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Caustic Commentary

sugar. To ensure that the body’s digestive signals wouldn’t (PLoS ONE 2011;6(4): e18604). Of course Diabetes UK and
interfere with the experiments, a surgically implanted valve its counterparts in the U.S. have been pushing a lowfat, high-
in the rat’s upper stomach drained the food once eaten. Then carb diet for diabetics for decades; this study suggests that this
the team measured endocannabinoid activity in the brain disastrous advice may hasten kidney failure in these patients.
and other tissues. Endocannabinoids are chemicals produced
in the body identical to those found in marijuana. The rats ONE MILLION LIVES PER YEAR
given corn oil had a surge of endocannabinoid activity in the While health officials warn women in the U.S. against vi-
gut and wouldn’t stop eating the corn oil until given a com- tamin A supplements, a new Cochrane Review concludes
pound that blocked the cellular receptors for the drug-like that vitamin A supplement is effective in reducing all-cause
compounds. Then the rats stopped eating immediately. The mortality in Third World countries by 24 percent, mainly via
study is interesting for several reasons. First, it shows that reduced occurrence of measles and diarrhea. The researchers
feel-good chemicals can be produced in the gut in response reviewed data from forty-three randomized trials, represent-
to certain foods. Second it shows how the main conclusion of ing more than two hundred thousand children, ages six months
a study can be twisted by less-than-honest reporting. It was to five years. According to Professor Zulfiqar Butta, “More
not fats like butter and lard that caused the binge eating, but than 190 million children are vitamin A-deficient around the
corn oil! And rather than state the obvious conclusion—that globe; reducing their risk of mortality by 24 percent could
corn oil could make you overeat, so you shouldn’t eat it at save almost one million lives per year.” Vitamin A also helps
all—the researchers are now looking for a drug to interfere prevent blindness in Third World areas. These researchers
with endocannabinoid activity in the gut (www.sciencenews. recognize the major public health problem posed by vitamin
org, July 8, 2011). Drugs that interfere with endocannabinoid A deficiency “in low and middle income countries,” but not
activity in the brain make people anxious and irritable, so in high income countries like the U.S.
why should researchers expect different results with drugs
that target gut endocannabinoid receptors?

HIGH-FAT REVERSES KIDNEY FAILURE
The tragic epidemic of kidney failure, so common in diabet-
ics, puts a huge burden on our health care system, by some
estimates accounting for half of all medical costs. What if
a simple diet could reverse kidney failure? A recent study
on mice indicates the possibility. Researchers at the Mount
Sinai School of Medicine in New York used mice with both
type-one and type-two diabetes. Once kidney damage had FOR SCIENTISTS AND LAY READERS
developed, half the mice were put on a ketogenic diet, low
in carbohydrates and very high in fat. After eight weeks, the Please note that the mission of the Weston A. Price
researchers noted that kidney damage was reversed in those Foundation is to provide important information about
on the high-fat diet. Such exciting results should be shouted diet and health to both scientists and the lay public.
to the skies but health officials are administering a large dose For this reason, some of the articles in Wise Traditions
of cold water. “This research was carried out in mice so it is are necessarily technical. It is very important for us to
describe the science that supports the legitimacy of
difficult to see how these results would translate into any real our dietary principles. In articles aimed at scientists
benefits for people with diabetes at this stage,” said Dr. Iain and practitioners, we provide a summary of the main
Frame, director of research at Diabetes UK. “It is too simple points and also put the most technical information in
to say that kidney failure could be prevented by diet alone sidebars. These articles are balanced by others that
and it is also questionable whether the diet used in this model provide practical advice to our lay readers.
would be sustainable for humans, even in the short term”
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