Woman’s Day / cc

As if the H1N1 flu (aka “swine flu”) weren’t evil enough, it now turns out that if you get sick with the flu, you could pass it along to your animal companions. A cat in Iowa recently made the news after testing positive for H1N1—the first time a cat has been diagnosed with the virus. Two of the cat’s three human companions had been sick with the flu before the kitty started showing symptoms.

So what can you do to avoid infecting Max and Mittens if you’re feeling ill? Basically, use the same precautions you would take to prevent spreading your germs to any family member. In case you need a refresher, here are some tips:

• Don’t cough or sneeze on your animals—cover your mouth with a tissue or the crook of your arm.

• Wash your hands frequently.

• Don’t share eating utensils with your animals (e.g., no letting Lulu lap up the rest of your veggie soup until you’re healthy again).

• Limit contact with your animal companions (e.g., hold off on the doggy kisses), but be sure not to ignore or neglect them. Enlist a healthy friend or family member, if necessary, to play with, walk, and cuddle your animals for a few days until you’re no longer contagious.

• Closely monitor your animal companions’ health. If they show any signs of the flu—such as lethargy, loss of appetite, fever, runny nose and/or eyes, sneezing, coughing, or changes in breathing—get them to the vet, pronto.

• For more tips on protecting your animal companions from H1N1, visit the American Veterinary Medical Association’s site.

Of course, the most effective way to protect your loved ones from H1N1 is to avoid getting the virus in the first place. My advice? Fight back against the cruel factory farming industry, which breeds H1N1 and other diseases, by going vegan!

With good-enough-to-eat ingredients and scents that revitalize and soothe, Pharmacopia body-care products are just what the doctor ordered to make your skin—and spirit—glow. Now, we are giving five lucky winners the chance to get a prize pack for free!

Lovingly crafted from organic, plant-based ingredients including essential oils, extra-virgin olive oil, chamomile flowers, sea algae, shea butter, and more, Pharmacopia’s hand creams, massage oils, body lotions, soaps, body washes, elixirs, and other products reflect the company’s belief that what you put on your body is just as important as what you put in it.

What won’t you find in Pharmacopia products? Nasty things like artificial colors, fillers, fragrances, synthetics, parabens, and animal-derived ingredients. That’s right—all of Pharmacopia’s products are entirely vegan! Best of all, Pharmacopia never, ever tests its products on animals. The company’s beautiful, hand-designed packages—which are inspired by 19th century apothecaries and herb stores in France—proudly feature PETA’s cruelty-free and vegan bunny logo.

To celebrate Pharmacopia’s kindness to animals, we’ve teamed up with the company to give five lucky winners a prize package, including Ginger Body Wash, Ginger Bath Salts, and Ginger Hand Cream—a $51 value! Just fill out the form below by November 23 to be entered in the running, and if you’re a winner, we’ll notify you by December 1. Good luck!

Order a free copy today!

The following post is a guest post by PETA celebrity marketing coordinator Lauren Gordon.

You can catch Kelly Carlson on TV’s hot dramas Nip/Tuck and Melrose Place—and now she can also be found in your pocket! Kelly is the latest face to grace the cover of PETA’s cruelty-free shopping guide and encourages consumers to buy only products that have not been smeared in rabbits’ eyes, injected into mice, or force-fed to guinea pigs.

Each year, millions of animals are forced to undergo excruciatingly painful testing to evaluate consumer products. These tests are barbaric and unreliable. Plus, there are effective alternatives that don’t involve hurting animals. Buying products from only cruelty-free companies saves the lives of animals while sending a strong message to government and companies that animal testing is wrong and unnecessary.

Stash PETA’s cruelty-free shopping guide in your pocket or toss it into your purse before heading to the store. With so many great companies inside, being beautiful is a snap!

Order a free copy of the pocket-sized 2010 Shopping Guide for Caring Consumers here. For more information, please visit CaringConsumer.com.

The following post is a guest post by PETA Partnership Marketing Program Manager, Jill Ettinger.

As the saying goes, cleanliness is next to “veganness,” and here at PETA, when it comes to getting clean, we love the vegan scrubs, soaps, lotions, and potions from LUSH. After all, LUSH has been on PETA’s cruelty-free list for as long as we can remember. Recently, LUSH announced that all its soaps (in addition to always being cruelty-free) are now available with a new base that is free of palm oil.

According to LUSH’s press release, in an effort to help end rainforest destruction as a result of palm oil production, LUSH is writing to the top 300 companies that use palm oil and asking them to reformulate their products to no longer include it. If any of these companies decide to wash their hands of palm oil, LUSH will supply their headquarters with a year’s supply of soap!

Enter to Win a Pack of LUSH Palm-Free Soaps!
LUSH is so stoked about its new line of palm-free soaps that it’s letting us give some away too. To enter to win a five-pack of awesome soaps, fill out the form below by November 2, and we will notify the lucky winner by November 10. Good luck!

This contest has ended.

faqs.org / cc

Ever since I wrote about the American Dietetic Association’s updated position paper in support of vegetarianism, I’ve heard from people who really want to go vegetarian or vegan but just aren’t sure how. Others need a little more help convincing their loved ones that veganism is safe and easy.

It’s exciting that so many people are ready to give peas a chance, so to speak! It’s easy being vegan, and the following tips should help get you started—or help you persuade your worrywart friends and relatives that vegan foods are nutritious, delicious, and widely available.

1. Just Veg Out: For optimal health, eat an array of fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and all the nutritious foods that can be made from them. Inexpensive, versatile vegan staples, like beans, lentils, leafy greens, rice, pasta, peanut butter, and tofu, can be used in a variety of recipes.

2. Easy Does It: Don’t worry if you’re not a celebrity chef—you don’t have to make elaborate dishes. You can whip up tasty meals with little effort. Try a vegan wrap with hummus, lettuce, tomatoes, green onions, sprouts, and shredded carrots. For innovative lunch ideas, see veganlunchbox.blogspot.com.

3. Mocks Rock: Choose veggie burgers rather than hamburgers, soy sausage over pork sausage, and tasty faux chicken instead of chicken flesh. Check out this list of popular mock meats, egg replacers, and dairy-free milks, cheeses, and desserts.

4. Simple Substitutes: Many of the things you likely already eat can easily be “veganized” just by swapping one or two ingredients. For example, you can make manwiches or “meat sauce” with Veggie Burger Crumbles.

5. Accidentally Vegan: Some of the packaged foods you already buy are likely vegan too, even though they aren’t marketed that way. Check out this list of “accidentally vegan” foods.

6. Eat at Moe’s: Many popular chain restaurants, including Johnny Rockets, P.F. Chang’s, and Moe’s Mexican restaurant have vegetarian and vegan options.

7. Ethnic Options: Most Indian, Ethiopian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, and Middle Eastern restaurants offer a variety of vegan options. Don’t be afraid to try new cuisines!

8. Vacation With Your Values: It’s easy to take your vegetarian diet with you when you go away. Visit www.vegdining.com and www.happycow.net for a list of vegetarian-friendly restaurants at your destination. Many travel books, like the Lonely Planet guides, offer suggestions for vegetarian travelers too.

9. A Good Influence: Whether you’re young and need help convincing your parents that you can get all the nutrients you need from a vegetarian diet or you’re a parent trying to persuade your children to eat healthier, PCRM’s tips and meal ideas can help you out.

10. Vegetarian-Friendly: If your friends and family members don’t share your interest in vegetarianism, join a local vegetarian society, attend vegetarian potlucks or conferences, or simply chat online with other like-minded folks at www.vegsource.com.

Not enough advice? Don’t worry: We have even more tips for making the transition to a vegan diet.

In the past, when compassionate consumers made the switch to cruelty-free cosmetics, it could be challenging to find equally cruelty-free makeup brushes made without animal fur.

Happily, this has changed, and EcoTools is leading the way, delighting shoppers with a line of fabulous fur-free, vegan brushes that can be easily found in a wide range of supermarkets, drugstores, and discount stores.

As the name suggests, EcoTools brushes are also environmentally friendly, made from renewable and recycled resources. As if this weren’t enough, EcoTools donates 1 percent of sales to environmental organizations.

Based on their quality and value, EcoTools brushes were chosen by InStyle as a 2009 Best Beauty Buy, and EcoTools was recognized by PETA with an award for Best Cruelty-Free Brushes in our sixth annual Proggy Awards.

Where to put all those fantastic brushes? No worries—EcoTools has teamed up with actor Alicia Silverstone to produce a selection of gorgeous (and green) bags, available in December, to help you carry your look wherever you go!

Enter to Win One of Four Travel-Ready Product Packages From EcoTools!
Fill out the form below by September 30 and you may win one of four packages of great EcoTools products—including travel sets of brushes and body-care products as well as cellulose facial sponges, a foot pumice stone, and a retractable kabuki brush. We’ll let you know if you’re a winner by October 6. Enter now!

This Contest has now ended.

hyscience / cc

The following post was originally posted by PETA Files writer, Alisa Mullins.

Guess what, people: Eating vegetarian food is good for you! If you don’t believe me, just ask the American Dietetic Association (ADA), which had the following to say in its latest position paper on vegetarian diets:

The results of an evidence-based review showed that a vegetarian diet is associated with a lower risk of death from ischemic heart disease. Vegetarians also appear to have lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, and lower rates of hypertension and type 2 diabetes than nonvegetarians. Furthermore, vegetarians tend to have a lower body mass index and lower overall cancer rates.

Need more proof? Check out the following recent studies:

• According to a study published in the Journal of Nutrition, people with type 2 diabetes who consumed 40 grams of soy protein isolate per day for nearly two months saw significant reductions in both their LDL cholesterol and the ratio of LDL to HDL cholesterol. This is just the latest in a long list of studies showing that soy lowers cholesterol—the FDA even permits companies to boast about the cholesterol-lowering effects of soy on their product labels.

• In more soy news, an amino acid found in higher concentrations in soy and other vegetable proteins can lower your blood pressure.

• In addition to clogging your arteries, a low-carb diet makes you stupid—at least that’s the conclusion of a recent study at Tufts University in Boston. Scientists there found that young women performed worse on mental acuity tests after just one week on the Atkins diet and other low-carb diets. D’oh—you could’ve aced that chemistry final if only you’d had a V8!

• Speaking of V8, a Mayo Clinic study has found that eating lots of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables may reduce your risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Bad news for people who hate broccoli—taking antioxidant supplements doesn’t have the same effect.

• A study at Oxford University backed up these findings and even went a bit further, concluding that vegetarians slashed their risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, leukemia, and other blood cancers by 45 percent.

So, how’s about we mosey on over to VegCooking.com and get started fixing up a mess of cholesterol-lowering, artery-unclogging, cancer risk–slashing, brain-boosting veggies, shall we?

Alanna Risse / cc

Have you ever noticed that a lot of fruits and veggies are shaped like human body parts? Many plant foods, including tomatoes, walnuts, celery, and others look just like certain body parts, and it turns out that their appearance may hold clues to what they can do for you. Check this out:

• Tomatoes have four chambers and are red, just like the heart. Tomatoes are loaded with lycopene, a powerful antioxidant that may be heart-protective.

• Mom was right when she said that carrots are good for your eyesight! Have you ever noticed that a carrot sliced the “round way” looks like a human eye? Science shows that carrots greatly enhance blood flow to the eyes as well as the function of them.

• Walnuts look like little brains, and they are brain food indeed! Walnuts help develop more than three dozen neurotransmitters needed for brain functioning.

• Kidney beans weren’t named that for nothing. They heal our kidneys and help them function.

• Celery, bok choy, and rhubarb resemble bones, and they can help make yours strong. Just like bones, these foods are 23 percent sodium. If we don’t get enough sodium, our bodies pull it from our bones, which can make them weak. These foods can help replenish our skeletal system.

• Avocadoes, eggplants, and pears are shaped like the female cervix and womb, and these foods can work wonders “down under.” Get this: It takes exactly nine months for an avocado to grow from a blossom to a ripened fruit. According to research, eating one avocado a week can help women balance their hormones, shed unwanted baby weight, and even prevent cervical cancer! Guacamole, anyone?

• Figs are loaded with seeds and hang in pairs. Sound like anything else? These sexy fruits increase sperm counts and improve sperm mobility in men, which can help overcome infertility.

• Sweet news for diabetics! Sweet potatoes, which look like the pancreas, can actually help balance diabetics’ glycemic levels.

• Oranges, grapefruits, and other citrus fruits resemble mammary glands and help keep breasts healthy by promoting the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.

• Onions look like cells, and they help clear waste from all the body’s cells. The tears we shed while cutting onions even help wash the outer layers of our eyes. The cousin of the onion, garlic, also helps our bodies eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals.

Seems to me these aren’t just coincidences. After all, according to biologists and anthropologists who study our anatomy and our evolutionary history, humans are natural herbivores. So if you want to be your healthiest, pass up meat, eggs, and milk (and the pharmacy!) and head to the produce section instead!

teamsugar /cc

Lori Bergamotto of RealSimple.com recently posted an article about the best drugstore shampoos and conditioners. As caring consumers, we were bummed to see that none of the products featured were , cruelty-free, so below, we have made a cruelty-free version of this list for all you compassionate consumers out there.

In addition to our top picks, you can also search for more cruelty-free products here or even take this handy list along with you on your iPhone.

PETA staff picks for their favorite budget-friendly hair-care products:

Shampoo for Dry Hair
David Babaii for WildAid Hydrating Shampoo, $10

Best Shampoo for Oily Hair
Freeman Papaya and Lime, Shine Shampoo, $4

Best Dandruff Shampoo
Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Treat Shampoo, $8

Best Shampoo for Curly or Wavy Hair
Kiss My Face Big Body Volumizing Shampoo, $8

Best Shampoo for Fine Hair
Avalon Organics Rosemary Volumizing Shampoo With Wheat Protein, $9

Best Shampoo for Color-Treated Hair
Yes to Cucumbers Daily Makeover Shampoo, $9

Best Shampoo for Chemically Processed Hair
L’Oreal EverPure Moisture Shampoo, Rosemary Juniper, $7
*L’Oreal is not a cruelty-free company, but the Ever Pure line is vegan and cruelty-free.

Best Conditioner for Normal Hair
White Rain Conditioner, Energizing Citrus, $1

Best Conditioner for Dry Hair
David Babaii for WildAid Hydrating Conditioner, $10

Best Conditioner for Oily Hair
Freeman Papaya and Lime, Shine Conditioner, $4

Best Conditioner for Dandruff
JASON Tea Tree Scalp Normalizing Conditioner, $7

Best Conditioner for Curly or Wavy Hair
Giovanni Direct Leave-In Conditioner, $8

Best Conditioner for Fine Hair
Avalon Organics Rosemary Volumizing Conditioner With Wheat Protein, $9

Best Conditioner for Color-Treated Hair
L’Oreal EverPure Moisture Conditioner, Rosemary Mint, $7
*L’Oreal is not a cruelty-free company, but the Ever Pure line is vegan and cruelty-free.

Although the 21st century is still young, it has already seen method grow from a scrappy startup into a multimillion-dollar company whose eye-catching cleaning products have become nearly ubiquitous on the shelves of supermarkets and department stores. But method’s products are far more than just pretty packaging—they’re also safe, effective, environmentally friendly, and cruelty-free.

Founded in 2000 by childhood friends Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry (PETA’s 2006 “Persons of the Year”), method has revolutionized the cleaning products market by thinking outside the box—or rather the (recyclable) bottle, which may be shaped like a bowling pin or an hourglass. The product inside is equally innovative, made from natural and biodegradable ingredients and free of toxins that could harm you or your family members—including Fluffy or Fido.

Best of all, since method has assured PETA that it avoids both animal testing and animal-derived ingredients, you can enjoy the company’s great products knowing that they’ll keep your conscience as clean as your home!

Enter to Win a method Prize Package!
Fill out the form below by August 26 and you may win one of five prize packages with a selection of magnificent method cleaning products—including dish soaps, hand washes, all-surface cleaners, tub and tile wipes, and an assortment of specialty surface cleaners! We will let you know if you are a winner by August 31.

This contest has ended.