Dumb Comment, Dumb Study, Dumb Conclusion, Smart Ending

Dumb Comment:
"Fruits and vegetables are generally a pretty low source of calcium."
--Jay Norris, Baylor College of Medicine

Just for the record...a 100-gram portion (3.5 ounces) of human breast milk contains 33 milligrams of calcium. Is human breast milk considered a low source of calcium?

That same 100-gram portion of:

Carrots (raw) = 37 mg of calcium
Potato Chips = 40 mg of calcium
Oranges (Florida) = 43 mg of calcium
Apricots (dried) = 67 mg of calcium
Lettuce (dark green) = 68 mg of calcium
Figs (dried) = 126 mg of calcium
Parsley = 203 mg of calcium
Collards (raw leaves) = 250 mg of calcium

So, since 33 mg of calcium per portion of breast milk is lower than any of the fruits and veggies on my list which Dr. Norris collectively calls "a pretty low source of calcium" then human breast milk must not be a proper enough food for a nursing infant to grow strong bones. Please select one of the two following conclusions: Either Mother Nature is a dummy, or Doctor Norris is a poorly informed ignorant fool.

Dumb Study:
(Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences online edition January 14, 2008)

After commenting that vegetables are a low source of calcium, Dr. Norris proceeded to test calcium excretion rates on human subjects who had just eaten...a veggie.

Dr. Norris fed regular carrots and genetically modified (GMO) carrots to 15 men and 15 women and then tested their urine for calcium. He determined that those eating the GMO carrots excreted less calcium, concluding that they absorbed more calcium.

Dumb Conclusion:

The body needs about 90 days to build new bone. One does not build new bone after eating a carrot. After measuring urine excretion rates, Dr. Norris assumed that the calcium which was not excreted was used by the body to build bone. In fact, that very calcium might have been used to build athersclerotic plaque, kidney stones, or cellulite.

Individual subjects eat different diets. Some might have been eating more calcium at home than the body required. People do so by bulking up on concentrated dairy products such as cheese and ice cream.

Excess calcium is sometimes excreted in the urine and other times used by the body in ways that do not benefit the individual.

Note:

The average American woman eats 1180 milligrams of calcium each day.

The average South African woman eats just 80 milligrams of calcium each day.

American women have 11.5 times the rate of pelvic fractures as do South African women, despite the fact that they consume 1,500 percent more calcium.

Source: The Okinawa Diet Plan by Wilcox, Wilcox, & Suzuki.

Quote by a well-known carrot eater:

"Eh...what's up, doc?"
--Bugs Bunny

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk. com