Animal rights bosses pay birthday tribute to Sir Paul McCartney

Vegetarian campaigners have paid a special tribute to SIR PAUL McCARTNEY ahead of his 70th birthday by recreating the famous cover of THE BEATLES' ABBEY ROAD album - with giant animals.

The rock legend is a leading supporter of animal rights and has promoted the cause through his Meat Free Monday campaign and his work to continue his late wife Linda's vegetarian food line. 

He turns 70 years old on Monday (18Jun12) and to celebrate, officials at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have mocked up Abbey Road's famous road-crossing cover photo using humans in furry chicken, cow, pig and fish outfits.

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The vegetarian bodybuilder

Growing muscles, as everyone knows, requires a high-protein diet. Which is why the assumption is that athletes and sportspersons cannot possibly be vegetarian. At the very least, goes the commonly held perception, they must eat eggs.

 But wrestler Sangram Singh defies that perception. A gold medallist at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in South Africa, Singh has been strictly vegetarian since he was a child. Which is why the bodybuilder was recently signed by the animal rights organisation, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) as their brand ambassador. 

“I want PETA to do something to stop the killing of animals,” says Singh, who claims he had never even heard of the organisation till they approached him. “When I lived in Delhi, I used to visit the Lodhi Gardens and feed the pigeons, crows and ducks there. The power you gain after killing someone [an animal] is unreal. I think people should eat vegetarian food for 20 days and then see the glow on their faces.”  

Born a premature, Singh suffered arthritis at the age of three and was in a wheelchair till he was 11. But after watching a wrestling match in his village, he built himself up to be the wrestler he is today. And all this happened, he claims, despite the fact that he’s never eaten anything non-vegetarian in his life. 

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Vegetarian Paul McCartney urges meat-free Mondays for school kids

Musician Paul McCartney, who has been a vegetarian for 40 years, is urging schools in England to offer vegetarian lunch options to students, citing health and environmental reasons.

In a video he taped on behalf of his charity, Meatfree Mondays, McCartney cited a United Nations report indicating that the livestock industry is responsible for up to 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions are accelerating climate change and global warming, says McCartney.

Going meat-free one day a week is not only good for the environment, but is also healthier, says the former Beatle, referring to studies that indicate vegetarians have lower incidences of heart disease, obesity and cancer than meat eaters.

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Allergies and vegetarianism

If you suffer from allergies, adopting a vegetarian or vegan diet may offer some relief. Researchers have found that those who exclude animal products from their diet in favor of plant-based foods are less likely to need treatment for allergies or asthma.

A vegetarian is someone who does not eat meat, poultry and seafood but instead consumes a plant-based diet, including seeds, nuts, legumes, grains, fruits and vegetables. Some vegetarians will eat dairy and eggs but some do not. A vegan diet is more restrictive with the exclusion of all animal flesh and byproducts, such as eggs, dairy, honey, etc.

Vegetarian and vegan diets have been studied in the relief of allergies and asthma since the mid-1980s. A 1985 Swedish study demonstrated that asthmatics who followed a vegetarian but especially vegan diet for a full year had a marked decrease in their needs for medications, and frequency and severity of asthma attacks.

In 1994, Loma Linda University tracked how often medical treatments for ailments, including asthma and allergies, were needed for a group of nearly 28,000 people. They found that vegetarians were less likely to need treatment.

Why does a vegan diet help alleviate allergies?

•One of the chemicals, aside from histamine, released during allergic reactions is called leukotrienes (fatty molecules in the immune system that contribute to inflammation). The production of leukotrienes is influenced by the presence of arachidonic acid, a fatty acid found exclusively in animal products. A vegan diet may help reduce leukotrienes because of the absence of arachidonic acid.

•Fruits and veggies contain antioxidants and many nutrients beneficial for the immune system and allergy relief.

•Vitamin E seems to help ward off seasonal allergy symptoms. You’ll find it in many of the foods consumed by vegetarians, including green leafy veggies, beans, apples, carrots, celery, wheat germ and nuts

•Many who follow a vegan diet experience weight loss which can reduce inflammation.

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Bug Bites Can Turn You Vegetarian

Have you heard about the bug bite that can turn you into a vegetarian? That story made the front page of my browser this week, and my wife heard it as part of a newsbreak on her favorite Christian radio station.

It seems researchers believe that a large number of people who have developed allergic reactions to red meat acquired the allergy after being bitten by a tick. According to University of Virginia researchers, “Of the over 1,500 people who have now reported meat allergies to the researchers, at least 90% say they were bitten by ticks in the weeks preceding their allergic reaction.” (See the story here.)

The cases are located in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. Allergy clusters have been reported in Pennsylvania and New York as well.

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Peta names 'sexiest vegetarians'

Jessica Chastain and Woody Harrelson have officially been named PETA's Sexiest Vegetarians of 2012. 

The Hollywood stars are both committed to living a meat-free lifestyle. 

E! Online reports that non-profit animal rights organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is elated to honour Chastain and Harrelson for their choice to be meatless.

Chastain stopped eating animals 15 years ago. 

She spoke previously about how she managed to gain nearly 15lbs for her Oscar-nominated role in 2011's The Help on a strict vegan diet. 

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Fun Fact

The cabbage contains almost as much water as watermelon. Watermelon is 92% water, cabbage is 90%. Carrots are not too far behind with a water content of 87%.

This girl said she recognised me....

from the Vegetarian Club....

But I never met Herbivore!

Vegetarian Foods Market Set For Further Growth

According to Vegetarian Foods, a new report from marketing intelligence provider Key Note, sales of vegetarian products increased over the past 5 years, rising by 7.7% from £730.4m in the year ending January 2007 to £786.5m in the year ending January 2011, despite observing slow growth of 0.9% in 2010 due the recession.

The market has been buoyed in recent years by the rising number of people that have opted for a vegetarian diet, as well as an increase in the number of people choosing to reduce their meat consumption for health reasons following recent studies that have suggested that red meat can cause heart disease, heightened cholesterol and obesity.

Further to this, Key Food that the number of vegetarian restaurants in the UK has continued to grow, with 30 premium restaurants now in operation across the country, up 50% from 2007. Improvements to vegetarian meals and recipe innovations have also made vegetarian meals much more appetising to consumers, as well as promising additional health benefits, such as a greater vegetable content, and containing ingredients which are lower in cholesterol and fats.

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Think Again

Great Harwood vegetarian explains badger in freezer

"Someone's just given me a badger, it's in my freezer," says 22-year old Nicola Hebson. "It's quite random really."

Miss Hebson, from Great Harwood in Lancashire, is talking of her unusual hobby - taxidermy - especially since she is a vegetarian.

She views it as "another way of recycling", using only animals that are already dead - from natural causes, road-kill - or, literally, something the cat dragged in.

Creations include putting a rat in a dress and turning another one into a fully-working purse.

"I don't know if people think it's a bit creepy, most people are fine with it, and it's just normal to me," she said.

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Acid Rain Makes Meat-Eating Plants Go Vegetarian

Normally, we applaud efforts to reduce meat consumption But in this case, it’s a little disturbing.

Scientists at Loughborough University discovered that acid rain is causing carnivorous plantsto change their behavior and become vegetarian. Normally, these plants depend on living things that fall into their traps to provide nutrients necessary for survival. According to the study’s lead author Dr. Jonathan Millet, nitrogen pollution is supplying carnivorous plants on Swedish bogs with so many nutrients, they don’t need to eat as many flies.

To arrive at this conclusion, Millet examined drosera rotundifolia, otherwise known as the common sundew, which grows in rain-fed bogs across much of northern Europe. These habitats are nutrient-poor, so the plant needs to boost its nitrogen intake by trapping midges and other insects with its sticky leaves.

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Vegetarians fed a fast one with meat by-products found in some of their dishes

Do you want some meat with your vegetarian dish? Consumer group Choice tested the vegetarian menus of fast food outlets and found some contain animal by-products. 

 

One of those was rennet, which comes from the stomachs of calves and is often used to produce cheese.

Choice looked at 80 vegetarian items on the menus of Domino's, Go Sushi, Hungry Jack's, Nando's, Noodle Box, Oporto, Pizza Hut, Subway and Sumo Salad.

Hungry Jack's told Choice the cheese in its Veggie Burger may contain rennet and the mayonnaise contains egg - but the burger was not marketed as being vegetarian.

Subway's cheese also contains rennet but its vegetarian menu options do not come with cheese - it is added by request. Domino's said there were no animal by-products in its mozzarella cheese.

Choice spokeswoman Ingrid Just said strict vegetarians were not always getting a strict vegetarian product at fast food chains: "You can't assume non-meat menu items are suitable for strict vegetarians."

Ms Just said Oporto, Nando's and Pizza Hut did not respond to the survey, so the watchdog could not guarantee their ingredients were free of animal by-products.

KFC and Red Rooster declined to take part because vegetarian options are not what they primarily offer, while McDonald's was ruled out because it doesn't have a vegetarian range on its regular menu.

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I'm not totally shocked by this, when you ask in a fast food place or restaurant if the cheese is vegetarian you normally just get a glazed look

John Bishop: Chicks Love A Vegetarian

British comedian John Bishop is starring in a new ad for PETA with the tagline “Chicks Love A Vegetarian”.

From PETA UK "As a vegetarian, John wouldn’t dream of eating a chicken. After all, most chickens aren’t as lucky as the cute little friends perched on John’s shoulder. The lighted-hearted ad has a serious message. Not only are vegetarians less prone to diabetes, cancer, heart disease and obesity than meat-eaters are, they also evade some of the risk of impotence because the artery-clogging animal fat and cholesterol in meat can slow the flow of blood to all the body’s organs – not just the heart. And each vegetarian saves 100 animals a year from immense suffering on factory farms, in abattoirs, in nets or on the decks of fishing boats.

“Vegetarians are also, on average, thinner and healthier than meat-eaters. Judging from the ad above, it’s obvious that John is the perfect poster boy (or man!) for a fine and fit vegetarian lifestyle!”

To take the PETA pledge to go veg, click here.

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Sausages are off the menu for this DOG who is allergic to MEAT

Most dogs love nothing more than a juicy chunk of steak or piece of sausage meat.

But life as a carnivore is off the menu for this guide dog, who has had to turn vegetarian after his owners discovered he was allergic to meat.

Irwin, a two-year-old black labrador-golden retriever cross, gets rashes and swelling on his paws when he eats beef, chicken and pork, meaning he has had to adopt an entirely vegetarian diet.

 

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You wouldnt do it to a dog

Everybody Is Somebodys Baby

Welcome to Vegville

Could a vegetarian diet work as well as a non-vegetarian one in providing proteins and amino acids necessary to power muscles? 

Are you thinking of going vegetarian like those millions across the globe, but with doubts about whether a vegetarian diet can build your body and power your muscles, the way a non-vegetarian diet does? Relax. Nutritionists assure that a vegetarian diet is never a limiting factor when it comes to growing strong, tall or building muscles.

“It is possible to achieve maximum growth through a vegetarian diet. And yes, we can strengthen our muscles too. But to achieve this, apart from diet, exercise is a must,” says Dr. Bhuvaneshwari Shankar, Chief Dietician, Apollo Hospitals Group. The key is to ensure that a variety of vegetarian foods is consumed.

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Michelle Pfeiffer: 'Why I Became A Vegan'

Michelle Pfeiffer admits in a new interview that vanity played a part in her decision to adopt a vegan lifestyle, but she adds that more than anything it was because of a desire to live a healthier life.

The 54-year-old actress spoke with Dr. Sanjay Gupta on Monday's edition of "Piers Morgan Tonight", saying that watching his documentary, "The Last Heart Attack," gave her plenty of food for thought.

"I was finishing up working on, I think it was 'Dark Shadows,'" she says. "And I was watching CNN, and 'The Last Heart Attack' came on."

As she was watching the documentary, which explores preventative measures for heart disease, it was former President Bill Clinton's story that really hit home.

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Fun Fact

Eating an apple is a more reliable method of staying awake than consuming a cup of coffee. The natural sugar in an apple is more potent than the caffeine in coffee.