Friday, April 10, 2009
veganism
After much research and reading, I've (Naomi) decided to adopt the vegan diet (as much that is in my control, which means that when invited to people's homes, I will eat whatever they serve and Mom Heidi, I will GLADLY eat whatever you make while in Australia!). I read a book many months back that really influenced this decision. It's called Skinny Bitch (not so great name, but great book!). It goes into depth the sources of animal products and dairy products and what exactly is in them (added hormones, etc.). I'm becoming much more passionate about what I put into my body and what exactly is in the foods I consume. Being vegan means eating no animal products (dairy-eggs,butter,cheese,milk; meat and fish) and eating a plant based diet which is eating all fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. We eat very little meat and dairy as is, so I don't think this will be too bad (although, one thing I will do that is against the vegan diet, is continue to eat fish. I love tuna and salmon and believe the benefits of fish are great). As is, we drink soy milk (but I'm thinking of trying almond milk as there are some controversy over the benefits of soy), and eat lots of tofu (protein and calcium) and veggies. Whole grains are the number 1 staple in our house. My mom and twin sis being nurses, I know their first question (rightfully so) will be what about the nutrients in meat and dairy? I get all the nutrients found in dairy and meat already in vegetables and in the daily supplements we take (fish oil and flax seed oil = omega-3), and as for calcium, it is in a lot of vegetables and we take a calcium supplement that has 100%DV. Also, brocolli, brussel sprouts, and kale are huge sources of calcium. I love yogurt, so soy yogurt also provides calcium. Another concern about the vegan diet is the lack of iron, vitamin B-12 and riboflavin. The multi-vitamin we take has 100% of each. Some of the benefits to a vegan diet are lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and lower risk of many forms of cancer. Jason is super supportive of this (since he is the family cook, whatever he makes will be vegan for me), and he will eat anything I make or experiment with (bless him!). I get a lot of my recipes from http://www.fatfreevegan.com/ and the book mentioned above comes with a great simple recipe book too. If any of you have any suggestions or tips on vegan foods, etc. I'm all ears! I'll periodically post great recipes I find and try out too. :-)
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4 comments:
This is cracking me up. After I read Skinny Bitch a little over a year ago I dropped it all, cut out coffee and meat and was loving Tofu everything, didn't quite cut out all the dairy. But the book was so inspirational to point out all of the flaws in the US meat industry and what gets past the safeguards and what stressed out overly hormoned animal product we put into our body. nice work Na!! I had to decide to go back to eating meat when I moved over here because of the flexibility issue with other cooks, but I love the fact that we were so impacted by that book! My dad makes a mean tofu stir fry! So good, stay away from the Tofu hot dogs though, not great. But there is some taco meat filler that taste great and allows for a great taco salad! Love you so much! Thanks for the note on my blog.
i've actually heard of this book! i can't say i'm surprised...i sort-of saw this coming :)
Well dear daughter-in-law, I am so glad you're looking after my son's health along with yours. I can't promise you a meat-free, full-on vegan diet when you're here (Steve would cack himself) but I'll do my best to have foods here that you feel good about eating. The typical Australian diet as far as I know is full-on real butter, eggs, meat with emphasis on lamb and beef, and heaps of veggies and fruit. No worries, mate, you'll go home only a few pounds heavier. :) Love ya!
Hey Naomi-
Thanks for the post and all your excellent reasons why you are pursuing veganism! I applaud your research and concern. I am right there with you in why we should be sooo careful about what we put in our body. I have been doing a lot of research on raw foods and have been enjoying trying lots of recipes. Here is a link to one of my favorite raw foodie: aniphyo.com She makes being a vegan easy. I also saw that you are interested in trying out almond milk (verses soy) and I make it nearly every day-it is easy and yummy! I have a real adversion to soy because of a lot of controversy that it is tied to and also the hormonal affect. Great research-I would love to hear how your journey unfolds :)
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