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Are Nut Bans Promoting Hysteria?
Excerpt:
In the column, Dr. Christakis points out that about 3.3 million Americans are allergic to nuts, and even more — 6.9 million — are allergic to seafood. But of 30 million hospitalizations each year, just 2,000 are due to food allergies, and about 150 people die annually from serious allergic food reactions. That’s the same number of people killed by bee stings and lightning strikes combined. About 10,000 children are hospitalized annually with traumatic brain injuries from sports, 2,000 children drown each year, and about 1,300 die in gun accidents, he writes.
Dr. Christakis notes that there is no scientific evidence that nut bans are particularly effective at protecting children. But more important, he argues, is that limiting widespread exposure to nuts can make things worse. The “policy of avoidance” means that fewer children are being exposed to nuts, likely increasing their risk for developing an allergy. A 2008 study in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology of 10,000 British children found that early exposure to peanuts lowers risk of allergy, rather than increasing it.
At this time of year many municipal elementary schools in the United States, including the one attended by my children, raise money by selling wrapping paper and candy. This year parents in our school were told that they could no longer pick up their purchases from their children’s classrooms. Instead they had to pick up their orders from a loading dock at specified times, to avoid a danger to the children. The danger? Some of the orders contained sealed tins of festive nuts.
Out of an overabundance of caution the school decided not to allow any of the items on the premises. This decision came on the heels of another recent event: a peanut was spotted on the floor of a school bus, whereupon the bus was evacuated and cleaned (I am tempted to say decontaminated), even though it was full of 10 year olds who, unlike 2 year olds, could actually be told not to eat food off the floor.
Meat Processors Look for Ways to Keep Ground Beef Safe
Excerpt:
Fifteen years after an outbreak at Jack in the Box restaurants made people aware that hamburgers could kill them, the American beef industry is still searching for a practical method to prevent the toxic E. coli strain from contaminating ground beef.
“If you gave me a million, zillion dollars and said give me a plant that doesn’t have E. coli, I couldn’t do it,” said Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. “It’s not about the will. It’s about the ability.”
Comment: Food irradiation is also a viable approach! Meanwhile, buy ground beef from a reliable source and cook it thoroughly! No steak tartare!
Say Hello to the Bugs in Your Gut
Excerpts:
From an early age, the human body is home to a huge but ever-changing community of microbes: for each one of our cells, there are 10 microbial cells in or on the body. Most of them live in the intestines; the bulk of the rest inhabit the mouth, esophagus, stomach, upper airway, skin and vagina. No one knows how many different species coexist inside the human gut. In the first comprehensive census of the gut, David Relman and his colleagues at Stanford University quit counting after they hit 395 different species in three healthy subjects. The real cast of characters will almost certainly number in the thousands.
Curiously, we don't start life with such a microbial partnership. A developing baby floats in sterile amniotic fluid, protected from bumps—and bugs. That isolation ends during the baby's trip through the birth canal, which is a haven for bacteria. The baby picks up microbes on his or her skin; some get into the mouth. From then on, helpful microbes somehow convince the immune system that they mean no harm. They settle down in hospitable regions, and crowd out those that can't compete.
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What's indigestible to you is a seven-course meal to your gut microbiota. The conditions in the colon—dark, moist and free of oxygen—are just what your gut microbiota needs to ferment indigestible material passed on from the small intestine and produce simple sugars and short, chain-free fatty acids. They do this for their own good, but they also share some of these energy-rich substances with their host—us. Some people get up to 10 percent of their daily calories from substances produced by their gut bugs.
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The energy content of food isn't a fixed quantity. Consider the 110 calories per cup listed on a box of Cheerios. Some people may get that much, others may get less, depending on their gut microbiota. A difference of just 25 calories a day—that's half a rice cake or one chocolate kiss—between what you take in and what you burn could mean a gain or loss of more than two pounds in a year and 20 pounds over a decade.
Comment: Very interesting article!
I found my appointment with a Wellness Consultant (Sara B) valuable (earlier post):
