Health and Environment    

Proper diet can help reduce cholesterol
Full story: Syracuse Post Standard

Drugs are available to keep cholesterol under control. But, if you would rather do it the natural way, Dr. David T. Nash has a menu for you. Eat soluble fiber, plant sterols and stanol esters, nuts and soy protein. "Instead of taking a drug, if you did all these things right, you would lower your cholesterol somewhere between 16 or 17 percent as an average," Nash writes.

"Low-fat vegetarian diets are substantially more effective because of the absence of cholesterol, the very low concentration of saturated fat and the high fiber content of plant-derived foods," Nash says.

Syracuse Post Standard - December 13, 2004

Food for thought: Veggies could protect memory
Full story: MSNBC.com

As concern over Alzheimer's disease grows, more Americans are turning to expensive and potentially unsafe supplements that claim to enhance memory. But prevention of age-related memory loss may be no further away than your refrigerator, and no more expensive than a bag of groceries, experts say.

One of the most intriguing areas of research involves the role of antioxidants, potent chemicals in plants that protect against free radicals, highly active molecules that damage cells. Most researchers caution that sources of antioxidants from food are far more effective - and safer - than supplements. Although it isn't precisely known how the chemicals work, it's believed that they act in combination with one another.

MSNBC.com - December 6, 2004

Seeing the light: Eating greens is good for your eyes
Full story: The Toronto Star

Eating leafy green veggies can help prevent cataracts, reports the current issue of the Journal Of Nutrition. An Ohio State study provides the first laboratory evidence that certain antiodixdants found in dark leafy green vegetables such as kale, spinach and collard greens help to protect lens cells from exposure to ultraviolet light - a leading cause of cataract formation.

The Toronto Star - December 3, 2004

Good news for healthy appetites: Eat more to lose weight, study finds
Full story: Yahoo! News

Losing weight may be as simple as eating more - eating more fruits and vegetables and less food that is "calorie-dense" such as cheese, researchers said. Dieters who were told to eat foods that fill you up with water and fiber, such as vegetables and fruits, lost weight without counting calories and without gimmicks, a team at Pennsylvania State University found.

And a second study looking at what people normally eat found that those who eat more fruits and vegetables tend to weigh less. Both studies were presented to a meeting of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Yahoo! News - November 17, 2004

Rheumatoid arthritis, red meat link
Full story: The Toronto Star

People who eat lots of red meat may be raising their risk of rheumatoid arthritis, an incurable and crippling disease, British researchers reported. A study of 25,000 people living in Europe shows that those who ate the most red meat had double the risk of rheumatoid arthritis, compared to those who ate the least amount.

The Toronto Star - December 3, 2004

Scientists warn of undetected, unmeasured toxins in world's fish
Full story: Associated Press/ENN

Although rich in omega-3 fatty acids vital to the heart and brain, many fish contain toxins that build up over time in the human body. Besides mercury (which at its extreme causes an illness similar to cerebral palsy), there are PCBs, dioxins and flame retardants with unknown long-term effects.

Jane Hightower, a San Francisco internist whose 2002 study of mercury in her patients brought the issue to wide public attention, said she is still uncovering what she calls shocking new evidence. "We really have to ask, why are we poisoning ourselves?"

Associated Press/ENN - November 18, 2004

  Lifestyles and Trends    

Scientist uses milk product to protect food
Full story: Associated Press/ENN

Oxygen, water, seeping oils - they're all out to get your food, turning sweet nuts sour and tasty confections rancid. Food scientist John Krochta is fighting back with an unlikely weapon, edible food coatings derived from whey, the dairy byproduct favored by protein-conscious athletes and Miss Muffet.

The protection, which can either come as a smooth, glossy coat or a thin, plasticlike film, can be used to make all kinds of foods spoilage resistant. The result is "a very natural approach to protecting food," says Krochta. "It is," (he) says, "a better way." (Editor's note: Not for vegans!)

Associated Press/ENN - December 16, 2004

Overstocked warehouses attest that low-carb boom a bust
Full story: New York Times

In a conference call in July, Carlos Gutierrez, the chief executive of Kellogg (and now President Bush's nominee to be the next commerce secretary) told investors: "There's a bit of a glut of low-carb products. Inventories are extremely high."

According to the NPD Group, a research firm, the percentage of Americans who followed low-carb diets like Atkins, South Beach or the Zone fell to 4.6 percent in September from 9 percent in January. Over the same period, the number of products in the low-carb category doubled.

New York Times - December 5, 2004

Vegans flying high: airports offer more veggie meals
Full story: San Jose Mercury News

Looking for a veggie sandwich at the airport? It's getting easier to find, according to an annual survey by a group that promotes vegan diets, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. Nutritionists from the non-profit organization surveyed restaurants in 12 of the busiest U.S. airports and found that three-fourths of them offered more vegan entrees than a year ago.

The survey found that a low-fat, high-fiber, cholesterol-free vegetarian entree was offered in at least half the restaurants at 10 of the 12 airports visited. The article lists the airports in order of their vegan-friendliness.

San Jose Mercury News - November 28, 2004

Vegetarians talking turkey
Full story:  Cincinnati Post

For most Americans Thanksgiving is turkey day, but for millions of vegetarians across the country the big bird (didn't) take center stage at the dinner table.

As the number of vegetarians has grown, so has their buying power. Mintel Consumer Intelligence estimates the 2002 market for vegetarian foods at about $1.5 billion, a number estimated to nearly double to $2.8 billion by 2006. The biggest jump is expected to come in soymilk purchases, according the Vegetarians Resource Group Web site.

Cincinnati Post - November 25, 2004

  Animal Issues and Advocacy    

Genes reveal clucking cousins
Full story: The Toronto Star

LONDON - Scientists have cracked the genetic code of the chicken, showing it shares about 60 per cent of its genes with humans and has a common ancestor that lived about 310 million years ago.

With an estimated 20,000-23,000 genes, the draft sequence of the red jungle fowl, the predecessor of the domestic chicken, has roughly the same number of genes as humans.

The Toronto Star - December 9, 2004

Kosher authority responds to cruelty revelations
Full story: New York Times

In the wake of accusations of cruelty from an animal rights group, the world's largest kosher certification authority announced yesterday that it would ask a major kosher slaughterhouse in Iowa to change the way it kills animals.

Killings at the plant, AgriProcessors Inc., in Postville, Iowa, were clandestinely recorded this summer by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. A videotape showed workers cutting the throats out of living steers and then dumping the animals on the floor where they thrashed and bellowed while bleeding to death.

New York Times - December 3, 2004

Groups combine to form world's largest animal protection society
Full story: The Fund for Animals

The Humane Society of the United States and The Fund for Animals announced that they will join forces in an unprecedented and historic combination. This is the first time in the history of the animal protection movement that two national, high-profile organizations have united in order to advance their common mission. The merger will formally occur on January 1, 2005.

The Fund for Animals - November 22, 2004

PETA: Fish have feelings, too
Full story: CBSNews.com

Touting tofu chowder and vegetarian sushi as alternatives, animal-rights activists have launched a novel campaign arguing that fish - contrary to stereotype - are intelligent, sensitive animals no more deserving of being eaten than a pet dog or cat. Called the Fish Empathy Project, the campaign challenges a diet component widely viewed as nutritious and uncontroversial.

"No one would ever put a hook through a dog's or cat's mouth," said Bruce Friedrich, PETA's director of vegan outreach. "Once people start to understand that fish, although they come in different packaging, are just as intelligent, they'll stop eating them." The project was inspired by several recent scientific studies - widely reported in Britain but little-noticed in (North America) - detailing facets of fish intelligence.

CBSNews.com - November 26, 2004

  Are They Serious?    

The new breakfast food: Hamburgers
Source: MorningNewsBeat.com

USA Today reports that more than ever, U.S. consumers are ordering hamburgers and chicken sandwiches for breakfast. "About 12.5% of fast-food diners ordered burgers for breakfast in 2004, compared with 7.5% in 2003," the paper notes, with more then 17 percent of "trendy" Southern California fast food breakfast eaters ordering burgers for breakfast.

MorningNewsBeat.com - December 15, 2004

Coming to a menu near you: Horsemeat
Full story: News4Jax.com

The same law that gives government agencies billions of dollars in funding is also opening the door for Americans to sell wild horses and burros that could potentially be used as meat in other countries. The law applies to horses more than 10 years old, or younger horses which have been passed over for adoption three times.

News4Jax.com - December 9, 2004

Monster burger: It's enough to make you sick - literally
Full story: SMH.com

America's appetite for junk food has taken on terrifying new proportions in the form of the highest calorie hamburger ever marketed to a nation already sick from overeating.

The Monster Thickburger (from fast-food chain Hardee's) consists of two slabs of Angus beef (664 calories) and four rashers of bacon (150 calories) with three slices of processed cheese (186 calories), plus mayonnaise (160 calories), sandwiched between a sesame seed bun (230 calories) spread with butter for a final 30. The burger requires "two hands, a firm grip and a serious appetite", Hardee's boasts. It is also a "heart attack in a bun," say nutritionists.

SMH.com - November 18, 2004

Shooting animals with click of a mouse
Full story: The Toronto Star

Hunters soon may be able to sit at their computers and blast away at animals on a Texas ranch via the Internet, a prospect that has state wildlife officials up in arms. The idea came last year while John Underwood (the site's creator) was viewing another website on which cameras posted in the wild are used to snap photos of animals. "We were looking at a beautiful white-tail buck and my friend said, `If you just had a gun for that....' A little light bulb went off in my head," he said.

He said an attendant would retrieve shot animals for the shooters, who could have the heads preserved by a taxidermist. They could also have the meat processed and shipped home, or donated to animal orphanages.

The Toronto Star - November 20, 2004

  Books    

An interview with the author of "Plant Roots"
Full story: Press Action

This review of Rex Bowlby's new book, "Plant Roots: 101 Reasons Why the Human Diet is Rooted Exclusively in Plants" (Outside the Box Publishing) says it "is a mother lode of verification on how the eschewing of animals as food, clothes, entertainment, shooting targets, and laboratory subjects makes sense...for every living thing on the planet." The article includes an in-depth interview with the author.

Press Action - December 1, 2004

Simple and bold vegetarian cooking
Full story: The Denver Post

Bored vegetarians will find the perfect cookbook in "Venturesome Vegetarian Cooking", by J.M. and Michelle Hirsch. With more than 100 pictures, this book offers bold flavors without using meat or dairy products.

Many vegetarians get frustrated with cookbooks that offer repetitive, bland recipes, but "Venturesome Vegetarian Cooking" includes simple recipes that are perfect for when you only have an hour or so to cook. This review by a teenage vegetarian inlcudes sample recipes such as Tuscan Eggplant-Stuffed Shells and Chocolate Fudge Pie.

The Denver Post - December 15, 2004