NYT > Fitness & Nutrition Tasty Vegan Food? Cupcakes Show It Can Be Done Vegan eating has had a growth spurt in recent years, but a victory on a Food Network baking show this summer has showered attention on vegan food's fine taste. Recipes for Health: End-of-Summer Stir-Fries With farmers’ markets overflowing, now is a perfect time for stir-frying. Patient Money: Food Safety Tips for the Budget-Conscious Safety experts have advice on ways to germ-proof your food, and still save money. City’s Efforts Fail to Dent Child Obesity Forty percent of the nearly 637,000 children in kindergarten through the eighth grade were found to be overweight or obese in the 2008-9 school year. Making Soldiers Fit to Fight, Without the Situps The goal of a new training program is to reduce injuries and better prepare recruits for the rigors of combat. Tai Chi Reported to Ease Fibromyalgia Slow exercise and meditation as practiced in an ancient Chinese regimen may help sufferers of a mysterious and controversial disease. Egg Recall Expanded After Salmonella Outbreak An Iowa company broadened a recall of its eggs to 380 million after hundreds of people got sick across the country. Personal Best: When Repeat Injuries Can’t Dim an Athlete’s Passion Despite strains, fractures and tears, we keep going, switching sports or even doctors. At least one expert would say we stubborn athletes have a psychological problem. Moose Offer Trail of Clues on Arthritis Research on moose suggests that arthritis in human beings may be linked in part to nutritional deficits. Q & A: A Calcium Quandary Do vitamin C and calcium in milk cancel each other’s benefits? Vital Signs: Diet: Low-Fat vs. Atkins: Parallel Results One of the longest trials to pit low-fat diets against Atkins-style diets found that participants lost the same amount of weight after two years, regardless of which diet they were on. Vital Signs: Hazards: Salmonella Is Traced to Dry Pet Food Salmonella infections in toddlers have been traced to dry pet food, the first time a strain has been linked to the food, health officials say. The Bay Citizen: Tofu Maker Is Idled After Recall of Products Quong Hop, one of the largest tofu makers in California, is shut down after yet another recall linked to food safety. The company’s future is now in doubt. Obesity Rates Keep Rising, Troubling Health Officials Nine states, led by Mississippi at 34.4 percent, have rates reaching 30 percent or more, as opposed to only three states in 2007. Feeding Dementia Patients With Dignity Some experts are suggesting “comfort feeding” as an alternative to feeding tubes, which some studies suggest do not necessarily prolong survival. Breast Milk Sugars Give Infants a Protective Coat A large part of human milk that cannot be digested by babies coats the lining of a breast-fed infant’s intestine, protecting it from noxious bacteria. Ad Rules Stall, Keeping Cereal a Cartoon Staple An effort to forge tougher advertising standards that favor healthful products has hit industry opposition. Personal Best: With This Rinse, Performance Improves A carbohydrate solution that doesn’t even have to be swallowed gives athletes a boost, exercise scientists find. Vital Signs: Childhood: Obesity in Young Subjects Drops in Study Sixth graders who participated in a school-based health program were less obese by eighth grade than a group of similar children who did not. Vital Signs: Exercise: Bicycling to Keep Off Extra Pounds Riding for exercise may help women who put on extra pounds during their 30s and 40s, a study says. Vital Statistics: Weight-Lifting Injuries on the Rise More and more people are lifting weights these days — and sometimes dropping them where they shouldn’t. Personal Best: The Right Way to Warm Up Is (Your Answer Here) There is theory about why warming up should work, but little solid research on whether it actually does. Downward-Facing Dog’s Life If you’ve missed a connection or experience other travel-related stress, yoga can restore calm. Noticed: Skip the Scotch, Just Have a Swig of Mellowberry “Relaxation shots” claim to undo the very buzz caffeinated drinks were designed to deliver. Vital Signs: Regimens: Eat Your Vegetables, but Not Too Many Is it possible to eat too many leafy green vegetables? Vital Signs: Nutrition: Study Finds Eating Nuts Helps Cholesterol Eating just 2.4 ounces of nuts of any kind was associated with declines in bad cholesterol, according to research partly financed by a nut-industry foundation and corroborated by other trials. Trying Out Delivered Diet Meals A test of four companies that deliver healthy meals in New York. Vital Signs: Nutrition: Added Sugars Appear to Affect Cholesterol Those with diets high in sweeteners were shown in a study to have lower blood levels of good cholesterol and higher levels of harmful triglycerides. Personal Health: Weight Problems May Begin in the Womb Excessive weight gain in pregnancy can result in bigger-than-average babies who are prenatally programmed to become overweight children. Really?: The Claim: The Day’s Events are Incorporated Into That Night’s Dreams. Scientists have discerned a peculiar but predictable pattern in which dreams tend to occur.