"omnivore" news and stories

Photo: Le Fooding

Summer's salad days -- which some calorie-counting, bikini-wearing types take literally -- are coming to a close, as beach bags are upended and emptied of sand across the country.

September always has us craving heartier fare: cheese, bread, red wine, prosciutto, frites. We start clicking on plane fares to Europe, only to shudder at the prices.

Thank goodness, then, that Paris is doing us a favor and hopping stateside this September in the form of several events. Francophiles in New York City and beyond might be intrigued by 'Le Fooding,' a two-day urban picnic held at P.S.1, one of the city's fairer museums, on September 25th and 26th.

A dozen well-known Parisian and New York chefs will be joined by mixologists, DJs and performance artists in a two-day extravaganza. We wouldn't have given it much pause if we didn't see the famous Bo Ssam from Gotham's Momofuku on offer alongside grilled chicken necks drizzled with yuzu by WD-50's Wylie Dusfresne and several tempting items from a variety of well-known Parisian eateries. Tickets are $30 per day, and we're liking the Friday night lineup.

There has been a 75% increase in the "twinning" rate since 1980 and a new study published in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine is saying that it has to do with dairy consumption. In a study that compared omnivores, lacto-vegetarians and vegans, omnivores were the most likely to have twins. The scientists attributed this to the fact that they had much higher levels of  insulin-like growth factor (IGF) in their bloodstream, and that those levels, which were also lowest in the vegan women, directly corresponded to the likelihood of having twins.

Common sense should tell you that humans have been consuming animal products - including dairy - for thousands of years. A change in the birthrate over the last two decades is indicative of something that happened in the last several decades, not with dairy in general. And, in fact, the physician in charge of the study noted that the increase "may also be a consequence of the introduction of growth-hormone treatment of cows to enhance their milk and beef production." This seems like a logical explanation, since it offers a reason why dairy may now be having an effect on the birth rate of twins.

Doctors in the study suggested that women consider non-animal protein sources during their pregnancies to help decrease the risks associated with multiple births. It sounds like they should be recommending that women increase their non-animal diet before becoming pregnant, as well.

 

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