Vegetarian/Vegan Club of Charlotte

Readers, I am passing along this message from Ileana:

Are you a vegetarian or vegan in the Charlotte community and surrounding area that would like to get to know others in the area? Would you like to learn more about which local restaurants have food we can eat? Would you be interested in monthly dine-arounds? Are you thinking of becoming a vegetarian or vegan and need a support group?

If so, email me at charlotteveggies@gmail.com to join the Vegetarian/Vegan Club of Charlotte.

Major New Report Tells Foods that Reduce Risk of Cancer

What we eat plays an important role in reducing our risk of developing cancer.

Or so concludes a new report from the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research. The report summarized the findings of dozens of nutrition scientists from around the world, who reviewed thousands of studies published during the last 40 years. The new guidelines are more specific and less biased than the guidelines from the U.S. government, which are influenced by lobbyists from the food industry.

The new report recommends guidelines that for most Americans would be an "extreme makeover" of the dinner plate.

Among the new recommendations:

Eat mostly foods of plant origin. Eat at least 5 servings or 14 oz total of a variety of nonstarchy fruits and vegetables every day, as well as unprocessed breads, cereals, legumes or lentils with every meal. Refined, starchy foods such as white bread and pasta made with white flour should be limited.

Reduce sugary drinks and fast foods. These foods have far more calories than we need. With sweet drinks, our brains don't seem to register the calories, so we keep eating.

Red meat and processed meats "are convincing or probable causes" of cancer. Anyone who eats beef, pork, lamb or goat meat should limit it to not more than 18 oz. per week, which amounts to less than 3 oz. per day, a piece smaller than a deck of cards. Rarely or never eat processed meats such as sausage, bacon, and smoked or cured meats.

The report recommends keeping our weights at the low end of the normal range and exercising 30 to 60 minutes per day.

To see the entire report, go to www.dietandcancerreport.org.

Source:
Suzanne Havala Hobbs of UNC Department of Health Policy. "Foods you eat can contribute to risk of getting cancer." Charlotte Observer, page 2e. November 21, 2007.

Keywords:: cancer, vegetarian diet, red meat, diet and cancer, World Cancer Research Fund, UNC Department of Health Policy, American Institute for Cancer Research, low fat diet, plant based diet

An Apple? Bran Muffin? Or Cold Cereal? Top Ten Sources of Easy Fiber

What's the easiest source of daily fiber?

I walked into a co-worker's office the other day, and saw his little bag of Fiber One lying on his desk. I recognized the little plastic bag that comes inside the cereal box. "Hey" I said "I eat that too!" He explained that his cholesterol was high and his doctor had him eating it as part of his low-fat, high fiber heart-healthy diet. And we all know fiber's good for our digestive systems.

Most Americans eat only half the recommended daily amount of fiber. The American Dietary Association recommends 25 to 35 grams of fiber every day. If you pay attention to your fiber intake, you know that 35 grams is a lot. It's a real challenge to eat that much.

Animal products don't have any fiber. It's all from plant sources. The best sources are beans, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. But I've found some shortcuts that are really helpful. I have a job right now that has me working about 12 hours a day - I don't have time to whip up whole grains and stir-fries. I wish I did but I don't.

I used to eat whole-grain oatmeal with 2 tbsp ground flax seeds, raisins, and walnuts for breakfast every day. But I abandoned that right quick when a doctor friend told me about 3 cold cereals that have a lot more fiber than that. The best one for me has been Fiber One. It has more fiber than any other cereal, hot or cold. And it tastes better than All Bran, which is a close second in terms of fiber.

Here are the top cereals with a high fiber content:

General Mills Fiber One has 14 grams of fiber in only 1/2 cup (and only 60 calories).

Kelloggs All Bran Extra Fiber has 13 grams of fiber in 1/2 cup (and only 50 calories).

Kelloggs All Bran Bran Buds have 13 grams of fiber in 1/3 cup, with 70 calories.

Kashi Good Friend has 12 grams of fiber in 1 cup, but with a lot more calories...170.

Weetabix Organic Crispy Flakes & Fiber has 11 grams of fiber, with 170 calories in 5/4 cup.

Weight Watchers Banana Almond Medley has 10 grams of fiber, 170 calories, in 3/4 cup.

In case you're curious about how these numbers relate to other sources of fiber...

1 medium sized apple has 3.5 grams.
1 large pear has 6 grams.
Oatmeal has 4 grams per cup, cooked.
Kidney beans have 7.3 grams per 1/2 cup, cooked.
Navy beans have 6 grams per 1/2 cup, cooked.
Bran Flakes and Raisin Bran both have 4 grams per 3/4 cup.
A bran muffin has 2.5 grams.
Brown rice has 2 grams per cup, cooked.

These are all great sources of fiber and other nutrients, and are earth-friendly foods, too, because they're all plants. According to a recent United Nations report, "Livestock's Long Shadow," the world's "livestock sector" is the second or third biggest cause of all the world's major environmental problems. That includes meat, eggs, and dairy - all livestock. ( Fiber One tastes great with soymilk, so no dairy needed.) By the way, you can google the title of that U.N. document to read the whole thing.

We explore the topic of consumer impacts on our fragile planet in our new book, Going Green: A Wise Consumer's Guide to a Shrinking Planet. Due out in April 2008 from Fulcrum.




One more little tip: fruit juices have very little fiber. Orange juice has only 1 gram per cup, apple juice only 0.8 grams per cup. Better to eat the whole orange and eat the whole apple. Would love to hear more ideas about easy ways of eating fiber.

Keywords:: top ten sources of fiber, plant foods, Livestock's Long Shadow, Going Green, Kneidel, Veggie Revolution, fiber cereal, heart healthy, low cholesterol, high fiber diet, easy sources of fiber, vegetarian, vegan, soy milk

Mass Extinctions of Wildlife Related to Our Diet Choices

Mass Extinction Underway...
A mass extinction is a catastrophic, widespread, or global event that wipes out 25 to 75 percent of existing species. Most of the mass extinctions that occurred prehistorically — before humans evolved — resulted from global climate changes that killed thousands of species and left behind those able to adapt to the new conditions.

According to a recent survey, 70 percent of biologists believe we are in the midst of a new mass extinction. Although the Earth has experienced other mass extinctions before humans evolved, biologists point out two important differences between the current mass extinction, and those of the past:

1) This mass extinction is taking place in a very short period of time, during a few decades, rather than over thousands or millions of years.

2) We are eliminating or fouling many environments, such as tropical forests, coral reefs, and wetlands, that in the past fostered the evolution of new species during the 5 to 10 million years after a mass extinction.

What’s Going On?
The destruction of habitats by humans is responsible for about 75 percent of the current extinctions. Another major cause is unregulated hunting and fishing. The introduction of nonnative species such as wild boars, Gypsy moths, and European starlings is another leading cause of extinctions.

How Are Extinctions Related to Meat Consumption?
The production of meat requires much more land than producing an equally nutritious amount of plant protein. Because most Americans eat animal products two or three times a day, we devote a hefty portion of our land to either grazing livestock or raising grain or hay to feed livestock. About 40 percent of all land area in the United States is used for grazing livestock for our dinner tables.

Consider this. In the United States, we feed 66 percent of our grain to livestock. But the rest of the world feeds only 3 percent of their grain to livestock. If we weren’t eating so much meat and dairy and eggs, think of all the agricultural land that could be restored to its natural state as forests, prairies, and wetlands. We could also slow the conversion of natural lands to agricultural lands. Our population here in the U.S. is still growing rapidly and our food production will have to increase. This year we reached 300,000. By the year 2025, just 18 years away, we'll add another 50,000 people to the United States population! See www.census.gov, or International Data Base, for more information about that.

The adoption of a vegetarian, or better yet, a vegan diet would vastly improve the outlook on the future for both humankind and wildlife.

Is Our Diet Making Us Healthy and Happy?
About 65 percent of Americans are overweight or obese. We also have high rates of heart disease, high blood pressure, colon cancer, and other ailments related to a diet high in meat, eggs, and milk fat. We’re not healthier.

But are we happier? No. Although our consumption of resources has doubled since 1957, the proportion of Americans who report they are “very happy” has remained the same.

But Wait…
Raising livestock doesn’t have to take so much land and cause so much pollution, if done on a smaller scale. Only a few decades ago, manure naturally fertilized crops and enriched the soil, rather than winding up in “waste lagoons” that leak and spill into rivers. Livestock consumed crop waste and kitchen waste. Animals and people maintained a balance. It’s only since the production of meat, milk, and eggs has become industrial in scale that it has begun to damage the Earth so severely. The damage includes ocean habitats and fish populations as well as land ecosystems.

The average American eats 248 pounds of meat a year, far more per person than any other country. It’s not possible for everyone on the planet to have that much meat. We would need four more Earths to raise enough livestock and fish, if everyone on our planet ate as much meat as Americans do.

The Union of Concerned Scientists says that our American diet is second only to our transportation as our most environmentally damaging consumer activity. We can make better diet choices for a sustainable future.

The loss of countless plant and animal species is at stake.

See our post of September 9 for an example of a wildlife population that's threatened by our consumer demand for animal protein.