Thanks to the Nutrition Ninja

I can't deny it: I am not a skinny vegan. Nowhere. Near. In fact, I couldn't even claim to be chunky. 'Chubby'? Perhaps 'voluptuous'? 'Curvaceous'! Nope, plain and simple 'fat' is the more honest descriptor. I have battled weight all my life - both in my pre-vegan, omnivorous days and now. The problem is that fundamentally I am physically lazy, except when it comes to food preparation and consumption and then of course I am a dynamo. I can stand and cook for hours, eat as an Olympic sport, bake up a storm, and keep coming back for more. During my lifetime, I have tried the majority of the 'brand-name' diets, but either they don't sit right with me or I don't have enough willpower to make them work. Inevitably some pounds disappear but they always come back and when they do, they bring their friends.

During the course of her visit here, my mother channeled her inner Nutrition Ninja and bought me a juicer. It's one of those kitchen tools I've always quietly desired but never really thought to buy as a. they're expensive, b. they're uni-taskers, and c. I'd use it only for myself. My Beloved, skinny and gorgeous as he is, is more partial to a good microbrew or a glass of wine than he is to juices and I just thought it a waste of money to buy something solely for myself.

Thank you, Mum!

Here's the beastie she sneakily purchased without even telling me:




So I have resolved to incorporate a ton of fresh juices into my diet and see if I can crowd out the calorie-laden vegan goodies I have come to so enjoy. My plan is simple: juice and salads for breakfast and lunch, and smaller dinners with My Beloved.

I have not yet set goals for weight loss or milestones for the challenge, but I just know I have to change how I take care of myself before it all gets too late. I made the change from meat-eater and cheese-lover to vegan very easily and have really not looked back. But I always find it easier to act on behalf of someone else - in this case, the animals whose suffering and death I was supporting with my foolish choices - than to act for myself. This must change and it's started here, with lunch:




Cucumber, celery, pear, green apple, and a blood orange.




Actually, quite delicious. And now I want another! :)

A Beagle's Battles: Update on Darwin

Sometimes it's easy to feel overwhelmed but all of the bad news there is about animals, especially in relation to the way we treat them. Whether it's through other blogs, my Facebook community, the forums I subscribe to, Twitter or any of the other myriad ways in which I get to hear vegan and animal-rights/abolitionist news it's usually linked to the dark side of the human spirit. So today I realised it was time to redress the balance a little and, albeit indulgent, I'm posting an update about Darwin, my beagle.

As you may know, Darwin is the first animal companion to come to live with My Beloved and I. He was rescued almost 10 years ago from a municipal 'shelter' and has been our constant and faithful companion ever since. Don't misunderstand - he is not loyal because he owes us a debt of gratitude. No, it's more that he knows which house has the biggest cookie jar. Equally, he's not faithful because he adores us...he just hasn't figured out how to unlock the front door and escape.

Be that as it may, loyal and faithful he is - despite his motivations and physical limitations (front door locks tend to require a degree of dexterity afforded only by the use of thumbs). And, from our side, we totally adore him. So it was quite a shock when we took him for a routine teeth cleaning several months ago and learned he had cancer.

They didn't immediately use the 'C-word'; they said 'lymphoma', which I misheard as 'lipoma'. Well, he's had several of those, I replied confidently, and they're always benign....When the full reality sank in and I came to understand the situation, My Beloved and I reviewed our options. Although we live in a somewhat progressive and 'alternate' area, we did not feel sufficiently confident to eshew conventional therapies altogether, so opted for a middle path of chemo combined with a program of acupuncture, nutritional therapy and chinese herbals. And it does seem to be working well: he's following a 25 week chemo protocol and has been officially 'in remission' since week #6. What's more, his quality of life is almost completely uncompromised. He does not suffer nausea or vomiting and retains full control of his 'bodily functions', he has boundless energy and a wolf-like appetite and generally does not show any outward signs of illness. OK, the food regime requires a little care, but it's a tiny price to pay for terrific benefits..

Now let me say up front that I am not a medical doctor, I do not have veterinary skills, and I am not an expert in nutrition: I am just someone who's experimented and observed what works with my particular dog. And I'm also someone who refuses to accept a paltry 6-month prolongation of life expectancy or the idea that we are helpless in the face of illness. So with that caveat out of the way, here's what we've been doing with Darwin to achieve the results so far....

As said, the whole treatment regime includes conventional chemotherapy, twice monthly acupuncture, chinese herbal treatments, nutritional therapy, a multi-vitamin and mushroom extract. Although that sounds like a lot, it's actually really easy. We changed his one-meal-per-day routine to two smaller meals per day to help him have sustained energy and minimize the blood sugar lows. Every morning he has a half portion of his dry kibble - Natural Balance, vegetarian formula (which actually is vegan) - plus about 3/4 cup of cooked red lentils. The idea with these lentils is to boost his easily digestible proteins and skew the balance of his food towards the protein and fat and away from the carbs. He also has his first dose of the chinese herbals  - one capsule hidden in a ball of peanut butter.

In the evening, he has the second half of his dry kibble, again with the lentils, but we also add in a good tablespoon of organic flaxseed oil (for Omegas), a teaspoon of liquid multi-vitamins and the powdered contents of a maitake mushroom supplement capsule. We had experimented with mashed beans instead of the lentils but he doesn't seem to appreciate the texture as much. The cannellini beans were deemed acceptable, but the red kidney beans were apparently something of an affront to his delicate palate. Perhaps had we blitzed them in the food processor that would have been ok, but as it was hand mashing them clearly didn't cut it. The bean skins were carefully isolated and spat out disdainfully onto the floor around his bowl and we were rewarded only by the most half-hearted tail thump you've ever seen. With the lentils, however, the bowl of food is inhaled more than eaten and he always graces us with a big beagle-y smile.

Last thing at night, as a little treat, he gets his second dose of the Wei Qi booster, wrapped either in a peanut butter ball or stuffed into a strawberry. Yeah, taking pills has never been so easy!

A couple of folks have asked me how the treatment is going so I guess this post is an answer to that question. So far, the combination of allopathic and complementary medicines, excellent nutrition, lots of TLC and Darwin's own indomitable spirit seem to be just what the doctor ordered. He's doing great...if you'd like to see what he's up to click here!

Enjoy and stay vegan, friends!

Vegan Mo-Fo: What do they mean 'restrictive'?????

So here's Day #2 of Vegan MoFo - the month-long celebration of all things vegan and foodish! Despite having a fragrant and delightfully spiced Thai red curry (eggplant and potato with mushroom) simmering on the stove tonight, I have no cool photos to go with it so instead I'm going to set the stage for the coming food-fest with a photo to warm the heart of any commited herbivore. Just take a look at the bounty I brought home from a recent grocery shopping trip!



Before I became vegan, I didn't know the names of some of these fine specimens! Now they are all good friends....And to think that they say a vegan diet is 'restrictive'!!!!! Pah!

Eat well and stay vegan, friends! :)

The most marvelous two years.....

Today I am celebrating is my 2-year vegan-niversary! No, I'll not blow my own trumpet, but it's hard not to have a frisson of pleasure at reaching this milestone. I'm sure as the years roll by it will become less of a source of pride, but right now I am dang pleased!

It's been a great 2 years, the best of my life so far. My eyes have been opened to reality and it's been an education, a source of intense sadness and grief at learning of our egregious and unconscionable treatment of non-human animals and of our profit from their suffering. My world view has changed completely, irreversably, and permanently: I no longer look at people through the same lens, but struggle to see past the inherent selfishness and greed that underpins our willingness to contribute to and look away from animal abuse and exploitation. Each day, a hundred jagged reminders, a thousand reproaches and still no change in sight.

But is has also been a source of tremendous joy and pleasure. I have feasted with the animals, not upon them.





I have met new people along the way, teachers who have guided me and mentors whose patience and friendship has helped me through the trauma of awakening.



I'm now part of a community so much more vibrant, creative and compassionate than I ever dreamed of. It is almost a full-time job keeping up with volunteer activities and online activism - and I love it! It's been my privilege to witness dramatic changes close to home: my mother has adopted a vegan diet; my husband's proved himself more willing to adapt, open-minded, accepting, and loving than I had any right to expect. Thank you, Geoff.



Always a 'foodie', I am no longer conflicted about my choices of ingredients and, through a renewed interest in cooking and nutrition, enjoy every single meal, every last bite. My skills have grown (as has my waistline, or - at least - it has not shrunk!) as I've rediscovered an almost childlike joy at the alchemy which is baking. From co-workers to friends to family, I try to ensure that everyone around me feels the benefits directly, and I suspect they are quite happy!




And of my non-human companions, I have reached a depth of closeness with them that is born of no longer feeling guilt at the arbitrary distinction of 'pet' vs 'food'. In recognising the moral personhood of all animals, I can now look at 'my' dogs and see them for who they truly are - extraordinary souls with their own agendas, interests, joys and pleasures. And I am able to love them just that little bit more too!

I don't yet know how this next year will unfold. More reading, talking, thinking, grieving and more activism. More understanding, more anguish and more joy - this is certain. And I am profoundly grateful for it all.

Stay Vegan, Friends!

Cold Comfort Farm

As a vegan, I am often asked about my diet and although most people can grasp the idea of not eating the bodies of animals - aka 'meat' - many have a harder time conceptualising a diet free of eggs and milk...oh, and especially cheese. Thanks to extremely successful marketing, eggs and milk are seen as healthful, desirable, 'perfect' foods despite the fact that the exact opposite is, in fact, true.

Similarly, most people do not want to know where their milk and eggs come from, the process which brings them from an animal's body to their plate. The perceived innocuousness of the humble egg is an especially tough one to crack, as it were. The ubiquity of eggs in even apparently unrelated products, combined with the erroneous perception that the 'cage free' label on a carton actually means something in respect of the conditions of production, combined with intrinsic self-centeredness, add up to a situation wherein people succeed in brushing aside the misery and suffering inherent and inevitable in mass egg production. And it is comforting to those fortunate enough to live in rural areas to argue the 'small, family farms, humane conditions' angle, so beloved of my New England neighbours.

However it is a false comfort. A cold comfort. Because it seeks to deny the common-sensical truth that these local farms, family farms, simply cannot provide eggs, cost effectively, on the scale currently demanded. It is logically impossible.

And this is why the majority - the vast majority - of eggs come from massive industrialised battery operations, where tens of thousands of hens are packed into sheds and each one lives out her miserable, foreshortened life in a barren wire cage along with perhaps 7 or 8 cage mates.

That's eight or nine souls in a cage roughly the size of a file cabinet drawer. Eight or nine pairs of eyes looking out into the ammonia-sodden darkness. In fear and panic. Eight or nine bodies with skin rubbed raw from the wire, beaks seared off, sharing space with the dead or dying around them. Until their time for release comes and each cage is finally opened and each spent, broken hen is shipped to slaughter, since her egg production has declined.

Until now, it's been possible to imagine this only from our human perspective. From watching brutal and devastating video of these confined feed operations. Always looking in with the freedom of an external position. But, thanks to web developer and activist Mark Middleton, new perspective is available which puts the viewer squarely in the center of the action - in the place of the hen.

I came across this project - The Virtual Battery Cage - via Animal Voices and recommend it to anyone who has even the slightest interest in knowing where the eggs for their weekend brunch omelette come from. It's a powerful tool in helping us to see life from the perspective of the others. Those who are unfortunate enough to call a battery cage their home. Whose lives and cries are unheeded and whose deaths are mandated by pure economics.

Please check out The Virtual Battery Cage and then decide if that omelette truly is worth it to you.

Stay Vegan, Friends.

Sending postcards....

I have been unable to post recently. And the reason was not a lack of time or inclination. But instead an acute sense of failure. The support offered after my last post was so welcome and I really took to heart what was said. So when it came time - after one week - to check my results I felt I'd let not only myself down but those kind enough to offer encouragement.

The truth was: I lost no weight.

None at all.

I could not believe it. All the stories on the web, in the podcasts, in the book...everywhere...tell of people who lose 10lbs, 15lbs or more in their first ETL week. OK, I was not aiming that high, but *something* would have been nice.

So, I felt stuck. I could not bear to admit this failure, but it was the elephant in the blogroom. Sitting right on my keyboard in fact! I could scarcely post about other topics without first addressing this. And so I was unable to write anything.

Luckily sense prevailed and I took heart from the advice of a wonderful friend who encouraged me to stick with it, rather than throw up my hands and grab a dinnerplate-sized chocolate-chip cookie. (Thank you, Colleen!) It's been 15 days since I started the ETL program and, following my initial disappointment, I'll admit I have not been 100% faithful to Dr Fuhrman. I have enjoyed larger servings of rice - for instance - than are recommended and I even went out for a beer with My Beloved last weekend. But, in general terms, I have stuck with it about 80%.

And so I am wildly happy to report that today I discovered I have lost 4.5lbs. I have eaten copious amounts of leafy greens, fruits and vegetables, cut back on my coffee intake, eliminated 98% of the processed sweet treats I used to bake (look back at previous posts and you'll see them all!) and generally felt satisfied, clean, balanced and rarely hungry.

I do believe this is going to work!


Coincidentally, I had a check up with my doctor last week who scheduled a routine lipid panel. I haven't mentioned 'The V-Word' to her (I sense she will not share my enthusiasm for this lifestyle) and so I was interested to know what my scores would be. I got them today so here goes:

My total cholesterol is below the norm at 171mg/dL (<200 = 'desirable'), triglycerides are at 53mg/dL (<150 is 'normal'), LDL is down 3 points to 117mg/dL (where 100-129 mg/dL is considered 'Near optimal/above optimal') and HDL is at 48 which is moderate. I guess this last stat could be improved and so I foresee more oatmeal in my future!

I am not being self-congratulatory here as I have a loooooong way to go before I restore my health completely. Thirty-plus years of the standard western diet tend to wreak a degree of havoc that's not quickly overcome.

But these results seemed like an excellent opportunity to bear witness - in specific, scientific, medical terms - to the benefits of our vegan diet. Whilst the ETL program is so new to me as to not influence the above results, I do however attribute this overall success to veganism.

Completely and totally.

So I am once again on my way to becoming the strong, energetic, healthy vegan I **so** want to be. This journey is wildly interesting and I feel I am on an adventure. So I'll be more diligent in the future about sending 'postcards' along the way....

:)

Stay vegan, friends!

I'm not a junkitarian, but still....

I am learning a lot by following Dr. Fuhrman's Eat to Live plan. There's tons of nutritional advice of course, but I'm also learning about how my other diet compares. I'm beginning to realise that although I cooked pretty much everything from scratch and am definitely not a junkitarian, I was still eating a remarkable amount of processed foods, without even really noticing.

I see now how much bread I usually eat. How much pasta. The vegan cheese in quesadillas and grilled paninis, white flour in the cakes and cookies I bake and write about here. The Gimme Lean sausages and white bread french toast on weekend mornings. And I am quite shocked. In an earlier post Sara was kind in pointing out that the biggest change has already been made - moving from omni to vegan - and that giving up a few processed foods would be easy in comparison. And for the most part she's right, of course. But I do miss the breads - especially the artisanal loaves we usually get from this tiny little independent place where they bake the bread in a wood-fired beehive oven and fetch the loaves out on long wooden spades - and the few convenience foods I used to enjoy.

And I guess the difference here is motivation. When I turned my back on animal products I did so because I could not bear to be a part of the suffering, to support the unconscionable cruelty that pervades the animal exploitation industries.

It was completely for the animals.

Eliminating processed foods from my diet is for me and - although I am motivated to improve my own health and drop the weight - the compulsion is just not as strong.

The ETL food is great - a huge variety of beautiful, colorful fresh fruit and vegetables, some brown rice and a little bread (1 slice in 5 days) and I am enjoying what I do eat. The broccoli and red pepper soup is a standout - I could have eaten the whole panful! And the stew from last night (Day 4) actually had me going back to the stove just to recheck and make absolutely sure nothing was left.

It's just that I am missing what I do not eat. And I am also feeling a bit lost without the comfort of our routine. Fridays, for instance, My Beloved and I frequently go for a pizza (cheese-free for me) and a movie. That will not happen tonight and I am totally clueless as to how to make a Friday evening special without using food. Everything I think of revolves around going out for a meal or winding down from the week over a pint or two in our local brew-pub.

I wonder how many of you can empathise and what you found would help?

Stay Vegan, Friends!

Such a chunky little vegan...

For those of you who know me only through Cackleberry, let me confess something: I am a chunky little vegan.

With the emphasis on the first of those adjectives!!!

I take full responsibility for this situation and know that umpteen years of eating omnivorously - and greedily - are bound to have taken a toll that 18 months of veganism cannot wipe away. However, as realistic as I am, I cannot fail to be disappointed in my almost non-existant weight loss. So, last weekend I bought Dr Joel Fuhrman's Eat to Live, a book recommended on the latest podcast of Vegetarian Food for Thought. And read it. Well, part of it anyhow (the weekend was kinda packed with stuff to do....) and I have decided to follow his 6-week eating plan and see what happens.

I guess I'm posting about this because I would love to know if anyone out there has also followed this plan and with what results. I was nervous initially because I have already changed my eating habits radically and I knew My Beloved's patience is not 'unlimited'. However, when we discovered that Dr Fuhrman's plan is not too different from the way we eat now, he brightened considerably. The main difference I see in the good doctor's approach is the unlimited quantities of nutrient-dense foods, especially in the form of fruits and most vegetables. And the things I will be limiting or omitting altogether are refined carbs such as pasta, white bread, white rice and white flour. Oh, and alcohol too. :(

Anyways, given that pasta is not generally considered indispensible to one's diet, I am hopeful that I may see some positive results. And I cannot say that I am to be underfed: today is Day One of Week One and it is lunchtime. I have already enjoyed the following:

Breakfast: strawberries, blood orange and a ruby grapefruit

Lunch: whole wheat pita stuffed with My beloved's own black bean dip, salad greens and sprouts, with a huge salad alongside (spring greens, cucumber, yellow peppers, green peppers, red peppers, red onion, kalamata olives and fresh peas) and an apple.

Dinner tonight is salad (as above) with an entree of steamed swiss chard and zucchini, cooked in a tomato, mushroom and onion sauce. I think blueberries are to follow.

I am very impressed at Dr Furhman's common sense attitude and, although he's not vegan, he really emphasises whole plant-based foods and copious amounts thereof. And unlike any other diet I've ever been on, the food looks good on the plate and I especially love the fact that each part has only one 'listed ingredient' - itself. A grapefruit is a grapefruit, a red pepper a red pepper. Gone are the days of purchasing 'food-like substances' with a list of additives longer than my arm; gone are the 'meal replacements' that never actually replaced so much as a snack in my view.

However, gone too are the cookies, biscuits, cakes, scones, breads, tofutti ice cream etc etc. But it can be only for the best and I am excited. For the first time in ages, I am truly excited to see what this new system will bring.

Let me know if you have a story to share....I'd love some encouragement!

Stay Vegan, Friends!

Is a vegan diet the new "non-diet"?

I came across the following article in Canada's The Globe and Mail and was intrigued. The article discusses the publication of a study from the George Washington University, the University of Toronto and the PCRM in which diabetics were monitored for 18 months while they followed either a conventional diet or a vegan diet. Unsurprisingly, those following the vegan diet demonstrated better results - better weight loss, reduced blood sugar levels, reduced LDL and decreased need for diabetic meds - plus they found it easier to maintain.

The thing is, these kinds of results are not exactly news....well, not within the vegan community anyway. It is fairly well known and all just so much common sense - nix the cholesterol and saturated fat from your diet, eat freely but lower on the food chain and you'll improve your health! And on a personal level, my own mother has managed much of this too - after years of conventional 'diabetes management', she switched to a completely vegan diet and has succeeded in reducing her insulin dependence dramatically and seriously improving her health.

I guess the interesting thing about it is that the article hints at the importance of 'lifestyle' changes as opposed to simple 'diet' changes. It mentions that vegan meals may initially take a little more preparation - which echoes my last post - but that this was not found to be a problem once participants became accustomed to new ways of cooking. In fact, as the author points out the small extra effort in food prep was ultimately less onerous than the alternative - calorie counting and dietary restriction.

Anyways, for those interested in reading further, here's the article in its entirety:

Is a vegan diet the new "non-diet"?

The question isn't if a diet works, but if it's sustainable. Any number of diets can lower blood sugar, reduce cholesterol or promote weight loss over its initial three months. But the real winner is the one that can accomplish these tasks over the long term.

Enter the vegan diet - a low-fat eating plan that shuns all animal foods including meat, poultry, dairy and eggs. Such a diet has been shown to improve blood sugar in people with diabetes, lower LDL (bad) cholesterol, promote weight loss and even help reverse heart disease.

A study published in the February issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association has concluded that a vegan diet - no calorie counting or measuring foods required - is easier to stick to than you might think.

In the study, researchers from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, the George Washington University and the University of Toronto assigned 99 people with Type 2 diabetes to follow either a low-fat vegan diet or a conventional diabetes diet for 18 months.

The conventional diabetes diet, based on guidelines from the American Diabetes Association, controlled calories, carbohydrates and monounsaturated fat (e.g. olive oil, canola oil, avocado) according to each participant's need to lose weight and lower blood cholesterol. The diet was low in saturated (animal) fat and cholesterol.

The low-fat vegan diet avoided animal products and fatty foods and favoured foods low on the glycemic index such as sweet potatoes, legumes and green vegetables. (Low-GI foods are digested more slowly and, as a result, don't produce large spikes in blood sugar.) There were no restrictions on calories, carbohydrate intake or portion size. In fact, the vegan diet followers consumed more of their daily calories - 75 per cent worth - from carbohydrate-rich foods than did folks on the diabetes diet.

Each group met with a registered dietitian for one hour to establish a meal plan and then attended weekly meetings for nutrition and cooking lessons for 22 weeks. This was followed by optional biweekly nutrition sessions for a year.

The vegan diet dramatically cut consumption of cholesterol, fat and saturated fat and increased fibre intake compared to the conventional diabetes diet.

People on the vegan diet lost weight, lowered their blood sugar and LDL cholesterol, and reduced the need for diabetes medication. Among people whose diabetes medications remained unchanged, those following a vegan diet achieved better blood-sugar control as indicated by bigger improvement in a blood test that measures hemoglobin A1c.

The fact that people assigned to the vegan diet ate as much as they wanted, increased their daily carbohydrate intake and still experienced favourable blood-sugar and weight-loss results may seem surprising. Researchers believe that a low-fat, plant-based diet improves how the body uses insulin. And because vegan diets are low in fat and high in fibre, they're typically lower in calories, which can facilitate weight loss and result in better blood-sugar control.

Sounds good so far, provided you can follow such a plan for the long term. According to this study, you can. While the vegan diet initially required a little more effort in meal preparation, this complaint was no longer heard at 18 months. In contrast, those following the standard diabetic diet reported more discomfort with restrictions such as watching calories and limiting portions of carbohydrate and fat.

While neither diet triggered increased cravings for fatty foods, the vegan diet followers were less likely to crave such foods after 22 weeks on their diet.

Other studies have also reported the acceptability of a vegetarian diet.

In a study of 250 young women who had tried both calorie-controlled weight-loss diets and vegetarian diets, most abandoned their calorie-restricted diet after four months but were able to stick with a vegetarian diet for two years.

A vegetarian diet has the advantages of being lower in saturated fat and cholesterol, and higher in fibre and low-GI carbohydrates, but it does require planning (and supplementation) to ensure you meet daily requirements for protein, vitamin B12, calcium, vitamin D and iodine.

If you've considered going vegetarian, but don't want to give up all animal foods, consider moving toward a plant-based diet - one that emphasizes grains, vegetables and legumes rather than meat, poultry and dairy. When you do eat meat or poultry, eat a smaller portion.

Start by replacing animal foods with meatless protein sources at three meals a week and build from there. Vegetarian protein foods include fortified soy beverages, tofu, soy burgers, tofu dogs, veggie ground round, tempeh, legumes and lentils.

Other types of vegetarian diets limit - but don't exclude - all animal foods. Lacto-vegetarians eat dairy products along with plant-based foods.

While these diets may not lower your blood sugar or cholesterol to the same extent as a vegan diet, if planned properly they still have the advantage of being lower in saturated fat and higher in fibre.

One final note: If you have diabetes, consult your dietitian or doctor before making any changes to your diet. Do not stop taking your diabetes medication without checking with your doctor.

Leslie Beck
LeslieBeck.com

Stay vegan, friends! :)

On 'hefty herbivores' and other such fabled creatures.....

Finally.

I finally did it.

I went to the gym this evening on my way home from work. For the first time this year.

And it was tough. I really felt it and wondered, for the umpteenth time, how the hell it is that I am still so fat?

I have been vegan now for 15 months and I haven't really lost any weight. Now, I should say up front that weight loss and health reasons are not why I went vegan. Not in the least. I made the change from my previously largely omni diet when I discovered the truth about the animals - how they live and how they die, and I could bear no further part of that.

However, whenever I catch myself thinking of 'vegans' in the abstract, perhaps of the stereotype, I think of slender willowy types with glossy shiny hair, perfect teeth and toned bodies.

I do not, in short, think of me.

OK, so I am rational. I am perectly able to see that it took 30+ years for me to get to this state and it's going to take a while to put things right. But I can't help but feel discouraged and disappointed because I have the impression - right or wrong - that the vegan diet is naturally healthier, lower in all of the bad things and higher in the good ones. Is more sustaining, nutrient-dense and calorie-poor and that a healthier body is an inevitable by-product of a healthier way of eating.

And no, it's not a case that I 'cheat' from time to time, secretly gorging on hot dogs and cheese pizza. Because I do not. I would as soon snack on a hot dog as I would on my own dog. To me, the hot dog is not food; it is the desperate remains of a once beautiful, intelligent, sensitive creature whose desire to live matched my own. The cheese on the pizza is little more to me than the product of a grief-stricken mother whose baby has been stolen from her. So, no, I do not 'cheat'; I have no interest in those things.

But the question persists: am I the only fat vegan out there? Am I the exception that proves the rule when it comes to plant-based nutrition? We are so bombarded by images of svelte gorgeous vegan women and I am beginning to question the underlying assumption that veganism = slenderness. (There are, after all, svelte and gorgeous meat-eaters out there, folks who wouldn't know a snowpea if they tripped over it on the way to the steakhouse.)

So, in tandem with committing *once again* (sigh) to regular stops at the gym on the way home, I am launching a study: where are the 'hefty herbivores'? the 'portly-plant eaters'? the 'vegans of size'? Am I in a club of one?? Or are there kindred souls out there, sheltering behind their autographed copies of Skinny Bitch?

Watch this (somewhat substantial) space...

...oh, and Stay Vegan, Friends.

But where do you get your...

It’s ironic that the burden of justifying possible nutritional deficiencies rests on vegans (“where do you get your protein/vitamin B-12/etc.?”), because research shows that vegans typically have twice the fruit and vegetable intake of people eating the standard American diet. In recent studies, vegans had higher intakes of sixteen out of the nineteen nutrients studied, including three times more vitamin C, vitamin E, and fiber, twice the folate, magnesium, copper, and manganese, and more calcium and plenty of protein. Vegans also had half the saturated fat intake, one-sixth the rate of being overweight, and, while vegans were shown to be at risk for deficiencies in three nutrients (calcium, iodine, and vitamin B-12), people eating the standard American diet were at risk for deficiencies in seven nutrients (calcium, iodine, vitamin C, vitamin E, fiber, folate, and magnesium).

- Dr. Will Tuttle

Veg Inspiration of the Day
November 30, 2008

"But humans are designed to eat meat..."

A quick post....

I found this article in The Guardian. It is scarcely news in the vegan community!

(the emphasis is mine, by the way)

************************************************

Heart disease linked to bad diet, urine shows
By Roger Highfield, Science Editor


The leading cause of heart disease and stroke has been linked for the first time to a person's diet and chemicals in the urine.

In the first study of its kind to link blood pressure to a person's "metabolic fingerprint", a measure of how they process food, the good news is that genes do not seem to be to blame.

Diet and gut bugs appear largely responsible for high blood pressure, which will give a boost for efforts to provide new health advice.

The international team led by Imperial College London has found chemicals called metabolites in people's urine. These have a direct relation to blood pressure, linking it to diets rich in meat, high in alcohol and low in fibre.

Using metabolic fingerprinting, they looked at the relative levels of many different metabolites, which are the products of metabolism and act as markers which can reveal how diet and lifestyle contribute to disease.

Researchers said the approach and the new data point the way to greater understanding of dietary and biological causes of the epidemic of high blood pressure - which does not link in a simple way to genes - and possible enhanced ways to prevent and control high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.

The study reveals a fundamental difference in what is happening in the western and eastern guts that could be linked with high blood pressure, which affects 16 million people in the UK alone and is a leading cause of heart disease and stroke.

Prof Jeremy Nicholson and his team, working with colleagues in Northwestern University, report in the journal Nature how they analysed the metabolic fingerprints of 4,630 middle aged adults in the UK, USA, China and Japan, by using a method called NMR spectroscopy on their urine samples, which reveals the way food is broken down in the body.

The research shows that adults in the UK and USA, which have similar incidences of high blood pressure and heart disease, have similar metabolic fingerprints.

In contrast, although adults in Japan and China have similar genetic profiles, they have very different metabolic fingerprints from one another. Meanwhile, Japanese people living in the USA have typical American metabolic fingerprints, showing that lifestyle - diet in this case - is a dominant feature in determining metabolism.

Professor Nicholson says the find will "give us important clues as to the causes of major health problems such as high blood pressure".

"Metabolic profiling can tell us how specific aspects of a person's diet and how much they drink are contributing to their risks for certain diseases," he said.

Professor Paul Elliott, a co-author, adds: "The flip-side of this is that whereas a person can't alter their DNA, they can change their metabolic profile by changing their diet and lifestyle."

The new study reveals that people with increased levels of the amino acid alanine, which is found in many foods but which is particularly high in animal protein, have higher blood pressure and also increased energy intake, levels of dietary cholesterol, and body mass index.

People with increased levels of the metabolite formate, made by the breakdown of the starch in foods such as rice, have lower blood pressure and increased energy intake. Formate arises from the action of microbes in the gut or as a product of metabolism in the body.

Increased levels of hippurate, a by-product of metabolism by microbes in the gut, are found in people with lower blood pressure, lower levels of alcohol intake, and higher levels of dietary fibre.

"We think that hippurate excretion is broadly linked to having a healthy diet (which makes a healthy gut flora) - at least in western populations," says Prof Nicholson, adding the team will now study what aspects of diet promote hippurate.

*****************************************************

Read the original article by clicking here.

And Stay Vegan, Friends!