In the latest McDougall Newsletter, Dr. McDougall compares the health of the presidential candidates, based on reports of their diet, exercise routines, medications, and other factors. To be fair, the conclusion isn’t too surprising: “While it is impossible to predict with certainty any person’s future health, time of death, or degree of disability, the evidence at hand clearly says John McCain is in relatively poor health and Barack Obama is in excellent health. All politics aside, no one could conclude otherwise. To McCain’s credit he appears to be holding up well during this grueling campaign, but his current appearances do not negate the medical facts.”

McDougall also reviewed his recent Advanced Study Weekend, including a photo slideshow.

And, of course, some more recipes. The Garden Potato Medley sounds great.

What the 21st Century Will Taste Like: “The machinery that’s pumped so much meat into our lives over the last half century was never built to last, and now it’s breaking down big-time. Feed is more expensive. Gasoline is more expensive. Milk, rice, butter, corn–it’s all going through the roof. And for the foreseeable future, it’s not coming back down.”

The article about meat shrinking from the diet by Momofuku chef David Chang has the usual anti-vegetarian slant by a lot of chefs, though: “At Momofuku, we’ve made a name for ourselves selling lots of pig and not accommodating vegetarians. So, yeah, I recognize the hypocrisy of me–Captain Fucking Pork Bun–telling you to eat more veggies and less meat. Guilty as charged. But don’t get me wrong: My restaurants still won’t kowtow to vegetarians. We will, however, focus more on vegetable and grain dishes in which meat adds flavor, not heft.”