Jeffrey Armour Nelson, of the Armour meatpackers, now makes his living bashing meat and promoting vegetarianism. Nelson, rebelling against the family business, has crossed the line this time in an attempt to incite fear by linking meat and dairy consumption to an increased risk of developing Alzheimers disease.
Nelson says there is a link between high homocysteine levels and Alzheimers and then says, “Homocysteine levels are raised by one thing: meat and dairy consumption.” Nelson is severely misrepresenting the facts, to put it delicately. According to the American Heart Association, the way to lower homocysteine levels is to increase the intake of vitamins B6 and B12. How does one do that? The Food and Nutrition Board of the Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine says to eat “ready-to-eat fortified cereals, noncitrus fruits, poultry, beef, and certain vegetables (eg, artichoke, asparagus, beans, and cabbage) as sources of vitamin B6; and beef, poultry, fish, and ready-to-eat fortified cereals as sources of vitamin B12,” because, “These dietary modifications could result in elevated vitamin status and perhaps decreased homocyst(e)ine levels.”
The Mayo Clinic makes it even clearer. It says, “The encouraging news about homocysteine is that certain vitamins may help lower your homocysteine level and perhaps reduce your risk for cardiovascular disease. B complex vitamins – B-6, B-12 and folic acid (folate) – have been shown to work together to reduce blood levels of homocysteine.” How does Mayo say to get those vitamins? Eat more “meat, fish, poultry, dairy products,” among other things.
Nelson owes the public an apology for unnecessarily frightening them by misusing science to push an anti-meat, anti-dairy agenda.
