All Jacked Up

You deserve better. The movie food companies hope you never see. Very good and important documentary for teenagers and young adults. More information at www.alljackedupmovie.com

Maybe it’s time to go vegan

Only a few of the innumerable reasons why I’m a vegan.

Dairy Products Linked to Parkinson’s Disease

A study by the American Cancer Society found that as dairy product consumption increases, so does the risk for Parkinson’s disease. Specifically, those who consumed the most dairy milk in the study had a 70% greater risk for the disease.

Low-Carb, High-Protein Diets Increase Mortality Risk

A new long-term study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet increases mortality risk. The diets of 22,944 healthy Greek adults were assessed and those consuming diets highest in protein and lowest in carbohydrates had a 22% greater risk of death, compared with those consuming diets highest in carbohydrates and lowest in protein. Furthermore, the study dealt a blow to the idea of the “healthy Mediterranean diet”, because it was found that 80% of men and 75% of women in this population were overweight or obese.

New evidence linking cancer and animal products

A new study published in the International Journal of Cancer showed an almost 4x higher cancer risk in women who consume a lot of animal products. Another recent study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute reported a 17% lower risk for postmenopausal breast cancer for the women who ate more plant foods.

A brief summary of the two studies can be found here.

New Evidence linking Milk and Prostate Cancer

Adding to the the findings of previous research about dairy consumption and cancer is a new study in the International Journal of Cancer. Researchers analyzing 29,133 men found that as the consumption of dairy products or overall dietary calcium intake increased, the risk for prostate cancer increased as well. Men who consumed the most dietary calcium (greater than 2,000 mg per day) had a 63 percent greater risk, compared with those getting less than 1,000 mg per day. More about the study can be read here.

Meat-Eating Moms Have Less Fertile Sons

A new study at the University of Rochester found that a pregnant woman’s meat consumption can reduce her future son’s sperm count. Researchers analyzed the relationship between various sperm parameters of men and the eating habits of their mothers. The more beef a mother consumed, the lower her son’s sperm concentration. Sperm count was 24 percent higher in men whose mothers consumed less beef. The difference may be due to steroid hormones found in animal products. In the United States hormones are commonly used to induce increased growth and development in cows. But even cows raised without extra hormones still have significant hormone levels in their tissues due to endogenous hormone production.

[Source: http://pcrm.convio.net/site/MessageViewer?em_id=6561.0&dlv_id=10521.
Accessed April 3, 2007.]

Cattle Manure is the Culprit in Tainted Spinach

Although this comes at no surprise, it’s finally confirmed: a California cattle ranch was found to be responsible for the recent E. coli outbreak in spinach that killed three people and sickened more than 200 in America. E. coli is the main species of bacteria living in the intestinal tracts of animals, making animal products the only source of E. coli infections. So not only is factory farming the cause of tremendous suffering, but it also has the potential to make plant agriculture unsafe and dangerous to hour health.

[Source: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17755937/. Accessed March 31, 2007.]

Milk cancels health benefits of drinking tea

Drinking black tea can reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke because tea improves blood flow and the ability of the arteries to relax. When adding milk to the tea, however, these beneficial effects are lost according to a new study. Although not investigated by the current study, the German scientists further mentioned that it is also likely that adding milk destroys the tea’s anti-cancer effects.
[Source: Yahoo News]

Vegan Parenting

Watch this short documentary (9 min) about vegan parenting.