Subject: Nitrates beneficial to Health

From: Oz <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 28 Jul 1996 21:45:43 +0100

Soon EC regulations will sipulate MINIMUM levels of notrates in food and
water. Why? Well ....

The Sunday Times, 28th July 1996, Style, Medical Notes, p 30

"A chemical found naturally in green vegetables could offer protection
>from  stomach bugs, according to a report in New Scientist. Ben Benjamin,
a researcher at St Bartholemew's Hospital in London has discovered that
dietary nitrates, which occur naturally in lettuce, spinach and other
green plants <Not to mention water: Oz> , are converted into nitrites
when exposed to bacteria that live on the tongue. These chemicals are,
in turn, converted by the acids in the stomach to nitric oxide gas which
destroys harmful bacteria such as salmonella and shigella, the bacterium
that causes dysentery."

Definitely a good reason to eat plenty of nitrates with every meal. 

ROFL!

(Thanks to my wife for spotting this one.)

------------------------------- 
'Oz     "When I knew little, all was certain. The more I learnt,
        the less sure I was. Is this the uncertainty principle?"

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From: Oz <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 1996 19:27:23 +0100

In article <[email-masked]>, Oz
<[email-masked]> writes
>The Sunday Times, 28th July 1996, Style, Medical Notes, p 30

I'm staggered. Not a peep from anyone. 

Do I thus take it that nobody wants to reduce nitrate levels any more??

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From: SteveDrD <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 01 Aug 1996 08:46:34 -0700

> Do I thus take it that nobody wants to reduce nitrate levels any more??

Oz,

Sometimes a troll just doesn't work.  You have to kick him out from under 
the bridge then.

Steve Denham

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From: G Thurman <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 01 Aug 1996 11:58:23 -0700

Oz wrote:
> >Soon EC regulations will sipulate MINIMUM levels of notrates in food and water. Why? Well .... The Sunday Times, 28th July 1996, Style, 
Medical Notes, p 30
>>>> Do I thus take it that nobody wants to reduce nitrate levels any more??

I think we, on the net, have experienced that those without the ability 
and prudence to spell and check their accuracy probably don't check their 
facts.

-- 
Ignorance is not knowing, knowing you don't know, and caring.
Ignorance can be cured.
Stupidity is not knowing, not knowing you don't know, and not caring.
Only death cures stupidity.

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From: Oz <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 1 Aug 1996 20:43:15 +0100

In article <[email-masked]>, G Thurman <[email-masked]>
writes
>water. Why? Well .... The Sunday Times, 28th July 1996, Style, 
>Medical Notes, p 30
>> 

I presume those who presume to speak 'for the net' are unable to check
the references and so have nothing better to say.

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From: Oz <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 2 Aug 1996 06:46:50 +0100

In article <[email-masked]>, SteveDrD
<[email-masked]> writes
>Sometimes a troll just doesn't work.  You have to kick him out from under 

Well actually it wasn't a troll. The article I quoted from verbatim was
in fact actually as published in The (UK) Sunday Times. I don't
subscribe to N. Scientist (although I have to agree it often bends the
truth a bit) so I don't know what was actually published there, nor do I
know the original references.

However those with a genuine interest in nitrates and water would, I
should have thought, been interested. It is clearly a waste of resources
to spend billions removing nitrates unnecessarily, and even more so if
it has potentially harmful effects. Worth following up, I would have
thought.