From: russ@wpg.com (Russell Lawrence)
Subject: Re: talk.politics.animals
Organization: WP Group
Distribution: usa
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1992 02:30:38 GMT


From article <1992Oct9.215308.8613@athena.cs.uga.edu>, by hulsey@athena.cs.uga.edu (Martin Hulsey):
mh> If the regimens that you and PCRM recommend are judged by similar
mh> criteria, you are in big trouble.  If vegans could eat their weight in
mh> food daily, they would STILL not get the necessary amount of B12 in
mh> their diet.

Would you consider gorillas and orangs to be "vegans"?  Do they get
the necessary amount of B12 in their diets?

How many micrograms of B12 are contained in a pound of soil?  How much 
soil does the average vegan consume during a lifetime? 

mh> ...
mh> The main purpose of this media circus is to scare people away 
mh> from dairy products so that the "rights" of cows won't be 
mh> violated.  As I have demonstrated above, the causal link between 
mh> milk consumption and diabetes is not unequivocally established.  

An article in the October, 1992 issue of _Scientific American_ 
mentioned that one of the authors of the July, 1992 NEJM article 
about milk~diabetes has been approached by several dairy and 
cattle groups who were enquiring about the possibility of 
creating transgenic cattle to alter the similarity between 
bovine serum albumin and p69.  Is it reasonable, in your opinion,
for these groups to be planning ahead just in case the
link between milk consumption and diabetes is unequivocally 
established in the future?   Why/why_not? 

mh> ...
mh> There is no evidence that people with a genetic predisposition for IDDM
mh> can avoid the disease by avoiding milk.  As suggested previously in
mh> another post, the prevalence of IDDM in subpopulations who do not drink
mh> cow's milk suggests otherwise.
mh>
mh> For example, in other studies ([1] Craighead, Am. J. Med. 70:127; 1981
mh> [2] Gamble et al., Br. Med. J. 3:627; 1969 [3] Gamble et al. Br. Med. J.
mh> 4:260; 1973), infectious agents are suggested to be triggers for IDDM.
mh> In these studies, children with IDDM had antibodies against viruses such
mh> as Coxsackie B.  The evidence here for a causal effect is equally weak.
mh> 
mh> Hulsey Tactic 106: Remind everyone that, other than genetics, the causal
mh> agent(s) for autoimmune IDDM have not been firmly established, so it is
mh> not yet time for a press conference.

In such a case, would you agree that it's even more premature for 
representatives of dairy farmers to investigate the possibility of
transgenic cattle?

mh> ...
mh> Because Dr. Barnard, the psychiatrist, has no credentials in nutrition,
mh> and is primarily concerned with cows rather than children, why should
mh> anyone take his nutrition advice seriously?
mh> 
mh> As a nutritionist, should I consider myself qualified to dispense
mh> psychiatric advice?  Laws and ethics prevent me from doing this.
mh> Unfortunately, there are no laws to prevent people like Barnard from
mh> proclaiming themselves to be nutritionists. 

I've learned quite a bit from your posts.  Would you mind listing your
own credentials briefly?  Are you a registered dietitian?

-- 
Russell Lawrence, WP Group, New Orleans (504) 443-5000
russ@wpg.com   uunet!wpg!russ
Newsgroups: sci.med.nutrition