DIET & HEALTH

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1995:

From the December 5 Newsweek
cover feature: “The saturated fats in meat,
butter, and whole milk have long been demon-
ized, and for the most part rightly so. Recent
research on heart disease and several can-
cers––including colon, prostate, and
ovary––points to one overwhelming message:
eating a lot of red meat is really a bad idea.”
The article coincided with a White House
press conference at which First Lady Hillary
Clinton and former U.S. Surgeon General C.
Everett Koop announced “Shape Up
America,” a campaign against obesity, which
kills an estimated 300,000 Americans a year.
The campaign is modeled after Koop’s anti-
smoking drive. Consumption of animal-based
foods wasn’t mentioned in most news releases
about it, but Koop is known for seeming to
target one thing while hitting another, e.g.
becoming an outspoken defender of animal
experimentation in 1990 while investing much
of his own fortune in developing the “Adam”
computerized alternative to the use of animals
and human cadavers in practice surgery.

Researchers Jay Zimmerman,
Norman Orentreich, and colleagues recent-
ly reported in the journal of the Federation of
American Societies for Experimental Biology
that rats fed a diet low in the protein methion-
ine lived 1.5 times as long as rats fed a normal
diet, though they were 20% to 45% small-
er––and they kept sexual potency until well
into their extended old age. It was believed
that low methionine intake would result in a
deficiency of glutathione, a nutrient that com-
bats cell-damaging “free radicals.” Instead,
the rats’ glutathione levels nearly tripled.
Fruit, vegetables, and tofu are low in methio-
nine; meat and dairy products are high in it.
Noted biochemists Peter Bramley
and Catherine Rice Evans predicted at the
December 14 Biochemical Society conference
in Brighton, England, that fruits and vegeta-
bles will be genetically modified to provide
more anti-oxidants per serving. Anti-oxidants
are nutrients which neutralize particles
believed to cause cancer and heart disease.
A study by Dr. William Weintraub
of the Emory University School of Medicine,
published in the November 17 edition of the
New England Journal of Medicine, reports
that cholesterol-fighting drugs do not reduce
the likelihood that angioplasty patients will
again suffer clogged arteries.
The University of California at
Berkeley has agreed to offer at least one vegan
entree at every dining hall meal, Vegan News
editor Leori Jacob announced December 2.
According to Meat Processing magazine, “On
any given day, nearly 15% of the nation’s col-
lege students select a vegetarian option at their
dining halls, according to a recent survey of
college and university food service directors.
This figure is two to three times as great,” as
the percentage of vegetarians in the general
population. “The vast majority of college food
service directors, 97%, have incorporated
meatless options into their daily meal mix,”
the article continued.
Soy and rice-based milks are a
fast-growing $100-million-a-year market,
now joined by a third competitor, a potato-
based milk called Vegelicious. Cow’s milk,
however, remains an $8.2-billion-a-year mar-
ket, despite falling per capita consumption..
To participate in the 11th annual
Great American Meatout, set for March 20,
contact Scott Williams of the Farm Animal
Reform Movement at 10101 Ashburton Lane,
Bethesda, MD 20817; 301-530-1737. The
1994 Meatout included an estimated 1,000
community events.
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