News of Interest II

News of Interest II

G. Douglas Andersen, DC, DACBSP, CCN

Volume 11, number 5, 2/26/93, page 28
Yogurt, zinc, fish oil, vitamin A, and yellow dye #6.

It's always nice when something that we know is true is proven in a study. Such is the case of yogurt. There was a study done with 13 patients who suffered from recurrent candidal vaginitis. They consumed eight ounces of yogurt containing lactobacillus acidophilus each day for six months. The results were a three-fold decrease in infections and candidal colonization.1

With consumers not getting behind the idea to radiate meat and poultry, manufacturers are using a new substance to help destroy Salmonella in poultry -- trisodium phosphate -- which has other uses, including emulsifying processed cheese and cleaning floors. That's right, it's in a lot of floor cleaners. The agriculture department and the FDA call it safe. Better still, manufacturers don't have to list that they use trisodium phosphate on their label. Obviously, they learned that if they give the consumer full disclosure, like those who are using radiation on the poultry, the consumer may not buy their product. Hopefully, those companies who take pride in their poultry will also fully disclose whether or not they use trisodium phosphate in their processing.

A few years ago there were studies that showed that zinc reduced down time for people suffering from the common cold. However, there were other studies that refuted these results. This newest study finds that the form of zinc that was used in subsequent trials was not active. They used zinc gluconate lozenges in 73 people, who consumed up to eight lozenges containing 5-1/4 mg of zinc each. When compared to the placebo group, the length of cold symptoms was reduced from 6.1 to 4.9 days with congestion, runny nose, and cough the most affected and reduced complaint.2

People with coronary heart disease who undergo percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) have a stenosis recurrence rate of approximately 30-45 percent after six months. In this study, the test group was given a diet high in fish oil (4.5 mg per day), specifically omega-3 fatty acids. The control group was given capsules of olive oil. The restenosis rate was 22 percent in the test group compared to 40 percent in the control group. The authors do not know the mechanism by which the stenosis was reduced, but it is clearly a statistically significant reduction.3

A study was performed on 80 patients who experienced acute cerebral ischemia lasting for more than three hours. There was a control group of 80 patients who suffered from neurological disorders other than acute ischemia. Those patients who had a better neurological outcome after middle cerebral artery ischemic stroke had higher serum vitamin A concentrations.4 There was no comment on the mechanism of action. It is this author's opinion that what they observed were antioxidants at work again.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of patients with mild to moderate ulcerative colitis found that those who ingested fish oils of the omega-3 fatty acid family had a 56 percent decrease in disease activity compared to a four percent decrease of those on a placebo. The authors state that further studies are needed into the mechanism of action and the optimal dose and duration of fish oil needed.5

Lastly, an interesting study on calcium ingestion of normotensive and hypertensive pregnant women showed that 1,000 mg of calcium per day significantly lowered the diastolic blood pressure of the hypertensive group only. The hypertensive control subjects' mean serum ionic calcium value decreased over the 20-week experiment. Thus, a significant inverse relationship was observed between dietary calcium intake and blood pressure.6

References

1. Hilton I, et al: Ingestion of yogurt containing lactobacillus acidophilus as prophylaxis for candidal vaginitis. Annals of Internal Medicine, 116:5, 1992.

2. Godfrey C, et al: Zinc gluconate and the common cold: a controlled study. Journal of Internal Medical Research,(20):1992.

3. Bairati RM: Double-blind randomized controlled trial of fish oil supplements in prevention of recurrence of stenosis after coronary angioplasty. 85(3):1992.

4, De Keyser & De Klippel, et al: Serum concentrations of vitamins A and E in early outcome after ischemic stroke. Lancet, 339:1992.

5. Aslan & Triadafilopoulos: Fish oil fatty acid supplementation in active ulcerative colitis: a double-blind, placebocontrolled crossover study. American Journal of Clinician Nutrition. 87:1992.

6. Knight & Keith: Calcium supplementation of normotensive and hypertensive pregnant women. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 55:1992.

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