Health matters are a part of an active and vibrant Adventist lifestyle. It was reported in February that a medical study confirmed that nuts play a significant role in reducing the risk of heart disease and some forms of cancer. These results mirror findings of an earlier study, involving 34,000 Adventists in California, which demonstrated that vegetarians who frequently included nuts in their diet reduced their risk of heart attack by up to 50 percent.

An anti-milk campaign in March in the United States calling to replace milk with beer brought criticism from a health spokesperson for the Adventist Church. The campaign urged college students to drink beer instead of milk. In April, a church official warned that alcohol abuse is on the increase worldwide.

Health spokesperson for the Adventist Church in North America, DeWitt Williams, rejected claims that a new brand of cigarette has a lower risk of smoking-associated cancer.

In April, plans were announced to develop new proton treatment for breast cancer at Loma Linda University, a health and educational facility owned and operated by the Adventist Church.

An Australian study of 245 Adventist pastors who follow a vegetarian diet found that 73 percent had unacceptably low levels of vitamin B-12. The results warn that vegetarians should be particularly aware of the need to consume the minimum daily requirement of vitamin B-12. An AIDS study committee was established by the Adventist Church’s General Conference, and is charged with tracking the impact of HIV/AIDS on society and the church, and recom-mending new, more effective ways for the Adventist Church to respond to the worldwide epidemic.

Researchers at Loma Linda University Medical Center are developing strains of tomatoes and potatoes they hope will eventually be used to provide immunization against cholera, rotavirus, and enterotoxigenic E. coli, better known as “traveler’s diarrhea.”