Breakfast is Orange and Frothy

So today is Day #3 of my new drive to take charge of my health and weight. I started out on Monday with all the vim and vigour of the newly converted, hitting the gym and the juicer with equal enthusiasm, and vowing to myself that this was the start of something...erm...big.

Or small - whichever way you want to see it.

My fervor carried me through most of yesterday as I shopped for tons of fresh produce, spent a sweaty 45 minutes in the gym again, and noodled around the interwebs looking for inspiring weight loss stories.

But then came 6pm and it was time to cook dinner. :( As mentioned, My Beloved is trim and utterly without a peck of extra flesh so needs to lose no weight whatsoever. This means I have to be careful about dinners - the only meal we share during the week - as it can't be 'just' a salad. So I started preparing some vegan stuffed mushrooms (portabellos), tabbouleh and green leafy salad with a raw peppery-avocado dressing. Normally I would have baked a loaf of fresh, crusty, deliciously-warm-in-the-center bread to go with this, and perhaps a dessert for afterwards too. But this time I refrained. Keeping myself from devouring the stuffing - onions, garlic, spinach, breadcrumbs, thyme, pepper and Daiya cheese - by the handful was the tricky part as my mind screamed at me that I had been great all day dammit and I deserved some actual food!

Still I managed to resist but not without descending fairly rapidly into a crabby mood. It is interesting to me to see that, although I know that my love affaire with food has perhaps the most major impact on my emotional functioning, there seems to be little I have learned to help myself manage this. I am not without insight into my own mind, but still allow myself to be ruled by feelings around food: what to eat, how much to eat, even where to eat - the formality and process of a meal, and so on and so forth. I have read that folks doing a cleanse or a juice-fast (neither of which I am doing, btw) often have to deal with a surge of emotion around the food they are not intaking, but that they usually come out of the other side intact. I have to assume that this will also be the case with me. So for the meantime, I will plough on and just keep putting one foot in front of the other, along this path towards health and wellness.

Breakfast this morning was this:

Looks like an orange-creamsicle, no?

Actually, it is the juice of 2 large carrots, 2 oranges and 1 small grapefruit. And, yet again, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. :)

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! :)

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.

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!

Taking a trepidant whiff.....

I have the most exciting news! They don't smell...not at all....I am amazed and delighted!

Oh, erm, let me backtrack....

I understand from the numerous blogs, podcasts and nutritional handbooks out there that it's important for a well-balanced vegan diet to include a multi-vitamin. Yes, I prefer to eat widely to ensure I get as broad a range of nutrients directly from 'the source' as possible, but as a wise woman once said 'it's a good insurance policy'.

However, many of the multis out there are not vegan and so when I found one a few months ago that was, I scooped it up and brought it home. Where it sat in pride of place on the kitchen shelf alongside the dogs' treat jar.

And gathered dust.

Quite a lot of dust, in fact.

And I was frequently more tempted to reach for a dog cookie than for one of those vitamins. Because after a dose or two, I simply couldn't stand to take any more.

Because of The Smell.

I think - but don't quote me on this - that it's the fault of the B-vitamins. Which specifically or why I do not know, but I find it absolutely noxious. My stomach clenches, my throat constricts and I cannot - to save my life - get that damn stinky horse-pill down my throat.

So when, a week or so ago, I received an email from Cosmos Vegan Shoppe - those fine folks down in Atlanta, GA - advertising their line of Tiny Tablets Multivitamin By Deva one word leapt out at me: TINY! Perhaps, I hoped, these would be ones I could take!?! So I ordered some and crossed my fingers.

Yesterday, the box arrived from Cosmo's and in it, from within the biodegradable packaging, I unearthed this:



With slightly trembling hands, I fumbled the cap and took a trepidant whiff.....

Nothing!

Zip. Zilch. Nichts.

No smell.

Finally - FINALLY - a multi-vitamin which stands some chance of escaping the bottle on a daily basis! I feel better already!

Eat well and stay vegan, friends!

PS - the writing on the label is wicked small, but here's a full nutritional listing courtesy of Cosmo's:

Vitamin A (Acetate) 2500 IU
Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) 60 MG
Vitamin D2 400 IU
Vitamin E (D-Alpha Tocopherol Acetate) 30 IU
Vitamin B1 (Thiamine Mononitrate) 1.5 MG
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) 1.7 MG
Vitamin B3 (Niacinimide, Niacin) 20 MG
Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine Hcl) 2 MG
Folic Acid 400 MCG
Vitamin B12 6 MCG
Biotin 30 MCG
Vitamin B5 (D-Calcium Pantothenate) 10 MG
Calcium (Calcium Phosphate, Carbonate) 20 MG
Iodine (Kelp) 75 MCG
Magnesium (Oxide) 8 MG
Zinc (Oxide) 2.25 MG
Selenium 35 MCG
Copper(Gluconate) 100 MCG
Manganese(Sulphate) 1 MG
Chromium 30 MCG
Molybdenum 19 MCG
Boron (Citrate) 50 MCG
Choline (Bitartrate) 3 MG
Inositol (Nicotinate) 3 MG

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! :)

Vegans truely are the *best* people....

I just wanted to take a second to respond to and thank the folks who left comments regarding my earlier post on 'Hefty Herbivores'. I was feeling despondant when I wrote it and just having Anonymous, Poookie, Anonymous, Sara and Zucchini Breath take the time not only to read it but to identify and to post comments really gave me the boost I need. And so to your points:

Anonymous aka 'Cybermomma' - you know I only planted the seeds for you and you have made them bear fruit all by yourself. I am terrifically proud of what you have achieved and what you will go on to achieve and I really believe that the changes you've made will keep you with me longer. And that HAS to be good. Right?!?!

Poookie - **you** inspire me! Not only have you lost a ton of weight but you've gained a ton of insight! Yes, we are all unique and we didn't arrive at our sizes overnight, so it's a matter of time and patience. Oh, and consistency...as you say. Thanks so much!

Anonymous - you are definitely NOT alone. And at a size 14 you are gorgeous! :) I hope I might get down to that size at some stage...even while eating the odd vegan donut or two! LOL

Sara - yes, you too hit the nail on the head when you said 'Sure, the occasional indulgence in the vegan cookie or cupcake, but that's the key..occasional.' As I look back over my blog posts, I see a distinct bias towards baked goods and a real lack of balance. I need to correct that. Oh, and I also need to say kudos on YOUR awesome blog - check it out, guys...The Innocent Primate Vegan Blog.

Zucchini Breath - I lurked around your blog too and the pix you post are in no way 'chubby'! 57 lbs since June?!?! - you are my new hero!!!! Love it, love it!

A, P, A, S and ZB - thanks again.

More soon.

And stay vegan, my 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.

Oprah Goes Vegan

Yes, I know that's a headline you are going to read on a million blogs, but I just had to jump on the bandwagon too! Yesterday, from 3 separate sources - and later also from my Dear Mama who is staying with us right now - I heard the excitement that Oprah was undertaking a 21-day cleanse that includes cutting all animal products out of her diet.

This is a great development for the vegan community as she is such a mega-star and can only do us good. I found a link to submit comments, questions and notes to Oprah's production team (no, I am not sufficiently naive to believe she reads these all herself, but no matter!) so I emailed the following:

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

Oprah!
I am a long-time fan, of course, and also a new vegan so am very proud of the steps you're taking. I truly hope the transition brings you what it has brought me: peace, integrity, renewed energy and hope. The vegan lifestyle is so very rewarding and life affirming - every day, in the simplest way, we are living our values of compassion and mercy for all creatures. Plus we are giving our bodies what they need to carry us through this remarkable adventure. One of my greatest inspirations as I move along this path is Colleen Patrick-Goudreau of Compassionate Cooks and I wonder whether she could be a guest on your show? Eloquent, intelligent, engaging and dynamic, she is undoubtedly the most charming spokesperson for veganism I have ever met and you would just love her! She can be reached at www.compassionatecooks.com, I believe.
Have fun with your challenge!!
Best wishes,
Amanda

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As a complete hero to me, I would love to see Colleen on Oprah! And if you feel the same, why not click on this link and suggest it too!!!!

Oh, and to follow Oprah's journey, bookmark this link.

Stay vegan, Friends!

"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)

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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.

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Read the original article by clicking here.

And Stay Vegan, Friends!