FEAST LAWRENCE NEWS January 2016 Foo d E n l igh tenme n t An d Su sta i nab i l i t y Tea ch i ng s

JoAnn Farb is the author

of Compassionate Souls —

Raising the Next Genera-

tion to Change the World,

and Get Off Gluten. She

teaches cooking classes at

the Community Mercantile,

speaks nationally on health,

nutrition and parenting,

and is a former microbiolo-

gist with Merck and Co

Inc. Visit her website for

more information:

www.JoAnnFarb.com

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Why Paleo Seems to Work Sometimes

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“I have in the last ten years changed my posi-tion. I refute the claims of the biotechnology com-panies that their engineered crops yield more, re-quire less pesticide, have no impact on the environ-ment and of course are safe to eat. The whole par-adigm is based on a misunderstanding, I think there is cause for alarm.” (Edited for brevity.)

— Thierry Vrain 2014, Former Head of Biotechnology, Agriculture Canada

Altered Genes Twisted Truth

By Steven M. Druker This EXCELLENT new book in LPL’s collection is meticulously detailed, and impeccably evi-dence-based. Wonder where the truth is between industry “educated” scientists /policy makers, and the alarm of con-sumer-advocates, ecologists, and enlightened health care providers? Get this book! Jane Goodall gave it glowing reviews.

How much money have drug reps spent trying to influence YOUR doctor?

https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/search Search this government data base to find out.

Science can be confusing. It is always evolving. Rarely do good scientists speak in abso-lute terms. Rather then declare that A is definitely NOT causal to B, more honestly they’ll say that based upon the data so far (which may be limited to biased experimental designs) there is no evidence that A is causal to

B. Please note the subtle but PROFOUND difference in these two statements. On the other hand, it is easier to say that A likely IS causal to B – a positive association is more compelling where as a nega-tive could be because the design or experimental ques-tion was not one that might

illuminate HOW and WHERE the association is strongest – in other words when all we have is the absence of data we don’t know if it’s because such data does not exist, or we simply did not ask the right question to find

MORE BAD SCIENCE!

The Dec Issue of Taste For-Life Magazine (distributed free at some stores) touts a study on eggs that they claim shows that diabetics can safely eat them: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2015/02/11/ajcn. 114.096925 But the study was obviously contrived for promotional pur-poses (and financed by the egg industry!) Type two diabetics and prediabetics were put into

Sun Jan 24, 3-4:30 FREE ! Open House with JoAnn Farb

at the Lawrence Public library. Mini lectures/slide show, food sampling , free recipes and information, books and DVDs available for checkout. Meet others who share your interest in health, social justice and environmental sustainability. Bring your questions, Bring your friends , come and go as suits you. Drop in for five minutes or stay the whole time!

two groups. the first ate two eggs a day, the second ate less than two eggs a week. Protein was kept equal between the two groups (meaning those eating less eggs had more meat or dairy, and these also ad-versely impact the same bi-omarkers being measured.) Results showed both groups had similar cholesterol and glycemic control. This is not a

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Copyright 2016 JoAnn Farb

Page 2 FEAST LAWRENCE NEWS January

Bad Science (...cont. from front)

Thurs January 28th My Next Class “Simple Plant-Based On the Go”

Why Paleo? (...cont. from front)

You don’t need a lot of time, expensive ingredients, or a chef’s kitchen to

have nourishing, delicious meals. We’ll demo five favorites full of phytochemi-

cals --all hearty, warming comfort foods, to sustain you when life gets busy. A

super easy, versatile, oil-free cheeze sauce from sunflower seeds, carrots and

potatoes will revolutionize your kitchen repertoire. Bean Burrito Bliss,

Creamed Pasta Florentine, Red Lentil Soup with Greens, Lemon and Cumin,

and an Herbed Vegetable Quinoa Pilaf will round out our menu. All gluten-

free and dairy free too!

This class will be taught at The Merc, 9th and Iowa, and you must pre-

register. ($18.00) call 785-843-8544 to register. Enrollment closes the day be-

fore.

it. This is why some in the medical profession think gluten is only prob-lematic for a very few. But evidence to the contrary can be found in unexpected places. This study — http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pubmed/21770680 found many people who DID benefit from a gluten free diet, were negative

by all commonly used tests. Unfortunately doctors who recog-nize gluten’s harms may be blind to a bigger (but harder to see in the short term) culprit. Mountains of research going back more than a century im-plicating meat, dairy and eggs with cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Alz-heimer’s and kidney disease are be-ing misunderstood, because of disinfor-mation propagated by big food and pharma and widely lauded by those looking for good news about their bad habits. As with climate change denial – a scientifically challenged media pre-sent both perspectives as having equiv-alent science to support them, when they do not. Except for a few genetic lottery win-ners, (people with exceptionally “good” genes who defy the odds) the more cal-ories derived from meat, dairy or eggs and the fewer from plants, the more likely an individual will become chron-ically ill or die prematurely. So why then are some evangelical about a diet, (Atkins, Paleo, Low carb etc.) that if widely adopted would accelerate cli-mate change, increase food insecurity for the global poor and requires turning

a blind eye towards unnecessary vio-lence/injustice against more beings (human and non-human) than the number of humans currently on the planet? The answer is gluten! (And for a small subset all grains) Given that animal fats contain the most pro-inflammatory fatty acid known – arachidonic acid, and animal protein increases inflamma-tion, blood cholesterol and damages blood vessels, the fact that some people can actually feel better eating more of these things (but reducing or eliminating gluten) is highly suggestive of just how problematic gluten can be for some peo-ple, many of whom will test negative by all currently used tests for gluten intoler-ance. While lower carb diets can be helpful by eliminating gluten and/or grains, Paleo often gets people off sugar, processed foods and dairy, while eating more green vegetables. This last point is important because most Americans are so deficient in protective phytochemicals/antioxidants from plants – that those consuming cof-fee often show tiny benefits over the gen-eral population because for many Ameri-cans, coffee IS their major source of phy-tochemicals! But don’t be misled – Paleo is likely to be harmful to long term health, and if widely adopted would be devastating to the global poor, the envi-ronment and animals. For the more complete version of this article, including active links to support-ive information read this entire article on my blog : http://joannfarb.weebly.com/blog

surprise since both groups were still eating a diet well established by numerous stud-ies to advance cardiovascular disease. Ag interests have a history of funding studies like this one, where a true control group is not used, since their purpose is not to show how what diet might actually lower risk in a meaningful way, but rather to seduce the press into printing headlines that support egg sales. In fact studies, not funded by egg interests suggest that even eating just a single egg per week increases complications from Diabetes: http://nutritionfacts.org/video/eggs-and-diabetes/ Keep in mind too —cholesterol level is like a glass filled with water — once the glass is full, (and once enough cholester-ol is consumed) no matter how much addi-tional dietary cholesterol you add, the lev-el does not rise further — it’s already high. (And suggestive that one is at in-creased risk for chronic disease.) It is unfortunate for all of us that some local retailers choose to support this publi-cation, and give provide it free to their customers, thereby increasing dissemina-tion of biased research that confuses peo-ple about what the bulk of science really says. Misinformation like this could dra-matically harm some individuals. Any retailer who is serious about promoting health should distance from this publica-tion, or at the very least also provide bal-anced sources and not just those doing the bidding of big food and big pharma.