Comments on: Biofortified Lettuce not a Bitter Pill

By: Greenpeace Australia ensures more land will be used for crops « Lousy Canuck

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 00:49:10 +0000

[...] What’s REALLY interesting about this incident is the actual intended purpose of the crops. And no, these trials have nothing to do with Roundup, and they have little if nothing to do with Monsanto’s less savory practices except tangentially. The trials in question appeared to be of the simple kind – the wheat has been altered in a way that should affect its glycemic index, how rapidly the sugars are absorbed into the bloodstream, and that CSIRO is interested in seeing if it has the desired effect when eaten by human beings. These kinds of studies have been done before, such as on calcium-biofortified carrots as described in this post. [...]

By: Biofortified » Ten bad reasons why GE is incompatible with Organic

Biofortified » Ten bad reasons why GE is incompatible with Organic — Thu, 13 May 2010 04:03:40 +0000

[...] staples in developing countries) this can also be done with genetic engineering. Take a look at my post about enhancing calcium content in carrots and lettuce for an [...]

By: Mick Mills

Mick Mills — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:33:15 +0000

Vitamin D is required for absorption of calcium in the gut. Research suggests that a level of 32.5 ng/nL (of serum 25(OH)D) is an optimal level. The WHI trial never checked vitamin D levels in the women and only used supplements of 400 IU/d (which would only raise levels by about 4 ng/nL). Other trials have shown that 1000 IU/d vitamin D3 supplementation does have a measurable effect.

By: KO

KO — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:03:07 +0000

In the broader concept of human nutrition and consumer behaviour. I’d suggest that people who consume good levels of fruits & vegetables are more likely to practice a healthy balance diet that includes sufficient calcium. Adding bioactive calcium may be more beneficial in food products eaten by people who don’t eat fruit & veg daily.

Also, what are the physiological and nutritional effects that are removed with the lettuce’s “bittering” agent?

By: Iron-Deficient Woman

Iron-Deficient Woman — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:54:22 +0000

I’m not necessarily opposed to this, but I think that there should be some required labeled. Not because of some paranoia about genetic engineering, but because of potential medical conflicts.

In my case, I have struggled on and off with iron-deficient anemia for more than a decade. One thing I’ve learned from my docs is that calcium is an iron antagonist, so I can’t have calcium supplements or calcium-rich foods within 2 hours of taking iron supplements.

Since the high doses of iron I require must be spread out into three doses per day, I need to be really careful about what I consume when. If my carrots or lettuce were suddenly high in calcium, that would be great, but then they’d have to be off the list of things I could take with the supplement.

By: Kim

Kim — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:03:32 +0000

We should think first, did the ancient people get enough calcium? Better nutrition is one reason (not the only reason) that people are taller, live longer, etc. than they used to.

By: Brad

Brad — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:58:42 +0000

Very cool. I would much rather have a salad than buy a bottle of “supplements”. Too bad people are so freaked out by what they don’t understand.

Though it’s a little off the topic of this blog, it’s important to mention that weight bearing exercise is a very important factor in keeping bone density.

By: Bonnie

Bonnie — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:09:46 +0000

Let’s not forget to explore how people got sufficient calcium before there was genetic engineering. Maybe we could get a clue from ancient diets and lifestyles?