January 2010


GREETINGS

Happy New Year, and welcome to the 16th year of the MARVelous times, and of the presence of MARV in our community.

Speaking of maintaining our presence, I learned that there will be a Green Fair at the Milwaukee Art Museum on Jan. 30 (a Saturday), which will include tables, and also speakers between 1 and 3 PM on various subjects, including “eating greenly”. I asked if MARV could have a table and was told that they had no more room (this has obviously been in the planning for some time), but I apparently convinced the person I spoke to that eating less animals and more plants should indeed be brought up, because her email to me did suggest that I should come to hear the speakers and raise that issue as a question from the audience. I plan to do that, and furthermore, I think it would be a very good idea for a few others of us to be there too and also bring up the vegetarian option as something any ecologically-minded person should consider working towards. Hope to see you there!

Another question for our group to consider is whether we should offer to give an extra donation to the Friends Meeting House, since our PreThanksgiving Feast did so well in the fundraising department. We actually have over $1,400 in our coffers (well, bank account), and at $30 per month we only need $360 of that for our regular rental of our potluck room, so we could easily offer the Friends $200 or so as a one-time gift this year. Come to a potluck to discuss it, or email chuckgyver@aceweb.com, or phone Chuck and me at 414-962-2703 or Jody and David at 414-764-7262.

M.A.R.V. ACTIVITIES

 

Sunday, Jan. 3, 5 PM, regular potluck at the Friends’ Meeting House, 3224 N. Gordon Pl. in Riverwest (from Humboldt Blvd., go east on Auer a few short blocks to the parking lot). Food theme is Warm Winter Stews, Etc.

Subsequent regular potlucks will be on Feb. 7, March 7, Apr. 4, May 2, and June 6.

 

Other Veg-Friendly Potlucks

There will not be a macrobiotic potluck in January.

The Urban Ecology Center’s vegetarian potluck will be on Thursday, Jan. 21at 6:30 PM at 1500 E. Park Pl. – bring plate and fork as well as your meatless dish. Phone is 414-964-8505.
To find out about Vegan Meetup’s possible January events, check the Vegan Meetup website.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

“’Sorry, Vegans, Brussels Sprouts Like to Live Too’ aimed at the wrong target. Millions of [vegetarians] strive to cause as little suffering and environmental damage as possible, and are especially aware of the wondrous powers of plants… Raising billions of ‘food animals’ on artificial diets is a leading cause of environmental pollution, greenhouse gas production, deforestation and human disease – not to mention the prolonged suffering of highly evolved mammals. To imply that vegetarians [are] unconcerned with the death of plants is the wrong springboard for an otherwise fascinating article.”

-- Gabe Kirschheimer, in response to a NY Times science/health article with the quoted title

NEWS

 

Our Quote of the Month was a letter to the editor in response to a newspaper article on the fascinating ways in which plants protect themselves from damage – but I did note that the article was all about chemical emissions from pest-attacked plants, not about awareness or anything that could be called pain. So compassionate vegetarians are still safe.

This is good, since we all need to eat something, and animal foods are still bad in various ways. An article on essential tremor disorder (when people shake uncontrollably for no medical reason, and which can disrupt one’s life) pointed out that two environmental toxins have been found to be elevated in such patients, lead, and hexane – which is found in meat that has been cooked for long periods or at high temperatures. On a different note, people who eat bear steaks (and some other game, including deer) are at risk for getting trichinosis from it. Then there was the NY Times science/ health section article on the problems of dealing with animal manure from large farms, specifically including dairies. Another article explained that cattlemen are experimenting with giving their cattle a vaccine that is supposed to make them immune to dangerous e. coli (instead of pasturing them on grass, which greatly decreases their harboring it). And a NY Times op-ed piece pointed out the problems of “harvesting” huge numbers of a small fish called menhaden, almost entirely for fish oil capsules: as small fish eaten by larger ones, they support the rest of the fish food chain which is crashing partly due to their diminishing numbers, and as filter feeders they used to keep waters like Chesapeake Bay clear, but now have insufficient numbers to perform that ecological service.

Water is still making news. California is still enduring drought conditions, which could impact irrigation of plant crops there this year as well as its people. And in Texas, Galveston Bay’s oyster beds are in trouble after last year’s hurricanes dumped sediment on them.

Another occasionally controversial liquid is milk, where a rant/ opinion piece in Wisconsin State Farmer predicted that prices paid to dairy farmers are so low that many will fold, causing milk shortages and sharply rising milk prices (not necessarily a problem, actually…). But an article in Healthwise, which took up the issue of children not getting enough calcium in their diets, predictably recommended more milk and dairy foods – although it did admit that other calcium sources include green leafy vegetables and foods with added calcium (like my calcium-added soy milk and orange juice).

Another Healthwise article looked (again) at claimed health benefits for soy foods, especially as regards cancer prevention and bone health, and concluded that there is still not much clear evidence of benefits (though apparently there is not any evidence of harm).

In another controversy, the EPA has ruled that greenhouse gasses, including those emitted by cattle, are a threat to human health, and therefore something that the EPA is mandated to regulate. This has predictably generated consternation among cattle ranchers, who fear being required to buy permits, especially since the EPA can issue rules without going through lobby-susceptible lawmaking processes.

On a noncontroversial but interesting note, I saw an item pointing out that a full 75% of crops grown today originated in the Americas, including corn, some bean and cotton varieties, peanuts, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers including chilis, avocados, blueberries, cranberries, black walnuts, squashes, chocolate, tobacco, rubber, sunflowers, and medicinal plants and herbs.

A Vegetarian Times article looked at inflammation, which is the body’s defense mechanism but which can become the source of disease if it becomes chronic when not needed. And it pointed out that some foods, such as meat, eggs, and dairy (as well as a few plant foods like wheat, potatoes, tomatoes, nuts, some oils, and sugar) can cause chronic inflammation while other foods can help prevent it – namely a diet rich in vegetables and fruits.

Generally speaking, of course, plant foods and plant-based diets are still good for you.

Healthwise featured cranberries, pointing out how they are full of vitamins C and K, dietary fiber, manganese, anthocyanins and other antioxidant phenol compounds; this would explain why they are known not only for helping prevent and treat urinary tract infections but may also help with managing and treating diabetes, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, and cognitive disorders, and may even help prevent or treat certain cancers. Fresh cranberry season is ending, but you may still be able to find frozen ones.

Prevention also had an item about polyphenol-rich foods, recommending cocoa and dark chocolate as well as foods like dark-colored grapes and berries. And a NY Times item described research which found that coffee and tea drinkers are less likely to develop type 2 diabetes – the more you drink the better, apparently. And decaf drinkers as well as those drinking caffeinated varieties both experienced this benefit.

I read multiple mentions this month of omega-3 fatty acids, their health benefits, and how to get them. They have now been found to help treat cardiovascular disease, provide anti-inflammatory effects for adults, and improve babies’ brain development and immunity. Even omnivores can seek out meat from grass-pastured animals instead of grain-fed feedlot ones in order to get more omega-3s and less omega-6s. But you do NOT need to eat such meat, or fish or fish oils. We already knew about dark green leafy vegetables, ground flax seed, flax and hemp seed oils, and walnuts as sources, and this month’s Vegetarian Times had an article about chia seeds, which not only supply copious omega-3s but also calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus – and do not need to be ground the way flax seed does.

A Prevention item pointed out that similar foods sometimes have quite different levels of health-protective substances. Thus red bell peppers have more vitamin C (and beta-carotene) than green ones; almonds have 3 times more vitamin E than peanuts; spinach has more folate than broccoli (though less or none of other plant chemicals that broccoli does have); and if you eat dairy, low-fat yogurt has more calcium than cottage cheese.

A longer article discussed new research on how certain foods help certain organs and body functions. For protecting the heart, barley and pinto beans contain cholesterol-fighting beta-glucan, the antioxidents in grapes can prevent damage from a high-fat meal, and macadamia nuts help cholesterol levels. The vitamin K in broccoli and other dark green leafies can help strengthen bones. Blueberries not only help protect the brain, but also reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, while popcorn’s fiber helps keep the digestive system moving and bananas help fight off stomach ulcers. Cruciferous vegetables, sweet potatoes, and tomato sauce may all help protect against breast cancer. Dark green leafies and nuts can help protect vision. And pears, apples, edamame, tofu, lentils, and brown rice may help the lungs.

And finally, as we look to the new year and its celebrations, Prevention tells us that eating asparagus with your alcoholic beverage can help prevent hangovers. Cheers!

DIALOG

There has been quite a lot of media discussion lately about bone health, and for good reason. There is every indication that people in general, and children in particular, are eating less calcium than they used to, and also that there are increased rates of bone fractures being reported, and in younger and younger people.

In keeping with our society’s traditional bias, this is resulting in calls for getting children to drink more milk, out of the belief that milk, and the high level of calcium it contains, is the one great key to bone strength (and especially vitamin-D supplemented milk, which prevents children from developing rickets). There have even been food-industry initiatives to promote sugary, flavored milk drinks as ways to get milk into kids.

Frustratingly to vegans, this ignores the fact that people can get the calcium they need from other sources than dairy foods. But it also neglects considerable epidemiological evidence which suggests that the nations whose citizens drink the most milk are also the ones with the highest bone-fracture rates.

Now a book has been published that will, if it becomes popularly read and known, undoubtedly add a whole new level of controversy to the issue. Building Bone Vitality by Dr.

Michael Castleman and Dr. Amy Joy Linou promotes what they call a “low acid diet.” This takes its cue from the theory that foods whose digestion makes the blood more acidic require the body to take calcium out of bones to neutralize the blood’s pH, while foods whose digestion creates a more alkaline “ash” help keep calcium in the bones. And it has been noted by others that animal protein does tend to create an acidic ash, whereas plant foods do tend towards producing alkaline digestive products…

Dr. Castleman, in a People’s Pharmacy radio show interview that I caught, did not go quite so far as to recommend vegetarianism, stopping at describing vegetarian diets as “helpful” and high-animal-protein diets as “possibly harmful.” But he did most highly recommend eating dark green leafy vegetables, explaining that bone health depends not just on having enough calcium but also on a great many vitamins and minerals that are equally need in order to actually use the calcium for bone-building. These include vitamin K, boron, fluoride, magnesium, manganese, B vitamins – all of which are found in dark green leaves and their dietary ilk. He also recommended vitamin D supplementation at the rate of about 3000 or 4000 IU per day. And he was emphatic that the more fruits and vegetables in the daily diet, the lower the bone fracture rate will be, suggesting 5 to 9 servings per day as what we should aim for.

That Dr. Castleman was not quite ready to come out and simply say, “Go veg” is an acknowledgement that most Americans are still stuck in an animal-food-eating mindset. But it is notable that this book’s dietary advice is entirely supportive of a plant-based diet and against one that is animal-food-heavy. The findings by two physicians focused on bone health that eating plants is the right way to go for that purpose can surely be helpful in the promotion of vegetarianism.