Esmmi.com

Even the Utah Beef Council admits, “Several epidemiological studies indicate that vegetarians have lower morbidity and mortality from chronic degenerative diseases.” Today, vegetarians only make up about two percent of the population, but everyday progressively people give up eating red meat or try their first bite of tofu. Aside from ethics, what are the main reasons people are turning away from meat? Health and the ecology.

Lower rates of disease amongst vegetarians

Hundreds of different studies concur, showing that vegetarians who eat balanced diets have lower rates of coronary artery disease, hypertension, obesity, and certain cancers. Registered Dietician Winston Craig says that flesh-eating costs Americans somewhere between $30-$60 billion each year in medical expenses for hypertension, heart condition, cancer, diabetes, gallstones, obesity, and food-borne illnesses associated with meat. Craig says that a vegetarian diet is associated with lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and less obesity. (more…)

As a family psychologist, I’m always interested in learning about different therapeutical approaches to helping kids. One approach that receives much less attention than it deserves is therapy involving animals, especially pets.

Animals can help reduce the vulnerability children feel when they’re working at different types of behaviors or emotional challenges. Whether you’ve to talk to your child about “all the missing cookies” or a more dangerous matter, the presence of a pet can continue way toward reducing his or her discomfort and self-consciousness. Being able to hug a dog or pet a cat while dealing with some tough issues helps to limit the feeling of “being on the spot.” The warmness of an animal’s body, the softness of its coat – the very fact that it’s a animate thing – provides an opportunity for emotional relief and connection.

Many pet owners say they enjoy the categoric love an animal provides. What is perhaps more important is the opportunity a pet provides to express love. (more…)