As if there aren't enough reasons not to eat meat... According to New Scientist magazine, consuming red meat and dairy puts humans at risk from a rather nasty strain of e. coli.  This particular strain attaches itself to a sugar molecule that humans can't produce, but is ingested when we consume meat and dairy products.

"This toxin originally evolved to attack cattle or some other animals," says Ajit Varki, an expert in molecular medicine at the University of California, San Diego, who was involved in the study. By eating the toxin's intended target we made ourselves vulnerable too, he says.

When unlucky meat-eaters ingest this particular E. coli strain, its toxin kills the cells that line the gut, eventually causing bloody diarrhoea, Varki says. It also heads for blood vessels and the kidneys.

"It's a sort of worst of all worlds if you're a human and you eat some of this stuff," says Paul Crocker, who investigates the biological role of sugars at the University of Dundee, UK. Animals that produce GC naturally have the sugar in blood serum, where it mops up the toxin and keeps it out of the gut.

Varki suggests that other ailments could also be due to GC from meat and dairy as the immune system mounts a response against it. "We think other diseases associated with red meat – cancer, heart attack and autoimmunity - may be explained by this ongoing reaction."

Source:  New Scientist

Don't forget to send us your Thanksgiving Recipes if you'd like to be included in our vegan Thanksgiving recipe roundup.  Rules here.

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Blueberries are one of the 8 things you should eat every day.  The reason being, that they are loaded with antioxidants.  Blueberries also help protect eyesight, promote gastrointestinal health, reduce your risk of colon and ovarian cancer, promote healthy bowel movements, and slow the onset of age-related dementias.  And that's why I put blueberries in my breakfast smoothie.  Unfortunately, Jane doesn't eat blueberries with much regularity.  She prefers them fresh, and we have about a 4-week window in August when they're available to us.  That is, available at a price we can afford.

It looks like scientists are getting close to turning on the genes that will allow tomatoes to have the same health benefits as blueberries.

The purple pigments are potent antioxidants called anthocyanins that mop up the free-radicals that cause cancer and heart disease. Anthocyanins naturally occur in blueberries, blackberries and blackcurrants, but natural tomatoes only contain negligible amounts of the compounds.

Tomato plants have all the necessary genes to create the pigments, but they are normally dormant, so the team inserted two additional genes from the snapdragon flower that trigger these genes to become active.

Source:  New Scientist Magazine -- Purple Tomatoes Could Ward Off Cancer

Of course, this is all still in the early stages.  Toxicology studies need to be performed to ensure that the "enriched" tomatoes aren't hiding negative effects as well.  There is also the question of how this pigment might affect taste.

See World's Healthiest Foods -- Blueberries for more information on the health benefits of blueberries.

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Recently, I've been reading a lot about the "natural" human diet. Some people argue we've evolved to be meat eaters, others that we're naturally vegetarians. Obviously, we're pro-vegan here, but the question still rages. Are humans natural omnivores?

A few weeks ago, I bookmarked an article I saw referenced on Vegan.com. It's taken me awhile to get around to reading it, but I'm glad I did. The article, entitled "Mystery of the meat-eaters' molecule" was published in The Telegraph, and postulates that human physiology may not be able to tolerate meat and dairy. The study is being conducted by Ajit Varki, co-director of the Glycobiology Research and Training Center at the University of California, San Diego.

Varki has built up a range of evidence that potentially links Neu5Gc, a so-called sialic acid, to chronic disease. This is because the animal version is absorbed by humans as a result of eating red meat and milk products, and there is evidence that the body views it as an invader.

Professor Varki has determined that we are the only primates who do not produce this molecule, Neu5Gc. Instead, we produce Neu5Ac, a precursor to Neu5Gc. So what does this mean?

This tiny change could potentially explain some of the more unusual differences between humans and apes. Chimpanzees do not seem to suffer from heart disease, cancers, rheumatoid arthritis or bronchial asthma - common conditions in humans.

Professor Varki believes that Neu5Gc elicits an immune reaction that might contribute to a whole spectrum of human-specific diseases.

After testing a range of foods, they found the highest levels of Neu5Gc in red meat: up to 11,600 micrograms could be absorbed from the recommended daily serving of beef, 5,100 from pork and 4,900 from lamb. The level in goat's cheese was 5,500, but fell to around 700 in milk and salmon. Cod, tuna, turkey and duck were in the twenties.

Not only did the foreign sugar show up in the body soon after eating, but tests also revealed that many people carry antibodies that react to Neu5Gc - a protective immune response, but one which could trigger damaging inflammation.

Interestingly, we've been reading more and more about how better health can be achieved by eating vegan, or at least cutting down on meat and dairy products. We've found information showing that rheumatoid arthritis can be improved with a vegan diet, and that non-fat and lo-fat milk can be linked to an increased risk of prostate cancer.

Of course, Varki's studies are still in their preliminary stages. As he stresses:

"we have not proven any link to disease, just suggested that it is something to explore."

I'm looking forward to reading more about his findings. On a lighter note, Kate posted this YouTube video and commented it's one of the funniest she's seen. I agree, so here it is, it may not be the definitive explanation, but hey, it supports my point of view ;).

For further reading:
Dept of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at UCSD
Varki Lab page

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The Huffington Post writes today about a study by the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsche Krebsforschungszentrum) which followed 1,904 vegetarians over 21 years.

As vegans, we often hear that our diet could be putting us at risk... we're not getting enough B12, we're not getting enough calcium, and oh yes, what about protein?

Research by a team led by Professor Ibrahim Elmadfa at the University of Vienna found a much better than average intake of Vitamin C, Carotinoides, Folic acid, fiber and unsaturated fats. Where shortcomings may arise is for Vitamin B12, calcium und Vitamin D in a vegan diet. Astoundingly, however, study participants did not suffer from diseases, such as osteoporosis, typically related to inadequate intakes of these micro-nutrients.

Source: The Huffington Post

(Okay, so these researchers don't touch on protein, but we know we can get adequate protein in our diet if we pay enough attention and avoid the "french fry" vegetarian lifestyle. What's that? That is the idea that french fries or other unhealthy food choices are the only options available to us when we go out to eat in omnivore land. Most of the time, you can get a salad or steamed vegetables, at the very least.)

Most impressive of all in the German Cancer Research Center study is this: Vegetarian men had a 50% reduced risk of early death, and vegetarian women a 30% reduced risk.

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