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Thursday, November 19, 2009

Mummies had clogged arteries

A recent study of mummies found a significant number of the elite mummies (which most were) had clogged arteries, calcification of vessels, and other symptoms of heart disease and obesity.

This has been found before, but this is the largest study so far.

The BBC article I read suggested it was caused by the supposed large amounts of fatty meats being eaten by the elite.

However, as I suspected he might, Rafe said "There's currently a bit of discussion on GNXP (Gene Expression). Michael Eades, auther of Protein Power, has published in the past showing that the Egyptian elite were in fact obese quite regularly, and attributes it to a diet that was very high in grains combined with a sedentary lifestyle, not the high in meat diet proposed in the BBC article."

Quoted from Science Daily: "UC Irvine clinical professor of cardiology Dr. Gregory Thomas, a co-principal investigator on the study, said, 'The findings suggest that we may have to look beyond modern risk factors to fully understand the disease.'"

Thoughts?

2 comments:

Cordelia Bickford said...

Be interested to see the development of the 'bit of discussion.' The key to nutritional argument is whether or not red meat is good for you. Not being a biochemist myself, for anyone on my level it's purely a question of which scientist/data do you trust?
(I lay my faith on the meat eating side; owing the anti-meat guys as descendants of the vegetarian movement, which although I agree in the moral pathway its trying to pave, do believe its just downright unhealthy to be fully vegan.. etc etc.. I'm currently on a highly animal product diet, trying to stay in ketosis for few months of not indefinitely.. I feel great!)
On a side note, have you heard that the latest is that Cancer patients should stay away from not only red meat but also anti-oxidants? How ridiculous is that? The major error in the anti-meatheads comes from not being able to associate the difference from processed foods to natural, organic foods - whereas any rightminded meateater would know organic, grass-fed/freerange is a whole different level of health than non-organic.

Beth said...

I heard about the anti-oxidant concerns with cancer, and completely agree with your take, Corey. How have nutrition and medicine become so disconnected from real life?