Red Meat

For decades, those with high cholesterol have been given a list of don'ts when it comes to their diet: Don't eat cholesterol-rich eggs; don't eat butter; don't eat red meat or regular ice cream. Well, now researchers have identified a list of do's for the diet that may work to lower cholesterol levels better than avoiding those don'ts. In a study published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers found that eating cholesterol-lowering foods like nuts, soy protein, and certain fiber-rich items result in bigger drops in "bad" LDL cholesterol than avoiding...

George McLean, Medford's intrepid nature photographer, stayed on the case until he got the first shot of baby Dawn at the Red-tail Hawk nest on a side street west of the Alewife Brook Reservation in Cambridge. Here's George's account: "This is tough photography, shooting from a distance with a teleconverter, but well worth the effort. The nest is deep and as I watched mom Ruby feeding, all I could see was tiny beaks ripping at the red meat. " Meanwhile, proud papa Buzz (below)

Rita and Bob Mott were vegetarians for 40 years. After spending more than half their lives meat-free, the couple decided to become omnivores again when Bob Mott realized he was getting headaches after eating meat substitutes. "He did some research where he found that a lot of people have problems with soy, and mostly all of the vegetarian analogues are made from soy products," says Rita Mott. "We feel that was the main problem. " When he began eating meat and stopped eating meat substitutes, the headaches went away.

It’s been more than two decades since the fall of the Iron Curtain. Experts still wonder how the Soviet empire managed to last so long. I know how: animal protein. My friend Charlotte and I spent two weeks traveling in East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Hungary in the summer of 1987. Everywhere we ate, the menus were “mit Fleisch,’’ this; “mit Fleisch,’’ that. Charlotte spoke German. I didn’t. “Vegetarisch?’’ she’d ask looking at the menu. “Vegetarier,’’ she’d say pointing at me. The looks I got ran the gamut from pity to incomprehension.

For the Tea Party, gaining broader legitimacy has been an ever-present challenge. When the movement took off in 2010, some of its leaders blamed the media for presenting images of paranoid, racist cranks. We're not all birthers, the protest went. Our main issues are economic. A couple of people shouting the n-word, or hurling anti-gay slurs, shouldn't taint us all. So perhaps the Tea Party Express should have rethought its decision to pack Monday's debate with a large, impassioned, and unusually loud audience.

Americans' high consumption of red meat has long been linked to a host of health problems, including heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, and new research from the Harvard School of Public Health suggests that it may shorten a person's lifespan and that cutting back on red meat by a serving a day could lower the risk of dying. A second study from the same research group, also published Monday, links sugary beverages to a higher rate of heart disease. "That Happy Meal choice of a hamburger with a Coke is quadruply bad for your health," said Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the nutrition...

CHICAGO -- Eating red meat may raise a woman's risk of a common type of breast cancer, and vitamin supplements will do little if anything to protect her heart, two new studies suggest. Women who ate more than 1 1/2 servings of red meat per day were almost twice as likely to develop hormone-related breast cancer as those who ate fewer than three portions per week, one study found. The other -- one of the longest and largest tests of whether supplements of various vitamins can prevent heart problems and strokes in high-risk women -- found that the popular pills do no good,...

If you're worried about getting diabetes, you may be watching your diet, trying not to eat too many bagels, muffins, and other processed carbohydrates - but have you ever thought of skipping the steak, hot dog, or burger? A study published last Wednesday in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that eating as little as one serving a day of red meat increases your risk of type 2 diabetes, the kind that typically affects adults and often occurs when cells stop responding to the hormone insulin.

Americans' high consumption of red meat has long been linked to a host of health problems, including heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, and new research from the Harvard School of Public Health suggests that it may shorten a person's lifespan and that cutting back on red meat by a serving a day could lower the risk of dying. A second study from the same research group, also published Monday, links sugary beverages to a higher rate of heart disease. "That Happy Meal choice of a hamburger with a Coke is quadruply bad for your health," said Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the nutrition...

RE "YES, colleges are full of liberal elites" (Op-ed, Mar. 4): The issue with Rick Santorum's comments is not that they reveal any real opposition to higher education or a disconnect with the American people. Rather, they show how much he relies on using anti-intellectualism and religious fanaticism to rile up his supporters. The notion that Barack Obama, in encouraging access to college, wants to "remake you in his image," as Santorum told a crowd, is ludicrous, but effective.

Rita and Bob Mott were vegetarians for 40 years. After spending more than half their lives meat-free, the couple decided to become omnivores again when Bob Mott realized he was getting headaches after eating meat substitutes. "He did some research where he found that a lot of people have problems with soy, and mostly all of the vegetarian analogues are made from soy products," says Rita Mott. "We feel that was the main problem. " When he began eating meat and stopped eating meat substitutes, the headaches went away.

Last Wednesday was World Alzheimer's Day, and a press release marking the occasion announced that one in eight 65-year-olds already has the disease, which causes profound memory loss over time, has no effective treatment, and is ultimately fatal. The release, from the nonprofit research advocacy group US Against Alzheimer's, flashed a set of eight photos of famous 65-year-olds - Diane Keaton, Stephen Spielberg, Cher, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Dolly Parton, Reggie Jackson, and Danny Glover - and said statistically speaking, one of them has the devastating illness.

For the Tea Party, gaining broader legitimacy has been an ever-present challenge. When the movement took off in 2010, some of its leaders blamed the media for presenting images of paranoid, racist cranks. We're not all birthers, the protest went. Our main issues are economic. A couple of people shouting the n-word, or hurling anti-gay slurs, shouldn't taint us all. So perhaps the Tea Party Express should have rethought its decision to pack Monday's debate with a large, impassioned, and unusually loud audience.

If you're worried about getting diabetes, you may be watching your diet, trying not to eat too many bagels, muffins, and other processed carbohydrates - but have you ever thought of skipping the steak, hot dog, or burger? A study published last Wednesday in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that eating as little as one serving a day of red meat increases your risk of type 2 diabetes, the kind that typically affects adults and often occurs when cells stop responding to the hormone insulin.

RE "YES, colleges are full of liberal elites" (Op-ed, Mar. 4): The issue with Rick Santorum's comments is not that they reveal any real opposition to higher education or a disconnect with the American people. Rather, they show how much he relies on using anti-intellectualism and religious fanaticism to rile up his supporters. The notion that Barack Obama, in encouraging access to college, wants to "remake you in his image," as Santorum told a crowd, is ludicrous, but effective.

Gaining weight through the decades — we put on about a pound a year on average after age 20 — seems impossible to avoid. Like slowly accumulating credit card debt, we’re never quite sure exactly how the pounds crept on. Well, a study last week in the New England Journal of Medicine provides an accounting of sorts for more than 120,000 non-obese individuals who participated in the ongoing Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up...

Gaining weight through the decades — we put on about a pound a year on average after age 20 — seems impossible to avoid. Like slowly accumulating credit card debt, we’re never quite sure exactly how the pounds crept on. Well, a study last week in the New England Journal of Medicine provides an accounting of sorts for more than 120,000 non-obese individuals who participated in the ongoing Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up...

In an effort to simplify the message it gives the public on healthy eating, the federal government yesterday unveiled a new icon to replace the complicated and confusing food pyramid: It’s a plate divided into four sections, with fruits and vegetables on one half and protein and grains on the other. A circle for dairy — indicating a glass of milk or container of yogurt — rests to the right of the plate. “The new icon is simple and easy to understand, with more emphasis placed on fruits and vegetables,’’ Surgeon General Regina M. Benjamin said in a statement.