Scientists studied twins’ diets. Those who ate vegan saw fast results.

A member of staff works inside ‘Rudy’s Vegan Butcher’ shop, amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, in London, Britain, October 30, 2020. Picture taken October 30, 2020. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

Aleksandra Shai Chai needed a moment to process the idea that she would be stuck eating a vegan diet for eight weeks.

Shai Chai, who typically eats meat, was participating in a study to examine the effects of different diets on twins’ health. When Stanford University researchers randomly distributed slips of papers to the twins last year to indicate which diet they would follow, Shai Chai hoped hers would say “omnivore.”

Instead, it said “vegan.” Her twin sister, Mariya Foster, would eat a diet of meat and vegetables.

Shai Chai replaced her favorite foods – bacon, sushi and steak – with tofu, beans and vegetables. She didn’t love the diet, but when Shai Chai recently learned the study’s results, she felt thankful that she had briefly changed her eating habits.

After examining 22 pairs of identical twins, researchers found that vegan eaters had lower cholesterol, insulin and body weight than participants who followed a meat diet, according to the results published last week in the JAMA Network Open journal.

Vegan eaters’ low-density lipoprotein – bad cholesterol – dropped on average by 15.2 milligrams over eight weeks; omnivore dieters’ fell by 2.4. Vegan eaters on average shed 4.2 more pounds than omnivores, and their insulin – which regulates blood sugar – dropped by roughly 20 percent more.

“That made it all worth it, for sure,” Shai Chai, 43, told The Washington Post. “I was like, ‘All right, at least I have a little bit of payback; a little benefit for the trouble.”

Christopher Gardner, a Stanford University professor of medicine, said participants’ genetics have sometimes muddied researchers’ understanding of how different diets affect people’s health. He wanted to find a clear answer on the effects of eating or avoiding meat and animal products on cardiovascular health, and he thought the best subjects would be people with nearly identical genes and upbringings.

Near the start of 2022, Gardner found participants through Stanford’s twin research registry. Shai Chai and Foster had signed up a few years earlier, thinking the studies would be a fun way to contribute to scientific discoveries. They were exactly the type of twins Gardner was looking for.

Foster was born about five minutes before Shai Chai in December of 1979 in Kyiv before they immigrated to San Francisco in 1995. They like the same food (fish and chicken), the same music (pop and techno) and sometimes unknowingly buy the same clothes. The sisters, who are 5-foot-5 and live a few blocks from each other, said they often finish each other’s sentences and know what the other is thinking.

In May of 2022, participants in the study received 21 weekly prepackaged meals from Trifecta, a meal-delivery service, featuring food from their assigned diets. The vegan meals consisted of oatmeal, tofu, broccoli, spinach, beans, lentils and brown rice. The omnivore meals were still healthy, but featured eggs, chicken, turkey bacon, vegetables and jasmine rice. Participants logged their meals on Cronometer, an app that tracks diet and health data.

Shai Chai said the vegan meals were tastier than she had expected, though she disliked some dishes. Foster sacrificed her favorite snacks – M&Ms and granola bars – for healthy meats and fruits. After seeing examples of meals following their diets, participants purchased their own groceries during the second half of the eight-week study.

Dietitians called participants a few times to discuss how they were faring. Participants also gave blood and stool samples and underwent physical and cognitive tests to assess how the diets affected their balance and memories.

Shai Chai said that after four weeks of a vegan diet, she had more energy and slept better. Still, she missed her favorite foods. Once, she went out to a sushi restaurant with friends but forced herself to eat vegan sushi.

While some participants continued to follow a vegan diet after the study concluded in July 2022, Shai Chai said she immediately started eating sushi again – which she said tasted better than ever. Foster said she has become more mindful of eating healthy and has developed meal ideas from Trifecta.

Gardner, who’s a vegetarian, hopes nutritionists use the study’s results to persuade clients to eat more vegan products. He said that vegan food contributes to the three most crucial ways to improve cardiovascular health: by increasing fiber and decreasing saturated fat and body weight.

He added that eating a vegan diet offers health benefits that could prolong someone’s life – a discovery that Foster said has prompted sibling teasing.“I was already five minutes older,” Foster said, “and now I’m [figuratively] even older because she got the vegan diet.” Scientists studied twins’ diets. Those who ate vegan saw fast results.

Read More........→March 01, 2024

How to maintain a healthy gut microbiome in 2024

SewCreamStudio/Shutterstock Rosie Young, Quadram Institute; Mariam Gamal El-Din, Quadram Institute, and Yang Yue, Quadram InstituteWe all know by now that the pillars of a healthy lifestyle are regular exercise, eating enough fruit and vegetables, a good night’s sleep and staying hydrated. All of these things also support the gut microbiome – all the microbes that live in your digestive system – but there are some extras to consider if you want to optimise your gut health.

It’s widely accepted among those of us who study the gut microbiome that a healthy gut is one that contains a diverse range of microbes and has an effective gut barrier (the lining between your intestine and bloodstream).

Let’s look at diet first. It probably has the biggest influence on your gut health. Diets high in fibre, unsaturated fatty acids (found in fish and nuts), and polyphenols (chemicals found in plants) will promote a healthy gut, while those high in saturated fats, additives (such as “E numbers”) and sugar can harm gut health. So avoid consuming a lot of ultra-processed foods.

Emulsifiers, a common additive in ultra-processed foods, have been found to cause intestinal inflammation and a leaky gut. The most common ones to look out for on packaging are lecithin, guar or xanthan gum, and mono- or diglycerides.

These additives are also common in protein supplements, whose popularity has steadily been increasing since the early 2000s, especially among gym goers looking to bulk up.

Prebiotics and probiotics

It would be unreasonable and unrealistic to tell you to avoid foods with additives, but trying to limit consumption, while increasing your consumption of prebiotic and probiotic foods, could help protect your gut.

Dietary fibre is a good example of a prebiotic, which is defined as a non-digestible food ingredient that can stimulate the growth of good bacteria in the colon. As the main food source of your gut microbes, it is important to consume enough if you want your microbiome to flourish. Government guidelines suggest around 30g of fibre a day for adults and 15-25g for children.

Adults should aim to consume 30g of fibre a day. Tatjana Baibakova/Shutterstock

Most prebiotics come from plant foods, so getting a high diversity of plant products in your diet will keep your gut healthy. The latest recommendation is to include 30 plant species in your diet per week. This may sound hard to achieve but bear in mind that both good-quality coffee and dark chocolate count.

Probiotics, the live bacteria and yeasts themselves, can be easily consumed through fermented food products, drinks or supplements. Choosing a high-quality probiotic is important. While there is an increasing amount on the market in supplement, powder and tablet form, they can be expensive. Fermented foods can be just as effective, but a whole lot cheaper.

Yoghurts, cheese, sauerkraut, kimchi and fermented soy products, such as tempeh and miso, are examples of fermented foods that not only support the healthy balance of your gut bacteria but provide a good source of fibres, vitamins and other nutrients.

To get the most benefit from these products, look for those in the fridge section labelled as containing “live cultures” or “live bacteria”, with minimal ingredients and no heating or pasteurisation processing.

Aside from what you eat, how often you eat could also affect your gut health. Fasting can allow repair of the gut lining and reduce inflammation.

Medication and the microbiome

Medications can directly and indirectly affect our gut health. You may have heard that antibiotics are bad for your gut microbiome, especially those which are “broad spectrum” and will kill off not only harmful bacteria but beneficial ones too. This can be associated with gastrointestinal problems and decreased immunity, especially after prolonged use.

Of course, doctors do not prescribe antibiotics lightly, so it is important to take them as instructed. If you are concerned, discuss the potential effects on your gut health with your GP.

Although you may not have much say over which medications you take, there are a few strategies to support your gut during and after medication.

Staying healthy by prioritising good sleep and managing stress levels is also important, but increasing your intake of both prebiotics and probiotics at this time may lessen the blow of medication on your microbiome.

It is always recommended you check with your doctor before introducing a probiotic supplement in the rare case that it may not be suitable alongside the treatment.

Microbiome research is continuously shedding new light on the intricate connections between the microbes that live in our gut and our wellbeing. So watch this space. In the meantime, follow the above advice – it will help you maintain a healthy gut microbiome in 2024 and beyond.

Rosie Young, PhD Candidate, Gut Microbes in Health and Disease, Quadram Institute; Mariam Gamal El-Din, Visiting Postdoctoral Scientist, Food Microbiome Interactions, Quadram Institute, and Yang Yue, PhD Candidate in Plants, Food and Health, Quadram Institute

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Read More........→January 10, 2024

Moderna CEO says melanoma vaccine could be available by 2025

WASHINGTON - Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel told AFP his company's experimental vaccine against melanoma could be available in as little as two years, in what would amount to a landmark step against the most serious form of skin cancer.

Globally there were an estimated 325,000 new melanoma cases and 57 ,000 deaths from the disease in 2020.

"We think that in some countries the product could be launched under accelerated approval by 2025," he said in an interview.

Unlike conventional vaccines, so-called therapeutic vaccines treat rather than prevent a disease. But they also work by training the body's own immune system against the invader.

Therapeutic vaccines today represent a real hope in oncology, an "immunotherapy 2.0," according to Bancel.

Moderna's aspirations received a boost Thursday with the latest clinical trial results showing an improvement over time in the chances of survival thanks to the vaccine, which uses the same messenger RNA technology that proved highly effective against serious forms of Covid-19.

In a study involving 157 people with advanced melanoma, the Moderna vaccine in combination with Merck's immunotherapy drug Keytruda reduced the risk of recurrence or death by 49 percent over a period of three years, compared with Keytruda alone.

Moderna had already announced two-year monitoring results last year, which showed a risk reduction of 44 percent.

"The difference in survival is growing. The more time passes, the more you see that advantage" said Bancel, noting that the rate of side effects hadn't increased.

"We have one in two people, compared to the best product on the market, who survive," he said, "which in oncology is huge."

- Seeking early approval -

The existing clinical evidence could thus form the basis for conditional approval of the vaccine, for now known as mRNA-4157, said Bancel.

Under this scenario, a larger, "phase three" study involving a thousand people that Moderna is carrying out in 2024 could confirm the earlier conditional authorization.

Both the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency have placed the therapy on an expedited review pathway.

The vaccine's development begins with sequencing the genome of each patient's tumor and identifying specific mutations to encode against. It is thus an example of "individualized" medicine tailored "just for you," said Bancel.

To prepare for market launch, Moderna is building a new factory in Massachusetts in order to have plentiful supply, a requirement of the FDA.

It also announced Monday that it was starting a phase 3 trial for an mRNA vaccine against lung cancer. Other types of tumors are also being studied.

Bancel's hope is to eventually pair these cancer vaccines with "liquid biopsies" -- groundbreaking tests that detect signs of tumors earlier, via blood tests, and are starting to become available in the United States.

The faster you can detect cancer, the better Moderna's new drugs will work, Bancel believes.

Other companies, such as BioNTech, are also working on individualized therapeutic cancer vaccines.

ia/tjjBy Lucie Aubourg. Moderna CEO says melanoma vaccine could be available by 2025

Read More........→January 04, 2024

Got milk? If you’re Black, Asian or Hispanic, make it lactose-free

Glass of milk. Photo: wikimedia.org

The Agriculture Department has proposed changes in its nutritional programs that could have a huge positive effect on the health of Black and Hispanic children from low-income households. For starters, the nation’s food stamp program would allow for more fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

Another game-changing proposal calls for providing lactose-free alternatives to cow’s milk – such as soy milk and soy-based yogurts and cheeses.

The USDA’s proposals follow a letter sent in October to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack from 31 members of Congress – mostly members of the Black, Hispanic and Asian Pacific American caucuses.

Their concern was the adverse impact that consuming cow’s milk has on schoolchildren, especially children of color.

“The rates of lactose intolerance in (people of color) are startlingly high, with 65 percent of Latino students, 75 percent of Black students, and 90 percent of Asian students unable to digest dairy milk without detrimental effects,” said the letter, whose signatories included Reps. Troy A. Carter (D-La.), who is leading the effort, and Hakeem Jefferies (D-N.Y.), who was recently elected leader of the House Democratic Caucus.

Boston Children’s Hospital notes that in young children, lactose intolerance is usually caused by digestive diseases or injuries to the small intestine. But most cases of lactose intolerance develop over many years in adolescents and adults. Each individual may experience symptoms differently, the hospital’s website says, but common symptoms – which typically begin about 30 minutes to two hours after consuming food or beverages containing lactose – include nausea, cramps, bloating, gas and diarrhea.

“This issue hit me hard both as a parent of two Black boys, and as a congressman of a majority-minority district in the south,” Carter said. “We know our nation’s public schools and health-care systems have deeply flawed histories – and, in some cases, current realities – of inequitable resource distribution and treatment of students and people of color. While this push to offer nondairy, nutritionally equivalent alternatives to our kids there at lunch counters may seem like a small fight, this is another one of those inequities facing communities of color that we can and therefore must take action to fix.”

The nation’s dairy industry, however, still pushes milk as a nutritious builder of strong bones and an important source of vitamin D. Last year, the American Dairy Association relaunched its “Got Milk?” campaign. This time, the campaign is relying more on social media influencers than celebrities and sports stars to market the product.

Moreover, despite its new proposals, the USDA continues to encourage consumption of fluid cow’s milk in it’s Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, as well as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs. Schools participating in the National School Lunch Program, for example, must offer students a cup of milk with each lunch.

USDA research analyzing dietary records of teenagers and children between 2003 and 2018 found that children aged 6 through 12 years old obtained 35 percent of their fluid milk at schools, while teenagers aged 13 through 18 years obtained 25 percent of their fluid milk at schools. Consumption of fluid milk was also higher for both groups on weekdays, when schools are generally in session, than on weekends.

“Free and reduced school lunch is supposed to be a safety net for our nation’s most vulnerable children, and is disproportionately utilized by students of color,” Carter said. “For many of these kids, school meals may be the only food available to them that day. Children cannot learn if they feel sick or hungry, and yet we know that millions of children, especially children of color, experience negative symptoms after ingesting the dairy that our current school lunch program requires be placed on every student’s lunch tray.”

Currently, children who suffer adverse reactions from cow’s milk must produce a doctor’s note if they choose not to accept traditional milk with their lunch. Carter says this puts an undue burden on minority students, some of whom may not yet know adverse health effects – such as exacerbated asthma – are caused by lactose intolerance.

The USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service boasts that it is working to “end hunger and improve food and nutrition security” through a suite of more than 15 nutrition assistance programs. Together, these programs serve 1 in 4 Americans over the course of a year, “promoting consistent and equitable access to healthy, safe, and affordable food essential to optimal health and well-being,” according to the USDA website.

But that is obviously aspirational. There is still a lot of work to do. The USDA is encouraging anyone interested in the proposed nutritional changes to provide feedback at www.regulations.gov. The comment period will be open until Feb. 21. Parents of children of color should let their voices be heard.“The sad reality is that by refusing to offer nondairy alternatives in our school lunch program, we not only waste millions of dollars through discarded, unopened milk, but this federal program is likely causing countless schoolchildren to feel sick and less able to learn,” Carter said. “After all, how can children be expected to successfully learn when they are experiencing preventable pain and discomfort? With a nutritionally equivalent solution available to us in soy milk, there is no reason that we should further delay bringing equity into our school lunchrooms.”Got milk? If you’re Black, Asian or Hispanic, make it lactose-free

Read More........→October 14, 2023

Is it okay to kiss your pet? The risk of animal-borne diseases is small, but real

Shutterstock Sarah McLean, Swinburne University of Technology and Enzo Palombo, Swinburne University of Technology

Our relationship with pets has changed drastically in recent decades. Pet ownership is at an all-time high, with a recent survey finding 69% of Australian households have at least one pet. We spend an estimated A$33 billion every year on caring for our fur babies.

While owning a pet is linked to numerous mental and physical health benefits, our pets can also harbour infectious diseases that can sometimes be passed on to us. For most people, the risk is low.

But some, such as pregnant people and those with weakened immune systems, are at greater risk of getting sick from animals. So, it’s important to know the risks and take necessary precautions to prevent infections.

 
What diseases can pets carry?

Infectious diseases that move from animals to humans are called zoonotic diseases or zoonoses. More than 70 pathogens of companion animals are known to be transmissible to people.

Sometimes, a pet that has a zoonotic pathogen may look sick. But often there may be no visible symptoms, making it easier for you to catch it, because you don’t suspect your pet of harbouring germs.

Zoonoses can be transmitted directly from pets to humans, such as through contact with saliva, bodily fluids and faeces, or indirectly, such as through contact with contaminated bedding, soil, food or water.

Studies suggest the prevalence of pet-associated zoonoses is low. However, the true number of infections is likely underestimated since many zoonoses are not “notifiable”, or may have multiple exposure pathways or generic symptoms.

Dogs and cats are major reservoirs of zoonotic infections (meaning the pathogens naturally live in their population) caused by viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites. In endemic regions in Africa and Asia, dogs are the main source of rabies which is transmitted through saliva.

Dogs also commonly carry Capnocytophaga bacteria in their mouths and saliva, which can be transmitted to people through close contact or bites. The vast majority of people won’t get sick, but these bacteria can occasionally cause infections in people with weakened immune systems, resulting in severe illness and sometimes death. Just last week, such a death was reported in Western Australia.

Cat-associated zoonoses include a number of illnesses spread by the faecal-oral route, such as giardiasis, campylobacteriosis, salmonellosis and toxoplasmosis. This means it’s especially important to wash your hands or use gloves whenever handling your cat’s litter tray.

Cats can also sometimes transmit infections through bites and scratches, including the aptly named cat scratch disease, which is caused by the bacterium Bartonella henselae.

Both dogs and cats are also reservoirs for methicillin-resistant bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), with close contact with pets identified as an important risk factor for zoonotic transmission.

Dog saliva hosts a bacterium that can cause serious illness and even death in some people. Shutterstock 

Birds, turtles and fish can also transmit disease:

But it’s not just dogs and cats that can spread diseases to humans. Pet birds can occasionally transmit psittacosis, a bacterial infection which causes pneumonia. Contact with pet turtles has been linked to Salmonella infections in humans, particularly in young children. Even pet fish have been linked to a range of bacterial infections in humans, including vibriosis, mycobacteriosis and salmonellosis.

Close contact with animals – and some behaviours in particular – increase the risk of zoonotic transmission. A study from the Netherlands found half of owners allowed pets to lick their faces, and 18% allowed dogs to share their bed. (Sharing a bed increases the duration of exposure to pathogens carried by pets.) The same study found 45% of cat owners allowed their cat to jump onto the kitchen sink.

Kissing pets has also been linked to occasional zoonotic infections in pet owners. In one case, a woman in Japan developed meningitis due to Pasteurella multicoda infection, after regularly kissing her dog’s face. These bacteria are often found in the oral cavities of dogs and cats.

Young children are also more likely to engage in behaviours which increase their risk of getting sick from animal-borne diseases – such as putting their hands in their mouth after touching pets. Children are also less likely to wash their hands properly after handling pets.

Although anybody who comes into contact with a zoonotic pathogen via their pet can become sick, certain people are more likely to suffer from serious illness. These people include the young, old, pregnant and immunosuppressed.

For example, while most people infected with the toxoplasmosis parasite will experience only mild illness, it can be life-threatening or cause birth defects in foetuses. Young children under 5 years old are more at risk of zoonotic diseases, and also more likely to engage in behaviours that increase their chances of catching something from their pet. Shutterstock

What should I do if I’m worried about catching a disease from my pet?

There are a number of good hygiene and pet husbandry practices that can reduce your risk of becoming sick. These include:

• washing your hands after playing with your pet and after handling their bedding, toys, or cleaning up faeces
• not allowing your pets to lick your face or open wounds
• supervising young children when they are playing with pets and when washing their hands after playing with pets
• wearing gloves when changing litter trays or cleaning aquariums
• wetting bird cage surfaces when cleaning to minimise aerosols
• keeping pets out of the kitchen (especially cats who can jump onto food preparation surfaces)
• keeping up to date with preventative veterinary care, including vaccinations and worm and tick treatments
• seeking veterinary care if you think your pet is unwell.

It is especially important for those who are at a higher risk of illness to take precautions to reduce their exposure to zoonotic pathogens. And if you’re thinking about getting a pet, ask your vet which type of animal would best suit your personal circumstances.

Sarah McLean, Lecturer in environmental health, Swinburne University of Technology and Enzo Palombo, Professor of Microbiology, Swinburne University of Technology

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Read More........→September 06, 2023