Diet & Health
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:
Proponents of a vegetarian diet
are concerned that the public will be misled
by recent reports that 38 residents of
Limone, Italy, have a unique genetic resis-
tance to cholesterol buildup that medical
science hopes to eventually synthesize as a
treatment for clogged arteries. The treat-
ment, if and when perfected, will not be
cheap ––and as with other diseases, med-
ical authorities agree that an ounce of pre-
vention is still worth a pound of cure.
Dr. Harvey Risch of Yale
University reported in the September 21
issue of the Journal of the National Cancer
Institute that eating 10 grams of saturated
fat per day increases a woman’s risk of
ovarian cancer by 20%; eating two servings
of vegetables a day lowers the risk by an
equal factor. Ovarian cancer hits 20,000
American women per year, killing 12,500
of them.
The USDA Food Safety and
Inspection Service in mid-October began a
national study of the potential for e. coli
bacterial poisoning from ground beef,
which killed four West Coast children in
January 1993, and is believed to sicken
10,000 Americans per year.
More than 730 varieties of veg-
etables, fruits, and grains have been re-
engineered through selective breeding over
the past 15 years, says the USDA, improv-
ing their already high nutritional value.
Vegetarian Times claims to have
increased circulation from 160,000 to
340,000 in the three years since founder
Paul Obis sold it to the Cowles
Group––which also publishes hunting and
ishing magazines. Their circulations are
by contrast stagnant.
The fall 1994 edition of the
Physicians Health Plan of Greater St. Louis
membership magazine Living Smarter urges
readers to give up meat.
The Prevention magazine health
index reports a 29% rise in obesity
among children between ages three and 17
since 1984. Three out of 10 children are
now overweight. Half of all parents ques-
tioned are now trying to limit childrens’ fat
consumption, but while 72% tried to limit
sugar intake in 1991, only 49% do now.
