The effect of increasing dietary folate on folate status during pregnancy is controversial. The a... more The effect of increasing dietary folate on folate status during pregnancy is controversial. The aim of this study was to compare folate intake and folate status during pregnancy of women with high long-term vegetable intake and those eating an average Western diet. In a prospective study that included 109 participants, pregnant women adhering to a predominant vegetarian diet with high
mong a number of alternative dietary regimens, raw food diets are interesting and increasingly po... more mong a number of alternative dietary regimens, raw food diets are interesting and increasingly popular in western countries. A high proportion of raw foods in the diet is the general concept, while raw food eaters follow different raw food dietary recommendations. The subjects are composed of 230 male and 342 female raw food eaters between the ages of 25-74 years, having maintained raw food diets for 2.3 years on average. Health habits were investigated by means of a detailed questionnaire and food frequency questionnaire, which were used to estimate food intake and food habits of the subjects. The raw food eaters in this study had high awareness concerning health. Most of them refused smoking, alcohol and frequently exercise. Findings indicated that 29.5% of male and 24.9% of female raw food eaters were underweight according to their body mass indices (BMI). Underweight was more pronounced in the raw food eaters with a higher proportion of raw food intake. An obvious relationship b...
High consumption of vegetables and fruits is associated with reduced risk for cardiovascular dise... more High consumption of vegetables and fruits is associated with reduced risk for cardiovascular disease. However, little information is available about diets based predominantly on consumption of fruits and their health consequences. We investigated the effects of an extremely high dietary intake of raw vegetables and fruits (70-100% raw food) on serum lipids and plasma vitamin B-12, folate, and total homocysteine (tHcy). In a cross-sectional study, the lipid, folate, vitamin B-12, and tHcy status of 201 adherents to a raw food diet (94 men and 107 women) were examined. The participants consumed approximately 1500-1800 g raw food of plant origin/d mainly as vegetables or fruits. Of the participants, 14% had high serum LDL cholesterol concentrations, 46% had low serum HDL cholesterol, and none had high triglycerides. Of raw food consumers, 38% were vitamin B-12 deficient, whereas 12% had an increased mean corpuscular volume (MCV). Plasma tHcy concentrations were correlated with plasma v...
In 110 well-trained participants of a 1000-km running competition lasting for 20 days hematologic... more In 110 well-trained participants of a 1000-km running competition lasting for 20 days hematological parameters, iron metabolism, and their respective changes during the race were investigated. Thirty-nine men and 11 women were accustomed to wholesome vegetarian food (lacto-ovovegetarian), 52 men and 8 women consumed a conventional western diet. In each group 50% of the runners finished the race. Before the competition started red blood cell count, hematocrit, and hemoglobin were on average below the values observed in the normal population in all groups. Both male and female runners consuming the wholesome diet showed significantly lower ferritin values than those on a western diet. During the first days of the competition hemolysis occurred leading to increased serum concentrations of bilirubin and iron and decreased haptoglobin levels. Hb concentrations showed a constant decrease during the race. Serum ferritin concentration rose about twofold within the first days and then decreased again without reaching pre-race levels. Serum iron concentrations showed a significant decrease between days 3 and 6. Iron loss was caused by hematuria (25% of all urines tested), gastrointestinal blood loss (10% of all stool specimens tested), and by sweating (4.5 micrograms iron/dl sweat). Our results suggest that especially in female long-distance runners it may be difficult to supply sufficient quantities of iron with the diet.
The effect of increasing dietary folate on folate status during pregnancy is controversial. The a... more The effect of increasing dietary folate on folate status during pregnancy is controversial. The aim of this study was to compare folate intake and folate status during pregnancy of women with high long-term vegetable intake and those eating an average Western diet. In a prospective study that included 109 participants, pregnant women adhering to a predominant vegetarian diet with high
mong a number of alternative dietary regimens, raw food diets are interesting and increasingly po... more mong a number of alternative dietary regimens, raw food diets are interesting and increasingly popular in western countries. A high proportion of raw foods in the diet is the general concept, while raw food eaters follow different raw food dietary recommendations. The subjects are composed of 230 male and 342 female raw food eaters between the ages of 25-74 years, having maintained raw food diets for 2.3 years on average. Health habits were investigated by means of a detailed questionnaire and food frequency questionnaire, which were used to estimate food intake and food habits of the subjects. The raw food eaters in this study had high awareness concerning health. Most of them refused smoking, alcohol and frequently exercise. Findings indicated that 29.5% of male and 24.9% of female raw food eaters were underweight according to their body mass indices (BMI). Underweight was more pronounced in the raw food eaters with a higher proportion of raw food intake. An obvious relationship b...
High consumption of vegetables and fruits is associated with reduced risk for cardiovascular dise... more High consumption of vegetables and fruits is associated with reduced risk for cardiovascular disease. However, little information is available about diets based predominantly on consumption of fruits and their health consequences. We investigated the effects of an extremely high dietary intake of raw vegetables and fruits (70-100% raw food) on serum lipids and plasma vitamin B-12, folate, and total homocysteine (tHcy). In a cross-sectional study, the lipid, folate, vitamin B-12, and tHcy status of 201 adherents to a raw food diet (94 men and 107 women) were examined. The participants consumed approximately 1500-1800 g raw food of plant origin/d mainly as vegetables or fruits. Of the participants, 14% had high serum LDL cholesterol concentrations, 46% had low serum HDL cholesterol, and none had high triglycerides. Of raw food consumers, 38% were vitamin B-12 deficient, whereas 12% had an increased mean corpuscular volume (MCV). Plasma tHcy concentrations were correlated with plasma v...
In 110 well-trained participants of a 1000-km running competition lasting for 20 days hematologic... more In 110 well-trained participants of a 1000-km running competition lasting for 20 days hematological parameters, iron metabolism, and their respective changes during the race were investigated. Thirty-nine men and 11 women were accustomed to wholesome vegetarian food (lacto-ovovegetarian), 52 men and 8 women consumed a conventional western diet. In each group 50% of the runners finished the race. Before the competition started red blood cell count, hematocrit, and hemoglobin were on average below the values observed in the normal population in all groups. Both male and female runners consuming the wholesome diet showed significantly lower ferritin values than those on a western diet. During the first days of the competition hemolysis occurred leading to increased serum concentrations of bilirubin and iron and decreased haptoglobin levels. Hb concentrations showed a constant decrease during the race. Serum ferritin concentration rose about twofold within the first days and then decreased again without reaching pre-race levels. Serum iron concentrations showed a significant decrease between days 3 and 6. Iron loss was caused by hematuria (25% of all urines tested), gastrointestinal blood loss (10% of all stool specimens tested), and by sweating (4.5 micrograms iron/dl sweat). Our results suggest that especially in female long-distance runners it may be difficult to supply sufficient quantities of iron with the diet.
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