Plants for Supper?

[Guest guest]

Plants for Supper?

10 Reasons to Eat More Like a Vegetarian

BY BONNIE LIEBMAN

October 1996

[Previously posted to SoFlaVegans list; thank you]

 

http://www.cspinet.org/nah/10veggie.html

 

" I'm not a vegetarian, " says Marion Nestle, chair of

the nutrition department at New York University. " But

I eat a largely plant-based diet. "

 

Evidence is mounting that the healthiest diets are

loaded with plant foods (vegetables, fruits, beans,

and grains) and short on animal foods (meat, fish,

poultry, and dairy products), especially fatty ones.

 

" A diet rich in fruits and vegetables plays a role in

reducing the risk of all the major causes of illness

and death, " says Walter Willett, chair of the

nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public

Health.

 

" There's no question that largely vegetarian diets are

as healthy as you can get, " says Nestle. " The evidence

is so strong and overwhelming and produced over such a

long period of time that it's no longer debatable. "

 

To many people, " vegetarian " is a loaded word. It

typically refers to people who never eat meat, fish,

or poultry for ethical, religious, or health reasons.

Vegans also avoid all dairy products and eggs.

 

But scientists are more interested in how often--not

whether--people eat animal foods. And much of their

research points to the same conclusion: Americans

should eat fewer animal foods and more plant foods,

especially fruits and vegetables.

 

Why? Here are ten reasons--some related to health,

some not.

 

1. Cancer. " The science base is very strong that

fruits and vegetables are protective for all the

gastrointestinal cancers and all the smoking-related

cancers, " says Tim Byers, professor of preventive

medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences

Center in Denver.

 

That includes cancers of the lung, colon, stomach,

mouth, larynx, esophagus, and bladder. And a recent

study found that lycopene--a carotenoid in tomatoes

and tomato sauce--may protect against prostate cancer.

 

It's not clear how fruits and vegetables may cut

cancer risk. It could be their phytochemicals--things

like carotenoids, vitamins C and E, selenium, indoles,

isothiocyanates, flavonoids, phenols, and limonene.

 

There is also evidence that high-fiber grains like

wheat bran can cut cancer risk. " Fiber has a

beneficial effect in preventing colon cancer, " says

David Jenkins, a fiber expert at the University of

Toronto.

 

And pasta, rice, and other grains can replace the

animal foods--red meat, in particular--that may

increase the risk of some cancers.

 

" Men who eat red meat as a main dish five or more

times a week have four times the risk of colon cancer

of men who eat red meat less than once a month, " says

Edward Giovannucci of Harvard Medical School.

Heavy-red-meat eaters were also twice as likely to get

prostate cancer in his study of 50,000 male health

professionals.

 

That's just one study. Looking at others, says

Lawrence Kushi of the University of Minnesota, " the

evidence is quite consistent that red meat is

associated with a higher risk of colon--and possibly

prostate--cancer. "

 

How red meat may promote tumors is still a question.

" For prostate, it's probably related to animal fat, "

says Willett.

 

But even lean red meat seems to increase the risk of

colon cancer. " It could be the carcinogens created

when meat is cooked or meat's highly available iron,

or something else in meat, " speculates Willett.

 

2. Heart Disease. " A plant-based diet with lots of

fruits and vegetables can reduce the risk of heart

disease, " says Byers. For the last 20 years, heart

experts have emphasized cutting saturated fat and

cholesterol, but plants may protect the heart in other

ways. Among them:

 

 

Soluble fiber. " To reduce your risk of heart disease,

you may want to eat more beans, peas, oats, and

barley, " says Jenkins, because their " sticky " soluble

fiber seems to help lower blood cholesterol.

 

Folic Acid. " The evidence that folic acid reduces the

risk of heart disease is pretty strong, " says Willett.

Folic acid, a B-vitamin, lowers blood levels of a

harmful amino acid called homocysteine. " And fruits

and vegetables are a major source of folic acid, " he

adds.

 

Antioxidants. A growing body of evidence suggests that

LDL ( " bad " ) cholesterol damages arteries only when it

has been oxidized (combined with oxygen). That's why

researchers believe that antioxidants like vitamin E

may protect the heart. And " many of the phytochemicals

in fruits and vegetables are antioxidants, " explains

Byers.

 

Squeezing Out Saturates. If you eat lots of plant

foods, there's simply less room for the saturated

animal fats that clog arteries. " We call that the

substitution effect, " says Byers.

 

3. Stroke. " There's a lot of evidence that fruits and

vegetables are beneficial for reducing the risk of

stroke, " says Willett.

For example, in a 20-year study of 832 middle-aged

men, the risk of stroke was 22 percent lower for every

three servings of fruits and vegetables the men ate

each day.

 

Again, no one's sure if it's the potassium, magnesium,

fiber, or other components of fruits and vegetables

that protect arteries in the brain.

 

4. Diverticulosis and Constipation. It's no secret

that high-fiber grains--especially wheat bran--can

help prevent constipation. That's not trivial in a

country that spends millions each year on laxatives.

 

Diverticulosis is also common. An estimated 30 to 40

percent of people over 50 have it, though most have no

symptoms. Others experience bleeding, constipation,

diarrhea, flatulence, pain, or diverticulitis (that's

when the pouches--or diverticula--that form in the

walls of the colon get inflamed).

 

" In our studies, it's clear that fiber both from bran

and from fruits and vegetables is protective, " says

Willett. Men who ate the least fiber (13 grams or less

a day) were almost twice as likely to get

diverticulosis as men who ate the most fiber (at least

32 grams a day).8

 

5. Other Diseases. Plant-rich diets may prevent other

illnesses:

 

 

Macular Degeneration. A carotenoid called

lutein--which is found mostly in leafy greens--may

help prevent the deterioration of the retina that

causes blindness in older people. " In our study,

people who ate spinach or collard greens two to four

times a week had half the estimated risk of macular

degeneration compared with those who ate them less

than once a month, " says Johanna Seddon of Harvard

Medical School.

 

Neural Tube Birth Defects. Folic acid supplements can

reduce the risk of spina bifida and other neural tube

birth defects. Folic acid from foods (mostly fruits

and vegetables) may also cut the risk.

 

Diabetes. " We found a lower risk of adult-onset

diabetes in people who ate more whole grains, " says

Willett. But his results--in a soon-to-be-published

study--need to be confirmed.

 

6. Safer Food. Some of the deadliest foodborne

illnesses enter the body via animal foods. " Ground

beef is the most likely source of E. coli O157:H7,

poultry carry Salmonella and Campylobacter, and the

consumption of raw shellfish has caused infection with

Vibrio vulnificus, " says David Swerdlow of the Centers

for Disease Control in Atlanta.

Any raw food--including fruits or vegetables--can

carry harmful bacteria. " For example, recent outbreaks

of Salmonella have been associated with cantaloupe,

tomatoes, and alfalfa sprouts, " says Swerdlow. But

meat, seafood, and poultry are the most likely

culprits in foodborne illness.

 

7. The Environment. " Our eating habits have a

tremendous effect on the planet, " says Jenkins.

 

Eating animals wouldn't harm the environment if it

were done on a much smaller scale, explains Alan

Durning, director of Northwest Environment Watch in

Seattle.

 

" Modern meat production involves intensive use--and

often misuse--of grain, water, energy, and grazing

areas. " For example, says Durning:

 

Water pollution. The manure and sewage from

stockyards, chicken factories, and other feeding

facilities can pollute water supplies.

 

Air pollution. " Thirty million tons of methane--a gas

that contributes to global warming--come from manure

in sewage ponds or heaps. "

 

Soil erosion. Nearly 40 percent of the world's--and

more than 70 percent of U.S.--grain production is fed

to livestock. " For each pound of meat, poultry, eggs,

and milk we produce, farm fields lose about five

pounds of topsoil. "

 

Water depletion. An estimated half of the grain and

hay that's fed to beef cattle is grown on irrigated

land. " It takes about 390 gallons of water to produce

a pound of beef. "

 

Energy use. " It takes almost ten times more energy to

produce and transport livestock than vegetables.

 

Overgrazing. " About ten percent of the arid West has

been turned into a desert by livestock. " But some of

that land couldn't be used for much else. " That's why

my argument isn't for vegetarianism, but for people to

reduce the consumption of animal products. "

 

8. Cost. Sure, you can spend $7.99 a pound on mesclun

(or other gourmet greens). But from squash to sweet

potatoes, most plants are a downright bargain.

And the lower price of plants shows up when you eat

out. On Chinese, Indian, and most other restaurant

menus, the " vegetarian " selections are usually cheaper

than the meat, seafood, and poultry.

 

9. Animal Welfare. It's unpleasant to think about, but

before we slaughter them, the animals we eat are often

raised and transported under inhumane conditions.

 

10. Taste. " My number one reason for eating a

plant-rich diet is that it tastes good, " says Nestle.

" I feel deprived if my meal doesn't have lots of

vegetables in it. "

 

The five vegetables that Americans eat most are french

fries, tomatoes (mostly as sauce or ketchup), onions,

iceberg lettuce, and other potatoes, she says. " That's

not my idea of fruits and vegetables--that's garnish

on burgers. "

 

But if most Americans shrink the meat, seafood, and

poultry on their dinner plates, they--or many of their

favorite restaurants--wouldn't know what to replace

them with.

 

" You have to go to ethnic restaurants to get

interesting plant-based dishes, " says Kushi.

 

It's no coincidence that ethnic restaurants know how

to make vegetable dishes taste good. " Fortunately,

there's a wealth of fidyl experience around the world

because almost all traditional diets are plant-based, "

says Willett.

 

Yet many Italian, Mexican, and other ethnic

restaurants have become so Americanized that their

vegetables have been largely replaced by meat and

cheese.

 

And that's a shame. " In Asian and Mediterranean

cuisines, cooking fruits and vegetables is an art

form, " says Nestle.

 

" The Italians don't put tremendous amounts of meat and

cheese on pizza, for example. I had a thin-crust pizza

at a traditional restaurant the other day with no

cheese--just fresh basil, tomatoes, and garlic. It was

totally wonderful. "