医生提示：《中国研究》中的COVID课程

StephenW

Doctor’s Tip: COVID lessons from The China Study

News News | 9h ago
Dr. Greg Feinsinger Doctor's Tip

    0
    0

Greg Feinsinger

Nutrition research often involves epidemiologic studies, where scientists look at large populations of people, see what they eat, and determine what diseases they get and what they die from. The China Study was an epidemiologic study that took place in rural China during the 1980s, and is known as “the most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted.” T. Colin Campbell, PhD, who is a respected nutrition researcher at Cornell, was the lead scientist, and wrote a book called “The China Study.”

The China Study found that the people in rural China who were too poor to afford to eat animal protein had a low incidence of the chronic diseases that sicken and kill people on a Western diet — which is high in animal products, refined food, sugar, salt and oil. These diseases include obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, dementia, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, inflammatory diseases, kidney stones, osteoporosis and many cancers.

Dr. Campbell also found that certain groups in the study area had more liver cancer — which is caused by the hepatitis B virus — than others. In a recent talk that was part of this year’s virtual International Conference on Plant-Based Nutrition, Dr. Campbell discussed his work on the hepatitis B virus and liver cancer. By way of review, Dr. Campbell defines viruses as “very small infectious agents made of genetic material (DNA, RNA) enclosed in a coat of protein.” He notes that viruses invade our cells, which enables them to multiply, destroying the infected cells in the process (or in the case of hepatitis B virus resulting in liver cancer). T cells, B cells, and natural killer cells “work together to create immunity (antibodies).”

Viruses such as hepatitis B are antigens that rev up the immune system, resulting in protective antibodies. Immunizations do the same thing, and there is a vaccine against hepatitis B, which prevents liver cancer. Here’s what Dr. Campbell found about the relationship between nutrition, hepatitis B virus and liver cancer:

    Animal protein diminished the number of natural killer cells, therefore decreasing immunity.
    The more whole (unprocessed) plant food people ate, the lower their level of active virus/antigen, and therefore the lower the incidence of liver cancer.
    The more plant food — especially vegetables — study participants ate, the higher the antibody level and therefore the lower the liver cancer rate.
    Animal products, on the other hand, increased the level of active hepatitis B virus, the level of hepatitis B antigen, and the incidence of liver cancer.

How does this apply to the current COVID-19 viral pandemic? COVID-19 is new, and studies like the ones Dr. Campbell did on hepatitis B have yet to be done. However, in Dr. Campbell’s opinion, the same principles would apply: More intake of whole plant food results in less COVID viral load/antigen, and higher antibody levels/less severe disease.

And Dr. Campbell notes that there is also a second link between nutrition and COVID infection: People with underlying chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease are more apt to experience severe disease or die from COVID. Older people are also more susceptible to severe COVID disease, at least in part because they are more apt to suffer from these co-morbidities. Several studies have shown that plant-based, whole food nutrition can prevent and reverse these underlying chronic diseases.

Unquestionably, it’s important during this pandemic to avoid the virus by social distancing, wearing a mask, and avoiding other people who aren’t wearing a mask. A safe and effective immunization will also be critical in stopping the pandemic. What’s not talked about much, however, is the relationship of nutrition with COVID disease. Dr. Campbell’s final conclusion for preventing serious COVID illness and death: “(W)holistic Nutrition, with two dietary goals: Consume whole foods and avoid animal-based foods.”

Greg Feinsinger, M.D., is a retired family physician with a special interest in heart disease and diabetes prevention and reversal, ideally though lifestyle changes. He’s available for free, one-hour consultations — call 379-5718.

StephenW

医生提示：《中国研究》中的COVID课程

新闻动态9小时前
Greg Feinsinger博士的医生提示

    0
    0

格雷格·芬辛格

营养研究通常涉及流行病学研究，在该研究中，科学家着眼于大批人口，看他们吃什么，并确定他们患什么疾病以及死于何种疾病。中国研究是一项在1980年代在中国农村进行的流行病学研究，被称为“有史以来最全面的营养研究”。康奈尔大学一位受人尊敬的营养学家T. Colin Campbell博士是首席科学家，他写了一本书《中国研究》。

《中国研究》发现，中国农村地区的穷人负担不起食用动物蛋白的慢性病发病率很低，这些慢性病使西方人的饮食致死或致死，因为动物饮食，精制食品，糖，盐和油。这些疾病包括肥胖，高血压，高胆固醇，痴呆，糖尿病，自身免疫性疾病，炎性疾病，肾结石，骨质疏松症和许多癌症。

坎贝尔博士还发现，研究区域中的某些人群比其他人群患肝癌的风险更高，这是由乙肝病毒引起的。在今年虚拟的基于植物营养的国际会议上，坎贝尔博士在最近的一次演讲中讨论了他在乙型肝炎病毒和肝癌方面的工作。作为回顾，坎贝尔博士将病毒定义为“由包裹在蛋白质外壳中的遗传材料（DNA，RNA）制成的很小的传染性因子”。他指出，病毒侵入我们的细胞，使它们繁殖，从而破坏了受感染的细胞（或者在乙型肝炎病毒导致肝癌的情况下）。 T细胞，B细胞和自然杀伤细胞“共同创造免疫力（抗体）。”

乙型肝炎等病毒是会增强免疫系统的抗原，从而产生保护性抗体。免疫接种的作用相同，并且有一种针对乙型肝炎的疫苗可以预防肝癌。坎贝尔博士发现了有关营养，乙肝病毒和肝癌之间关系的发现：

    动物蛋白减少了自然杀伤细胞的数量，因此降低了免疫力。
    食用植物食物的人（未加工的）越完整，其活性病毒/抗原的水平就越低，因此肝癌的发生率也就越低。
    研究参与者吃的植物性食物（尤其是蔬菜）越多，抗体水平越高，因此肝癌的发生率越低。
    另一方面，动物产品增加了活动性乙型肝炎病毒的水平，乙型肝炎抗原的水平以及肝癌的发病率。

这如何适用于当前的COVID-19病毒大流行？ COVID-19是新的，像Campbell博士所做的关于乙型肝炎的研究尚未完成。但是，坎贝尔博士认为，同样的原则将适用：全植物食物的摄入量越少，COVID病毒载量/抗原就越少，抗体水平越高/严重疾病就越少。

坎贝尔博士指出，营养与COVID感染之间还有第二个联系：患有潜在的慢性病，​​例如肥胖，糖尿病和心血管疾病的人更容易患上严重疾病或死于COVID。老年人也更容易患上严重的COVID疾病，至少部分是因为他们更容易罹患这些合并症。多项研究表明，以植物为基础的全食物营养可以预防和逆转这些潜在的慢性疾病。

毫无疑问，在这种大流行期间，重要的是要通过社交疏散，戴口罩和避免其他未戴口罩的人来避免这种病毒。安全有效的免疫接种对于阻止大流行也至关重要。但是，关于营养与COVID疾病的关系并没有太多讨论。坎贝尔博士预防严重COVID疾病和死亡的最终结论是：“全营养，具有两个饮食目标：食用全食，避免食用动物性食品。”

格雷格·费因辛格（Greg Feinsinger），医学博士，是一位退休的家庭医生，他对心脏病，糖尿病的预防和逆转有着特别的兴趣，理想的情况是改变生活方式。他可以免费进行一小时的咨询，请致电379-5718。