Page 9 - Summer 2017 Journal

GRAIN DRAIN
We have often warned against breakfast cereals made of extruded grains; unpublished research indicates that these cereals can be extremely toxic to the nerves in the digestive system. Now we have a published study that gives a partial explanation for these effects. Researchers at the Norwegian Institute of Food, Fisheries and Aquaculture Research fed pigs either whole grain barley or oat groats, and these same grains in extruded form. The extruded grains resulted in lower gut bacteria diversity along with higher levels of pathogenic bacteria such as streptococcus. Grains that had not been extruded re-
sulted in higher levels
of bacteria producing
beneficial lactic acid
and butyric acid. Said
the researchers: “This
is the first study show-
ing that cereal extru-
sion affects the micro-
biota composition and
diversity towards a
state generally thought
to be less beneficial for
health. . .” (Food and
Function 2016;2).
MYTH OF THE CRISPR
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are created by hit-and-miss techniques involving “gene guns” that shoot DNA-coated metal or DNA-containing bacteria (usually E. coli) into a seed. The GMO seed industry has countered concerns about such imprecise methods by introducing a new process for gene editing called CRISPR, said to “precisely alter” the DNA of living organisms. However, a new study has found that the gene-editing technology can introduce hundreds of unintended mutations into a genome. Using the CRISPR technique to correct a gene that causes blindness in mice—a procedure that was successful—the research- ers found that the entire genome had sustained more than fifteen hundred single-nucleotide mutations and more than one hundred larger deletions and insertions. None of these DNA mutations was predicted by computer algorithms that
SUMMER 2017
the researchers use to look for off-target effects (Nature Methods 2017). Of course, the best way to prevent blindness in any animal is to provide a pre-conception and pregnancy diet rich in vitamin A and cofactors, but such a sensible approach does not provide a lot of jobs for microbiologists.
GENETICS FOR THE BEFUDDLED
Greeks living in the mountainous villages of Zoniana and Anogia in Crete eat lots of fatty lamb and cheese, yet they have low rates of heart disease and are known for living well into old age. Of course, this has researchers scratching their
heads because, as ev- erybody knows “eat- ing foods that contain saturated fats raises the level of cholesterol in the blood [wrong], and high levels of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in the blood increase the risk of heart disease and stroke [wrong].” What are scientists to do when confronted with evidence that contradicts the reign-
ing medical dogma? They retreat to the last refuge of the scoundrel: genetics. Genetic testing of all the villagers found a genetic variant unique to the inhabitants of these two vil- lages, and since our DNA is “the operating instructions for each one of us which determine how we look and who we are [wrong again],” that must explain how the villagers can eat a terrible diet but still be healthy. What these findings do not explain is why so many other groups also have low rates of heart disease in spite of a diet high in animal fats: the inhabitants of France, Austria, Switzerland, Iceland, Finland, Ikaria, Okinawa and Sardinia, and the Inuit of Alaska and Canada. Do these groups also have a genetic variant that protects them? Or is the diet itself the something that protects them? (bbc.com/news/health-40047262).
Caustic Commentary
Sally Fallon Morell takes on the Diet Dictocrats
Wise Traditions 9