meat is murder

Just to keep readers up to date on the ongoing issues surrounding breast feeding please see the story below from the BBC which relates to an attempt to make formula milk healthier for (human) babies. Obviously though of course not healthier for the calves for which the milk was originally intended. - see milkmyths

All the mothers in the trial - a new study, called PATCH - will be encouraged to breastfeed, but those who decide to use formula before four months will either be offered the new hypoallergenic milk or a placebo.

Paediatrician Dr Bob Boyle said the international trial hopes to recruit about 1,200 pregnant women in total - 50 of these at St Mary’s.

“Basically the PATCH study is trying to find the next best way to feed infants apart from breastfeeding and how to control allergies,” he said.

“We know that a significant proportion of women do introduce formula within the first few months of life in this part of the world and we believe this increases the risk of allergic symptoms, compared to exclusive breastfeeding.

“So we are trying to find a formula that will reduce the negative impact of introducing formula early.

“We are not suggesting that this formula might be better than breast milk and we are making that quite clear in the study.”

Dr Boyle said eczema often does not develop until the second year of life - but about 70% of cases become apparent by the time a child is 18 months old.

For that reason, the study will follow up the children taking part in the study regularly until they reach 18 months.

However, the team believe it is the first few months of feeding that are likely to be crucial.

The new formula contains prebiotics, natural compounds found in breast milk that encourage healthy bacteria to develop in the gut and help prevent allergies.

It also contains pre-digested proteins, rather than whole proteins, which are broken down into smaller pieces, making them easier to digest.

John Collard, clinical director of Allergy UK, welcomed the research.

“It is well established that exclusive breastfeeding for four to six months reduces the risk of allergy and this should be the aim,” he said.

“However, not every mum is able to breastfeed and using normal formula feeds can increase the chances of allergy developing in children from allergic families.

“We welcome any research into formula milks which could be used to follow on from breastfeeding, or in place of it, and which could reduce the risk of allergy in these children.”

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news.bbc.co.uk
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A new study shows risks to humans of lead poisoning from eating animals shot with lead bullets. The meatismurder admin team also believe that being shot with lead bullets isn’t too good for the individuals being shot either.

People who eat animals killed with lead bullets need to be concerned about lead poisoning, according to a conservation organization working to convince game hunters to switch to copper ammunition.class=”storydetail”>

Opponents, however, argue that the group’s agenda — to get the lead out of commercial ammo — rather than hard science, is the driving force behind the results of a recent study. Participating scientists say it provides proof that lead-based ammunition poses health risks not only for animals, but for people.

The Peregrine Fund, a Boise, Idaho-based conservation group that works to protect birds of prey, conducted the study in concert with scientists from Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, in which researchers examined professionally processed meat from hunter-killed deer in Wyoming.

Eighty percent of the deer killed by high-velocity lead-based ammunition produced at least some meat with metal fragments or metal “dust” in it, and 92 percent of the metal found was lead, according to the leaders of the project who presented their findings Tuesday at a conference in Boise. Separately, the North Dakota Health Department and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are planning to test nearly 700 people who eat wild game killed with lead bullets, to determine if there are any health risks.

The suggestion that lead bullets could make venison unsafe for humans has prompted outrage from pro-hunting groups such as Safari Club International of Somerset, N.J., and the Connecticut-based National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearms industry group, after North Dakota and Minnesota in March and April instructed food banks there to pull hunter-donated venison from their shelves.

“This is one more piece of evidence that points to lead bullets as a source of contamination in our environment,” Rick Watson, vice president of the Peregrine Fund, said in a statement ahead of a presentation of the study.

The study released Tuesday comes after a Peregrine Fund board member, Dr. William Cornatzer, previously did CT scans of about 100 packets of venison that had been donated to food banks by hunters. He found 60 percent had multiple lead fragments.

Lawrence Keane, a National Shooting Sports Foundation spokesman, said he hasn’t seen the latest study. But he said initial evidence supplied by Cornatzer, a dermatologist and professor at the University of North Dakota medical school, didn’t justify a policy change or destruction of venison. Groups, including Safari Club, gave nearly 1 million pounds of venison in 2007 to food banks as part of their humanitarian efforts.

“The Peregrine Fund is an advocacy group and has an agenda,” Keane said. “We have serious questions with the so-called science by the dermatologist. It’s my understanding there’s not a single reported case that the CDC is aware of, of anyone having elevated blood lead levels from eating game harvested with lead ammunition.”

Lead poisoning has been linked to learning disabilities, behavioral problems and, at very high levels, seizures, coma and death. There is no safe level of lead in blood.

Remainder of story at Jackson Hole Star Tribune

Another occassion where we learn that those in the meat industry are perhaps not always entirely trustworthy. Who would have thought that those involved in murder for a living can sometimes be moved to other slips of moral fibre.

WASHINGTON — The president of a slaughterhouse at the heart of the largest meat recall denied under oath on Wednesday, but then grudgingly admitted, that his company had apparently introduced sick cows into the hamburger supply.

He then tried to minimize the significance.

The executive, Steve Mendell of the Westland/Hallmark Meat Company of Chino, Calif., said, “I was shocked. I was horrified. I was sickened,” by video that showed employees kicking or using electric prods on “downer” cattle that were too sick to walk, jabbing one in the eye with a baton and using forklifts to push animals around.

The video was taken by an undercover investigator from the Humane Society of the United States. One tape showed a worker using a garden hose to try to squirt water up the nose of a downed cow, a technique that Representative Bart Stupak, a Michigan Democrat who conducted the hearing where Mr. Mendell testified, referred to as waterboarding.

Testifying before the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Mr. Mendell, who appeared only after being subpoenaed, assured lawmakers that despite his lack of knowledge about conditions at the plant, sick animals were not slaughtered for food, so no safety issue existed.

But Mr. Mendell retracted the statement when shown a second video in which a “downer” cow was shocked and abused by workers trying to move it to the “kill box,” then finally shot with a bolt gun and dragged by a chain to the processing area.

When Mr. Mendell told the committee he was unaware of the abuses, Mr. Stupak asked him, “What’s your curiosity, as president and C.E.O. of the company you’re responsible for?”

Mr. Mendell replied that after he had seen the first video, he concluded that “it was a regulatory violation, for sure, it was inhumane treatment, for sure,” but that he did not believe it was a food safety issue until he saw the second video on Wednesday.

Mr. Stupak asked if one could conclude from the video that the cow dragged into the killing area had gone into the food supply.

“That would be logical, sir,” Mr. Mendell replied.

Article continues at nytimes.com

The BBC reports how a vegan diet can help reduce LDL (bad cholesterol) and lowerBody Mass Index. The article as an aside also shows how vegans can readily get enough proteins and calcium. So in summary, we again see how a vegan diet is healthy for the human body and another reason to not put an animal through the horror of the slaughterhouse.

Rheumatoid arthritis patients may be able to reduce their high risk of heart attacks and strokes with a gluten-free, vegan diet, a study suggests. Heart attacks and strokes are among the leading causes of death for sufferers, as the inflammation caused by the disease impacts upon the arteries. But an Arthritis Research and Therapy study found those who pursued a vegan regime had less “bad” cholesterol. By clogging arteries, this is seen as a key risk factor for heart problems. Rheumatoid Arthritis affects around 350,000 people in the UK. Millet and sesame But researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm say this risk could be reduced through a diet which excludes animal products and gluten - found in wheat, oats, rye and barley.

A vegan diet may be helpful in reducing cholesterol, but it is difficult to get enough of some important nutrients on a vegan diet Arthritis Research Campaign They placed 38 volunteers on the diet, in which protein accounted for 10% of daily energy intake, carbohydrate 60% and fat for 30%. It included nuts, sunflower seeds, fruit and vegetables, millet and corn. Sesame milk provided a daily source of calcium. A further 28 volunteers followed a healthy diet with approximately the same proportions of protein, carbohydrate and fat. Saturated fats were not to make up more than 10% of daily energy intake, and wholegrain products were to be chosen as often as possible. Those on the vegan diet showed a decrease in the total level of cholesterol and specifically a reduction in the amount of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), also known as “bad cholesterol”. In contrast, those on the non-vegan diet showed no significant variations in these levels. The researchers pointed to a “large body of evidence” suggesting that these changes were beneficial when it comes to preventing blockage of the arteries and cardiovascular disease. The vegan volunteers also had a lower Body Mass Index (BMI) at the end of the 12 month period, while the control group remained the same.

Remainder of article at the BBC

The UK government has started to look into the possibility of health warning labels on foods high in saturated fats - like dairy. These ar fat laden foods intended to help a calf quickly develop quickly into a cow, it is not a surprise that they are not healthy for humans, who typically are smaller than cows.

Dairy products like cheese and butter could carry government health warnings in a bid to combat rising obesity and heart disease.

The labels - similar to those on cigarette packs - would urge shoppers to eat products with high levels of saturated fats only in moderation, said the Government’s food watchdog, the Food Standards Agency. It hopes the “shock tactic” will persuade people to cut down on the fats which clog the arteries and can cause heart disease. A spokesman said the plans were at an early stage and would be the subject of further research.

The campaign is expected to include the claim that two slices of buttered toast contain more saturated fat than four doughnuts, and that one cheese sandwich contains more than half an individual’s recommended daily amount.

From the Sunday Mirror

Blood sugar and so diabetes is better controlled by a vegan diet. Again we see the benefits of not eating fatty rotten corpses.

CHENNAI: The National Youth Week in memory of Swami Vivekananda that concluded on Saturday was probably an apt event to take a fresh look at diabetes considering the huge impact the disease has in India, not even sparing the youth.

Swami Vivekananda also had diabetes, though he did not die of complications that result from uncontrolled blood sugar. During the week the city played host to a programme where a nutrition researcher suggested that a vegan diet was the best option to control blood sugar levels. In another event, medical students provided tips to check cravings. The United States-based nutrition researcher Neal Bernard told students about his study, involving 99 people with Type 2 diabetes and conducted with the support of the United States National Institutes of Health.

It found that blood sugar was three times more effectively controlled in people who were on a low-fat vegan diet (excluding even milk products such as yogurt and cheese).

Such people had reduced body weight, cholesterol and blood pressure. Based on the results, he prescribed a diet that does not limit calorie or carbohydrate intake but suggests inclusion of a lot of pulses, vegetables, fruits, whole grain and a source of vitamin B12. Plant-based diets reduce blood sugar, cut cholesterol and lower body weight besides reducing the need for medication. According to Dr. Bernard, if Americans learned to eat dal (pulses), rice and palak (greens), they would be slimmer and healthier. Even while travelling it is not difficult to adhere to one’s prescribed diet, he pointed out. His suggestion included requesting non-dairy vegetarian meals on flight, and ordering foods such as oatmeal, pasta with tomato sauce, potatoes and vegetable dishes even if they are not listed in a hotel’s menu.

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