Diet, Nutrition and the Context of RiskBy G. Douglas Andersen, DC, DACBSP, CCN Food and supplement safety is a topic that often comes up when I speak to chiropractors for continuing-education relicensing, even when it is not the advertised subject. In fact, it was an off-topic discussion that prompted me to research and write about genetically modified foods (the umbrella term is GMO, with the "O" standing for organism) after a doctor said she would never eat corn because of how unhealthy GMOs are. My reply caught her off guard because instead of arguing about corn on the cob, I pointed to the can of soda and little bag of cookies on her desk, and asked why she was worried about corn. This news-out-of-context theme usually works like this:
Obviously, details count when it comes to getting any story right. In the case of nutrition, details count even more because the facts are so often nuanced and one size does not fit all. Nutrition information is rife with secondary gain and it is not one-sided, because any party that has to defend a market share (or try to expand it) will put its survival over yours. My approach is to trust no one and question everyone because, as I have said before, I do not care what the truth is as long as I know it. Furthermore, if the truth is unknown or not understood, the chances of making a good decision are slim at best.
Concern About Salmon Because Fatty Fish Are High in Chemicals A few years ago, researchers did a complex analysis on the risks and benefits of farmed and wild salmon.1 Their study weighed the benefits of the essential fatty acids against the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins and other chemicals that are now found in seafood. The details of their calculations are beyond the scope of this article, but if you suffer from dry eyes, a careful read will activate your tear ducts. Conflict of interest was denied and I failed to find any secondary gain when I Googled a couple of the authors. (My search was far from exhaustive, but it was enough to catch anything blatant.) Their findings were as follows:
If these calculations were off by a factor of 100, the average person is still much better off to eat farmed salmon than to avoid it. Does that mean we shouldn't worry about PCBs and other chemicals in salmon? Of course not. Individuals with a family history of cancer who eat heart-healthy diets may have individual risk factors that make it wise for them to avoid salmon. But for most people, the odds are much greater for a life saved from heart disease than a life lost from cancer.
Concern About Pesticides in Produce A second study calculated the risk-benefit of increasing produce consumption.3 Again, I will skip the tedious details (available by looking up the reference). The researchers calculated what would happen if 50 percent of Americans ( approximately 150 million people) increased fruit and vegetable intake by one serving of each per day. The researchers explained what qualified as a serving (French fries did not count as a vegetable), calculated the effects of the additional nutrients the two servings provided and then figured out what effects the additional pesticides in the two servings would cause. Their estimates were based on a published meta-analysis of nutritional epidemiology studies, along with data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and selected animal studies. Results were as follows:
Like the first example, if these calculations were off by a factor of 100, the average American would still be much better off having an extra serving of commercially grown fruit and vegetables daily. In other words, not eating enough vegetables and fruit is much more dangerous than the pesticides they may contain. References
Dr. G. Douglas Andersen is a sports chiropractor and certified clinical nutritionist who practices in Brea, Calif. He can be contacted with questions and comments via his Web site: www.andersenchiro.com. |