Let Food Be Thy Medicine

What Pharmaceutical "Drug Dealers" don't want you to know by Dr. Baruch

According to a new report published in Diabetes Care, a journal published by the American Diabetes Association, people who ate alow-fat vegan diet, cutting out all meat and dairy, lowered their bloodsugar more and lost more weight than people on a standard American Diabetes Association diet. Participants say the vegan diet was easier to follow than most because they did not measure portions or count calories. Dr. Neal Barnard, president of the Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine, which helped conduct the study said, "I hope this study will rekindle interest in using diet changes first, rather than prescription drugs." After 22 weeks on the diet, 43 percent of those on the vegan diet and 26 percent of those on the standard diet were either able to stop takingsome of their drugs such as insulin or glucose-control medications, or were able to lower the doses. In other words, food really can be your medicine. The vegan dieters lost 14 pounds on average while the diabetes association dieters lost 6.8 pounds. An important level of glucose control called A1c fell by 1.23 points in the vegan group and by 0.38 in the group on the standard diet. A1c gives a measure of how well-controlled blood sugar has been over the preceding three months. Small changes made now can make a BIG difference later, when it comes to educating your children and teaching them to steer clear of type-2diabetes.

To help you and your family make healthy choices, we are proud to offer a wide variety of whole food meals, snacks, soups, smoothies and treats that you and your kids will love. Our PhilosophyProvide Healthy Food that Tastes Great With over 25 years of combined experience in the health food industry, the partnership between Everlasting Life and Soul Vegetarian representsone of the oldest and largest vegan food service organizations. Through our experience we have found that there is more to healthy eating thanjust serving healthy meals. We make a conscious effort to provide greattasting food that does not violate your strict dietary guidelines as a vegetarian or as a member of the ever increasing group of health/diet conscious consumers. We go out of our way to prepare traditional foods that are familiar in the taste, smell and name yet are made in a healthier way. This ensures that the non-vegetarian does not leave feeling unfulfilled. In fact many are amazed that healthy vegetarian food can taste so good. As for the discriminating vegetarian, we strengthen the conviction to stay true to the healthy lifestyle choice that youmade. All of the food is made fresh daily. Our belief is that good food starts with good ingredients. Genesis 1:29 - Two convenient locations to serve you @ www.EverlastingLife.net 2928 Georgia Avenue, NW • Washington, DC 20001 • 202.232.1700 10am -9pm Monday to Friday / Sundays from 11am -3pm; 9185 Central Avenue • Capitol Heights, MD 20743 • 301.324.6900 10am -9pmMonday to Friday / Sundays from 11am -7pm

Chicago's best vegetarian restaurants

The Green Scene - We pick Chicago's best vegetarian and vegetarian-friendly restaurants.
By Lisa Futterman - Metromix.com

Soul Vegetarian East Restaurant - This South Side dining room attracts veggie-aware folks from all over the city. Don't miss the vegan mac & cheese. Apps like deep-fried protein tidbits served with a down home barbecue sauce for dipping and a selection of hearty sandwiches (lentil burgers, jerk "chicken") round out the menu. A smorgasbord of low-fat entrees, with just enough "soul" to fool the tastebuds, awaits patrons of this all-vegan hang-out. Although the menu lists BBQ Roast and BBQ Twist among the choices, rest assured that absolutely no animal products are used in any of the dishes. "It's soul food without the meat," says one of the managers of this small restaurant. Hours: Soul Vegetarian East Restaurant 205 E. 75th St.773-224-0104 - 7 a.m.-10 p.m., Monday through Thursday; 7 a.m.-11 p.m., Friday; 8 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday; 8 a.m.-9 p.m., Sunday Fax: 773-224-5851

Heatwave causes rolling blackouts in U.S.

by Keymah B. N. Aharon

The heat wave is moving across the country from California to New York. It has been more than two weeks of triple-digit temperatures that killed at least 136 people and caused power failures. Temperatures hit or hovered near 100 degrees Fahrenheit in New York, Philadelphia and Washington, with hotter weather forecast for Wednesday. Detroit, St. Louis and Chicago were sweating it out in equally stifling temperatures. The heat wave also cause a major demand on many cities power systems and caused power to be shut off for thousands of residents. Click on links for more information: Eastern US swelters through heat wave, Deadly heatwave moves east across United States, and Customers Lose Power In Rolling Blackouts .

The names may change but the players stay the same

What do multinational corporations do once their dirty record gets around and people start seeing them for what they are? They change their names, of course.
By Laviyah E. Nahum (KNN Staff)

Philip Morris is leading the way.What have they done in response to years of bad exposure for knowingly selling dangerous products? Decided to sell healthier products? Stopped marketing to and addicting kids?No, they changed their name to Altria and picked a new logo, hoping that when people see Altria has made their food, they won't realize their money is going into the pockets of the same people who told us all that cigarettes are safe and nicotine is not addictive. Recently, Philip Morris spent $250 million to gloss over their image. The campaign highlighted the company's charitable contributions and downplayed the deadly and addictive tobacco products that built the company. Well, luckily the people aren't that easily fooled. All that money spent and the Reputation Institute ranks Philip Morris second to last in public opinion. Rightly so, because tobacco still makes up 61.2% of the company's $90 billion income.In case you were wondering what Altria means: "Altria, as you know, means nothing, and can't be any derivative of altus [meaning 'high'] --altr-- is a nonexistent stem. But it sounds pretty good, doesn't it? And has no suggestion at all of emphysema or lung cancer," according to a Latin Professor quoted by TheStreet.com.Yes, it seems Altria isn't synonymous with lung cancer and emphysema in people's minds the way Philip Morris is. But don't worry, to all of us who know what they've done, they'll always be Philip Morris. A reputation like their's can't be lost with a new name. Who else is doing it? See: http://www.badcorp.org/articles.cfm?article=6

Refugees taught how to eat American food

By Ian Brimacombe BBC News, Chicago

In a classroom on Chicago's north side, nutritionist Bindi Desai points at a sign of an obese man holding a hamburger with a pained expression on his face.

"This guy is overweight," she says, explaining that this is because he eats too much fast food and drinks cola. "And guess what happens?" she asks. "Inside his body there are lots of problems." At a table, a dozen or so refugees - most of them from Africa - sit and nod. Some smile and chat among themselves. They appear to get the picture. This workshop on how to eat American food responsibly is part of an Illinois state-funded programme to improve the nutrition of refugees who are being re-settled in the land of plenty. "First we are most concerned about whether they will understand how to eat American food," says Shana Willis, with the non-profit refugee resettlement agency Heartland, one of the project co-ordinators. "They did not only not understand how to eat American food, but they went immediately to the junk food and it was then that we realised, this is going to have a much more important impact than we anticipated." Culture shock - One of the major challenges for organisers is to change the way the refugees think about food. Many of the new arrivals suffered from malnutrition and came from places where food was scarce. Some want to make up for a lifetime in which they were denied meat. Others gravitate towards the fizzy orange drink and crisps, believing they are a great source of vitamins. And there is plain culture shock. See: Refugees taught how to eat American food

Violent crime rates on the rise U.S.

FBI statistics show murders in the U.S. jumped 4.8 percent last year
By Martin Savidge-NBC News

ATLANTA - In Phoenix, they're terrorized by not one but two serial killers. In Boston, homicides are at a 10-year high. And with 14 murders since July 1, the nation's capital has declared a crime emergency. The latest preliminary FBI statistics show murders in the U.S. jumped 4.8 percent last year while overall violent crime was up 2.5 percent. And in many communities the upsurge is attributed to juveniles. "We have a youth problem," says St. Paul, Minn., Police Chief John Harrington. In St. Paul, where murders are up 20 percent, Harrington is seeing an increasing number of criminal kids. "We are seeing them out on the streets later and later at night, and they are themselves into more and more difficulties," he says. In Washington's upscale Georgetown area last weekend, a British man died after his throat was slashed. Among the arrested: a 15-year-old. "Juvenile arrests are up 13.2 percent over last year," Washington Police Chief Charles Ramsey says. Crime experts say America has been distracted by the war on terror. "A lot of the resources devoted have been shifted over from hometown security to homeland security," says James Fox, a criminologist with Northeastern University. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino agrees. "What happened is a lot of those community groups that we used to have don't exist today because the funding is not there," Menino says. Experts say the solution is to return to what worked in the 1990s when crime rates plummeted. "We need to go back to the hard work of crime control, cops and crime prevention, youth programs," Menino says. "They work, but it takes time and money." As one law enforcement analyst put it, "Either we pay for programs now or pay for victims later."