Give out vegan-friendly sweets this Halloween

"Vegans have no need to be scared on Halloween. Even though some candies have hidden animal products, there's still a variety of tasty treats to please even the pickiest of trick-or-treaters.

You could be trying to raise a vegan child or just want to hand out treats that don't betray your beliefs.

There is a surprising amount of vegan candy available produced by vegan and mainstream companies.

Some vegan food companies, such as Sun Flour Baking Company (www.sunflourbaking.com), offer vegan-friendly Halloween gift baskets of goodies.

Parents who want to keep their children vegan on this candy-filled holiday should be prepared.

Look for a vegan-vegetarian-friendly Halloween event to attend or make a game of sorting candy post-trick-or-treating. If your children are old enough to read, tell them to look for animal products such as gelatin, casein, honey, lard and pepsin in the ingredients list of the candies they collected.

Put all the candy with animal products in a special trade-in pile and have a variety of vegan candy to swap for the nonvegan candy.

Peta Kids (www.petakids.com) offers this list of vegan candy to use as a guide:

Airheads taffy, Atkins peanut butter bars, Blow Pops, Brach's Cinnamon Hard Candy, Charms lollipops, Chick-o-Sticks, Cracker Jack, Cry Babies, Dem Bones, Dots, Dum-Dums, Fireballs, Goldenberg's Peanut Chews, Hubba Bubba bubblegum, Jolly Ranchers (lollipops and hard candy), Jujubees, Jujyfruits, Lemonheads, Mambas, Mary Janes (regular and peanut butter kisses), Now and Later, Pez, Ring Pop lollipops, Smarties (U.S. Brand), Sour Patch Kids, Starburst (jelly beans and hard candy), Super Bubble, Swedish Fish, Sweet Tarts, Tropical Source mini chocolate bags, Twizzlers and Zotz."

US recalls ground beef over E.coli worries

"A US meat processing firm is recalling some 2,360 kilograms of ground beef possibly tainted by E. coli bacteria, health officials said, just weeks after several people died from contaminated fresh spinach."

Def Leppard Guitarist Rocks a Vegan Diet

Legendary rock band DEF LEPPARD is enjoying critical acclaim for its 12th studio album, 'Yeah!', and — in the midst of a whirlwind world tour — guitarist Phil Collen took time out of his busy schedule to record a public service announcement (PSA) for PETA in which he sings the praises of a vegetarian diet.

'Not only is a vegetarian lifestyle healthier, it's better for the animals and for the environment,' says Collen, who has been a vegetarian for more than 20 years. Visitors to PETA's Web site GoVeg.com can watch Collen's videotaped interview and enter a drawing to win a Fender guitar signed by Collen, which he has had with him on this current tour.

In an exclusive interview with GoVeg.com, Collen talks about how making the connection between living, breathing animals and the carved up bodies on his plate was what convinced him to forgo animal flesh once and for all.

'It started freaking me out eating dead body parts,' he says. 'The whole Jeffrey Dahmer fridge concept of things was weird. It started when I was a kid, but you know, you have that whole parent propaganda when they say, 'Oh no, you got to eat this, and it's OK,' and even when you go, 'Well, that chicken is kind of like...a dog,' and they go, 'Come on, eat, eat, eat your meat,' and I always felt kind of uncomfortable. And I think when I got to a certain age, when you start making choices for yourself, that's when I was like well, I am not going to do this anymore.'
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Vegan Diet Bests ADA Plan at Diabetes Control

"The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a crusading group that has long ranked vegetarianism high on its agenda, has made a compelling case for a low-fat vegan diet to improve glycemic control.

Both a low-fat vegan diet and a diet following American Diabetes Association guidelines improved glycemic control and cardiovascular risk factors in patients with type 2 diabetes, found a 22-week study partially funded by NIH and published in the August issue of Diabetes Care.

But the vegan diet was better, reported Neal D. Barnard, M.D., an adjunct associate professor of medicine at George Washington University, who is president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and colleagues.

The vegan diet -- consisting of fruits, vegetables and grains but no animal products and only limited added fats -- did a better job of lowering glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C) levels, body weight, and LDL, reported Dr. Barnard."

Study: Low-fat, vegan diet might be best for type-2 diabetes

"People with type-2 diabetes might be able to lose more weight and deal better with the disease by following a low-fat, vegan diet - rather than commonly recommended low-carbohydrate diets - a study released Thursday found.

The study, conducted by the vegan organization Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and George Washington University, followed 99 people with type-2 diabetes for 22 weeks - half ate a vegan diet and half followed dietary guidelines from the American Diabetes Association.

Members of both groups lowered their weight, and improved blood glucose control and cholesterol levels.

But those who avoided meat and dairy had greater success, said Neal Barnard, president of PCRM, a nonprofit organization that focuses on preventive medicine and nutrition, and promotes vegetarian diets and alternatives to animal research."

Vegan cuisine is much more than 'rabbit food'

Interesting article, includes recipe for ravioli with vegan parmesan cheese:

"For the last 23 years my husband and I have evolved into a lifestyle free of animal products or by-products-a plant-based diet-which advocates health and compassion. We no longer allow meat, dairy or egg products or by-products into our diet. Our lifestyle has been labeled vegan. We are vegans!

And, for the last 23 years I have heard the same question, 'So...what do you eat?' Usually followed by 'rabbit food?'"

Why Vegan / Try Vegetarian

Some good points made in this article:

"For modern animal agriculture, the less the consumer knows about what’s happening before the meat hits the plate, the better."

Being a vegan is nothing of mythic proportions | The University Daily Kansan

Interesting article:

"I always get a strange look whenever I tell people I’m a vegan. Some people have an expression of disbelief upon hearing that a fellow homo sapien could be alive and standing without animal products in their diet. Some look in awe that I can sustain such a complex lifestyle. Others glare back in mocking disgust because they themselves need meat. Most non-vegans seem to have a great many misconceptions about vegans.

I will dispel some of these myths."

Click the link for more.

SuperVegan - Homepage

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's SuperVegan. New website:

"Welcome to SuperVegan, a shockingly ambitious website made by vegans for vegans. Check out our New York City restaurant guide and our vegan web directory, as well as all the latest vegan-interest news "

Vegan Diets Promote Weight Loss

"A review of a vegetarian diet shows it is highly effective for weight loss. Noticeably vegetarian populations tend to be slimmer than meat-eaters, and experience lower rates of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other life-threatening conditions linked to overweight and obesity.

The review, analyzing data from 87 other studies, shows the weight-loss effect does not rely on exercise or calorie counting, and its individuals lose weight at a rate of approximately 1 pound per week.

Susan E. Berkow, Ph.D says, 'Our research reveals that people can enjoy unlimited portions of high- fiber foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains to achieve or maintain a healthy body weight without feeling hungry.”

Berkow continues, 'There is evidence that a vegan diet causes an increased calorie burn after meals, meaning plant-based foods are being used more efficiently as fuel for the body, as opposed to being stored as fat.'

Dieticians believe insulin sensitivity is increased by a vegan diet, allowing nutrients to more rapidly enter the cells of the body to be converted to heat rather than to fat.

Researchers found that the body weight of both male and female vegetarians is, on average, 3 percent to 20 percent lower than that of meat-eaters."