Eat Less Meat + Cheese and Buy Greener When You Do

By Kari Hamershlag, EWG Senior Analyst

Americans’ appetite for meat and dairy – billions of pounds a year from billions of animals – takes a toll on our health, the environment, climate and animal welfare. Producing all this meat and dairy requires large amounts of pesticides, chemical fertilizer, fuel, feed and water. It also generates greenhouse gases and large amounts of toxic manure and wastewater that pollute groundwater, rivers, streams and, ultimately, the ocean. In addition, eating large quantities of beef and processed meats increases your exposure to toxins and is linked to higher rates of health problems, including heart disease, cancer and obesity.

U.S. meat consumption has held steady for the past several years, but Americans consume 60 per cent more than Europeans (FAO 2009) and the global appetite for meat is exploding. From 1971 to 2010, worldwide production of meat tripled to around 600 billion pounds while global population grew by just 81 percent (US Census Bureau, International Data Base). At this rate, production will double by 2050 to approximately 1.2 trillion pounds of meat per year, requiring more water, land, fuel, pesticides and fertilizer and causing significant damage to the planet and global health (Elam 2006).

It doesn’t have to be this way. You can do something about it. By eating and wasting less meat (especially red and processed meat) and cheese, you can simultaneously improve your health and reduce the climate and environmental impact of food production. And when you do choose to eat meat and cheese, go greener. There are many environmental, health and animal welfare reasons to choose meat and dairy products that come from organic, pasture-raised, grass-fed animals. It may cost more, but when you buy less meat overall, you can afford to go healthier and greener.

EWG’s Meat Eater’s Guide to Climate Change + Health can help you green your diet. It provides useful information about the climate, environmental and health impact of your protein choices. We hope it also inspires you to advocate for public policies that will make our food system healthier for our bodies and the planet, since improving our personal food choices is just one part of the solution.

For more information visit: http://breakingnews.ewg.org/meateatersguide/at-a-glance-brochure/

For more information, or to join the revolution to prevent cancer through foods that starve tumors of their blood supply visit:

www.eattodefeat.org

The Canadian Naturopathic Foundation and the Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors are pleased to announce the launch of www.ExploreYourHealth.ca!

As part of a joint communications plan, the CNF and CAND have been working together to develop a one-stop source for natural/naturopathic health information and guidance. ExploreYourHealth.ca currently hosts articles discussing Health Tips for Your Family, Your Healthy Weight, Dealing with Diabetes, Having a Healthy Heart, Compassionate Cancer Care and Maintaining Mental Health. Our Ask an ND section “What’s Up Doc?” answers various questions about naturopathic medicine and the naturopathic profession with streaming video.

Whether you are looking for an alternative to your current health practices or a way to complement treatments prescribed by your Medical Doctor, we hope that ExploreYourHealth.ca provides the answers. Should you need additional information, please visit the “Ask an ND” section to submit your question. You can also find a Naturopathic Doctor in your area by visiting the “Find an ND” section.

Many people undoubtedly consume the diet variety to cut back on calories, hoping to prevent weight gain. After all, being overweight can contribute to a multitude of illnesses.

But a new study, presented this week at an international stroke conference in Los Angeles, found a link between diet drinks and cardiovascular disease. The same association was not seen in people who consumed regular soda.

The findings are based on 2,564 New York adults with an average age of 69. At the outset of the study, the volunteers were asked to complete a questionnaire about their eating habits, including their pop consumption.

The researchers then monitored the health of the participants for about nine years.

The results revealed that people who drank at least one diet pop a day had a 48 per cent higher risk of having a heart attack, stroke or fatal cardiac event than those who reported no soda consumption.

By contrast, those who downed regular soda daily faced no greater or lesser risk than those who shunned all forms of pop.

“If our results are confirmed with future studies, then it would suggest that diet soda may not be the optimal substitute for sugar-sweetened beverages,” said the lead author of the study, Hannah Gardener of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

What might account for these remarkable findings? Dr. Gardener, an epidemiologist, shies away from questions of biology and sticks to her numbers. “As far as I know, we don’t have any clear evidence for a mechanism. To say anything at this point would be speculation.”

Even so, this isn’t the first study to raise questions about diet drinks. Earlier research has suggested that diet-soda drinkers faced an elevated risk of metabolic syndrome, a worrisome collection of risk factors for cardiovascular disease. And some animal studies have indicated artificial sweeteners may disrupt the normal digestive process – and cause the body to absorb more sugars from the gut.

One major weakness of the study is that it lacks information on the specific drinks people consumed. The ingredients of different products can vary greatly. What’s more, it’s possible that people who gravitate to diet soda share other lifestyle quirks that put them at risk of heart troubles.

Until more research is done, Dr. Gardener said, it’s too soon to urge people to shun diet soda. “In the meantime, if consumers want to be conservative, it’s important to keep in mind that there is no nutritional value in diet or regular sodas. And certainly the health consequences of regular soda – sugar-sweetened beverages – have been well documented. So cutting either out of your diet in not going to leave you with nutritional or vitamin holes,” she added. Perhaps variety is the answer; people do have lots of choice when it comes to beverages. Of course, nothing beats just plain water.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/paul-taylor/diet-pop-can-be-hard-on-your-heart/article1902496/

Friday, January 14, 2011

In recent years there has been a large body of controversial literature published on homeopathic medicine. This controversy has recently caught the attention of a variety of media outlets including ‘expose’ programs such as Marketplace. After the airing of this program on January 14th a variety of sources have come forth with rebuttals explaining and clarifying this treatment area. Below are a list of credible sources that we hope will demystify homeopathy and provide information to those who may have been concerned by the episode.

“Extraordinary cures requires Extraordinary Medicine”

http://www.extraordinarymedicine.org/

Homeopathy and CBC’s “Marketplace”: Exposé or Propaganda?

By: Adrian Nasager

http://bioclinicnaturals.com/us/en/articles/6/student-voices/20/professional-themes/show/74/homeopathy-and-cbcs-marketplace-expos-or-propaganda

Recipe from Meatless Monday