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Editors' note:
As New Farm Research and Training
Manager at The Rodale Institute, Dr. Paul
Hepperly has been a regular contributor
to NewFarm.org for some time, providing
research updates, op-ed pieces, and white
papers on topics like carbon sequestration
in organic farming systems.
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None of those venues do full justice to
the range of Paul's experience, however.
Paul grew up on a family farm in Illinois
and holds a Ph.D. in plant pathology, an
M.S. in agronomy and a B.S. in psychology
from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.
He has worked for the USDA Agricultural
Research Service, in academia, and for a
number of private seed companies, including
Asgrow, Pioneer, and DeKalb. He has overseen
research in Hawaii, Iowa, Puerto Rico, and
Chile, and investigated such diverse crops
as soybeans, corn, sorghum, sunflowers,
ginger, and papaya. He has witnessed the
move toward biotech among the traditional
plant breeding community and the move toward
organics among new wave of upcoming young
farmers. Beford coming to the Rodale Institute
Paul worked with hill farmers in India to
help them overcome problems with ginger
root rot in collaboration with Winrock International.
Now we've decided to give Paul his own
column, in which he can report on agricultural
research from around the world and reflect
on its relevance to The Rodale Institute's
research program and to the progress of
sustainable agriculture more generally in
light of his own broad perspective. Enjoy.
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December
23, 2004: The New York Academy of Sciences
recently sponsored a congress of leading experts on
vitamin E from around the world. The congress showcased
the extensive and complex role vitamin E plays in human
health. Vitamin E was reported to stall the progression
of Alzheimer's disease, and, according to a French study,
in combination with vitamin C was found to prevent Alzheimer's
if treatment preceded symptom expression. Vitamins E
and C together also controlled preeclampsia. A randomized
trial showed that vitamin E reduced colds in the elderly
by 25 percent, while another trial indicated it could
help prevent heart attacks1
Professor Maret Traber, Ph.D., of Oregon State University,
estimates that 20 to 30 percent of all American adults
fail to get their recommended daily allowance of vitamin
E on a consistent basis. According to Traber, moreover,
there are eight different natural forms of vitamin E,
and natural vitamins can have one and one-half times
more biological activity than synthetic forms2. Vitamins
E and A deficiencies are much more common in developing
tropical countries than in temperate developed countries.
In developing countries vitamin A deficiencies result
in a high incidence of nutritionally caused blindness.
On a biochemical level, higher animals and fishes have
been found to have a specific transport protein, called
TTT, whose sole function is to transport vitamin E in
blood. As University of Bonn researcher Angelo Azzi
has observed, of the thousands of antioxidants, apparently
only vitamin E has a unique protein of this type. This
points to a high and unique biological importance for
this vitamin.
According to Danish food scientists, 7 out of 10 samples
of organic milk contained significantly more vitamin
E than conventional—despite the fact that, as
the researchers noted, “synthetic vitamin [E]
is added to conventional milk.” In addition to
vitamin E's health benefits, as an antioxidant it also
prolongs the shelf-life of milk. Researchers linked
higher vitamin E levels in organic milk with the organic
cows' diet, which was higher in pasture grasses and
legumes compared to that of the confined conventional
cows, who received mostly corn grain and silage3.
Besides vitamin E, the Danish researchers found organic
milk was significantly higher in a number of flavor
components and two to three times higher in carotenoids
such as beta-carotene4 . Carotenoids are
bright yellow, orange and red pigments that are vital
to human health by acting as cell protectants, powerful
antioxidants, and immune system stimulators. Researchers
have found that beta-carotene can have preventive effects
against heart disease and certain cancers5.
Beta-carotene is most beneficial when it is provided
by a diet high in fresh fruits and vegetables and when
combined with vitamins E, C, and selenium.
From these studies, it appears that organic milk may
supply key fat-soluble vitamins more effectively than
conventional milk. If nutritional theory holds out,
better health can result from using natural organic
milk and its products. Finally, research like this corroborates
the taste advantage of organic foods that organic consumers
have already identified through their shopping habits.
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