Emily Deschanel is well known for her role on Fox’s comedy-drama Bones, but the 39-year-old actress has always been adamant about keeping her bones—and her overall health for that matter—healthy off-screen. On Thursday, in honor of World Health Day, the famous vegan tweeted out to her over half-a-million Twitter followers that they should “try veg” for VegWeek:
World health day! Try veg! https://t.co/XZuhTzfmDg
— Emily Deschanel (@emilydeschanel) 7 April 2016
The whole concept behind the VegWeek campaign is that there are 52 weeks in a year—so people should go meat-free for one week. Campaign organizers are hopeful that new veg-pledgers will discover the benefits and delicious flavors of a vegetarian lifestyle, and in effect, protect the planet and save the animals. This year’s VegWeek takes place from April 18th – 24th and thousands across the U.S. are expected to participate.
Go Veg Like Emily Deschanel! Vegetarian Diet Lowers Risk for Colorectal Cancers: Study
A recent study published in JAMA Internal Medicine looked at the association between vegetarian dietary patterns and colorectal cancer incidents.
A team from Loma Linda University, a Seventh-day Adventist establishment in California, analyzed medical records of 77,659 Seventh-day Adventists between 2002 and 2007. Researchers suggested that Seventh-day Adventists are generally healthy and have long-lived populations—and they wanted to figure out why. Analytic samples were conducted between June and October of 2014.
Researchers discovered the following:
- Vegetarians who ate fish had a 43% lower risk of developing colorectal cancers compared to non-vegetarians (this could possibly be due to the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish).
- Vegetarians who ate eggs and milk had an 18% lower risk of developing colorectal cancers compared to non-vegetarians.
- Vegans had a 16% lower risk of developing colorectal cancers compared to non-vegetarians.
Researchers suggested that vegetarians might be protected from colorectal cancer because their diets tend to be higher in fiber, they eat more plant-based foods and less meat. They concluded that since vegetarian diets are linked with an overall lower frequency of colorectal cancers—these associations may be vital for prevention of colorectal cancers.
Sources:
Emily Deschanel Twitter. 10:54 a.m. – 7 Apr 2016.
https://twitter.com/emilydeschanel/status/718134873865658369.
Orlich, M.J., “Vegetarian Dietary Patterns and the Risk of Colorectal Cancers,” JAMA Internal Medicine, 2015;175(5):767-776. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.59, http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2174939.
