Steps on how to start a blog

The videos above show us on how we can create a blog from signing in to composing a post and uploading videos.
These videos will guide you how how you can post and share relevant information with your peers regarding meal planning and your coursework.
By blogging, it is an easy way to learn and teach others when you are not in the classroom. Blogging is also efficient as you can blog and also give appropriate comments so that you and your peers can improve in your coursework.

Summary points on meal planning

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0ByIrvFVyDu0iNGIxZWRlMmMtZDJmZC00ZTRmLThiNWYtZWMwY2VkNjhlMzQ0&sort=name&layout=list&num=50

The link above is about summary points on the chapter of meal planning from your Food and Nutrition textbook.

Coursework Task Statement

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0ByIrvFVyDu0iMzYyZTMyZTYtMGJkNS00NmExLWFmZWItNWRlZDg1MGFjYzEz&sort=name&layout=list&num=50

This link will lead you to the task statement for the coursework. It is very important that you go through the task statement properly so you understand what is required. Please do make any clarifications with me.

Worksheet on meal planning

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0ByIrvFVyDu0iNDYyYmIxYjctNjVhOS00YTBiLTk2YmQtYzUyZWI4YjNhZTI4&sort=name&layout=list&num=50

This link above will lead you to a meal planning worksheet that you are required to do. Please submit the worksheet to me by email by the end of next week.

This worksheet is useful in your learning as it will help u to research more on meal planning.

I will be marking the worksheet and returning it to you once i am done with the marking. We will be going through it as class together.

ICT Meal Planning

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0ByIrvFVyDu0iNTdhNzc1MDMtYWI4Ny00ODc0LWIwYmUtMjdiZDk5YmZlNGNm&sort=name&layout=list&num=50


Attached word documents are guidelines and extra information on how to conduct your coursework. Please refer to this guidelines before you start your coursework. Any unclear information or resources please do check with me first.


Thank you class

Vitamins

http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/5/1/18

Food taboos: their origins and purposes

Victor B Meyer-Rochow

*

Correspondence: Victor B Meyer-Rochow b.meyer-rochow@jacobs-university.de

Author Affiliations

School of Engineering and Sciences, Jacobs University, D-28725 Bremen, Germany

Department of Biology, University of Oulu, SF-90014 Oulu, Finland

Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2009, 5:18 doi:10.1186/1746-4269-5-18

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/5/1/18

Received: 4 December 2008
Accepted: 29 June 2009
Published: 29 June 2009

© 2009 Meyer-Rochow; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract

Food taboos are known from virtually all human societies. Most religions declare certain food items fit and others unfit for human consumption. Dietary rules and regulations may govern particular phases of the human life cycle and may be associated with special events such as menstrual period, pregnancy, childbirth, lactation, and – in traditional societies – preparation for the hunt, battle, wedding, funeral, etc. On a comparative basis many food taboos seem to make no sense at all, as to what may be declared unfit by one group may be perfectly acceptable to another. On the other hand, food taboos have a long history and one ought to expect a sound explanation for the existence (and persistence) of certain dietary customs in a given culture. Yet, this is a highly debated view and no single theory may explain why people employ special food taboos. This paper wants to revive interest in food taboo research and attempts a functionalist's explanation. However, to illustrate some of the complexity of possible reasons for food taboo five examples have been chosen, namely traditional food taboos in orthodox Jewish and Hindu societies as well as reports on aspects of dietary restrictions in communities with traditional lifestyles of Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, and Nigeria. An ecological or medical background is apparent for many, including some that are seen as religious or spiritual in origin. On the one hand food taboos can help utilizing a resource more efficiently; on the other food taboos can lead to the protection of a resource. Food taboos, whether scientifically correct or not, are often meant to protect the human individual and the observation, for example, that certain allergies and depression are associated with each other could have led to declaring food items taboo that were identified as causal agents for the allergies. Moreover, any food taboo, acknowledged by a particular group of people as part of its ways, aids in the cohesion of this group, helps that particular group maintain its identity in the face of others, and therefore creates a feeling of "belonging".
Background

Years ago a student asked me the following question: "Why don't all animals eat the same kinds of food?" This may have sounded a stupid question, but it is not as trivial an enquiry as one might have thought initially. Afterall, to grow and survive, animals all need the same basic things: carbohydrates, protein, fats, some minerals and water." So, why do we have this diversity of food specialists on Earth? Why are there herbivores, carnivores, detritovores, insectivores, fungivores, coprophages, xylophages and many more?

Although it is true that all heterotrophic organisms need the same fundamental food stuffs, it is easy to understand that on account of their different sizes, different anatomies, and different habitats, different species must make use of different food sources to satisfy their needs. A cat would happily devour the meat of an antelope and a lion would not reject a mouse, but both are not built for these kinds of food items. A tree-dwelling leaf-eater does not graze on the ground and a grazer does not climb trees. Pond snails may love lettuce, but they can never leave their watery realm. Moreover, it is a "Law of Nature" that, where there is an underexploited resource, it usually does not take long before such a resource is 'discovered' and used by some organism. Yet, intense competition for one and the same kind of food by two species ultimately would lead to the extinction of one of them or it would result in the two species occupying different niches, either in connection with the food itself or the timing of feeding [1,2] .

It is, thus, easy to understand why different species of animals with different anatomies and habitat preferences should use different food items, but food specialists within a species also occur and it is then less obvious why individuals of one and the same species should exploit different resources. It becomes really tricky, when some adults of the same gender, species, and overall physical built nevertheless vary in relation to their food preferences. Intraspecific competition may be involved, differences in hunting and/or collecting skills and strategies, acquired through learning or chance discovery, could be the reason, and there could even be an outwardly not visible physiological basis for such kinds of behaviour. Yet, no ecologist or zoologist would use the term "food taboo" to describe intraspecific food preferences of this kind in animals, but in connection with humans we do use the term "food taboo". We use it (or refer to "prohibitions") to distinguish the deliberate avoidance of a food item for reasons other than simple dislike from food preferences. In non-human mammals, dominant individuals may force weaker ones to accept less sought-after food items, and a possible liking for these originally reluctantly accepted food items may in turn develop [2,3] . Some aspect of this scenario may also apply to human societies, because food taboos can be imposed on individuals by outsiders, or by members of the kinship group to manifest themselves through instruction and example during upbringing [4] .

Probably food taboos (as unwritten social rules) exist in one form or another in every society on Earth, for it is a fact that perhaps nowhere in the world, a people, a tribe, or an ethnic group, makes use of the full potential of edible items in its surroundings [5-10] . One of many examples, although an especially well-studied one, involves the Ache people, i.e., hunters and gatherers of the Paraguayan jungle. According to Hill and Hurtado [6] , the tropical forests of the Ache habitat abound with several hundreds of edible mammalian, avian, reptilian, amphibian and piscine species, yet the Ache exploit only 50 of them. Turning to the plants, fruits, and insects the situation is no different, because only 40 of them are exploited. Ninety eight percent of the calories in the diet of the Ache are supplied by only seventeen different food sources.

Although mere avoidance of potential food (for whatever reason) does not in itself signify a food taboo, it is easy to see how regular avoidance can turn into a tradition and eventually end up as a food taboo [7,8,10] . But what is it that leads to the regular avoidance? Social anthropological research on eating and food taboos (cf., reviews [7-11] ) has frequently invoked utilitarian [7-9] and magico-religious motives [10] or seen the dichotomy between positive and negative rites as a basis for food taboos [11,12] . A functionalist's explanation of food taboos as mechanisms for conserving resources as well as a person's health, have been less popular (cf., [13] ), although there is good evidence in support of both [14-19] . Yet even rituals and taboos based on spiritual, religious, and magic ideation must have had a "history" and somehow 'got going' [7-11,20-23] . Therefore, given that food taboos can involve plants as well as animals, solids as well as liquids, hot as well as cold categories, wet and dry items, etc. [7-9,12-15] , this review, rather than attempting to provide a complete list of food taboos operating in human societies, will instead present examples of food taboos in selected human groups that illustrate some of the wide spectrum of food taboo origins. The five examples chosen reflect the author's own cultural background (Jewish dietary laws), or are based on original field research by the author in Central Australia, Papua New Guinea, and India, or refer to other persons' published work (e.g., food taboos of the Orang Asli by [24] ).
Methods

Based on the authors own experience, observations, recordings, and interactions with locals, examples of Jewish dietary laws and Hindu practices form the basis of examples 4 and 5. Research stays in India of 2 months (Meghalaya and Nagaland) and three weeks (Karnataka and Goa) during sabbaticals in 1990 and 2005 as well as a Brahmin Indian wife further helped gathering the necessary information for the section on Hindu food taboos.

Field work by the author in Papua Niugini of several weeks each in 1972 (Onabasulu and neighbouring tribes), 1998, 2002, and 2004 (Kiriwina), during which the author stayed with the locals in their villages or homesteads and then studied the locals' entomophagic practices as well as food taboos, forms the basis for the information given in example 2. Information in the field was always gathered from more than one informant (although it has to be mentioned that the informants were all males). Examples 1 and 3 (Orang Asli and Mid-West Nigerian food taboos) were chosen from the literature available, because they illustrated yet other aspects and reasons for food taboos, not covered in the earlier mentioned examples. Thus, the selection of the examples represents a mixture between emic experiences from within a culture and etic approaches, i.e., results of field work amongst cultures other than the author's own and research carried out by additional investigators on yet further cultural entities. The reason for the selection of the examples was twofold: to demonstrate the existence of very different possible food taboo reasons and to re-ignite interest in this important field of inter-disciplinary research.
Results
Example 1: The Orang Asli food taboos

The term 'Orang Asli' describes a variety of aboriginal tribes, nowadays confined to the forests and forest fringes of West Malaysia. Food taboos amongst these people have been recorded by Bolton [24] . In the context of this review, the Orang Asli were chosen as an example of a people, in which food taboos appear to serve a double-purpose: the spiritual well-being of individuals and resource partitioning.

Human flesh is never eaten and animals, which the Orang Asli have kept as pets or have reared, are also protected. They can be sold, though, or given away to others, who then would have no qualms of consuming them. An animal that is capable of feeding on a human being will not be eaten as it conceivably could contain some "humanness" in it.

Small lizards and leeches are considered to be unclean to the jungle Orang Asli. Should a leech, for example, accidentally drop into the cooking pot, all its contents will be regarded as contaminated and thrown away. Poisonous and harmful animals are also taboo, but the dangers that result from eating certain species are frequently less real or physiological than spiritual/psychological. Thus, the crow is thought to be poisonous and is rarely eaten. Likewise, any small, crawling animal living in or on the soil, is usually left alone for fear it might be dangerous.

Since all animals are considered to possess spirits, many Orang Asli will start their weaned children of more than 4 years of age on small animals: fish, frogs, toads, small birds and water snails. When the child gets a bit older, rats and mice can be added to the list of edible species.

At 20 years of age the human spirit is deemed to be strong enough to successfully compete with the spirits of small monkeys, bat species, cats, anteaters, deer, turtle, larger birds, and even the Malayan bear. Later in age snakes, gibbons, and bigger animals, including the elephant, no longer remain taboo.

Pregnant women have strict food taboos to observe and must restrict themselves to rats, squirrels, frogs, toads, smaller birds and fishes, that is animals which are small and thought to possess "weak" spirits. Moreover, rodents may be eaten only if caught by the pregnant woman's husband or a near relative and she must eat the whole rodent by herself. Fish must also be caught by a near relative (but never with a spear or with the help of explosives).

After childbirth, the mother normally eats gruel for a week and for 6 weeks thereafter has to eat on her own. She continues to observe food taboos, but her husband, who observed the same food restrictions as his pregnant wife, is then no longer bound by them. Special 6-day food taboos may be "prescribed" by a medicine man for any sick person that seeks his advice.

Although the food taboos of the Orang Asli are not totally absolute, men are always ready to remind the younger women and children of the dangers of breaking them and of eating meat of new and unfamiliar species.
Example 2: Food taboos of Papua New Guinea tribals

In Papua New Guinea ('Niugini" in Pidgin-English) with her multitude of peoples and cultures, food taboos are particularly varied. The example chosen illustrate that many food taboos are designed to protect humans from health hazards real and assumed. Yet, a tendency by some section of the society to safeguard exclusive rights to certain food items is also obvious.

Onabasulu and neighbouring tribes with institutionalized homosexuality, like the Kaluli and others, regard with great suspicion any organism that lives or burrows in the soil [25] . Even harmless earthworms are detested. Illnesses are thought to frequently stem from the wrong food intake: stomach ache sufferers must avoid juicy fruits, such as watermelons, pawpaw, cabbage and the introduced pineapple.

Women are thought to be permanently in this 'sickly' and 'runny' state, because of recurring menstruations and are not allowed fresh meat, juicy bananas and all fruits of the forest of red colour. If a menstruating woman eats a fresh animal caught in a trap, it is thought that future traps will not fall; if the animal was caught with a dog, it is feared that the dog will lose its ability to find scent. Similarly, bananas and pandanus: if a menstruating woman happens to eat some of these fruits, it is believed that the trees will then cease to bear. A woman herself must leave the communal longhouse and move to a shack some distance away for the duration of her period. If she should cook or step over food, those who eat it, particularly her husband, will become "ill with cough and possibly die" [26] . Mature women must not eat fish and when pregnant are not even permitted eggs. Young unmarried men receive the best food and have to obey the smallest number of food taboos. When married, they, like their wives, can no longer eat fresh, but only smoked meat.

In the Kiriwina (Trobriand) Islanders, pregnant women, too, have a considerable amount of food taboos to observe: fishes that lead a cryptic life or like to attach themselves to corals are not to be eaten by a pregnant woman, because this might cause her to have a complicated birth. Similar beliefs are attached to bananas, pawpaws, mango, and other fruits; they are thought to either cause a hydrocephalus, club-foot, distorted belly or give rise to other deformities in the newborn [27,28] .

In addition to these food taboos, different ones, affecting men, also exist. If the men intend to go fishing for sharks, they not only have to abstain from sexual intercourse for a while, but they also have to fast (posuma) and drink a large quantity of saltwater beforehand. Flatfish, including soles and stingrays, as well as a considerable number of other species of fish are taboo, and during the turtle season no garden work is to be carried out.

Food unfit for human consumption in one village because of taboos, may, however, be traded for the permitted item from others, who observe other taboos. For example, the socially excluded inhabitants of the village of Boitalu are the only people on the Kiriwina Islands that can eat wild pig and wallaby (a small species of kangaroo).

Particularly strict taboos govern what chiefs are permitted to eat. In the northern part of Kiriwina they may eat only fried or roasted things, stewed and boiled food being banned. In the south, however, the village chiefs are the only ones allowed to violate against the flatfish and stingray taboo.
Example 3: Food taboos in Mid-West Nigeria

The continent of Africa, because of its size, presents an enormous variety of food taboos. In many parts fresh milk is avoided by adults, although for the Masai, Fulbe, Nuba and other East African groups this commodity is thought to represent a particularly wholesome food for young men and warriors [29] . Observations on food taboos of the inhabitants of mid-west Nigeria were chosen as they represent a particularly good example of a people, in which food taboos appear to have been imposed on society mainly to serve the interests of the 'strongest' section, i.e., the reification of social hegemonies of the society: in particular the menfolk [30] .

In the mid-west state of Nigeria, meat and eggs are not usually given to children, because parents believe it will make the children steal [30] . Gizzards and thighs of ducks are eaten by the elderly; children can only have the lower legs or sometimes the head. Frequently coconut milk and liver is taboo for children, because it is believed that "the milk renders them unintelligent, whereas the liver causes abscesses in their lungs" [30] .

In some parts of Ishan, Afemai, and Isoko Divisions pregnant women avoid snails, whereas pregnant women of the Asaba Division are neither allowed to eat eggs nor drink milk, "because it is feared the children may develop bad habits after birth" [30] . Woen tribals of the Ika Division are forbidden to consume porcupine as that is thought to cause a delay in labour. Interestingly, the opposite (an easy delivery) is expected from some pregnant Urhobo women, who have consumed food leftovers from a rat. Following delivery, young mothers in parts of Benin and Ishan Divisions must not consume oil or fresh meat and in parts of Ishan, palmnut soup is forbidden for 30 days postpartum.

Men have fewer food taboos to observe, but nevertheless some also exist. Snail consumption may weaken a warrior's strength and to kill and eat some legendary animals that have helped a particular tribe in the past during intertribal warfare is totally forbidden. Thus, in some areas the partridge or bush fowl is not eaten; in others it is some water reptile or the porcupine or even the sheep that are protected by the food taboo. Beans are one of the plant species that are not eaten, because they are believed to cause stomach disorders.
Example 4: The Hindu food taboos

The Hindu food taboos were chosen as example nr. 4 to illustrate how, in this case, the spiritual aspect dominates all food taboos. The concept of re-incarnation and the sanctity of life lies at the root of these food taboos, but resource conservation and safe-guarding health play a role as well.

In the Vedic Hindu Society there is a subdivision into 4 castes on the basis of labour: Brahmin (priestly), Kshatriya (defence), Vaisya (agriculture and business), and Shudra (menial labour). Lord Krishna compared the community to a human body, in which the Brahmin caste represents the head, and the others the arms, legs and bowels. Brahmins never handle any meat, fish, or eggs let alone eat any of these foods. A Brahmin cannot even imagine bringing such foods into the house. Furthermore, many orthodox Brahmins abstain from cooking or eating onion and garlic as they are said to increase passions like anger and sex drive. Milk and milk products are consumed, but said to be very sacred as the cow is held in the highest regard as "a holy mother".

Although the people belonging to the three other castes sometimes partake in fish, eggs, and even meats (normally only chicken, goat, or mutton), these are never to be cooked or eaten during religious occasions, marriages, times of mourning, breaking religious fasts, pilgrimages, and similar times. Certain special religious festival days (as well as Mahatma Gandhi's Day) are declared by the Indian Government as "Meatless Days" when no meat is sold anywhere. In castes, in which meat-eating does occur, widows are tabooed from eating meat, fish, or eggs so as to keep their passions low. On the l1th day after New Moon and Full Moon (Ekadasi) many Hindus abstain from eating grain, which otherwise is their staple food. Pregnant women are restricted from eating pawpaw and jackfruit as substances in these fruits are feared to have abortive influences.

During any religious ceremony (and for a Brahmin, every day is governed by strict religious schedules) the offering of food to the gods always precedes food intake. Food, thus, becomes sanctified and is called 'Prasad' (i.e., God's Mercy), which is then partaken. This practice follows from the ancient scripture "Bhagavad Gita" [31] , in which the Lord says: "If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit, or water, I will accept it" (Text 26) and "...all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away as well as austerities that you may perform, should be done as an offering unto Me" (Text 27). "In this way you will be freed from all reactions to good and evil deeds and by this principle of renunciation you will be liberated and come to Me" [31] .

Hindus do believe that plants also have life, though in a more sedate and sedentary form. The use of plants as food is considered less sinful than taking the lives of animals, but they must not be broken or harvested after dark. The saying "You are what you eat" is explicitly mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 17: [31] ): "Foods in the mode of goodness increase the duration of life, purify one's existence and give strength, health, happiness and satisfaction. Such nourishing foods are sweet, juicy, fattening, and palatable. Foods that are too bitter, too sour, salty and pungent, dry and hot, are liked by people in the modes of passion. Such foods cause pain, distress, and disease. Food cooked more than three hours before being eaten, which is tasteless, stale, putrid, decomposed and unclean, is food liked by people in the mode of ignorance". Thus, although this powerful message does not contain precise instructions to "do" or "not to do", it describes the effects of different kinds of food and leaves the final choice to the individual. The non-selected foods may therefore be declared food taboos by society.

The Situation with regard to liquids is fairly similar. Intoxicants are plainly said to put a person's mind off the natural course and, hence, puts the person into more passion and ignorance. Alcohol and narcotics are, therefore, forbidden and will not enter the household of a traditional Hindu family.
Example 5: The Jewish dietary laws

Jewish dietary laws, containing some of the sentiments found also in the Hindu food taboos, have been chosen to illustrate how food taboos with origins steeped in religion, promotion of health, and protection of life combine to create a set of rules that foremost and for all unite a people and create group-cohesion.

On the day of the Atonement (Yom Kippur) no Jew will eat or drink anything for 24 hours (and on the ninth of the month of 'Av' many will fast again). During the first nine days of the month of 'Av', as an expression of mourning, no meat whatsoever is eaten. On Pessah (Passover) nothing that is leavened (in other words ordinary bread) is consumed or enters a Jewish home.

Certain kinds of food have become associated with particular seasons or festivals: the matzah has become the bread of affliction on Pessah; 'gefillte fish' is a common dish on the Shabbat eve; a Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) without apples and honey is impossible to imagine, and hamantaschen and kreplach are foods symbolical of the feast of Purim [32] . Yet, all through the year a Jew is conscious of his/her Jewishness through complex dietary laws, collectively termed 'kashrut'. Milk or milk-products (i.e., 'Milchiges' in Yiddish) must never be consumed together with meat (i.e., 'Fleischiges' in Yiddish). Plates, pots, cutlery, and other utensils used in connection with meat-containing foods must be kept separate at all times from those used with other foods.

To be classified as permitted (i.e., kosher), an animal must both chew the cud and have a cloven hoof, birds have to have wings, and aquatic organisms must possess both fins and scales [33] . Shrimps, oysters, lobsters, creatures that creep on the ground, reptiles and worms found in fruits or vegetables are all prohibited. To ingest blood of any animal is strictly forbidden, and to be fit for consumption "beast and fowl must be slaughtered according to the law and if they are not of a domesticated species their blood must be covered with earth after slaughter" [34] .

An animal that has died naturally is considered unfit for consumption as is a torn or mauled animal. Also prohibited is the sinew of the thigh (gid hanasheh) of any animal. The only permitted way of slaughter is with "an exceedingly sharp knife without the slightest notch so as to make the taking of a life as painless a procedure as possible" [35] . Slaughtering an animal and its young on the same day is prohibited and there is also a requirement to release a parent bird before taking the chicks [36] . As one of the seven Noachidic Laws, the prohibition to eat flesh of a living animal applies to Jew and non-Jew alike. The rabbinical attitude towards hunting animals for pleasure is entirely negative [35] .

Interpreting the biblical record, mankind was not allowed to eat any meat at all until after "the Flood", although as part of the holy sacrifice of animals to God the consumption of kosher meat had been allowed [37,38] . Later, when the entire Jewish people became considered a "kingdom of priests", the priestly rules in relation to the consumption of "clean" (kosher) meat were extended to the whole community. Even then, only special persons can actually take an animal's life. It has to be a 'Shohet', the Jewish ritual slaughterer, whose appointment depends on the possession of a rabbinical certificate, and on Shabbat or other holy days no killing can take place.

Not always are the dietary laws clear and explicit and there is often room for interpretation, especially with regard to insects as food. Popularly considered 'trefah' (unfit for human consumption) locusts and scale insects are an exception and some Jewish scholars firmly believe that in the passage [33] "examine beast, fowl, locusts, and fish to determine whether they are permitted...", the term locusts stands for insects generally, while others apply it to just four species of locusts. Jewish dietary laws apply to everyone in the community, so that no exceptions for children, women or old folk are permitted, as long as a human life is not endangered. The protection of human life, however, overrides all dietary discipline and for priests and dealings with priests additional dietary rules apply.

Christian 'Seventh Day Adventists' have adopted many of the Jewish/Biblical dietary laws, but while to the Jew there is a place for wine, coffee, and tea (at least for those old enough to have been given complete religious responsibility), Seventh Day Adventists declare all intoxicating and addictive drinks prohibited. Gluttony and drunkenness are, of course, also forbidden to Jews.
Discussion
General remarks

Different workers have different opinions on what constitutes a "food taboo". Generally speaking, a taboo prohibits someone from doing something, e.g., "touching a sacred person, killing a certain animal, eating certain food, eating at certain times" [39] . Taboos represent "unwritten social rules that regulate human behaviour" [14] and define the "in-group" [20] . According to Barfield [40] there may be as many as 300 reasons for particular avoidances (amongst them not wanting to look like a food item, special place of food item in myth or history, food item perceived as dirty, predatory, humanlike etc.), which can magnify effects of seasonal or other restrictions on nutritional intake and may put women at nutritional risk during critical periods in their reproductive cycle.

If the avoidance of a certain food item provides the food avoider with an immediate result, for instance absence of an allergic reaction, we can assign a proximate cause to the food item in question. However, if the consequences of a food taboo are not immediately visible and may take months, years, or even generations to manifest themselves, we have to speak of ultimate causes. For researchers of food taboos, the often unsurmountable difficulty is that proximate and ultimate causes of food taboos may overlap [17] and, in fact, cannot always be separated.

It can be seen from these remarks that a discussion of food taboos is possible in a variety of ways with a variety of foci. By using the examples given above in this paper, the author wishes to highlight certain reasons, which seem to have been involved in the establishment of food taboos in those cultures examined (but may have been at the root of food taboos in other cultures as well). Discussing the examples in this way, a kind of classification results that might well be generally applicable to societies (not part of this investigation), in which food taboos exist.
Food taboos for certain members of the society and to highlight special events

Any interpretation of food taboos has to consider the region they operate in, the era or circumstances they came into existence, or, in other words, the food history of a people [7,8,41,42] . Desert locusts, having been common and sustained ancient Israelites in a dry land, are not taboo, but why should other insects be taboo? Rational explanations are not always possible and what to one group is strictly taboo, to another may be perfectly acceptable [43] . Some food taboos evolved in connection with attempts to steer or control man's destiny [44] and attempts to put some "order" into the occurrence of and reason(s) behind food taboos must realize that food taboo categories are not clear-cut. Food taboos, based on religious beliefs for example, may have a health-related root and taboos restricting certain foods to men may be an expression of male dominance or differences in skills between the sexes.

Taking a look at the ubiquity of food taboos, we notice that sometimes taboos affect all sections of the population at all times: Jewish dietary laws [45] and the basic Hindu regulation of "no meat, no fish, no eggs" are cases in point. Occasionally, ubiquitous food taboos become suspended or are enforced periodically as with the Friday for the Catholic Christians, when no meat but fish only is to be consumed and the pre-Easter weeks of lent, when meat of warm-blooded animals should not be eaten. The annual Yom Kippur with its total ban of food and liquid intake as a periodical food taboo event (cf., definition of the word taboo [39] ) also comes to mind, but this total stop of food and liquid intake is a special case.

Frequently, food taboos affect males or females, leaders or subjects, children or widows and widowers differently; in other words they are distributed unevenly. Food taboos, as we have seen in the examples of the Orang Asli in Malaysia [24] , mid-west state Nigerians [30] , or parts of the Congo [46] , may change throughout a person's lifetime with age in a predictable manner, as accepted and expected by society.

Food taboos frequently accompany 'coming-of-age' or initiation ceremonies [47] ; they can also be prescribed at times of drought, flooding or lunar and solar eclipses, and many more events. Thus, one of the aims of food taboos is to highlight particular happenings, making them memorable. In fact, the vast majority of all food taboos come under this group of "specific events" and one of its various sub-categories. Food taboos at menstruation, during and after pregnancies, on the sickbed in times of illness, in times of mourning, in preparation for a wedding, or before combat are commonly encountered [48] . Persons of Asian descent traditionally perceive health in connection with the bodily balance of 'hot and cold' and, thus, when under the influence of disease or pregnancy, would avoid food items considered 'hot', which may even include iron tablets [49] .
Food taboos to protect human health

When a particular taboo is regarded as God-given, as a form of instruction or command from the "Supreme" and thus play a role in the cultural or religious belief system [14] , then it is usually seen as part of a 'package' to protect the believers, to safeguard them against evil [20-23] . To doubt, even to ask any questions about the reasons behind the taboo is seen as blasphemous. Likewise, in tribes with totem beliefs, it follows that it has to be taboo to eat the totem animal, as otherwise it could take revenge and adversely affect the whole tribe [42] . However, irrespective of the God-given rules or advice, people must have noticed changes in the behaviour of persons that consumed certain food items. Such behavioural and/or emotional consequences of certain foods must have been recognizable not only to the consumer of the food, but also to her/his company and could have been the origin of such seemingly God-given guidelines. For instance, food items involved in IgE-mediated allergies (like, for instance, shrimp: [50] ) should have been easily identifiable and then could first have led to their avoidance and, secondly, to a total ban of them.

Eating to regulate emotions has been listed as one of the five classes of "emotion-induced changes of eating" by Macht [51] and IgE-mediated atopic diseases are known to be associated with depression [52] and suicide rate [53] . An increase of unsaturated fatty acids in the diet has been found to be correlated with decreased violent behaviour [54] and an exposure to sunflower seeds [55] and colorants derived from the fungus Monascus ruber [56] can cause asthma attacks. Finally, low glycaemic meals have been reported to improve memory and ability to sustain attention [57] , features that might not have gone unnoticed by our forebears in earlier times and could have led to the avoidance or recommendation not to consume certain food items.

As scientists we are obliged to probe, to scrutinize, to question and although many food taboos do not appear to have a health-related, 'rational' explanation, some clearly have become established, because of the aim to protect the health of an individual (and this would equally apply to Modena's recently suggested "anti-taboo" concept in choosing food denominations: [58] ). Taboos of the Hindu related to collecting fruits and breaking plants after sunset go back to times when no artificial lighting was available and, therefore, it must have been outright dangerous to pick fruits at night. Consequently, it would make perfect sense to taboo the collecting of fruit after dark. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, cramps, and maybe death, whether rightly or wrongly, were frequently considered to be some of the after-effects of ingesting certain foods [41] .

In some cases the threat to a person's health may be obvious and demonstrable with modern medical, chemical, and other analytical techniques, but of course it was not always like this. Amazon and coastal fishermen, for example, declare mostly carnivorous, especially piscivorous, fishes taboo: we know now that their place high in the food pyramid renders them particular rich in contaminants and toxins [17] . Alcohol, another example, is an addictive poison and as such is taboo for children of most societies. Snakes and other venomous or dangerous creatures had better be left alone as the risk of procuring them for food can outweigh their nutritional value. A utilitarian reason to despise swine, as it competes with humans for food and water in dry lands, has been put forward by Harris [7] , but pork is taboo to many people, because pigs tend to harbour masses of sickness-causing parasites. Moreover, it is claimed that pig meat contains substances, which have been linked to high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, rheumatism, arthritis, boils, asthma and eczema. Apparently, soldiers fighting in North Africa during World War II began to increasingly suffer from toxic ulcera of the legs as long as there was pork in their diet. When their food was pork-free, the ulcera disappeared [59] .
Food taboos during pregnancy and food changes over the course of the menstrual cycle

Declaring certain foods taboo because they are thought to make a person sick, is also the basis for the many food taboos affecting pregnant women. Largely linked with the realms of mind and 'psyche', the taboos of not eating cryptic fish amongst the Trobriand Islanders or watermelon and other fruits amongst the Onabasulu are actually meant to protect the health of the pregnant woman and her offspring and thought to ease the process of birth-giving, even if modern nutritionists completely disagree. Likewise, the rule of the Orang Asli that young people can only cope with small animals like snails, mice and rats as food, because their spirits are also small and for that reason are not likely to do much harm to a small child's spirit, is designed to protect human life.

Yet, it is often pregnant and lactating women in various parts of the world that are forced to abstain from especially nutritious and beneficial foods (Mexico: [60] ; Indonesia: [61] ; Korea: Lee H.-I., pers. comm.). Although it is not clear why and how exactly these restrictions came to be accepted (see below), pregnant women do not always adhere to them. Amongst the Lese-women of the Ituri forest of Africa, women cope with these restrictions by either secretly discounting them or by eating prophylactic plants that supposedly prevent the consequences of eating the tabooed foods [62] . Flaunting taboos has also been reported by Alvard [63] , who then suggested that food taboos would be of little value to nature conservation (but see the evidence to the contrary by Colding and Folke [14] ).

The fact that women throughout the world (with few exceptions) display a slightly but significantly reduced calorific intake around the time of ovulation has been noted for a long time and formed the topic of a recent review by Fessler [64] . He used the term "periovulatory nadir" for the phenomenon and concluded that it was linked to increased locomotor activity, interest in wanderlust, "a desire to meet new people (particularly men)". Regrettably, it is not known if specific food items are being avoided, perhaps even subconsciously, at the time of the periovulatory nadir.
Food taboos as an ecological necessity to protect the resource

As hinted upon earlier and demonstrated in several studies, most notably [14-19] , food taboos frequently seem to have an ecological background, which according to Harris [7] is based on utilitarian principles. On the one hand, they may lead to a fuller utilization of a resource and on the other they can lead to its protection. If North West American Inuit and Nootka Indians both hunt and eat the whale, it makes good ecological sense when the Tlingit Indians of the same region regard the giant sea mammal as taboo and look for food on land [65] . Some ecological consequence can also be ascribed to the custom amongst the Ka'aor Indians of the northern Maranhao (Brazil) of allowing only menstruating women, pubescent girls, and parents of newborns to consume the meat of tortoises [66] and the fact that amongst the indigenous people of Ratanakiri (Cambodia) different food taboos operate even between neighbouring villages [67] . Of 70 existing examples of species-specific taboos, identified and analysed by Colding and Folke [14] , 30% were found to prohibit the use of species listed as threatened by the IUCN Red Data Book.

In the same vein, if women and children, as in the Orang Asli, eat only small animals while older people also consume bigger species, a measure like this would distribute ecological pressure more evenly across a greater number of consumable species. This can lead to a situation, in which females are only permitted plants and insects as food, while the menfolk are free to ingest meat, egg, and fish [7] . The regulations amongst the Canadian Netsilik [68] that sea-mammal and terrestrial mammal must never be eaten on the same day and amongst Jews that milk and milk-containing foods cannot be consumed together with meat, have an ecological ring. Clearly, sustainability of a resource is served by the taboo not to eat the young and its parent and by the Hindu custom of not totally finishing a plate, so that there is always some plant material left over for Nature (e.g., seeds). To safeguard a resource for a time of crisis may be the reason, why certain fishes of the Amazon are not normally eaten, but spared [69] .
Food taboos in order to monopolize a resource

Declaring a food item taboo for one section of the population, can of course, lead to a monopoly of the food in question by the remainder of the population [7] . For purely egoistic reasons men may declare meat and other, to them, delicacies taboo "for others". That this is the main reason for some food taboos affecting mainly women and children, is suspected by [30] . Traditional healers in Nigeria sometimes attribute childhood ailments to breaking the food norms [70] and in Senegal women and children, but not men, must avoid poultry products. That this can lead to a shortage of adequate supplies of essential nutrients especially in the most vulnerable group of the rural population is self-understood [71] .

The fact that in many societies alcohol-drinking women are poorly respected (while for men alcohol consumption is regarded as normal), in essence, seems little different from the Australian aboriginal practice that native honey (a rare and sweet delicacy) is seen as something fit only for the old and wise men. Amongst the Bolivian Siriono, there are "hundreds of food taboos", but they apply only very loosely to the elderly, who can break the taboos. This ensures their welfare and survival when no longer able to hunt for the 'right food' [72] .
Food taboos as an expression of empathy

Empathy, i.e., feeling for and with the poor animal that is to have its life terminated for the selfish reason of devouring it, is yet another powerful reason for certain food taboos to have come into existence. In many societies, pet animals enjoy a greater degree of protection and are more likely to be given "taboo" status than individuals that are unfamiliar and "unrelated". It is almost as if "humanness" rubs off and the pet becomes regarded as an "honorary human".

Hindu religious thought with its belief of re-incarnation even goes a step further and basically does not distinguish between human and animal with regard to their souls – only the packaging is seen to differ. It follows that by eating an animal, a Hindu could indeed, to put it bluntly, be eating a deceased relative. And that -with few exceptions where endocannibalism was the accepted practice and parts of a human corpse were ritually consumed as in certain tribes of Papua Niugini- is almost everywhere a taboo [73-75] .
Food taboos as a factor in group-cohesion and group-identity

Finally, it ought to be mentioned that any food taboo, acknowledged by a particular group of people as part of its ways, aids in the cohesion of this group, helps that group stand out amongst others, assists that group to maintain its identity and creates a feeling of "belonging". Thus, food taboos can strengthen the confidence of a group by functioning as a demonstration of the uniqueness of the group in the face of others.

Food taboos and food habits can persist for a very long time and can be (and have been) made use of in identifying cultural and historical relationships between human populations [76,77] . It has, for instance, been suggested that the food taboos of both Jews and Hindus reflect not the nutritional needs, but the explicit concerns of the pastoral peoples' that they once were [78] .
Conclusion

In our increasingly international world, it is essential that we know and understand food taboos of societies other than and in addition to our own. In a world, in which many persons still go hungry, it is important to realize that numerous societies impose restrictions on what is acceptable as food and that in most cases the full food potential of a given environment is not being made use of. Food restrictions can affect the nutritional status of a community or a subsection within it. There may be sound reasons for prohibiting certain food items as we have demonstrated in this paper, but declaring some food items taboo can equally well be a form of suppression by a more dominant sector of the society. To explore the operating food taboos from historic, hygienic, and social perspectives must be the aim of any study that deals with the problem of community food culture [10,14,79,80] . In the words of Drewnowski and Levine [80] : "There is a need for further discussions of the economics of food choice".
Competing interests

The author declares that he has no competing interests.
Author's contributions

The single author of this paper (VBM-R) is responsible for every aspect of the research, the conclusions, and the writing of the paper.
Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank his companions, helpers, guides, and informants in the field as well as Dr. Sulochana D. Moro for expert information on Hinduism and Indian food taboos. Some of this research was made possible through grants from the Australian National University (Canberra, Australia) and the University of the West Indies (Kingston, Jamaica). Jacobs University Bremen kindly allowed the author time off from teaching for two brief research visits to Papua New Guinea in 2002 and 2004.
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Three Major Taboos of Eating Eggs
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Three Major Taboos of Eating Eggs

By: Green Alice

About the Author

Green Alice is the freelance writer for e-commerce website in the chemistry. LookChem.com is just a place for you to Look for Chemicals! Our LookChem provide the most convenient conditions for the international buyers and let these leads benefit all the business person.

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Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ - Three Major Taboos of Eating Eggs

Egg is a kind of common food in people's daily life. It has many effects to human body, such as protecting the liver, preventing and treating arteriosclerosis, and so on. However, there are also some taboos when you eat eggs.

The first taboo is: boiling the eggs and sugar together
In many places, people have the habit of eating sweet poached egg. In fact, if you boil the eggs and sugar together, it will make the amino acids in egg protein to form a material which is not easily absorbed by the body, so it will have adverse effects on human health.

The second taboo is: eating eggs and soybean milk together
Many people are used to drinking some soybean milk when eating eggs at the breakfast; and some people like to boil the eggs in the soybean milk. However, they rarely know that such habits are very harmful to the health. As soybean contains a special substance called as trypsin, which, after combining with the egg-white protein, will result in the loss of nutrients, thus reducing its nutritional value.

The third taboo is: eating eggs and rabbit meat together
When you eat eggs, another notice you should pay attention to is that, do not eat eggs with rabbit meat together. Rabbit meat and eggs both contain a number of biologically active substances. If you eat these two kinds of food together, these substances will react with each other and stimulate the gastrointestinal tract, thus leading to diarrhea.

In fact, there are a variety ways of eating eggs. In terms of the absorptivity and digestibility of the nutrients, boiled egg is 100%, scrambled egg is 97%, tender-fried egg is 98%, deep-fried egg is 81.1%, raw egg is 30% to 50%. As a result, the boiled egg is the best way of eating. But you should pay attention to chew it carefully and swallow slowly, otherwise it will affect the absorption and digestion of thr food in the body. However, for children, egg custards or soup of egg flakes are much more suitable, because these two approaches can make the protein easily decompose, so it will be easily digested and absorbed by the children.

Last but not the least, you should try to eat as less tea flavoured eggs as possible, because tea leaves contain some acidulated substances, which will combine with the iron in eggs, and will stimulate the stomach, thus affecting the digestive function of the stomach and intestines.
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Green Alice
Green Alice - About the Author:

Green Alice is the freelance writer for e-commerce website in the chemistry. LookChem.com is just a place for you to Look for Chemicals! Our LookChem provide the most convenient conditions for the international buyers and let these leads benefit all the business person.
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http://www.clltopics.org/VitaminD3/EssentialforHealth.htm

Vitamin D3 — Essential for Health

Date: June 15, 2004

by Chaya Venkat
The Flip Side of Sun Avoidance — Vitamin D Insufficiency

Related Alert: No. 47 - Those Pesky Aches and Pains
External Link: The Vitamin D Council
Short Articles: Index Page
sunswirl

Much of how our bodies work goes back to our evolution as naked apes on the plains of tropical Africa. Without the present day taboos on nudity, the full body surface of our ancestors was exposed to the sun each and every day, except when it was cloudy. Our modern lifestyle means we cover all except may be 5% of our skin surface, all except our faces and hands, less frequently our arms and legs. Unfortunately, evolution has designed us to need far more vitamin D (calciferol) than most of us get now — and a major source of vitamin D is its production in our skin as a result of UV exposure from sunlight. The relationship between vitamin D and sunlight is well documented. For example, submarine crews show a drop of approximately 40% in their blood levels of vitamin D metabolite after spending 2-3 months inside their under water steel home. New Pakistani immigrants to the colder and cloudier British climate have a whopping 80% drop in vitamin D metabolite one year after arriving in England.

It has been known for more than 60 years that people who get a lot of sun exposure are also likely to have fewer cancer deaths — that is, all except skin cancer. The direct link between squamous cell carcinoma and sun exposure has been known for a long time too. In fact putting these two facts together, a case of adding 2 + 2 and coming with 22, early researchers suggested that development of squamous cell carcinoma conferred immunity against all the other cancers! We know better now. Skin cancer has nothing to do with protecting us from other cancers. The same UV and sunlight that causes skin cancer also helps make vitamin D in our skin and vitamin D is a powerful cancer preventive agent.

It is now rare for us to spend a lot of time in full strength sunlight, without clothes or sun protection getting in the way. And rightly so! If you have not read the recent article "Dying to Get a Tan?" on our website, today may be a good day to read it. The risk of squamous cell carcinoma is much higher in CLL patients and if it develops, it is likely to be of a more aggressive and hard-to-treat variety. There is no escaping this — for CLL patients, there are serious risks associated with sun exposure and aggressive skin cancers. Sounds like one of life's classic damned-if-you-do and damned-if-you-don't type of choices, right? Not quite. For a change, there is a simple, inexpensive and downright obvious solution. It is possible to eat your cake and have it too. The answer to getting enough vitamin D without getting too much sun (and thereby running the risk of skin cancer) is swallowing a capsule with the right level and right type of vitamin D.

Vitamin D is a powerful hormone and its function in the endocrine system is complex. I will not bore you with the details. But this much you should know: vitamin D is metabolized by the liver and kidneys to form something called 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D, for short). It is now clear that vitamin D influences many organs including the intestines, bone, kidneys, pancreas, B cells, pituitary gland, breast tissue, placenta, lymphocytes, keratinocytes, colon, prostate and a few more that I might have overlooked. It is a serious player in many cancers. Much of the health benefits of sunlight is associated with increased levels of this potent inhibitor of cancer cell proliferation.
How Much Vitamin D Do We Need?

Let's get some units straight in our heads before we proceed. Vitamin D is measured in micrograms (the symbol is "µg", the Greek letter mu indicating "micro" or one-milliionth), which is one millionth of a gram. Another common measure is the International Unit (symbol is "IU"). Scientists use both units of measurement and it can get confusing. Here is the simple conversion: 1 µg of Vitamin D = 40 IU. You are more likely to see the IU units on bottles of multivitamins. I will give both units in the rest of this review, so that you can pick the one you want to use.

With a few exceptions, there is little or no vitamin D in the kind of foods that humans normally eat, unless they are artificially supplemented. The conventional wisdom used to be that occasional exposure of the face and hands to sunlight is "sufficient" for vitamin D production. However, now there is solid evidence that the amount of Vitamin D produced by 5% skin exposure would leave more than half of the population "Vitamin D insufficient". Several researchers have found that in the homebound American elderly, the mean vitamin D intake was 13 µg (520 IU) per day. When this is converted to the active metabolite 25(OH)D in the body, this amount of vitamin D puts most people into the "vitamin D insufficient" category.

Some of the abstracts I have attached document the way the adult Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for vitamin D has been set in this country and elsewhere. The current adult RDA for Vitamin D approximates half the amount in a teaspoon of cod-liver oil. Our modern day RDA is based pretty much on that 19th-century folk remedy. In England, an adult requirement of only 2.5 µg (100 IU)/day was justified on the basis of 7 adult women with severe nutritional lack of vitamin D, whose bones showed a response when given this amount. These were hardly a representative group of adults, and in any case the decision was made on the basis of just reversing the extreme bone decay, not the level required for good general health. The adult RDA of 5 µg (200 IU)/d was described as a "generous allowance" in the 1989 version of American recommended intakes. While the American adult RDA for vitamin D has remained unchanged since the 1960s, it has been newly revised for people older than 70 years — it is now 3-fold higher than the standard RDA.

The required vitamin D fortification of milk, orange juice and a few other foods over the past several decades, coupled with the general use of vitamin D supplements in children, has eliminated diseases such as rickets associated with severe vitamin D deficiency. But the same approach has not succeeded in preventing a milder form of the problem, vitamin D insufficiency. It has now been well documented that significant subsets of North Americans have lower levels of 25(OH)D, the Vitamin D metabolite, than necessary to maintain good health. There is a rapidly growing body of evidence that one of the downsides of not having enough Vitamin D is the increased risk of many types of cancer, a situation that can be easily corrected with Vitamin D supplements.

Another area of intense interest as the general age of our populations increase is that increasing blood concentrations of 25(OH)D from 50 nmol/L to 80 nmol/L improves calcium absorption efficiency by nearly two-thirds and reduces osteoporotic fracture risk by one-third. We are conditioned to think of osteoporosis as a problem faced by post-menopausal women. It is not quite that simple. All of us, men and women, are at risk of thinning and brittle bones as we age, especially if we lead sedentary lives without weight bearing exercise. If on top of that we add the risk factor of chemotherapy, especially with corticosteroid drugs such as prednisone, justly famous for their side-effect of leaching calcium out of bones, you can see why this is an important issue for CLL patients.
Vitamin D "Intoxication" and the Risk of Hypercalcemia

So what is the problem, you ask, why not load everyone to the gills with Vitamin D? In simple terms, mega doses of Vitamin D can cause hypercalcemia, which in layperson terms means there is too much free calcium (Ca2+) in the blood. Most of us obsess over the monthly CBC, going crazy over each dip and up tick in the lymphocyte numbers, instead of doing the sensible thing and look for clear trends over time by charting the data. There is a certain amount of "noise" in any of this data, especially if the CBC is done at different labs. You may not get a "Blood Electrolytes" (also called "composite metabolic panel" by some labs) work-up as often as you get your CBC checked out but I think it is important to get this done, too, on a regular basis. Our charts template has a sheet on it for monitoring the electrolyte information. One of the items on that chart, namely your calcium levels, is worth monitoring.

The calcium ion (Ca2+) concentration is controlled by two hormones, parathyroid hormone (PTH) and vitamin D. PTH keeps tabs on calcium concentration on a minute by minute basis. When the concentration drops, this hormone triggers the release of calcium from the stored reserves in your kidneys as well as your bones. It also converts vitamin D to its active form, which helps your gut absorb more calcium from the food you eat.

Hypercalcemia is a dangerous and life-threatening disorder in cancer patients. Roughly 10% - 20% of all patients with solid tumors as well as blood cancers (particularly multiple myeloma) have hypercalcemia, a condition in which the calcium level in blood serum is way too high. Left untreated, hypercalcemia quickly becomes life threatening. In fact, withholding intervention to correct hypercalcemia is one of the ways in which hospitals and doctors honor end-of-life wishes of patients and their families. Here is a quote from the NCI monograph on hypercalcemia:

"When a patient has a refractory, widely disseminated malignancy for which specific therapy is no longer being pursued, the patient may want to consider withholding therapy for hypercalcemia. For patients or family who have expressed their wishes regarding end-of-life issues, this may represent a preferred timing and/or mode of death (as compared to a more prolonged death from advancing metastatic disease). This option is best considered long before the onset of severe hypercalcemia or other metabolic abnormalities that impair cognition, so that the patient may be involved in the decision-making".

I hope you have now clearly understood that hypercalcemia is not something to take lightly. Left untreated, severe hypercalcemia quickly leads to coma and death. However, while hypercalcemia is clearly of concern if one is taking too much Vitamin D, published cases of vitamin D toxicity with hypercalcemia typically involve the intake of more than 1,000 µg (40,000 IU)/day. Most nutritionists and researchers appear to agree that supplementation of Vitamin D with 25 µg (1,000 IU)/day poses little risk of hypercalcemia. It is unfortunate this level of supplementation has been avoided even though the weight of evidence shows that this is a safe level, likely to provide some protection against cancers of many kinds.

Vitamin D Intake chart

Dose response for vitamin D intake versus
final serum level of 25(OH)D concentration
(Vitamin D Supplementation - R. Vieth)

The graph above shows the relationship between the amount of Vitamin D intake and the amount of the metabolite 25(OH)D measured in blood serum. As you can see, the level of 25(OH)D does not increase sharply until the Vitamin D intake exceeds about 10,000 IU per day. This is well below the threshold level — 1,000μg (40,000 IU) — where hypercalcemia is observed.
The Vitamin D - Cancer Connection

GPs have noticed a strange connection between northern latitudes, winter times and the general health of their patients. Besides the psychological strain of living during the gloomy winter months when the sky is overcast, daylight hours are short and it is too cold to go out into the sunlight anyway, there is also a direct correlation between sun exposure of skin, vitamin D levels and good health. The abstract below from Minnesota spells it out: their cold winters and short days do take a toll.
Abstract:

Minn Med. 2003 Jan;86(1):43-5.

Vitamin D--the steroid hormone prescription for every patient.

Plotnikoff GA.

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Physicians in the United States rarely screen for hypovitaminosis D and rarely prescribe vitamin D, even when medically indicated. This is of particular concern in Minnesota. The sun's intensity at Minnesota's latitudes limits vitamin D production, at best, to March through October. A variety of lifestyle situations, including long work hours, may preclude adequate sun exposure. Additionally, people of Northern European background may avoid sun exposure to reduce risk of skin cancer and premature aging. And people of Asian and African heritage may not have sufficient vitamin D production due to increased skin pigmentation. This brief article summarizes key points regarding the importance of vitamin D, including its action as a steroid hormone and its role in cancer, hypertension, and autoimmune disease as well as in perinatal and prenatal health. The potential benefit of hypovitaminosis D screening and vitamin D supplementation is discussed, as are the populations most likely to need screening and supplementation.

PMID: 12585559
____________

The two abstracts below by Vieth, et al., (you can and should click on the links provided, to read the full text articles for free) are very extensive and detailed. They will provide you with a great deal of the background information, and even more important, they will be useful documents to have when/if you decide to pick up this topic as a discussion item with your GP or oncologist. Both the articles also have a wealth of references, if you wish to research this subject further.
Abstracts:

Article from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Am J Clin Nutr. 1999 May;69(5):842-56.

Vitamin D supplementation, 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations, and safety.

Vieth R.

Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Mount Sinai Hospital, Ontario, Canada.

For adults, the 5-microg (200 IU) vitamin D recommended dietary allowance may prevent osteomalacia in the absence of sunlight, but more is needed to help prevent osteoporosis and secondary hyperparathyroidism. Other benefits of vitamin D supplementation are implicated epidemiologically: prevention of some cancers, osteoarthritis progression, multiple sclerosis, and hypertension. Total-body sun exposure easily provides the equivalent of 250 microg (10000 IU) vitamin D/d, suggesting that this is a physiologic limit. Sailors in US submarines are deprived of environmentally acquired vitamin D equivalent to 20-50 microg (800-2000 IU)/d. The assembled data from many vitamin D supplementation studies reveal a curve for vitamin D dose versus serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] response that is surprisingly flat up to 250 microg (10,000 IU) vitamin D/d. To ensure that serum 25(OH)D concentrations exceed 100 nmol/L, a total vitamin D supply of 100 microg (4000 IU)/d is required. Except in those with conditions causing hypersensitivity, there is no evidence of adverse effects with serum 25(OH)D concentrations <140 nmol/L, which require a total vitamin D supply of 250 microg (10,000 IU)/d to attain. Published cases of vitamin D toxicity with hypercalcemia, for which the 25(OH)D concentration and vitamin D dose are known, all involve intake of greater than or equal to 1000 microg (40,000 IU)/d. Because vitamin D is potentially toxic, intake of >25 microg (1000 IU)/d has been avoided even though the weight of evidence shows that the currently accepted, no observed adverse effect limit of 50 microg (2000 IU)/d is too low by at least 5-fold.

PMID: 10232622
____________

Article from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Am J Clin Nutr. 2001 Feb;73(2):288-94.

Efficacy and safety of vitamin D3 intake exceeding the lowest observed adverse effect level.

Vieth R, Chan PC, MacFarlane GD.

Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

BACKGROUND: The Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences states that 95 microg vitamin D/d is the lowest observed adverse effect level (LOAEL).
OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to assess the efficacy and safety of prolonged vitamin D3 intakes of 25 and 100 microg (1000 and 4000 IU)/d. Efficacy was based on the lowest serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentration achieved by subjects taking vitamin D3; potential toxicity was monitored by measuring serum calcium concentrations and by calculating urinary calcium-creatinine ratios.
DESIGN: Healthy men and women (n = 61) aged 41 +/- 9 y (mean +/- SD) were randomly assigned to receive either 25 or 100 microg vitamin D3/d for 2-5 mo, starting between January and February. Serum 25(OH)D was measured by radioimmunoassay.
RESULTS: Baseline serum 25(OH)D was 40.7 +/- 15.4 nmol/L (mean +/- SD). From 3 mo on, serum 25(OH)D plateaued at 68.7 +/- 16.9 nmol/L in the 25-microg/d group and at 96.4 +/- 14.6 nmol/L in the 100-microg/d group. Summertime serum 25(OH)D concentrations in 25 comparable subjects not taking vitamin D3 were 46.7 +/- 17.8 nmol/L. The minimum and maximum plateau serum 25(OH)D concentrations in subjects taking 25 and 100 microg vitamin D3/d were 40 and 100 nmol/L and 69 and 125 nmol/L, respectively. Serum calcium and urinary calcium excretion did not change significantly at either dosage during the study.
CONCLUSIONS: The 100-microg/d dosage of vitamin D3 effectively increased 25(OH)D to high-normal concentrations in practically all adults and serum 25(OH)D remained within the physiologic range; therefore, we consider 100 microg vitamin D3/d to be a safe intake.

PMID: 11157326
____________

Below is an article that brings the whole issue of vitamin D into sharper focus. Did you know that vitamin D is quite cytotoxic to CLL cells? In fact, they are busy researching molecules that are very similar to vitamin D, such as EB1089 below, in the hope of finding one that has as much therapeutic value as the normal Vitamin D, but less likely to cause hypercalcemia.

I am sure you have all seen anecdotal stories on the various internet chat rooms: a CLL patient living in one of our more northern states goes down to Florida every winter, to take advantage of the warmer and sunnier climate as well as daily game of golf. Presto! Every year his CLL counts stop rising or even fall back a little over this period. Perhaps there are other reasons for this, but one reason that suggests itself is that the patient in question has a chronic case of Vitamin D insufficiency, which is temporarily corrected when he gets a lot more sun over the winter months playing golf. Now, would it not be grand if he could get the same effect year round, by the simple act of taking a Vitamin D capsule? Something to think about. Unfortunately, and I am quoting from the Mayo abstract, "Physicians in the United States rarely screen for hypovitaminosis D and rarely prescribe vitamin D, even when medically indicated". If your healthcare provider falls into this category, it is probably important for you to get a little proactive.
Abstract:

Blood. 2003 Apr 1;101(7):2454-60. Epub 2002 Nov 21.

The vitamin D3 analog EB1089 induces apoptosis via a p53-independent mechanism involving p38 MAP kinase activation and suppression of ERK activity in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells in vitro.

Pepper C, Thomas A, Hoy T, Milligan D, Bentley P, Fegan C.

Department of Haematology, Llandough Hospital, Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, United Kingdom.

EB1089, a novel vitamin D3 analog, has been shown to have cytotoxic and antiproliferative properties in a variety of malignant cells. However, its potential as a treatment for B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) has not been evaluated. EB1089 induced apoptosis in all of the 102 B-CLL samples tested with a mean LD(50) (the concentration of EB1089 required to kill 50% of cells) value (+/- SD) of 2.1 x 10(-8) M (+/- 1.4 x 10(-8) M). Furthermore, no significant difference was found in the cytotoxicity of EB1089 in B-CLL samples from previously treated and untreated patients (P =.1637). Induction of apoptosis was associated with a reduction in Bcl-2 and Mcl-1 protein expression, but this was evident only in the apoptotic cells. In contrast, the expression of Bax, p21, and p53 was not altered in the viable or apoptotic cells from either B- or T-lymphocyte lineages. EB1089-induced apoptosis was preceded by activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase and suppression of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activity, and this was associated with downstream activation of caspase-3. The pancaspase inhibitor (Z-VAD-FMK) and the caspase-9 inhibitor (Z-LEHD-FMK) were able to partially abrogate the apoptotic effects of EB1089 but did not affect the phosphorylation of p38 MAP kinase or the suppression of ERK. The B-CLL cells in the study were shown to highly express vitamin D receptor, but an additional receptor-independent mechanism of cell killing cannot be ruled out at this stage. These findings show that EB1089 is a potent apoptosis-inducing agent in B-CLL cells and may be useful in the treatment of B-CLL patients, particularly those with p53 mutations or drug-resistant disease.

PMID: 12446453
____________
An Action Plan to Consider

The abstracts I have discussed above, as well as several others attached below are from top-rated journals, authors from some of our most prestigious medical research facilities. There are dozens more, I just had to put some limit on the length of this review. Vitamin D has the potential to play a significant role in remission maintenance, or even delaying the day when first therapy becomes inevitable. It is important to do your homework, and go about it in a cautious and pragmatic manner. Here are a set of action items I strongly recommend:

* Take the time to browse the abstracts, click on the full length text links where they are available free of charge. Print out the articles that you find interesting.
* Discuss with your doctor (GP or oncologist or hematologist) the need for sufficient Vitamin D. Take the hard copy articles you have printed out, it might help your discussion. If possible, get a test done to check your serum level of 25(OH)D. If like the majority of us you are in the "vitamin D insufficiency" category, it is important to correct it.
* Discuss with your healthcare provider the need for monitoring calcium levels in blood serum on a regular basis. Any one who is embarking on a course of Vitamin D supplementation (over and above the woefully inadequate levels in the general multi-vitamin tablet) needs to make sure that they do not cross the limit, over-do a good thing to the point where they can run into the serious health risk of hypercalcemia.
* Make sure you do not (repeat, do not) try to get extra helping of Vitamin D by taking more of your usual multi-vitamin tablet. You may need to increase your Vitamin D intake, but you surely do not want to get more of everything else that the multi-vitamin tablet has. Several of the other vitamins are toxic at levels that are significantly higher than those in your daily multi-vitamin tablet and you do not want to go over the limit of these other vitamins.
* There are a number of chemical forms of Vitamin D currently on the market with names like ergosterol, calciferol, calcitriol, cholecalciferol, ergocalciferol and so on. Some of these require exposure to ultraviolet radiation by the action of sunlight on the skin for conversion to the active form, 25(OH)D. Of course, it would be best if the supplement used is a form that does not depend on ultraviolet radiation for this conversion. Cholecalciferol or Vitamin D3, fits the bill. This form of the vitamin is converted in the liver and kidneys to 25(OH)D, without the need for sun exposure. For those who are interested in learning more about this, the following link to a site at the University of California at Riverside might be helpful: http://vitamind.ucr.edu/about.html.
* An authoritative source of information on Vitamin D is the Vitamin D Council, well-organized website with comprehensive information on the topic, presented in a straightforward way that patients can understand. The experts behind this organization have impressive credentials.
* Last but not least, limiting sun exposure and using sun screen are still very important recommendations. It is not smart to try to increase vitamin D levels by sun bathing, not when you have several-fold higher risk of dangerous skin cancer. Fortunately, it is possible to limit your risk of skin cancer, and yet get your vitamin D intake to a healthy level, if you go about it carefully.

Abstracts:

N Engl J Med. 1998 Mar 19;338(12):777-83.

Hypovitaminosis D in medical inpatients.

Thomas MK, Lloyd-Jones DM, Thadhani RI, Shaw AC, Deraska DJ, Kitch BT, Vamvakas EC, Dick IM, Prince RL, Finkelstein JS.

Endocrine Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston MA 02114

BACKGROUND: Vitamin D deficiency is a major risk factor for bone loss and fracture. Although hypovitaminosis D has been detected frequently in elderly and housebound people, the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among patients hospitalized on a general medical service is unknown.
METHODS: We assessed vitamin D intake, ultraviolet-light exposure, and risk factors for hypovitaminosis D and measured serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D, parathyroid hormone, and ionized calcium in 290 consecutive patients on a general medical ward.
RESULTS: A total of 164 patients (57 percent) were considered vitamin D-deficient (serum concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, < or = 15 ng per milliliter), of whom 65 (22 percent) were considered severely vitamin D-deficient (serum concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, <8 ng per milliliter). Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations were related inversely to parathyroid hormone concentrations. Lower vitamin D intake, less exposure to ultraviolet light, anticonvulsant-drug therapy, renal dialysis, nephrotic syndrome, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, winter season, higher serum concentrations of parathyroid hormone and alkaline phosphatase, and lower serum concentrations of ionized calcium and albumin were significant univariate predictors of hypovitaminosis D. Sixty-nine percent of the patients who consumed less than the recommended daily allowance of vitamin D and 43 percent of the patients with vitamin D intakes above the recommended daily allowance were vitamin D-deficient. Inadequate vitamin D intake, winter season, and housebound status were independent predictors of hypovitaminosis D in a multivariate model. In a subgroup of 77 patients less than 65 years of age without known risk factors for hypovitaminosis D, the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was 42 percent.
CONCLUSIONS: Hypovitaminosis D is common in general medical inpatients, including those with vitamin D intakes exceeding the recommended daily allowance and those without apparent risk factors for vitamin D deficiency.

PMID: 9504937
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Article from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Am J Clin Nutr. 2003 Nov;78(5):912-9.

Long-latency deficiency disease: insights from calcium and vitamin D.

Heaney RP.

Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68131

Nutrient intake recommendations and national nutritional policies have focused primarily on prevention of short-latency deficiency diseases. Most nutrient intake recommendations today are based on prevention of the index disease only. However, inadequate intakes of many nutrients are now recognized as contributing to several of the major chronic diseases that affect the populations of the industrialized nations. Often taking many years to manifest themselves, these disease outcomes should be thought of as long-latency deficiency diseases. Sometimes they come about by the same pathophysiologic mechanism that produces the index disease, but sometimes the mechanisms are completely different. Well-documented examples of both short- and long-latency deficiency states involving calcium and vitamin D are described briefly. Then, the insights derived from these nutrients are tentatively applied to folic acid. Discerning the full role of nutrition in long-latency, multifactorial disorders is probably the principal challenge facing nutritional science today. The first component of this challenge is to recognize that inadequate intakes of specific nutrients may produce more than one disease, may produce diseases by more than one mechanism, and may require several years for the consequent morbidity to be sufficiently evident to be clinically recognizable as "disease." Because the intakes required to prevent many of the long-latency disorders are higher than those required to prevent the respective index diseases, recommendations based solely on preventing the index diseases are no longer biologically defensible.

PMID: 14594776
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Article from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Mar;79(3):362-71.

Vitamin D: importance in the prevention of cancers, type 1 diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis.

Holick MF.

Vitamin D, Skin, and Bone Research Laboratory, Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118-2394

The purpose of this review is to put into perspective the many health benefits of vitamin D and the role of vitamin D deficiency in increasing the risk of many common and serious diseases, including some common cancers, type 1 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and osteoporosis. Numerous epidemiologic studies suggest that exposure to sunlight, which enhances the production of vitamin D(3) in the skin, is important in preventing many chronic diseases. Because very few foods naturally contain vitamin D, sunlight supplies most of our vitamin D requirement. 25-Hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] is the metabolite that should be measured in the blood to determine vitamin D status. Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in infants who are solely breastfed and who do not receive vitamin D supplementation and in adults of all ages who have increased skin pigmentation or who always wear sun protection or limit their outdoor activities. Vitamin D deficiency is often misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia. A new dietary source of vitamin D is orange juice fortified with vitamin D. Studies in both human and animal models add strength to the hypothesis that the unrecognized epidemic of vitamin D deficiency worldwide is a contributing factor of many chronic debilitating diseases. Greater awareness of the insidious consequences of vitamin D deficiency is needed. Annual measurement of serum 25(OH)D is a reasonable approach to monitoring for vitamin D deficiency. The recommended adequate intakes for vitamin D are inadequate, and, in the absence of exposure to sunlight, a minimum of 1000 IU vitamin D/d is required to maintain a healthy concentration of 25(OH)D in the blood.

PMID: 14985208
____________

CMAJ. 2002 Jun 11;166(12):1517-24.

Vitamin D insufficiency in a population of healthy western Canadians.

Rucker D, Allan JA, Fick GH, Hanley DA.

Department of Medical Science, University of Calgary, Alta.

BACKGROUND: People with low levels of vitamin D and its metabolites are at increased risk for osteoporotic fractures. We wished to ascertain levels of vitamin D in a representative sample of adult western Canadians, to help assess the level of risk. We evaluated the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency, defined as 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] less than 40 nmol/L, and seasonal variations in 25(OH)D, parathyroid hormone and related biochemical indices in a community-dwelling population of healthy Canadians living in Calgary (latitude 51 degrees 07'N).
METHODS: During calendar year 1999, we collected fasting overnight blood samples every 3 months from 60 men and 128 women (age range 27 to 89 years) who had volunteered to participate in another study. We used commercial radioimmunoassay kits to measure calciotrophic hormones and other biochemical indices. Regression models for longitudinal data were used to assess the effect of season and other potential predictors on individual parameters.
RESULTS: For a total of 64 participants (34%), vitamin D insufficiency, defined as 25(OH)D less than 40 nmol/L, was recorded at least once out of the 4 sampling times. After adjustment for age, body mass index and holiday travel, we observed the anticipated rise in serum 25(OH)D from a mean of 57.3 (standard deviation [SD] 21.3) nmol/L in the winter to 62.9 (SD 28.8) nmol/L in spring (p = 0.001) and 71.6 (SD 23.6) nmol/L in summer (p < 0.001), with a subsequent decline to 52.9 (SD 17.2) nmol/L in the fall (p = 0.008). The anticipated inverse relation between 25(OH)D and parathyroid hormone was not consistently observed: after adjustment for age, sex, body mass index and serum calcium, serum levels of parathyroid hormone did decrease significantly, from 39.5 (SD 18.8) ng/L in winter to 36.3 (SD 17.8) ng/L in summer (p = 0.001), but they continued to decline to 34.5 (SD 17.3) ng/L in the fall (p < 0.001). There was no association between 25(OH)D and parathyroid hormone (p = 0.21).
INTERPRETATION: We documented a high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency, which warrants consideration of dietary vitamin D supplementation.
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