Fiber-starved gut bacteria eat your lining, plus a vegan cancer review
When dietary fiber runs short, gut bacteria start digesting the mucus lining that protects your intestine instead, two new studies from Princeton's Ludwig Institute find
4 top stories14 sources read69 articles scanned6 sides of vegan life
When dietary fiber runs short, gut bacteria start digesting the mucus lining that protects your intestine instead, two new studies from Princeton's Ludwig Institute find [22]
02
A meta-analysis of vegetarian and vegan diets found vegetarians have 13% lower total cancer risk and vegans 23% lower, with vegan diets also tied to less breast cancer [11]
03
South Africa's "Monkey Man," animal rescuer Steve Smit, died August 12 at 70 after three decades pulling injured vervet monkeys out of trees, roofs and traffic [63]
04
A Yucca Valley, California activist filed a proposed ordinance banning rodeo gear like spurs and flank straps, setting up a fight with a pro-rodeo nonprofit eyeing a 2027 event [66]
05
Billie Eilish's mom, Maggie Baird, shared a tofu-based vegan cottage cheese recipe through her nonprofit Support + Feed [57]
The movement today▲Research & Nutrition▬Activism & Animals▬Law & PolicyThe receipts →
The Stories: the day’s biggest developments, in the sources’ own words
01▲Research & NutritionStory
Scientists find gut bacteria eat the gut lining when fiber runs short
Photo: sciencedaily
“Diet holds great promise for controlling the microbiome and its outputs. But to devise effective therapeutic interventions, we need to understand what aspects of the diet control which microbial outputs.”
Joshua Rabinowitz, director, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at Princeton · [22]
“We think Prifs represent an emerging class of dietary nutrients that shape the composition of the gut microbiome and could have a far-reaching influence on metabolic health.”
Jenna AbuSalim, Ludwig Princeton researcher · [22]
Early"digestion-resistant plant protein modulates microbiome metabolism and, together with fiber, supports healthy metabolite profiles associated with plant-based diets" (the study authors) [25]. The finding rests on isotope-tracing experiments in mice, not yet a human trial.
FromPrimary SourcesDiet and Weight Loss News -- ScienceDaily
02▲Research & NutritionStory
Meta-analysis ties vegetarian and vegan diets to lower cancer risk across sites
Wikimedia Commons / Broccoli
By the numbers
13%lower total cancer risk for vegetarians versus non-vegetarians [11]
23%lower total cancer risk for vegans versus non-vegetarians [11]
45%lower stomach cancer risk for vegetarians versus non-vegetarians [11]
Early"Vegetarian diets compared to non-vegetarian diets are associated with reduced risk of total cancer and seven specific cancer types, while vegan diets are associated with reduced risk of total and breast cancer." (the meta-analysis authors) [11]. The pooled evidence comes from prospective observational cohorts, graded "probable" by World Cancer Research Fund criteria for total, colorectal, colon and breast cancer, not randomized trials.
From(plant-based diet[tiab] OR vegan diet[tiab] OR vegans[tiab]) AND
03▬Activism & AnimalsStory
South Africa's 'Monkey Man' animal rescuer Steve Smit dies at 70
Photo: Conservation news
By the numbers
30 yearshe spent rescuing and rehabilitating vervet monkeys and other urban wildlife around KwaZulu-Natal [63]
1985the year he founded FALCON, described as South Africa's first animal-rights organization [63]
70his age when he died on August 12, after a battle with cancer [63]
FromConservation news
04▬Law & PolicyStory
California desert-town activist files an ordinance banning rodeo gear like spurs
Photo: humane herald
By the numbers
22,000residents of Yucca Valley, California, where an activist is pushing a ban on rodeo tools including spurs, flank straps, ropes and prods [66]
70,000the wider Morongo Basin population caught up in the fight over the town's dormant rodeo [66]
WatchA pro-rodeo nonprofit is organizing a rodeo for Memorial Day weekend 2027; Yucca Valley's town council has not yet scheduled a vote on the proposed ordinance [66]
FromThe Humane Herald
Worth Knowing
Food & Recipes
Cook this: Mushroom Bolognese from the PlantYou cookbook swaps meat for finely chopped cremini mushrooms, peppers and cherry tomatoes in a fettuccine sauce [60]
Research & Nutrition
A FIBROVEG trial found a vegan Mediterranean diet cut LDL cholesterol 21.2 mg/dL more than a standard Mediterranean diet in women with fibromyalgia over six weeks [3]
A dose-response meta-analysis linked healthful plant-based eating to 21% lower dementia risk and unhealthful plant-based eating to 24% higher risk [19]
A crossover feeding trial found a whole-food, plant-based diet cut LDL cholesterol 17.9% more than a standard American diet in adults with familial hypercholesterolemia [6]
The FOOD-1 crossover trial found a plant-based meat diet lowered the cardiovascular marker TMAO versus a red-meat diet, though body weight ticked up slightly [13]
A four-university crossover study found recreational runners and lifters saw no significant drop in performance switching to a plant-based diet [17]
A meta-analysis of seven trials found plant-based diets lowered the inflammation marker CRP by 1.13 mg/L compared with omnivorous diets [12]
Cutting processed and unprocessed animal foods on a vegan diet was tied to more weight loss and fewer severe hot flashes in postmenopausal women [2]
A UK trial found renaming menus so plant-based and meat mains no longer match, a "Falafel Burger" instead of a "Beef Burger", raised plant-based meal selection from 21% to 30% among meat-eaters [14]
Activism & Animals
Tanzanian conservationist John Salehe, who built community-run wildlife corridors between Lake Manyara and Tarangire, died June 19 at 71 [64]
One Good Thing
Portugal's 400-year-old Buçaco National Forest just became the world's fourth certified "therapeutic forest," and the first in the Iberian Peninsula. It holds roughly 250 species of trees and shrubs and more than 56 species of mammals, birds, bats and amphibians, some of them rare. Foundation president Gonçalo Breda Marques called the certification a source of "global status" and "great responsibility" for the site [67]. A four-century-old forest, still standing, still full of animals, now with the paperwork to prove it matters.
Primary Sources
