Salicylic acid in soups prepared from organically and non-organically grown vegetables.

[ema-adama]

(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Baxter%20GJ%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus)E ur J Nutr. (javascript:AL_get(this,%20'jour',%20'Eur%20J%20Nu tr.');) 2001 Dec;40(6):289-92.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/corehtml/query/egifs/http:--production.springer.de-OnlineResources-Logos-springerlink.gif (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/utils/fref.fcgi?PrId=3055&itool=AbstractPlus-def&uid=11876493&nlmid=100888704&db=pubmed&url=http://link.springer.de/link/service/journals/00394/bibs/1040006/10400289.htm)
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Baxter%20GJ%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus)B axter GJ (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Baxter%20GJ%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus), Graham AB (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Graham%20AB%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus), Lawrence JR (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Lawrence%20JR%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus), Wiles D (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Wiles%20D%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus), Paterson JR (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Paterson%20JR%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus). Area Biochemistry Department, Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary, Scotland.
BACKGROUND: Salicylic acid is a chemical signal in plants infected by pathogens and it is responsible for the anti-inflammatory action of aspirin. Patients who take aspirin have a reduced risk of developing atherosclerosis and colorectal cancer, both of these pathologies having an inflammatory component. Dietary salicylic acid may help to prevent these conditions. We wondered if foods made from organically-reared plants might have a higher content of salicylic acid than those made from non-organic plants, since the latter are more likely to be protected from infection by the application of pesticides. OBJECTIVE: To determine if organic vegetable soups have a higher salicylic acid content than non-organic vegetable soups. METHODS: The contents of salicylic acid in organic and non-organic vegetable soups purchased from supermarkets were determined. Salicylic acid was identified by varying the chromatographic conditions and comparing the retention times of the unknown substance in the extracts with salicylic acid; by treating extracts of the soups with salicylate hydroxylase; and by using GCMS. Salicylic acid was determined by using HPLC with electrochemical detection. RESULTS: Salicylic acid was present in all of the organic and most of the non-organic vegetable soups. The median contents of salicylic acid in the organic and non-organic vegetable soups were 117 (range, 8-1040) ng x g(-1) and 20 (range, 0-248) ng x g(-1) respectively. The organic soups had a significantly higher content of salicylic acid (p=0.0032 Mann Whitney U test), with a median difference of 59 ng g(-1) (95 % confidence interval, 18-117ng x g(-1)). CONCLUSIONS: Organic vegetable soups contained more salicylic acid than non-organic ones, suggesting that the vegetables and plants used to prepare them contained greater amounts of the phenolic acid than the corresponding non-organic ingredients. Consumption of organic foods may result in a greater intake of salicylic acid.
PMID: 11876493

I am thinking about putting something together about diet and colon cancer, and found this. It's a start

[Sarah]

Sue Dengate, author of 'Fed Up' which was one of the first books I read relating to nutrition and the relationship between certain foods and behavioural/health problems in children seemed to believe that salicylates affect, some children in particular, in a detrimental way. Side-effects such us irritability, restlessness, sleep disturbances and hyperactivity are some of the symptoms noted when a diet high in salicylates is involved. "Concentrated or tasty plant products such as fruit juice, sultanas, tomato paste and spices contain high levels of salicylates" I often find that I have a restless night after eating a curry, and I also noticed with my youngest daughter that if she had tomato soup or a bolognese in the evening she would seem to take longer to go to sleep. She loves tomatoes, but I have often wondered whether there was some truth in this theory. Has anyone else heard of this?

[magical1]

I do know that many people are suddenly reporting an allergy to salycilic acid. Seems that all this unripe fruit that is in supermarkets is the culprit? Can't remember where I read this....would make sense though.

[ema-adama]

Patients who take aspirin have a reduced risk of developing atherosclerosis and colorectal cancer, both of these pathologies having an inflammatory component. Dietary salicylic acid may help to prevent these conditions.
Does anyone know more about this. I am interested in the allergy to salicylic acid. What does that mean for eating organic food? What does that mean for people who take aspirin on a daily basis?

[ZGT Mummy]

Sarah it could be glutamates as well. My son used to react to glutamates and his skin expoded everytime he had spag bol and it very rapidly made it's way through his tum too :eek:

I think, though never been diagnosed that I have a salicylate sensitivity, my son did too until I had him treated. But my skin gets very itchy when dealing with fruit and veges. I usually wear gloves. The exception being pear, which incidentally is low in salicylates. When I eat fruit and veges I ensure they go straight in my mouth and don't touch my skin, otherwise I start to itch. I've never addressed this issue as I'm far to busy dealing with my kids' issues, but I suspect that my skin may well get better if I were to do something about it.

Very interesting that organic fruit and veges are higher in content?

As far as I was aware, it is usually an intolerance as opposed to a true allergy. So it is dose related. We have always been told to stick to fruits and veges with low-moderate levels of salicylates, thickly peel them (as the highest concentrations are just below the skin) and ensure they are well ripened.

[Sarah]

In Sue Dengates book she goes into a fair bit about salicylates. "For years, asprin was regarded as perfectly safe but in the last 30 years there have been reports of side-effects such as heartburn, nausea, tinnitus, headaches and some potentially life-threatening illness such as gastric bleeding and asthma. Any of the known effects of asprin can also be caused by salicylates in foods..." "People who are sensitve to aspirin and salicylates usually also react to some other chemicals such as food colouring, preservatives and monosodium glutamate"

This is just a little out of the book that I could find. It is an interesting read.

[Sarah]

Sarah it could be glutamates as well.

ZGT - is glutamates the same as amines? As apparently this in foods can also cause the same reactions. Just when you think you have it covered by eating fruit and veg - something else comes up and bites you in the :eek:

[TanyaL]

Sue Dengate, author of 'Fed Up' which was one of the first books I read relating to nutrition and the relationship between certain foods and behavioural/health problems in children seemed to believe that salicylates affect, some children in particular, in a detrimental way. Side-effects such us irritability, restlessness, sleep disturbances and hyperactivity are some of the symptoms noted when a diet high in salicylates is involved. "Concentrated or tasty plant products such as fruit juice, sultanas, tomato paste and spices contain high levels of salicylates" I often find that I have a restless night after eating a curry, and I also noticed with my youngest daughter that if she had tomato soup or a bolognese in the evening she would seem to take longer to go to sleep. She loves tomatoes, but I have often wondered whether there was some truth in this theory. Has anyone else heard of this?

I've read of people being sensitive to salicylates, it seems to be a detoxification problem. I think salicylates are mostly detoxified via sulfation--it seems like we can excrete them in several ways, but I've read of people increasing their sals tolerance by supplementing nutrients needed by sulfation. Maybe it's harder to increase the bandwidth of the other pathways?



ZGT - is glutamates the same as amines? As apparently this in foods can also cause the same reactions. Just when you think you have it covered by eating fruit and veg - something else comes up and bites you in the :eek:

People can also have problems with amines, the Feingold and Failsafe diets limit several things that are detoxified via sulfation--though it seems like the long-term solution of speeding up the relevant pathway(s) is more helpful. I'm not sure if there's another pathway involved besides sulfation.

[TanyaL]

Ema-adama--my last post was totally off-topic, but I don't know anything about colon cancer and diet, but I do know a little about salicylates. Since my newest cool thing to learn has been the folate/MTHFR thing, I'd wonder if folate intake is inversely related to colon cancer. I've read that several cancers are inversely related to folate intake, and if colon cancer is one of them, then it seems like people with MTHFR gene polymorphisms would be at higher risk, because it's just not typical for people to consume 800mcg of food folate. And even if they do as adults, if they have years of not detoxifying well due to childhood/teen years under-consuming folate, then they've built up some level of toxic load higher than folks who don't have either of the MTHFR gene polymorphisms.