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Pizza Pascalina – the anti-tumor pizza

Posted on July 11, 2018 by Vegetarians of Washington

Cancer researchers and chefs have teamed up in Italy to create a healthy vegan pizza that actually helps protect you from cancer and heart disease. The team is calling this “Pizza Pascalina”, an “anti-tumor” pizza and “the pizza that extends life.” The Pizza Pascalina team was on a mission to prove to people that even pizza can be healthy, when topped with the right ingredients, and when harmful ingredients like animal products are left out.

The plant-based pizza is based on health-promoting ingredients such tomatoes, olives, nuts, rapini, garlic, and extra virgin olive oil. The cheeseless, meatless pie is devoid of all animal products, from the simple wheat-based crust to the vegetable toppings. Much of the cancer-preventing agents lie in the tomatoes. Based on solid research, the scientists believe that these tomatoes can inhibit certain cancers. They also found that meals low in fat and high in fresh produce can reduce the risk of obesity and heart disease.

Let’s hope that the Pizza Pascalina catches on as a popular option at all pizza outlets. Learn more about how a plant-based diet can reduce your risk of cancer.

Preventing Cancer – there’s plenty you can do!

Posted on September 13, 2016 by Vegetarians of Washington

Many people worry about getting cancer, but they don’t realize how much difference their food choices can make in whether they get cancer or not. When it comes to cancer, your diet can make all the difference.

The connection between the food we eat and cancer is anything but new. Scientists have long noticed the association with eating meat and cancer. For instance, Scientific American stated all the way back in January 1892 that “cancer is most frequent among those branches of the human race where carnivorous habits prevail.”

Studies have shown again and again that those following a plant-based diet have a lower risk of several kinds of cancer such as stomach, colon, prostate and pancreatic. Even smokers (and of course smoking is not recommended) can cut their risk of lung cancer by half if they eat a plant-food rich diet. Now, in the 21st century, scientists are discovering many of the ways plant foods help protect us from getting cancer. Read more

Health

WHO says Meat Causes Cancer – they finally admit it!

Posted on November 11, 2015 by Vegetarians of Washington

The World Health Organization (WHO) has finally said what many already knew: red meat causes colon cancer. They say the evidence for processed meat is “strong,” classifying it as “carcinogenic [cancer causing] to humans.” The evidence for ordinary red meat was almost as high. They also found evidence linking meat to other cancers including cancer of the stomach, pancreas and prostate.

This comes as no surprise. Scientists have long noticed the association with eating meat and cancer. For instance, Scientific American stated all the way back in January 1892 that “cancer is most frequent among those branches of the human race where carnivorous habits prevail.”

Processed meat is any meat that has been preserved by smoking, curing, salting or adding chemical preservatives. This puts most of the cold cuts at the supermarket deli counter — such as ham, pastrami, turkey and bologna — into this category, along with bacon, sausage, hot dogs, corned beef, pepperoni, beef jerky as well as canned meat, like Spam.

The WHO report identified several kinds of carcinogens found in meat that are produced either by processing or cooking. In addition to these, many scientists have found that carcinogenic chemicals used in agriculture such as pesticides and herbicides, along with industrial pollutants such PCB’s and dioxin, tend to greatly concentrate in the meat tissues of livestock and make their way onto our dinner plate.

Although this study didn’t focus on other meats such as poultry, it should be noticed that they often have levels even higher than in red meat. For instance chicken has even higher levels of HCAs, the carcinogens produced by cooking meat, than beef does.

As we reported recently, much research has also been done into the relationship between breast cancer and diet, with the conclusion that a plant-based diet helps reduce the risk in several important ways.

While we’re grateful that the relationship between meat and cancer is finally being acknowledged publicly, we hope that it’s not too much longer before they also point out the risks of certain cancers from consuming other animal products too.

Health

FDA Bans Trans Fats – Good News, or is it?

Posted on November 13, 2013 by Vegetarians of Washington

The FDA has just taken a small step for our health by proposing to ban added trans fats in the American food supply, citing its role in increasing cholesterol levels, which leads to the clogged arteries that cause heart disease and most strokes. Trans fats, also termed partially hydrogenated fats and oils, have been used to extend the shelf life of various food products, among other uses.

In fact consumption was already way down. While average consumption of added trans fats was almost 5 grams a day in 2003, it had already dropped down to less than 1 gram in 2012. Estimates are that as many as 20,000 lives may be saved by this move – a good thing.

So what’s the problem? The problem is that many manufacturers are replacing trans fats with artery-clogging, saturated animal fats which are not much better. Saturated animal fats are powerful when it comes to raising cholesterol levels. They also lead to decreasing insulin sensitivity which fuels Type II diabetes. When we consider that heart disease is still the leading cause of death, that stroke is 3rd leading cause, and that diabetes rates are soaring, this latest move by the FDA is really only a baby step in the right direction.

Also, the FDA ban does nothing to address the trans fats naturally occurring in both meat and dairy. Recent studies show these trans fats to be even worse than the artificial trans fats currently added to so many different products. What’s really needed to make a big difference in the health of our nation is a ban or limit on animal fats, which are all high in saturated fat.

Percentage of Saturated Fat in Various Foods

Animal Fats	Saturated Fat as % of Total Fat	Plant Oils	Saturated Fat as % of Total Fat
Butter	68%	Olive oil	13%
Beef fat (tallow)	50%	Corn oil	13%
Pork fat (lard)	33%	Sunflower oil	10%
Chicken fat	30%	Safflower oil	9%
		Canola oil	7%

Animal fats, both saturated and unsaturated, are not only the prime culprits behind heart disease, stroke and diabetes, but they contain highly concentrated levels of pesticides and industrial toxins such as PCB’s and dioxin, which promote several different kinds of cancer. All these diseases kill way more people than just the 20,000 people saved by the latest ban.

It’s time for the FDA to finally step up to the plate and actually ban or limit animal fats, or at least put a warning label on the package. One of the reasons they hesitate to do so, presumably, is because so many people eat them. Yet when cigarette smoking levels were very high, the Surgeon General had the courage to state that smoking causes cancer and to put warning labels on the package. Indeed, the front cover of the current issue of Good Medicine magazine, published by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington DC, states that “Meat is the New Tobacco”.

Health

Cancer on a bun

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Vegetarians of Washington

The Fourth of July is the most popular outdoor cooking holiday of the year, according to the Hearth, Patio, and Barbecue Association. Yet as Americans prepare to celebrate Independence Day, many are not aware that grilling some food items produces cancer-causing compounds called heterocyclic amines (HCAs). HCAs, a family of carcinogenic (cancer-causing) compounds, are produced when meats, including chicken, beef, pork, and fish, are grilled, pan-fried, or broiled.

Meat naturally contains amino acids and a protein called creatine that is found in muscle tissue. When meat is grilled, this combination of amino acids and creatine form HCAs. Creatine is found only in muscle tissue, not in plant-based foods, so vegetarian foods do not produce detectable levels of HCAs when they are grilled. At least 24 studies have now implicated HCAs in breast cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer, and cancer of the larynx, stomach, and prostate gland. In January 2005, the federal government officially added HCAs to its list of known carcinogens. Studies have shown that exposure to PhIP, one type of HCA, at levels as low as 10 to 20 nanograms per day is associated with roughly a doubling of breast cancer risk.

The Five Worst Foods to Grill
Food Item	HCAs: nanograms per 100 grams
Chicken breast, skinless, boneless, grilled, well done	14,000 nanograms/100 grams
Steak, grilled, well done	810 nanograms/100 grams
Pork, barbecued	470 nanograms/100 grams
Salmon, grilled with skin	166 nanograms/100 grams
Hamburger, grilled, well done	130 nanograms/100 grams
Veggieburger, grilled, well done	None
Corn, grilled, well done	None

Another problem comes from meat products that have preservatives, such as the nitrates and nitrites often found in hot dogs and preserved meats. These chemicals react to form nitrosamines after they are eaten. Nitrosamines are highly carcinogenic compounds and have been implicated in several forms of cancer. So skip the dogs and the salami. Add to all this the fact that animals store up and concentrate the carcinogenic chemicals they encounter such as pesticides, herbicides, PCBs and Dioxin in their tissue to levels much higher than in plant foods, and you have many good reasons to avoid meat altogether on July 4^th (and every other day for that matter!)

Avid grillers need not throw away the barbecue: Grilling can provide healthful meals. Reducing exposure to carcinogens is as simple as grilling a veggie burger instead of a hamburger, or a thick portabella mushroom instead of a steak. Cooks can marinade and prepare most of these veggie options just as they would with meats.

Here are five grilling ideas for this year’s Fourth of July barbecue:

Veggie burgers
Vegetarian chicken patties
Vegetable kabobs (sweet onions, pineapple, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, zucchini and button mushrooms—cooks should choose their favorite veggies and use their best-tasting marinade)
Marinated portabella mushrooms (serve on bun as a sandwich or slice and eat as fajitas)
Barbecue tofu or tempeh (place tofu in barbecue sauce and allow to marinate for two to three hours, grill, and serve with baked beans, corn, and a salad)

Enjoy!

Making Health Insurance Reform Work

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Vegetarians of Washington

First Congress voted, and now the Supreme Court has spoken, so, as of this writing, a massive overhaul of the health system seems likely. The questions on many people’s minds at this point are: How are we going to pay for it all? and will there be enough medical staff and facilities to go around? The entire debate about health care is driven by the fact that Americans need so much care. Collectively we are sicker than we have ever been. When you think about it, what we really need the most to make things work is a healthier country. This is where helping the country to move towards a vegetarian diet can make a big difference, perhaps the crucial difference between success and failure.

Health

Beyond Pink Slime

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Vegetarians of Washington

Oh yuk! There’s something called pink slime in hamburgers and we’re feeding it to our kids at school! In response to a large number of grossed out parents and the general public at large, a growing number school districts, restaurants and grocery stores are rapidly removing hamburgers and ground beef which contain pink slime from their offerings. Pink slime is the common term used to describe cuttings and scrapings of meat often taken from the less appetizing parts of the cow and then treated with the harsh chemical ammonium hydroxide to kill the bacteria it usually contains.

While we have no problem with removing pink slime from the burgers, there are much more serious problems with the common hamburger that can’t be so easily fixed, and which harm us much more than just making us hold our noses and saying yuk. Ultimately there is no such thing as safe meat. Meat is loaded with cholesterol and saturated fat, not to mention E. Coli and other pathogens that can cause serious illnesses. Let’s take a look at some of them and ask ourselves why, given the problems they cause, we still have hamburgers on the menus at all.

Health