near Stockholm, Sweden, were compared with 380 children of the same age at two neighbouring schools in terms of history of atopic and infectious diseases, use of antibiotics and vaccinations, and social and environmental variables. Skin-prick tests were done for 13 common allergens, and we took blood samples from children and their parents for analysis of allergen-specific serum IgE-antibodies. FINDINGS: At the Steiner schools, 52% of the children had had antibiotics in the past, compared with 90% in the control schools. 18% and 93% of children, respectively, had had combined immunisation against measles, mumps, and rubella, and 61% of the children at the Steiner schools had had measles. Fermented vegetables, containing live lactobacilli, were consumed by 63% of the children at Steiner schools, compared with 4.5% at the control schools. Skin-prick tests and blood tests showed that the children from Steiner schools had lower prevalence of atopy than controls (odds ratio 0.62 [95% CI 0.43-0.91]). There was an inverse relation between the number of characteristic features of an anthroposophic lifestyle and risk of atopy (p for trend=0.01). INTERPRETATION: Prevalence of atopy is lower in children from anthroposophic families than in children from other families. Lifestyle factors associated with anthroposophy may lessen the risk of atopy in childhood.

Citation:

Atopy in children of families with an anthroposophic lifestyle.
Alm JS - Lancet - 1-MAY-1999; 353(9163): 1485-8
MEDLINE® is the source for the citation and abstract of this record

From Dictionary.com:

lac⋅to⋅ba⋅cil⋅lus
  /ˌlæktoʊbəˈsɪləs/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [lak-toh-buh-sil-uhs] Show IPA
Use lactobacilli in a Sentence
–noun, plural -cil⋅li  /-ˈsɪlaɪ/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [-sil-ahy] Show IPA . Bacteriology.
any long, slender, rod-shaped, anaerobic bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus, that produces large amounts of lactic acid in the fermentation of carbohydrates, esp. in milk.

From the raw-milk-facts.com:

Lactose, or milk sugar, is the primary carbohydrate in cow's milk. Made from one molecule each of the simple sugars glucose and galactose, it's known as a disaccharide. People with lactose intolerance for one reason or another (age, genetics, etc.), no longer make the enzyme lactase and so can't digest milk sugar (20). This leads to some unsavory symptoms, which, needless to say, the victims find rather unpleasant at best. Raw milk, with its lactose-digesting Lactobacilli bacteria intact, may allow people who traditionally have avoided milk to give it another try.

So, I don't know if this is the study being referenced and that live lactobacilli is live lactobacilli, regardless if it comes from fermented vegetables or raw milk??? I think in this case, the fermented vegetable is sauerkraut.

From the Weston A. Price website:

Asthma or Brucellosis:
The Dangers and Benefits of Raw Milk

Two articles appearing recently in the prestigious British medical journal, The Lancet, illustrate the ongoing debate on the dangers and merits of raw milk. One article describes the case of a woman who contracted brucellosis after eating some raw goat cheese during a trip to Italy.1 The cause of her fibromyalgia-like symptoms was determined after exhaustive tests to be brucellosis or undulant fever, and the source traced to ingestion of unpasteurized soft cheese during her European holiday. She was treated successfully with the appropriate antibiotics.

The second article describes a study carried out by scientists in Salzburg, Austria. Researchers examined the history of allergy, asthma and "atopic sensitization" or skin problems in 812 children, 319 of whom had grown up with a "regular exposure to a farming environment" including the consumption of "farm milk," that is, raw, whole, unprocessed milk.2 The remaining group of 493 non-farming children acted as a control. Frequency of asthma was reduced from 11 percent found in the control group to 1 percent among the farming-exposed children. Similarly, hay fever occurred in only 3 percent of the farming-exposed children, compared with 13 percent of the controls, and atopic sensitization occurred in 12 percent of the farming group and in 29 percent of the controls.

The researchers found that the timing of exposure to the farm environment and raw milk was critical. Those children exposed during the first year of life showed the greatest protective effect. Continual long-term "exposure to stables" until age five years was associated with the lowest frequencies of asthma, hay fever and atopic sensitization.

Subsequent comments on this article3 stress "exposure to stables" as the determining factor but we wonder whether this is any different than exposure to pets in the typical urban home. It is much more likely that consumption of raw milk is the determining factor because this variable can be uniquely determined.

These two articles perfectly describe the dilemma confronting health officials. Should our milk be pasteurized to prevent the rare case of brucellosis transfer; or should raw milk be made available to avoid asthma and dermatitis in our growing children?

Any mother who has observed the suffering of her asthmatic child, or wracked her brain to find a product that will stop her youngster's unsightly and itchy rash, would opt for the latter. These illnesses—for which modern medicine can offer only palliatives—cause so much lost school, missed activities, and physical and psychological suffering that any mother would gladly risk contracting brucellosis herself in order to have protective raw milk available for her growing children, particularly when undulant fever is easily cured with a dose of antibiotics.

And particularly when modern science makes it possible to have brucellosis-free herds. Tests are widely available to detect brucellosis in cattle, goats and sheep. In addition, studies have shown that the risk of brucellosis increases as herd size goes up.4 Nutrition of the animals almost certainly plays a role. Small herds on fertile pasture or appropriate feed, regular testing, clean barns, milking machines, stainless steel tanks and refrigerated trucks all make it entirely possible to get healthy, clean, certified raw milk to the public.

The alternative—pasteurized, processed milk from large herds crowded into barns and given hormones and antibiotics—causes problems in an increasing number of people. How many customers does the dairy industry have to lose to putative "milk allergies" before it sees the light and opts for quality rather than quantity, for thousands of prosperous small dairies delivering directly to the consumer rather than small numbers of huge herds, confined to barns and producing dirty milk that must have its vital elements destroyed by pasteurization and processing.

1. Lancet 1999 Jul 24;354(9175):300.
2. Lancet 2001 Oct 6;358(9288):1129-33.
3. Lancet 2002 Feb 16;359(9306):623-4.
4. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 1998 Dec;1(37):185-196.

The above must be what he was referring to.

This from the same site:

Real Milk Articles
Google Custom Search
Milk Decreases Heart Attacks?

From Alternatives Newsletter
By Dr. David Williams 1991

England — Some data just released by the Medical Research Council (MRC) should create some interesting controversy among medical circles during the next several months. Peter Elwood, director of the Epidemiology Unit at Landough Hospital in Penarth, South Glamorgan, dropped a bombshell. His ongoing life-style study of 5000 men produced some startling and very unpopular findings. He discovered that men who drank the most full-fat milk and ate butter (rather than margarine) had a lower risk of suffering from heart attacks! (New Scientist 1991; 129(1759):17)

Needless to say, everyone in the medical community and the officials at the MRC are upset. (I'm sure margarine producers aren't thrilled about the news either.) Since Elwood made his findings public prior to having them published in a peer-reviewed journal, the MRC has instructed him to make no further statements to the press.

We've learned, however, that Elwood's study collected data on 5,000 British men between the ages of 45 and 59 for a period of 10 years. Of those that drank at least a pint of whole milk a day, only 1% suffered heart attacks! Some researchers are already claiming the difference is due to a healthier life-style on the part of the milk and butter consumers. Others, however, think that milk and butter may have some yet undiscovered benefits.

In 1929, Dr. J.E. Crewe with the Mayo Foundation reported "uniformly excellent" success using raw milk in treatment programs for high blood pressure, heart failure, diabetes, kidney disease, prostate problems and tuberculosis. He later stated that the only problem with using raw milk to treat these ailments was that it was too simple. As such, it didn't appeal to the medical profession. Only raw milk seemed to be of benefit. Pasteurized forms seemed to make most conditions worse.

It will be interesting to see how the results from this study are handled. Admittedly, his interpretation of the data may be flawed, but if his findings are simply swept under the rug and never published we can suspect another instance where the "golden rule" went into effect. (The "golden rule" simply says that whoever has the most gold makes the rules.)

The source of most commercial milk is the modern Holstein,* bred to produce huge quantities of milk--three times as much as the old-fashioned cow. She needs special feed and antibiotics to keep her well. Her milk contains high levels of growth hormone from her pituitary gland, even when she is spared the indignities of genetically engineered Bovine Growth Hormone to push her to the udder limits of milk production.

*Please note, there are farmers who produce excellent "Real Milk" using older lines of Holsteins and Holstein crosses. It is the modern commercial Holstein, bred only for quantity, not quality, and pumped full of hormones and antibiotics, that should be avoided. Know your supplier! Ask questions!

Buy only milk from old-fashioned breeds of cows, such as Jerseys, Guernseys, Red Devons, Brown Swiss or older genetic lines of Holsteins, or from goats or sheep.

(Or, depending on what part of the world you live in, from llamas, camels, mares, water buffalo, or reindeer!)

Real feed for cows is green grass in Spring, Summer and Fall; stored dry hay, silage, hay and root vegetables in Winter. It is not soy meal, cottonseed meal or other commercial feeds, nor is it bakery waste, chicken manure or citrus peel cake, laced with pesticides. Vital nutrients like vitamins A and D, and Price's "Activator X" (a fat-soluble catalyst that promotes optimum mineral assimilation, now believed to be vitamin K2) are greatest in milk from cows eating green grass, especially rapidly growing green grass in the spring and fall. Vitamins A and D are greatly diminished, and Activator X disappears, when milk cows are fed commercial feed. Soy meal has the wrong protein profile for the dairy cow, resulting in a short burst of high milk production followed by premature death. Most milk (even most milk labeled "organic") comes from dairy cows that are kept in confinement their entire lives and never see green grass!

From Mercola.com:

Green leafy vegetables supply almost half of the vitamin K for the majority of Americans. Most foods considered rich in vitamin K have shown to have less vitamin K than previously thought. Despite this vital information, the majority of multi-vitamins don't contain any vitamin K at all -- and those that do don't contain enough.

Recent research supporting vitamin K's usefulness in bone and heart health is now becoming too abundant to overlook.* Still, few health conscious consumers understand the importance of supplementing vitamin K.

More from the Weston A. Price website:

Pasteurization destroys enzymes, diminishes vitamin content, denatures fragile milk proteins, destroys vitamins C, B12 and B6, kills beneficial bacteria, promotes pathogens and is associated with allergies, increased tooth decay, colic in infants, growth problems in children, osteoporosis, arthritis, heart disease and cancer. Calves fed pasteurized milk do poorly and many die before maturity. Raw milk sours naturally but pasteurized milk turns putrid; processors must remove slime and pus from pasteurized milk by a process of centrifugal clarification. Inspection of dairy herds for disease is not required for pasteurized milk. Pasteurization was instituted in the 1920s to combat TB, infant diarrhea, undulant fever and other diseases caused by poor animal nutrition and dirty production methods. But times have changed and modern stainless steel tanks, milking machines, refrigerated trucks and inspection methods make pasteurization absolutely unnecessary for public protection. And pasteurization does not always kill the bacteria for Johne’s disease suspected of causing Crohn's disease in humans with which most confinement cows are infected. Much commercial milk is now ultra-pasteurized to get rid of heat-resistant bacteria and give it a longer shelf life. Ultra-pasteurization is a violent process that takes milk from a chilled temperature to above the boiling point in less than two seconds.

Homogenization is a process that breaks down butterfat globules so they do not rise to the top. Homogenized milk has been linked to heart disease.

Average butterfat content from old-fashioned cows at the turn of the century was over 4% (or more than 50% of calories). Today butterfat comprises less than 3% (or less than 35% of calories). Worse, consumers have been duped into believing that low-fat and skim milk products are good for them. Only by marketing low-fat and skim milk as a health food can the modern dairy industry get rid of its excess poor-quality, low-fat milk from modern high-production herds. Butterfat contains vitamins A and D needed for assimilation of calcium and protein in the water fraction of the milk. Without them protein and calcium are more difficult to utilize and possibly toxic. Butterfat is rich in short- and medium chain fatty acids which protect against disease and stimulate the immune system. It contains glyco-spingolipids which prevent intestinal distress and conjugated linoleic acid which has strong anticancer properties.

Powdered skim milk, a source of dangerous oxidized cholesterol and neurotoxic amino acids, is added to 1% and 2% milk. Low-fat yogurts and sour creams contain mucopolysaccharide slime to give them body. Pale butter from hay-fed cows contains colorings to make it look like vitamin-rich butter from grass-fed cows. Bioengineered enzymes are used in large-scale cheese production. Many mass produced cheeses contain additives and colorings and imitation cheese products contain vegetable oils.

Pasteurization laws favor large, industrialized dairy operations and squeeze out small farmers. When farmers have the right to sell unprocessed milk to consumers, they can make a decent living, even with small herds.

Conjugated Linoleic Acid

Scientists at the Agriculture Department's US Dairy Forage Research Center in Madison Wisconsin have been studying a substance called CLA that occurs in butterfat. Many studies over the past 12 years have established that at least in laboratory animals, CLA offers some protection against breast cancer and other malignancies, apparently through its role as a potent antioxidant. In addition to anticancer benefits, CLA also seems to dramatically reduce the deposition of fat. Livestock eating feed supplemented with CLA tend to lay down more lean tissue; and dairy cattle ingesting CLA enriched diets have greater milk productivity. "Much to their big surprise," scientists found that the highest level of CLA in milk was obtained with cows just eating pasture — nothing else, according to Larry D. Satter, director of the forage center. Satter finds the notion of pasture feeding "a far-out idea." Actually pasture feeding is the only way to provide healthful, non-allergenic, nutrient-dense dairy products to the populace. Could it be that CLA in America's pasture-fed cows at the turn of the century not only protected against cancer, but overweight as well, and allowed mothers to nurse successfully because they had plenty of milk? Meanwhile University of Wisconsin scientists are trying to figure out ways to mass produce CLA as a food additive. (Science News Online - Food for Thought - 10/1)

NATIONAL NEWS: USA Today carried an article on raw milk, August 7, (I assume 2007) complete with information on Organic Pastures raw milk dairy in California and the Weston A. Price Foundation's Campaign for Real Milk. Of course, the article quotes FDA officials likening the consumption of raw milk with "playing Russian roulette with your health," but there were plenty of quotes from satisfied raw milk consumers. Internal Medicine News, which reaches 100,000 medical doctors is planning to run a "Point/Counterpoint" piece on the question "Should physicians advise patients to avoid drinking raw milk?" Our own Dr. Tom Cowan will be participating.

From the raw-milk-facts website:

Though aware of conjugated fats in butter as early as the 1930's, scientists didn't discover the structure or properties of CLA until the early 80's. The literally hundreds of studies done since then have revealed an almost unbelievable array of beneficial biological properties, including:

-Muscle growth enhancement/ prevention of muscle wasting

-Inhibition of fat formation/ reduction of body fat

-Improvement of insulin sensitivity

-Inhibition or prevention of various cancers, including breast and prostate, even in low concentrations

-Enhancement of immune system

-Lowering of cholesterol/ reduction of cholesterol oxidation

Clicking on the word studies provides 149 references - if I counted correctly. I'm finding it harder and harder to believe that raw milk is anything but beneficial except for those individuals who simply cannot tolerate it. :/

 

[JEEP]

Amish info:

NO AUTISM FOR UNVACCINATED AMISH?
The Age of Autism: 'A pretty big secret'

UPI | December 7, 2005
By DAN OLMSTED

It's a far piece from the horse-and-buggies of Lancaster County, Pa., to the cars and freeways of Cook County, Ill.

But thousands of children cared for by Homefirst Health Services in metropolitan Chicago have at least two things in common with thousands of Amish children in rural Lancaster: They have never been vaccinated. And they don't have autism.

"We have a fairly large practice. We have about 30,000 or 35,000 children that we've taken care of over the years, and I don't think we have a single case of autism in children delivered by us who never received vaccines," said Dr. Mayer Eisenstein, Homefirst's medical director who founded the practice in 1973. Homefirst doctors have delivered more than 15,000 babies at home, and thousands of them have never been vaccinated.

The few autistic children Homefirst sees were vaccinated before their families became patients, Eisenstein said. "I can think of two or three autistic children who we've delivered their mother's next baby, and we aren't really totally taking care of that child -- they have special care needs. But they bring the younger children to us. I don't have a single case that I can think of that wasn't vaccinated."

The autism rate in Illinois public schools is 38 per 10,000, according to state Education Department data; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts the national rate of autism spectrum disorders at 1 in 166 -- 60 per 10,000.

"We do have enough of a sample," Eisenstein said. "The numbers are too large to not see it. We would absolutely know. We're all family doctors. If I have a child with autism come in, there's no communication. It's frightening. You can't touch them. It's not something that anyone would miss."

No one knows what causes autism, but federal health authorities say it isn't childhood immunizations. Some parents and a small minority of doctors and scientists, however, assert vaccines are responsible.

This column has been looking for autism in never-vaccinated U.S. children in an effort to shed light on the issue. We went to Chicago to meet with Eisenstein at the suggestion of a reader, and we also visited Homefirst's office in northwest suburban Rolling Meadows. Homefirst has four other offices in the Chicago area and a total of six doctors.

Eisenstein stresses his observations are not scientific. "The trouble is this is just anecdotal in a sense, because what if every autistic child goes somewhere else and (their family) never calls us or they moved out of state?"

In practice, that's unlikely to account for the pronounced absence of autism, says Eisenstein, who also has a bachelor's degree in statistics, a master's degree in public health and a law degree.

Homefirst follows state immunization mandates, but Illinois allows religious exemptions if parents object based either on tenets of their faith or specific personal religious views. Homefirst does not exclude or discourage such families. Eisenstein, in fact, is author of the book "Don't Vaccinate Before You Educate!" and is critical of the CDC's vaccination policy in the 1990s, when several new immunizations were added to the schedule, including Hepatitis B as early as the day of birth. Several of the vaccines -- HepB included -- contained a mercury-based preservative that has since been phased out of most childhood vaccines in the United States.

Medical practices with Homefirst's approach to immunizations are rare. "Because of that, we tend to attract families that have questions about that issue," said Dr. Paul Schattauer, who has been with Homefirst for 20 years and treats "at least" 100 children a week.

Schattauer seconded Eisenstein's observations. "All I know is in my practice I don't see autism. There is no striking 1-in-166," he said.

Earlier this year we reported the same phenomenon in the mostly unvaccinated Amish. CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding told us the Amish "have genetic connectivity that would make them different from populations that are in other sectors of the United States." Gerberding said, however, studies "could and should be done" in more representative unvaccinated groups -- if they could be found and their autism rate documented.

Chicago is America's prototypical "City of Big Shoulders," to quote Carl Sandburg, and Homefirst's mostly middle-class families seem fairly representative. A substantial number are conservative Christians who home-school their children. They are mostly white, but the Homefirst practice also includes black and Hispanic families and non-home-schooling Jews, Catholics and Muslims.

They tend to be better educated, follow healthier diets and breast-feed their children much longer than the norm -- half of Homefirst's mothers are still breast-feeding at two years. Also, because Homefirst relies less on prescription drugs including antibiotics as a first line of treatment, these children have less exposure to other medicines, not just vaccines.

Schattauer, interviewed at the Rolling Meadows office, said his caseload is too limited to draw conclusions about a possible link between vaccines and autism. "With these numbers you'd have a hard time proving or disproving anything," he said. "You can only get a feeling about it.

"In no way would I be an advocate to stand up and say we need to look at vaccines, because I don't have the science to say that," Schattauer said. "But I don't think the science is there to say that it's not."

Schattauer said Homefirst's patients also have significantly less childhood asthma and juvenile diabetes compared to national rates. An office manager who has been with Homefirst for 17 years said she is aware of only one case of severe asthma in an unvaccinated child.

"Sometimes you feel frustrated because you feel like you've got a pretty big secret," Schattauer said. He argues for more research on all those disorders, independent of political or business pressures.

The asthma rate among Homefirst patients is so low it was noticed by the Blue Cross group with which Homefirst is affiliated, according to Eisenstein.

"In the alternative-medicine network which Homefirst is part of, there are virtually no cases of childhood asthma, in contrast to the overall Blue Cross rate of childhood asthma which is approximately 10 percent," he said. "At first I thought it was because they (Homefirst's children) were breast-fed, but even among the breast-fed we've had asthma. We have virtually no asthma if you're breast-fed and not vaccinated."

Because the diagnosis of asthma is based on emergency-room visits and hospital admissions, Eisenstein said, Homefirst's low rate is hard to dispute. "It's quantifiable -- the definition is not reliant on the doctor's perception of asthma."

Several studies have found a risk of asthma from vaccination; others have not. Studies that include never-vaccinated children generally find little or no asthma in that group.

Earlier this year Florida pediatrician Dr. Jeff Bradstreet said there is virtually no autism in home-schooling families who decline to vaccinate for religious reasons -- lending credence to Eisenstein's observations.

"It's largely non-existent," said Bradstreet, who treats children with autism from around the country. "It's an extremely rare event."

Bradstreet has a son whose autism he attributes to a vaccine reaction at 15 months. His daughter has been home-schooled, he describes himself as a "Christian family physician," and he knows many of the leaders in the home-school movement.

"There was this whole subculture of folks who went into home-schooling so they would never have to vaccinate their kids," he said. "There's this whole cadre who were never vaccinated for religious reasons."

In that subset, he said, "unless they were massively exposed to mercury through lots of amalgams (mercury dental fillings in the mother) and/or big-time fish eating, I've not had a single case."

Federal health authorities and mainstream medical groups emphatically dismiss any link between autism and vaccines, including the mercury-based preservative thimerosal. Last year a panel of the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academies, said there is no evidence of such a link, and funding should henceforth go to "promising" research.

Thimerosal, which is 49.6 percent ethyl mercury by weight, was phased out of most U.S. childhood immunizations beginning in 1999, but the CDC recommends flu shots for pregnant women and last year began recommending them for children 6 to 23 months old. Most of those shots contain thimerosal.

Thimerosal-preserved vaccines are currently being injected into millions of children in developing countries around the world. "My mandate ... is to make sure at the end of the day that 100,000,000 are immunized ... this year, next year and for many years to come ... and that will have to be with thimerosal-containing vaccines," said John Clements of the World Health Organization at a June 2000 meeting called by the CDC.

That meeting was held to review data that thimerosal might be linked with autism and other neurological problems. But in 2004 the Institute of Medicine panel said evidence against a link is so strong that health authorities, "whether in the United States or other countries, should not include autism as a potential risk" when formulating immunization policies.

But where is the simple, straightforward study of autism in never-vaccinated U.S. children? Based on our admittedly anecdotal and limited reporting among the Amish, the home-schooled and now Chicago's Homefirst, that may prove to be a significant omission.

The major causes of death were studied in the Old Order Amish people in three settlements in indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania to determine if lifestyle and genetic isolation altered their mortality risk compared to neighboring non-Amish. The Amish are a conservative religious group who live in farm settlements, use horses for work and travel, exercise vigorously, and avoid cigarettes and alcohol. They are reproductively isolated and highly inbred. Death certificates and Amish censuses were used to determine mortality risks, which were summarized using age-adjusted mortality ratios (MRs). Amish mortality patterns were not systematically higher or lower than those of the non-Amish, but differed by age, sex and cause. Amish males had slightly higher all-cause MRs as children and significantly lower MRS over the age of 40, due primarily to lower rates of cancer (MR = 0.44, age 40–69), and cardiovascular diseases (MR = 0.65, age 4.0–69). Amish female MRs for all causes of death were lower from age 10 to 39, not ditferent from 40 to 69, and higher over age 69. MRs were not significantly different for all cancer sites combined in Amish women and they had higher cardiovascular mortality ratios aged 70 and over (MR = 1.34). Other major causes of death were also examined. Because the Amish and other farming groups have similar mortal ity patterns, it is suggested that lifestyle may be the primary determinant of the overall mortality patterns in the Amish.

We performed one of the first systematic, population-based surveys of women in Amish culture. We used these data to examine health status and health risks in a representative sample of 288 Amish women ages 18-45 living in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in particular for risks associated with preterm and low birthweight infants, compared with a general population sample of 2,002 women in Central Pennsylvania. Compared with women in the general population, Amish women rated their physical health approximately at the same level, but reported less stress, fewer symptoms of depression, and had higher aggregate scores for mental health. Amish women reported low levels of intimate partner violence, high levels of social support, and they perceived low levels of unfair treatment owing to gender compared with the general population. Amish women also reported higher fertility, fewer low birthweight babies, but the same number of preterm births as the general population. The findings suggest that these outcomes may be due to higher levels of social support and better preconceptional behavior among Amish women.

Food Habits and Their Relationship to Dietary Guidelines

Eating habits vary among the Amish depending on where they live, the type of work they do, and the mode of transportation they use. Traditionally the Amish community has been farm based with families growing or raising most of their own food and traveling by horse and buggy. This pattern is changing in urban areas, however, because of the scarcity of land and hazards of horse-and-buggy travel. Many Amish are leaving their farms, and gardens are becoming smaller.

Most Amish, especially those who still tend large gardens and orchards, eat a variety of foods. Because much of their work is physically demanding, many are not concerned about reducing the amount of fat in their diets. Those with access to motorized transportation buy more high-fat snack foods and eat out in restaurants more often than those who travel by horse and buggy.

Breads and cereals are usually made from whole grains and served often. In some families, cakes and cookies are available at most meals; in others sweets are limited.

High cholesterol and blood pressure may be a concern. However, because the Amish do not visit the doctor often, many ailments are not detected until a serious problem arises. The Amish do not carry health insurance or accept any type of public assistance.

Eating Practices, Food Preferences and Food Preparation Techniques

Most Amish do not have electricity in their homes. For cooking, many use either wood or kerosene oil stoves; they cool their food in ice boxes, spring houses, or their basements. A minority have freezers.

The Amish prepare most of their food from scratch, but some also use mixes and instant foods. They preserve all of their own fruits and vegetables and much of their meat by canning. Homemade bologna is popular and is usually made without the casing. Some Amish will occasionally purchase frozen foods as a change of taste or as a treat. Many rural families have their own milk cow and make cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, and ice cream. Those near urban areas usually buy these items at the supermarket or cheese houses.

Many farm families eat cornmeal mush - made from oven-roasted field corn - for breakfast. Eggs and cooked cereal are other typical breakfast foods. Fruits or juice may be included.

The main meal of the day typically consists of noodles, macaroni, or potatoes; meat, which is often fried; and canned vegetables. Homemade or supermarket-bought bread is served at every meal. The lighter meal commonly consists of soup, cheese or bologna, and fruit. Snacks are usually apples, cookies, or leftovers.

[...]Family life is extremely important to the Amish; many have large families (10 or more children). Children are viewed as gifts from God. Many women breastfeed their babies; others bottle-feed. Many Amish make their own baby food by grinding a portion of the family's meal. Some will purchase instant baby cereals. Milk is not always served to the children as a beverage, but is used on cereals and in cakes and cookies.

Cultural Diversity: Eating in America

Cultural diversity is a major issue in American eating. To fully understand the impact cultures play in American nutrition, one must study both food and culture.

This fact sheet on the Amish culture is one of a series of nine developed to address cultural diversity in American eating.

This fact sheet is designed as an awareness tool for a novice working with a cultural group previously unknown to them. Given the nature of the variations that exist in each cultural group (i.e. socio-economic status, religion, age, education, social class, location, length of time in the United States, and location of origin) caution needs to be taken not to generalize or imply that these characteristics apply to all individuals of a cultural group. This fact sheet was designed primarily for use in Northeastern Ohio, but may stimulate awareness of differences in these cultural groups in other parts of the country. The goal of this fact sheet is to assist a novice educator in reducing any cultural barriers that may inhibit education. The author strongly recommends continued reading and additional research into the cultural groups in which you work.

It would appear that the Amish are generally healthy although it looks like typical American eating is creeping in. Also, it's striking that the unvaccinated Amish have no instances of autism.

 

[Gaby]

I have to disagree slightly. In my line of work, the slightless aberration in a ECG or a stress test readout will require you to undergo the minimum of an angiogram and if that is abnormal it's either a bypass or an angioplasty to keep your licence. So if you chose not to do it, then you are grounded.

I understand what you mean, I tried to synthesize the myths and the business going with coronary artery disease here:

Medicated stents are bad news
http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=3579.0

Yeah, guidelines are very strict for some professions, i.e. pilots and the treatment is controversial.

It depends on the center, I spent 11 years in University, and I could had earned more working in anything else without going to college at all. But in some countries heart surgery is quite profitable, so for the ponerized system and people, any excuse is a good one to do surgery. But bypass surgery should be really the last resort, after angioplasty had failed. It is very traumatic and nobody should go through bypass or other heart surgery unless absolutely necessary. A lot of the cases can be taken care by angioplasty and surgeons do mostly emergencies. But, angioplasty should be only for emergencies as well...

 

[Gawan]

People come to heart surgery as the last option, usually in emergency conditions when there is a life threatening experience and after that, they go back to their health care providers. When a valve is hard as a rock and there is unavoidable indication of surgery, you know that too much time has passed. The changes must have been done years before by the person or by the health care provider. I gave articles about these therapies to colleagues, but Big Pharma is a great obstacle for a broader awareness.

For example, key subjects like nutrition, environmental medicine and psychology are not covered in medical schools. Big Pharma has a huge role in the medical education and system, so it is not surprising that cheap and useful therapies are not considered. Carolyn Dean touches this subject in her book, The Magnesium Miracle. Another good one is "The Truth about the Drug Companies" by Marcia Angell. It is pretty sad...

Thank you Psyche.

As you wrote about the pharma industry I remembered some books (specialist books for: cardiology, pharmacology etc.) I found in an old and empty hospital, most of them have been sponsored by the Big Pharma, so it's better not to question them, because "we" get expensive books for free, with all solutions written in…

It's really sad as you described.

 

[Rexmark]

Type of is 'The Hunter': Meat eater; Hardy digestive tract; Overactive immune system; Intolerant to dietary and environmental adaptations; Responds best to stress with intesnse physical activity; Requires and efficient metabolism to stay lean and energetic.
Foods that encourage weight gain:
Weat gluten - Corn - Kidney Beans - Nav Beans - Lentils - Cabbage - Brussels Sprouts - Cauliflower - Mustard Greens

Foods that encourage weight loss:
Kelp - Seafood - Iodized Salt - Liver - Red Meat - Kale, Spinach & Broccoli

Iodine for thyroid function is important for O types.

I've left out 'neutral' foods'
Meat & Poultry
Highly Beneficial: Beef, Heart, Mutton, Lamb, Veal, Buffalo, Liver, Venison

Avoid: Bacon, Ham, Goose, Pork

Seafood
Higly Beneficial: Bluefish, rainbow trout, stiped bass, cod, hake, halibut, herring, mackerel, pike, red snapper, salmon, sardine, shad, snapper, sole, striped bass, sturgeon, swordfish, tilefish, white perch, whitefish, yellow perch, yellowtail

Avoid: Barracuda, Herring (pickled), Catfish, Lox (smoked salmon) Caviar, Octopus, Conch

Dairy and Eggs
Only Neutral and Avoid here.
Neutral: Butter, Mozzarella, Farmer, Feta, Goat cheese (yuck!) Soy cheese, Soy milk

Avoid: Everything else

Oils and Fats
Highly Beneficial: Linseed (flaxseed) oil, Olive oil

Avoid: Corn, Cottonseed, Peanut and Safflower oil

Nuts and Seeds
Highly Beneficial: Pumpkin seeds and Walnuts

Avoid: Brazil, Cashew Litchi, Peanuts, Peanut butter, Pistachios and poppy seeds

Bean and Legumes
Highly Beneficial: Aduke, Azuki, and Pinto beans, Black-eyed Peas

Avoid: Copper, Kidney, Navy, Tamarind beans and lentils - domestic, green and red.

Cereals
Only Neutral and Avoid here

Avoid: Cornflakes, Farina, Wheat bran, Cornmeal, Grape nuts, Wheat germ, cream of wheat, Seven-grain, Familia and Shredded wheat

Bread and Muffins
Highly Beneficial: Essene and Ezekiel Bread (never heard of them!)

Avoid: Wheat bagels, Wheat matzos, Wheat bran, Corn muffins, Multi-grain bread, muffins, Durum wheat, Pumpernickel, Whole wheat bread, English muffins sprouted wheat bread, High-protein bread.

Grains and Pasta
"There are no grains or pastas that could be classified highly beneficial for Type Os."
Neutral: Barley flour, Quinoa, Rice flour, Rye flour, Spelt flour, Buckwheat, Kasha, Rice (all types) Oat flour, artichoke pasta.

Avoid: Bulgur wheat flour, Gluten flour, spinach pasta, Couscous flour, Graham flour, Sprouted wheat flour, Durum wheat flour, Soba noodles, White flour, Semolina pasta, Whole wheat flour.

Veggies
Highly Beneficial: Artichoke - Domestic and Jerusalem, Collard greens, Kohlrabi, Leek, Dandelion, Romaine Lettuce, Beet Leaves, Garlic, Escarole, Okra, Broccoli, Horsefacish, Onions - Red, Spanish and Yellow, Kale, Chicory, Red Peppers, Seaweed, Spinach, Sweet Potatoes, Swish Chard, Parsley, Parsnips, Pumpkin & Turnips

Avoid: Avocado, Eggpland, Olives - Greek, Spanish & black, Cabbage - Chinese, red and white. Mushrooms - domestic and shiitake. Potatoes - red & white. Cauliflower, Corn - white & yellow, mustard greens, alfalfa sprouts and Brussels Sprouts

Fruit
Highly Beneficial: Dried Figs, Dark Plumbs, Red Plumbs, Fresh Figs, Green Plums and Prunes

Avoid: Blackberries, Honeydew Melon, Rhbarb, Coconuts, Oranges, Stawberries, Cantaloupe Melon, lantains and Tangerines

Large group of 'Neutral'.

Juices & Fluids
Highly Beneficial: Black Cherry, Pineapple, Prune

Avoid: Apple, Cabbage, Apple cider and Orange juice.

Spices
Highly Beneficial: Carob, curry, dulse, kelp, cayenne pepper, turmeric & parsley.

Avoid: Capers, white pepper, cinnamon, vanilla, cornstarch, apple vinegar, corn syrup, nutmeg, ground black pepper, balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar and white vinegar.

Condiments
"There are no highly beneficial condiments for Types Os. He recomends replacement with olive oil, lemon juice and garlic.

Avoid: Ketchup, Kosher pickles, sour pickles, relish, sweet pickles, dill pickles and mayonnaise

Herbal Teas
Highly Beneficial: Cayenne, hops, rose hips, chickweed, linden, sarsaparilla, dandelion, mulberry, slippery elm, fenugreek, parsley, ginger and peppermint.

Avoid: alfalfa, echinacea, saint-John's-wor, aloe, gentian, senna, burdock, goldenseal, shepherd's purse, coltsfoot, read clover, stawberry leaf, corn silk, fhubarb and yellow dock

Beverages
Highly Beneficial: Seltzer water
Neutral: Beer, green tea, red and white wine
Avoid: regular coffee, decaf coffee, distilled liquor, cola soda, diet soda or any other soda, black decaf tea and regular black tea.

Thanks for the following advisory.

 

[PepperFritz]

Rexmark:

Please read the Forum Guidelines. Advertising is not allowed. Therefore, the signature and link in your post has been deleted.

 

[Juba]

Hi to all,

Indeed interesting, I'm A+ and would like to have diet according to Peter d'Adamos's books, just wondering is any of C's formum member having pfd copy??? I love milk but feeling pretty ill especially if warm or hot consumed.

Thanks million in advance.

 

[anart]

Hi to all,

Indeed interesting, I'm A+ and would like to have diet according to Peter d'Adamos's books, just wondering is any of C's formum member having pfd copy??? I love milk but feeling pretty ill especially if warm or hot consumed.

Thanks million in advance.

Hi jubazo,

We strongly recommend purchasing any book that you are capable of purchasing. This is an exchange of energy with the author, from whose work you will be benefiting. Since Dr d'Adamo's work is still in print and under copyright we cannot condone just passing free pdf copies around. If you don't have the funds to purchase the book, at least consider checking it out from a local library! d'Adamo also has a website available where he provides a lot of free information - just search under the book title.

 

[Juba]

Thanks anart,

I would not ask for pdf format if other options are available.

 

[Beau]

Thanks anart,

I would not ask for pdf format if other options are available.

It is usually not too difficult to find pdf's by using google to find sites which hosts them to download. With just a little effort, you should be able to locate it.

 

[Juba]

Did that, got one Italian version, thanks anyway anart.

 

[anart]

Did that, got one Italian version, thanks anyway anart.

I'm curious, why you are thanking me when Pinkerton assisted you?

 

[Juba]

Mistake, sorry, Thanks Pinkerton.

Sorry anart.

 

[JEEP]

This appeared on Signs today:

Milk Protein Linked to Autism, Schizophrenia, Diabetes and Heart Disease

How about this? I got a response from Mr. Jonsson regarding the Sott.net article on A1/A2 cows:

Hello,

As luck would have it, I'm nearing completion of an advanced Biochemistry course
at UC Berkeley, so your letter couldn't be more timely- it's just a bit premature.
I'll be able to give my full attention to the casomorphin issue in mid-August.
I will say one thing now, however- with the amount of genetic manipulation
the hapless Holstein-Freisian breed has undergone to turn the animals into
hyper-productive milk factories, I'm not the least bit surprised to learn that the
milk they provide might have components with unintended consequences.
Tweaking nature's grand design often yields such results.

I'll contact you again once I've completed my studies. In the mean time, I'd
stick to milk form Jersey and Guernsey cows, just to be safe.

Regards,

Randolph Jonsson
Webmaster/ Nutrition Consultant
_www.raw-milk-facts.com

Mr. Jonsson's follow up reply regarding the Sott.net article:

Hello,

I apologize for taking so long in getting back to you regarding my thoughts on this A1/A2 β-casomorphin-7 issue. As luck would have it, my new understanding of protein chemistry from the intensive Biochemistry course I just completed at UC Berkeley came in extremely handy. Now that I'm familiar with Dr. Woodford's premise/hypothesis (as mentioned in Ms. Minton's article: http://www.naturalnews.com/026684_cows_diabetes_casein.html), I feel better able to comment.

The main issue appears to be a single amino acid mutation (a proline molecule was replaced by a histamine) in the beta-casein protein molecule in some species of cows, notably Holsteins, which occurred some time in the distant past (at least several thousand years ago by Woodford's own estimate). It's a well-known fact (to biochemists, at least) that the digestive enzymes pepsin, trypsin and chymotrypsin do not cleave amino acids apart very well (if at all) next to proline. This means that in cows without the mutation (A2) such as Guernseys and to a lesser extent, Jerseys, the seven-amino acid opioid-peptide in question will not be formed, because the original proline will prevent cleavage at that site. Instead, a peptide of some other length and properties will be formed. In Holstein (A1) milk, say, with the more easily-cleaved mutant histidine residue in that key position, the opioid-like protein β-casomorphin-7 (BCM-7) will be formed upon proteolytic digestion. The fact that some studies claim to show higher A1 BCM-7 antibody levels in diabetics appears to lend credence to Woodford's hypothesis, as does anecdotal improvement in autistic children when given milk supposedly known to have A2 vs. A1 casein.

If the above were all there is to it, Woodford's case might be open and shut, but science and nature are not that cooperative. The confounding issues are numerous and inter-related, and without their consideration and/or elimination as variables, no truly valid conclusions can be drawn: Homogenization, pasteurization and ultra-high temperature pasteurization can all change physical properties of milk components with un-agreed upon consequences; Feedlot-grain, estrogen-laden soy and brewery-waste diets lead to: 1) elevated arachidonic acid (omega-6) content in the milk that, in the consumer with chronically high insulin levels (i.e. most Americans), can fuel prostaglandin production, leading to formation of pro-inflammatory prostaglandin-based derivatives such as thromboxanes and leukotrienes (potential precursors to heart disease) and 2) greatly reduced levels of the beneficial, immune-boosting, tumor-fighting fatty acid, CLA (up to 80% less); Selective breeding of Holstein-Freisians for hyperactive pituitary glands and the concomitant massive elevation in their lactation (also enhanced by soy) causes changes/additions in milk composition of which are anybody's guess; The mercury-laced preservative, thimerosal, in human vaccines, neurotoxic levels of MSG in processed foods and ubiquitous wheat gluten and gluten-derived peptides (suspected autism triggers); High fructose corn syrup, excessive sucrose, refined wheat flour, insulin resistance, obesity, MSG [again] (known factors leading to diabetes); Key B-vitamin dietary deficiencies from alcohol abuse, excitotoxic food additives such as MSG (yet again) and aspartame (possible contributors to schizophrenia and other mental disorders) and the unfortunate synergy likely when more than one of the above conditions are present in the same individual.

Finally, the ancient nature of the mutation itself, and absence of any significant disease-manifesting cohort in the traditional societies that consumed dairy products as their key protein source may or may not support the A1/A2 hypothesis. Perhaps these diseases have paralleled our dairy use through the ages and it's only now that our diagnostic abilities have reached a point where patterns and trends can be detected. Personally, I find that unlikely, but milk has frequently been questionable from the early 1800's on for various unsavory reasons. Or perhaps this whole issue is an effort to find a convenient foil to distract an increasingly-diseased population from the real causes of their ailments. Perhaps not. I don't have any vested interest in the dairy industry, but I like my raw milk, so getting to the bottom of this is a definite priority for me, as well.

The A1/A2 hypothesis is deceptively elegant, yet typical of postulates that are formed while turning a blind eye to the multi-variate conditions of which the real world is composed. While it seems plausible, indeed, even desirable, to infer that the higher levels of A1/BCM7 antibodies in diabetics is proof of A1/BCM7's role in causing the disease, the scientific method won't allow the luxury of that flawed logic to hold. Mere presence is not evidence of causality. I have no issue with the protein science, but the premise that β-casomorphin-7 plays a pathological role equal to, smaller, or larger than the combined influences of the above-mentioned factors, even with favorable anecdotal evidence, will require far more substantive research to move Woodford's hypothesis beyond anything but that which it remains today- a hypothesis.

Here's a website based in New Zealand which may or may not be owned by, or affiliated with, Dr. Woodford (ownership has been blocked from public view for whatever reason). It does an excellent job of explaining the issues and lists numerous studies that implicate or infer that A1 casein peptides can be harmful (many of which have subsequently been discredited):

_http://www.betacasein.org/

Still, all the above being said, the 'devil' really may be in the milk and not in the milkers. In the interim, and if you haven't already, you might be wise to seek out raw, organic grass-fed milk from Guernseys. Just in case...

Regards,

Randolph Jonsson
Webmaster/ Nutrition Consultant
_www.raw-milk-facts.com

FWIW