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Re: Fontana's research

August 1, 2009 by Fred Bortz, 16 weeks 4 days ago
Comment: 39224

Wrangham cites Fontana's research as favoring his conclusions:

p.26: "Recent studies indicate that low bone mass in the backs and hips of raw-foodists was caused by their raw diet." This result is attributed to Fontana, et. al.

p. 215, notes to page 17: ...Fontana et. al. (2005) studied raw-foodists and controls matched by age and height. Women who ate raw food weighed 12.6 kg. (27.7 lb.) less than their counterparts who ate cooked food while the equivalent drop for men was 17.5 kg (38.5 lb.) [This represents nearly a quarter of total mass and is cited in the section where the review notes the unambiguous scientific conclusion that a strict raw food diet cannot guarantee an adequate energy supply.]

There are other citations to Fontana's research as well, which you can find by following the link to the book at Amazon.com in my review, and then using the look within the book function with a search on Fontana.

In other words, Wrangham considers Fontana's research as supporting his conclusions.

Your statement about "excessive menstruation" does not match what Wrangham describes, which is amenorhea--absence of menstruation. Normal menstruation is a sign of fertility. No menstruation means no fertility.

But a true believer will accept distortions to support his/her beliefs.

In any case, Anonymous' argument is with Wrangham, not me, so I'll step aside with this partial response.

As I've already noted in this thread and in another review on a different medical area, true believers can get themselves in trouble by ignoring the evidence.

This anonymous poster, to whom this reply is directed, appears to be a true believer who is running risks s/he doesn't recognize, despite the evidence.

Fred Bortz

EDIT ADDED:
I decided to do a little web surfing, and I found one of the items that Anonymous is touting. Fontana notes that the bones may be healthy despite their low density. A useful summary appears here: The key paragraphs are these:

Fontana says more study is needed to prove that raw food vegans have light-but-healthy bones. One study could involve following large groups of them for years to look at fracture rates. Other, more imminent studies will involve using micro MRI to get a 3-D look at bone architecture and structure. Those studies could begin soon.

In the meantime, Fontana isn’t telling people to follow such an extreme diet.

"I think over the long term, a strict raw food vegan diet could pose some health problems," he says. "But it’s not my role to tell them to eat differently. I’m simply interested in learning about the positive and/or detrimental health effects of this diet.

That's hardly a rousing endorsement of raw-foodism.

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