Stephan van Vliet Profile picture
Assistant Professor at the Center for Human Nutrition Studies @USUAggies. Working at the nexus of #agriculture and #humanhealth. Tweets reflect my own opinions.
Jan 18, 2022 6 tweets 4 min read
"Maternal milk DHA content predicts performance on children's math scores in a sample of 28 nations"

Many of the same countries are represented in a global survey of omega-3s in which adults have ⬆️blood EPA+DHA levels (>8%)

Typically, intakes in those countries >500 mg/d

1/ Ref to papers
Figure on the left: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23795772/

Figure on the right: sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Please note this is associative data, but interesting nonetheless!

2/
Jul 7, 2021 13 tweets 4 min read
Excited to see our metabolomics analysis of beef and a plant-based alternative is now published.

nature.com/articles/s4159…

Despite comparable Nutrition Facts panels, we found that important differences exist.

A thread summarizing its main findings 👇 1/ 2/ The plant-based meat alternative and beef studied in this work had largely comparable Nutrition Facts panels.

Being the curious scientists we are, after eating some ourselves, we were interested in taking a peek behind the curtain to determine differences/similarities.
Oct 3, 2020 7 tweets 3 min read
If you consider it unethical to consume animals and choose to consume only plant foods as an adult, IMO that choice should be respected.

Whether this means populations across the board should drift from the default (omnivory) is where it becomes a nuanced discussion IMO 1/6 Intra-individual differences can preclude many to thrive on plant-foods alone. Despite heterogeneity in diets, populations worldwide show a genetic architecture adapted to include varying degrees of animal + plant foods, without exclusion of either. 2/6

pnas.org/content/107/Su…
Aug 31, 2020 4 tweets 3 min read
Our new paper: No Independent or Combined Effects of #VitaminD and #CLA on #Muscle Protein Synthesis💪 in Older Adults🧓:a Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial is now online @nutritionorg #nutritwitter
academic.oup.com/ajcn/article-l… We supplemented 60-85 y old adults with either :1) 2000 IU vitamin D-3 (Vit D)/day; 2) 4000 mg CLA/day; 3) both Vit D (2000 IU/d) and CLA (4000 mg/day); or 4) placebo for 8 weeks and studied the muscle anabolic response before and after.
Aug 21, 2020 9 tweets 4 min read
@ScepticalDoctor I don't think is that black and white, and the answer to that is very nuanced. there are benefits to eating both animal and plant foods. For starters, several populations based studies in healthy individuals or that extensively adjust for lifestyle factors 1/ find similar long-term health outcomes irrespective of whether diets were plant-based or omnivorous if diet quality=⬆️ 2/

EPIC Study (n~400,000). academic.oup.com/eurheartj/arti…

Nurses's Health Study (n~210,000)
jamanetwork.com/journals/jamai…

45-Up Study (n~267,000)
sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
Aug 6, 2020 19 tweets 7 min read
Yes and some methodology is more robust than others. I have not shifted my position, the reason I asked you is because I was curious about the peer-reviewed evidence you would provide to build you case. I'll go ahead and build mine. 1/ You provided a screenshot of the Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Scoring (PDCAAS) system, but there are some nuances to highlight. 2/
Jul 26, 2020 5 tweets 2 min read
Incorporating Diversity Into Animal Production Systems Can Increase Their Performance and Strengthen Their Resilience. While the farmers we work with always tell me this, it is good to see more actual research come out on this topic: doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.… Example: grazing cattle and sheep together improves pasture health, animal performance and has broader ecosystem services like providing a sustainable habitat for insects. Cattle and sheep exploit different plants/grasses, and thus strengthen the ecosystem in synergistic ways.
Jul 22, 2020 4 tweets 1 min read
Our new paper titled "Plant-Based Meats, Human Health, and Climate Change" just got accepted for publication!

Abstract and main conclusions are now online!

frontiersin.org/articles/10.33… Main conclusions:

"Plant and animal foods operate in symbiotic ways to improve human health"

"The mimicking of animal foods using isolated plant proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals likely underestimates the true nutritional complexity of whole foods in their natural state"
Jul 10, 2020 6 tweets 2 min read
Agree @NanciGuestRDPhD about growing feed specifically for livestock. Hayek & Garrett put the number for a pasture-based model at 40% more land; however, there are nuances as this does not assume:

1. Multispecies grazing, which increases productivity of animals and vegetation. Image 2. Assumes a separation of livestock-plant farming, which ignores basic symbiosis between plants & herbivory. By integrating livestock with plant farming, one can improve crop yield and soil fertility (and self-sufficiency of feedstuffs and fertilizer) acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.213…