Nutrition

Soyfoods for Young Girls Offer Lifelong Protection

My friend Kate recently asked what I thought about the fact that her granddaughter drinks a lot of soymilk. I said I thought it was great!

There are plenty of reasons—mostly from ethical and environmental standpoints—to avoid cow’s milk. Whether there are important health risks associated with dairy consumption is still a question of debate. But there is little to suggest that dairy has any protective benefits that you can’t get elsewhere. Soy, on the other hand, may have some unique and long-lasting benefits for young girls.

Interest in a cancer-protective effect of soyfoods comes, in part, from […]

By Ginny Messina|2008-08-24T10:45:00-04:00August 24th, 2008|Tags: Health, Nutrition, Soy|2 Comments

Raw Or Cooked Foods: Which is the Best Diet for Vegans?

An acquaintance mentioned to me the other day that she first went vegan for ethical reasons and then a raw foods diet just seemed the “next logical step.” I can’t imagine why. To me, there is nothing especially logical or beneficial about eating only raw foods.

True, raw foods are packed with all kinds of things that are good for you—tons of fiber and all of the nutrients and phytochemicals that are found in plants. Although nuts and dried fruits are calorie-dense, a raw foods diet is usually much lower in calories than many other ways of eating […]

By Ginny Messina|2008-01-08T12:02:00-05:00January 8th, 2008|Tags: Nutrition, Raw foods|1 Comment

Be An Effective Vegan Advocate: Take a Calcium Supplement

Some recent research has shown that vegans have lower calcium intakes than omnivores and that they have a higher risk for bone fractures.

That’s bad news for vegans. It’s also bad news for farm animals. Anything that makes a vegan diet look inferior is likely to convince more people to eat animal foods.

So what can you do about that? Some vegans choose denial. They say a vegan diet is better for bone health and they cite old—usually outdated—research to prove it. Many vegans cling to the unproven belief that those who eat plant diets need […]