Veg diets good for your heart

In other breaking news – the sun came up this morning. But seriously, this study had some cool factors to analyze. The good cholesterol levels for the vegetarian group tended to be a little lower, but it wasn’t significant. Overall, those following a diet high in plant foods and low in animal foods had a lower probability of developing heart disease.

Teixeira RD, et al. Cardiovascular risk in vegetarians and omnivores: a comparative study. Arq Bras Cardiol 2007;89:237-244.

More than one reason for a plant based diet

Have you ever noticed how you may begin something for one reason, but then you find many other reasons that reinforce your beliefs? Well, vegetarianism is no different. The main reasons for following a veg diet in this study were health and the ethical treatment of animals. Other reasons included concern for the environment.

Fox N & Ward K. Health, ethics and environment: A qualitative study of vegetarian motivations. Appetite 2007;Epub ahead of print.

Soy isoflavones don’t influence breast cancer

Research shows mixed results for soy isoflavones and the risk of various cancers. This study didn’t show any significant associations. It was a big study, with almost 38,000 women being analyzed. The researchers did use food frequency questionnaires, which can muddy up the data. This study tells me that isoflavones may not be the magic bullet that some are hoping for, but soy foods are full of nutrition and can be included on a regular basis in their unprocessed forms.

Travis RC, et al. A prospective study of vegetarianism and isoflavone intake in relation to breast cancer risk in British women. Int J Cancer 2007;122:705-710.

Can peanuts help maintain a lean body?

Nuts are interesting. While being high in calories, those that consume a lot of them tend to maintain their body weight. This study analyzed the fat weight of feces (I’m glad Traoret CJ wasn’t my grad school advisor), and found that eating whole peanuts results in more fecal fat excretion than peanut oil, peanut butter, or peanut flour. Basically, don’t stress about the higher amounts of fat in nuts – they are extremely healthy!

Traoret CJ, et al. Peanut digestion and energy balance. Int J Obes (Lond) 2007;Epub ahead of print.

This is an interview with Yolanda Soryl, the Coordinator of the Christchurch Vegetarian Centre.

OrganicAthlete: What was the inspiration for the Vegan Triathlon?

Yolanda Soryl: A very small group (3) of Christchurch vegans wanted to take part in a local women’s triathlon but we missed the enrolment. So we decided to organise our own triathlon. As we are all vegan, we thought it might be a positive thing for our community to make it an all vegan event. We did and it felt great. More exhilarating than just going in a regular event. And the post tri dinner was the best!

• 35 mile - $50
• 65 mile - $60
• 100 mile - $65

   My name is Carly.  I am a seventh grader at the Pada School in Atlanta, Georgia.  I think it's wonderful that your vegan lifestyle has helped you to be healthier and feel better.  I'm glad you are trying to promote the vegan diet so other athletes can feel better to.
    I think it's a wonderful way to help obesity in America.  I hope other people will join you in trying to promote the vegan diet because they see how healthy it makes you.  Thank you so much for doing this.

Sincerely,
Carly

The Boston chapter-in-formation has completed a successful first season of racing.  The two active members raced close to two dozen races including a handful of top tens/podiums, one win, and a full cross season.  OA-Boston also received a shout-out in the "New England Sports Magazine" in the "Go-Green Sports" issue.
-Matt

Colorado Chapter is in full swing.  We don't even sleep around here. Members Tim Barnes, Josh Wiegand, Catherine Johnson, and myself have all been racing the extremely competitive cyclocross races throughout Colorado.  I celebrated my November 10th singlespeed cyclocross victory with some bananas and beer.  Helen Cospolich is still running like the energizer bunny.  With a few 100 mile races under her belt who knows what she plans on next.  In other news Simple Foods in Denver has re-opened as a vegetarian cafe.  Come and check it out at 3901 Tennyson Street.
-Colin

Hi all!

Our New York Chapter, in addition to cycling, is putting together a running team that will compete in numerous races and the NYC Marathon in 2008. We recently changed the fate of many turkeys, convincing the organizers of so-called Turkey Race to donate money, instead of donating frozen birds to a charity. Our team also more than doubled the organizer's cash contribution! We train hard and play hard, supporting our teammates on and off the bike. Our member Pamela is helping to organize a roller race event to benefit local junior racers and our team will compete in it. We're also letting it all hang out at our member Davey's Punk Rock Heavy Metal Karaoke (http://www.punkmetalkaraoke.com/).

Jack
www.teamorganicnyc.org

Ontario North Chapter athlete Minna Mettinen-Kekalainen participated in the Canadian National Sprint Kayak Championships (with a second place finish) in August, and the World Sprint trials in Rochester NY in Sept. (with again a 2nd place finish) qualifying for the World Sprints in Sacramento CA in Aug. 2008.

There was an organic vegetarian meal/celebration prepared by Minna's sky diving coach in Oct. to finish off our racing season.

Our member Callen McGibbon began a new career managing the gym at Laurentian Univ. and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in healthy organic living to the student body at the university. Callen, Claudia and their daughter Haley are expecting the arrival of the newest member of our OrganicAthlete community - their third child sometime in January or February 2008!

Hello everyone - 

The Philadelphia chapter is just getting going, but in not quite three months time, we've grown from zero to seven members. Two of us, Dara and Emily, are running the Philadelphia Marathon - today! Next year, we're committed to organizing training and support for anyone who wants to join us for the Broad Street Run, the '08 Marathon, and at least one century ride.

We're an even split of runners and cyclists, and we've received interest from a few more cyclists, at least one other runner, and even a couple of rock climbers. We're shaping up to be a multi-sport club.

Dennis, Emily and myself have donated our time in various ways for an upcoming auction that is part of an anti-foie gras campaign that Dara is very involved with. Our willingness to help has already generated positive response.

We're very excited for the months to come, and for our cyclists to get down to racing in their OA kit next spring.

Mark

OrganicAthlete Portland has taken off.  In November of last year I was struggling to find two other board members to form a chapter. Last night we had our first team meeting with with 8 of the 10 racing team members present.  Casey McDonald got our first OA win last week.  Our womens team is three members stong and growing. The OA kit shows up in most every race here in Oregon racing and gaining respect. We also do weekly group rides for our non racing members, which is a hit also.

Jim

I was a bit disappointed with my third place at the Sears Tower, so I drove up to Milwaukee yesterday afternoon to compete in the Climb for a Cure tower race up the US Bank Center. Although it's the tallest building in Milwaukee, it's only half as tall as the Sears Tower in Chicago. I thought a 45 storey climb would be a sprint compared to the 103 floors of the Sears Tower. I thought wrong.

Anxious to "redeem" myself in this race, I edged to the front of the line as the racers began to line up. Standing next to me were a group of some of the finest examples of athleticism I've ever seen - The Milwaukee Bonecrushers arena football team. These guys have speed, strength and quads that go on for days. In addition, there were several elite stair climb athletes that I've seen in LA, Chicago and NYC. So needless to say, I was VERY nervous. When the starter announced that the race would begin in 30 seconds and asked who would
like to go first (15 seconds seperated each racer), everyone backed away, leaving me standing alone. I've never started first in a stair race, and the thought of there being no one to catch and EVERYONE behind me chasing my heels, made my pre-race jitters even worse.

The gun went off and I ran like an antelope with a cheetah in hot pursuit. I knew my pace was unsustainable, but the fear inside of me drove me on with reckless abandon. I didn't want to have ANYTHING left in the tank when I finished this race.

When the pain in my quads, the nausea in my stomach, and the sandpaper like feeling in my throat had all reached an intolerable limit, I lifted my head to see how much more of this torture I had to endure. The sign said 21. I was not yet halfway done. But i was DONE. I slowed my pace a bit and lurched forward with pride being my main fuel at this point. I pulled myself up the stairs with mostly my arms (using the railings) as my legs just wouldn't cooperate anymore. I drifted into some safe place in my head where I wouldn't feel the pain anymore. I imagine it's similar to the experience of going into shock.  That only lasted until I lifted my head again and saw that it only read 30 - I still had a long way to go. At this point, the high volume of dry stale air I was inhaling began to really burn my trachea and lungs, my throat was beginning to close off, and it was becoming hard to take a full breath.

At the 35th floor I began to somehow pick up the pace. Not because I wanted to finish with a good time, but because I could no longer endure this, and I needed to be over as soon as possible. In a flash I was coming through the door at the top and people were cheering, and then I collapsed. I laid there writhing in pain for quite some time as others began to finish behind me.

It would be half an hour before my throat would open up enough for me to get more than a thin wisp of air in my lungs. I swore to those around me that I'd never do another tower race, that I hated them.

Half an hour after that, I was informed that I had won the race by 50 seconds, finishing in 5:23, well ahead of the Bonecrushers and the other elite racers. With the taste of victory in my mouth, it didn't take long for someone to talk me into doing the 84 storey Aon Center in Chicago in January, and the 90 storey Hancock Center in Chicago in February. The ego is a funny thing. I just hope that someone, somewhere is inspired by what I'm doing.