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From: werner@aecom.UUCP (Craig Werner)
Newsgroups: sci.bio
Subject: Re: Question about nutrition value of milk
Message-ID: <835@aecom.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 23-Dec-86 10:57:03 EST
Article-I.D.: aecom.835
Posted: Tue Dec 23 10:57:03 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 24-Dec-86 05:39:51 EST
References: <941@midas.UUCP> <441@omen.UUCP>
Organization: Albert Einstein Coll. of Med., NY
Lines: 43
Summary: Milk lowers serum cholesterol

In article <441@omen.UUCP>, caf@omen.UUCP (Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX) writes:
> In article <941@midas.UUCP> romans@midas.UUCP (Roman Slizynski) writes:
> :  Milk contains fat, cholesterol which is not really good for 
> :  any one, ...
> 
> It isn't as simple as that.
> 	1.  Some cholesterol is necessary for good health.
> 	2.  Most of the body's cholesterol is manufactured from ingested
> carbohydrates.

	The body utilizes in any given day just short of a gram of 
cholesterol. Of that about 600 mg is synthesized by the body itself,
primarily in the liver.  The remaining 300 mg is extracted from the diet
(that's an american diet).
	There is indeed quite a bit of fat and cholesterol in milk, and
one would EXPECT that serum cholesterol (the only number that really
matters) would rise with milk intake.  It doesn't.  It actually goes
down a very small amount.  Paradoxical yes, but biology is stranger than
nature. And milk is a complex homogeneous suspension.
	Oh, this is not without precedence.  It is generally agreed that
high sodium intake causes increased blood pressure in suseptible humans.
At least that's true for Sodium Chloride (normal table salt).  However,
Monosodium glutamate (one molecule Sodium, one molecule glutamate) causes
a slight fall in blood pressure.  Again paradoxical, and please no
flames about Chinese Restaurant Syndrome.
	While I'm at it, let me talk about Fish Oils.  The claims of
these new wonder supplements (that is omega-6 fatty acids) is that they
lower serum cholesterol.  They don't.  The Eskimos have a high serum
cholesterol.  What they lack is the expected mortality rate from
cardiovascular disease that generally goes with a high serum cholesterol.
There's a subtle difference there, and I thought I'd point it out.
Furthermore, it is not generally appreciated that these pills are fatty
acids. And the daily dose of these supplements provides about 300 calories.
So one wonders if any of these studies can really be applied to the
american population in other than a clinical trial situation (where those
300 calories replaces 300 calories of other fat, instead of supplementing
it.)

-- 
			      Craig Werner (MD/PhD '91)
				!philabs!aecom!werner
              (1935-14E Eastchester Rd., Bronx NY 10461, 212-931-2517)
                      "If I don't see you soon, I'll see you later."