Food industry concerned with profit, not nutrition

Editor,

There have been several contradictory statements regarding the efficacy of vitamin and calcium supplements in recent weeks. This critical issue merits further discussion. Evidence that calcium supplements prevent osteoporosis in older women does not square with the fact that U.S. women have the third-highest bone-fracture rate in the world - a good indicator of osteoporosis - despite consuming high levels of calcium. The confusion arises because bone mineral density has long been held to be the standard-bearer for osteoporosis.

We now know that hard bones created from excessive calcium intake are not necessarily

healthier or stronger bones, hence the high fracture rate. Compounding the risk is that excessive calcium intake over a lifetime reduces the body's ability to regulate calcium absorption and excretion effectively, further increasing the rate of osteoporosis. The unfortunate state of affairs in nutrition research is that the meat and dairy industries play major roles in influencing the outcome and interpretation of research by providing funding, holding lavish conferences and hiring academics to lucrative posts in nebulous organizations that ostensibly promote healthy foods.

Domesticated meat and dairy foods are not healthy for a litany of reasons, which explains the massive advertising budgets that try to convince us otherwise. If this weren't bad enough, there exists virtually no oversight of the supplement industry, which enables them to make nonsense claims, such as "six servings of vegetables in a single teaspoon." Never mind that there are no tests to ensure that what is in the bottle is what the label claims. Interested readers should read The China Study by Colin Campbell and Food Politics by Marion Nestle for accessible and authoritative reviews of these issues.

The ability to control one's health through diet is power. The pharmaceutical, medical, meat, dairy and supplement industries that make enormous profits off of our ill health and continued confusion do not want us to know that we have this power in our hands. Or, more accurately, in our stomachs.

John Wagner

UNM staff