CONTENTS
I. Latest
Updates in Veg Nutrition
A. Biggest Study on Vegetarians in History Finally
Published
B. Vegans Should "Consider" DHA Supplementation
C.
Low Protein Intake May Also Harm Bones
D. Nuts Will Not Make You Fat
II.
Why Animal Advocates Should Care About the WTO
III. DVD update
IV. Personal
Update -- Wish List: A LCD Projector
V. MAILBAG: "Should I Get My B12
or Omega-3 Level
I. LATEST UPDATES IN VEG NUTRITION
A. Biggest
Study on Vegetarians in History Finally
Do vegetarians live longer than
the general population? Absolutely! Vegetarians outlast the general population
by perhaps as much as ten healthy years--a whole extra decade on Earth! (maybe
as a karmic reward for living lives dedicated to justice and compassion :)
But
naysayers like the Cattlemen's Association like to ascribe the extra years to
"Non-dietary aspects of a vegetarian lifestyle such as regular physical activity
and abstinence from smoking..."[1]. But we argued it was because we didn't
eat meat. Is our extra decade because we just tend to smoke less and exercise,
or is it because of what we actually eat?
To answer that question, researchers
tried to control for these other factors by comparing vegetarians to healthy meat-eaters.
To tease out the contribution of diet, researchers compared vegetarians to meat-eaters
who were just as lean as vegetarians, smoked just as little and had similar social
class or education (and who were of course the same age and gender). And what
they found shocked them--the vegetarians did not seem to live any longer than
the healthy meat-eaters[2]. Wait a second, who did this study? The meat and dairy
board? No, the principal investigator is an animal rights vegan.
Yes, the
vegetarians in the study lived six years longer than the general population, but
so did the meat-eaters! Other than their healthy lifestyles, this group of meat-eaters
studied ate more fruits and veggies than your typical meat-eater and less meat.
Wondering if that's why they weren't seeing a greater vegetarian advantage, the
researchers compared the vegetarians to just those that ate meat regularly. And
although there was no survival advantage over those that just ate meat a few times
a month, vegetarians did seem to live about two years longer than those who ate
meat every week. But just two years longer? We deserve better than that! And the
vegans in the study did even worse :(
Now of course these were studies of
mortality only. We as vegetarians and vegans still have less heart disease, less
obesity, less hypertension, less diabetes, less colon cancer, less constipation,
less diverticulosis, less arthritis, less appendicitis--you name it. So it still
makes sense to go vegetarian and vegan, even if just for health reasons alone,
but you'd think with all that we'd have a bigger survival advantage. What's going
on? If, for example, you look at our cholesterol, the biggest risk factor for
the number one killer, vegetarians should be kicking all sorts of meat-eater butt
and the vegans should be kicking the most butt of all.
Well that was 1999.
Maybe it was just a fluke. In 2002, an update on the Oxford Vegetarian Study was
published which had been following 8,000 vegetarians for 18 years. And sadly they
found the same thing--those that didn't eat meat didn't live any longer than those
that did eat meat (after all the other variables were taken into account)[3].
What's going on?
And finally, just last month the mortality results from the
single biggest study on vegetarians in human history was published, following
almost 18,000 vegetarians. I had been waiting years to get my hands on it. And
it shows... no survival advantage[4]. What's going on?
The good news is that
we think we do know what's going on. For a more in depth discussion you can listen
to, or watch, my Optimum Vegetarian Nutrition talk on-line, (or on CD). The bottom
line is that our inadequate intake of vitamin B12 is literally killing us. In
fact the one study in which we did show a survival advantage was the one population
of vegetarians that were routinely supplementing their diet with B12 fortified
foods. Please see Jack Norris's excellent article on B12 for the latest on what
we need to do to optimize our B12 status.
It's estimated that if vegans just
took their B12, they'd live 4 years longer. There's no pill on the planet that
can enable the average meat-eater to live years longer. Our diet is just so near-perfect
all we need to do is get our B12 and we'll leave everyone else in the dust. And
it would also help us if we improved our omega-3 fatty acid status (see below).
Let's prove the cattlemen wrong!
B. Vegans Should "Consider"
DHA
Supplementation
Author of one of the best books on vegan nutrition
ever published, Becoming Vegan, Brenda Davis just published a review on the essential
fatty acid status of vegans and vegetarians[5]. I encourage everyone new to the
topic first listen to my Optimum Vegetarian Nutrition talk (available free on-line
and on CD) to familiarize yourself with the subject.
In the new article. Brenda
Davis reiterates the Becoming Vegan recommendations to eat the equivalent of 1-2
tablespoons of ground flax seed every day to get one's omega 3's, to get the rest
of one's fat predominantly from whole plant foods such as nuts and avocados (limiting
processed and deep fried foods) and, if one uses oil, to choose olive or canola
(not sunflower, safflower or corn oil). But then in this review last month she
goes a step further.
Non-fish-eaters can convert the omega 3's in flax and
other plant foods into heart-healthy EPA and brain-healthy DHA, but the question
is can they convert enough for optimum health? In Becoming Vegan, Brenda concludes
the chapter on fats by recommending that vegan pregnant and breast-feeding women,
diabetics and the elderly consider getting their DHA the same place that the fish
get it from--DHA rich algae. There are now vegan algae-derived DHA supplements
available at VeganEssentials.com.
In her current lectures and in this new
paper, however, she advocates that all vegetarians and vegans consider taking
DHA supplements. This has sparked considerable controversy, especially since the
supplements are like 50 cents each (and one would take one a day), coming out
to over a hundred dollars a year. It is for that reason that I just stick to my
$4-a-year flax seed habit (although I think it's reasonable to consider taking
DHA). Whether or not DHA supplementation for vegans is necessary is an unanswered
research question.
Stay tuned.
C. Low Protein Intake May Also Harm Bones
We've known for over 80 years that increased protein intake leads to increased
calcium loss in the urine[6] Especially, it seems, from acid-forming proteins
found in some animal products. So one might guess that vegetarians would need
less calcium because they lose less in their urine. Unfortunately, this is a myth[7].
First of all, those acid forming proteins aren't found in all animal products
and are also found in high amounts in some plant foods too, like grains. Research
suggests that vegetarians consume just as much of those sulfur-containing acid-forming
proteins as meat-eaters[8]. And just last month a study reported new data that
showed that too litle protein may also not be good for your bones[9].
Although
on average most Americans exceed the RDA for protein by about 40%, one out of
every five men in the U.S. and one in three women don't even reach the RDA for
protein[10]. And these were meat-eaters. So everyone has to ensure they're getting
enough protein in their diet (while not getting too much).
We should be shooting
for about 0.9 grams per kilogram of healthy body weight. For us metric illiterate
Americans, that means you basically multiply your "ideal" weight in
pounds by 0.4. In other words, multiply by 4 and divide by ten. So for me, ideally
for my height I should weigh about 150 pounds, so 150 times 4 is... 600, divided
by ten is... 60. So I should eat about 60 g of protein a day.
If you don't
know what your "ideal" body weight is, and you're of average build,
you can base your protein requirements on height. You take your height-in-inches
squared and multiply by 0.012. OK, so I'm 5'11", so that's 71 inches. So
71 x 71 x.012 = 60.
You can look at my Plant-Based Sources for Key Nutrients
handout on my website for a list of some plant protein superstars. So yes, it's
easy to get enough protein on a veg diet with foods like beans, but to do so we
actually have to eat them! We should all be eating beans every day. (Let me guess--the
mailbag question next month will be about flatulence, how much do you want to
bet? :).
D. Nuts will not Make You Fat
The latest data suggests that you
may be able to cut your risk of sudden cardiac death in half, just by eating nuts
twice a week.[11] And studying 25,000 Seventh Day Adventists, those that ate just
a handful of nuts (1 oz.) five or more times a week lived two years longer! Years
onto your life and delicious--that's what vegetarianism should be all about. So
surround yourself with nuts (which shouldn't be hard in the vegetarian community--just
kidding! :)
Yeah, but aren't nuts fatty, though? Yes, but they're packed with
good fats (especially almonds, hazelnuts, macadamias and pecans). There is not
a single study in the entire medical literature that I'm aware of that failed
to show health benefits from nut consumption. Nuts are one of the healthiest foods
on the planet. So why doesn't everyone eat them every day? Perhaps because there
is this persistent myth that nuts make you gain weight.
Last month, the chairperson
of one of the most prestigious nutrition departments in the world, Loma Linda
University, reviewed all the available data on nut consumption and body weight[12].
He found that nut-eaters on average were leaner or the same weight as non-nut-eaters.
For example, we all know that the average American is overweight. But that's only
for non-nut-eating Americans--nut-eaters on average are not overweight. According
to the USDA, those who eat nuts in this country are significantly leaner than
those that don't.[13]
Wait a second. Aren't nuts like 80% fat, though? Don't
they have as many calories as like potato chips? Am I telling you that you can
add a whole handful of nuts to your diet every day and you probably won't gain
weight? No, I'm telling you you can add four handfuls of nuts to your daily diet
and you probably won't gain weight! That's what these Loma Linda researchers did.
Had people eat four extra handfuls of almonds every day for 6 months, and not
only was there basically no average weight gain, the heaviest study participants
actually lost weight.[14]
But four handfuls of nuts is almost 600 calories;
that's like a few scoops of ice cream every day--how could they not gain weight?
Good question. We're actually not sure. There's some evidence that nuts may increase
the speed at which you burn calories[15]. Or maybe it's because nuts are so nutrient
rich (trace minerals, fiber, arginine, vitamin E, etc.) that they quell hunger
pangs better than other foods, decreasing one's appetite[16]. Who knows; who cares.
The bottomline is that nuts probably won't make you fat.
Barring allergies,
everyone should eat a handful of nuts every day.
II. WHY ANIMAL ADVOCATES SHOULD CARE ABOUT THE WTO
Last
month the World Trade Organization (WTO) met in Cancun, Mexico. The day before
the meeting began, Lee Kyung-hae, a South Korean farmer led a march of thousands
to the security perimeter. He climbed the fence with a sign that read "The
WTO Kills Farmers" and plunged a knife into his heart.
Farmers aren't
the only ones killed by the WTO. There's a reason that activists from all over
the world came to protest the WTO dressed up in dolphin costumes, a protest organized
by the Animal Welfare Institute. So-called "free" trade institutions
like the WTO have been erasing animal welfare laws enacted by democratically-elected
governments around the world.
Thanks in part to the attention and pressure
brought to bare by Lee's martyrdom and the massive protest in Cancun, the WTO
negotiations collapsed. We won! As one WTO representative emphatically declared
at the September 14th official press conference: "This is over. We have just
had a second Seattle,"
Having lost this round, the Corporations are turning
their hopes to the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), which could
devastate the rights of animals, women, workers, immigrants, forests, etc. throughout
the entire hemisphere. And the FTAA is meeting next month! November 20-21 in Miami,
Florida for those planning your vacation time :). It is the biggest globalization
meeting on U.S. soil since Seattle. The U.S. Trade Representative's office expects
up to 100,000 protestors. I'll be there; I hope you'll join me for the animals.
To learn more about this critically important issue, listen on-line to my
talk Corporate Globalization: Trading Away Our Right to Protect Animals on my
website (I can also send you a CD of it if that's easier). To learn what you can
actually do about it, I've updated my handout for the Globalization talk featuring
Compassion in World Farming's spectacular website, WorldTradeCruelty.com
These
were Lee Kyung-hae's last words: "Don't worry about me, just struggle your
hardest."
III. DVD UPDATE
I'm very excited that the DVD is
selling well. If haven't got a copy yet, you can get one for free (for a $100
donation to the Farm Animal Reform Movement). Or you may be able to get a copy
for a donation to Vegan Outreach, Farm Sanctuary, or Tribe of Heart. Or, of course,
you can get one directly from me for $20 (all proceeds to vegan charities).
As
a fundraiser for your local group I'd be happy to send you a stack of DVDs at
a wholesale price of $10 each (for orders of ten or more).
Finally, if anyone
knows any TV producers, I'd love to pitch them an idea for a vegan cooking show,
using my DVD as a pilot. How exciting would that be?!
IV. PERSONAL UPDATE -- Wish List: An LCD Projector
Thanks
to the heart-felt generosity of a Boston-area activist, I have settled rent-free
in New York for these next three months to concentrate on writing my book on vegan
nutrition before once again venturing out on the road to speak full-time for another
year. Of course there are a few speaking opportunities over these next few months
that I just couldn't miss: the world's best veg food-fest, the Boston Vegetarian
Food Festival October 18th, and the world's best animal rights conference, Liberation
Now!, November 7-9. But other than that, I'm not planning on traveling until 2004.
I've always wanted to develop a talk which involved an interactive visual
component (like powerpoint). There is overwhelming evidence from the business
research literature that presentations that include slides or overheads are more
effective, memorable, and persuasive than straight talks without visuals. I've
always hesitated, though, because so few venues have the capacity (a LCD projector)
to show it. Yes, I could give it in University auditoriums, but what about community
groups? Churches? High schools? Coops?--all the other places I speak. So people
are often surprised when they ask my my audio/visual needs and I say "nothing."
It's been a conscious choice so that I can give my talks anywhere to anyone. But
I've got this new talk just crying out for visuals.
I just premiered my new
cancer talk--"Stopping Cancer Before It Starts: Cancer-Proofing Your Body
With Plant Superfoods" --in Boston. To help make the narrative come alive
I tried using two dueling overhead projectors surrounded by stacks of transparencies.
And I think although people were able to follow along, I can just imagine how
much more impact it would have, how much more professional it would look, if I
was able to project interactive diagrams, pictures, animations on the screen.
This new talk, more than any of my others, really could benefit I think from that
kind of technology. But again, then I could only show it in select venues, to
limited audiences, unless... I owned an LCD projector which I could take with
me around the country. Then, using the laptop that was donated to me by Vegan
Outreach, I could just project it onto a blank wall anytime, anywhere to anyone.
So, if anyone or any organization you know of has an LCD projector that they
would be willing to lend me or donate to me, please let me know. Or if anyone
wants to look on Ebay or something and buy me a second-hand one, my birthday is
October 25th :). My 501c3 status is pending, and so the donation would probably
be tax-deductible.
This new cancer talk of mine is one of my most powerful
(and humorous) yet. I talk about all the carcinogens in meat and dairy, the dioxins,
the sex steroids. I push the pro-vegan message over and over throughout the talk;
I really think this talk has the potential to drastically change the eating habits
of a significant proportion of my audiences every time I give it. I'm going to
be spending 2004 on the road, hopefully giving the talk hundreds of times; I'm
looking forward for everyone to see it. If you can help out in anyway in terms
of just even looking up what kinds of LCD players are best (I don't really know
much about them) or tips on how i might get my hands on one, it would be very
much appreciated.
Alternately, if my quest for a LCD projector fails, does
anyone have an overhead projector I could borrow for a year? The more compact
the better (as I would have to be able to fit it in my little Toyota along with
all my other worldly possessions), but anything would be great. Then at least
I could give a version of the talk to places with only an audience and a white
wall.
V. MAILBAG: "Should
I Get My B12 or Omega-3
Levels Tested?"
Although
some recommend that all vegetarians get their B12 status tested every year[17],
my position is that as long as you're following the B12 recommendations I wouldn't
worry about getting tested. But if you are interested in getting your B12 tested,
your homocysteine tested, or your omega 3's, your carnitine, taurine, trace minerals,
antioxidant status, etc you can get them all tested and help the vegan movement
all at the same time.
Dr. Michael Klaper (not to be confused with any other
Dr. Michael's :) wants your blood and urine. In an attempt to optimize vegan health,
he's launched the Vegan Health Study. Any and all vegans (and non-vegans too)
are encouraged to visit VeganHealthStudy.org to fill out the on-line dietary survey.
And then, if you have the means, you can order a testing kit to send off your
blood and urine for over a hundred tests. Unfortunately Dr. Klaper does not yet
have the resources to pay for everyone's tests, so it costs $675. I know that's
a lot of money, but that comes out to be less than $5 per test! It's literally
thousands of dollars worth of tests, covering all the organ systems, and Dr. Klaper
will personally call you and spend over an hour going through all your results,
audio-tape the consultation and then send you the tape! Dr. Klaper makes no money
off this--he's donating his time. In fact the testing is even a tax-deductible
501c3 donation.
So although these special tests are not necessary, you'd be
doing yourself and the vegan movement a favor is you enrolled in the Vegan Health
Study. In the very least, please fill out the free online survey to help with
the effort.
REFERENCES
[1]
http://www.beef.org/documents/ACF3A.pdf
[2] American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
70(1999)516s.
[3] Public Health Nutrition 5(2002):29.
[4] American Journal
of Clinical Nutrition 78(2003):533s.
[5] American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
78(2003):640s.
[6] J. Biol. Chem 1920;44:21ˆê7.
[7] http://www.llu.edu/llu/vegetarian/myths.htm
[8]
J Am Coll Nutr 1991;10:308-314.
[9] Am J Clin Nutr 78(2003):584s.
[10] US
Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. 2000. Continuing Survey
of Food Intake by Individuals CSFII 1994ˆê96.
[11] Int J Obes Relat
Metab Disord 2002;26:1129ˆê37.
[12] American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition 78(2003):647s.
[13] US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research
Service. 2000. Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals CSFII 1994ˆê96.
[14]
J Am Coll Nutr 1998;328:603ˆê7.
[15] Arch Intern Med 2002;162:1382ˆê7.
[16]
Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2000;24:1167ˆê75.
[17] Clinica Chimica
Acta 326(2002):47.
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Until next month,
love,
Michael