Vegans don't live longer than vegetarians or meat eaters

Background: If we take a look at wikipedia (1), we see that both vegetarians and vegans have lower mortality rates from heart disease, compared to regular meat eaters: A 1999 meta-analysis of five studies comparing vegetarian and non-vegetarian mortality rates in Western countries found that the mortality rate due to ischemic heart disease was 26 percent lower among vegans compared to regular meat eaters, but 34 percent lower among lacto-ovo vegetarians (vegetarians that eat dairy products and eggs) and pescetarians (those that eat fish but no other meat). Wikipedia also states that: No significant difference in mortality was found from other causes.This line suggests that both vegetarians and vegans may live longer than regular meat eaters....

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Whole grains may decrease diabetes risk

Background: High calcium intake has been linked to lower risk of diabetes in the past (1), though this association may have been confounded by magnesium intake (2). Likewise, high magnesium intake has also been linked to lower risk of diabetes (3). Whole grains contain phytic acid which has been linked to decreased absorption of magnesium, calcium and other minerals from the gastrointestinal tract (4). The combination of these factors is sometimes used to prove that whole grains are to increase diabetes risk. However, the theory is very simplistic not taking into account other nutrients in whole grains and not taking into account the complexity of the human body. If whole grains are to increase diabetes risk, then it would be expected that...

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Berries do not decrease cancer risk

Background: berries are said to decrease cancer risk. If we google for "berries cancer" we see that pretty much all titles suggest this to be true. These ideas are based on the assumption that berries include several nutrients thought to be healthy, such as vitamins, minerals and polyphenols. But if we take a closer look at the evidence, we see that articles are consistently based on either:-Animal research.-Studies in cell lines.-Nothing. No references are given to back up the claim. If berries are to decrease cancer risk in humans, it would be logical that humans with higher intake of berries have lower cancer risk than humans with lower intake of berries.  Methods: I searched the Pubmed database for prospective (= cohort) studies...

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Milk does not increase hip fracture risk.

Background: Milk intake has been linked to higher risk of bone fractures. If we google the following combination of search words "milk bone fractures women", we see several titles stating that milk may cause osteoporosis/bone fractures. Or titles with "myths about milk". Did past studies truly show that milk increases risk of bone fractures? The links found by google consistently refer to the same scientific article (1). In a 12-year follow-up study, the group of women with the highest intakes of milk, were said to have had a 45% increased risk of hip fracture. Table 1: Table 1 shows effects as described in the full text of the article. We see a Relative Risk (RR) of 1.45 (95% CI = 0.87-2.43; P = 0.22) for women consuming 2 or more glasses...

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Saturated fat increases both "bad" LDL-cholesterol and "good" HDL-cholesterol.

Background: In 2010 the USDA published it's last update on the dietary guidelines for Americans. Part D. Section 3 covered the science base for fatty acids and cholesterol (1). The report states that consumption of carbohydrates instead of saturated fat (SFA) will decrease levels of "bad" LDL-cholesterol: Replacement of SFA with carbohydrates decreased plasma total and LDL cholesterol. But how will this change in macronutrients influence levels of "good" HDL-cholesterol? Scientific research: In 2003, a group of Dutch researchers examined the effects on cholesterol of replacing carbohydrates with dietary fats. They searched the scientific literature for all controlled trials on this topic. A total of 60 trials were included in the final...

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