For example, until recently, we assumed plants and plantlike organisms were the only ones that could directly capture and utilize the energy from the sun. Plants photosynthesize. Animals don't. That's because plants have chlorophyll and animals do not. Well, technically, you do have chlorophyll in your body-temporarily, at least-after you eat greens. But it would seem there's no way the chlorophyll that enters your bloodstream after that salad could react with sunlight. After all, light can't penetrate through your skin, right? Wrong. Any kid who's ever shined a torch through her or his fingers could have told you that.

The red wavelengths of sunlight do penetrate into your body." In fact, if you step outside on a sunny day, there's enough light reaching your brain that you could actually read this page inside your skull. Your internal organs are bathed in sunlight, along with any chlorophyll circulating in your bloodstream. Although any energy produced by the chlorophyll would be negligible," it turns out that light-activated chlorophyll in your body may help regenerate a critical molecule called coenzyme Q10.

The choline in eggs, like the carnitine in red meat, is converted into a toxin called trimethylamine" by bacteria that exist in the guts ofthose who eat meat." And trimethylamine, once oxidized in the liver, appears to increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, and premature death.

They found out that people who drank two or more cups of coffee daily appeared to have about only half the suicide risk compared to non-coffee drinkers." What about drinking more than four cups a day? A Kaiser Permanente study of more than one hundred thousand people found that suicide risk seemed to continue to drop with increases in coffee dose. People who drank more than six cups a day were 80 percent less likely to commit suicide, though drinking eight or more cups a day has been associated with increased suicide risk.

They found out that people who drank two or more cups of coffee daily appeared to have about only half the suicide risk compared to non-coffee drinkers." What about drink ing more than four cups a day? A Kaiser Permanente study of more than one hundred thousand people found that suicide risk seemed to continue to drop with increases in coffee dose. People who drank more than six cups a day were 80 percent less likely to commit sui cide, though drinking eight or more cups a day has been associated with increased suicide risk. 49

HCA - heterocyclic amines

So why are vegetable nitrates and nitrites okay but the same compounds from meat are linked to cancer? Because nitrites themselves are not carcinogenic; they turn into carcinogens. Nitrites only become harmful when they turn into nitrosamines and nitrosamides. For them to do that, amines and amides must be present, and amines and amides are found in abundance in animal products. This transformation can happen in the meat itself or in your stomach after you eat it. In the case of plant foods, the vitamin C and other antioxidants that are found naturally in them block the formation of these carcinogens in your body. This process would explain why intake of both nitrate and nitrite from processed meat has been linked to kidney cancer, but no increased risk was found for nitrate or nitrite intake from plant sources.

Those who eat plant-based diets may even have an 11 percent higher resting metabolic rate. That means vegetarians could be burning more calories even in their sleep. Why? This could be because vegetarians have a higher gene expression of a fat-burning enzyme called carnitine palmitoyltransferase, which effectively shovels fat into the mitochondrial furnaces in your cells.

Not all fats affect our muscle cells in the same way. For example,palmitate, the kind of saturated fat found mostly in meat, dairy, and eggs, causes insulin resistance. On the other hand, oleate, the monounsaturated fat found mostly in nuts, olives, and avocados, may actually protect against the detrimental effects of the saturated fat. Saturated fats can wreak all sorts of havoc in muscle cells and may result in the accumulation of more toxic breakdown products (such as ceramide and diacylglycerol) and free radicals and can cause inflammation and even mitochondrial dysfunction-that is, interference with the little power plants (mitochondria) within our cells."This phenomenon is known as lipotoxicity (lipo meaning fat,as in liposuction).“ If we take muscle biopsies from people, saturated fat buildup in the membranes of their muscle cells correlates with insulin resistance. Monounsaturated fats, however, are more likely to be detoxified by the body or safely stored away.

This discrepancy may explain why individuals eating plant-based diets are better protected from diabetes.

The Washington, D.C., Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the meat industry's position, asserting that the USDA can allow potentially deadly Salmonella in meat because "American housewives and cooks normally are not ignorant or stupid and their methods of preparing and cooking of food do not ordinarily result in salmonellosis That's like saying minivans don't need airbags or seat belts, and kidsdon't need car seats, because soccer moms don't ordinarily crash into things.

The Washington, D.C., Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the meat industry's position, asserting that the USDA can allow potentially deadly Salmonella in meat because "American housewives and cooks normally are not ignorant or stupid and their methods of preparing and cooking of food do not ordinarily result in salmonellosis." That's like saying minivans don't need airbags or seat belts, and kids don't need car seats, because soccer moms don't ordinarily crash into things.

Nearly three-quarters of all emerging and reemerging human diseases arise from the animal kingdom.

The U.S. health care system runs on a fee-for-service model in which doctors get paid for the pills and procedures they prescribe, rewarding quantity over quality.