Page 19 - Summer2010

Caustic Commentary

of cancer, and the lowest cancer mortality, especially in men. so contradictory. The FDA recently approved a cholesterol
Said the authors, “These findings suggest that dietary intake of supplement to improve the retardation, hyperactivity, irritabil-
menaquinones, which is highly determined by the consump- ity, poor attention span and tendency toward aggressive and
tion of cheese, is associated with a reduced risk of incident and self-injuring behavior seen in children with Smith-Lemli-
fatal cancer” (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, March Opitz Syndrome, a genetic disorder that prevents the body
24, 2010). Cheese is probably the best source of vitamin K in from manufacturing all the cholesterol it needs. And follow-
2
the western diet, but the Diet Dictocrats seem determined to ing research showing impaired cholesterol pathways in the
take it away from us, citing the risk of saturated fat. brains of autistic children, researchers are now conducting a
study to determine whether children with autism spectrum
PESTICIDES AND THE BRAIN disorders and low cholesterol can benefit from increasing their
Repeated exposure to pesticides is associated with an increase dietary cholesterol intake. It seems like the entire government
in the risk for Alzheimer’s disease in late life, according to is suffering from autism spectrum disorder if it can’t make
an observational study published in Neurology (May, 2010 the connection between irritability, poor attention span and
Vol 74, pp 1524-1530). According to the study authors, com- aggressive behavior in cholesterol-deprived children and
monly used organophosphate and organochlorine pesticides irritability, poor attention span and aggressive behavior in
inhibit acetylcholinesterase—needed for learning, memory adults on cholesterol-lowering drugs.
and concentration—at synapses in the somatic, autonomic
and central nervous sytsems and therefore may have lasting PRAISE THE LARD
effects on the nervous sytem. In the study, the most common Super chef Michael Symon, winner of numerous awards and
route of exposure was farming. Here’s yet another reason to owner of five restaurants in the Cleveland and Detroit areas,
purchase organic foods. The more we eat organic, the fewer gets top billing for his juicy high-fat burgers—made from a
people will be forced to work in agricultural jobs that expose 75/25 blend, rather than the usual dry 90/10 blend. He also
them to pesticides. likes to prepare variety meats like cheek, tongue and heart
and, best of all, he cooks only in lard. “All our fryers are filled
MORE STATIN RISKS with lard and only lard. We use that at all of our restaurants.
While the FDA recently approved use of cholesterol-lowering For one thing, it tastes better. Two, it’s natural, it’s not hy-
drugs for people with normal cholesterols levels, and whose drogenated. People are just now figuring that out—all these
doctors haven’t diagnosed them yet with heart disease, the over-processed fats are way worse for you than the animal
agency has also warned that statins can cause muscle dam- fats, whether it be lard of beef tallow” (cattlenetwork.com,
age as well as severe and potentially lethal muscle damage, April 9, 2010).
especially at high doses. A study just published in the British
Medical Journal (May 20, 2010) found that people taking
statins at a range of doses have a higher risk of liver dysfunc- FOR SCIENTISTS AND LAY READERS
tion, kidney failure, muscle weakness and cataracts. Did the
study authors call for a ban on this dangerous drug? No, they Please note that the mission of the Weston A. Price
just equivocated: “Our study is likely to be useful for policy Foundation is to provide important information about diet
and planning purposes,” said the lead researchers “. . . [and] and health to both scientists and the lay public. For this
reason, some of the articles in Wise Traditions are neces-
for informing guidelines on the type and dose of statins.” sarily technical. It is very important for us to describe the
Another study found that statins could raise a person’s risk science that supports the legitimacy of our dietary prin-
of developing type 2 diabetes by 9 percent (The Lancet, 2010 ciples. In articles aimed at scientists and practitioners, we
February 27 375(9716):735 - 742). provide a summary of the main points and also put the
most technical information in sidebars. These articles are
CHOLESTEROL SUPPLEMENT balanced by others that provide practical advice to our
Sometimes it’s hard to believe a government agency can be lay readers.

SUMMER 2010 Wise Traditions 19