Advice and Tips – Page 2

A Little Myths Busting

After a conversation with my friend Leslie and an additional one with Laura, I thought I’d share a few more things.

Soy beans are almost pure protein

Vegans do get plenty of protein. Most plants have it, such as beans, spinach, nuts, and even apples! And it comes with vital things like vitamins and fiber. And has no—and I mean ZERO—cholesterol.

Chia seeds are packed with calcium

We also get plenty of calcium. Celery, figs, almonds, and kale actually have more calcium than milk!

Better than fried chicken.

And tofu is delicious when prepared correctly. If you had a bad tofu experience, I am truly sorry because you are missing out on something amazing. It can be meaty, chewy, silky, smooth, sweet or savory. There are various preparations and cooking methods that transforms ordinary bean curd into things better than meat.

And a vegan diet is cheap. Meat is expensive because mass-production uses a lot of resources. Some special vegan items are usually only available at health food stores and can be expensive, but that doesn’t mean you have to get them. You can buy majority of what you need to be a vegan at a normal, cheap grocery store (I get most of my food from Wal-Mart actually). And if you shop smart, you can walk away from a health store with a small bill too. And the cheapest produce is always be at your local farmers market. I spend about $15 and get close to 3 weeks worth of food for myself.

However, all of this is only true if you actually eat fruits and vegetables. Eating a bowl of cereal for breakfast, a soy cheese and Tofurkey ham for lunch, a bowl of pasta for dinner, and rice ice cream for dessert will not give you adequate nutrition because all you consumed were grains. In fact, you will probably gain weight and have other health problems as if you ate meat. You need green (and other colorful stuff) in there too to be truly nourished and healthy.

So, I hope you figured out by now that all I really do eat is vegetables. And if you don’t believe any of this, look it up for yourself! I also hope you have noticed that I really want everyone to learn about their food. I promise it will change you for the better and one click on Google can teach you so much.

Here is a cute little song that sums this all up.

How Veganism Changed My Life

My friend Laura asked me a slew of questions about being a vegan today, and I thought I should share some answers.

She asked me if I physically felt better, not just morally or emotionally. And I honestly felt different–better within a week. All my pre-vegan research highlighted weight loss, increased energy, and clearer skin, all of which I experienced. I have lost 15 lbs in the past year, some of it is due to increased exercise and not being able to eat after my tonsillectomy, but I know I would have gained it back if I ate like I used to. Increased energy came from the weight loss but also from a surprising effect I wasn’t expecting: my head cleared.

I really can’t explain it properly. It was like some invisible veil was lifted from my brain and everything changed. I thought faster and more efficiently. I could pay attention and retain more in class (I wish I kept my class notes, you could actually see a difference in quality). I believe this is from no longer having all the hormones from the dairy in my system. And yes, there are hormones in majority of dairy products (organics being the exception). Cows are not meant to produce milk all the time. Like all mammals (humans included), they produce milk to feed their newborn offspring. Cattle farmers inject them with hormones to make them produce milk. And they give them a lot of hormones constantly, so it is no wonder that it ends up in their milk. Cow hormones are for cows, our bodies have no use for them so they end up interfering with our endocrine system. I don’t know for sure how it all works, but there is a lot of research on the subject and I encourage you to check it out for yourself. But, I can say that I personally have noticed a difference. I confess I’ve had slip-ups and eaten non-vegan food in the past year, and by the end of the day feel that veil drop and then magically lift a couple days later when it’s out of my system.

Another amazing change was my skin. I remember on this celebrity diet show I saw on VH1, Alicia Silverstone said her skin started to glow once she went vegan and I thought whatever. But I have to admit, it’s true. I had HORRIBLE acne has a teenager and nothing I tried made a difference. When I went vegetarian at 18, I also started drinking soy milk and eating other non-milk products because I always hated the taste of straight cow milk. One month later when I left for college, it was as if I had a brand new face. Some of it could be from simply growing up, but it was so drastic I have to say the lack of dairy had to have been a significant factor. I’ve had maybe 3 breakouts since I have gone vegan and I even changed from combination skin to normal (actually, the make-up technician at Sephora was surprised at how unclogged and oil-free my skin was when I went a few months ago). I love my skin now. It’s clear and very even, and I have been often told it glows.

Here are a few other changes veganism brought to my life (sorry if some are a little gross but it’s important for the body to work as a whole, which includes some gross stuff):

Better breath (less bacteria to stink up your mouth)
No excess phlegm
Smell better overall (not that I smelled before, but my friend told me I smell “neutral” now)
Lighter menstral cycles (less hormones)
Digest food easier (dairy is pretty hard to digest)
Very regular (nothing hard to digest, so no problems)
“You have the best blood pressure and heart rate I have ever seen,” quote from the nurse at the campus health center a few months ago

Many vegans claim they hardly ever get sick, but I can’t claim that right now because I have a pre-exsisting issue with my tonsils and ears. However, since I got my tonsils out last July, I have had fewer ear infections (I used to go back and forth between tonsillitis and ear infections every two months). Actually, now that I think about it, I haven’t had an infection in 3 months. But, my infections are due too small ear canals that don’t drain, which a vegan diet cannot fix. I do believe my immune system is stronger because it only took me a few days to recover from my last infection when previously took me weeks.

Finally, what I think is the most important reason to not eat mass-produced meat is because of all the antibiotics. Commercially produced cows (and they are not raised, they are massed produced, that is the meat companies official wording too) are injected with large amounts of antibiotics to counter-act the digestive diseases their non-natural corn diets cause. Just like hormones in dairy cows, those antibiotics end up in the meat you eat. Your body becomes resistant to antibiotics after prolonged exposure, either intentionally or unintentionally. My ear/tonsil problem started 3 years ago, and I have been on many of antibiotics since. I started with penicillin and amoxicillin, which I must be resistant to now because the last time I took them yielded no results. I can’t recall what I had the last few times, but they were stronger and higher doses. My doctor and I both worried that if I continued only throwing drugs at the problem, I would become resistant to all antibiotics and could die from a simple infection. So I took the proactive step and had a tonsillectomy. Although the recovery was very painful, I am glad I had it done. Now, think about all the meat a typical American eats. Think about all the antibiotics a typical American ingests. That’s a scary amount of resistants built up over the years. It is just as bad as back -to-back courses of antibiotics. I urge everyone to at least cut out as much (if not all) commercially produced meat from their diet as possible. Just like with tonsillitis, take the proactive measure before it’s too late.

I promise there will be no overly-preachy posts in this blog. I know that the best way to spread knowledge is by living it, not cramming it down others’ throats. I just wanted to share some of my experiences as a vegan so far. I encourage you to do some research of your own. Knowledge is power!

Here are some links to help you get started:

Benefits of a Vegan Diet:
http://www.peta.org/living/vegetarian-living/eating-for-life.aspx
http://www.nursingdegree.net/blog/19/57-health-benefits-of-going-vegan/
http://www.vegetarian-nutrition.info/updates/vegetarian_diets_health_benefits.php

Hormones in Dairy:
http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/2006/12.07/11-dairy.html
http://www.health101.org/art_Milk_and_Girls.htm

Antbiotics in Meat:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/meat/safe/overview.html

What’s a vegan?

A few months ago I had a date with a guy who asked me a question I hear often, “Vegan? What’s that?” After I explain it means I eat no animal products, he asked the second most common question, “So what do you eat?Vegetables?” He seemed surprised when I answered yes.

Since I encounter these and other similar questions about veganism often, I thought I would make a blog where I can post recipes to show people exactly what vegans eat. I have been a vegetarian for 5 years, and a vegan for a year now. I went vegetarian for animal rights. I always felt guilty about eating meat growing up but I never really said anything about it. And to be honest, I never liked the taste of it, I just ate it because mom told me to eat it. But I went vegan—in addition to wanting to stop the exploitation of animals–for health reasons. My uncle died of a heart attack last year and it scared me. He was fairly young but did not take care of himself. He was a very sweet man, and although I did not known him very well, I really do miss him. I have a horrible health history on both sides of my family–heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. But I do not have to follow the same path my relatives took.

Before I made the official decision, I researched veganism, which lead me ultimately learn more about the food industry. I was horrified, but I will spare you the details. I knew that I could learn from my family’s mistakes, and take proactive steps to counteract my terrible genes. I went vegan because I want to live to be 100. I want my great-grandchildren to sing to me on my 100th birthday.

However, I know that I have no right to tell people what they can and can’t do—just like no one has the right to tell me what to do either. So I am not preaching that everyone should become a vegan right this minute. In fact, to be honest, I don’t care. I believe everyone should do what is right for them. I believe eating an all plant-based diet is what is right for me.

This blog is just to help people understand that being vegan does not mean all you eat is bland salad. In fact, we eat some insanely delicious things. And if you see something you like, give it a try, you might be surprised. And feel free to alter to your tastes, even if your tastes aren’t vegan.