|
Spring 2014 A Seasonal Newsletter from the Oldways Vegetarian Network
|
|
|
|
|
In This Issue
|
>
| New & Noteworthy
FNCE 2014 Oldways 4-Week Vegetarian and Vegan Diet Menu Plan Book Herbs & Spices | | > |
Research & Reports
| | > |
By the Numbers
| | > |
Nutrition LinesBy Sharon Palmer, RD
| | > | News from our Sponsors
& Partners
| | > | What We're Cooking Now |
|
|
|
Happy Spring!
After this long, cold New England winter all of us here at Oldways are counting the days until our local farmer's market opens in the middle of May. For us, that indeed is a day to celebrate and start planning menus around fresh, local fruits and veggies in all their glory. We urge all of you to support your local markets. Visit the USDA National Farmers Markets Directory for a list of markets in your hometown.
|
 |
|
FNCE Educational Session
If you're planning to attend FNCE 2014 in Atlanta (October 18-21), please join us for Promoting Healthful Vegetarian and Vegan Diets: Research Findings and Practical Tips for RDN's, October 21 at 9:45. Speakers will include Dr. Joan Sabat� and dietitian Sharon Palmer. We have planned this session in response to last summer's survey showing the need to create resources to help health professionals promote plant-based diets. According to OVN's 2013 online survey of 1,139 registered dietitians and others, 96% believed that plant-based diets, including vegetarian and vegan, can be healthful, although less than 15% were vegetarian or vegan themselves. Still, only 39% felt comfortable counseling clients about vegetarian/vegan diets and 90% said they would like more information.
New Book in the Works
Stay tuned for our brand new Oldways 4-Week Vegetarian and Vegan Diet Menu Plan book, scheduled to come out this summer. Modeled after our popular Oldways 4-Week Mediterranean Diet Menu Plan, this new book, written in collaboration with dietitian Sharon Palmer, will include menus, recipes, and tips to support a healthy, balanced plant-based diet.
Herbs and Spices
Our Oldways Table blog has been running a new series promoting herbs and spices, which play a very important role in plant-based diets. Here's a recent post from award-winning food writer, Ellen Kanner, author of the vegan cookbook, Feeding the Hungry Ghost: Life, Faith, and What to Eat for Dinner.
|
 |
 Dried Veggies? Award winning Boston chef Barbara Lynch (No. 9 Park, The Butcher Shop, B&G Oyster, Menton), who recently won the James Beard Award for outstanding restaurateur, is playing with cutting edge dehydration technology for her latest venture, BLinc - Barbara Lynch Instant Nutrition Company. Considering the needs of both home cooks and institutions, she envisions selling dehydrated vegetables that can quickly be rehydrated in water or stock. One pound of fresh, peeled veggies can be dried and compressed into a package weighing just a few ounces. |
|
|
A Diet Rich in Vegetables, Fruit, and Soy May Reduce Risk of Hip Fracture
According to a recent study published in Journal of Nutrition, a dietary pattern that is largely vegetables, fruits and soyfoods can contribute to a reduction in risk of hip fracture. Each year, about 260,000 people in the United States sustain a hip fracture, often resulting in long-term functional impairment, loss of independence and increased mortality.
The prospective study was conducted at National University of Singapore's School of Public Health. Food frequency diet questionnaires asked 63,257 Chinese men and women aged 45-74 years old about their habitual diet. Diets were scored, and then grouped into a vegetable-fruit-soy pattern or a meat-dim-sum pattern. Higher quality diets with the vegetable-fruit-soy pattern were associated with lower risk of hip fracture in both genders.
The wide varieties of soyfoods available make it easy to include tofu, tempeh, edamame, soymilk, soy meat analogs, or soy nutrition bars in any diet pattern. Many soyfoods have high dietary values of calcium, which helps to build strong bones and helps maintain bone health throughout life.
Read more >
Vegetarian Diets May Lower Blood Pressure
A recent review of results from 39 previous studies including 32 observational studies and seven controlled trials (22,000 people) shows a positive connection between following a vegetarian diet and lowering blood pressure. Researchers say that for some people, adopting a vegetarian diet could be a good way to treat high blood pressure without medication.
Read more >
Plant Proteins and Diabetes Prevention
A team of researchers at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, who studied results from 11,000 people who had developed type 2 diabetes and 15,000 who had not, reports that European adults who ate the most protein, especially from animal sources, were more likely to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Their findings show that replacing red meat and processed meat with plant proteins such as nuts, legumes, and whole grains is important in diabetes prevention.
Read more >
Plant Proteins Associated with Lower Mortality
According to a study of more than 6,000 people over the age of 50 whose results have been tracked for 18 years as part of the NHANES III dietary survey, plant-derived proteins are associated with lower mortality than animal-derived proteins. Researchers found that a diet high in animal proteins during middle age could quadruple the increase in cancer deaths.
Read more >
Read more recent health studies focusing on plant-based diets.
|
|
|
|
Americans now vegetarian:
5-19%
"Depending on which polls you read, and whether it's herbivores or carnivores who have framed the questions and done the counting, somewhere between five and nineteen percent of all Americans are now vegetarians or kind-of-vegetarians, and between two and nine percent are vegans."
- Jane Kramer, The New Yorker
April 14, 2014
|
|
Americans eating enough veggies:
>5%
" Not quite 5 percent of Americans younger than 50 are getting the recommended amount of vegetables, and only 10 to 25 percent of older adults achieve this goal, says the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee..."
-Michael Moss, The New York Times
April 30, 2014
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nutrition Lines by Sharon Palmer
|
|
Sharon Palmer, the consulting dietitian for the OVN, also served on the 10-member scientific committee that helped us update our 1997 vegetarian pyramid. She is also the author of The Plant-Powered Diet (2012) and Plant-Powered for Life (2014). In each issue of this newsletter she will provide an answer to a commonly-asked question about plant-based diets. Please feel free to post other questions or share your thoughts on the Oldways Forum.
Q. Do you need to combine plant proteins to make a complete protein?
A. It was once thought that plant proteins needed to be "combined" by mixing grains and legumes to create a "complete" protein with good amounts of all essential amino acids.
Protein is an essential nutrient made up of amino acids--the building blocks for many of your body's structures, including muscle, bone, skin, and hair--that also play a role in the creation of many compounds that your body requires for every day life. The amino acids--nine in all--that cannot be made by the body are termed "essential."
While it's true that most plant proteins, with the exception of soy, quinoa, and spinach, may be low in one or two of the essential amino acids, you can achieve an adequate intake of all these amino acids by including a variety of whole plant foods in your diet. We know that the body can store the amino acids, so it's not critical to combine them in one meal.
Just make sure that you get a varied diet that includes a balance of many plant foods, including legumes, soy foods, whole grains, vegetables, nuts and seeds.
For additional information on meeting your protein needs, see the OVN meal plan.
|
|
|
|
News from our Sponsors & Partners
|
|
HAB Launches New Program 
Hass Avocado Board (HAB) established a Nutrition Research program in 2010 to increase awareness and improve understanding of the unique benefits of avocados to human health and nutrition.They recently launched Love One Today, a science-based food and wellness education program that encourages Americans to include avocados in daily meals.
Click here to review the program resource guide, which includes helpful nutrition facts and comparisons, plus tips on heart health, diabetes, weight management, and delicious recipes.
|  |
Peanuts and Peanut Butter Every Day!
Last month, as a sponsor for the Oldways Supermarket Dietitian Symposium in Scottsdale, AZ, the Peanut Institute provided a nutrition white paper and a handout with the top four reasons to incorporate peanuts or peanut butter into your everyday diet. Supermarket RDs were excited to hear that one of America's favorite staples has so many health benefits.
The number one reason to eat peanuts daily stems from research conducted by Harvard. Researchers found that people who eat peanuts and nuts everyday decreased their risk of death from all causes by 20%. Eat peanuts to live longer! Peanuts and peanut butter can also shrink your waistline. Research from Purdue University showed that peanuts promote satiety and fullness. Frequent peanut eaters have lower BMIs and body weight.
Peanuts are also good for your heart. Peanuts are certified as a heart-healthy food by the American Heart Association. Even salted peanuts carry the AHA Heart-Check logo. Research shows that replacing red meat in the diet with a plant protein, like peanuts or peanut butter, can reduce risk of heart disease by 19% and stroke by 17%. Peanuts are packed with almost 8 grams of plant protein per handful.
Researchers explain the nutrients in peanuts and nuts, including plant-protein, healthy oils, phytochemicals, and many vitamins and minerals, may offer cardio-protective, anti-carcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. Peanuts contain more protein than any other nut, are a good source of fiber, vitamin E, folate, phosphorus, copper, and magnesium, and an excellent source of niacin and manganese.
| 
|
Combating Myths about Soy
White Wave and the Soy Foods Association of North America (SANA) also sponsored the Oldways Supermarket Dietitian Symposium and provided an informative presentation about soy. Sharon Palmer, RD, spoke about the myths surrounding soy, one of the most misunderstood foods of our age. She pointed to the fact that soy has been consumed regularly in Asian populations for centuries. In Japan, a country with low breast and prostate cancer rates and high longevity, soy is included in the diet daily. A body of scientific research shows soy i s linked with reduced cholesterol, lower risk of heart disease, possible reduction of hot flashes, and reduced risk of breast and prostate cancer.
Click here to view Sharon's presentation.
| 
|
Free Newsletter for Families Who Cook Together
The Kids Cook Monday is non-profit campaign to encourage parents and kids to start their weeks off right by spending Monday nights cooking and eating together. A recent survey conducted by FGI Research found that nearly 90% of Americans believe that dedicating a day of the week for a "family dinner night" would help people enjoy the benefits of family dinners more frequently.
To help families create and sustain the healthy habit of cooking and eating together at least once a week, The Kids Cook Monday now offers The Family Dinner Date, a free weekly newsletter that delivers a simple vegetarian recipe alongside tips and resources to help create an exciting, educational family dining experience. Recipients will receive a quick recipe that includes plenty of engaging steps for kids, short how-to videos, a weekly cooking tip, fun facts about the recipe's culture or ingredients, a printable nutrition activity for kids and a family dinner conversation starter.
"Teaching children about healthy eating by cooking nutritious foods together at home is one of the best tools we have to combat our pressing health crisis. Research also links regular family meals to healthier body weights for adults and children alike. This newsletter will make it easier than ever for families to enjoy those experiences together," says Diana Rice, The Kids Cook Monday's staff dietitian.
The Family Dinner Date is delivered on Fridays to allow parents time to shop for ingredients over the weekend and start building excitement about the family's upcoming Monday night experience.
Sign up here to start the family fun!
| 
|
Tower to Table Program
Veggiecation�, an evidence-based children's culinary nutrition education program, has recently partnered with Stephen Ritz (right) of the Green Bronx Machine to create a Tower to Table program. This exciting new program will combine the growing expertise of GBM and the culinary nutrition education lessons that Veggiecation� has become so well known for. The combined programs will bring the food system to life! Children will be able to plant, grow, harvest, and cook with the vegetables grown from the Tower Garden Growing system. In Fall 2014, a cross-content curriculum will be introduced so that schools can easily integrate this program into multiple subjects.
To learn more about the aeroponic technology of the growing system as well as the partnership between Veggiecation� and Green Bronx Machine, click here.
|
|
 |
|
Over the past few months we've posted a number delicious vegetarian and vegan recipes on the Oldways Table blog. Here are a few of our favorites:
|
Roasted Beet Jewels with Cranberries, Pecans & Balsamic Butter
(Susie Middleton)
This easy and delicious side dish is a great way to introduce people to roasted beets-or beets in general. You'll love it, too, because the small-diced beets cook in only 25 minutes-no boiling or long, slow roasting here.
|  | Sweet Potato Peanut Stew
Mafe, or Groundnut Stew, is common throughout West and Central Africa. This traditional stew can feature meat, vegetables, or seafood, and it is always based on a savory sauce made from peanut butter and tomatoes.
|  |
Seared Polenta with Spicy Heirloom Tomato Sauce
(Myra and Marea Goodman)
This dish will warm your soul and win the hearts of your favorite omnivores. A plate of crispy pan-fried polenta cakes topped with heirloom tomato sauce is an entree to satisfy even the pickiest eater.
|
|
|
Special thanks to our sponsors and partners: Bob's Red Mill; Daisy Brand; Del Monte; Hass Avocado Board; Meatless Monday; The Peanut Institute; Produce for Better Health Foundation; Silk; Soy Foods of North America; Veggiecation; Westbrae.
|
Sincerely,
Sara Baer-Sinnott
President
Oldways
|
Georgia Orcutt
Program Manager
[email protected]
|
|
To find even more information and delicious recipes, please visit:
|
|
|
