OneHealthyGirl.com - Carla Golden's Get Healthier! Blog

TASTE THE FUTURE: HOW FOOD CAN SAVE US.

I wish to thank my long-time readers for their loyalty and interest in my blog. To the newcomers, I welcome you! A brief bit about me for the newbies:

My name is Carla Golden, 39.5 years old, wife to amazing Chad and mother to 7.5 year old Bella (aka OneHealthyKid.com). My food journey began when I became a full-blown bulimic at 14 years old. I've slowly learned through trial, error, passion and self-education how to eat well and to share what I've learned with others. As a practicing licensed massage therapist and author of OneHealthyGirl.com, I have enjoyed interacting with others who are also passionate about healthful eating and living. I am currently in hot pursuit of a PhD in Holistic Health and Healing from the University of Natural Health so that I may expand my personal horizons and become more helpful to more people.

It is also useful to note that I currently converted to a whole food vegan (no tofu) diet which I advocate for health, spiritual and environmental reasons. While I am passionate about veganism, if this dietary lifestyle is not for you, I support you in the eating of meat and animal by-products produced by small farms and purchased directly. Eating meat and animal by-products from industrialized, commercial outlets (such as standard grocery stores) is, I believe, simply irresponsible.

[Dead pigs outside a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO)]

Those of you reading this are most likely not homeless or living at the bottom rung of social poverty. You, like me, have the luxury to read blogs as well as to to pick and choose what to eat, rather than just eat whatever we can pull together to survive. I don't expect people who have not had the blessed opportunity to live and eat like everyday kings and queens to give up eating meat. 

But those of use who can eat meat every day, I encourage you to assess the realities and ramifications of how that meat was produced and purchase it in accordance with your ethical disposition. If you don't care about the quality of life of one animal then I could imagine that you may care about the quality of life for all creatures, including us, who live on Earth. If you don't care about the overall wellbeing of our environment then this blog may not be for you.

Talking about food, especially veganism, is a slippery slope. The topic is as heated as politics, religion and child-rearing and generates criticism, defensiveness, and ridicule. Family and friends are often challenged and may not wish to further associate with me. Sharing what I have learned and the changes I've made in my life becomes an unintentional threat to those around me who are uncomfortable with my message and/or their habits.

It's a Catch-22 situation: support and further a cause to spare human disease and environmental devastation and risk losing the association of friends and relatives.

But I have confidence that veganism (at least vegetarianism) will slowly become more mainstream as people begin to learn and accept the spiritual and environmental degradation of eating abused and sick animals and their by-products.

And so I march on with my message and face the ridicule, defensiveness and criticism...even covert disassociation...because I believe that changing the way we all look at food can save us. Not me and you (well, yes to that when it comes to personal health and longevity) but tomorrow's humans. Earth could easily cleanse itself of humans. Remember Easter Island?

I hope that I continue to provide you with nuggets of useful information that you can incorporate into your life. Please join me on Facebook at my OneHealthyGirl.com dedicated page where I share other's wellness articles and inspiration, movie trailers and conversation relating to all things health related. 

Live Light, xo-C.

ALMOND MILK...FOR LITTLE AND BIG KIDS!

I purchased a carton of Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Vanilla Almond Milk for my daughter the other day. Oh my. She's ambivalent, but I'm in love. BUT the ingredient list has me a little concerned so I'm going to investigate. 

Before I do so, I am proud to announce the launching of OneHealthyKid.com which is my daughter Bella's food blog. One of the challenges I've faced as I've become a more conscious and healthier eater is my inability to convince my child to follow. She's been virtually vegetarian her entire seven and a half years (an occasional meal of chicken nuggets or fried calamari - I really think it's the "fried" that she likes) and we weaned her off liquid cow milk several years ago, so those aren't issues.

She likes to describe herself as a "Cheese-atarian" because that is literally her favorite food...put it on bread, pita, tortillas or pasta and she's a happy kid. I like to purchase organic, raw cheese for her when I can find it and she's great about eating sprouted grain and whole wheat products. But cheese is still a cow milk product and I'm not thrilled about that. Sadly too, her narrow extent of fresh foods include apples, carrots, watermelon, pomegranates and edamame (whole soy beans).

She and I have discussed different ways to encourage her to like new fresh foods. She has long ditched helping me in the garden, so that didn't work. Together we decided to start OneHealthyKid.com so that she can learn about new fresh foods and try them live on video for her blog. Please join us there too!

Back to the almond milk.....

Here are the ingredients in the vanilla variety: filtered water, evaporated cane juice, almonds, calcium carbonate, natural vanilla flavor with other natural flavors, sea salt, potassium citrate, carrageenan, soy lecithin, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D2 and D-alpha-tocopherol (natural Vitamin E)

Unfortunately this almond milk is not organic by nature of lacking any organic ingredients. The fact that there is more cane juice than almonds in almond milk is a bit disconcerting. (A food's ingredients are listed in order of most to least, fyi.) "Natural flavors" are ambiguous at best. All the additives are surely synthetic and the soy lecithin is surely derived from GMO (genetically modified) soy.

BUT I would still drink this almond milk over cow milk any day. Because pharmaceuticals are injected into the animal and not into the animal's milk, those additives are not required on the cow milk carton's label even though they are passed into the milk. Conventional milk is a toxic sauce of cow pus (from chronic teat infection), medicine and milk. The best kind of cow milk to drink is raw cow milk, but still the milk is designed for baby's cows, not baby humans or grown humans.

Milk derived from a plant --- Exactly how does one milk a plant? I'll explain below ----  be it almonds, hemp or rice (I don't recommend soy milk) is almost certainly a safer and a more healthful choice than animal milk, except maybe raw animal milk in certain situations. Young children probably shouldn't have almond milk until at least one year of age and are hopefully getting human breast milk at least up until then.

I would like to find a packaged organic almond milk in my area for an occasional treat, however, the best way to control additives and organics is to make your own plant (nut or seed) milk. While I've only ever made my own almond milk, here are recipes for rice milk and hemp milk.

Here's the almond milk recipe I used from Matt Amsden's Rawvolution recipe book. It couldn't be easier!

"To make almond milk, combine 1 cup of [raw, organic] almonds and 3.5 cups of pure water in a blender, blend until smooth, and strain through a nut-milk bag [or cheese cloth]."

And that is how you milk a plant. Live Light, xo-C.

WHAT'S VEGANISM GOT TO DO WITH RACISM?

Over the weekend I read an excellent article in The Sun magazine entitled By the Color of Their Skin: Time Wise on the Myth of a Postracial America. The topic of racism as presented by Tim Wise is deeply interesting to me, and while reading the article I couldn't help but pair the issue of veganism alongside much of what he had to say about anti-racism. The two have similar individual reactions, social issues and both are rooted expressions of non-violence.

[Please, I ask of my critics to not accuse me of equating people of color to animals. It is not my intention to make such a correlation. I simply wish to show how uncomfortable embracing a more non-violent lifestyle of any description, which involves initial personal sacrifice and readjustment, can be.]

"...to acknowledge the truth would call upon us to make some tough changes, and people are afraid to give up their advantage. It can also be psychologically harmful to confront the face that one is benefiting unfairly from the system. The first thing whites tend to do, when they open their eyes to their own privilege, is fall into guilt and self-flagellation, and that isn't helpful. This becomes another reason not to confront the truth." Tim Wise

This same scenario can be said about eaters of commercial meat when they open their eyes to the directly resulting environmental destruction and to the severe levels of animal cruelty in industrialized farming practices. Oftentimes the weight of the guilt and shame is so heavy that it's more comfortable to stay in dark denial. To open your eyes and to see the truth and ramifications of choice while keeping those eyes open is to bare witness to the pain of others and to generate personal strength to resolve to think and do differently. The initial changes may be small, but they are glorious changes nonetheless.

"When injustice benefits you, you have a material interest in not challenging it. And, as James Baldwin said, whites who stand up against racism run the risk of being turned away from the "welcome table" of white society and becoming pariahs. That is a real fear, because not one wants to lose his or her social connections. so only a few people - usually one who are more privileged, ironically - are likely to speak out.

Another reason few people speak up is that we have a learned helplessness around social change. When I point out examples of white privilege, people will say to me, "That's true, but what can we do about it?" When I was circulating anti-apartheid petitions in college, some people wouldn't sign - not because they approved of apartheid, but because they wondered what difference signing would make. Most people won't commit to anything unless they're sure it will pay off. We've become skeptical about the possibility of change and don't spend enough time envisioning what society should look like." Tim Wise

When a meat eater in the Land of Abundant Meat chooses to no longer eat meat s/he runs the risk of being shunned or ridiculed by friends, family members and/or co-workers. But to be shunned or ridiculed also means that someone first had to hear or see your message of change in order to react. To know that someone has thought or felt differently because of your example is to know that revolution is possible and is always bubbling beneath the surface. 

Marianne Williamson writes in The Gift of Change:

" We sign up for duty, for participating in this revolution, through a sincere desire to be used by something larger than ourselves, for the purpose of healing the world.

We never know what effect our simply standing on truth might have. We think, "I'm just one person; what difference can I make?" But none of us is "just one person." All minds are joined, and each of us has a chance every day to say yes to something that could make the world a better place and no to something that degrades it. 

We're sometimes looking for the big plan that will save the world, while not recognizing our own part in it. The plan that will save us involves little ways that each of us becomes more righteous every day. And enough tiny droplets, in time, make up an ocean."

It is interesting to note that prior to the domestication of animals roughly 10,000 years ago, humankind lived primarily in egalitarian societies. 

"...Men and women were essentially equal and worked together cooperatively.....this was the norm for many tens of thousands of years of human life, prior to the expansion of patriarchal dominator cultures that were based on herding animals.

It appears that war, herding animals, oppression of the feminine, capitalism, and the desire for more capital/livestock have been linked since their ancient birth in the commodification of large animals. 

This exclusivism is necessary to racism, elitism, and war, because in order to harm and dominate other people we must break the bonds that our hearts naturally feel with them. The mentality of domination is necessarily a mentality of exclusion." Will Tuttle, The World Peace Diet

So maybe if eating meat from herded animals gave eventual rise to racism (and other social ills) then maybe refusing at least industrialized meat and dairy and perhaps all meat and dairy would begin to heal the discord and disharmony between all people everywhere.

"It is the consciousness of peace, not the behavior of war, that will ultimately turn back the tide of fear." Marianne Williamson

Veganism is non-violence in action. Live Light, xo-C.

MEATLESS RESISTANCE PART 3/3: but IT TASTES GOOD!

There are commonly eaten animal foods from other cultures that many of us think are unappealing to eat such as horse meat, dog meat, turtles, and balut to name just several. Some cultures think it's equally disgusting of us to commonly eat cows and pigs. So taste really isn't as much a matter of innate determination, but rather a matter of exposure. 

Another interesting characteristic of meat is, that aside from beef steak tartare and sushi, meat in this culture is cooked to varying degrees. If we were intended to be natural meat eaters like a cougar or wolf, it would seem that raw meat (with all the blood and guts) would be plenty appealing to us. 

Can you imagine opening a package of raw chicken parts, lifting one to your mouth and taking a meaty, wet bite? Probably not. It would be questionable if our teeth could even cut through the fibrous muscle tissue.

So we cook meat to break down the fibers and to make it palatable. Rarely do we cook it without seasonings like salt and pepper. It would taste too bland without them. 

So raw meat and unseasoned meat do not naturally appeal to us. So maybe we weren't meant to eat them.

Why doesn't the sight of our family dog or cat make us salivate? Why when a squirrel or possum runs across the road do we not have the instincts to chase it? Why does our culture value horses over cows?

We have been trained by our culture to like particular cooked and seasoned meats. As I have said before, I believe having the ability to eat meat is a great survival back-up mechanism so that we could turn to it instead of starving to death. But meat is not the optimal, natural first food for us.

We are told that primitive people gathered plant foods and hunted for meat. Gathering wild plants surely was tedious and labor intensive. Scoring a big kill was more efficient to feed more people on a substance that would process more slowly in the body staving off the next wave of hunger and hence work. 

While man may have died out at any given point had hunting and cooking not arrived, man also survived up to that point by gathering just plant foods. The pendulum swings according to the balance of many intricate and integrated variables.

Now that we have mastered farming and we can survive off an ample supply of plants, perhaps its now time to let meat consumption take a back seat in order to reduce further damage to the environment and jeopardize our survival. 

This time around our survival depends on eating predominately or exclusively plants. Fortunately as an omnivore, we have the choice. Our agricultural system can produce more than enough plant food to feed the world's population. But hanging on to our acquired, non-innate taste for flesh could lead to our extinction.

The pendulum has swung. While meat once determined our survival, it is now threatening it. We can be trained to like and value endless preparations of plant food just as we were flesh foods. Taste is fickle. Don't let it determine what foods are best for your health and that of the environment's. 

Live Light, xo-C.

PS - Raw Foodist will say that cooking plants is as unnatural as cooking flesh and I can totally appreciate that. 

Review:

1/3: There are many other choices besides animal foods for wholesome protein acquisition. 

2/3: Everybody will not be eating cheap animal foods very much longer.

3/3: We can be trained to accept just about any food.

Are we going to let the damaged environment (from animal farming) jeopardize human survival because we're too lazy and set in our ways to care?

Don't just be the change you wish to see, but be the change that is imperative to survival. This road we're currently on has a foreseeable dead end.

MEATLESS RESISTANCE PART 2/3: but EVERYBODY EATS IT!

Yes, it's true. Meat is everywhere. Everybody eats it and wants to eat it so much that it can be a challenge to dine in a restaurant and find one appetizer or entree without meat (or cheese or egg) on it. Eating meat and other animal foods is so common, socially acceptable and affordable. 

We're so used to it that we probably couldn't imagine life without it. Try it: imagine your grocery store without nearly a whole wall lined with shrink-wrapped flesh of various animals which then bleeds into the long sequence of milk, yogurt, cheese, eggs, and ice cream. Imagine Memorial Weekend or the Fourth of July without burgers and dogs on the grill. Imagine Thanksgiving without the turkey.

Most of us just can't do it. The consumption of meat is so ingrained in our traditions and lifestyles that to take away the meat is almost the same as taking away the event or experience itself. 

In the Land of Abundance we like to consume. Foregoing something that is plentiful and relatively inexpensive is nearly Un-american. We can all be kings (and queens) here and feast on the lives of others.

Or can we? 

How long can this last?

At least until people start falling ill due to commercial meat, egg and dairy consumption. At least until the planet starts rejecting the abuse of industrialized animal farming. At least until those products become too expensive. 

Oh, wait...

1. People are getting sick.

2. The planet is rebelling.

Oh, then meat will have to get too expensive in order for people to voluntarily reduce their consumption.

Well, that's kind of happening too. Because if you don't 1. want to get sick or 2. contribute to global warming then you're going to have to purchase the more expensively raised animal products which aren't so toxic to humans or planets. 

How many people will buy a $24.00 grass-fed, organically grown 8 oz. filet mignon when you can find a conventional one for $7.50 at your local grocery store?

Most people won't. They will probably eat the meat from a diseased animal and deny the inevitable consequences. (Yes, all meat from factory farms is from diseased animals. They could not survive the farm conditions without the regular doses of antibiotics.) 

Or people will just decide to do without the meat. 

And when everybody starts doing that, then it will all seem very normal. 

And then we can imagine the produce section being at least a third or more of the entire grocery store and we can then imagine assorted grilled vegetables for summer holidays and just the "fixin's" for Thanksgiving. 

Beat the curve! Reduce your meat consumption now and buy only the premium stuff to protect your health and the environment. Be a cutting edge consumer and help redefine what is normal.

Live Light, xo-C.

Review:

1/3: There are many other choices besides animal foods for wholesome protein acquisition.

2/3: Everybody will not be eating cheap animal foods very much longer.

 

MEATLESS RESISTANCE PART 1/3: PROCURING PROTEIN!

One of the top three reasons for resisting a vegetarian or vegan diet (besides the hippy dippy label) is the concern for not getting enough protein in the diet. It is a common misconception to think that the only or best protein comes from animal flesh, eggs and dairy products. It is also common to be confused as to how much dietary protein (from any source) a person needs.

The USDA recommends for my sex/age combo an equivalent of 5 ounces of protein a day. (View the USDA Protein Recommendation Chart to find your recommended daily intake.) On this other USDA Meat/Bean Ounce Equivalent Chart we can learn that 2 tablespoons of hummus, 12 almonds, or 1 egg is their equivalent of one ounce.

An egg has roughly 6 grams of protein. So the USDA is recommending approximately 30 grams of protein a day.  

Mark Sisson, author of The Primal Blueprint, recommends " At a minimum you need .5 grams of protein per pound of lean mass/per day on average to maintain your “structure." If you are moderately active you need .7 or .8, and if you are an active athlete you need as much as 1 gram of protein per pound of lean mass."

So me at 135 pounds with 24% body fat would need (135 x (1.00-.24) = 102.6 x .7 = 71.82 grams of protein per day. 

The RDA recommends that we take in 0.8 grams of protein for every kilogram that we weigh (or about 0.36 grams of protein per pound that we weigh). So for me it would be 135 x .36 = 48.6 grams of protein per day. 

Dr. Andrew Weil recommends between 80 and 120 grams of protein per day. 

"During the last sixty years, several researchers (Rose, Boyd, Berg, et al) all independently proved that between 3.7% and 4.65% of the total food intake was all the protein necessary to maintain good health. These percentages are equivalent to about 24 to 30 grams of protein." 

30 grams, 71 grams, 48 grams, 120 grams, 24 grams....whaaaaaaat? What's a person to do? No wonder so many of us are confused. 

But what we can confidently know is that commercially farmed animal flesh and by-products (milk, cheese, eggs, etc.) mostly consists of protein and fat....and animal hormones, artificial hormones (like rBGH growth hormone), antibiotics, microorganisms (hence why meat is irradiated and why rare meat consumption is no longer recommended)...created in an animal who was fed an unnatural diet of corn, soy and the cholesterol of other animals. 

Whether you care or not about adhering to a label such a "vegetarian" or "vegan" and you can't find local resources for purely grass-fed, unmedicated, clean meat and dairy products, then you can obtain your protein requirement from plants with confidence. 

Here are some common plant foods that offer higher levels of protein: 

1 cup tempeh: 41 grams 

3 ounces seitan: 31 grams 

1 cup cooked soybeans: 29 grams 

1 cup cooked black beans: 15 grams 

3 ounces almonds: 14 grams 

1 cup cooked chick peas: 12 grams 

1 cup quinoa: 9 grams 

2 tablespoons peanut butter: 8 grams 

1 cup brown rice: 5 grams 

1 medium potato: 4 grams

You can be healthy without eating food products made from animals. Protein is present in many plant foods. Choose organic whenever possible to avoid unnecessary and often toxic chemicals. Organic produce and products are generally more widely available than grass-fed meats.

You can be vegetarian or vegan and refuse those labels in favor of just being plain healthy.

Live Light, xo-C.

A SIX-WEEK TOTAL TRANSFORMATION!

Well, here it is! Today marks the end of my Six Week Jump & Juice Fast Fest Feast. I failed in so many beautiful ways. 

1. I didn't juice every day and I don't think I made it one, whole complete day with just juice. But I still love juicing and my Jack LaLanne juicer! My husband especially loves it too.

2. I didn't jump on my awesome rebounder every day for 30 minutes. Somedays I didn't formally exercise at all, but I still love rebounding and my Needak rebounder! My daughter especially loves it too.

Whaaaaaat happened, Carla?

Yes, I didn't accomplish what I set out to do because it all seemed so trivial after learning about The World Peace Diet. My ambitions to Jump & Juice for six weeks were overshadowed by wanting to publicly transition from a vegetarian diet to a fully vegan diet. And I did. 

And it feels GREAT! I float. I glow. I am a new person. And it's only going to keep getting better. In a year's time, 98% of our cells are renewed. I'm a mere 12% along the way of rebuilding my physical body on non-violent, peaceful food. I may have shed a few pounds in the process and gained some muscle mass, but it's certainly nothing of great significance. What is significant is the shift in my shape, heart and disposition.

While I do not have the big answers to solve the world's pain, injustice and conflict, I do know in my small personal sphere that I am not contributing to those ills and am making a small, yet powerful, difference. The changes in me ripple into my home space, my family, my friends and my community. They are vibrations of peace and I believe that if we all become more compassionate to the undercurrent of violence in and around our food, and make changes accordingly, that we would help resolve a large portion of the world's pain.

I am not a perfect vegan. My car still has leather seats. I still have leather purses, belts and shoes. Surely there are field animals killed in the harvesting of my commercial produce. When it rains, I know I inadvertently squash frogs in the road. I am not perfect, yet I am honest in my desire to stop being a hypocrite when it comes to wishing and praying for world peace, the reduction of world hunger, and the reversal of global warming.

I invite you to share with me a more powerful way to affect these popular and contemporary causes with one thing I can do (or not do) several times each and every day to effect change. 

I want a peaceful and healthy planet for today's and tomorrow's children. My commitment to veganism is testimony to my sincerity and seriousness. Anything less and I would feel like a hypocrite.

Live Light, xo-C.

image from HerbivoreClothing.com

J&J#40: 1 pitcher matcha tea • oatmeal with 2 peaches • goji berries • watermelon • 35 minute swim • roasted veggies with pesto • vegan black forest cake (a gift from a friend)

J&J#41: 1 pitcher matcha tea • juice: 2 grapefruit, 1 orange, 5 carrots • 2 cucumber sandwiches • 2 Ezekiel tortillas • whole soybeans • 45 minute swim • pasta with pesto, 2 diced tomatoes and fresh basil leaves

J&J#42: 1 pitcher matcha tea • fresh okra sautéed with garlic • potato chips • tempeh tacos with avocado, tomato and lettuce • brownies made with bananas and applesauce (instead of egg and butter)

(I am glad to be at the end of recording my food intake and exercise!! While it's been a worthwhile practice to be accountable, honest and transparent, it's a little too neurotic for me.)

TEMPEH vs. TOFU

Along the lines of yesterday's post about avoiding The Tofu Road so many vegetarians and vegans travel, I'd like to explore the similarities and differences between temepeh and tofu, two popular products derived from soy beans.

According to Wikipedia, "tempeh, or tempe in Javanese, is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form. It is especially popular on the island of Java, where it is a staple source of protein. 

Like tofu, tempeh is made from soybeans, but tempeh is a whole soybean product with different nutritional characteristics and textural qualities. Tempeh's fermentation process and its retention of the whole bean give it a higher content of protein, dietary fiber and vitamins compared to tofu, as well as firmer texture and stronger flavor. 

Tofu, by contrast, is said to be more versatile in dishes. Because of its nutritional value, tempeh is used worldwide in vegetarian cuisine; some consider it to be a meat analogue. Even long before Westerners found and realized its rich nutritional value, tempeh was referred to as “Javanese meat.”"

Also according to Wikipedia, "tofu (or bean curd) is a food of Chinese origin made by coagulating soy milk, and then pressing the resulting curds into blocks. There are many different varieties of tofu, including fresh tofu and tofu that has been processed in some way. 

Tofu has very little flavor or smell on its own, so it can be used either in savory or sweet dishes, and is often seasoned or marinated to suit the dish. The production of tofu from soy milk is similar to the production of cheese from milk, although some tofu is made by processing non-soy products, such as almonds or black beans. The byproduct of the process is soy pulp (also called okara in Japanese). 

Tofu is low in calories, contains a relatively large amount of iron and contains little fat. Depending on the coagulant used in manufacturing, the tofu may also be high in calcium and/or magnesium. Tofu also contains soy isoflavones, which can mimic natural human estrogens and may have a variety of harmful or beneficial effects when eaten in sufficient quantities."

Here is an great comparison chart to show the character and nutritional differences between tofu and tempeh. Tempeh definitely packs more fiber, protein and calories than tofu.

There is also the issue of phytic acid (which is undesirable in food for it's mineral and vitamin chelating properties as explained here) to consider. A study of phytic acid in soybeans documents in detail the phytic acid level at different stages of preparation. 

"What they found is that it is very difficult to break down phytates in soybeans. In the study, the researchers boil the beans, pour off the water, soak them again, dehull them, steam them, drain them, and cool them. The phytic acid levels change very little with all of this effort. 

It is only when they ferment the beans in the form of tempeh that the phytate levels reduce to about 45% of the levels of the soaked soybean. Fried tempeh is an improvement still, but if the tempeh is stored for two weeks at 5ºC and then fried, the researchers reached the optimal (but not perfect) reduction of the phytic acid. A 2003 study also found that the phytic acid level decreased by only 31% by fermenting soybeans (Egounlety and Aworth 2003). 

Thus, fermentation is the only reasonable option for reducing phytates in soy. Keep these results in mind as you shop for soymilk and tofu. Soybeans in soymilk are soaked, strained, and cooked. Tofu has an additional step - a coagulant is added. Both of these products retain nearly 100% of the phytates. You will not get the mineral value out of them that you expect from the nutritional label. If you are an avid soymilk drinker, you might consider culturing it using a process similar to yogurt of kefir." (From RebuildFromDepression.com blog.)

While tofu and tempeh are both popular substitues for or additions to meat in a diet, I believe tempeh outweighs tofu in nutrition and safety. Though tempeh is not as popular or seen as widely, it is still fairly easy to find in supermarkets. The brand that I've been finding at my local Harris Teeter is LightLife Organic Tempeh.

Before I ever purchased my own tempeh to prepare at home, I had only enjoyed it in restaurants as "sausage" or cooked in soy sauce. It was always quite salty and I was under the impression that this was it's natural flavor. I was surprised when I opened my first package, took a smell and realized that it is a very neutral substance. We've enjoyed it in pasta sauces and stir frys so far and it's been delicious. Very much like tofu, tempeh easily adopts the other flavors in whatever dish you're preparing.

No matter what soy product you choose, make sure it is made from organic soy beans. Next to corn, soy beans are the most widely genetically modified crop. We are the guinea pigs for GMOs. No one yet knows the long term ramifications and the suppositions do not sound promising.

Live Light, xo-C.

J&J#39: 1 pitcher matcha tea • oatmeal with 2 peaches • 2 Ezekiel tortillas • sad salad: iceburg, tomatoes, guacamole, tortilla strips with creamy cilantro dressing • salsa + chips • 30 minute swim • 3 tomato + cucumber sandwiches on Ezekiel bread with Vegenaise • applesauce

NAVIGATING THE VEGAN BUFFET AND DODGING TOFU!

I've learned in the past six weeks that many vegetarians and vegans turn toward tofu and other soy products to fill in the gaps left behind by meat, milk, cheese and eggs. While it is tempting to go that route, I feel strongly about the over-consumption of unfermented soy leading to imbalanced hormonal problems and therefore resist. 

It's easy to take in too much soy when eating tofu scramble, soy milk, tofu meats or cheeses, soy based condiments and soy milk desserts. Over the years of reading research, the article entitled Soy: The Abominable Bean summed it up best and made the greatest impact for me to arrive at this conclusion.

Being newly vegan has been challenging in some ways. One way in particular is finding a healthful, creamy sauce/dip alternative to put on dishes like veggie patties, salad dressing, beans or veggie sandwiches. Hummus is very useful and can be made with all kinds of beans and herbs for a variety of flavors. Applesauce works in many instances.

At the grocery store recently I found Vegenaise...a vegan dressing and spread made from GMO free ingredients of grapeseed oil, filtered water, brown rice syrup, apple cider vinegar, soy protein (eeeks...but in much smaller quantities than a soy mayonnaise), sea salt, mustard flour and lemon juice concentrate. It is egg free, has no cholesterol, is dairy free and contains no preservative.

But how does it taste? Watch below....

I had an unfortunate vegan lunch experience today - wish I had had my new Vegenaise with me! I ordered the southwestern salad minus the ground beef and cheese, which then led to the unfortunate subtraction of the red beans because the waiter told me they are mixed with the beef. So it ended up as iceburg lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole and tortilla strips. BORING. And it was coated heavily in a creamy dressing which was only described as "cilantro dressing" on the menu. It didn't occur to me that it would be creamy.

My vegan navigation so far has been pretty precise, but this one got me! I have a little inside scoop that there will be opening soon on the island a new restaurant which will specialize in vegetarian and vegan dishes - OH YEAH! Haven't we been waiting for this?! I'll tell you more when I get the green light.

Live Light, xo-C.

J&J#38: 1 pitcher matcha tea • Burmese (Shwe Myanmar) veggie broth soup, ginger salad, curry potatoes and jasmine rice • salad: mixed greens, tomatoes, blueberries + walnuts • 3 Ezekiel tortillas • 40 minute swim

DAIRY DETOX: Part 2

"Once toxemia is established [in the body], it causes an irritation to the cells which the body seeks to overcome. It responds by creating what is known as a compensatory form of elimination, whereby the body utilizes extraordinary channels of elimination to assist the body's struggle to maintain cellular health. 

The mucous membranes  are frequently selected for this process, resulting in what is referred to as the "common cold." The mucous secretions serve as a vehicle for the body to transport the accumulated toxins out of its internal environment. 

In other words, the process of acute disease is utilized to assist in the body's eliminative efforts...we can now recognize acute diseases as the body's remedial efforts to heal itself. The disease itself becomes the "cure." Blueprint for Health by AnnaBelle Lee

I very recently overcame two weeks of a sinus/cold/cough thing. Two weeks! And I never get sick! ;o) The more I think about it, I'm convinced that I didn't "contract a cold," but that my body took an opportunity to cleanse itself since giving up all dairy products 38 days ago. It just looked, sounded and felt like a cold.

And a strange thing has happened. I'm starting to lose my desire for dark chocolate and sweet fruit. Lately, I've been gravitating to vegetables (and fruit commonly thought of as vegetables....like tomatoes, cucumbers, okra, etc.) and grains. Maybe it's temporary....we'll see. And I'm not sure how I feel about this!

Do I feel like I've detoxed? I am sleeping better...more soundly. I am remembering better...greater recall. I look different to myself...I think my eyes are clearer.  I have thoroughly enjoyed my food. There have been brief moments of pining for parmesan cheese or sour cream, but no insurmountable urges. 

Yes, I have cleansed at a deeper level. So glad THAT'S over!

Live Light, xo-C.

J&J#37: 1 pitcher matcha tea • 4 Ezekiel toasts with wild cherry preserves • potato chips (those salt & fresh ground pepper Kettle chips seduce me!) • gjoi berries • multigrain pasta with fresh pesto • banana