Food Dear
Sir:
Lysine
supplementation
and energy
in a home in Surrey. Here nine people with multiple sclerosis were put on a gluten-free diet and four improved appreciably (unpublished report from the home). This appears to me to be strong evidence that the use of such a diet is worth investigating but whether or not it will be depends on chance not evidence. It must be emphasized that the diet described there is experimental only; it is not a proven treatment for multiple sclerosis. Norman
A.
Matheson,
B.Sc.,
Ph.D.
36 Salisbury Terrace Aberdeen AB1 6Q1-l Scotland References 1.
McBEAN,
Nutr.
27:
2. SPECKMANN, 3. MATHESON,
L. D., 1071, E. N.
ANt) E. W. SPECIMANN. Am. 1974. W. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 28: 946, A. Lancet 2: 831, 1974.
J. Clin. 1975.
intake
Sir:
The
comments of Drs. Mohamed el Lozy, and Rosenfield (1, 2) are a good demonstration of the confusion of thought in this field. Thus when el Lozy and Kerr suggest that “the notion of the value of supplementing cereals with lysine can only be regarded as discredited if there is a clear consensus that it is wrong,” they are shying at their own Aunt Sally. Of course there is ample evidence that cereal proteins are limited by their lysine content. Experiments with rats, babies and children have been well documented. For Kerr
The
editor
faddism
I admired the article “Food faddism: a challenge to nutritionists and dietitians” (1) and I am therefore sorry to find in Dr. Speckmann’s letter (2) an attitude which seems unfortunate. I agree that acceptance cannot be based on testimonials alone but since any new approach is quite likely to begin with them, testimonials must not be spurned out of hand. The testing of new ideas should not depend on the whim of some individual research worker. I realize that many claims are made and that most are ill-founded. This necessitates careful selection not arbitrary rejection. The present system of choosing research projects is at fault and a better one is not easy to suggest. Multiple sclerosis is a malady which has been studied for many years with little progress other than in the direction of making the sufferer more comfortable. My own observations (3) were only partly based on individual testimonials. They were also based on a test
Dear
to the
American
Journal
of Clinical
Nutrition
28:
OCTOBER
example, the work of Pereira et al. (3) which they quote shows that if wheat protein is fed in suboptimal amounts by diluting flour with oil and sugar, that the addition of lysine produces a growth response, i.e., like the work of Scrimshaw and Taylor (4)-further evidence that lysine is the limiting amino acid in wheat. What we were at some pains to discuss was the “notion” that supplementing cereal-based diets eaten in the low energy amounts usual in poor communities is at all likely to result in any improvement in health. 1975,
pp.
1083
1084.
Printed
in U.S.A.
1083
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article-abstract/28/10/1083/4716620 by University of Rhode Island user on 08 December 2018
letters
Sir:
Lysine
supplementation
and energy
in a home in Surrey. Here nine people with multiple sclerosis were put on a gluten-free diet and four improved appreciably (unpublished report from the home). This appears to me to be strong evidence that the use of such a diet is worth investigating but whether or not it will be depends on chance not evidence. It must be emphasized that the diet described there is experimental only; it is not a proven treatment for multiple sclerosis. Norman
A.
Matheson,
B.Sc.,
Ph.D.
36 Salisbury Terrace Aberdeen AB1 6Q1-l Scotland References 1.
McBEAN,
Nutr.
27:
2. SPECKMANN, 3. MATHESON,
L. D., 1071, E. N.
ANt) E. W. SPECIMANN. Am. 1974. W. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 28: 946, A. Lancet 2: 831, 1974.
J. Clin. 1975.
intake
Sir:
The
comments of Drs. Mohamed el Lozy, and Rosenfield (1, 2) are a good demonstration of the confusion of thought in this field. Thus when el Lozy and Kerr suggest that “the notion of the value of supplementing cereals with lysine can only be regarded as discredited if there is a clear consensus that it is wrong,” they are shying at their own Aunt Sally. Of course there is ample evidence that cereal proteins are limited by their lysine content. Experiments with rats, babies and children have been well documented. For Kerr
The
editor
faddism
I admired the article “Food faddism: a challenge to nutritionists and dietitians” (1) and I am therefore sorry to find in Dr. Speckmann’s letter (2) an attitude which seems unfortunate. I agree that acceptance cannot be based on testimonials alone but since any new approach is quite likely to begin with them, testimonials must not be spurned out of hand. The testing of new ideas should not depend on the whim of some individual research worker. I realize that many claims are made and that most are ill-founded. This necessitates careful selection not arbitrary rejection. The present system of choosing research projects is at fault and a better one is not easy to suggest. Multiple sclerosis is a malady which has been studied for many years with little progress other than in the direction of making the sufferer more comfortable. My own observations (3) were only partly based on individual testimonials. They were also based on a test
Dear
to the
American
Journal
of Clinical
Nutrition
28:
OCTOBER
example, the work of Pereira et al. (3) which they quote shows that if wheat protein is fed in suboptimal amounts by diluting flour with oil and sugar, that the addition of lysine produces a growth response, i.e., like the work of Scrimshaw and Taylor (4)-further evidence that lysine is the limiting amino acid in wheat. What we were at some pains to discuss was the “notion” that supplementing cereal-based diets eaten in the low energy amounts usual in poor communities is at all likely to result in any improvement in health. 1975,
pp.
1083
1084.
Printed
in U.S.A.
1083
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article-abstract/28/10/1083/4716620 by University of Rhode Island user on 08 December 2018
letters
