From: Doug Skrecky (oberon@vcn.bc.ca)
Date: Thu Jul 08 1999 - 16:52:37 MDT
Todd Moody <tmoody@MAILHOST.SJU.EDU> wrote:
> Hey, thanks for this one; it's an addition to my "nut files."
> Some of you may remember that a while back I posted some
> abstracts to studies that showed that the arginine:lysine ratio
> of a protein has an effect on serum lipids, with a high ratio
> promoting a favorable effect. Of all foods that I checked, nut
> proteins tended to have the highest arg:lys ratio. The study
> that you have posted here suggests that arginine alone has a
> protective effect, perhaps independent of blood lipids. The
> Adventist study showed a strong inverse relationship between nut
> consumption and CHD (including the non-nut peanut); perhaps the
> arginine content is the reason why.
>
Arginine's effect on NO has impressed some of the scientists who did
research on the effect of nuts on cardiovascular disease. It is currently
the main theory that accounts for the benefits of nuts. (nut fat is the
second)
It is hard to go wrong eating a lot of nuts on a low carb diet. Eating
nuts is even associated with (slightly) reduced body weight in the
bargain.
IMHO, the main objection to a low carb diet from main stream medicine
is about how it is implimented. Eating a lot of meat with all that
saturated fat not trimmed off looks to be a major reason why meat eating
is associated with increased mortality rates. Even eggs look like they
may be helpful, provided it is only egg white that is consumed. In a
recent test egg white was found to dramatically lower bad cholesterol, and
at the same time increase the good (HDL) cholesterol. This is a rare feat,
as few dietary alterations have been found to raise HDL.
Lean meat, nuts, tofu, egg whites, and lots of blood pressure lowering
extra virgin olive oil on your veggies looks to be a hard combo to beat.
Some doctors might still complain that a high protein diet increases the
risk of kidney damage. However only meat protein is associated with kidney
stress. Other sources of protein, including egg whites appear not to
bother kidneys.
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