VEGETABLE OILS = HEART HEALTH

I know this is starting to sound like a broken record, but the studies keep coming in, confirming that plant foods are a great benefit to the heart. Vegetable oils found in leafy green vegetables, nuts and flaxseed reduce a woman's risk of dying from heart disease, researchers have reported. This article even starts to tease out that fact so hard for most journalists to grasp - There's. No. Good. Reason. To. Eat. Fish. "The study, presented to a meeting of the American Heart Association, offers an alternative to women worried about getting mercury in fish and fish oil supplements that have also been shown to lower heart risk. Dr. Christine Albert of Harvard Medical School said of the plant fats (alpha-linolenic acid): "During the 16 years of follow-up, women who had higher ALA intake had a significantly lower risk of dying from sudden cardiac death or coronary heart disease."

FRUITS AND VEGGIES = HEART HEALTH

Another study, this one a big larger than most, confirms that a plant-based diet is your best bet for heart health: "A multiyear study involving more than 100,000 participants provides added support that eating lots of fruit and vegetables is good for the heart. The report supports the American Heart Association's recommendations to consume at least five servings of fruit and vegetables per day, according to the researchers, led by Dr. Walter Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health. For cancer, the report said, 'The protective effect of fruit and vegetable intake may have been overstated.'" Maybe - or maybe it was just misstated: The protective effect vis-a-vis cancer would probably be that of not eating so much toxic meat that gives you cancer. Just a theory, of course.

'TIS THE SEASON...

For troglodytes with weapons to go out and shoot each other, as well as other humans, which is to say, any animals of whatever stripe that get in the way of their big manly guns. And true to form, there they go: A Virginia man was fatally shot by a hunting companion, and two other hunters survived shootings in separate accidents over the weekend. Meanwhile in Colorado, a guy named Cory Ruchti was shot by his hunting buddy, who mistook him for an elk the two were tracking. And not to ignore the kiddies and their need for personal expression with high-powered weapons, a teen hunter in Virginia mistook another hunter for a deer - the latter was carrying a tree stand, which apparently made him a dead ringer for same - and shot him in the stomach, wounding but not killing him. Not so lucky was James Griffin Jr., of Maine, who died in the woods as a result of a gunshot wound to the torso, fired by a fellow gunslinger from his own hunting party. And David Williams of Florida told investigators he thought the two men on horses approaching him in the dark were wolves, which is why he started firing, blowing a hole in the arm of his own hunting guide. That one we can understand - because wolves are so scary they can make a lot of people do irrational things.

MEAT CAUSES DIABETES - CONFIRMED AGAIN

I could swear we've already covered this, but it appears to be a new study, from the Archives of Internal Medicine, November 8, 2004, confirming once again, one last time, once and for all, that "Red meats and processed meats such as hot dogs appear to increase the risk of diabetes, as does a heavily 'Western' diet." OK? Got that? Don't make me tell you again.

E.COLI OUTBREAK IN NORTH CAROLINA GROWS

An outbreak of E. coli infections linked to a state fair is larger than previously thought, with more than 100 additional cases under review and 31 infections confirmed. CNN says: "The most common link among victims is that some visited a petting zoo at the fair. Many children were infected, including three who developed a serious complication that can cause kidney failure." Add "petting" to the categories of zoo that are more trouble - for animals and people - than they're worth.

VEGAN FOODS MAY REPLACE MEDICINE

I don't know if this guy is considered a crackpot down under, but an Australian newspaper is reporting on "Superfoods," which as I've noted before, tend to be the same as "Vegan Foods," and a scientist in Sydney. The fellow in question, Rod Markam, Head of the Australian Centre of Neuropsychotherapy, actually comes out and says it: "The future of medicine will be found in superfoods provided to us from the ground. We will eventually be largely vegetarian because we will have realised the health benefits."

DOG CALLS 911, SAVES WOMAN'S LIFE

Faith, a 4-year-old Rottweiler, phoned 911 when Leana Beasley fell out of her wheelchair and barked urgently into the receiver until a dispatcher sent help, then unlocked the front door for the police officer. Not that incredible, since this is largely what the dog was trained to do. But note that the dog also tried to warn Beasley of a liver problem detected by her super-sensitive nose. More animal brains in the news.