The raison d'etre of this website is to provide you with hard scientific information which may help you make informed decisions in your quest for health (so far I have blogged concise summaries of over 1,500 scientific studies and have had three books published).

My research is mainly focused on the effects of cholesterol, saturated fat and statin drugs on health. If you know anyone who is worried about their cholesterol levels and heart disease, or has been told to take statin drugs you could send them a link to this website, and to my statin or cholesterol or heart disease books.

David Evans

Independent Health Researcher
Showing posts with label Margarine and Atopy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Margarine and Atopy. Show all posts

Thursday, 17 March 2011

Compared with butter consumption, margarine consumption is associated with a 41% increase in rhinitis

This post contains a synopsis of a study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine Volume 163, Number 1, January 2001, 277-279 and a recipe for ratatouille.

Study title and authors:
Margarine Consumption and Allergy in Children
GABRIELE BOLTE, CHRISTIAN FRYE, BERND HOELSCHER, INES MEYER, MATTHIAS WJST, and JOACHIM HEINRICH
Primal Body, Primal Mind: Beyond the Paleo Diet for Total Health and a Longer Life
Books:
GSF National Research Center for Environment and Health, Institute of Epidemiology, Neuherberg, Germany

This study can be accessed at: http://171.66.122.149/cgi/content/abstract/163/1/277

The aim of the study was to assess whether margarine consumption is associated with allergic reactions and diseases in children. Data from 2,348 children age 5 to 14 yr were analyzed.

Bolte found that:
(a) Compared with butter consumption, margarine consumption was associated with a 30% increase in allergic reaction.
(b) Compared with butter consumption, margarine consumption was associated with a 41% increase in rhinitis symptoms. 
(c) Polyunsaturated fats may increase allergies.

More information on this subject: Books : Scientific Studies : Websites : Videos : Food Mall 


Recipe of the day

Ratatouille

serves 8

Ingredients:
Odell's Chef's Butter, Clarified Butter, 10-Ounce Tubs (Pack of 3)
Food Mall: Clarified Butter
•1 1/4 cup lard, butter, clarified butter or olive oil;
•4 large tomatoes
•2 lb eggplants, cut in 1 inch cubes;
•2 large onions, sliced thinly;
•3 bell peppers of assorted colors, cut into 1 inch cubes;
•4 zucchinis, cut into 3/4 inch cubes;
•9 garlic cloves;
•1 cup chopped parsley;
•20 basil leaves, cut in half;
•Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt;

Prepararion:
1.To remove the skin from the tomatoes, if using fresh tomatoes, score a X on the bottom of each one and blanch them in boiling water for a minute. Remove them from the boiling water and transfer them to a bowl of cold water. When cold enough to handle, starting where you scored them, gently remove the skin.

2.Chop the tomatoes and put them in a large pot with 1/3 cup of the oil or fat with the parsley, basil and garlic. Cover the pot partially and simmer while stirring from time to time for about 30 minutes, until the tomatoes are well broken down.

3.While the tomatoes are simmering, sprinkle some sea salt on the eggplant cubes and put them in a colander in the kitchen sink. This step helps remove some of the moisture in the eggplants. Leave them in the colander while the tomatoes are simmering.

4.Soften the onions in 3 tbsp of the oil or fat for about 10 minutes with some sea salt still while the tomatoes are simmering.

5.Remove the onions with a slotted spoon, set aside and cook the bell peppers in the same manner with a little more oil or fat.

6.Remove the bell peppers with a slotted spoon, put them with the onions and repeat the process with the zucchini, but only for 6 minutes this time.

7.Remove bell peppers and set aside with the other vegetables. Pat the eggplants dry and repeat the process, cooking them for about 7 minutes, again adding some oil or fat each time.

8.Once the tomato preparation has simmered on its own long enough, add the previously cooked vegetables, season generously with sea salt and black pepper, cover and simmer for about another hour, until all the vegetables are very soft.

9.Serve hot, warm or cold, with a bit of extra basil or chopped parsley on top, if desired.

Ratatouille

Wednesday, 9 March 2011

Asthmatic children consume more margarine and less butter than non-asthmatic children

This post features a synopsis on a study published in Allergy Volume 56, Issue 5, pages 425–428, May 2001 and a recipe for a mixed grill.

Study title and authors:
Diet, serum fatty acids, and atopic diseases in childhood
T. Dunder, L. Kuikka, J. Turtinen, L. Räsänen, M. Uhari
Department of Pediatrics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

This paper can be accessed at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1034/j.1398-9995.2001.056005425.x/full
                                                                                                                                           Books:
Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet DictocratsThe study evaluated the association between dietary fats and the occurrence and development of atopic diseases (allergic asthma, allergic rhinitis, and allergic dermatitis etc). 385 sex- and age-matched pairs were followed for 9 years.

The study revealed:
(a) Those with atopic disease consumed more margarine and less butter than the nonatopic children.
(b) The dietary Polyunsaturated fat/Saturated fat ratio was significantly higher in the atopic children.
(c) Saturated fat consumption was significantly lower in the children with atopic dermatitis.

Dunder notes how saturated fat has a protective influence against atopic diseases and how the increasing consumption of margarine, which is rich in omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, may have caused the increase in atopic diseases.

More information on this subject: Books : Scientific Studies : Websites : Videos : Food Mall 


Recipe of the day

Mixed Grill

Serves 4

Ingredients:
4 slices lamb’s liver
4 lamb’s kidneys
40 g (1 ½ ozs) lard
salt and black pepper to taste
4 tomatoes, halved
8 large mushrooms

Instructions:
Skin and core the kidneys and halve them lengthways.

Line a grill pan with foil and melt the lard and spread in it. Put the liver in the middle of the pan surrounded with the kidneys. Brush with lard.

Grill under a medium heat until the liver and kidneys change colour (approx 3 mins), and turn them over. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Arrange the tomatoes and mushrooms around the kidneys, with the cut sides of tomatoes and caps of mushrooms uppermost. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper and brush with fat.

Grill for a further 5 minutes and serve hot.