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CONTENTSI. Latest Updates in Human Nutrition
A. Rocket Fuel in Milk
B. Broccoli and Breast Cancer
C. Antibiotics and Meat
D. Eggs and DeathII. Update on Mad Cow
III. Update on Bird Flu
IV. Personal Update
V. Two New DVDs
VI. I've got a new favorite movie
VII. MAILBAG:
"Is it OK to make my cat vegan?"VIII. NEWSFLASH:
Threatening letter from the Atkins CorporationI. LATEST UPDATES IN HUMAN NUTRITION
A. Rocket Fuel in MilkThe headline in the San Francisco Chronicle pretty much summed it up: "Rocket fuel found in milk in California: Not clear if amount imperils children."[1]
For decades the Pentagon has been contaminating the drinking water of hundreds of U.S. communities across at least 43 states with ammonium perchlorate, the main explosive component of solid missile fuel.[2] Not surprisingly, the Bush Administration, despite the fact that every milk sample taken in Bush's home state of Texas was also found to be perchlorate contaminated,[3] attempted once again this year[4] to exempt chemical companies and military contractors like Lockheed Martin from cleaning up this toxic waste which, as Senator Barbara Boxer noted, is "endangering the health of millions of Americans."[5]
Perchlorate leaches into the irrigation water used to grow feed crops for cattle who can then concentrate this agent into their milk. Testing milk off California grocery store shelves for the first time, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) recently found that infants and children may be exposed to more of this toxic chemical than is considered safe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)[6] and other independent scientific bodies.[7] The average 1-year-old in Southern California, for example, is estimated to be getting twice the EPA's "provisional daily safe dose." The EWG also unearthed previously unreleased tests done by the California Food and Agriculture Department that found an average level of perchlorate contamination in California milk over 5 times the EPA safety standard. Cheese, yogurt and other dairy products are likely to be as contaminated as milk.[8]
Scientists know that at the levels that were found in milk, perchlorate can affect a baby's ability to make essential thyroid hormones.[9,10] What we don't know is if the disruptions in thyroid hormone levels caused by milk would be enough to cause the lowered IQ, mental retardation, loss of hearing and speech, and motor skill deficits seen in thyroid deficient fetuses, infants, and children.
The spokesperson for the state's $4.5 billion dairy industry agrees with the California Ag department that there is a "paucity of science" as to the potential effects of children drinking rocket fuel chemicals.[11]Government and industry both admit, though, that there could be some risk, but that moms and kids should NOT stop drinking milk because of all its "calcium, protein and minerals."[12] Is that the choice our children get? Rocket fuel or malnutrition? Pouring fortified SOY milk on one's cereal, kids can get comparable amounts of protein and calcium and even more minerals--without the toxic waste. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out the healthier choice.
B. Broccoli and Breast CancerNot all vegetables are the same. It is quite controversial, for example, whether or not total vegetable intake is related to breast cancer risk.[13,14] But specifically eating cruciferous vegetables (kale, collards, broccoli, etc.) does seem to protect against breast cancer, the number one killer of middle-aged women in the United States.[15] The anti-cancer properties of this family of plants is attributed to two rather unique phytonutrients, isothiocyanates and indoles. Isothiocyanates can actually boost your own liver's ability to detoxify any carcinogens you're exposed to and indoles may prevent cancer by helping your body break down hormones that cause breast cell proliferation.
A new study shows just how powerful broccoli is: Young women eating just a single stalk's worth of broccoli a week seemed to be 40% less likely to develop breast cancer![16] Imagine if some new drug could do that--and only had good side-effects? Everyone would be taking it; some drug company CEO would be making millions trying to bankrupt uninsured women with it. Last I checked, though, organic broccoli was just a few bucks a pound--and available without a prescription.
Should one eat one's broccoli raw or cooked? Cooking does destroy those wonderful isothiocyanates that rev up your liver to neutralize carcinogens; at the same time, in cooked broccoli you actually absorb more of those wonderful indoles that prevent cancer by helping your body break down growth hormones. So raw broccoli or cooked? Both. Eat your greens. Cruciferous vegetables help your body take out the trash.
C. Antibiotics and MeatThe emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria is an ever-increasing global threat. According to the World Health Organization's Director-General, the spread of these antibiotic resistant "super bugs" is literally threatening "to send the world back to a pre-antibiotic age."[17]
Farmed animals are raised in such intensive confinement and stress that literally the majority of antibiotics produced in the United States are fed to pigs, cows and chickens to prevent disease and promote growth. Farmers in the United States continue to feed animals 13 million pounds of medically important antibiotics every year to promote weight gain,[18] a use that was banned in Europe because of human health concerns[19] and continues to violate decade-old World Health Organization recommendations.[20] The American Medical Association[21] and the American Public Health Association[22] are also both on record opposing the nontherapeutic use of antibiotics in healthy farm animals.
Recently the congressional U.S. General Accounting Office released their report on the use of antibiotics in farmed animals. They found in their review that "Many studies have found that the use of antibiotics in animals poses significant risks for human health..."[23] Notably they did not, however, recommend we follow Europe's example and ban the practice. A ban on the use of antibiotics as growth promoters, the GAO explains, could result in a "reduction of profits" for the industry. Even a partial ban would "increase costs to producers, decrease production, and increase retail prices to consumers." The National Academy of Sciences estimates that a total ban on the widespread feeding of antibiotics to farmed animals would raise the price of poultry anywhere from 1 to 2 cents per pound and the price of pork or beef maybe even 3 to 6 cents a pound, costing the average meat-eating American consumer up to $9.72 a year.[24] Meanwhile, antibiotic resistant infections every year cost our society an estimated $30 billion[25] and, in the U.S. alone, kill 60,000 people.[26]
D. Eggs and DeathWomen who eat an egg a day seem significantly more likely to die prematurely than women who only eat an egg or two a week says a new study published last month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition which followed over 5000 women for 14 years. Given the cholesterol load in eggs this is perhaps not surprising, but even when researchers controlled for cholesterol levels they still found a significantly increased total mortality in daily (compared to weekly) egg eaters. The increased mortality seemed to be coming from a tendency towards more strokes, heart disease and cancer in the egg eaters.[27]
Men in the study did not seem to be at higher risk, however. The researchers attribute this to men's higher cholesterol (meat) consumption in general, which would tend to dilute out the effect of the "eggstra" cholesterol. Indeed the American Egg Board is quick to point out studies showing that Americans seem to eat so much meat that adding an egg on top of the mix might not bump mortality higher than it already is.[28] What this new research suggests, however, is that those who tend to have low cholesterol intake (like vegetarians) would benefit most from eliminating eggs from their diet.
II. UPDATE ON MAD COW
Within days of the first discovered mad cow in the U.S., the FDA promised that they were going to ban poultry manure and cow blood from cattle feed as recommended by an international panel of experts. Now, six months later, the FDA said that it "might not finalize all its animal feed rules until 2006."[29] "This is a betrayal of a promise made to consumers to protect their health," said Jean Halloran, director of Consumers Union's Consumer Policy Institute.[30]The problem, according to FDA director Stephen Sundlof, is what to do with all the droppings of billions of chickens if we don't feed them to cattle?[31] Some of it could be used as fertilizer, but, as the NYT article concluded, the "cows might pick up prions from grass."[32]
This July they did finally exclude brains, spinal cords and eyes from older cows from lipstick, other cosmetics, skin conditioners, hair products, supplements and foods. Of course your flesh-eating friends and family may still be eating or applying the brains, eyes and spinal cords from younger cows, and only small intestines have been banned from human food. In Europe, all of the intestines are excluded from human food, from the small intestine down to the rectum,[33] in part because there is concern that the colon may also be infectious.[34] Unfortunately the USDA has failed to follow Europe's example and has chosen not to exclude all cow and calf rectum, colon, and anus from the American food supply.
July 13th, the USDA's own Inspector General slammed the agency for "major flaws" in the USDA's mad cow surveillance program, criticizing the agency for inadequate training, failing to test animals most at risk in violation of international standards, and an "almost complete absence" of testing documentation.[35]
The third big mad cow story in July was the publication of "Unrecognized French BSE Epidemic" in the international scientific review journal Veterinary Research by France's official Institute of Health and Medical Research. They showed that France vastly underestimated their mad cow disease epidemic. The report estimated that over 300,000 French cows contracted the disease--300 times more than officially recorded by the government--and almost 50,000 severely infected animals made it into the French food supply. [36] Unfortunately we seem to be following the French governments lead in covering up our own mad cow crisis.
III. UPDATE ON BIRD FLU
Bird flu is back. This summer we have new outbreaks in Vietnam, Thailand and China. A July article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that the virus seems to be getting even deadlier--mutating, adapting.[37] And a July article in the journal Nature suggests the virus may have jumped from domesticated birds raised for slaughter to wild bird populations--migratory bird populations, which could fly this factory-farmed virus to every continent in the world.[38]So far, a hundred million chickens are dead across ten countries.[39] Only a handful of people have become infected, though--so far. Less than a century ago, bird flu took a year to mutate into a form that killed up to 50 million people. With evidence now that the virus is entrenched in domesticated poultry populations and spreading into the wild, it may only be a matter of time. Quoting the WHO Director-General, "We know another [human] pandemic is inevitable," he said. "It is coming."[40]
For background on this global crisis please see my original bird flu article back in March.
IV. PERSONAL UPDATE
You knew something exciting must have been happening for me to get the newsletter out this late. And what a month it's been!AtkinsFacts.org was launched with much fanfare--it was plugged by everyone from Alicia Silverstone (thanks Alicia!) to the Washington Post. Of course not everyone was happy about the site; I got volumes of venomous hate mail from Atkins zealots. I guess that's what I get for posting my phone number and email address. But amongst the I-ate-Bambi-for-breakfast rantings I did get an email from Lantern Books asking if I wanted to publish a book on Atkins! Well, I'm happy to report that the book is basically done and I've got the book contract in hand. It should be hitting bookstore shelves in a few months.
And as if my life could not get better, I got a call from the one and only T. Colin Campbell offering me a position teaching part of his Vegetarian Nutrition course this Fall at Cornell University--truly a dream come true. So between teaching the course and finishing up my Optimum Vegan Nutrition book, this is going to be one busy season.
I am, however, hoping to get back on the road full-time January 2005 and go through May. I'm only going to be able to squeeze about 200 talks into those five months and I'm afraid these spots are going to fill up fast. So, if you want your hometown to be one of those 200, please fill out my brand new speaker request form (which I have thanks to brilliant Floridian activist Rick Dworksky). I'll be premiering my new Atkins talk, my multimedia cancer talk, as well as all my old favorites (mad cow, veg nutrition, globalization, etc.).
Because of the summertime conferences (here are my latest handouts), it looks like I'm going to have to combine July and August every year to play catch-up. But next month I should be back to my once-a-month newsletter schedule--sorry about the delay.
V. TWO NEW DVD'S
And as if another book and teaching at Cornell weren't enough, I just premiered two new DVD's. The first is my updated hour-long mad cow lecture I had videotaped at MIT earlier this year (entitled "Mad Cow Disease: Plague of the 21st Century?") for everyone to share with any friends and family who still eat meat.The second is my new cancer presentation "Stopping Cancer Before it Starts: Cancer-Proofing Your Body with Plant Superfoods." It is eight chapters long, covering an hour and 45 minutes of the latest research and tips on preventing cancer with a phytonutrient-rich vegan diet. I'm really really excited to finally have it out--I think it's one of the most entertaining and info-packed talks I've ever done.
Both of these can be ordered directly from me (all proceeds to charity) or, if you want to order munchies to go along with it, you can get them from Vegan Essentials.
Folks have asked me if they can play my DVDs on public access TV. The answer is: OF COURSE! In fact I'll even send you free copies. Our movement has not taken enough advantage of public access television. See Compassion Over Killing's guide to airing documentaries to take advantage of this powerful yet neglected community outreach tool.
VI. I'VE GOT A NEW FAVORITE MOVIE
I'm a sucker for gut-wrenchingly powerful documentaries. And yes, "Supersize Me" and "Fahrenheit 9/11" were good, but they pale in comparison to "The Corporation," an award-winning documentary featuring Michael Moore and Noam Chomsky now out in theaters in 28 U.S. cities. Go to TheCorporation.org and find a theater you can walk, bike, crawl, drive or hitchhike to at all costs.A few times in everyone's life I think most people tend to come across something--a book, a lecture, a movie--that they think "If only everyone could read or see this one thing, just this one thing and the world would be a better place." "The Corporation," winner of the audience award for best documentary in world cinema at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, is that one thing for me.
Henry David Thoreau once said "There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root." Although there has to be a more tree-friendly metaphor out there :), finally there's a resource now that ties it all together. Everyone that cares about this planet and its inhabitants MUST see this to deepen their understanding of the underlying causes of the global suffering and injustice we must stand together against.
VII. MAILBAG:
"Is it OK to make my cat vegan?"
One can kind of think of physicians as veterinarians that are so limited they only know one species, so alas I am not the best person to answer that question. Andrew Knight, D.V.M., however, is an animal-friendly veterinarian and expert on vegan diets for cats and dogs. Look for his soon-to-be-fully-launched VegePets.info. Dr. Knight can be contacted at info@vegepets.infoFrom what research I've seen, though, it does seem that there are a number of fully supplemented vegan formulas for our companion felines currently on the market for those that don't want to support the slaughter industry. The problem is that although these foods may technically meet all the nutritional requirements, there have been exactly zero studies on how cats actually do on these diets. Maybe they do even better than cats on commercial meat byproduct-based diets! Frankly we just don't know. But that may all soon change.
For the first time ever, there is currently an ongoing study on the benefits/drawbacks of a vegan/vegetarian diet for cats. Here's your chance to support animal friendly research. Whether your kitty is vegan or eating a commercial food diet, they need your help. Please encourage anyone with cats to go sign up to assist at VegetarianCats.org. The study only runs through until the end of August, so please contact them immediately if you'd like to participate in this landmark study.
VIII. NEWSFLASH:
Threatening letter from the Atkins Corporation
Just as I was getting ready to send out this months' issue, a FedEx arrived from the Legal Department of Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. Surprise, surprise.The Atkins Corporation has a history of suing people. They sued Pritikin in the 80's for daring to speak out (and then reportedly continued to sue his wife after he died of leukemia)[41] and are now threatening me for AtkinsFacts.org.
Seems that myAtkinsFacts.org "impinges on Atkins' rights." My "inflammatory" and "defamatory" statements "continue to harm Atkins' reputation and cause injury to Atkins." That's funny--I thought he was already dead! Seriously, though, if anyone knows of any activist lawyers who might be able to help me fend off such threats, please do send them my way.
REFERENCES1 San Francisco Chronicle 22 June 2004.
2 http://www.ewg.org/issues/perchlorate/20030715/index.php
3 http://www.ewg.org/issues/perchlorate/20030919/index.php
4 http://www.ewg.org/issues/perchlorate/20040420/index.php
5 http://www.ewg.org/issues/perchlorate/20030401/index.php
6 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 2002. Perchlorate Environmental Contamination. NCEA-1-0503.
7 Massachusetts Department Of Environmental Protection (MADEP). 2004a. Perchlorate Toxicological Profile And Health Assessment (Final Draft). Office of Research and Standards. May 2004. Available at http://www.mass.gov/dep/brp/dws/percinfo.htm
8 Los Angeles Times 22 June 2004
9 Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 42(2000):777.
10 [24] Schwartz, J. 2001. Gestational exposure to perchlorate is associated with measures of decreased thyroid function in a population of California neonates [thesis]. Berkeley, CA: University of California.
11 Associated Press 22 June 2004.
12 Los Angeles Times 22 June 2004.
13 European Joural of Cancer 36(2000):636.
14 Journal of the American Medical Association 285 (2001):769.
15 Journal of the American Medical Association 285 (2001):2975.
16 Journal of Nutrition 134(2004):1134.
17 CNN 12 June 2000.
18 Union of Concerned Scientists. "Hogging It: Estimates of Antimicrobial Abuse in Livestock", January 2001.
19 BBC News 14 December 1998.
20 http://www.who.int/emc/diseases/zoo/zoo97_4.html
21 American Medical Association House of Delegates Annual Meeting. Resolution 508 - Antimicrobial Use and Resistance. 2001.
22 American Public Health Association. Policy Number 99081. 1999.
23 http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04490.pdf
24 National Research Council, "Costs of Eliminating Subtherapeutic Use of Antibiotics," Chapter 7, in The Use of Drugs in Food Animals: Benefits and Risk, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1999, 179.
25 Senator Bill Frist in a hearing of the Subcommittee on Public Health to examine the problem of and potential solutions for the problem of antimicrobial resistance. February 1999.
26 http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/antimicro.htm
27 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 80(2004):58.
28 American Egg Board news release 28 July 2004.
29 USA TODAY 12 July 2004.
30 Consumers Union news release 9 July 2004.
31 Omaha World-Herald 10 July 2004.
32 The New York Times 10 July 2004.
33 Official Journal of the European Communities. Commission Decision of 27 December 2000. http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/bse/bse23_en.pdf
34 European Scientific Steering Committee. Listing of Specified Risk Materials. http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/ssc/out22_en.pdf.
35 Scripps Howard News Service 13 July 2004.
36 SUNDAY TELEGRAPH(LONDON) 4 July 2004.
37 WHO News Release. 8 July 2004. http://www.who.int/csr/don/2004_07_08/en/
38 The International Herald Tribune 8 July 2004.
39 The International Herald Tribune 8 July 2004.
40 http://www.unwire.org/UNWire/20040319/449_14191.asp
41 http://www.preventivecare.com/media.htm (where you can also listen to the famous 1979 Pritikin v. Atkins debate in streaming audio).
Until next month,
love,
Michael
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