SoulVeggie

Review of "Whole" (Campbell) & FREE Giveaway of Same

Books that significantly change your life don't come around all that too often.  A handful of the ones that come to mind for me are "The Mad Cowboy," by Howard Lyman, "Diet for a Small Planet," (Francis Moore Lappe), "Diet for a New America," (John Robbins) "Vegan Planet," (Robin Robertson), "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease," (Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn), and "The China Study" (Dr. T. Colin Campbell). 

I was most intrigued when receiving a copy of "Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition" by Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Howard Jacobson.  I mean, can they possibly top "China Study" in impact, new nutritional realities, dietary insight, and health perspectives?

I read the book twice, in part in preparation for my interview the co-author (yet to be transcribed and published due to technical problems), and primarily as it's a stunning read.  Comparing "China Study" to "Whole" would be folly.  They are two entirely different masterpieces.  The 1st, a very detailed technical scientific report, if you will, from the Director of history's largest study on diet.  It's how, why, and what it means.  The indisputable (in my mind at least) conclusion that animal casein facilitates and enables cancer and heart disease (among other health problems), is mind-blowing. 

"Whole" however, is more philosophical in tone, a more accessible read (thanks to the co-author), and in many ways, a summation of what Dr. Campbell has learned from the experiences of the China Study, his entire career, the media tour, the medical industrial establishment, and is a finely tuned critique of the problems that keep people from embracing the demonstrable restorative and preventative value of a whole foods plant-based diet (WFPB).  It chronicles this stellar scientist's journey from the highest government and academic levels of health-related research, his early "daze" of reductionism, to now embracing a "wholistic" view of nutrition and what that means for society.  

Dr. Campbell's paradigm isn't new:  mystics, philosophers, new age practitioners, and quantum physicists, as but a few examples, have all embraced the concepts of everything being interconnected and synergistic in processes where the "whole" is greater than the sum of the parts.

What IS new, however, is Dr. Campbell's superbly trained mind and powerful insight carefully, and with a surgeon's precision, dissecting all the mistaken perspectives/values/money spent in research, corporations, the health care industry, government, and mass media, until the conclusion he presents is inescapable.  He points out tirelessly, how the collective reductionist paradigm is not solving our health problems, but in fact, make things worse.

One of the most stunning revelations in this book is the (soon to be infamous) study by a colleague of his on the amount of Vitamin C in a single apple.

"...the specific chemical we refer to as vitamin C accounts for much less than 1 percent of the vitamin C-like activity in the apple --- a minuscule amount.  The other 99-plus percent of this activity ["an astounding 236 times as potent as the same amount of the isolated chemical!"] is due to other vitamin C-like chemicals in the apple, the possible ability of vitamin C to be much more effective in context of the whole apple than it is when consumed in an isolated form, or both."  (p. 153)

With 4.5 billion years of evolution, our bodies have developed the means to extract exactly what it needs from plants,in both quality and quantity, and synergistically build on that input to nutrients and vitality superior to the original input.  An absolutely fascinating discovery and it has a wide range of implications in regards to nutrition and human diet/health.  

WFPB: the summarized prudent dietary strategy, as exemplified in Dr. Campbell's summation (see below) is to, in my words, consume as diverse and many multi-colored vegetable, fruit and plant-based foods as you can, and let your body figure out what to use, and dispose of.

Dr. Campbell's marvelously succinct description of what his and other's research is that the best diet you can effect follows:

"Consume plant-based foods in forms as close to their natural state as possible ("whole" foods).  Eat a variety of vegetables, fruits, raw nuts and seeds, beans and legumes, and whole grains.  Avoid heavily processed foods and animal products.  Stay away from added salt, oil, and sugar.  Aim to get 80 percent of your calories from carbohydrates, 10 percent from fat, and 10 percent from protein."  (p. 07)

Everyone should memorize the above words, as they are subtle in text, but profound in terms of your health. 

Furthermore, Dr. Campbell, as does Dr. Neal Barnard in "Power Foods for the Brain," comes down hard on the issue of supplements.  Not how the body works.  They are ill-considered, make no sense from a wholistic paradigm's perspective, and can easily cause more harm than good.  Ironic that a few weeks ago the Feds came out with a major study saying that supplements have no serious benefit (other than B12, maybe Vitamin D on occasion).  It's a reductionist view that we can add "X" to get "Y." 

I could go on for "pages and pages" about this superb effort. The old story of blind men studying an elephant was so incredibly apt for what he wanted to explain.  Modern scientific research (and funding) is akin to these individuals attempting to comprehend what an elephant is by, for example, studying the ears, or just the trunk.  Marvelous way to explain what's going on and why this approach is conceptually myopic. 

"I can't think of a better metaphor to highlight the big problem with scientific research today.  Except that instead of six blind men, modern science tasks 60,000 researchers to examine the elephant, each through a different lens... [the] researchers don't talk to one another or acknowledge that the overall goal of the exploration is to perceive and appreciate the whole elephant."  (p. 851, 853) 

Suffice it to say, it you want to understand WHY we are in the health mess we're in, the implications, the waste of time and money focusing on genetics, and the incredible curative and preventative value of a WFPB diet, this book is mandatory reading.  This book is a magnum opus: the culmination of over 50 years of the highest level of scientific research (both government and academia) and the brilliance of a man who's internal integrity forced him to question his previous assumptions and follow the truth as it unfolded.  People, he's published over 350 mostly peer-reviewed studies.

He has the cojone to lay out his life's efforts and show how he was wrong, and what he's come to understand from the realities in his subsequent research and deliberate integration into what it all truly means.  A totally thoughtful, intelligent, and unassailable analysis of the "disease-caring" industry and why it must change.  He is, indeed, "re-thinking" nutrition with the scientific caliber of few alive today.  His perspectives demand attention.

I'm just so impressed.  It's a wonderful read, and I recommend it highly for anyone who wants a "whole" view of the problems of health in our society, and particularly, for any health professional who REALLY wants to help people help themselves, as well as the individual who wants to foster good health, knowing that a WFPB diet will get them there. 

And yes, this book has had a major impact on how I view the world, health, diet, and society.  Somehow, for me, he's done it twice with his first two books, and I dearly hope there's more to come.  IMHO, there needs to be two statues in front of the National Institute of Health: one of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn (whom Dr. Campbell notes did one of the most incredible research studies ever accomplished, reversing heart disease), and Dr. Campbell himself.

These are two scientists that should be put out in front of the building to inspire future researchers and remind us (and everyone entering and exiting that prestigious institution), that true revolutions in thinking and saving human lives are not always loud or corporate-funded, but they can be quietly persistent, and "whole."  The work of both of these individuals has the potential of saving, literally, millions of lives from long-term degenerative diseases that need not exist.

With "Whole," Dr. Campbell provides a deeply penetrating, experienced, and encompassing "thought umbrella" to understand how to avoid the mis-information raining down on use from media, government, corporate, and academic sources, and instead, shine with the time-tested knowledge of how a whole foods plant-based diet can cure, prevent, and promote a truly healthy life.  I cannot recommend this book any more highly than I just have (especiall to all medical students or anyone involved with health and nutrition).  With regards to Dr. Campbell's two books, IMHO, lightning has, indeed, struck twice.

"• What you eat every day is a far more determinant of your health than your DNA or most of the nasty chemicals lurking in your environment

• The foods you consume can heal you faster and more profoundly than the most expensive prescription drugs, and more dramatically than the most extreme surgical interventions, with only positive side effects.

• It's never too late to start eating well."  (p06) 

My sincere thanks to BenBella (publishers of "Whole" and many other fine books) for sending me a copy for review, as well as offering to sponsor the giveaway of a FREE copy of "Whole" for the lucky winner.

RULES:  leave a comment on this blog (w/ e-mail address) telling us the most important event, book, person, whatever, that enabled your epiphany to give up animal protein and embrace a plant-based diet.  Doesn't have to be long, spelling won't count!  Deadline for entries is Tuesday, February 11th, 11:59pm est.  The winner will be selected at random.  I'll send the winner an e-mail requesting a physical mailing address on the 12th.

Go for it!

[Extra Credit:  check out Dr. Don Wagner's excellent interview with Dr. Campbell about "Whole" from last month.  Available (free) as a streaming/downloadable audio here.]

AND WE HAVE A WINNER!  Here's what she wrote to earn her free hardback copy.

"Hello, my name is Monica Cameli and I am 56 years old and when I was 7 years old, my mother remarried and we went to visit my new step dads brother on a farm. My sister and I went with our new cousins who were the same age as us to the 'slaughter house'. I had no idea what we were walking in to. Every time I tell this story, I can see it, smell it, and hear the animals crying for their lives! That experience is what started me on my vegan journey. It's taken many years to figure out how to eat right, though. Thankfully, I've heard Dr. Esselstyn speak twice and have read many good books within the last few years to help me along in this journey.."

Next week: a review and free giveaway of "The China Study Cookbook!"

"The Devolution of Thanksgiving" - my lecture to Olgethorpe University

"My recent lecture. The History of Thanksgiving, fasting/prayer, corporate excess, the modern turkey, the kitchen as a biohazard laboratory, a no-fat plant-based diet, veganism, metabolic syndrome (heart disease, type II diabetes, alzheimer's disease, etc.), pesticides, gmos, advice for dealing with Thanksgiving, and a host of other related issues.  Roughly a 35 minute talk, and I cut loose a bit in the subsequent 30 minute Q&A.

This slideshow accompanying the audio (the lecture was given via Skype) was a quick'n'dirty assembly of related images to the topics I was discussing.  By no means comprehensive, they seem to augment the whole experience." 

Excerpted Quotes from Dr. Esselstyn on Taste Addiction, Added Oil, & Heart Disease

Been pulling together material to cull through for appendices in my "soon to be announced" cookbook.  The following are selected from Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn's landmark "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease."  Most notable are what he says about taste addiction, oil & free radicals, describing how even a little oil is damaging, and Dr. T. Colin Campbell's observation about oil in one's diet.

Enjoy!  Mark    Twitter: @solveggie

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Pg. 114:  "Collectively, the media; the meat, oil, and dairy industries; most prominent chefs and cookbook authors; and our own government are not presenting accurate advice about the healthiest way to eat."

Pg. 114:  "And it's not just a matter of bad information.  The truth is that we are addicted to fat --- literally.  Receptors in our brains account for our addicition to nicotine, heroin, and cocaine, and similar cravings have been identified for fat and sugars as well."

Pg. 114:  "The way to break the fat habit is to abstain entirely from eating it --- just as those who use heroin, cocaine, and nicotine must give them up once and for all.  We have all seen what happens with many people who go on reduced-fat diets in order to lose weight.  A diet that permits even a modest amount of animal, dairy, and oil fat still feeds the habit.  The craving remains.  And the moment diet is completed --- or, more often, fails --- the dieter too frequently returns to his or her old habits of eating and regains the lost weight."

Pg. 04:  "Here are the facts.  Coronary artery disease is the leading killer of men and women in Western civilization.  In the United States alone, more than half a million people die of it every single year.  Three times that number suffer known heart attacks.  And approximately three million more have "silent" heart attacks, experiencing minimal symptoms and having no idea, until well after the damage is done, that they are in mortal danger.  In the course of a lifetime, one out of every two American men and one out of every three American women will have some form of the disease.

Pg. 38:  "Every mouthful of oils and animal products, including dairy foods, initiates an assault on these [cell] membranes and, therefore, on the cells they protect.  These foods produce a cascade of free radicals in our bodies --- especially harmful chemical substances that induce metabolic injuries from which there is only a partial recovery.  Year after year, the effects accumulate.  And eventually, the cumulative cell injury is great enough to become obvious, to express itself as what physicians define as disease.  Plants and grains do not induce the deadly cascade of free radicals.  Even better, in fact, they carry an antidote.  Unlike oils and animal products, they contain antioxidants, which help to neutralize the free radicals and also, recent research suggests, may provide considerable protection against cancers."

Pg. 84:  "...[oils] are not heart healthy.  Between 14 and 17 percent of olive oil is saturated, artery-clogging fat --- every bit as aggressive in promoting heart disease as the saturated fat in roast beef.  And even though a Mediterranean-style diet that allows such oils may slow the rate of progression of coronary heart disease, when compared with diets even higher in saturated fat, it does not arrest the disease and reverse its effects."

Pg, 84 - 85:  "...Colin Campbell, author of the best-selling China Study, was asked his thought on the results of the Lyon Diet Heart Study [Med Diet], and to compare those results with those he found in studying health and nutrition in rural China, where coronary disease is practically nonexistent.  Colin didn't hesitate for a moment.  The Mediterranean and rural Chinese diets are practically the same, he replied.  "I would say the absence of oil in the rural Chinese diet is the reason for their superior success."

Pg. 04:  "The cost of this epidemic is enormous --- greater, by far, than that of any other disease.  The United States spends more than $250 billion a year on heart disease.  That's about the same amount the nation spent on the first two and half years of its military venture in Iraq, and fully twice as much as the federal government allocates for all research and development --- including R&D for defense and national security."

Pg. 04:  "But here is the truly shocking statistic:  nearly all that money is devoted to treating symptoms.  It pays for cardiac drugs, for clot-dissolving medications, and for costly mechanical techniques that bypass clogged arteries or widen them with balloons, tiny rotating knives, lasers, and stents.  All of these approaches carry significant risk of serious complications, including death.

Pg. 04 - 05:  I believe that coronary artery disease is preventable, and that even after it is underway, its progress can be stopped, its insidious effects reversed.  I believe, and my work over the past twenty years has demonstrated, that all this can be accomplished without expensive mechanical intervention and with minimal use of drugs.  The key lies in nutrition --- specifically, in abandoning the toxic American diet and maintaining cholesterol levels well below those historically recommended by health policy experts.

Pg. 05:  "The bottom line of the nutritional program I recommend is that it contains not a single item of any food known to cause or promote the development of vascular disease.  I often ask patients to compare their coronary artery disease to a house fire.  Your house is on fire because eating the wrong foods has given you heart disease.  You are spraying gasoline on the fire by continuing to eat the very same foods that caused the disease in the first place."

Pg. 05:  "I don't want my patients to pour a single thimbleful of gasoline [oil, meat, dairy] on the fire.  Stopping the gasoline puts out [and prevents] the fire.  Reforming the way you eat will end [and prevent] the heart disease."

Pg. 10:  "Cholesterol is a white, waxy substance that is not found in plants --- only in animals.  It is an essential component of the membrane that coats all our cells, and it is the basic ingredient of sex hormones.  Our bodies need cholesterol, and they manufacture it on their own.  We do not need to eat it.  But we do, when we consume meat, poultry, fish, and other animal-based foods, such as dairy products and eggs.  In doing so, we take on excess amounts of the substance.  What's more, eating fat [even as added oil] causes the body itself to manufacture excessive amounts of cholesterol, which explains why vegetetarians who eat oil, butter, cheese, milk, ice cream, glazed doughnuts, and French pastry develop coronary disease despite their avoidance of meat."

Pg. 11:  "The cornonary arteries are the blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrients to the muscle of the heart.  They get their name from the Latin word for "crown" because they encircle the heart almost like a royal headpiece.  They are relatively small, but exceedingly important: without the nourishment they bring to the incredibly efficient pump they serve, the heart becomes injured, begins to fail, and may die."

Pg. 11:  "The innermost lining of all blood and lymph vessels and the heart is called the endothelium.  Far more thana simple membrane, the endothelium is actually the body's single largest endocrine organ.  If all the endothelial cells in your body were laid out flat, one cell thick, they would cover an area equal to two tennis courts."

Pg. 11:  "Healthy arteries are strong and elastic, their linings smooth and unobstructed, allowing a free flow of blood.  But when the levels of fats in the bloodstream become elevated, everything begins to change.  Gradually, the endothelium, the white blood cells, and the platelets, the blood cells that cause clotting, all become sticky.  Eventually, a white blood cell adheres to and eventually penetrates the endothelium, where it attempts to ingest the rising numbers of LDL cholesterol molecules that are being oxidized from the fatty diet.  The white blood cell sends out a call for help to other white blood cells.  More and more of them converge on the site, becoming engorged with bad cholesterol and eventually forming a bubble of fatty pus--- an atheroma, or "plaque," the chief characterisitic of atherosclerosis."

Pg. 11:  "Old plaques contain scar tissue and calcium.  As they enlarge, they severely narrow and sometimes block the arteries...  A significantly narrowed artery cannot give the heart muscle a normal blood supply, and the heart muscle, thus deprived, causes chest pain, or angina.  In some cases, the coronary arteries actually perform their own bypasses, growing extra branches --- called "collaterals" --- that go around the narrowed vessels."

Pg. 11 - 12:  "However, it is not the old, larger plaques that put you most at risk for heart attacks.  The most recent scientific evidence indicates that most heart attacks occur when younger and smaller fatty plaques rupture their outer lining, or cap, and bleed into the coronary artery."

Pg. 12:  "As the plaque is formed, a fibrous cap develops at its roof, which is covered by a single layer of endothelium about as thick as a cobweb.  For a while, thus protected, plaques lie quiety in place, doing less perceptible harm to the artery's owner.  But an insidious process is nonetheless under way.  The white blood cells that raced to the rescue, now engorged with oxidized LDL cholesterol, are called "foam cells," and begin to manufacture chemical substances that erode the cap of the plaque.  The cap weakens to thethickness of a cobweb.  And eventually, the shearing force of blood flowing over the weakened cap may cause it to rupture."

Pg. 12:  "This is catastrophic.  Plaque content or pus now oozes into the flowing bloodstream, and that constitutes a thrombogenic event: nature wants to heal the rupture, and so platelets are activated.  They try mightily to stop the invading garbage by clotting the rupture. Thus begins a lethal cascade.  The clot is self-propagating, and within minutes, theentire artery may become blocked."

Pg. 37:  "We  should be aiming much higher: at arresting coronary artery disease altogether, even reversing its course.  And the key to doing this, as my research demonstrates, is not simply reducing the amount of fat and cholesterol you ingest, but eliminating cholesterol and any fat beyond the natural, healthy amounts found in plants, from your diet.  The key is plant-based nutrition."

New Study: "How Diet [and added fat] Affects Cancer"

"Diet affects cancer both directly and indirectly. Nutrients directly impact the mechanisms by which cancer cells grow and spread. They indirectly help control the cancer by changing the surrounding biochemical conditions that either encourage or discourage the progression of malignant disease. The bottom line is that what you eat can spell the difference between conquering your disease and having it rage out of control.

Here are some examples of findings from recent studies that support the importance of diet in fighting cancer:

    * Diets high in fat and refined carbohydrates make you more likely to become overweight, which in turn increases your risk of tumor recurrences. (8) Obese men are at significantly greater risk of developing more aggressive prostate cancer. (9)

    * Dietary fats can impair the body's anti-cancer defenses by depressing the activity of natural killer (NK) cells, while a low-fat diet markedly increases NK activity. (10,11,12) Natural killer cells play a key role in preventing metastasis.

    * Obese breast cancer patients are two to four times more likely to experience a recurrence than women of normal weight. (13)

For every additional 10 percentage points of calories derived from fat in the diet of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients -- by going from 25 percent to 35 percent of calories from fat -- the risk of recurrence approximately doubles. (14) An increase of 10 percentage points is alarmingly easy: just add four ounces of beef, four ounces of mozzarella cheese (about the size of three nine-volt batteries) [or a HALF CUP OF DAIYA VEGAN CHEESE... same fat grams amount], a cup of ice cream, or four pats of butter [OR EARTH BALANCE... same fat grams amount] to your daily intake and you're there.

You don't need the added fat, oil is not a real food, and the sooner vegans understand that so many faux vegan cheeses and "margarines" are very fatty, and not good for you, the better.

The above excerpts from the well-documented article here.  Go low-fat vegan.  The evidence that this is the healthiest diet keeps mounting.  Learn how to re-calibrate your taste buds and stop with the added non-food oils and faux cheeses.  You had the determination and discipline to give up meat and dairy, now give up the fat.

Eat a Breast to Save a Breast?

The following is excerpts from an article about KFC's "pink" buckets for donation to a breast cancer charity.  Personally, I find this offensive.  It's like "pink soda cans" to fight childhood obesity, or "pink cigarette packs" to combat lung cancer.

Some excerpts from the full article:

"Kentucky Fried Chicken is fighting breast cancer one big pink bucket of chicken at a time.  In the latest incarnation of pink ribbon promotions, the prominent breast cancer advocacy group Susan G. Komen for the Cure has teamed up with KFC in a national "Buckets for the Cure" campaign which will run until May 23... For each pink bucket of chicken purchased, KFC will donate 50 cents to Komen with the ultimate goal of $8 million -- which would be the single largest donation ever received by the organization.

The campaign has already raised $2 million in its first week alone.  While corporate partnerships like the "pink bucket" provide essential non-profit funding for breast cancer advocacy, Komen's current campaign raises the question among some critics: is pink promotion being taken too far?

... KFC has over 5,000 restaurants nationwide, 900 of which are in communities that Komen currently has no presence or outreach in, so when the fast food chain expressed interest in a partnership, Komen took it as an "opportunity to connect and educate," Rader says.  "Mother's day is typically KFC's biggest sales day, so the idea was that this would be a good window for this promotion," Rader  [director of marketing and communications at Susan G. Komen for the Cure] says. "We find that when people see these kinds of promotions, they act on it, whether by going to the website, talking to a neighbor or a doctor, and that's critical to us -- that awareness."

...According to medical experts, there is an established connection between eating fatty, high caloric food and the risk for breast cancer [apparently, the "experts" haven't read history's largest study on diet, "The China Study," where Campbell pretty much implicated all animal protein as cancer enablers]...

... Still, for all the progress and all the research, the number of women dying of breast cancer has not really gone down, she [Rock, who researches the connection between diet and breast cancer at University of California, San Diego] says.  "We're doing something wrong [in our prevention efforts], and one of the things we're doing wrong is how we eat."

I watched my mother develop breast cancer and die on Mother's Day when I was 14 years old.  It was awful, and Komen has sold their soul to KFC for tainted donations, taking those funds from the people who can least afford such, and who, ironically, because of their ignorance, will most likely to pay a helluva cost in heart disease, cancer, and Type II Diabetes as a result of what they eat.  This is blood money, and hypocritical to the max.  The Susan G. Komen for the Cure group should be thoroughly ashamed.

Study: "Vegetables, Fruits, Soy Help Prevent Breast Cancer"

"Consumption of soy, fruits, and vegetables helps reduce the risk of developing breast cancer, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.  Postmenopausal women who consumed plenty of soy, fruits, and vegetables had a 30 percent lower risk of developing breast cancer, compared with those who consumed relatively little of these foods. The research was based on 34,028 women in the Singapore Chinese Health Study. The longer the women had consumed these healthful foods, the less chance they had of developing breast cancer.

Butler LM, Wu AH, Wang R, Koh WP, Yuan JM, Yu MC. A vegetable-fruit-soy dietary pattern protects against breast cancer among postmenopausal Singapore Chinese women. Am J Clin Nutr. Published ahead of print February 24, 2010. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2009.28572."

FROM:  PCRM

Mad Cowboy Newsletter: Msg. from Howard, 2 of "1,000 Recipes"

The latest Mad Cowboy Newsletter is now available.  Here's a direct link to the issue:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mad_Cowboy/message/89  And here's the title, introduction, and table of contents.  Enjoy!  Mark

"TITLE:  12_22_09:  Holiday Msg. from Howard, "1000 Vegan Recipes"

Howdy!  Welcome to the 68th issue of the Mad Cowboy Newsletter.

In this year end issue, there's some special treats for our readers.  Amongst the spread is a special Holiday Message from Howard, Recipes from Robin Robertson's amazing new opus, "1,000 Vegan Recipes," and Dennis Kucinich explaining what he'd do as dictator!

Reading further, you'll learn about the collision of the military-industrial complex with the vegetable-industrial complex, what Author Foer thinks about PETA and Pollan, and PCRM's new online "21-day Vegan Program" for going veg that starts in January 2010.  There's also information about the "dietary estrogens" and illnesses controversy, a study on meditation and heart disease, how plants appear to be socially awareness, new dirt on Monsanto, the best/worst tap water online database, links to 10 essays on vegetarianism by Kaythy Freston, and the top food stories of 2009/the decade.

Also, don't miss our "Vegan Digital Media Theater," where you can watch the amazing Octopus that has scientists scratching their heads, a "Smiling Animal" Slideshow, Rip Esselstyn lecturing at Whole Foods, and 85 minutes of Howard speaking at the Conscious Life Expo in 2006.

... as always, a tip of the hat to our new subscribers:  y'all can browse past issues at the Mad Cowboy Newsletter Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mad_Cowboy/

Wishing everyone a Happy Holidaze and warmer weather!

Mark, MC editor/webmaster

***********************************************
TABLE OF CONTENTS:

00: A Holiday Message from Howard!
01: The Vegan Mind-Bender Contest Winner/Challenge!
02: Recipes from "1,000 Vegan Recipes" by Robin Robertson
03: Mad Cow Info Round-Up
04: 2 Fat 2 Serve, Diet/Estrogens, Heart Meditation, Veg. Act
05: Dennis Dictator? Veg Zeitgeist, Foer on PETA, Vegan Kickstart
06: Vegan Digital Media Theater
07: Social Plants, Save Food Steps, Monsanto Biz, Best/Worst H20
08: Quick Bytes
09: Closing Thoughts"

Latest Mad Cowboy Newsletter - Rip Essy Interview/Recipes

Here's the Intro, Table of Contents, and a Direct Link to the latest Mad Cowboy Newsletter:

LINK:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mad_Cowboy/message/88

"10_19_09:  Engine 2 Interview, Mutant Milk, & SpiderVeg"

Howdy! Welcome to the 67th issue of the Mad Cowboy Newsletter.

In this issue we're proud to present a Mad Cowboy Interview with the amazing vegan firefighter/author, Rip Esselstyn. Rip's the son of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and has built upon his father's remarkable research via some very practical and easy-to-do ways in his diet/exercise/lifestyle book, "The Engine 2 Diet."  There's also three of his recipes for you to try!

Moving on further, there's articles about Mutant Milk, how saturated fat enables Altzheimer's, some surprising statistics on what we eat, Brainfood at the White House, a great new position paper by the ADA on the Vegetarian Diet, and more about that same diet reducing cancer risk.

Continuing in this edition, there's the intriguing proposal for a 50 year Farm Bill, 70 pages of solutions to our agricultural woes, the real cost of food, the new composting mandate in San Francisco, how animal abusers are losing, AETA is winning, new math contrasting a vegan diet with a carnivore's, and the Amazing SpiderVeg!

... as always, a tip of the hat to our new subscribers: y'all can browse past issues at the Mad Cowboy Newsletter Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mad_Cowboy/>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mad_Cowboy/

Here's hoping everyone is warm, and to quote Rip: "plant strong" this Winter!

Mark, MC editor/webmaster

***********************************************
TABLE OF CONTENTS:

00: Quote(s) from Howard
01: A Mad Cowboy Interview with Rip Esselstyn
02: Three Recipes from "The Engine 2 Diet"
03: The Vegan Mind-Bender Contest Winner/Challenge!
04: Mad Cow Info Round-Up
05: Mutant Milk, Fat & Altzheimer's, US Fatter, What We're Eating
06: Brainfood, Veg Diet Reduces Cancer & Chronic Disease Risks
07: The Digital Vegan
08: 50 yr Farm Bill, Ag Solutions, Real Food Cost, Composting SF
09: Animal Abusers Lose, AETA Wins, Veg Math, Spider Veg!
10: Howard's Schedule
11: Quick Bytes
12: Closing Thoughts

Low-Calorie Diet May Extend Life in Primates

"A long-awaited study of aging in rhesus monkeys suggests, with some reservations, that people could in principle fend off the usual diseases of old age and considerably extend their life span by following a special diet.  Known as caloric restriction, the diet has all the normal healthy ingredients but contains 30 percent fewer calories than usual. Mice kept on such a diet from birth have long been known to live up to 40 percent longer than comparison mice fed normally.

Would the same be true in people? More than 20 years ago, two studies of rhesus monkeys were begun to see if primates responded to caloric restriction the same way that rodents did. Since rhesus monkeys live an average of 27 years and a maximum of 40, these are experiments that require patience.

The results from one of the two studies, conducted by a team led by Ricki J. Colman and Richard Weindruch at the University of Wisconsin, were reported on Thursday in Science. The researchers say that now, 20 years after the experiment began, the monkeys are showing many beneficial signs of caloric resistance, including significantly less diabetes, cancer, and heart and brain disease. “These data demonstrate that caloric restriction slows aging in a primate species,” they conclude."

[Full article here and below.  Yet another reason to go low-fat vegan, and also avoid such nutritional absurdities (see last post) as organic 300 calorie high-saturated fat vegan chocolate bars, vegan recipes with cups of coconut milk, cups of oil, with really fatty faux cheeses or fake mayo.  Get with it, people.  Master your addictions to taste and live longer.  You gave up meat, dairy, and eggs... don't stop now... finish the race to real health.]

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Latest Issue of Mad Cowboy Newsletter Now Available

Title:  06_23_09:  Rip's Recipes, Ask a Vegan, & Largest Red Meat Study.

Direct link to online issue.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mad_Cowboy/message/87

Howdy!  Welcome to the 66th issue of the Mad Cowboy Newsletter.

In this issue we're delighted to provide a preview of our upcoming interview with the amazing vegan firefighter/author, Rip Esselstyn, in the form of two of his favorite recipes.  Rip's the son of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and has built upon his father's remarkable research via some very practical and easy-to-do ways in his diet/exercise/lifestyle book, "The Engine 2 Diet."

Moving on further, we'll note a study indicating that fish oil doesn't help your heart via Omega-3, some new finds about the benefits of broccoli, results of the largest study of red meat eaters in history, and more indications that high-fat food inflames your circulatory system.  You'll learn about the "Ask a Vegan" booth in New York, some vegan survival tips, resources for learning about animal rights/issues, and the consequences off going veg for just one day.

Continuing in this edition, we've got some gourmet viewing experiences in our Vegan Digital Theater, some details stats and studies showing that our industry-produced produce is definitely less nutritious than it used to be, some great links about the White House Garden (including remarks by Michelle last week during the first major harvest), and a list of 8 ways to eat locally...  some new resource links have been added to "Quick Bytes" and don't miss some of the articles during the "Mad Cow Info Round-Up."

... as always, a tip of the hat to our new subscribers:  y'all can browse past issues at the Mad Cowboy Newsletter Archives.

Best wishes for this start of a new summer and may your gardens be bountiful, healthy, and inspiring!

Mark, MC editor/webmaster

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

00: Quote(s) from Howard
01: A Mad Cowboy Invite to AR2009
02: The Vegan Mind-Bender Contest Winner/Challenge!
03: Recipes from "The Engine 2 Diet" by Rip Esselstyn
04: Mad Cow Info Round-Up
05: Fish Oil No Help, Brocc Talk, Largest Meat Study, Fat Inflames
06: Ask a Vegan, Vegan Survival Tips, Learning AR, 1 Day Veg
07: Vegan Digital Theater
08: Food Less Healthy, White House Veggies,  8 Ways to go Local
09: Quick Bytes
10: Closing Thoughts