Diet

My synthesis of what we should eat

• Basically a summary of all that is listed below but in a condensed, succinct version.

Anti-Inflammatory Diet - Dr. Weil

Glycemic Index / Glycemic Load

Food Politics - Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH

• Practical and very informative source on what to eat and why

• Fantastic books

Essay - "What to Eat" by Michael Pollan

• Excellent discussion of what to eat and why - trying to keep it simple

Choosing Foods by Color - Dr. Weil

• Green: A great source of vitamins (including folate, one of the B vitamins) green vegetables also provide minerals and fiber. Some - including spinach, collards, kale and broccoli - contain antioxidants such as lutein and zeaxanthin, carotenoids that can protect aging eyes from developing cataracts and macular degeneration. They may also protect against clogging of the carotid arteries in the neck. Cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale and turnips contain antioxidants and other phytonutrients that reduce cancer risk.
• Oranges/Yellows: Sweet potatoes, carrots, mangoes, apricots and other yellow or orange fruits and vegetables are rich in beta carotene, an antioxidant that boosts the immune system. Orange fruits and vegetables also give you vitamin C and folate, needed to reduce the risk of heart disease and prevent certain birth defects. Yellow fruits and vegetables give you more carotenoids plus vitamin C, and minerals.
• Reds: Tomatoes, watermelon, papaya, and pink grapefruit are among the red pigmented fruits and vegetables that contain lycopene. This powerful antioxidant helps fight heart disease and some types of cancer, particularly prostate cancer.
• Blues/Purples: The blue color in blueberries, purple grapes, red cabbage, beets, and plums come from anthocyanins, phytochemicals that protects against carcinogens and may help prevent heart disease.
• Whites: Garlic, onions and other white-hued vegetables contain allicin, a phytochemical which may help lower cholesterol and blood pressure; other phytochemicals, polyphenols, found in pears and green grapes, may reduce the risk of some types of cancer.  

Try to include a spectrum of color in your daily diet. It's an easy way to make sure you're getting all the fruits and vegetables needed for good health. To learn more about this subject I recommend reading What Color Is Your Diet? by David Heber, M.D., Ph.D., available in paperback from HarperCollins.

Food Pyramid - Government Website 

• What is a "Healthy Diet"?

        The Dietary Guidelines describe a healthy diet as one that

• Emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products;
• Includes lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts; and
• Is low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt (sodium), and added sugars

(Comment: Too wimpy as it is a compromise of a bunch of different special interest groups . - PJC)

Food Pyramids - Walter Willett and Harvard Health

Excessive weight & weight loss diets

Harvard Dietary Recommendations - (Good Generic background - not specific enough - PJC)

• Whole Grain Foods (at most meals). The body needs carbohydrates mainly for energy. The best sources of carbohydrates are whole grains such as oatmeal, whole-wheat bread, and brown rice. They deliver the outer (bran) and inner (germ) layers along with energy-rich starch. The body can't digest whole grains as quickly as it can highly processed carbohydrates such as white flour. This keeps blood sugar and insulin levels from rising, then falling, too quickly. Better control of blood sugar and insulin can keep hunger at bay and may prevent the development of type 2 diabetes.

• Plant Oils. Surprised that the Healthy Eating Pyramid puts some fats near the base, indicating they are okay to eat? Although this recommendation seems to go against conventional wisdom, it's exactly in line with the evidence and with common eating habits. The average American gets one third or more of his or her daily calories from fats, so placing them near the foundation of the pyramid makes sense. Note, though, that it specifically mentions plant oils, not all types of fat. Good sources of healthy unsaturated fats include olive, canola, soy, corn, sunflower, peanut, and other vegetable oils, as well as fatty fish such as salmon. These healthy fats not only improve cholesterol levels (when eaten in place of highly processed carbohydrates) but can also protect the heart from sudden and potentially deadly rhythm problems.(3)

• Vegetables (in abundance) and Fruits (2 to 3 times). A diet rich in fruits and vegetables can decrease the chances of having a heart attack or stroke; protect against a variety of cancers; lower blood pressure; help you avoid the painful intestinal ailment called diverticulitis; guard against cataract and macular degeneration, the major cause of vision loss among people over age 65; and add variety to your diet and wake up your palate.

• Fish, Poultry, and Eggs (0 to 2 times). These are important sources of protein. A wealth of research suggests that eating fish can reduce the risk of heart disease. Chicken and turkey are also good sources of protein and can be low in saturated fat. Eggs, which have long been demonized because they contain fairly high levels of cholesterol, aren't as bad as they're cracked up to be. In fact, an egg is a much better breakfast than a doughnut cooked in an oil rich in trans fats or a bagel made from refined flour.

• Nuts and Legumes (1 to 3 times). Nuts and legumes are excellent sources of protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Legumes include black beans, navy beans, garbanzos, and other beans that are usually sold dried. Many kinds of nuts contain healthy fats, and packages of some varieties (almonds, walnuts, pecans, peanuts, hazelnuts, and pistachios) can now even carry a label saying they're good for your heart.

• Dairy or Calcium Supplement (1 to 2 times). Building bone and keeping it strong takes calcium, vitamin D, exercise, and a whole lot more. Dairy products have traditionally been Americans' main source of calcium. But there are other healthy ways to get calcium than from milk and cheese, which can contain a lot of saturated fat. Three glasses of whole milk, for example, contains as much saturated fat as 13 strips of cooked bacon. If you enjoy dairy foods, try to stick with no-fat or low-fat products. If you don't like dairy products, calcium supplements offer an easy and inexpensive way to get your daily calcium.

• Red Meat and Butter (Use Sparingly): These sit at the top of the Healthy Eating Pyramid because they contain lots of saturated fat. If you eat red meat every day, switching to fish or chicken several times a week can improve cholesterol levels. So can switching from butter to olive oil.

• White Rice, White Bread, Potatoes, White Pasta, Soda, and Sweets (Use Sparingly): Why are these all-American staples at the top, rather than the bottom, of the Healthy Eating Pyramid? They can cause fast and furious increases in blood sugar that can lead to weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic disorders. Whole-grain carbohydrates cause slower, steadier increases in blood sugar that don't overwhelm the body's ability to handle this much needed but potentially dangerous nutrient.

• Multiple Vitamin: A daily multivitamin, multimineral supplement offers a kind of nutritional backup. While it can't in any way replace healthy eating, or make up for unhealthy eating, it can fill in the nutrient holes that may sometimes affect even the most careful eaters. You don't need an expensive name-brand or designer vitamin. A standard, store-brand, RDA-level one is fine. Look for one that meets the requirements of the USP (U.S. Pharmacopeia), an organization that sets standards for drugs and supplements.

• Alcohol (in moderation): Scores of studies suggest that having an alcoholic drink a day lowers the risk of heart disease. Moderation is clearly important, since alcohol has risks as well as benefits. For men, a good balance point is 1 to 2 drinks a day. For women, it's at most one drink a day.

Bob Greene's The Best Life

• Instant Nutrition Boosters
  by Janis Jibrin, RD
  
  Got a minute? Then you've got time to make a major difference in your diet. These easy, quick and painless changes will help slim you down and infuse your diet with more vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytonutrients.
  
  1. Pull out the peanut butter. Replace regular butter with peanut or almond butter. For the same calories, they keep you feeling full longer than butter or margarine. It could be the high protein count—4 g per tablespoon. And their monounsaturated fats are good for the heart.
  
  2. Sub whole for white. It’ll put you closer to the recommended daily 25 – 35g for fighting cancer, heart disease, constipation and obesity. Switch from: a slice of white bread (1g fiber) to whole wheat bread (2 – 3g); a cup of regular pasta, cooked (2g) to whole wheat (6g); an 8-in. flour tortilla (1 – 2g) to an 8-in. whole wheat tortilla (5 g); a cup of regular cous cous, cooked (2g) to a cup of whole wheat cous cous, cooked (7), and an ounce of corn flakes (0g) to an ounce of raisin bran (4g) or Fiber One or All Bran (13 - 15g).
  
  3. Trade saltines for whole rye crackers. You get 8 times the fiber, plus rye’s got lignans, compounds which may help prevent breast and colon cancer. In supermarkets and health food grocery stores look for Ryevita and Wasa brand crackers.
  
  4. Use a smaller plate. You get instant portion control with a smaller cereal bowls, dinner and dessert plates. Plus, you don’t feel deprived ‘cause it looks like so much food.
  
  5. Try broccoli sprouts. Just grab a handful when there’s no time to cook broccoli. They’re crammed with 10 to 100 times more of the vegetable’s cancer-fighting compound, sulforaphane. In Johns Hopkins University research, lab animals on sprout-rich diets cut breast cancer risk in half.
  
  6. Use salsa for more than a dip. Add a cup to your next pot of vegetable or bean soup; or mix some into brown rice or scrambled eggs when they’re just 15 seconds from done. Salsa is rich in tomato’s powerful antioxidant lycopene, and antioxidant linked to protection against heart disease and cancer.
  
  7. Get the flax. It’s the richest plant source of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA)—a type of omega-3 fat. Sprinkle a tablespoon of ground flaxseed on your cereal for 1.8g of this healthful fat, nearly bringing you up to the recommended 2.2g of ALA per day. Or, try flax waffles (sold frozen in health food groceries) and flax-based cold cereals.
  
  8. Make a one-minute lunch. Slice a whole wheat pita into 8 triangles and dip the pita wedges and a half cup baby carrots into 1/2 cup store-bought hummus. For just 400 calories you’ve racked up 14 grams of fiber—more than half the daily requirement for a woman—plus nearly triple your daily vitamin A requirement.
  
  9. Fill time gaps without filling your stomach. If you’re always busy, you might not know what to do with your down time; so you snack. Instead, use the time to relax, stretch, think about an upcoming vacation or any number of things that don't involve food.
  
  10. Switch to sweet potatoes. Despite their sugary flavor and creamy texture, sweet potatoes and yams are actually a little lower in calories than regular potatoes. Even better, a typical 4-ounce, 5-inch long sweet potato covers three times your daily vitamin A needs in the form of cancer and heart-disease-fighting beta carotene, compared to none at all for the pale spuds. You’re also scoring double the vitamin C, and 26 percent more fiber.
  
  11. Drink your vegetables. Don’t have time to wash and chop? Six ounces of vegetable juice counts as one of your three or more daily vegetable servings.
  
  12. Double the vegetable power of your sauce. You’ve covered one vegetable serving in a half cup spaghetti sauce; make it two by throwing in a half cup frozen vegetables.
  
  13. Pick the right pepper. Red’s got 10 times the vitamin A and more than double the vitamin C as green pepper. Just one cup of sliced peppers and you’ve covered your daily requirements for these two nutrients.
  
  14. Take a minute to measure. Just once or twice, and then you don’t have to do it again. But to truly get a handle on portions you’ve got to measure cereal, pasta, rice, nuts, peanut butter, salad dressing, and other foods that are easy to overeat. Place the food in the bowls and plates you typically use; next time, you can simply eyeball the portion.
  
  15. Change your internal script. For instance, replace: “I’m bad because I ate that extra slice of pizza” with “An extra slice of pizza isn’t going to make or break me, it’s how I eat over the long run that counts.” Otherwise you’ll undermine self-confidence, and, ultimately, the ability to stay on a healthy diet track. When negative thoughts about your body or your diet crop up, take a few secs to formulate a quick retort.
  
  16. Tell yourself “More doesn’t taste better.” Give yourself this 5-second reminder before piling it on or going back for seconds and thirds.
  
  17. Keep a feelings log. Jot down what you’re feeling when you crave food or overeat, even it’s just one word. Sometimes people can’t put a name on the feeling; “uncomfortable” is a good start. Identify emotional cues is a good start to conquering emotional eating.
  
  18. Turn coffee into café au lait; espresso into latte. The 300mg of calcium in a cup of skim milk may help offset the bone-thinning effects of coffee. A University of California at San Diego study found that coffee drinkers who drank milk had a lower risk of developing osteoporosis than those who weren’t milk-drinkers.
  
  19. Trade fruit juice for fruit. Fruit juices run 112 – 153 calories per cup (8 oz.) compared to about 60 calories for a piece of fruit. Plus fruit contains fiber--for instance 3 - 4g in a medium orange or apple—while fruit juice has none.
  
  20. Boost iron with vitamin C. Eaten along with a meal or snack, just 25 mg of C—the amount in an orange, tomato or a few red pepper strips—doubles iron absorption from cereal, nuts and other plant-based foods. And 50mg hikes up absorption four to six-fold. New research shows that low, but not yet anemic, iron levels curtail exercise endurance and attention span.

Vegetarian Benefits - Ohio State University

247 lb Vegan - Pro football player

7th day adventists - longest lived people in America (limit smoking, alcohol, animal protein, and do exercise)

• Healthful choices to pay off -  "The California Study"

• Lessons from dietary studies of 7th day adventists

Eliminate Trans fat from your diet - < 1% trans fat in a product may be labelled as zero trans fats.  Look for polyunsaturated fats and oils - these are trans fats

• What is Trans Fat?

  Major Food Sources of Trans Fat for American Adults (Average Daily Trans Fat Intake is 5.8 Grams or 2.6 Percent of Calories) 40% cakes, cookies, crackers, pies, bread, etc. 21% animal products 17% margarine 8% fried potatoes 5% potato chips, corn chips, popcorn 4% household shortening 3% salad dressing 1% breakfast cereal 1% candy Data based on FDA’s economic analysis for the final trans fatty acid labeling rule, "Trans Fatty Acids in Nutrition Labeling, Nutrient Content Claims, and Health Claims" (July 11, 2003)

  Basically, trans fat is made when manufacturers add hydrogen to vegetable oil--a process called hydrogenation. Hydrogenation increases the shelf life and flavor stability of foods containing these fats.

  Trans fat can be found in vegetable shortenings, some margarines, crackers, cookies, snack foods, and other foods made with or fried in partially hydrogenated oils. Unlike other fats, the majority of trans fat is formed when food manufacturers turn liquid oils into solid fats like shortening and hard margarine. A small amount of trans fat is found naturally, primarily in some animal-based foods.

  Trans fat, like saturated fat and dietary cholesterol, raises the LDL cholesterol that increases your risk for CHD. Americans consume on average 4 to 5 times as much saturated fat as trans fat in their diets.

  Although saturated fat is the main dietary culprit that raises LDL, trans fat and dietary cholesterol also contribute significantly

Fat Tips

• Fat Tips

  Here are some practical tips you can use every day to keep your consumption of saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol low while consuming a nutritionally adequate diet.

• Check the Nutrition Facts panel to compare foods because the serving sizes are generally consistent in similar types of foods. Choose foods lower in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol. For saturated fat and cholesterol, keep in mind that 5 percent of the Daily Value (%DV) or less is low and 20 percent or more is high. (There is no %DV for trans fat.)
• Choose alternative fats. Replace saturated and trans fats in your diet with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. These fats do not raise LDL cholesterol levels and have health benefits when eaten in moderation. Sources of monounsaturated fats include olive and canola oils.Sources of polyunsaturated fats include soybean oil, corn oil, sunflower oil and foods like nuts.
• Choose vegetable oils (except coconut and palm kernel oils) and soft margarines (liquid, tub, or spray) more often because the combined amount of saturated fat and trans fat is lower than the amount in solid shortenings, hard margarines, and animal fats, including butter.
• Consider fish. Most fish are lower in saturated fat than meat. Some fish, such as mackerel, sardines, and salmon, contain omega-3 fatty acids, which are being studied to determine if they offer protection against heart disease.
• Choose lean meats, such as poultry without the skin and not fried and lean beef and pork, not fried, with visible fat trimmed.
• Ask before you order when eating out. A good tip to remember is to ask which fats are being used in the preparation of your food when eating or ordering out.
• Limit foods high in cholesterol such as liver and other organ meats, egg yolks, and full-fat dairy products, like whole milk.
• Choose foods low in saturated fat such as fat free or 1% dairy products, lean meats, fish, skinless poultry, whole grain foods, and fruits and vegetables.

World's Healthiest Foods

Eat Organic - Foodnews.org

• Reducing Exposure is Smart

  The more that scientists learn about the toxicity of pesticides, the more questions are raised about the potential toxic effects on people. Pesticide manufacturers often portray these unresolved scientific issues, and the uncertainty that comes with them, as safety.

  Statements like, "There is no conclusive evidence of harm to humans" from exposure to pesticide X are intended to mislead the public into believing that exposures to pesticides and toxic chemicals are without appreciable risks. This is not true. Absence of knowledge is not proof of safety.

• The endocrine (hormone) system is perhaps even more sensitive to toxic exposure than the nervous system, and over the past decade, enormous effort has been put into the study of how pesticides and toxic chemicals interfere with normal endocrine signaling and function. A significant body of research in animals now shows that ultra-low doses of pesticides and toxic chemicals on critical days of development can cause changes in hormone function and effects on organ development and function that often only appear later in life. A growing number of these studies show that low doses at a susceptible moment of development can cause more of an effect than high doses (vom Saal 1997, Alworth 2002, Hayes 2003). This is particularly relevant to childhood and fetal exposures via food and water where the timing of the exposure is at least as important as the dose.

  Many pesticides are now considered "endocrine disrupters", in part because the term is something of a catch phrase for chemicals that cause a variety of changes in normal hormone signaling. Some better known examples of highly toxic endocrine disrupting pesticides are DDT (and its metabolite DDE) which are now known to exhibit much of their toxicity through anti-androgenic (de-masculinizing) properties (ATSDR 2002), vinclozolin, a heavily used fungicide that is also anti-androgenic (EPA 2000), endosulfan, a DDT relative with estrogenic properties that is found more often in food than any other pesticide (EPA 2002, USDA 1994-2004), and atrazine, a weed killer with broad hormonal activity, that contaminates the drinking water of about 20 million people in the United States (EWG 1999, EWG 1995).

  Today scientists know much more about how pesticides can change critical hormone signals in the human body in ways that can have potential life changing effects. Yet in spite of these advances, there is little agreement on how much endocrine disruption is too much, and how much is without harm. The same is true of immune system effects and to a lesser degree effects on the developing nervous system.

• What's the Difference?

  An EWG simulation of thousands of consumers eating high and low pesticide diets shows that people can lower their pesticide exposure by almost 90 percent by avoiding the top twelve most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating the least contaminated instead. Eating the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables will expose a person to about 15 pesticides per day, on average. Eating the 12 least contaminated will expose a person to less than 2 pesticides per day. Less dramatic comparisons will produce less dramatic reductions, but without doubt using the Guide provides people with a way to make choices that lower pesticide exposure in the diet.

• Most Contaminated:
  THE DIRTY DOZEN

  Consistent with two previous EWG investigations, fruits topped the list of the consistently most contaminated fruits and vegetables, with seven of the 12 most contaminated foods. Among the top six were four fruits, with peaches leading the list, then apples, nectarines and strawberries. Cherries, pears, and imported grapes were the other three fruits in the top 12. Among these seven fruits:

• Nectarines had the highest percentage of samples test positive for pesticides (97.3 percent), followed by peaches (96.6 percent) and apples (92.1 percent).
• Peaches had the highest likelihood of multiple pesticides on a single sample — 86.6 percent had two or more pesticide residues — followed by nectarines (85.3 percent) and apples (78.9 percent).
• Sweet bell peppers had the most pesticides detected on a single sample with eleven pesticides on a single sample, followed by peaches and apples, where nine pesticides were found on a single sample.
• Peaches had the most pesticides overall with some combination of up to 42 pesticides found on the samples tested, followed by apples with 37 pesticides strawberries with 35.

Sweet bell peppers, celery, spinach, lettuce, and potatoes are the vegetables most likely to expose consumers to pesticides. Among these five vegetables:

• Celery had the highest of percentage of samples test positive for pesticides (94.1 percent), followed by sweet bell peppers (81.5 percent) and potatoes (81.0 percent).
• Celery also had the highest likelihood of multiple pesticides on a single vegetable (79.8 percent of samples), followed by sweet bell peppers (62.2 percent) and lettuce (33 percent).
• Sweet bell peppers was the vegetable with the most pesticides detected on a single sample (11 found on one sample), followed by celery and lettuce (both with nine).
• Sweet bell peppers were the vegetable with the most pesticides overall with 64, followed by lettuce at 49 and celery with 30.

• Least Contaminated:
  CONSISTENTLY CLEAN

  The vegetables least likely to have pesticides on them are onions, sweet corn, asparagus, sweet peas, cabbage and broccoli.

• Nearly three-quarters of the broccoli (71.9 percent), sweet pea (77.1 percent), and cabbage (82.1 percent) samples had no detectable pesticides. Among the other three vegetables on the least-contaminated list, there were no detectable residues on 90 percent or more of the samples.
• Multiple pesticide residues are extremely rare on any of these least contaminated vegetables. Cabbage had the highest likelihood, with a 4.8 percent chance of more than one pesticide when ready to eat. Onions and corn both had the lowest chance with zero samples containing more than one pesticide when eaten.
• The greatest number of pesticides detected on a single sample of any of these low-pesticide vegetables was three as compared to 11 found on sweet bell peppers, the most contaminated crop with the most residues.
• Broccoli and asparagus both had the most pesticides found on a single vegetable crop at up to 19 pesticides but far fewer than the most contaminated vegetable, sweet bell peppers, on which 64 were found.

The six fruits least likely to have pesticide residues on them are avocados, pineapples, mangoes, kiwi, bananas, and papaya.

• Fewer than 10 percent of pineapple, mango, and avocado samples had detectable pesticides on them and fewer than one percent of samples had more than one pesticide residue.
• Though 59 percent of bananas had detectable pesticides, multiple residues are rare with only 2 percent of samples containing more than one residue. Kiwi and papaya had residues on 15.3 percent and 23.5 percent of samples, respectively, and just 3.4 percent and 5.0 percent of samples, respectively, had multiple pesticide residues.

Environmental Working Group

• The Full List: 43 Fruits & Veggies

  RANK	FRUIT OR VEGGIE	SCORE
  1 (worst)	Peaches	100 (highest pesticide load)
  2	Apples	89
  3	Sweet Bell Peppers	86
  4	Celery	85
  5	Nectarines	84
  6	Strawberries	82
  7	Cherries	75
  8	Pears	65
  9	Grapes - Imported	65
  10	Spinach	60
  11	Lettuce	59
  12	Potatoes	58
  13	Carrots	57
  14	Green Beans	53
  15	Hot Peppers	53
  16	Cucumbers	52
  17	Raspberries	47
  18	Plums	45
  19	Grapes - Domestic	43
  20	Oranges	42
  21	Grapefruit	40
  22	Tangerine	38
  23	Mushrooms	37
  24	Cantaloupe	34
  25	Honeydew Melon	31
  26	Tomatoes	30
  27	Sweet Potatoes	30
  28	Watermelon	28
  29	Winter Squash	27
  30	Cauliflower	27
  31	Blueberries	24
  32	Papaya	21
  33	Broccoli	18
  34	Cabbage	17
  35	Bananas	16
  36	Kiwi	14
  37	Sweet peas - frozen	11
  38	Asparagus	11
  39	Mango	9
  40	Pineapples	7
  41	Sweet Corn - frozen	2
  42	Avocado	1
  43 (best)	Onions	1 (lowest pesticide load)

  Note: We ranked a total of 43 different fruits and vegetables but grapes are listed twice because we looked at both domestic and imported samples.

• Will Washing and Peeling Help?

  Nearly all of the data used to create these lists already considers how people typically wash and prepare produce (for example, apples are washed before testing, bananas are peeled). While washing and rinsing fresh produce may reduce levels of some pesticides, it does not eliminate them. Peeling also reduces exposures, but valuable nutrients often go down the drain with the peel. The best option is to eat a varied diet, wash all produce, and choose organic when possible to reduce exposure to potentially harmful chemicals.

Environmental and Dietary Carcinogens and Toxins

• Lots of information and database references

Antioxidants

• Strategies to combat the damaging oxidative stress which predisposes to cancer and aging.

Organic Local Farming

• The optimium solution

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

• Maybe the most important single element in your diet

Plant Based Diet - Dr. Oz

• 
  Getting Off the Cow
  Reducing the amount of red meat in your diet can be easy with these tips.
  

  Cutting back on red meat makes good health sense and makes your RealAge younger. Studies show that eating too much red meat can increase your risk of many chronic health conditions. But what kind of nutrition hole is created when you limit red meat in your diet? The truth is, it's easy to miss out on important nutrients when you cut back on a major food source. So, when you cut back on red meat, make a balanced eating plan to help ensure you don't shortchange yourself on important nutrients such as protein, vitamins B12 and D, calcium, iron, and zinc. To get enough of these important nutrients, replace red meat with other foods that contain them. Soy products, such as tofu or soy burgers; legumes, such as lentils or garbanzo beans; low-fat dairy; dark green, leafy vegetables; nuts; and whole grains can supply many of these nutrients. Also, poultry and fish are leaner sources of protein that provide many of the same nutrients found in red meat. Here are a couple recipes to try for delicious and nutritious alternatives to red meat. The Research on Red Meat cardiovascular disease: In a study, postmenopausal women who substituted vegetable protein for their usual red meat lowered their coronary heart disease mortality by a whopping 30%. arthritis: In a recent study, men and women who ate the greatest amount of red meat and meat products and total protein had higher rates of inflammatory polyarthritis compared with people who ate the least amounts. diabetes: If you're at high risk for type 2 diabetes, you may reduce your risk by up to 50% by exercising regularly and eating a diet that emphasizes fruits, vegetables, and fiber while limiting red meat and other sources of saturated fats. cancer: Several studies suggest that high intake of both red meat and processed meat increases the risk of colorectal cancer. Also, high-heat cooking methods, such as grilling, broiling, or pan frying, provoke the formation of carcinogenic compounds in red meat. You can decrease the formation of these compounds by marinating meat for 1 hour before cooking, steaming or poaching meat, turning the meat frequently while cooking over medium heat, and by adding rosemary extract before cooking.

Red Meat - Harvard Health

American Cancer Society - Red meat and colon cancer

Oprah and Alicia Silverstone discuss advantages of a "vegan" diet

• 9 mb short video (mpg video)