Here’s what’s been happening for the vegan and plant-based advocacies around the world in the first week of October 2022. All features have been sourced from vegnews.com, plantbasednews.org, totallyveganbuzz.com, and vegansociety.com. Visit their sites for the full stories, and to be updated on more news that’ll help bring us to an even better world, and make us connected even more to our environment.
Vegan athletes destroying stereotypes in Mr. America contest
On October 2, plantbasednews.org featured Vegan Strong PlantBuilt, said to be the world’s largest team of plant-based strength athletes, which will compete at the Mr. America contest.
Excerpts from the story:
“This October, the world’s largest team of vegan strength athletes will compete at the world-famous Mr. America in Atlantic City. The competition, which began in 1939, sees athletes take part in a number of sports.
“Traditionally, winners have always been meat-eaters, but the new vegan team from PlantBuilt is hoping to change that. PlantBuilt, which was established in 2015, has entered 28 vegan athletes into the competition. They are set to compete in bodybuilding, Olympic weightlifting, powerlifting, kettlebell sport, and CrossFit.
“Dani Taylor, who co-founded the company with Giacomo Marchese, said that PlantBuilt’s main goal at Mr. America is to dispel the myth that vegans are ‘scrawny and weak.’
‘“We know times are changing rapidly, but this is still a pretty widely held belief,’ she says. ‘At the Mr. America competition, we hope to change even more minds about what is possible on a vegan diet.’” (Polly Foreman, plantbasednews.org)
Read the full story here: https://plantbasednews.org/lifestyle/health-and-fitness/vegan-athletes-plant-built-mr-america/
Photo credit: Cottonbro
Health benefits of coffee listed
On October 2, vegnews.com featured the coffee beverage, and how, according to science, that daily cup of Joe is packed with health benefits.
Excerpts from the story:
“When most people think of healthy drinks, they probably picture spinach-green cold-pressed juices and ginger shots—not coffee. Coffee is linked to some surprising boons beyond giving you energy, including protecting against heart disease and lowering your risk of type-2 diabetes.
‘“Although the more well-researched compound in coffee is caffeine, coffee has other beneficial bioactive compounds, like polyphenols, diterpenes, and trigonelline, that have antioxidant properties,’ Eva De Angelis, RD and health and nutrition writer at Health Canal, tells VegNews.
“Everything good has a bad side and coffee is no different. Generally, you want to limit yourself to 400 mg of caffeine a day, which equates to about four 8-ounce cups of coffee.
“Here are seven reasons to stick to your cup-a-day: It gives you energy; it might protect against heart disease; it increases longevity; it’s linked to a lower risk of type-2 diabetes; it may lower the risk of depression; lower risk of liver disease; it could protect brain health.” (Kat Smith, vegnews.com)
Read the full story here: https://vegnews.com/2022/10/the-unlikely-health-benefits-of-coffee
Photo credit: Andrew Neel
New study shows plant-based diet best protection vs digestive cancers
On October 3, vegnews.com reported that a meta-analysis published in the medical journal Frontiers of Public Health found that a plant-based diet can protect against a number of cancers affecting the digestive system.
Excerpts from the story:
“According to the study authors, common digestive system cancers such as liver, esophageal, gastric, and colorectal tumors are among the 10 most significant healthcare issues worldwide. Researchers at the Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine searched five English databases—including PubMed, Medline, Embase, Web of Science databases, and Scopus—for studies linking diets to cancers of the digestive system. The studies that the researchers analyzed included a total of 3,059,009 subjects which, according to the researchers, provided the power to detect a statistically significant relationship between plant-based diets and digestive cancers.
“The results of the studies were meta-analyzed for effect sizes and confidence intervals, and the conclusions suggested that a plant-based diet pattern played a protective factor for the risk of digestive system cancer in the cohort studies and case-control studies.
“Plant-based diets were statistically significant for pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer, colon cancer, rectal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, and esophageal cancer in the cohort studies, and equivalent connections were found in case-control studies for pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, pharyngolaryngeal cancer, and liver cancer.
‘“In summary, it is important to understand and reveal eating habits that make our lives healthier and the important role these habits play in the management and prevention of oncological diseases,’ the study notes. ‘Our study proposes that a plant-based diet is promising to prevent the development of cancer.’” (Nicole Axworthy, vegnews.com)
Read the full story here: https://vegnews.com/2022/10/digestive-cancers-study-plant-based-diet
Photo credit Sora Shimazaki
Jackfruit among the best meat substitutes
On October 4, totallyveganbuzz.com featured the jackfruit, which has become increasingly popular as an affordable and accessible meat replacement in many recipes.
Excerpts from the story:
“This tropical fruit is recognized by its spiky green or yellow outer shell and unusually large size. It’s part of the same family as figs, mulberries and breadfruit but its flesh has a shredded meaty texture, which makes it a go-to meat substitute in numerous dishes. Moreover, its flavor is neutral, and it takes on all kinds of seasonings.
“The fruit also has more protein than most fruits, at 2.8 grams per cup, and is a good source of vitamin C as well as vitamin B6, niacin, potassium, riboflavin, and folic acid. Its nutritional profile also includes phytochemicals, lignans, flavonoids and trace minerals, which allows the fruit to lend medicinal value in various conditions such as some forms of cancers, arthritis, inflammation and more.
“Generally, freshly picked, non-ripe jackfruit is used as plant-meat since it has a very mild, unremarkable flavor. It is considered the perfect replacement for pulled pork, where you can marinate the unripe jackfruit for about an hour in smoked paprika, cumin, brown sugar and a good amount of barbecue sauce. Once ripe, jackfruit becomes too sweet to use in savory dishes and is mainly used as an ingredient in vegan desserts, or as a dried fruit snack.
“The popularity of jackfruit has soared in the past few years. Part of the reason is that it is so versatile that you can easily use it in tacos, burritos, curries, stews, and sauces, to name a few. Moreover, according to Danielle Nierenberg, president of Food Tank: ‘(Jackfruit) is easy to grow. It survives pests and diseases and high temperatures. It is drought-resistant. It achieves what farmers need in food production when facing a lot of challenges under climate change.’” (Mohsina Dodhiya, totallyveganbuzz.com)
Read the full story here: https://www.totallyveganbuzz.com/food/jackfruit-one-of-the-best-vegan-substitutes-for-meat/
Photo credit Quang Nguyen Vinh
US appoints 1st diplomat for animals and plants
On October 6, plantbasednews.org featured Monica Medina as being the United States’ first-ever special envoy for biodiversity and water resources.
Excerpts from the story:
“Monica Medina—an attorney currently serving as the Department of State’s Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs—is taking on the brand-new role of special envoy for biodiversity and water resources.
“The role, which was announced last week, was created in response to the ongoing climate crisis. It’s in line with President Joe Biden’s desire to protect biodiversity both in the United States and abroad.
‘“There is a direct connection between biodiversity loss and instability in a lot of parts of the world,’ Medina said in a recent interview. ‘It’s not just about nature for nature’s sake. I think it is about people.’
“Medina’s appointment comes amid significant biodiversity loss in the United States. It is thought that North America has lost around 33% of its biodiversity since 1970. In December, the United Nations’ Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) will take place in Montreal, Canada. Its aim is for nations to adopt an international framework for conserving biodiversity. The United States is reportedly hoping that the conference will lead to nations committing to preserving 30% of their land and water.” (Polly Foreman, plantbasednews.org)
Read the full story here: https://plantbasednews.org/news/environment/us-first-diplomat-animals-plants-biodiversity/
Photo credit Alenka Skvarc
New study says animal dissection in classes not necessary anymore
On October 6, vegnews.com showed new research that said teaching models that use non-animal methods are equally, if not more, effective than animal dissection, prompting the question, is it now time to stop killing 10 million animals every year for dissection?
Excerpts from the story:
“Animal dissection first became part of the school curriculum in the 1920s, when access to information about anatomy and physiology was otherwise hard to come by. Fast forward 100 years and children have the collective knowledge of every dissection ever performed at their fingertips. Young adults in college and medical schools—where animal dissection is also used as a teaching model—also have access to a wide variety of non-animal teaching methods (NAMs).
“So, is animal dissection even teaching kids and young adults anything in the classroom? A new cohort study explored this query by conducting a systematic review of 20 studies published between 2005 and 2020 that evaluated the pedagogical value of NAMs versus animal dissection.
“Researchers found that in 95% of the studies, students at all education levels (secondary, postsecondary, and medical school) performed at least as well when they used NAMs compared to animal dissection. In a majority of these studies (14 out of 19, or approximately 74%), when students used NAMs, they performed even better than when animal dissection was the teaching method.
“Available NAMs include interactive software and other digital models, along with new 3D-anatomy models such as the SynFrog. The hyper-realistic frog model—which comes complete with removable and anatomically correct internal organs—was developed by synthetic modelmaker SynDaver in partnership with PETA. This tool was first introduced to students at JW Mitchell High School in Florida in 2019.” (Anna Starostinetskaya, vegnews.com)
Read the full story here: https://vegnews.com/2022/10/animal-dissection-not-necessary-study
Photo credit Ron Lach