The Unhealthy Food: Toxic Chemicals and Proteins

For once not writing about International air freight (my main profession)!

Some of you might hate me for this post, yet I am going ahead.

For a long time, I did not write anything on a healthy diet and diabetes. However, there seems to be a new trend on high protein diet and another trend of carbohydrates bashing.

Disclaimer

I am not a nutritionist, not a doctor but I followed a high carb diet (Thank you Cyrus and Robbie: Mastering Diabetes) that tackled blood glucose levels and and a high HbA1C.

Nothing here is a nutrition advice and nothing is a medical advice. All that is mentioned here were and are instructions to myself and I followed them. Those who are acquainted with me know that I follow them.

High Carb Diet: WFPB Diet

That is the diet that I followed. A big shout out to Cyrus and Robbie of Mastering Diabetes. The diet consisted of 75% carbohydrates (WFPB: unprocessed), Maximum 15% Protein (WFPB) and Maximum 10% dietary fat (no manufactured fats), combined with a daily physical activity for a minimum 45 minutes non-stop, no weights. WFPB = Whole Food Plant Based. HbA1C brought down from 13.2 to 6.4 in seven months. No supplements. No Metformin during the period.

I do not follow a High Protein Diet

Do not fall into the trap of a high protein diet. A high protein diet can damage your kidneys. You do not have to take my word for it. The National Library of Medicine (NLM, PubMed Central) has a research paper on it. PMC7460905 [1]

High dietary protein intake can cause intraglomerular hypertension, which may result in kidney hyperfiltration, glomerular injury, and proteinuria. It is possible that long-term high protein intake may lead to?de novo?CKD. The quality of dietary protein may also play a role in kidney health. Compared with protein from plant sources, animal protein has been associated with an increased risk of ESKD in several observational studies, including the Singapore Chinese Health Study.[1]

“Recently, we have witnessed a growing popularity in low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets,” said Knight, also of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. “As millions of Americans experiment with these diets and protein supplements, caregivers and researchers continue to question what the long-term health outcomes will be. While many questions still remain unanswered, we certainly have some evidence that among women with reduced kidney function, these diets may have adverse effects.” - The Harvard Gazette.

Eating a lot of protein, especially animal protein and red meat, creates more acid and toxins in the body,” Dr. Calle - Cleveland Clinic

There are others with an exactly opposite opinion. However, may common sense prevail. An excess of anything is poison. What we need is a balanced diet. More than that we need common sense.

Diabetes - Life Style Disease

Have a look at MasteringDiabetes, you will not be disappointed. When it comes to diabetes and other life style diseases:

cut out on

1. processed food
2. junk food
3. manufactured SUGAR
4. crisps (aka chips)
5. white bread [2]
6. anything made from "white flour" (bleached) (Bharat: Maida is a killer) . Alloxan [3] used in the manufacture? Here is an article about alloxan. See below quotation of the American Chemical Society.
7. soft drinks (how many of you know about phosphoric acid, BVO and more)
8. Fruit juices (eat the fruit)

Use organic fruit and vegetables. (think about Glyphosate). When it comes to soft drinks, one particular chemical stands out. It is banned in many countries but is still permitted (please prove me wrong) in the US. It is a chemical that affects the Thyroid. It goes by the name of BVO or Brominated Vegetable Oil[4]

Alloxan is sometimes used in dye manufacture, but its main (and most notorious) use is to induce diabetes in laboratory rodents. Alloxan’s structure mimics that of glucose, which allows it to be absorbed by the pancreas. Once inside the organ, it destroys insulin-producing β-cells and produces a disease similar to type 1 diabetes in humans. Fortunately, alloxan is not taken up by the human pancreas, but it has shown liver and kidney toxicity.[5]

Dairy Products

Those who consume milk: for those in the US: does the milk packaging mention "rBST"? avoid it.

Additionally, milk from cows fed on fodder containing bone-meal and can never be healthy. Cows are herbivorous and not carnivorous.

For a long time, I have been searching for scientific papers dedicated to research on dairy products from cattle fed on plant based fodder (cows are herbivorous). The cattle that were not treated on any chemical supplements and hormones (free from bovine somatotropin (bST) , bovine growth hormone (BGH) and recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST) ). If anybody has information on such research, please do drop me a line.

For the Bharatiyas

Cheese! Not all cheeses are vegetarian! Read the label carefully. It should state "vegetable rennet" or "microbial rennet". However, Chymosin and pepsin, made from fermentation may not be plant based! If no rennet is mentioned on the label, I will not buy it. Better to make paneer at home.

Tinned Food

Check if the container is free of BPA (Bisphenol A) and if the container shows "BPA Free" it means nothing. It must say "BPA Free and BPS freed". BPA and BPS have been shown to be toxic[6]. BPA is used to coat the inside of the tins.

Additionally:

• Stop using aluminium utensils, containers, pots and pans!
• Non-stick sounds good? Research PFAS chemicals!! It will not be a pleasant experience.

A Few More Toxic Chemicals in Food

• Nitrates and nitrites,
• perfluroalkyl chemicals,
• phthalates
• perchlorates

There are many more. I know, this articles will not bring a smile on your face and I do not mean to do that either.

Constructive criticism will be appreciated.

Abbreviations Reference

For those who do not know the abbreviations mentioned above:

CKD = Chronic Kidney Disease

ESKD = End Stage Kidney Disease

References

[1] Ko GJ, Rhee CM, Kalantar-Zadeh K, Joshi S. The Effects of High-Protein Diets on Kidney Health and Longevity. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2020 Aug;31(8):1667-1679. doi: 10.1681/ASN.2020010028. Epub 2020 Jul 15. PMID: 32669325; PMCID: PMC7460905.

[2] Flour used in the manufacture of bread: check if Alloxan and Potassium bromate was used in the manufacture.

[3] Selective toxicity of Alloxan: Malaisse WJ, Malaisse-Lagae F, Sener A, Pipeleers DG. Determinants of the selective toxicity of alloxan to the pancreatic B cell. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Feb;79(3):927-30. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.3.927. PMID: 7038690; PMCID: PMC345866.

[4] K.A. Woodling, P. Chitranshi, C.C. Jacob, L. Loukotková, L.S. Von Tungeln, G.R. Olson, R.E. Patton, S. Francke, S.R. Mog, R.P. Felton, F.A. Beland, Y. Zang, G. Gamboa da Costa, Toxicological evaluation of brominated vegetable oil in Sprague Dawley rats, Food and Chemical Toxicology, Volume 165, 2022, 113137, ISSN 0278-6915, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2022.113137. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691522003350)

[5] ACS Americal Chemical Society

[6] Thoene M, Dzika E, Gonkowski S, Wojtkiewicz J. Bisphenol S in Food Causes Hormonal and Obesogenic Effects Comparable to or Worse than Bisphenol A: A Literature Review. Nutrients. 2020 Feb 19;12(2):532. doi: 10.3390/nu12020532. PMID: 32092919; PMCID: PMC7071457.