We've all been told that dairy is the best way to get calcium. However, since I've been actively trying to clear up my skin, and living with someone who has a lactose intolerance, I've eliminated dairy from my diet, and household, almost completely.
Dr. Oz isn't a vegan, nor is he a vegetarian.
He is, however, fairly sensible and did a a pretty cool, but unfortunately short segment on his show yesterday highlighting plant-based eating and how that can help prevent cancer and heart disease. Instead of focusing on the word diet, or vegan, Oz talked about a lot of good, commonsensical approaches to a healthier lifestyle.
Inspired from just having seen Forks Over Knives -- a film that examines whether most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict mankind can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting both animal-based and processed foods -- the famous doctor hosted a few of the film's stars, in addition to the authors of The China Study.
Since the show airs in the middle of the day, here are the takeaway points in case you missed it:
3 food groups everyone avoid:
Continue Reading...Most people pester vegetarians and vegans with questions if they're getting various nutrients--albeit protein, essential fatty acids, or whatever trending nutrient of the moment is. Yet, it's rare that a meat eater is asked if they are getting enough B12, fiber or their share of nutrients in return.
Fact is that there will always be unhealthy people who don't have balanced diets, who aren't getting enough nutrients--some are carnivores, others vegetarians.
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Being Vegetarian has a really neat table that lists the most common elements missing in the average American diet. What's particularly helpful is how the list includes both vegetarian and herbal sources of all the nutrients, particularly B12 and iron, which tend to be a concern for those on strict vegetarian or vegan diets.
So regardless of what your diet includes (or excludes), here are the most common elements lacking in American diets:
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One of the most often repeated reasons people tell me they could never go vegetarian is because they love the taste of meat too much.
After growing up on the Oregon coast - consuming seafood like it was growing out of style - and eating venison year round, I salute this argument, but no longer find it valid. Once you stop eating meat, you stop craving it and instead start craving vegetarian food.
There's something about red meat that raises hair on the back of our necks. It could be because every other minute the argument changes on whether or not it's good for us (pro and con); it could be the frequent E. coli outbreaks that would sooner have me craving starvation than ground beef. Some resources go as far as stating those who eat red meat are likely to have other unhealthy habits. Whether you choose to eliminate red meat entirely, or to simply scale back, it's important to recap why.
Health
In Jane Brody's New York Times article, "Paying a Price for Loving Red Meat," she discusses an extensive decade-long study by the National Cancer Institute, which reported the following health risks come into play for those who eat red meat:
The increase in mortality risk tied to the higher levels of meat consumption was described as “modest,” ranging from about 20 percent to nearly 40 percent. But the number of excess deaths that could be attributed to high meat consumption is quite large given the size of the American population.
...the deaths of one million men and perhaps half a million women could be prevented just by eating less red and processed meats, according to estimates prepared by Dr. Barry Popkin, who wrote an editorial accompanying the report.
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Four hundred days and forty pounds ago, I became a vegetarian.
After a full year of not eating animal meat, I must say that I've never felt better. I recently got a full check-up, including extensive blood tests and learned that I was in top shape. My protein, iron, b-vitamins and the rest were all happily in check. Well, everything minus a vitamin-d deficiency, that's only natural when you live in a place like Seattle.
Thinking back, becoming a vegetarian wasn't as hard as I originally thought it would be. I would go through phases where I would try out vegetarianism, but it never stuck longer than a week or so because I had no clue on how to sustain a healthy vegetarian diet and couldn't imagine a life without unagi sushi rolls or hot dogs at a baseball game. Then one Sunday afternoon, after lamenting to a vegetarian friend about feeling unhealthy, he suggested I consider vegetarianism. My roommate at the time had Peter Singer's The Ethics of What We Eat in his bookshelf, which complimented this suggestion, so I picked it up and read it cover-to-cover that same afternoon. That was one of many books/videos I devoured in a few weeks time--ranging in topic from Indian cookbooks to basic nutrients that every diet needs.
Continue Reading...Today I learned that peanuts aren't in fact nuts, but legumes. Despite avid research to prove this wrong, the Mayo Clinic kicked my last straw of disbelief, by noting, "Even peanuts — which are technically not a nut, but a legume, like beans — seem to be relatively healthy."
I originally heard about this from a colleague that is all about the CrossFit craze. A common dietary trend that couples well with this method of exercise is the "Paleolithic Diet," which is also known as the "Stone Age Diet," or, "Cave Man Diet."
After picking her brain on what this caveman-inspired diet is all about, she said the protein-driven diet would be challenging for vegetarians because grains, diary and beans are forbidden. No whole wheat? More importantly, NO PEANUT BUTTER? Founder of the diet, Dr. Ben Balzer notes,
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