A Little More on Lipophilic Chemicals, Diabetes and Obesity

This is just a little continuation of the post made yesterday in which I wondered if associations between intake of animal protein (vs. vegetable protein) and waist circumference had anything to do with increased exposure of consumers of animal products to environmental contaminants. This is not my area of research . . . but it is an area of research for a lot of other people. Diabetes and/or Insulin Resistance is associated with exposure to Brominated Flame Retardants, Persistent Organic Pollutants, polychlorinated diphenyl ethers, and, interestingly (perhaps because I don't understand the mechanism by which this would occur . . . will have to look into it) airborn particulates. A brief and very readable review of environmental (chemical) causes of diabetes was made in 2008 by Oliver et al.

Jones, O., Maguire, M., & Griffin, J. (2008). Environmental pollution and diabetes: a neglected association The Lancet, 371 (9609), 287-288 DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(08)60147-6
Lee, D., Lee, I., Jin, S., Steffes, M., & Jacobs, D. (2007). Association Between Serum Concentrations of Persistent Organic Pollutants and Insulin Resistance Among Nondiabetic Adults: Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2002 Diabetes Care, 30 (3), 622-628 DOI: 10.2337/dc06-2190
Lim, J., Lee, D., & Jacobs, D. (2008). Association of Brominated Flame Retardants With Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome in the U.S. Population, 2003-2004 Diabetes Care, 31 (9), 1802-1807 DOI: 10.2337/dc08-0850
Pearson JF, Bachireddy C, Shyamprasad S, Goldfine AB, & Brownstein JS (2010). Association between fine particulate matter and diabetes prevalence in the U.S. Diabetes care, 33 (10), 2196-201 PMID: 20628090

Animal vs. Plant Protein, Adiposity, Persistent Organic Pollutants and Endocrine Disruption

Intake of vegetable protein is negatively correlated with waist circumference and BMI. In contrast, intake of animal protein is positively correlated with waist circumference and BMI, at least in Belgians. There are a lot of questions to raise with this including the possibility that people who eat less animal protein consume less animal fat which can be a rich source of bioactive, lipophilic contaminants which may also be endocrine disruptors that increase adiposity or alter blood lipids. Note Ruzzin et. al.'s April 2010 paper "Persistent Organic Pollutant Exposure Leads to Insulin Resistance Syndrome." (Very nice work! Congratulations to all authors.) Also possible that people who eat a lot of vegetable protein also eat fewer calories, are less sedentary etc. There is also the argument that lean, grass-fed animals (happy cattle, miserable chickens) would eliminate this vulnerability in meat eaters. That would be an interesting study. BMI and blood lipid profiles in matched cohorts of grass-fed/organic animal protein eaters vs. regular grocery store consumers. Anyone . . . ?


Ruzzin J, Petersen R, Meugnier E, Madsen L, Lock EJ, Lillefosse H, Ma T, Pesenti S, Sonne SB, Marstrand TT, Malde MK, Du ZY, Chavey C, Fajas L, Lundebye AK, Brand CL, Vidal H, Kristiansen K, & Frøyland L (2010). Persistent organic pollutant exposure leads to insulin resistance syndrome. Environmental health perspectives, 118 (4), 465-71 PMID: 20064776

Lin, Y., Bolca, S., Vandevijvere, S., De Vriese, S., Mouratidou, T., De Neve, M., Polet, A., Van Oyen, H., Van Camp, J., De Backer, G., De Henauw, S., & Huybrechts, I. (2010). Plant and animal protein intake and its association with overweight and obesity among the Belgian population British Journal of Nutrition, 1-11 DOI: 10.1017/S0007114510004642

Nutritional Stuff, Protein and Vegetarianism

This is not my field but, late at night, when I can't sleep, I sometimes look at articles dealing with nutrition and here are two that piqued my curiosity.
One is that high protein maternal diets may predispose infants (at least rats anyway) to greater risk of obesity later in life.  Maternal consumption of high-prebiotic fibre or -protein diets during pregnancy and lactation differentially influences satiety hormones and expression of genes involved in glucose and lipid metabolism in offspring in rats, British Journal of Nutrition.  Of course there are lots of questions.  The young rats were switched to a "normal" diet after weaning.  What if they had stayed on the same diet their mothers had been on?  For review of fetal programming see Godfrey et al. 2007.  Is the problem when diet changes after an infant as been "programmed" to a particular nutritional condition?  i.e. is it mismatch between fetal expectation and the reality of later life, or is it a problem created by a high protein diet? 

The other is that creatine supplements appear to increase cognitive function in vegetarians:  The influence of creatine supplementation on the cognitive functioning of vegetarians and omnivores also just out in the British Journal of Nutrition.  I'm a vegetarian with ADHD-like traits.  Time to try a supplement?  Opposed on principle, but what the hey, I can use all the cognitive function I can get.

Godfrey KM, Lillycrop KA, Burdge GC, Gluckman PD, & Hanson MA (2007). Epigenetic mechanisms and the mismatch concept of the developmental origins of health and disease. Pediatric research, 61 (5 Pt 2) PMID: 17413851

Ototoxicity

You don't hear much about ototoxicity (pun completely intended), but I think it is fascinating (what???).  Hearing is relatively easy to evaluate and can serve as marker of neurological effect for chemicals targetting the developing nervous system (i.e. harm nerve development in general and you may see poor functioning in general, including poor hearing).  Like other cells in the body, cells involved in hearing are vulnerable to oxidative stress.  Oxidative attack can result in damage to a cell's DNA, which can lead to development of a cancerous cell or, if you are a fetus, in the development of a birth defect.  Your body is not completely defenseless against a cancerous cell.  Abnormal cells normally self-destruct in a process called "apoptosis".  Its when a cell loses the ability to undergo apoptosis that you may have a serious problem. 

When you combine something like Arsenic, which is a great creator of oxidative stress, with exposure to loud noise you get more hearing loss than you would if you were not also exposed to Arsenic.  Heavy metals, mercury and lead, are classic ototoxicants as are some antibiotics and drugs for erectile dysfunction. 

Hearing loss is also seen when environmental chemicals interfere with neurodevelopment.  There is some very interesting work being done in this area by Tomas Trnovec (Slovakia) et al. that focuses on hearing deficits in children exposed to PCBs.  PCBs were bannned in the US decades ago, but continued to be produced by the Soviet Block.  Poor environmental regulation in Eastern Europe has left those countries with some major environmental health problems.  Best wishes to all working in this area.

High Fructose Corn Syrup

I have been detecting a bit of concern about high fructose corn syrup in my local atmosphere (gas chromatography, of course), and there is a simple solution: avoid regular indulgence, as you would for popcorn balls, frosting and jolly ranchers.  However, small amounts are extremely unlikely to cause any harm (Please note that as a scientist I have been trained not to make absolute statements.  There is always the possibility that new information will come along, even for very well-established theories like "gravity").  Be rational.  Read widely.  You should neither let those who enjoy fanning flames keep you from enjoying your life, nor let those intent on obscuring truth keep you from making good decisions. 

For a recent review of the current state of the debate about high fructose corn syrup take a look at this publication: Fructose and Cardiometabolic Disorders: the controversy will, and must, continue by Wiernsperger, Geoloen and Rapin from October 2010. Nice work gentlemen, and very much appreciated.  Another review has been published this month by Dekker et al., but I don't yet have access.  Thanks to all for their work in this area.

For a well-crafted response from the Corn Syrup interests click this link.  Wiernsperger et al., Dekker et al. . . . it will be hard to compete.

In the Darkness before Science

We lost power last night, coming home to a darkening house, cold and quiet, fumbled for belongings to pack in bags for the drive to a friend's house.  It reminded me very much of the times we were homeless when my daughter was small and it was just the two of us.  The home in which we sought sanctuary was dark and quiet too, but only because I couldn't figure out the lights.  We sat together my blonde girl, who towers over me now, and I.  I asked her what she remembered of those days.  "I don't remember much from back then, Mom.  But I remember the cold and the darkness, and being alone together, and talking.  And it was nice.  I feel good now too".

Politics, Money, Chemicals, Health and the Environment

Oh Canada
has declared BPA . . . (fit that into the music for the national anthem) to be a toxicant.  That does make sense, given the growing body of evidence that it is an endocrine disruptor that produces wide-ranging effects in test animals and is positively correlated with adverse effects in humans.  It is also usual for industries involved in production, use and distribution of chemicals found to have strong potential for causing health problems in humans to argue with scientists and regulatory personnel and to try to convince the population at large that there is nothing wrong with their products.  I wonder if this is simply characteristic of democracies.  I'm sure graft and favoritism plays a role in other systems of government (and in ours as well).  Part of me is just morbidly fascinated with how truth, logic and fairness are knotted up into some very twisted wads. 

A spokesman for the BPA people is claiming that BPA is safe and that Canada's decision will only alarm and confuse the public.   (I do agree that no one should have to go grocery shopping in an alarmed and confused state of mind . . . that's how products like "Lunchables" are purchased).  You can read the American Chemistry Council statement here where it claims that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) confirms the safety of BPA and that Canada's decision flies in the face of "World Wide Scientific Evidence".   Funny Funny. In fact the EFSA is stating that there is no compelling evidence that the Tolerable Daily Intake should be changed from its current level.  This is a far cry from stating that BPA is safe. 

Some legitimate arguments in BPAs favor is that it makes food packaging and transport safer and more economical.  This does have economic and social value.  But please, let's honor good work done and the validity of concerns for human and environmental health.