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.
This post includes a summary of a study published in Pediatrics Vol. 111 No. 4 April 2003, pp. 864-870 and a recipe for Madras-style leg steaks with red onions, coriander and braised fennel.
Study title and authors:
Books:
The Role of Meat to Improve the Critical Iron Balance During Weaning
Leif Hallberg, MD, PhD, Michael Hoppe, MSci, Maria Andersson, MSci, Lena Hulthén, MDrSc
From the Department of Clinical Nutrition, Institute of Internal Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden
Madras-Style Leg Steaks with Red Onions, Coriander and Braised Fennel
Ingredients:
2 boneless lamb leg or rump steaks
Salt and freshly milled black pepper
30ml/2tbsp Madras curry paste
Food Mall: Boneless Leg of Lamb
1 medium red onion, peeled and finely chopped
30ml/2tbsp cold water
15ml/1tbsp freshly chopped coriander
For the Braised Fennel:
1-2 large fennel bulbs, trimmed and cut into quarters
300ml/½pint chicken stock
50g/2oz unsalted butter, cubed
5ml/1tsp cumin seeds
Method:
1.To prepare the braised fennel; place the quarters into a shallow pan and add the stock, butter, cumin seeds and seasoning. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover with foil and simmer for 30-35 minutes, turning occasionally until most of the cooking liquor had dissolved.
2.Place the steaks on a shallow plate, season and coat on both sides with the curry paste.
3.Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan and cook the steaks for 6-8 minutes on each side. Transfer to a warm plate and keep warm.
4.Add the onions to the frying pan with the water and cook for 3-4 minutes until soft and caramelised.
5.Remove from the heat and stir through the coriander and any meat juices from the lamb plate.
Madras-Style Leg Steaks with Red Onions, Coriander and Braised Fennel
This post includes a summary of a paper published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition Vol. 76, No. 1, 5-56, 2002 and a recipe for lamb and rosemary burgers.
Study title and authors: International table of glycemic index and glycemic load values: 2002
Books:
Kaye Foster-Powell, Susanna HA Holt and Janette C Brand-Miller
1 From the Human Nutrition Unit, School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences, University of Sydney, Australia.
2 Reprints not available. Address correspondence to JC Brand-Miller, Human Nutrition Unit, School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences (G08), University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Foods such as meat, poultry, fish, cheese, or eggs have a glycemic index of zero because these foods contain little or no carbohydrate and it would be exceedingly difficult for people to consume a portion of the foods containing 50 g or even 25 g of available carbohydrate. Even in large amounts, these foods when eaten alone are not likely to induce a significant rise in blood glucose.
30ml/2tbsp freshly chopped rosemary
Salt and freshly milled black pepper
Method:
1.In a large, shallow bowl mix all the burger ingredients together. Using slightly damp hands shape the mixture into 4 x 9cm (3½inch burgers). Cover and chill for 20 minutes.
2.Cook the burgers on a prepared barbecue or preheated grill for 6-8 minutes on each side until cooked and any meat juices run clear.
Published in the J Am Coll Nutr. 2000 Feb;19(1):42-51.
The effects of varying dietary fat on the nutrient intake in male and female runners.
Horvath PJ, Eagen CK, Ryer-Calvin SD, Pendergast DR.
Department of Physical Therapy, University at Buffalo, New York 14214, USA.
The study examined the effects of varying dietary fat levels on nutrients in female and male endurance runners.
The study concluded that:
(a) Zinc intake was higher on the highest fat diet.
(b) On the low fat diet, essential fatty acids and some minerals (especially zinc) may be too low.
(c) A low fat diet could compromise health and performance.
Zinc deficiency could leads to many health problems. See here, here and here.
The best sources of zinc include red meat, oysters and fish.
Spivak notes that ADHD is frequently complicated by aggressive impulsive behaviour, which is suggested to be related to low serum cholesterol levels.
The study, of boys with ADHD, found that lower levels of blood serotonin, were associated with higer degrees of hyperactivity, impulsiveness, lack of concentration, and aggressiveness in boys.
Serotonin is manufactured in the body using the amino acid tryptophan. Excellent dietary sources of tryptophan include: turkey, chicken, beef, fish, milk, eggs and cheese.
Prasad states: "The essentiality of zinc for humans was recognized in the early 1960s. The causes of zinc deficiency include malnutrition, alcoholism, malabsorption, extensive burns, chronic debilitating disorders, chronic renal disease, certain diuretics, the use of chelating agents such as penicillamine for Wilson's disease, and genetic disorders such as acrodermatitis enteropathica and sickle cell disease. The requirement of zinc is increased in pregnancy and during the growing age period. The clinical manifestations in severe cases of zinc deficiency included bullous-pustular dermatitis, alopecia, diarrhoea, emotional disorder, weight loss, intercurrent infections, hypogonadism in males and it is fatal if untreated. A moderate deficiency of zinc is characterized by growth retardation and delayed puberty in adolescents, hypogonadism in males, rough skin, poor appetite, mental lethargy, delayed wound healing, taste abnormalities and abnormal dark adaptation. In mild cases of zinc deficiency in human subjects, we have observed oligospermia, slight weight loss and hyperammonaemia. Zinc is a growth factor. As a result of its deficiency, growth is affected adversely in many animal species and in man. Inasmuch as zinc is needed for protein and DNA synthesis and cell division, it is believed that the growth effect of zinc is related to its effect on protein synthesis. Testicular functions are affected adversely as a result of zinc deficiency in both humans and experimental animals. This effect of zinc is at the end organ level and the hypothalamic--pituitary axis is intact in zinc-deficient subjects. Inasmuch as zinc is intimately involved in a cell division, its deficiency may adversely affect testicular size and thus its function..... It is clear that zinc may have several roles in biochemical and hormonal functions of various endocrine organs. Future research in this area is very much needed".
Rich sources of dietary zinc are red meat, oysters and fish.
Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2006 Jan 25;(1):CD004762.
Drug treatment for myotonia.
Trip J, Drost G, van Engelen BG, Faber CG.
Academisch Ziekenhuis Maastricht (AZM), Department of Neurology, P. Debyelaan 25 Postbus5800, Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands, 6202 AZ. jeroen.trip@wanadoo.nl
This paper researched studies concerning treatment for myotonia (muscle stiffness) and found that taurine has a long term beneficial alleviating effect.
The best dietary sources of taurine are meat and fish.
Published in Heart Fail Rev. 2006 Mar;11(1):75-82.
The management of conditioned nutritional requirements in heart failure.
Allard ML, Jeejeebhoy KN, Sole MJ.
Division of Cardiology, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario.
Patients suffering from congestive heart failure have lowered heart energy production, and higher cell and muscle damage.
Nutritional factors known to be important for these conditions, such as thiamine, riboflavin, pyridoxine, L-carnitine, coenzyme Q10, creatine and taurine are deficient in patients with heart failure.
Meat is a rich source of thiamine, riboflavin, pyridoxine, L-carnitine, coenzyme Q10, creatine and taurine.
Dietary consumption of these compounds in heart failure can significantly restore depleted levels and may result in improvement in heart structure and function as well as exercise capacity.
This post contains an article by Loren Cordain and a recipe for alfresco roast beef salad.
Metabolic Evidence of Human Adaptation to Increased Carnivory
by Loren Cordain, Ph.D.
IMPORTANT WORD DEFINITIONS:Dentition: Teeth. Hominids: Bipedal primates, including human beings and our bipedal ancestors in evolutionary prehistory. Obligate, as in "obligate carnivore" (cats are obligate carnivores in their natural environment): Able to exist or survive only in a particular environment or by assuming a particular role (definition from The American Heritage Dictionary, 3rd edition). Pongid: The class of ape mostly closely related to humans, consisting of--in order of genetic and evolutionary relatedness to us--the chimpanzee, gorilla, and orangutan. Plasma (as in "plasma levels of taurine"): Refers to levels of nutrients as measured in the blood. Precursor (as in "precursor fatty acids"): Dietary nutrients which can be converted by the body into other needed nutrients not obtained in the diet itself. Hepatic: Of, or related to, the liver. Lipids: Fatty acids, i.e., dietary "fats." Coprophagy: Ingestion of fecal material, whether intentional or unintentional.
Based on and edited from a posting to the Paleodiet listgroup on 1/15/98.
I am in agreement with previous posts that human dentition is adapted for a generalized diet composed of both plant and animal foods, and that human populations show amazing variability in their plant-to-animal food subsistence ratios. However, it is important to recognize that hominids have evolved important metabolic and biochemical adaptations which are indicative of an increasing physiological dependence upon animal-based foods. Further, comprehensive compilations of hunter-gatherer subsistence strategies indicate that whenever it is ecologically possible, humans will almost always consume more animal food than plant food.
Our laboratory has recently compiled the plant/animal-food subsistence ratio data in the Ethnographic Atlas [Murdock 1967] for all worldwide hunter-gatherer populations which have been studied either historically or by contemporary anthropologists. The analysis shows that in the majority (61.3%) of worldwide hunter-gatherers, gathered plant food represents 35% or less of the total food utilized. Only 2.2% of the world's hunter-gatherers derive 66% or more of their total foods from plants. Further, not a single hunter-gather population derives 86% or more of its total calories from plant foods.
The most frequently occurring (mode) plant/animal subsistence ratio for worldwide hunter-gatherers is 16-25% plant/75-84% animal, and the median value is 26-35% plant/65-74% animal. These values corroborate five careful modern studies of hunter-gatherers showing a mean energy (caloric) intake from animal-food sources to be 59% [Leonard et al. 1994].
Comparing the human gut with ape guts and biochemical adaptations of carnivores.
Pongids (the primates that humans are most closely related to), because their diet is largely plant-based, must maintain large and metabolically active guts to process the fibrous plant foods which compose over 93% or greater of their dietary intake. In contrast, the human gut is much smaller and less metabolically active than the ape gut. Presumably this adaptation (reduction in gut size and metabolic activity) evolved in humans because the inclusion of nutrient-dense, animal-based foods by our early hominid ancestors allowed the selective pressure for a large, metabolically active gut to be relaxed [Leonard et al. 1994; Aiello and Wheeler 1995].
In addition to the smaller gut that humans maintain relative to apes, there are other metabolic and biochemical clues which point to increased utilization of animal food by humans over our evolutionary history. By evaluating the metabolic and biochemical dietary adaptations of cats (obligate carnivores) and those in humans (omnivores), it becomes apparent that evolution has shaped both hominid and feline metabolic machinery towards a diet in which animal food was predominant.
Obligate carnivores, such as cats, must obtain all of their nutrients from the flesh of other animals and have therefore evolved certain biochemical adaptations which are indicative of their total dietary dependence upon animal-based foods. Most of these biochemical adaptations involve either the loss (or reduced activity) of certain enzymes required for the synthesis of essential nutrients. These adaptations generally occurred because the evolutionary selection pressure to maintain these metabolic pathways was relaxed as cats gradually increased the amount of animal food in their diet as they evolutionarily progressed from omnivory into obligate carnivory.
Taurine
Taurine is an amino acid which is not found in any plant-based food [Laidlow et al. 1990] and which is an essential nutrient in all mammalian cells. Herbivores are able to synthesize taurine from precursor amino acids derived from plants, whereas cats have completely lost the ability to synthesize taurine [Knopf et al. 1978]. Since all animal-based foods (except cow's milk) are rich sources of taurine [Laidlow et al. 1990], cats have been able to relax the selective pressure required for taurine synthesis because they obtain all of this nutrient that they need from their exclusive meat-based diet.
Humans, unlike cats, still maintain the ability to synthesize taurine in the liver from precursor substances; however, this ability is quite limited and inefficient when compared to herbivores. Vegan vegetarians following diets devoid of animal products display low levels of both plasma and urinary taurine [Laidlow 1988]--levels which are indicative of the poor ability of humans to synthesize taurine. Similar to cats, this inability to efficiently synthesize taurine has come about because the selective pressure to produce this amino acid has been gradually reduced due to humankind's long reliance upon animal food, a food which is quite high in taurine.
20- and 22-carbon fatty acid requirements
Plant-based foods contain 18-carbon fatty acids of both the omega-3 and omega-6 families, but are virtually devoid of the 20- and 22-carbon fatty acids that are required for the normal functioning of all mammalian cells, whether the mammal is an herbivore or carnivore. Herbivores have evolved hepatic (liver) enzymes (desaturases and elongases) which allow these precursor, plant-based 18-carbon fatty acids to be chain-elongated and desaturated to their 20- and 22-carbon products.
Cats have extremely low levels of the enzymes required to make 20- and 22-carbon fatty acids from 18-carbon fatty acids [Salem et al. 1994]. Again, the selection pressure to synthesize 20- and 22-carbon lipids (fatty acids) has been almost entirely removed because cats obtain sufficient quantities of these long-chain fatty acids by eating animal tissues which are rich sources of these lipids. Humans, though not as inefficient as the cat, also have relatively inefficient elongase and desaturase enzymes [Salem et al. 1994]. Again, this metabolic change has occurred largely because the need to desaturate and chain-elongate 18-carbon plant fatty acids to their 20- and 22-carbon products has been reduced because humans, like cats, have obtained a large portion of their 20- and 22-carbon lipids directly by eating other animal tissues.
Vitamin A synthesis
All animals, whether herbivore or carnivore, require vitamin A. Vitamin A is not found in any plant-based food; consequently, herbivores must synthesize it in the liver from beta-carotene consumed from plant-based foods. Cats have lost the ability to synthesize vitamin A from beta-carotene [MacDonald et al. 1984], and must obtain all of their vitamin A from the organs (liver, kidney) of their prey. Again, cats have lost the ability to synthesize vitamin A because the selective pressure (need) to provide adaptive energy for the synthesis of proteins to catalyze the production of vitamin A was reduced as cats progressively increased the amount of animal foods in their diets.
Recently, it has been shown that humans have a limited capacity to absorb beta-carotene in plants [de Pee and West et al. 1995] (the bioavailability of beta-carotene from plants is low for humans compared to its bioavailability from other sources), presumably because humans, like cats, have consumed vitamin A-rich animal food sources for eons and are in a transitional state from omnivory to obligate carnivory.
Vitamin B-12
Vitamin B-12 is an essential nutrient for both herbivorous and carnivorous mammals. Because B-12 is not found in higher plants, herbivorous mammals must solely rely upon absorption of B-12 from bacteria that synthesize it in their gut. Cats can neither synthesize B-12 nor absorb it from their gut; consequently they have become wholly dependent upon animal flesh as their source for this essential nutrient.
Humans, like cats, cannot depend on the absorption of bacterially produced vitamin B-12 from the gut, and are reliant upon animal-based sources of this essential vitamin, since it does not occur in a biologically active form in any of the plant foods which humans normally eat. While some viable B-12 is synthesized in the human colon, the site of absorption is at the ileum, which is "upstream" from the colon at the lower end of the small intestine; thus for humans, B-12 synthesized in the colon is unavailable and must come from the food eaten [Herbert 1988]. Regarding possible B-12 synthesis in the small intestine above the ileum, the consensus of scientific literature indicates any amounts that may potentially be produced are not significant or reliable enough to serve as a dependable or sole source for most individuals.
Additionally, while most cases of B-12 deficiency in omnivores are due to problems of impaired absorption rather than a deficiency of nutritional intake [Herbert 1994], the opposite situation prevails in vegetarians eating only minimal amounts of animal by-products [Chanarin et al. 1988].
Further, studies in vegans have shown that despite physiological recycling and conservation mechanisms that become increasingly efficient as B-12 intake falls below normal daily requirements--so that very little is lost from the body--the likelihood is high that B-12 deficiency will eventually develop (after 20 years or more) in pure vegans who refrain without fail from ingesting any animal-based products or do not take B-12 supplements [Herbert 1994].
Recent work has delineated four stages of inadequate B-12 levels in strict vegetarians [Herbert 1994; Herbert 1988]. Vegans in early Stage I depletion--prior to ongoing depletion of stores and the declining blood levels of Stage II, biochemical deficiency and impaired DNA synthesis of Stage III, and clinical deficiencies of Stage IV--are able to maintain normal serum B-12 levels. However, this occurs by drawing from stored reserves in the liver and elsewhere which gradually become depleted, eventually to the point where actual deficiency develops many years later in those who maintain strict habits.
It is this negative metabolic B-12 balance which occurs soon after exogenous B-12 ceases to be ingested in appreciable quantities, many years prior to actual deficiency, which points to the human requirement for animal-based B-12 sources if one is to maintain a positive B-12 balance. One need not show actual cases of deficiency and end-stage megaloblastic anemia, but only the trend of long-term negative B-12 balance, to demonstrate the human metabolic need for animal-based foods to maintain a neutral or positive homeostatic balance.
It is now possible to determine negative homeostatic B-12 balance directly by distinguishing and measuring levels of the two forms in which B-12 is carried in the blood: either bound to the transcobalamin II "delivery" molecule (called TCII, for short), or bound to the haptocorrin molecule which is a form of "circulating storage." Haptocorrin maintains equilibrium with body stores, meaning that haptocorrin levels reflect current reserve stores of B-12. TCII, however, being the "delivery" molecule for B-12, transports and gives up its B-12 to cells that are actively using B-12 in DNA synthesis, and has a half-life in the blood of only 6 minutes. Thus, when exogenous intake of B-12 falls below normal, levels of TCII-carried B-12 begin to reflect the deficit rapidly, and subnormal levels will show up within one week, demonstrating negative B-12 balance. [Herbert 1994]
It is probable, therefore, that vegans with long-term normal B-12 balance are ingesting--inadvertently or otherwise--at least small amounts of B-12, if not from supplements, then from unreported animal-based sources in their food or contaminated by such sources. (In one study of vegans for which this has been observed, the cause was due to eating unwashed vegetables that had been grown in gardens containing intentionally manured soils, from which the B-12 came [Herbert 1988]. Ironically, the manure in this case was their own excrement, which as pointed out above harbors bacteria that produce B-12 in the human colon--where B-12 cannot be absorbed. Not unless, of course, it is reingested as in the unintentional coprophagy occurring in this instance, so that it can pass back through the small intestine again to the ileum where B-12 is actually absorbed.)
An indication of the masking effect of previously stored B-12 reserves in obscuring ongoing negative B-12 balance can be seen in long-term vegan mothers and their infants. Such mothers may maintain blood levels of haptocorrin B-12 in the normal range for lengthy periods (years) due to increasingly efficient recycling of B-12 as their reserve stores become depleted, and in adult vegans with such improved B-12 reabsorption, such clinical deficiency may take 20-30 years to manifest. However, infants of such mothers are born with almost no reserve stores (little or none are available in the mother's body to pass on to them) and go into clinical deficiency much more rapidly. [Herbert 1994]
In summary, the absence of the ability of humans to absorb bacterially produced B-12 in the colon, and the evidence that strictly behaving vegans will show negative TCII-carried B-12 balance even when total serum levels are in the normal range, is indicative of the long evolutionary history of animal-based foods in our diet.
Recap
These metabolic and biochemical adaptations in humans in response to increasingly meat-based diets, as well as the anthropological evidence provided by both contemporary and historical studies of hunter-gatherer diets, provide strong evidence for the central role of meat and animal tissues in the human diet. Although it is true that human populations can survive under broad plant/animal subsistence ratios, the consensus evidence supports the notion that whenever it was ecologically possible, animal calories would have always represented the majority of the total daily energy intake.
Loren Cordain, Ph.D.
REFERENCES
Aiello LC, Wheeler P (1995) "The expensive tissue hypothesis." Current Anthropology, vol. 36, pp. 199-221. Chanarin I, Malkowska V, O'Hea A-M, Rinsler MG, Price AB (1985) "Megaloblastic anaemia in a vegetarian Hindu community." The Lancet, 1985(2), pp. 1168-1172. de Pee S, West CE et al. (1995) "Lack of improvement in vitamin A status with increased consumption of dark leafy green vegetables." Lancet, vol. 346, pp. 75-81. Herbert V (1994) "Staging vitamin B-12 (cobalamin) status in vegetarians." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 59 (suppl.), pp. 1213S-1222S. Herbert V (1988) "Vitamin B-12: plant sources, requirements, and assay." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 48, pp. 852-858. Knopf K et al. (1978) "Taurine: an essential nutrient for the cat." Journal of Nutrition, vol. 108, pp. 773-778. Laidlow SA et al. (1990) "The taurine content of common foodstuffs." Journal of Parenteral Enteral Nutrition, vol. 14, pp. 183-188. Laidlow SA (1988) "Plasma and urine levels in vegans." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 47, pp. 660-663. Leonard WR et al. (1994) "Evolutionary perspectives on human nutrition: the influence of brain and body size on diet and metabolism." American Journal of Human Biology, vol. 6, pp. 77-88. MacDonald ML et al. (1984) "Nutrition of the domestic cat, a mammalian carnivore." Annual Review of Nutrition, vol. 4, pp. 521-562. Murdock GP (1967) "Ethnographic atlas: a summary." Ethnology, vol. 6, pp. 109-236. Salem N et al. (1994) "Arachidonate and docosahexaenoate biosynthesis in various species and compartments in vivo." World Review of Nutrition and Dietetics, vol. 75, pp. 114-119.
The human body needs carnitine to be able to utilize long-chain fatty acids for energy production. Books:
Bach states that: "A diet rich in meat supplies a lot of carnitine, while vegetables, fruits, and grains furnish relatively little". He also notes "that the diet of the adult human need not necessarily furnish carnitine..... if it is sufficiently rich in lysine and methionine" (found in eggs and fish), and that "carnitine should be considered a nutritive substance".
For mothers with new born he advises: "dietary carnitine is more important during the neonatal period. The transition from fetal to extrauterine life is accompanied by an increased role of lipids in meeting energy needs. This change is accompanied by a rise in the body of the levels of carnitine, which is mainly supplied in the maternal milk".
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
3 quarts of chicken stock or beef stock OR water OR a mixture of both
1/2 cup of tomato sauce
1/2 lb of string beans, strings and ends removed, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
1/3 cup of ground almond
1 pound ground beef Food Mall: Ground Beef
1/4 cup of chopped fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup of chopped parsley
1 raw egg
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
A dash of cayenne (optional)
1 1/2 cup of frozen or fresh peas
1 teaspoon of dried oregano, crumbled, or 1 Tbsp fresh chopped oregano
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Method:
1 Heat oil in large heavy-bottomed pot (5-qt) over medium heat. Add onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a minute more. Add broth mixture and tomato sauce. Bring to boil and reduce heat to simmer. Add carrots and string beans.
2 Prepare the meatballs. Mixground almond into meat, adding mint leaves and parsley, salt and pepper. Mix in raw egg. Form mixture into 1-inch meatballs.
3 Add the meatballs to the simmering soup, one at a time. Cover and let simmer for 1/2 hour. Add the peas towards the end of the 1/2 hour. Add a few pinches of oregano and sprinkle with salt and pepper, and a dash of cayenne, to taste.
by 85%
because these foods contain little or no carbohydrate and it would be exceedingly difficult for people to consume a portion of the foods containing 50 g or even 25 g of available carbohydrate. Even in large amounts, these foods when eaten alone are not likely to induce a significant rise in blood glucose. 
. 
Weizman
. Excellent dietary sources of tryptophan include: turkey, chicken, 
alleviating effect.
as well as exercise capacity.
by contemporary anthropologists. The analysis shows that in the majority (61.3%) of worldwide hunter-gatherers, gathered plant food represents 35% or less of the total food utilized. Only 2.2% of the world's hunter-gatherers derive 66% or more of their total foods from plants. Further, not a single hunter-gather population derives 86% or more of its total calories from plant foods.
Food Mall: Roast Beef
to be able to utilize long-chain fatty acids for energy production.
furnish relatively little". He also notes "that the diet of the adult human need not necessarily furnish carnitine..... if it is sufficiently rich in lysine and methionine" (found in eggs and fish), and that "carnitine should be considered a nutritive substance".
