A devoted rescued dog is just what the doctor ordered.

It turns out that the hypoallergenic dog fad is something to sneeze at. Henry Ford Hospital's Department of Public Health Sciences analyzed dust samples from homes with alleged Benadryl-banishing pups and homes with regular dogs and found no difference in allergen levels.

Dogs like poodles, bichons frisés, and Labradoodles are marketed as "hypoallergenic" because they shed less (their long hair takes longer to grow to its full length and fall out). But of course, these dogs still shed, shake, scratch, and do all sorts of other dog activities that release dander. According to the chair of the Division of Allergic Diseases in the Department of Internal Medicine at the Mayo Clinic, "There is no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog breed …"

Rather than supporting breeders and puppy mills, which rake in money with no thought for the millions of dogs in shelters literally dying for a good home, people who want to share their lives with a dog should adopt a good old-fashioned mutt and experience a whole different type of watery-eye moment.  

 
Written by Michelle Sherrow

hyscience / CC

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:

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?

Written by Alisa Mullins