October 23, 2012
October 22, 2012
Petition Damien Hirst
I've created a petition that asks artist Damien Hirst to stop killing animals for art. Please help by signing.
Petition Damien Hirst
Petition Damien Hirst
October 8, 2012
Movie list to get you started
I highly recommend watching any all of these movies if you need convincing (or reminding) of why you should be vegetarian, or better yet, vegan. Also check out any Youtube videos I've posted.
Peaceable Kingdom
Earthlings
Forks Over Knives
Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead
Food, Inc.
Fast Food Nation
Hungry For Change
Supersize Me
The Witness
Peaceable Kingdom
Earthlings
Forks Over Knives
Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead
Food, Inc.
Fast Food Nation
Hungry For Change
Supersize Me
The Witness
Lobster
I really think more people should be aware of the pain lobsters go through. After reading an article a while back about a man who purchased an 80 year old lobster for a ridiculous price to set it free, I found this article on the 8 cruelest foods today on Yahoo. Worth a read. Here's an excerpt:
These spiny guys can live as old as we do, but thanks to our appetite for lobster rolls, they usually don't. A recent study in the journal Animal Behavior showed that, contrary to previous thinking, lobsters and crab can feel pain and exhibit signs of stress. Lobsters also have a central nervous system, according to other research. But that hasn't persuaded many to stop eating them. Some high-end restaurants even offer live lobster sashimi, where you choose your lobster from a tank and it appears on your plate in seconds, slit down the middle and squirming.
What's being done: Not much, although boiling lobster is illegal in the Italian town Reggio Emilia. Domestically, Whole Foods no longer sells live lobsters. In 2005, the chain conducted an internal study on the crustacean and how it gets to stores. They were persuaded by numerous studies that show lobsters can get stressed, are able to learn, and are aware of their surroundings. Many are held in storage facilities for several months, and because there's no way to minimize that distress, Whole Foods decided to stop carrying them live.
What to eat instead: Nosh sustainable, ethically caught shellfish, though it sounds simpler to find than it is.
October 4, 2012
Reasons to go vegetarian (or better yet, vegan)
I just read this great article and thought I would share some of its finer points. Read the full article here. The helpful hints at the end are worth reading as well.
2. Because if you want to get healthy, you should start with food! Replace cancer-causing, fat, pesticide and hormone-laced meats with cancer-preventing, anti-inflammatory, cholesterol lowering foods like apples, broccoli, blueberries, carrots, flax, garlic, leafy greens, nuts and sweet potatoes.
3. Because vegetarians are about 40% less likely to develop cancer than meat eaters.
4. Because our meat and dairy-centric diet is woefully lacking in health-giving fiber, contained only in plant-based foods. A minimum of 35 grams per day is recommended; the typical American consumes only 12.
5. Because four out of five Americans with cardiovascular disease who switch to a healthy (low-fat, whole foods) vegetarian diet reverse their symptoms completely.
6. The news gets better. Heart and blood-vessel diseases, diabetes, and of course obesity are preventable for 95% of us if we follow a healthy vegan diet, exercise, and manage stress.
7. Because I'll bet you agree with Dean Ornish, one of the researchers who proved statement #4: "I don't understand why asking people to eat a well-balanced vegetarian diet is considered drastic while it is medically conservative to cut people open or put them on powerful cholesterol-lowering drugs."
8. Because humans are the only species that drinks the milk of another species, and that fact alone should give you pause. Think about it for a moment. Isn't it logical that cow's milk is designed to feed baby cows? When ingested by humans, cow's milk is linked to constipation, allergies, obesity, acne, childhood diabetes, and much more. It's chock full of cholesterol (plant foods have none), and likely filled with antibiotics, growth hormones, and pesticides.
9. Because of pink slime. PERIOD.
10. Because 70% of our antibiotics are fed to livestock. Doesn't that scare you...just a little?
11. Because we are going to run out of food if we keep growing most of it to feed animals, who in turn feed far fewer peoplepeople than if we grew the food to feed directly to people. (One can feed 16 to 20 vegetarians with the same amount of natural resources as a single meat eater.)
12. In 2006, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) concluded that worldwide livestock farming generates 18% of the planet's greenhouse gas emissions -- compared with 13% generated by all transportation combined. In 2009, however, WorldWatch Institute reported that the more accurate figure may be as high as 51%. Our diet is cooking our planet.
But here is my favorite point from the article:
18. Because chickens, cows, and pigs aren't fed what they're designed to eat. They're fed what's cheap and what makes them grow incredibly fast. Some of what they eat is rendered animals - the boiled and ground up remains of dead and diseased animals, including roadkill and euthanized pets.
September 16, 2012
Benefits Chart
Just got this in my email and thought I would share it. Hope you enjoy!
diverticulitis
September 13, 2012
Vegan
Well, I'm officially going vegan. I am cutting eggs and yogurt from my diet starting today. Since I'm still a smoker (trying to quit, not working) I don't need the cholesterol in the eggs, and I can do without yogurt. I allow myself only two occasions to cheat on my lifestyle/diet: weddings, and mom's homemade chicken soup when I'm sick. I will also go back to eggs if I ever get a place where I can have chickens, raise them myself, collect the eggs, and let them live out long, happy lives.
September 5, 2012
What supplements do I take?
Supplements are, as a rule, an addition to a healthy lifestyle. They are intended to give you what you do not get enough of, or in some cases, cannot get. I take B12, probiotics and Omega 3.6.9 supplements now that I don't eat animal products, D3 since I don't go outside often (and especially during the winter), and a multivitamin and calcium-magnesium mix that isn't included in the multivitamin, and chlorella and/or chlorophyll supplements because the quality of fruits and veggies is not spectacular nowadays. That's seven different supplements, and I'm adding astaxanthin soon. (I also take bio plasma every once in a while out of curiosity, and echinacea when I'm sick.)
I use this as a general rule: Dr. Oz's Supplement Guide
The brands I use are Vitacost Synergy Once-Daily multivitamin, Vitacost Yaeyama Chlorella, Vitacost Ultra Calcium-Magnesium, and Vitacost vegetarian Omega 3.6.9. (Vitacost is just so easy for me to use, as they have my rice brand, Lotus Foods, my bean brand, Eden Foods, and several other awesome products.) I chose my multivitamin because it has no calcium and magnesium, giving me the option to take that separately, and it has coQ10, ALA, B12 and Quercetin. It also has at least 100% the daily value needed for each vitamin or mineral, but no excessive amounts of any.
However, other than the few things I don't have a taste for (peaches, pistachios, limes, apricots, and ginger to name most) I eat healthier than anyone I know personally. I just don't eat all those good things when I'm supposed to, and those things may not always be organic or fresh. Smoothies are juices are one way to try to get enough vitamins and minerals, but I, like most people, don't make them regularly enough.
August 31, 2012
What I eat on average
Might I just say that everyone has different nutritional needs, and everyone's body responds differently to certain foods. I might try to push nuts and watermelon on my mom, but when she says it comes up on her, I stop trying to force it on her. (After a few trys, always asking "Are you sure you tried it before?") Granted, that's because I believe some foods need to grow on you. I don't recall my first encounter with peas to be very pleasant, but now you'll find me tossing them in pasta. I don't recall liking chickpeas immediately, but now I can't get enough of them. But other times, there are just some things you don't want. Or need. For example, you can get a selection of vitamins and minerals from carrots, but if carrots aren't your thing you can get what you need from eating other things. As long as you're actually eating those other things, and not avoiding the whole category. So here's what you need on a daily/every-other-day basis...
1. A small amount of nuts and seeds
2. Whole grains (this does not mean whole grain bread, it means a wide variety of different whole grains, such as farro, wheatberries, red/white/black/brown rice, amaranth, quinoa, couscous, etc)
3. Leafy green veggies (not just lettuce - collard greens, kale, swiss chard, turnip greens, spinach, mustard greens, cabbage and dandelion greens)
4. Cruciferous veggies (like cauliflower) and those that fall into the "other" category like garlic and onion
5. Fruits
6. Beans
I'll admit, I have a really hard time working nuts into my diet at all, much less daily. I prefer coconut and rice milk over nut milk, and peanut butter over raw nuts. I do pretty well with fruit, usually only having a cup or less per day, and I do very well with the cruciferous veggies and "other" category. I eat plenty of whole grains, sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, peppers, kale, beans (chickpeas!), potatoes and garlic. Although I could always use more garlic. Thanks Montel Williams.
However, I get stuck in little obsessions, where I eat one thing in particular for a whole week, such as pasta with carrots or cauliflower mashed potatoes. This week it's been pineapple coconut smoothies. And I don't usually make many smoothies and juices, which are really great in the morning. And for people who eat every type of leafy green, fruit or veggie, that's great. But I don't like apricots, peaches, ginger, orange cauliflower or black beans.
August 29, 2012
Baked Chickpeas
Two ingredients. Very delicious.
Bake [rinsed] chickpeas in olive oil and Italian spices at 350 for 15 minutes.
Soup & Peanut Butter Cups
Here's a picture of some soup I made today, using up what I had in the fridge. It has a base of vegetable bouillon cubes and tomato paste, and I put in four medium potatoes, a head of kale, half a bag of baby carrots, four red radishes, half a daikon radish, French green lentils, one can of white kidney beans, garlic, onion spice, fresh rosemary and purple basil, plus a dry leek/scallion/shallot mix. Turned out alright.
I also made some "two ingredient" peanut butter cups using all-natural peanut butter and Sander's dark chocolate fudge (which, by the way, was the only thing in the toppings aisle that didn't have high fructose corn syrup). I lined a muffin pan with cups and filled them with half peanut butter, half fudge topping, then froze them overnight. A little sticky, and they didn't freeze the whole way, so next time I plan on lining the cups with powdered sugar.
They should have turned out like these below, but I'm pretty sure this person used cake frosting.
I also made some "two ingredient" peanut butter cups using all-natural peanut butter and Sander's dark chocolate fudge (which, by the way, was the only thing in the toppings aisle that didn't have high fructose corn syrup). I lined a muffin pan with cups and filled them with half peanut butter, half fudge topping, then froze them overnight. A little sticky, and they didn't freeze the whole way, so next time I plan on lining the cups with powdered sugar.
August 21, 2012
Lunches
Found this on Pinterest, hope it inspires you to bring a healthy lunch to work or pack something similar for your kids. There's endless options - carrots, boiled egg, salad with those tiny dressing packets, sandwiches, jello, cucumbers, berries, an apple or orange, apple sauce, muffins, etc.
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