[Vision2020] Care About Healthy School Nutrition for Our Children?

[Saundra Lund]

Hi Donovan & Other Visionaries,

 

Thanks for your response and for the opportunity to provide accurate
information.

 

First, because improving the nutrition available for all children who eat
meals at school is very important to me, I renew my request that folks take
this opportunity to contact the USDA to encourage that vegetarian meals and
non-dairy beverage options be incorporated into The Child Nutrition Act
revisions currently being drafted (for those who may have missed my original
post, please scroll down or go to
http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/2008-September/056598.html).

 

Second, the study you cited has nothing to do with the topic I was posting
about, although through no fault of yours, no one would know that from
reading the links since the study itself wasn’t identified in the links you
provided.  In case there are other science junkies like me here, feel free
to check out:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18779510?ordinalpos=1
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18779510?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem
2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocS
um>
&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReport
Panel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

OR

http://tinyurl.com/4e65uu

Vitamin B12 status and rate of brain volume loss in community-dwelling
elderly.

 

With permission, I’m sharing the response I received from my contact at
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, who has given permission for
it to be shared to anyone who may be confused:

 

Headlines claiming that vegetarian and vegan diets cause "brain shrinkage"
have received quite a bit of attention recently. These headlines are based
on a recent study conducted by researchers at Oxford and published in the
Journal "Neurology". This was not a study of vegans or vegetarians.
Unfortunately, this sound research study on vitamin B12 status in older
adults has been mistakenly misconstrued by a few members of the popular
media.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18779510?ordinalpos=1
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18779510?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem
2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocS
um>
&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReport
Panel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

 

This study looked at older adults, who are much more likely to be deficient
in vitamin B12 compared to younger adults. This allowed the researchers to
see the differences in brain atrophy, or "shrinkage," between groups of
people with low B12 levels vs. normal B12 levels. In fact, the researchers
found that older adults with lower B12 levels lost more brain mass over a
five-year period compared to those with higher B12 levels. But this does not
necessarily have anything to do with their diet, and because dietary intake
was not measured, there is no evidence of a relationship between a
vegetarian or vegan diet and brain volume.  

 

The most common cause of B12 deficiency actually has nothing to do with
diet.  Rather, some people simply cannot absorb it adequately. Normally,
cells in the stomach produce a compound called intrinsic factor, which
combines with vitamin B12 and allows it to be absorbed in the small
intestine. Some people cannot make intrinsic factor, because of various
stomach disorders. They need monthly B12 injections or very large oral doses
(1,000 - 2,000 mcg per day).  Also, certain medicines for acid stomach, such
as omeprazole (Prilosec), esomeprazole (Nexium), ranitidine (Zantac), or
famotidine (Pepcid), interfere with the body's ability to absorb B12. 

 

Vegan diets need to be supplemented with B12. However, the National Academy
of Sciences recommends that everyone over age 50 take a B12 supplement or
use B12-fortified foods, and some have suggested that this should apply to
all age groups. The reason is that about 15 percent of older meat-eaters-and
some younger ones as well-are low in B12.  So, the bottom line is to take a
multiple vitamin or a B12 supplement. This is not a reason to add meat to
your diet; that would lead to far worse problems. 

 

The harm in the popular media's misinterpretation of this study is twofold.
First, reporters have wrongfully implicated vegetarian and vegan diets in
causing brain shrinkage, while research continues to show the health
benefits of this plant-based eating pattern. But most regrettably, we as a
community have failed to acknowledge the value of this study, which clearly
demonstrates the need to prevent, screen, and treat vitamin B12 deficiency
in older adults. While these vulnerable members of our community go
unnoticed, they continue to suffer from preventable cognitive decline, nerve
damage, personality changes, and depression. 

 

Furthermore, the authors of this article noted that other risk factors for
brain atrophy include hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia. So, PCRM
concludes that those people who follow a low-fat vegan diet and take a
vitamin B12 supplement have a low risk of brain atrophy, as a low-fat vegan
diet has demonstrated improvements and reversals of all of the above risk
factors. 

 

Please see PCRM's fact sheet on vitamin B12 for more information.

http://www.pcrm.org/health/PDFs/faq_b12.pdf

 

Best regards,

 

Katie Strong, M.S., R.D.

Staff Dietitian

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

5100 Wisconsin Ave, NW, Suite 400

Washington, DC 20016

Phone: 202-686-2210 ext. 338

Fax: 202-686-2216

kstrong at pcrm.org

 

 

Saundra Lund

Moscow, ID

 

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
nothing.

~ Edmund Burke

 

***** Original material contained herein is Copyright 2008 through life plus
70 years, Saundra Lund.  Do not copy, forward, excerpt, or reproduce outside
the Vision 2020 forum without the express written permission of the
author.*****

 

From: Donovan Arnold [mailto:donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com] 
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008 9:25 PM
To: vision2020 at moscow.com; Saundra Lund
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Care About Healthy School Nutrition for Our
Children?

 


Didn't they just find out that not eating meat shrinks the brain?

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/HealthSci/Eating_veggies_shrinks_the_brai
n/articleshow/3480629.cms 

http://www.nowpublic.com/health/eating-veggies-shrinks-brain

http://www.freshplaza.com/news_detail.asp?id=28622

Isn't that something the students need? I sure could have used a bigger
brain in school, now I don't need it that much, but I sure could have used
one back when I was in school.

 

Best Regards,

 

Donovan

--- On Thu, 9/25/08, Saundra Lund <sslund_2007 at verizon.net> wrote:

From: Saundra Lund <sslund_2007 at verizon.net>
Subject: [Vision2020] Care About Healthy School Nutrition for Our Children?
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Date: Thursday, September 25, 2008, 11:11 AM

If so, then I urge you to contact Mr. Robert M. Eadie, Policy and Program
Planning Branch Chief for the USDA to encourage that vegetarian meals and
non-dairy beverage options be incorporated into The Child Nutrition Act
revisions currently being drafted.
 
You can contact Mr. Eadie by letter, fax, or email at:
 
Mr. Robert M. Eadie, Policy and Program Planning Branch Chief
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service
3101 Park Center Drive, Room 640
Alexandria, VA 22302-1594
E-mail: robert.eadie at fns.usda.gov
Fax: (703) 305-2879
 
You can learn more about what we can do to provide healthy meal options in
our schools at:
http://www.healthyschoollunches.org/
 
For those who don't want to have to reinvent the wheel, below is a copy of
our letter:
 
Dear Mr. Eadie,
 
Although neither of us are vegetarian, our daughter took the "Pledge to be
Veg" when she was in the seventh grade.  She graduated from high school in
June, and she remained vegetarian in spite of the challenges school
breakfasts and lunches provided throughout the years.  And, out of the group
of friends who took the Pledge, all 11 of them remain vegetarian today.
 
Many children do not consume animal products due to ethical, religious, or
health reasons.  Children of color are especially likely to need an
alternative to regular cow's milk, due to lactose intolerance.  It is
***essential*** that the National School Lunch Program accommodate all
students!  The American Medical Association and American Public Health
Association already support efforts to provide vegetables, fruits, legumes,
grains, vegetarian foods, and healthful nondairy beverages in school lunches
and food assistance programs.
 
We ask the USDA to include these items when the Child Nutrition Act is
reauthorized next year:
-  Nondairy beverage alternatives should be available and reimbursable
without a note wherever cow's milk is provided.  Offering all students a
nutritious nondairy beverage will reduce saturated fat consumption and
increase overall program participation. 
 
-- Vegetarian meal options should be available every day, as trailblazing
states such as California, Florida, Hawaii, and New York have already
recommended.  Whether a student consumes a vegetarian diet or chooses an
occasional vegetarian meal, experts agree that plant-based foods are healthy
choices for all children.
 
-- Nondairy vegetarian commodity foods should be readily available to
schools.  The USDA should provide schools with more fresh fruits and
vegetables and plant-based entrées to help meet the demand for these
healthful foods.   The USDA and Congress should shift federal subsidies so
that they support child health rather than agricultural interests.
 
We join the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, the American
Medical Association, and the American Public Health Association in asking
the USDA to provide healthful vegetarian foods including vegetables, fruits,
legumes, grains, and nutritious nondairy beverages in schools.  Increasing
access to low-fat, cholesterol-free, vegetarian foods will help mitigate the
rising prevalence of obesity and other chronic diseases.
 
 
Sincerely,
Saundra & Bill Lund
<snip>
_____
 
Saundra Lund
Moscow, ID
 
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
 
 
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