If you have visited this blog before, you know that every Sunday, I LOVE to read the Sunday New York Times. Perhaps you also know that for most of the decades since 1970, I have been a vegetarian. The years that I wasn't I will explain later - This morning in the Sunday New York Times, I read two fascinating articles about diet and Veganism.
If you are not familiar with vegetariansm and veganism, the difference is degree. As a vegetarian, I sometimes eat an omelette, and use honey in my tea. Also, I often eat cheese and use half and half in my coffee. I have tried vegan cheese and have yet to find one I like, and I have spent far too much money trying to find coffee creamer that is vegan. I have several kinds probably outdated in my fridge at the moment. I hate them. One of these days, I hope I will become dedicated enough to give up honey, cheese, and cream, but, meanwhile, small steps matter.
My reasons for becoming a vegetarian back in the 1970s were a sudden illness of my then-husband's. We were pot smoking, snack eating hippies at the time, and first his pot dealer died of a sudden respiratory attack, then the ex got an infection of his heart lining, so we tossed out the hash pipe and traded our pot paraphernalia for long distance bike riding and vegetarians. We subscribed to Vegetarian Times, and we bought and read The Whole Earth Catalog. We believed (and I still believe) we have a duty to our planet to do what we can to live sustainably and compassionately.
So back to the newspaper. The first article I read was about a California day-school trying to go Vegan and facing serious parental resistance. The day-school was the kind that fed the children three wholesome organic meals a day, a big part of its popularity. But when the owner notified parents that by the upcoming fall semester they would be serving vegan meals, the parents protested.
This always surprises me because I forget that not everyone has either followed the news on health and diet, or has any idea of what a vegetarian or vegan diet is. The parents were afraid their children would not receive proper nutrition, despite meetings where dietician assured them the meal plans were entirely nutritious. One big misconception I always run into, over and over, it seems, is that meat is the only way to get protein. The same people who say this to me over and over, warning me that I won't be healthy if I don't eat meat, have no idea how much protein a day you are supposed to get or what other sources supply protein. So let me say the minimum daily requirement is 55 grams a day, and you get protein from plant sources as well as from grains, and nuts. The end of the article on the day-school had the proprietor standing strong even after a number of parents withdrew their children. These were immediately replaced by parents who chose to send their children to this school because of the new vegan diet. The problems they faced now were converting the kitchen, which serves 200 children, and getting a new chef and more help in the kitchen.
The book I used to initially educate myself to the vegetarian lifestyle was DIET FOR A SMALL PLANET. The author, Frances Moore Lappe, is still living and writing and I find articles by her and about her from time to time in my very wide reading. So for example, many international food staples supply good amounts of balanced nutrition and protein, such as the beans and rice dishes of Mexico - chili and brown rice. And Chinese rice and steamed vegetables with tofu. I know there are numbers of dishes from India as well but as I have no experience with curry or Indian cuisine, I can name them.
The second article was a fascinating scientific study on individualized nutrition. As part of a wide study, a journalist had his vitals taken, blood (glucose) and so on, and his food intake monitored, his gut biome sampled for dan identification of his natural bacterial colonies, and his exercise and lifestyle information collected. He was one of a number of participants in a huge study. All their data was collated with the help of artificial intelligence programs analyzing food content. It is too long and detailed to go into here so I will simply give you the means to look it up:
Sunday New York Times, Sunday Review Section, article entitled THE AI DIET, author Eric Tool. The basic finding a sentence was that there is no one size fits all diet for anyone and that we each of individualized body environments and need individualized analysis for optimum nutrition. Well, we can't really have that yet, which isn't to say it won't be available at some point in the future in a smart phone for wrist worn fit-bit device. For now, I guess we simply have to try to stay away from processed foods (eat Granola not Chex) eat a mostly plant based diet (like the Chinese I described above, steamed vegetables in sauce with brown rice), and lots of fresh fruit (smoothies are a good way to get that sweet fix and your fruit - banana, strawberries, blueberries, yoghurt, blend and enjoy! You can put protein powered in it too) and you can drink plant based protein drinks for snack if you are worried about your protein intake. I have found very tasty ones with as high as 30 grams of protein per drink.
Eat well, get out and walk, socialize with your friends and avoid alcohol, cigarettes and unnecessary stress - oh yes, look both ways before you cross the street - and don't speed when you drive and you have a better chance of living a long, healthy and happy life!
Happy Trails - Jo Ann
ps. I almost forgot, try to stay organic - pesticides cause cancer! Even local ShopRite stores have a large organic section with everything you could need! And buy reusable grocery bags to keep the plastic out of the ocean - it is a small thing you can do!
Oh, I almost forgot, the years I wasn't vegetarian were the years I was raising my daughter, I was afraid to take a chance with her developing body because I didn't know enough then about protein.
She is a vegetarian now. It is better for health, better for the planet, better for everyone but cattle ranchers and pig farmers (who by the way are destroying our rivers and water systems with polluted effluvia)
For more information, check out Vegetarian Society of South Jersey website:
https://www.vssj.com/
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