Lessons to be learned

A Buddhist Monk's Vegetarian Diet to Minimize Chemical Exposure

Weekday vegetarians ready to ramp up their meatless-ness may find inspiration in this recently released study in Environmental Health News. For five days, 25 study participants dwelled in a Buddhist temple and adopted a monk's lifestyle--including their oftentimes veggie-based diet.

Prior to their temple stay participants were asked to reveal what they had eaten during the previous 48 hours (consumables included beef, pork and dairy) and give urine samples. The results...

Though none of the participants had taken any antibiotics or pharmaceutical drugs in the previous month, levels of both antibiotics and phthalates were detected in their urine.

Unsurprisingly, after the five-day retreat, they found dramatic antibiotic and phthalate reductions in their post-urinalysis.