2024.01.16 Plant Based Treasure Valley Blog

Restricting Calories for Longevity, Written By Michael Greger M.D. FACLM •

January 9, 2024

https://nutritionfacts.org/blog/restricting-calories-for-longevity/?utm_source=NutritionFa cts.org&utm_campaign=ff9a735a00-RSS_BLOG_DAILY&utm_medium=email&utm_term= 0_40f9e497d1-ff9a735a00-27392345&mc_cid=ff9a735a00&mc_eid=4335d6e5c4

Though a bane for dieters, a slower metabolism may actually be a good thing.

We’ve known for more than a century that calorie restriction can increase the lifespan of animals, and metabolic slowdown may be the mechanism. That could be why the tortoise lives ten times longer than the hare. Rabbits can live for 10 to 20 years, whereas “Harriet,” a tortoise “allegedly collected from the Galapagos Islands by Charles Darwin, was estimated to be about 176 years old when she died in 2006.” Slow and steady may win the race.

As Dr Greger discussed in his video The Benefits of Calorie Restriction for Longevity (2019), one of the ways our body lowers our resting metabolic rate is by creating cleaner-burning, more efficient mitochondria, the power plants that fuel our cells. It’s like our body passes its own fuel-efficiency standards. These new mitochondria create the same energy with less oxygen and produce less free radical “exhaust.” After all, when our body is afraid famine is afoot, it tries to conserve as much energy as it can.

The largest caloric restriction trial to date indeed found both metabolic slowing and a reduction in free radical-induced oxidative stress—both of which may slow the rate of aging. The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long. But whether this will result in greater human longevity is an unanswered question. Caloric restriction is often said to extend the lifespan of “every species studied.” But that isn’t even true of all strains within a single species. Some scientists don’t think calorie restriction will improve human longevity at all; others suggest a 20 percent calorie restriction starting at age 25 and sustained for 52 years could add 5 years onto your life. Either way, the reduced oxidative stress would be expected to improve our healthspan.

Members of the Calorie Restriction Society, self-styled CRONies (for Calorie-Restricted Optimal Nutrition), appear to be in excellent health, but they’re a rather unique self-selected bunch of individuals. You don’t really know until you put it to the test. Enter the CALERIE study, the Comprehensive Assessment of

Long-term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy, the first clinical trial to test the effects of caloric restriction.

Hundreds of non-obese men and women were randomized to two years of 25 percent calorie restriction. They only ended up achieving half that but lost about 18 pounds and three inches off their waists, wiping out more than half of their visceral abdominal fat. That translated into significant improvements in cholesterol levels, triglycerides, insulin sensitivity, and blood pressures. Eighty percent of those who were overweight when they started were normal weight by the end, compared to a 27-percent increase in those who became overweight in the control group.

In the famous Minnesota Starvation Study that used conscientious objectors as guinea pigs during World War II, the study subjects suffered both physically and psychologically, experiencing depression, irritability, and loss of libido. The subjects started out lean, though, and had their calorie intake cut in half. The CALERIE study ended up being four times less restrictive, only about 12 percent below baseline calorie intake, and enrolled normal-weight individuals, which in the U.S. these days means overweight, on average. As such, the CALERIE subjects experienced nothing but positive quality-of-life benefits, with significant improvements in mood, general health, sex drive, and sleep. They only ended up eating about 300 fewer calories than they were eating at baseline. So, they got all these benefits—the physiological benefits, the psychological benefits—all from only cutting about a snack-sized bag of chips worth of calories from their daily diets.

What happened at the end of the trial, though? In the Minnesota Starvation Study and calorie deprivation experiments done on Army Rangers, as soon as subjects were released from restriction, they tended to rapidly regain the weight, and sometimes even more. The leaner they started out, the more their bodies seemed to drive them to overeat to pack back on the extra body fat. In contrast, after the completion of the CALERIE study, even though their metabolism was slowed, they retained about 50 percent of the weight loss two years later. They must have acquired new eating attitudes and behaviors that allowed them to keep their weight down. After extended calorie restriction, for example, cravings for sugary, fatty, and junky foods may actually go down.

For more than a century, we’ve known that calorie restriction can increase the lifespan of animals, and it may be linked to metabolic slowdown.

Calorie restriction can lead to the creation of more efficient and cleaner-burning mitochondria, the power plants that fuel our cells. These new mitochondria create the same energy with less oxygen and produce less free radical “exhaust.”

While some trials on caloric restriction have shown metabolic slowing and reduced oxidative stress, its effect on human longevity remains uncertain, with varying opinions on its potential benefits.

The CALERIE study, which tested the effects of caloric restriction in non-obese men and women, found that calorie intake of only about 12 percent below baseline (about 300 fewer calories) led to significant improvements in weight, visceral fat, cholesterol levels, insulin sensitivity, blood pressure, mood, general health, sex drive, and sleep.

Despite a slowing of metabolism, participants in the CALERIE study retained approximately 50 percent of the weight loss two years after the trial, indicating that they had developed new eating habits that allowed them to maintain their weight loss.

The Minnesota Starvation Study used conscientious objectors during World War II. It halved their calorie intake—and the participants had started out lean. They suffered physically and psychologically, experiencing, among other symptoms, depression, irritability, and loss of libido.

The leaner they started out, the more their bodies seemed to drive them to overeat to pack back on the extra body fat. In contrast, after the completion of the CALERIE study, even though their metabolism was slowed, the participants retained about 50 percent of the weight loss two years later. They must have acquired new eating attitudes and behaviors that allowed them to keep their weight down. After extended calorie restriction, for example, cravings for sugary, fatty, and junky foods may actually go down.

2023.12.19 Plant Based Treasure Valley News

A study on identical twins from Stanford Medicine concludes that a healthy vegan diet really can make a big difference to heart health.

This study was 1st published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, (JAMA), The study was titled: The Cardiometabolic Effects of Omnivorous VS Vegan Diets in Identical Twins, November 30, 2023:

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2812392

VegNews: https://vegnews.com/2023/12/twin-study-eating-more-plants-healthier

(December 13, 2023)

In the last few years, multiple studies have suggested that a whole food, plant-based diet is one of the best ways to eat for our health. But new research, published in November, focusing on the diets of identical twins might just be the closest to definitive proof we’ve seen so far.

By studying 22 sets of identical twins, Stanford Medicine researchers were able to control for genetic and lifestyle factors, and simply focus on the health benefits of diet. In the study, which took place from May to July 2022, one twin followed a vegetable-rich omnivorous diet, with foods like chicken, fish, and eggs, while the other followed a vegetable-rich plant-based diet.

The researchers found that in the first four weeks, those on a plant-based diet had lower levels of LDL cholesterol and insulin, and they lost weight. All of these factors are associated with a lower risk of heart disease, which is the leading cause of death globally. This was likely because the twins on a plant-based diet were naturally eating more fiber and less saturated fat.

All of the twins started the study with relatively healthy LDL cholesterol levels, but the study still showed significant improvement. During the research, the average baseline LDL cholesterol level for vegans was 110.7 mg/dL and 118.5 mg/dL for omnivores. By the end, vegans had dropped to 95.5, while omnivores had reached 116.1.

For context, for those with no health issues, cholesterol between 100 and 129 isn’t generally considered concerning, but below 100 is the optimal LDL cholesterol score.

The results indicate that a plant-based diet could make a difference for those with concerningly high cholesterol levels in a matter of weeks.

Christopher Gardner, PhD, the study’s senior author, claimed that the research was a “groundbreaking way to assert that a vegan diet is healthier than the conventional diet.” He added that out of the 22 vegans in the study, 21 have carried on with the plant-based lifestyle.

Vegan food and heart health

The new study builds on existing research that links plant-based foods with improved heart health. While the Stanford researchers focused on a whole foods plant-based diet, which contains very few processed foods, previous studies have also suggested that even switching from animal meat to vegan meat could have a positive impact on health.

For example, another recent Stanford Medicine study, also led by Gardner, compared red meat consumption with plant-based meat consumption in a group of 30 people. “There’s been this sort of backlash against these new meat alternatives,” he said in a statement. “The question is, if you’re adding sodium and coconut oil, which is high in saturated fat, and using processed ingredients, is the product still actually healthy?”

The study found that those who consumed at least two servings of plant-based meat a week had lower levels of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO). Those who only ate red meat had higher levels. Emerging evidence has linked higher TMAO levels with a potential increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

The study also, again, found a modest drop in weight and LDL cholesterol levels for those who ate more plant-based meat.

2023.10 Plant Based Treasure Valley

Dr. Michael Greger: Ergothioneine, The Longevity Vitamin

“So, if I was going to create a Dr. Greger’s Baker’s Dozen, I would probably add mushrooms to the list.”

Link to Dr Greger’s video:

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/dietary-sources-of-the-longevity-vitamin-ergothioneine/

Of more than 100 compounds measured in the bloodstreams of thousands of individuals, the one most associated with the lowest rates of disease and death was ergothioneine. Higher blood levels were associated with lower risk of heart disease, stroke, and death from all causes put together over a period of more than 20 years.

Ergothioneine is an unusual amino acid. Although it was discovered more than a century ago, it was ignored until recently, when researchers found that humans have a highly specific transporter protein in our bodies specifically designed to pull ergothioneine out of food and into body tissue. It’s even upregulated right before meal times. This suggests that ergothioneine plays an important physiological role. Our first clue was the tissue distribution. Ergothioneine concentrates in parts of your body where there are lots of free radicals—the lens of your eye and your liver, for example, as well as sensitive tissues such as bone marrow and semen. Researchers found it acts as a cell protector or cytoprotectant. Depriving human cells of ergothioneine leads to accelerated DNA damage and cell death.

Because we can only get it in food, and there’s toxicity associated with its depletion, Johns Hopkins University researchers concluded that ergothioneine “may represent a new vitamin.” If it were classified as such, that would make it the first new vitamin since the last new vitamin, B12, was isolated back in 1948.

Traditional vitamins are characterized by the manifestation of an overt dietary deficiency disease within a short time frame, and no specific deficiency disease has yet been identified. But Dr Greger says that maybe deciency diseases are staring us in the face. Low blood levels of ergothioneine are correlated with increased risk of frailty, cardiovascular disease, cognitive impairment, dementia, and Parkinson’s disease. To describe nutrients that may not necessarily be essential for life but may be essential for long-term health, the famous biochemist Bruce Ames coined the term “longevity vitamin,” and identified ergothioneine as an acceptable candidate.

What are the best dietary sources of ergothioneine? It’s not made by plants or animals––only fungi, like mushrooms and certain soil bacteria. Plants can pull some up from the soil, and animals who eat the plants can similarly benefit, but the highest levels by far have been reported in mushrooms. Excessive tillage of the soil, which is a common practice in modern agriculture, can disrupt the mycelial network, the fungi filaments that pass ergothioneine along to the roots of crops, leaving mushrooms and tempeh—a fungi-fermented soybean cake—as the only concentrated dietary sources. This is on a dry weight basis, though, and mushrooms are like 90 percent water; so, if you change this to prepared wet weight, tempeh does even better on more of a per-serving basis.

As mushrooms go, shiitake may have comparable levels to oyster mushrooms––about five times more than white button mushrooms, but may also be five times as expensive, unless you grow your own. Oyster mushrooms can be grown in less than two weeks with just-add-water kits. Porcinis may lead the pack, though, which could explain why Italians average more than four times the average ergothioneine intake of Americans. But even just eating a cup a day of plain white button mushrooms can double ergothioneine concentrations in the blood.

Ergothioneine is associated with reduced mortality, and it was also the blood metabolite most strongly connected to a “health conscious food pattern;” so, it could just have just been a proxy for healthier eating. Correlation doesn’t mean causation. Instead of low ergothioneine levels leading to disease, maybe disease somehow leads to lower ergothioneine levels. What evidence do we have that we should go out of our way to eat mushrooms?

Mushroom consumption is associated with a lower risk of cancer, driven mainly by lower breast cancer rates, and mushroom consumption is associated with a lower risk of dying prematurely from all causes put together. Dr Greger has presented in previous videos information that shows, for example, that eating just a few mushrooms a day can improve immune function. But ergothioneine may be an underrecognized dietary micronutrient for healthy aging in other ways as well.

Dietary ergothioneine is known to cross the blood-brain barrier, since it can be found in human cerebrospinal fluid and post-mortem brain samples. Perhaps this is why a study in Singapore found that those who consumed more than two servings of mushrooms a week had less than half the odds of suffering from mild cognitive impairment, compared to less than once a week. A study of more than 10,000 Japanese elders found that three or more times a week mushroom-eaters had a significantly lower risk of developing dementia over a period of about six years.

With cross-sectional studies correlating mushroom consumption with better brain function, researchers decided to put it to the test using lion’s mane mushroom, which is especially popular in traditional Chinese medicine. Randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trials on people with normal cognitive function, on people with mild cognitive impairment, and on those with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease did find small cognitive or functional improvements after months of a third to a full teaspoon of powdered lion’s mane mushroom a day compared to placebo.

Interestingly, blood ergothioneine levels appear to decline after about age 60, and this decline is tied to both cognitive decline and frailty. And this does not appear to be due to declining mushroom intake with age. So, perhaps the function of the ergothioneine transporter at the blood-brain barrier declines with age, potentially making mushroom intake all the more beneficial as we grow older.

2023.09.19 Plant Based Treasure Valley News

1. Medscape article: Toxic Chemicals We Consume Without Knowing It:

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/988444?ecd=wnl_infocu11_broad_broad_persoexpansio n-editorial_20230916_etid5859143&uac=459916FG&impID=5859143#vp_2

Article Excerpt, please access the entire article via the link above:

Dioxins and Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)

Dioxins are mainly the byproducts of industrial practices; they are released after incineration, trash burning, and fires. PCBs, which are somewhat structurally related to dioxins, were previously found in products such as flame retardants and coolants. Dioxins and PCBs are often grouped in the same category under the umbrella term "persistent organic pollutants" because they break down slowly and remain in the environment even after emissions have been curbed. Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin, perhaps the best-known dioxin, is a known carcinogen. Dioxins also have been associated with a host of health implications in development, immunity, and reproductive and endocrine systems. Higher levels of PCB exposure have also been associated with an increased risk for mortality from cardiovascular disease.

Notably, dioxin emissions have been reduced by 90% since the 1980s, and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has banned the use of PCBs in industrial manufacturing since 1979. However, environmental dioxins and PCBs still enter the food chain and accumulate in fat.

The best ways to avoid exposures are through limiting meat, fish, and dairy consumption and trimming the skin and fat from meats.

The level of dioxins and PCBs found in meat, eggs, fish, and dairy are approximately 5-10 times higher than they are in plant-based foods.

Research has shown that farmed salmon is likely to be the most PCB-contaminated protein source in the US diet; however, newer forms of land-based and sustainable aquaculture probably avoid this exposure.

2. PCRM News: Dr Neil Barnard’s Blog:

Illinois Plant-Based School Lunch Law Goes Into Effect Aug. 1

https://www.pcrm.org/news/blog/illinois-plant-based-school-lunch-law-goes-effect-aug-1

Plant-based school lunches will be made available starting this school year to all 2 million public school students in Illinois who submit a request, thanks to a law that went into effect on Aug. 1,

2023. This law will make Illinois a national leader in providing healthy plant-based options in schools.

3. PCRM: Health & Nutrition News, 09/12/2023

66% of Diet-Related Cardiovascular Related Deaths Are Due to a Low-Consumption of Plant Based Foods

https://www.pcrm.org/news/health-nutrition/66-diet-related-cardiovascular-deaths-are-due-low-c onsumption-plant-based

A poor diet is a major risk factor for heart disease. A recent analysis of over half a million Chinese adults found that more than two-thirds of diet-related cardiovascular deaths can be attributed to low intakes of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and nuts, while a low intake of fruit was the leading dietary risk factor for stroke, followed by a low intake of whole grains and vegetables.1 Aside from addressing many of the risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and elevated cholesterol, a plant-based diet may also be able to reverse plaque buildup in the arteries.2,3

References

1. Fang Y, Xia J, Lian Y, et al. The burden of cardiovascular disease attributable to dietary risk factors in the provinces of China, 2002-2018: a nationwide population-based study. Lancet Reg Health West Pac. 2023;37:100784. doi:10.1016/j.lanwpc.2023.100784 2. Ornish D, Scherwitz LW, Billings JH, et al. Intensive lifestyle changes for reversal of coronary heart disease. JAMA. 1998;280(23):2001-7. doi:10.1001/jama.280.23.2001

3. Esselstyn CB Jr, Gendy G, Doyle J, Golubic M, Roizen MF. A way to reverse CAD? J Fam Pract. 2014;63(7):356-364b.

https://www.dominifarmsanctuary.org/

4. Dominifarm Animal Sanctuary provides a permanent, loving home for all types of

abandoned, abused and special needs farm animals.

Dominifarm is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that relies 100% on donations and

volunteers. It is located at 122622 S Cloverdale Road, Kuna, ID.

● Located in Kuna, Idaho, Dominifarm Animal Sanctuary provides long term shelter, food,

protection and love for the many animals in our care.

● All donations to Dominifarm are tax deductible and go directly toward paying for food,

veterinary care, farrier bills and shelters for the rescued animals on the farm.

● The Farm welcomes visitors for educational tours, including private groups, schools, and businesses/organizations. Tours are one hour, by appointment only, with a suggested donation of $25/group of 4.

● Currently, tours are offered on Saturday at 3:00 pm and Sunday at 11:30 am.

● They provide educational tours and training, special events and animal-therapy tours for kids with disabilities, adults with disabilities, and seniors in the community.

2023.09.05 Plant Based Treasure Valley Blog News

Four Ways that the 2023 Farm Bill has the potential to transform the landscape of American agriculture to focus more on sustainable plant-based foods.

Veg News, August 31, 2023: https://vegnews.com/2023/8/2023-farm-bill-plant-based-food

A recent Stanford University analysis found that the US government has been funding animal products at a rate 800 times greater than alternative proteins.

Additionally, 190 times more lobbying money goes to animal-source food products than their more sustainable alternatives.

“The plant-based foods industry is part of the sizable majority of American agriculture and food production that is under-represented in government policies at both the federal and state levels,” Beverly Paul, Plant Based Food Association (PBFA) Federal Policy C, tells VegNews consultant.

However, changing consumer behaviors and environmental needs are putting more plant-forward provisions on the docket, which means that the forthcoming Farm Bill has the potential to shift focus to more sustainable, plant-based food in at least four ways, thanks in large part to the Peas, Legumes, and Nuts Today Act (PLANT Act).

1) Federal assistance for plant-based foods: Legislation like the PLANT Act, introduced in July by Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA), aims to make plant-based foods eligible for United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) assistance. The bill aims to boost American farmers and rural communities by promoting plant-based food production. It outlines a framework to maintain US leadership in the plant-based food sector and aims to benefit various stakeholders, from farmers to consumers.

2) Incentives for research and production: The US is the world leader in plant based food production, with more than 55,000 people directly employed in this sector which generates $4.5 billion in annual revenue. The PLANT Act promises to advance USDA initiatives, create jobs in farming communities and broaden consumer choices. It supports US farmers who grow plant-based ingredients, ensures eligibility for food companies in USDA producer programs, and directs USDA investments toward organic farming fields.It provides incentives and recognition across Farm Bill programs for farmers growing crops used in

plant-based foods. While the PLANT Act stands to bolster the plant-based industry, the biggest hindrance to this industry’s advancement, Paul explains, are challenges around labeling regulations, particularly for plant-based milk.

The Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed a unique regulation for this sector that suggests including a voluntary nutritional comparison between plant-based and cow’s milk. This is despite the FDA’s acknowledgment that plant-based milk is not attempting to imitate cow’s milk.

“PBFA and our member companies have spent untold resources—significant investments of both time and money—simply defending what our products are called, even though consumers have repeatedly shown they are not confused about what they’re buying,” Paul says. While the PLANT Act stands to bolster the plant-based industry, the biggest hindrance to this industry’s advancement, Paul explains, are challenges around labeling regulations, particularly for plant-based milk. The Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed a unique regulation for this sector that suggests including a voluntary nutritional comparison between plant-based and cow’s milk. This is despite the FDA’s acknowledgment that plant-based milk is not attempting to imitate cow’s milk. “PBFA and our member companies have spent untold resources—significant investments of both time and money—simply defending what our products are called, even though consumers have repeatedly shown they are not confused about what they’re buying,” Paul says.

3) Dropping Vegan Food Prices: Ever wonder why McDonald’s can afford to sell its meat and cheese burgers at such low prices but a plant-based alternative always comes at a premium? The answer has a lot to do with factors such as economies of scale and government subsidies of animal agriculture—both factors that could shift in plant-based foods’ favor should the Farm Bill embrace policies like the PLANT Act. “Our top-line message on the Farm Bill is: ‘Plants are agriculture,’” Paul says. “To the extent that plants grown to feed people are recognized in Farm Bill subsidies, research, market promotion, and credit programs, our products can become more broadly available and less expensive.” Making plant-based food less expensive—thereby making it more attractive to consumers—helps create a more efficient overall food system. That’s because for every 100 calories of human-edible crops that we feed to them, we only get 17-30 calories back in the form of meat or milk. Plant-based foods eliminate the need for these animal middlemen, so to speak.

4) Recognition of Plant-Based Food as a Way to FIght Climate Change:

Climate change considerations are becoming increasingly integral to Farm Bill debates, with some on the side of funding livestock (or, business as usual) and others advocating for supporting the proliferation of more sustainable foods. The latest environmental science makes it clear that plant-based foods are by and large more sustainable than their animal-based counterparts. And the Farm Bill can codify this to support the US in mitigating the climate crisis.

“The ‘conservation title’ of the Farm Bill authorizes the voluntary conservation programs implemented by USDA,” Paul explains. “Conservation practices that provide support for crop diversification and organic transition help advance the plant-based sector, while also providing critical climate benefits.”

Unfortunately, federal policy, as Paul points out, has encouraged conventional, monoculture crop systems for decades. “These incentives have propagated the unhealthy and pollution-producing food system we have today,” Paul says.

The USDA recently launched the Resilient Foods Infrastructure Program (RFSI), which allocates $420 million to state grants aimed at enhancing supply chain infrastructure for domestic food and farm businesses. The funding is exclusively for human food production.

PBFA is actively engaging with all states and territories to include crops grown for the plant-based market in the RFSI grant program, seeing it as a first step toward broader progress.

“The health and environmental benefits of plant-based diets are undisputed: Eating primarily plant-based foods, rich in fiber and essential nutrients, is central to healthy and nutritious diets and is linked to lower rates of chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes,” Paul says.

“At the same time, shifting to a plant-based diet is shown to be the single most effective way to reduce our impact on Earth,” Paul says.

Of course, the PLANT Act is just one piece of the package of legislation Congress will consider in finalizing the 2023 Farm Bill. Another is the Farm System Reform Act (FSRA) reintroduced by Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) as a measure centered around ending factory farming.

As its September 30 deadline approaches, the focus will be on how lawmakers and interest groups negotiate to shape an agricultural policy fit for a changing world.

2023.08.01 Plant Based Treasure Valley Blog News 1

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, July 28, 2023:

The PLANT act was introduced in Congress to Ensure USDA Support of Plant-Based Diet, Potentially Saving Billions in Health Care Costs and FIghting Climate Change

Please click the following link to read the article in its entirety:

https://www.pcrm.org/news/news-releases/plant-act-introduced-congress-ensure-usda-support- plant-based-diet-potentially

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a national nonprofit health advocacy group, applauds U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts for introducing the Peas, Legumes, and Nuts Today (PLANT) Act, which would help ensure that U.S. Department of Agriculture programs support farmers and companies producing plant-based foods.

The PLANT Act, introduced on July 28, would establish the Office of Plant-Based Foods and Innovative Production at the USDA; increase USDA incentives for farmers producing ingredients in plant-based foods, such as pulses and mushrooms; create a new plant-based protein research program within the USDA; and create a Plant Protein Innovation Initiative to direct technical assistance and grants to businesses.

In addition to benefiting farmers, the PLANT Act will increase consumer choice for the many Americans that are already dedicated to a plant-based lifestyle and those interested in adding more plant-based foods to their diet.

“Helping farmers to provide Americans more protein from beans and other plant sources instead of animal products could save countless lives from heart disease and other diet-related conditions,” says Neal Barnard, MD, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. “I applaud Rep. Jim McGovern for introducing the PLANT Act and encourage any legislator who wants to help save lives and improve the livelihood of farmers to co-sponsor this bill.”

Research shows the health benefits of replacing animal protein with plant protein for conditions including heart disease and cancer, which cost the nation billions each year. A study published in 2020 found that replacing red meat with plant proteins such as beans, nuts, or soy may be associated with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease. Another recent study found that eating plant-based protein from sources such as bread, cereal, and pasta instead of animal protein reduced the risk of death from heart disease by up to 12%. Other research has shown that plant-based protein also reduces risk of early death from any cause.

Federal promotion of plant-based diets would also benefit the environment. A recent study found that, compared to a meat-based diet, a vegan diet resulted in 75% less greenhouse gas emissions, 75% less land use, 66% less biodiversity loss, and 54% less water use.

Research also shows that swapping beef for beans could help the United States reach targeted greenhouse gas emission reductions. Researchers compared simulated net emissions of legume production, subtracted those from average beef production rates, and used U.S. reduction goals for 2020 as a reference. Based on the results, legume substitution could account for 46-74% of the required reductions.

2. VegNews Magazine: July 31, 2023: (Please see the article in its entirety by clicking on the link below)

https://vegnews.com/2023/7/1400-mayors-plant-based-food

1,400 US Mayors Joined NYC’s Mayor Eric Adams in Promoting Plant Based Food

At the recent 91st annual Conference of Mayors, elected officials representing 1,400 US cities embraced a resolution to emulate NYC’s model of plant-based initiatives, with the aim of enhancing both human health and environmental sustainability in their respective regions.

Research continues to show that adopting a plan-based lifestyle can help people and the planet live longer, while improving their quality of life by slashing risks of common illnesses.

A plant-based diet is also beneficial to planetary longevity, a comprehensive Oxford University study found (published July 2023).

The study found that compared to meat-heavy diets, the plant-based diet slashes greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, land usage and water pollution by 75%.

“With NYC at the frontline of plant-based promotion in our schools, hospitals and agencies, we aim to lead by example and start conversations that lead to action on how other mayors and cities can apply our best practices and lessons learned to their communities,” Mayor Adams said.

The US Conference of Mayors, the official non-partisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 people or more, represents these 1,400 cities. Each city’s mayor represents it at the conference. This organization has been instrumental in leading important social and policy changes.

A big issue this year was chronic diseases, with statistics from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicating that 60% of US adults suffer from a chronic disease and 40% have 2 or more such conditions, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

The healthcare expenses primarily driven by the management of these lifestyle-related chronic diseases account for a substantial chunk of the $4.1 trillion annual healthcare spending.

The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) has lauded this collective decision of the US Conference of Mayors to adopt the resolution as it aligns with ACLM’s own dietary position statement that advocates for predominantly plant-based diets, consisting of minimally processed foods, for the treatment, reversal, and prevention of lifestyle-related diseases.

“The resolution also is in alignment with our position on the interface of human and planetary health, which acknowledges that the leading cause of chronic disease and the leading cause of so many of our most pressing global sustainability issues is one and the same: our Western dietary pattern,” ACLM President DR Beth Fates, stated to VegNews.

2023.07.18 Plant Based Treasure Valley Blog News

To read the following articles in their entirety, please click on links below:

VegNews: https://vegnews.com/2023/6/climate-content-animal-agriculture

“93% of Climate Content Fails to Connect the Dots to Animal Agriculture”

According to this article, data analysis shows that animal agriculture is grossly underreported as a cause of climate change.

A new report by the non-profit organization, Sentient Media and the research firm, Faunalytics analyzed the 100 most recent climate change articles published by 10 national news outlets, including the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal.

The report, titled “Animal Agriculture is the Missing Piece in Climate Change Media Coverage,” highlights the urgent need for increased media attention on the detrimental environmental impact of animal agriculture. The report’s findings identified that in only 7% of the articles, animal agriculture was mentioned.

The analysis found that mining, manufacturing and energy production received significant coverage in 68% of articles. Fossil fuels were mentioned in 53%, but animal agriculture, a leading cause of deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions, only received 7% of media attention.

Much of the limited coverage given to animal agriculture focused on the climate impacts of livestock but did not address the crucial issue of meat production as a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. The study reveals a significant disparity between the actual emissions caused by animal agriculture and the media coverage it receives in discussions about climate change.

“The cattle industry alone accounts for over 60% of animal agriculture emissions, yet only 30% of the articles that brought up animal agriculture mentioned the cattle industry,” Coni Arevalo, a research associate at Faunalytics, said in a statement.

The connection between diet and climate change: The report provides examples of missed opportunities to educate the public on the connection between diet and climate pollution. It highlights stories that reported on how drought conditions during the summer of 2022 threatened livestock populations, leading farmers to sell animals for slaughter as they were unable to keep them cool and hydrated. Such stories failed to inform readers about the impact of peoples’ dietary choices on climate emissions, despite beef consumption being a major driver of emissions in the food sector.

The Los Angeles Times stood out among the news outlets analyzed, mentioning animal agriculture in 14% of articles. Reuters and CNN were also recognized for their efforts to discuss the impact of diet on climate change in articles that addressed animal agriculture.

Ana Bradley, the executive director of Sentient Media, stressed the influence of the media in shaping public choices and behaviors. Bradley hopes that the report will encourage journalists and publications to address the void in coverage and equip readers with essential facts.

“The media holds incredible influence over how we live our lives and the choices we make. We’re missing a huge piece of the story by continuing to ignore the role of industrial animal agriculture, Ana Bradley, said in a statement.

Sentient Media plans to bridge the gap between climate and food reporting by publishing a reporting toolkit and will launch the Food and Farming Media Network hub, providing resources and fostering collaboration among journalists, who struggle to secure resources for climate coverage.

A New Game Changers Documentary is in the works:

VegNews: https://vegnews.com/2023/6/vegan-documentary-the-game-changers-sequel

The initial Game Changers documentary focused predominantly on themes like plant-based diets and their roles in optimal athletic performance and the myth that eating meat is essential for “Manliness”, the sequel will focus on children’s health, the impact of our food system on the planet, and food justice. Food justice is a significant issue in the US where it is noted that there are more than 6,500 deserts (areas where healthy, nutritious foods, like fresh vegetables and fruits are not easily accessible).

House & Senate Committees Pass FDA Funding Bill, Supports Non Animal Testing Methods

June 29, 2023

https://www.pcrm.org/news/good-science-digest/house-and-senate-committees-pass-fda-fundin g-bill-supports-nonanimal

The House and Senate bill (passed late June 2023) reports include several provisions supported by the Physicians Committee to advance progress for the wider acceptance of non animal methods. Non Animal approaches, including modern in vitro and computational innovations, rely on human cells, tissues, and data to improve safety and efficacy of medical product development, and increase efficiency by cutting down on resource-intensive animal testing. The Physicians Committee appreciates the Appropriations Committees in both chambers for including these provisions in their bill reports to help both protect animals and improve FDA-regulated product testing.

Eating Right: Eight principles of food and health

○ THE CHINA STUDY by T. Colin Campbell ,PhD am Thomas M. Campbell ll, MD

1. Nutrition represents the combined activities of countless food substances. The Whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The chemicals we get from the foods we eat are engaged in a series of reactions that work in concert to produce good health. This is nature at work.

2. Dietary supplements are not a panacea for good health.

Because nutrition operates as an infinitely complex biochemical system involving thousands of chemicals, and thousands of effects on your health, it makes little or no sense that isolated nutrients taking a supplement can substitute for whole foods. Supplements will not lead to long lasting health, and may cause unforeseen side effects.

3. There are virtually no nutrients in animal-based foods that are not better provided by plants

4. Genes do not determine disease on their own. Regardless of our genes we can optimize our chances of expressing the right genes by providing our bodies with the best possible environment that is the best possible nutrition.

5. Nutrition can substantially control the adverse effects of noxious chemicals.

It’s useful to think of this principle in another way: a chronic disease like cancer takes years to develop. Those chemicals that initiate cancer are often the ones that make the headlines. What does not make the headlines, however, is the fact that the disease process continues long after initiation, and can be accelerated or repressed during its promotion stage by nutrition. In other words, nutrition primarily determines whether the disease will do its damage.

6. The same nutrition that prevents diseases in the early stages (before diagnosis) can also halt or reverse disease in its later stages (after diagnosis).

7. Nutrition that is truly beneficial for one chronic disease will support health across the board.

8. Good nutrition creates health in all areas of our existence. All parts are interconnected. The process of eating is, perhaps, the most intimate encounter we have with our world: what we eat becomes part of our body. But other experiences are also important, such as physical activity, emotional, and mental health, and the well-being of our environment. Incorporating these various spheres into our concept of health is important because they are all interconnected. Indeed, this is a holistic concept.

2023.06.06 News from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, (PCRM)

USDA’s Dairy Ad Violates Federal Laws, June 02, 2023:

https://www.pcrm.org/news/news-releases/usdas-dairy-ad-featuring-aubrey-plaza-violat es-federal-laws-physicians-complaint

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service unlawfully approved an ad last month that features The White Lotus actress Aubrey Plaza mocking plant milk. The now-viral “Wood Milk” ads violate laws forbidding federal agricultural promotions from depicting products in a negative light, according to a complaint filed today with the USDA Office of Inspector General by the Physicians Committee, a nonprofit public health advocacy organization.

Using a fictitious product named “Wood Milk” as a stand-in for plant-based milks, the ads deride plant-based milks.

The “Wood Milk” campaign violates the statutory prohibition against advertising that is “false or misleading or disparaging to another agricultural commodity” and the regulatory prohibition against “unfair or deceptive acts or practices with respect to the quality, value or use of any competing product,” the Physician Committee’s complaint says.

It also violates a federal law that says USDA milk advertising dollars can’t be used to influence legislation or government action or policy. On February 23, 2023, the FDA announced new proposed guidelines that would allow plant-based milks to be labeled using the word “milk.”

The agency invited the public to submit comments by April 24, 2023, before final guidelines would be established. The “Wood Milk” ad campaign was launched before that comment period closed. On May 1, 2023, the comment period was extended to July 31, 2023. The “Wood Milk” campaign has run continuously since then.

The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service administers the federal commodity promotion and research programs, commonly referred to as “checkoff” programs. The USDA approves all “checkoff” advertising and is responsible for reviewing and verifying all nutritional claims.

The Physician Committee’s complaint requests that the Office of Inspector General issue a recommendation that the “Wood Milk” ads stop and that the milk “checkoff” issue corrective advertising that explains the benefits of plant-based milks.

“The ‘checkoff’ is a government program,” said Physicians Committee President Neal Barnard, MD, FACC, adjunct professor of medicine at George Washington University School of Medicine. “It is one thing for it to promote cow’s milk. It is quite another thing to mock the products that many non white Americans choose for health reasons.”

Neuralink, May 26, 2023:

https://www.pcrm.org/news/news-releases/physicians-committees-statement-neuralink-r eportedly-receiving-approval-human

On May 25, 2023, Elon Musk’s brain-computer interface company Neuralink shared via Twitter that it had received approval from the FDA to begin human clinical trials. It is important to remember that such FDA approval is not an acquittal of Neuralink’s well-documented track record of animal cruelty and sloppy scientific studies. The approval is also not a guarantee that a Neuralink device will someday be commercially available as a significant number of medical devices that begin clinical trials never reach the market. In addition, Neuralink will likely continue to conduct experiments on monkeys, pigs, and other animals even after clinical trials have begun. Past animal experiments revealed serious safety concerns stemming from the product’s invasiveness and rushed, sloppy actions by company employees. As such, the public should continue to be skeptical of the safety and functionality of any device produced by Neuralink.

According to a March 2023 news report, which cited Neuralink employees, the FDA itself “raised safety concerns” related to “device’s lithium battery; the potential for the implant’s tiny wires to migrate to other areas of the brain; and questions over whether and how the device can be removed without damaging brain tissue.”

The Physicians Committee continues to urge Elon Musk and Neuralink to shift to developing a noninvasive brain-computer interface. Researchers elsewhere have already made progress to improve patient health using such noninvasive methods, which do not come with the risk of surgical complications, infections, or additional operations to repair malfunctioning implants. Noninvasive devices are already

demonstrating the ability to improve quality of life for older adults and elderly patients, translate brain activity into intelligible speech, and assist paralyzed patients.

The Physicians Committee was the first group to obtain internal records detailing painful, deadly experiments conducted on monkeys by Neuralink in partnership with the University of California, Davis. Since those records were released, three federal agencies have launched investigations into the company and additional botched experiments were revealed by reporters. Most recently, in February 2023, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) began investigating Neuralink for violations of federal hazardous material laws after documents obtained by the Physicians Committee revealed that untrained company employees transported “contaminated” devices that had been removed from the brains of “infected” monkeys without safely packaging them.

“Musk needs to drop his obsession with sticking a device in our heads,” says Ryan Merkley, director of research advocacy with the Physicians Committee. “If he cared about the health of patients, he would invest in a noninvasive brain-computer interface.”

“Winners Don’t Drink Milk” Proclaim billboards warning that dairy milk can wreck your health, May 23, 2023

https://www.pcrm.org/news/news-releases/winners-dont-drink-milk-proclaim-billboards- warning-milk-can-wreck-your-health

INDIANAPOLIS—“Winners Don’t Drink Milk,” proclaim three billboards that went up near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway ahead of the Indianapolis 500 on May 28. The billboards, sponsored by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, mock the phrase “Winners Drink Milk,” used by the American Dairy Association Indiana, Inc., for the marketing campaign in which a bottle of cow’s milk is given to the winning driver of the Indy 500. The doctors group also wrote to Douglas Boles, president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, to urge him to provide the winner with plant milk or water instead of cow’s milk.

“Winners don’t drink milk. That’s the message Indianapolis 500 should be sending to its millions of viewers instead of promoting cow’s milk, which can increase the risk of prostate and breast cancers, among other health problems,” wrote the Physicians Committee in a letter to Douglas Boles, president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “This year, the Indianapolis 500 should ditch the dairy-industry marketing tactic of giving

the winner a bottle of milk and instead provide a healthful alternative like plant milk or water.”

The letter was also sent to Richard Thomas, president of the American Dairy Association Indiana, Inc., and Indiana State Health Commissioner Kris Box, MD, FACOG.

The tradition of the Indy 500 winner drinking milk dates to 1936 when a cameraman captured Louis Meyer sipping from a bottle of buttermilk. “It is understood that an executive in the dairy industry saw the footage and enthusiastically requested that milk ... be made available to the winner each year,” according to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Research shows that dairy products including milk increase prostate cancer risk, recurrence, and mortality. High intakes of dairy products including whole and low-fat milk increase the risk for prostate cancer, according to a meta-analysis that looked at 32 studies. Inanotherstudy,menwhoconsumedthreeormoreservingsofdairyproducts a day had a 141% higher risk for death due to prostate cancer compared to those who consumed less than one serving.

Drinking milk also increases breast cancer risk. A study found that women who consumed 1/4 to 1/3 cup of cow’s milk per day had a 30% increased chance for breast cancer. One cup per day increased the risk by 50%, and 2-3 cups were associated with an 80% increased chance of breast cancer.

Scientific evidence also shows that milk and other dairy products increase the risk of ovarian cancer, asthma, cognitive decline, heart disease, and early death, and offer little if any protection for bone health. Many Americans also suffer from lactose intolerance, which causes bloating, diarrhea, and gas.

A recent review by the Physicians Committee that compares the nutrient content of dairy and nondairy milks concluded that there is no apparent health rationale for recommending cow’s milk over plant-based milks.

2023.05.16 Plant Based Treasure Valley Points of Progress

LA High School student, Marielle Williamson is suing the school district and the USDA for silencing her criticism of dairy milk,

VegNews, May 10, 2023

● Ms Williamson is suing both her school district and the USDA for violating her First Amendment right to share information at school about alternatives to cow’s milk and the concerns about dairy consumption.

● PCRM (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) recently filed a free speech lawsuit on WIlliamson’s behalf in Los Angeles, with the US Federal court in California.

● Williamson, a HS senior, was told by her school that she could not share information about plant-based milk or be critical of the dairy industry in the school cafeteria, unless she provided pro-dairy content as well.

● In its lawsuit, PCRMalleges that the school district unconstitutionally discriminated based on viewpoint by prohibitingWilliamson from distributing information highlighting dairy’s negative impacts.

● The lawsuit argues that the government may not prohibit student speech based on viewpoint.

● Meanwhile Williamson reports that “Our school is riddled with pro-dairy posters and promotions”.

● Williamson further states: “The fact that a differing perspective from a student was shutdown goes to show that the USDA is more focused on milk sales than the well-being of students. This lawsuit was the only way to make people aware of how wrong this is”.

● By law, cow’s milk must be offered at every school lunch and breakfast served under the National School Breakfast and Lunch Programs.

● The National Institutes of Health estimates that 30 to 50 million American adults are lactose intolerant, including 95% of Asian Americans, 60 - 80% of African Americans and Ashkenazi Jewish people, 80 - 100% of Indigenous people and 50 - 80% of Hispanic people.

● Approximately 75% of the Los Angeles Unified School District population is Hispanic.

● By not providing appropriate beverages for these students sends the message that their school’s food programs are not meant for them.

● “The dairy industry has a stranglehold on our students and our school meal programs,” Deborah Press, associate general counsel for PCRM, said in a statement. “The USDA is so protective of the dairy industry that its policies

outlaw even the smallest amount of opposition to the deluge of pro-milk messaging in schools”. “It will do anything it can - even gag student speech- to continue foisting unwanted, unhealthy and culturally inappropriate foods on young people,” Press said.

The American Heart Association ranks the Keto Diet Last for Heart Health. VegNews, May 02, 2023.

● A scientific report published by the AHA (American Heart Association) in its journal “Circulation”, found that very low carb or ketogenic diets ranked last for heart health. Plant-based diets ranked at the top for heart healthy eating guidelines.

2023.05.02 Plant Based Treasure Valley Points of Progress

To make a positive impact on Climate Change, NYC Mayor Eric Adams wants to cut the city’s meat budget, as reported in the NY Times, on 04/17/2023, by Dana Rubenstein.

Mayor Eric Adams on Monday (04/10/23) vowed to reduce emissions tied to city food procurements by 33 percent by 2030, unveiling data showing that in New York City, food consumption rivals transportation as a source of planet-warming gasses.

Every year, New York City spends roughly $300 million buying food — for public school students, for detainees on Rikers Island, and for patients admitted to its 11 public hospitals.

The city estimates that its food purchases produce as much carbon as the annual exhaust from more than 70,000 gas-fueled cars. In 2021, during the last year of Bill de Blasio’s mayoral term, the city committed to cutting its food-related emissions by 25 percent by 2030. The newest announcement increased that commitment to 33 percent.

“It is easy to talk about emissions that are coming from vehicles and how it impacts our carbon footprint, it is easy to talk about the emissions that’s coming from buildings and how it impacts our environment,” Mr. Adams said, but we now have to talk about beef. And I don’t know if people are really ready for this conversation.”

The announcement is the latest development in Mr. Adams’s longstanding interest in vegetarianism, but it also represents an unusually frank admission from a national political leader that Americans will have to eat differently if they want to rein in climate change.

The city released a new measure of New York City’s carbon footprint that incorporates the greenhouse emissions created by the consumption and production of food.

It found that food rivals transportation in the size of its carbon footprint — at 20 percent of the city’s emissions, it trails just behind transportation, at 22 percent. New York buildings produce 34 percent of the city’s emissions.

“If you really want to make a difference, there are two main things you do for food, one of which is you try to reduce the amount of beef,” said Richard Larrick, a professor of management at Duke University.

The other is to grapple with food waste, which now largely ends up in landfills producing methane, a particularly potent greenhouse gas. To tackle that problem, New York City has vowed to roll out a citywide composting program by the end of 2024.

“To have 20 grams of protein from beef — that’s kind of a meal’s serving of protein, is like burning a gallon of gasoline,” Mr. Larrick said. “Everything else is less than a fifth of a gallon, essentially.”

Mayor Adams, a self-described vegan who sometimes eats fish, has long cast his plant-based diet as essential to healthy living. He states that eating a mostly plant based diet has reversed his type-2 diabetes. He has worked with the American College of Lifestyle Medicine to give health care workers training on nutrition.

Rarely, however, has he connected a plant-based diet to issues outside of individual health, like climate change or animal welfare.

“I always say we have two mothers: One gave birth to us, the other sustains us, and we have been destroying the one that sustains us based on the food that we have been consuming,” Mr. Adams said.

New York City schools already abstain from serving meat on Mondays and Fridays. Its public hospitals have made vegetarian dishes the default option, though patients who want meat can still get it.

Mr. Adams’s announcement suggests the city will be serving even less beef at its facilities in the coming years, though it has yet to specify specific reduction targets.

In the 2021 fiscal year (the last year for which data is available), New York City bought more than $720,000 worth of Jamaican beef patties, nearly $270,000 worth of canned beef ravioli and nearly $190,000 of beef taco meat, according to a dashboard maintained by the city’s Office of Food Policy.

“Ruminant meats,” as the city categorizes beef, constitute only 1 percent by weight of the city’s food purchases. But the meat’s carbon footprint is undoubtedly larger.

Timothy Searchinger, a senior research scholar at Princeton University’s Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment, said that beef is so carbon-intensive because it uses so much land that might otherwise host forests that store carbon.

“Beef, for example, in the American diet is like 3 percent of calories and like half of our land use,” Mr. Searchinger said. “So anything that reduces beef in particular has huge greenhouse gas benefits.”

Veg News Updates

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has released the newest Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen Lists, in the Shoppers Guide to Pesticides in Produce, as reported in VegNews on 04/28/23.

The Dirty Dozen lists non-organic fruits and vegetables that have the highest levels of pesticide contamination. According to the EWG, a total of 210 pesticides were found on all of the items in the Dirty Dozen. All of the produce on the DD had at least one sample with at least 13 different pesticides. Some had as many as 23 different pesticides.

DD: Strawberries, spinach, kale, collard and mustard greens, grapes, nectarines, apples, (bell and hot) peppers, cherries, peaches and pears.

The Clean Fifteen lists the fruits and vegetables that have the lowest levels of pesticide contamination (non-organic). Almost 65% of the samples of produce listed in the Clean Fifteen had no detectable pesticide residues, according to the EWG.

CF: Avocados, sweet corn, onions, pineapple, papaya, asparagus, honey dew melon, sweet potatoes, carrots, frozen sweet peas, kiwi, cabbage, mushrooms, mangoes and watermelon.

2023.04 Plant Based Treasure Valley Source: VegNews The Best Foods for Seniors

● The World Health Organization notes that the risk of dementia is lowered when people follow a nutritious diet and limit their alcohol intake.

● The Alzheimer’s Society acknowledges that a diet rich in fruits, grains and vegetables and low in meat and sugar, may help to reduce the risk of developing the disease.

● Research also suggests that a diet high in plant foods can reduce the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some types of cancer, all of which are common causes of death among elderly people.

● “While some people may be tempted to believe that veganism is a diet for young people, the fact is that there are many benefits to eating vegan foods for seniors,” registered dietician Amber Dixon, MPH - who is also a geriatric nurse and founder of Elderly Guides, a platform that provides health resources for seniors and their families- says.

● She reiterated that it may reduce the risk of dementia, as well as help people to maintain their weight, “Eating vegan means that you will be getting plenty of fiber and complex carbohydrates,” she notes which helps you feel fuller longer and helps to regulate blood sugar levels.” She further notes that eating this way leads to optimal health.

Starbucks

● Starbucks invested $1 Billion dollars in AI technology to help it to develop a vegan breakfast sandwich.

● Starbucks announced its partnership with San Francisco-based artificial intelligence research laboratory SnackGPT to “leverage the trillions of machine-driven computations needed to help us finally figure out how to create a vegan sandwich for Starbucks.”

E.Coli

● E.coli found in meat may be responsible for more than 500,000 cases of UTIs in the US, each year, according to research published in the scientific journal, One Health, the study examined a strain of bacteria called FZECs (Food Borne Zoonotic E.Coli)

● The team of scientists, led by Lance Price and Cindy Liu from the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, developed a new genomic approach for tracking origins of E. coli infections and strains.

● Using this method, the team estimated that between 480,000 and 640,000 UTIs in the US each year may be caused by foodborne E. coli.

● E. coli can live in and infect people and animals, including animals raised for meat. When the animals are slaughtered for food, the bacteria that inhabits their guts - including E. coli - can contaminate the meat products and put people at risk for exposure.

● Data from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suggests that a majority of raw meat products are contaminated with E. coli. Currently only specific types of diarrhea causing E. coli are monitored in the US, but this new research suggests that other strains may also pose serious health risks.

● “We’re used to the idea that foodborne E. coli can cause outbreaks of diarrhea, but the concept of foodborne E. coli causing UTIs seems strange, until you recognize that raw meat is often riddled with the E. coli strains that cause these infections,” Price, professor of environmental and occupational health and the founder of the GWU Antibiotic Resistance Action Center, said in a statement.

● In this study, the researchers collected raw chicken, turkey and pork purchased from major grocery store chains in Flagstaff, AZ and isolated E. coli from the meat samples.

● At the same time, the researchers collected urine and blood E. coli isolates from the patients hospitalized for UTIs at Northern Healthcare’s Flagstaff Medical Center.

● The team analyzed the genomes of E. coli from meat and those from patients. The team identified segments of E. coli DNA unique to strains that colonize food animals rather than humans, then they developed a new predictive model to differentiate E. coli from the two sources.

● This team used this new predictive model to look at all E. coli sequence types and showed that about 8 % of E. coli UTIs in the Flagstaff area could be attributed to meat.

● The foodborne E. coli strains identified in the current study not only were associated with UTIs, but also capable of leading to serious kidney and bloodstream infections and can be deadly. It is estimated that between 36,000 and 40,000 people in the US die of UTI bloodstream infections each year.

Vegan Meds

● Pharmacists at VeganMed are on a mission to help patients by identifying and certifying animal-free medications, supplements, and health products.

● Sachin Shah, PharmD, FACC, FAHA, CEO and founder of VeganMed says that 3 out of 4 medications contain animal derived ingredients, even though they don’t necessarily need to be sourced from animals.

● The article noted that up to 50% of supplements contain animal products.

2023.03 How Diet Alone Can Achieve Remission in (Type 2) Diabetes

The following article was written by Cate Collings, MD (Medscape Family Medicine, July 12, 2022)

Every year, roughly 1.4 million US adults are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. But when doctors discuss treatment options with newly diagnosed patients, they often fail to include an intensive whole-food and predominantly plant-based dietary intervention as a potential strategy to achieve remission without medications or procedures.

That's a shame because remission should be the primary clinical goal of type 2 diabetes treatment, and evidence demonstrates that a person's diet is a significant driver of type 2 diabetes morbidity and mortality worldwide. But a lack of physician training, false assumptions that patients are not willing to engage in intensive interventions, and misguided quality measures that ultimately penalize successful outcomes through nutritional lifestyle interventions frequently result in treatment plans that approach type 2 diabetes more like an irreversible chronic illness.

Fortunately, the medical community is recognizing the need for change. In May, the American College of Lifestyle Medicine published an expert consensus statement "Dietary Interventions to Treat Type 2 Diabetes in Adults with a Goal of Remission" that was endorsed by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology, supported by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and co-sponsored by the Endocrine Society.

Diet recommendations as treatment for diabetes generally focus on prevention and disease management. The expert panel behind the consensus statement focused on diet — without medications or procedures — as a primary means of achieving lasting remission of diabetes rather than its more common role as an adjunctive therapy.

This multidisciplinary expert panel (including representatives from seven other medical organizations) agreed on the effectiveness of a whole-food, plant-based diet and reduced calorie intake through reduced food volume, portion size, energy density, or a combination of the approaches over the standard US diet to promote remission of type 2 diabetes. A high level of consensus was also reached on the risk for significant adverse events associated with a very–low-carbohydrate diet.

The panel had consensus that remission should be defined as normal glycemic measures (normal A1c < 6.5% and normal fasting glucose) for at least 3 months without surgery, devices, or active pharmacologic therapy to lower glucose.

The publication delivers an empowering message. It can be argued that failure to present a food-as-medicine treatment option to individuals with type 2 diabetes is a failure of informed consent and shared decision-making. Numerous studies show that sufficiently intensive lifestyle interventions may result in type 2 diabetes remission, with a success rate similar to bariatric surgery but without the excessive costs of surgery or the potential complications. Nevertheless, patients are often steered to riskier and more invasive treatments before consideration of intensive lifestyle change.

The Critical Element of Dose

The expert consensus statement can help guide shared decision making but it is vital that clinicians who prescribe food as medicine develop the knowledge and skills to do so. Just as medication must be dosed correctly to achieve a desired result, intensive lifestyle interventions must be dosed sufficiently to achieve remission. For example, these interventions must be more intensive than those with the goal of prevention of type 2 diabetes. Many lifestyle medicine treatment plan failures are the result of incorrect dosing.

Success of a whole-food, predominantly plant-based diet to achieve remission is, of course, largely dependent on a patient's readiness to adapt to intensive changes and adhere to them, which has been challenging for adults with type 2 diabetes.

Poor communication and lack of support from clinicians are frequent roadblocks. That is why it is important to receive treatment from a clinician who is trained in lifestyle medicine who can clearly support and prescribe appropriate dosing. The clinician must consider cultural differences and the social determinants of health and the influence they have on a patient's treatment plan.

Remission won't happen for everyone. Some studies suggest that the longer an individual has had diabetes, the less likely they are to achieve remission. More research is needed to determine how well food-as-medicine treatment can maintain remission for the long term. But through shared decision-making, patient by patient, it is possible to alter the rising trajectory of type 2 diabetes and be part of the solution to make lifestyle-first interventions the foundation of health and all healthcare.

2023.03 Soy Protein Blocks LDL Cholesterol

University of Illinois - Urbana - Champaign; Sharita Forrest, Feb 17, 2023

A protein in soybeans blocks production of a liver enzyme involved in the metabolism of triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein, scientists found in a recent study.

Consuming soy flour rich in the protein B-conglycinin has the potential to reduce low-density lipoprotein – LDL – cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of metabolic diseases such as atherosclerosis and fatty liver disease, said Elvira de Mejia, a professor of food science and human nutrition at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Scientists have long known of soybeans’ cholesterol-reducing properties and lipid-regulating effects. Researchers in the recent project at the University of Illinois investigated two soy proteins thought to be responsible for the outcomes – glycinin and B-conglycinin. They found the latter to be particularly significant.

“Soybeans’ effects on cholesterol metabolism are associated with their protein concentrations and composition,” de Mejia said. “They’re also associated with peptides embedded in them that are released during gastrointestinal digestion.”

The team defatted and ground into flour 19 soybean varieties, each of which contained differing proportions of the two proteins. The proportion of glycinin in the varieties ranged from 22 percent to 60 percent. The proportion of the B-conglycinin ratio ranged from 22 percent to 52 percent.

Using a simulation of the human digestive process validated by other studies, the team sequentially mixed the defatted soybean flours with various fluids and enzymes to mimic the oral, gastric, intestinal and colonic phases of digestion. They identified 13 bioactive peptides produced during digestion, most of which came from glycinin and B-conglycinin.

When testing the digested materials’ capacity to inhibit the activity of HMGCR, a protein that controls the rate of cholesterol synthesis, the researchers found their inhibitory properties were two-to-seven times less potent than simvastatin, a drug used to treat high LDL cholesterol and fat levels in the blood. Simvastatin was used as a control in the study.

After classifying the soybean varieties by their glycinin and B-conglycinin composition and their HMGCR inhibitory properties, the team selected five varieties for further analysis.

“We started with cells that were already exposed to fatty acids to mimic fatty liver disease and tried to understand the role of the digested soy proteins,” de Mejia said. “We measured several parameters associated with cholesterol and lipid metabolism and various other markers – proteins and enzymes – that positively or negatively affect lipid metabolism.”

2023.02 Meeting Notes

2023.02 Plant Based Treasure Valley February is Heart Health Month!

See the PBTV Presentation from 12/04/2018 (posted on the PBTV website).

The Exam Room Podcast: on You tube, 02.15.2023, with Dr Neal Barnard and Chuck Carroll: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB8akgk-aFQ&t=1546s&ab_channel=Physici ansCommittee

“Eggs Exposed: Healthy Food or Serious Health Hazard?”

Dr Barnard says that when an egg is laid, it has “everything in it to make a complete chicken”, It has a massive amount of cholesterol. It doesn’t have the vitamins that we humans need.

According to Dr Barnard, the Egg Nutrition Center works very hard to make eggs look good, and their information states that the cholesterol in eggs will not raise a person’s cholesterol. The ENC funds many, many studies where their conclusions do not support their studies. They say that the increase in cholesterol may go up but they say that the increase in cholesterol is not as bad as other things (butter, meat).

The Framingham study, (1950’s: a population-based, observational cohort study) along with many other independent studies (not funded by the Egg Industry) found that eggs raise cholesterol immensely. The egg Industry funded their own studies (starting in the 1970’s), where they used relatively small numbers of participants and then stated that the results were not statistically meaningful.

Is there a disclaimer that the Egg Industry needs to put on studies to show who funded the studies? Yes. Studies are required to list who funds them.

According to Dr Barnard, eggs are cholesterol dense. About half of the cholesterol of the egg that a person eats ends up in their bloodstream.

Plants supply the essential amino acids in the correct amounts that humans need. Eggs (and other animal products) are too high in amino acids and this is detrimental.

“We have known since the Framingham Study, that if you take the eggs out of the diet, and replace them with plants, cholesterol levels drop immensely.”

High cholesterol levels in people are heart attacks waiting to happen. About half of the cholesterol in an egg ends up in your bloodstream. The saturated fat from animal products causes your body to make cholesterol.

Harvard researchers started looking at individuals who got their protein from animal sources as opposed to people who got their protein from plants, and found that the people eating animal products died earlier than those people who ate whole plant based foods. Eating plants gives us the amount of amino acids that we need.

In 2005, the Egg Nutrition center started putting out their own studies saying that eggs are not dangerous.

In 2015, the American Heart Association (AHA) stated that eggs are healthy. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee was heavily lobbied by the Egg Board (the Egg Nutrition Center).

The AHA has the Industry Nutrition Forum, where companies lobby and contribute money to have their foods listed as safe, “they buy influence” for about $15,000 each year as “dues”, according to Dr. Barnard.

Companies such as McDonalds, Cargill (the largest privately held global food company), the Egg Nutrition Center, Quaker Foods, General Mills, Mars/Wrigley, and others pay these “dues”.

The AHA has been “hammered” about this a lot. The PCRM does not accept money from any of these groups. PCRM does accept money from individuals and from grants (ie., the Diabetes Action and Research Foundation). In addition, The National Institute of Health contributes to PCRM research.

Healthy Replacements for Eggs, as recommended by Dr Barnard:

● Tofu, scrambled with nutritional yeast and spices

● “Just Egg” is a commercial product, made from mung beans (has a little amount of oil)

● Bake with flax, chia seeds, bananas

Additional Information: Dr John MacDougall (March 28, 2022) https://www.drmcdougall.com/education/information/eggs-are-for-growing-chicks/

Eggs are the richest unprocessed food commonly consumed. Rational thinking people might partake of this delicacy on a special occasion, such as after the annual Easter egg hunt. Reasonable behavior is undermined by the efforts of the American Egg Board whose mission to support America’s egg farmers and increase demand for eggs and egg products and their efforts have resulted in the monthly per capita shell egg consumption of 14.9 eggs on average. Annual expenditures were approximately $22 million per year for a total of $222.3 million over the 2007 through 2017 periods. The website Egg-Truth.com is an excellent resource to the misleading advertising put out by the American Egg Board.