What's the deal with B12?

It's said by some that in in the vegan community the issue of vitamin B12 is sometimes swept under the carpet, or mentioned as an afterthought.  The vegan diet has a lot going for it from a health perspective, including lower rates of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and autoimmune diseases, and a good vegan diet will have ample amounts of all nutrients, but there is one dastardly little vitamin that escapes a plant-based diet: vitamin B12.  Yes, it's true.  The vegan diet is lacking in one nutrient.  And the kicker is that we need such a tiny amount of it.  In a whole lifetime, the average person only needs about 40 milligrams of B12!  But I personally don't think we should ignore this problem and pretend it's not there, but rather bring the issue out into the forefront.  Everyone starting out as a vegan needs to be aware of the need to either consume B12 fortified foods, or take a supplement.
 
When I first starting contemplating veganism, I was well-aware that vegans needed to supplement with B12.  But it was only when I was collecting a plethora of positive health claims about veganism that I started to wonder why.  Why would such a tiny nutrient, required in only micrograms a day, be left out of this otherwise incredibly healthy diet?  So I looked the subject up, and here's what I found.

B12 is not inherent in animal products.  It grows on bacteria.  Meat is rich in bacteria because the bacteria is attracted to...dead flesh.  Aren't we all?  The story goes that herbivore animals usually obtain B12 from eating their own feces.  Now, apparently in communities where a plant-based diet is the norm, such as in certain parts of India, B12 deficiency does not seem to occur; however, when people from these cultures migrate to more developed countries, they develop a deficiency.  The culprit appears to be our "lifeless" soil that has been overly sterilised from pesticides, herbicides, and chemicals.  Since B12 is produced by bacteria, it doesn't seem to want to grow in this squeaky clean soil.  Studies have also noted that countries such as India often seem to have water that is contaminated with bacteria, including bacteria from feces, and that B12 is sometimes obtained from that water.

Personally, upon hearing that my options are either eating bacteria-ridden dead flesh, my own feces, or drinking water contaminated with other people's feces, my reaction is, um, I'll take the little supplement pill, thanks.  I don't know about you.

Some people have suggested that several plant-based sources of B12 might be used instead, including seaweeds and our own intestinal bacteria, but none of them have been found to be very reliable sources so far.  There is some evidence that organic produce, a certain type of algae, or tempeh might turn out to be reliable, but at the moment, the best we know is that vegans should take either a supplement, or be sure to eat sufficient amounts of B12 fortified food.  I myself take a supplement.  I don't want to be bothered to try and drink a certain amount of non-dairy milk a day, and I don't eat a lot of meat analogues, nutritional yeast, or breakfast cereals, which are the foods typically fortified with B12.  If you are abstaining from both meat and dairy, you really need to be doing one of the following: eat fortified foods with at least 3 micrograms of B12 per day, take a B12 supplement of 10 micrograms a day, or take weekly supplement of 2000 micrograms.*

Even though it's true that many people have a built up store of B12 for several years when they first become vegan, assuming that you are one of these people is not very wise.  Overt B12 deficiency is no sweeping-under-the-carpet matter; it can ultimately result in blindness, deafness, or dementia.  Early symptoms can include fatigue and a tingling in the hands and feet.  Mild B12 deficiency may not come along with any symptoms, but will cause elevated levels of homocysteine, which increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. 

If there is any tendency in the vegan community to keep quiet about the need for B12, I think it may be due to the concern that in lacking one little vitamin, veganism might seem like an "unnatural" diet.  I think this supposition is illogical on three counts.  First of all, vegans are not the only people who get B12 deficiency.  Lacto-ovo vegetarians and meat-eaters also suffer from it.  In fact, doctors recommend that people older than 50 years take a B12 supplement anyway.  Secondly, while we don't know for sure, the evidence certainly seems to suggest that our soil is the problem, not the vegan diet.  Thirdly, and here's the part where I give these members of the vegan community a little tough love, who cares?  Don't monkey around with your health like that!  You're worried that people won't think veganism is a natural diet?  What does a natural diet even mean?  None of us are eating what our cave people ancestors ate.  We've moved past that.  And I think we need to give people a little credit.  If people are compelled by the ethical reasons of veganism, have heard of all of the fantastic health benefits, and they're at the point where they think they might be willing to actually change their diet, they're not going to be dissuaded from doing so by the fact that they have to take a pill once a week.  And if they are, they were never serious about the change in the first place.

Vegans should be supplementing with B12, and we don't need to make this recommendation in a whisper.  Take the supplement, and tell others to take the supplement.  Unhealthy vegans are a much worse advertisement for veganism than a pill.  And keep in mind that when you are taking that supplement, you are missing the saturated fat, unhealthy animal protein, trans fat, and cholesterol that come along with the B12 in meat and dairy.

*click here to see a complete list of age appropriate B12 recommendations.

Vital Vittles

Vegan Caesar Salad

Since we're talking about a nutrient that's not really food based, there isn't really a related recipe.  So instead I'm giving you Alicia Silverstone's recipe for vegan caesar salad, only slightly modified, because I've been obsessed with it lately.  It's quite salty and tart, so if you're sensitive to these tastes, you might want to add the mustard and soy sauce sparingly.  The original recipe can be found in The Kind Diet, (UK), (Can).


Croutons
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/4 tsp sea salt
3-4 slices wholemeal bread, cut into cubes
Olive oil

Dressing
2 tbsp blanched or roasted almonds
3 garlic cloves, minced
1.5 tbsp mustard
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil

1 large head romaine lettuce, washed, torn and patted dry

Preheat the oven to 325 F/160 C.  Toss together the bread cubes, rosemary, and salt in a large bowl.  Drizzle with olive oil, and then toss again.  Spread bread cubes onto a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until dry and toasted.  Cool completely.

Combine the almonds, garlic, mustard, soy sauce, tahini, lemon juice, and oil together in a food processor or blender, process until well-blended.

Toss the lettuce, croutons, and dressing together in a serving bowl.  Serve immediately.

References
Campbell, T. Colin, The China Study:The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health. Dallas: BenBella Books, 2006.
National Institutes of Health, "Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Vitamin B12," http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitaminb12/, accessed 17 May 2011.
Norris, Jack, R.D., "B12: Are you getting it?" Veganhealth.org, accessed 17 May 2011.
Norris, Jack, R.D., "What every vegan should know about B12," Veganhealth.org, accessed 17 May 2011.

Big Fat Post

Fat.  The word doesn't sound like a hallmark of good health.  The only thing most of us know for sure about fat is that we love it, but we don't want to BE it.  The low-fat craze in the 90's died down once we realized that all of those low-fat products just contained a load of sugar, and we then decided to stop thinking about it so much.  Fat tastes awesome, and besides, saturated fat turned out not to be that bad, right?  Doctors don't really know if fat is good or bad, anyway, so I can just eat whatever I want. 

Wrong.  Here's the thing I think most people don't understand.  Many different things can be bad for you all at the same time.  Because one kind of fat starts making headlines about causing diabetes and heart disease, doesn't mean that another kind of fat has stopped causing diabetes and heart disease.  It means that both kinds of fat are causing diabetes and heart disease.  That's why there's so much, um, diabetes and heart disease in our society.  Medical researchers know exactly what kind of fat you should be eating or avoiding.  But there are big, powerful, scary industries that really don't want you to be well-informed on the situation, and the media, which revels in public confusion, plays along.

So do we need fat at all?  Fat is absolutely a necessary nutrient.  When we talk about fat as a nutrient, we use the term essential fatty acids, or EFA's.  You know from the protein blog, that in health terms the word essential means a nutrient that we need, and that we have to get from food. EFA's help in blood clotting, vitamin absorption, brain function, cell and hormone production, and they provide energy.   Fat is in almost all foods, in varying amounts, so having a fat-free diet is actually impossible, and good thing too, because you need EFA's to live.  However, our confusion mostly centers around which kinds and how much we need.   Kinds of fat can be divided into three main categories: saturated fat, trans fat, and unsaturated fat.

Does saturating your arteries in a mostly solid, greasy substance sound like a good thing?  Okay, that might not be a technically accurate description of what happens when you consume saturated fat, but the fact remains that you should be eating as little saturated fat as possible.  Saturated fat increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, high cholesterol, and atherosclerosis.  SatFat causes high blood pressure, depresses the immune system, and increases the risk of cancer.  Wait a second...something that we're doing could be causing cancer?  It's not some inevitable punishment from the gods that has randomly increased every year for the last 80 years for no reason?  Weird.

So where does saturated fat come from?  Herein lies the clue why we're being fed misinformation: the main sources of saturated fat are meat, dairy, and eggs.  Surprise!  Coconut and palm oils are mostly made up of saturated fat as well, although in the western world, most of us don't eat very much tropical oil, so these are not as much of a concern.  The American Heart Association recommends consuming no more than 7% of your calories from saturated fat, but those of us who consume meat, dairy, and eggs usually consume almost double that amount.  Saturated fat is not kinda, sorta bad.  Saturated fat has killed so many people it makes Charles Manson look like Father Christmas.

Trans fat is much better understood by the public, and we receive a clearer message about it, I think.  Trans fats were the Big Bad for the last few years.  They are naturally found in small amounts in meat and dairy, but they are also found in hydrogenated oils and partially hydrogenated oils, which are an entirely human innovation.  Hydrogenated oils are formed during, well, hydrogenation, a process with forces hydrogen gas into oil at a high pressure.  This process came into being in order to prolong the shelf life of packaged foods, as hydrogenated oils don't go rancid as quickly.  Trading our health for longer lasting cookies was such a great idea.   Trans fats lower your good HDL cholesterol, and raise your bad LDL cholesterol.  They increase your risk of heart disease and stroke, clog up those arteries, and increase your risk of diabetes.

So how to you avoid this junk?  Under European law, trans fat doesn't have to be listed in the nutritional info of a product, but hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oil do have to be listed in the ingredients, so if you have a product that does not list dead flesh or animal juices in the ingredients, and also does not contain hydrogenated oils, you have a trans fat free product.  You will want to carefully check the labels of pre-packaged cookies, biscuits, crackers, and other baked goods, and of course, fried fast food (including chips!) are usually fried in partially hydrogenated oil.

Health experts recommend consuming no more than 2% of your daily calories from trans fatty acids, but honestly, you don't need any trans fats in your diet.  Aim to consume none.  If you live in UK (A.K.A Chiptoria), and you ever socialise, you won't succeed, but try.


Over the past several decades we've been swept up in a muddle debate over which is superior from a health standpoint:  margarine or butter?  One year, we hear margarine is the only way to go, the next year butter is not that bad, and margarine is the new taboo.  The bottom line is, in reference to most commercial margarines, neither butter nor margarine are healthful, and both carry some concerning health risks.  Butter contains small amounts of trans fats and concerning amounts of saturated fat, most margarines

LDL cholesterol (the bad one) and raise your HDL cholesterol (the good one).  They contain circulation promoting arginine, antioxidants, fiber, protein, calcium, magnesium, and other minerals.  They lower your risk of heart disease, and extend your lifespan and protect against common disease of aging.  In fact, studies have found that those who consume one little ounce of nuts a day lower their risk of getting fatal coronary heart disease by 59%.  A fifty nine percent decrease in risk of the biggest killer in any developed country today wrapped up in a delicious little package?  Yes please.

In Dan Buettner's book, The Blue Zones, he studies four different areas of the world that have an unusually large percentage of inhabitants who live past 100 years of age.  One of the areas he visits is the Seventh Day Adventist's region, Loma Linda, California.  The mostly vegetarian residents had a love affair with nuts (stop giggling), and this love affair was pin-pointed as one of the main factors contributing to their long lifespans.

I know some people have a fear of nuts and avocados, due to their high-fat content.  Some of you may fear that eating these items will give you a high-fat content yourself.  Relax.  Studies have shown that people who consume nuts actually have lower BMI's than those who don't.  Nuts satiate hunger better than animal fats or plant oils, and actually aid in weight control.  Now, it's true that a gram of fat contains 9 calories, as opposed to the 4 calories per gram of carbohydrate or protein.  So obviously, you don't want to go, well, nuts on any source of fat, especially if you are watching your weight.  A few handfuls a day of nuts or seeds, or a few slices of avocado should suffice. 

Opinions do vary quite a bit in regards to what percentage of your calorie intake should come from fat.  The standard, government approved figure is around 30%, other health experts working with people who have a specific reason to worry about heart problems would tell you try to keep it closer to 10%.  However, assuming you are already in reasonably good health, I would spend more time focusing on the quality of your nuts, rather than quantity, and simply don't buy nuts in large quantities (they go rancid fairly quickly anyway).

The next time we chew the fat about fat, we'll talk about the health benefits of plant foods and oils made from plant foods.  But right now, I'm pretty proud that I made it through the whole post with only two nut puns, so I'm going to leave on a high note.  Only two puns?  That's peanuts!

Vital Vittles

African Sweet Potato and Peanut Stew

While I was writing this blog, I was racking my brain trying to think of the perfect recipe for this post: one that would be focused on healthy fats without using oils.  And completely by co-incidence, I made this stew that evening, having found it in The Vegan Table, UK, Can.  Delicious and nutritious, the recipe features peanut butter, and uses water for sauteing, rather than oil.  Serve it with either whole-wheat couscous or brown rice.

Serves 6-10

3 tbsp water, for sauteing
2 yellow onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 red peppers, chopped
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/3 to 1/2 cup natural peanut butter (either crunchy or smooth will work, but look for a brand without sugar or added oils)
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 can kidney beans (or 1.5 cups cooked beans from scratch)
1 can diced tomatoes
4 cups veggie stock
1 tsp salt (or too taste)

Head water in a large frying pan over medium heat.  Add onions and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add bell pepper, cover, and cook for another  minutes.  Stir in brown sugar, finger, cumin, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper, and stir constantly for 30 seconds.  Stir in peanut butter, distributing evenly throughout.  Ad sweet potatoes, kidney beans, and tomatoes, and stir to coat.  Add veggie stock, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until sweet potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes.  Salt to taste, and serve.

Notice that this recipe makes a large amount, and the stew is fairly filling, so unless you're throwing a dinner party, or you're a Huxtable, you will have copious leftovers.  Which can't possibly be a bad thing.

New Year, More Money!

I know some people don't like New Year's resolutions, but I don't think there's anything wrong with a little self-improvement.  I also know that today is 5 days after New Year's, but I think you get the whole of January to make them.  Especially if you only keep them a week, deciding on them later in the month will make people think that you actually kept them longer.  Frankly, there are enough resolutions running around about losing weight and eating better, so instead I thought I would propose a few penny-saving resolutions instead.  January, being cold and dark, is a crappy time to try to lose a bunch of weight, but most of you probably spent to much money over the holidays, making January an excellent, and possibly compulsory time to save some money.  So here are some ideas for running a cost-efficient home kitchen.

Resolve to:

1.  Replace more expensive protein-rich foods with beans and legumes.  Beans and lentils are not only nutritional powerhouses, they are the cheapest sources of protein you will find.  If you don't eat them very often, resolve to keep some cans in your cupboard and eat them at least couple of times a week.  Eat the beans, I mean, not the cans.  Cans of beans are very cheap, but if you really want to spend next to nothing, buy dried beans and soak and cook them yourself.  I like to cook beans myself, not only for the financial benefits, but also because something about the practise makes me feel pleasantly medieval.

2.  Start throwing dinner parties instead of going out to eat.  You might think that you will spend more hosting dinner for other people than going out, but I find that as long as you keep costs in mind (and your guests bring the drinks), you can entertain very cheaply in your own home, without sacrificing deliciousness or fun.  Consider starting a dinner party ritual with your friends, alternating the host.  If you decide on potluck dinners your bank account won't even notice that you're having fun.  And while playing tipsy charades (an essential part of any dinner party) is frowned upon in restaurants, no one but your loved ones will judge you in the privacy of your own home.  And even if you live in squalor, you will be amazed at what a thorough cleaning and some tealights can do. 

3.  Replace sugary cereals with porridge.  Porridge is the cheapest breakfast imaginable, while most processed cereals are simply charging you stupid amounts of money to give you diabetes.  Sure, you might not want a bowl of steaming hot porridge in the middle of July, but for most of the year, porridge is the healthiest, and most economical breakfast around.  Endless ways to prepare porridge abound, from dried fruits and nuts, to fresh berries, apples and cinnamon, jam, and natural syrups.

4. Start packing your lunch 4 days a week.  Granted, this piece of advice might not be terribly original.  But no one's doing it.  Having been in plenty of different offices in the last couple of years, I can confirm that the only time most people bring their lunch is when buying their lunch would involve walking long distances.  If you struggle to remember to prepare lunches, you have two alternatives.  Either make extra dinner and bring the leftovers the next day for lunch, or make large batches of substantial dishes on Sundays, and store them in individual portions.  Brain surgery, right?  But no one's doing it.

5.  Learn a few soup bases.  Learning the basics of how to make soup is oh-so-important.  You will save money and eat less by adding lots of soup to your diet.  And the possibilities are capital E Endless.  Anything!  You can put anything in soup!  Dig through some cookbooks or the internet for recipes for blended vegetable soups, chunky vegetable soups, minestrone, miso soups (my recipe is for one is at the bottom of this post), lentil soups, bean soups, and whatever-else-you-can-imagine soups.  Once you understand the basic formats of a few different soups you can play around with them and add whatever you have on hand that will compliment the recipe.   Such flexibility and improvisation allows you to avoid that huge drain on your wallet known as wasted produce.

6.  Save and use everything.  Preposterous amounts of food get wasted by the foolish everyday.  Join the ranks of the elite group of people who know how to recognise when a vegetable is about to go off (without the use of meaningless supermarket best before dates), and can put the middle-aged veggie to use.  If you have some produce that is going off and you can't find an immediate use for it, throw the produce in a resealable bag and chuck the bag in the freezer.  Prioritise your weekly produce: use up things that expire quickly, like leafy greens, at the beginning of the week, and save more robust things, like squash, for the end of your shopping week.  Always save leftovers for later; even small bits of dishes can be put away for an easy snack later on.  Even the skins and ends of your veggies can be saved for compost if you have your own garden, or for soup stock.  Read Stone Soup (UK), (CAN), for inspiration!  Hey, that book works for Resolution 5, too.

7.  Keep some homemade frozen dinners in your freezer.  Note the word homemade.  I do not condone or encourage you to buy or eat factory-produced frozen dinners!  Keeping some delicious, healthy dinners in your freezer at all times will help you out on those evenings when you are too tired to cook, and the take-out menu drawer looms dangerously near.  I'm not suggesting that you never get take-out or go out for dinner, but any such indulgences should be planned into your week and budget.  Make sure that the dinners are something you will actually want to eat as well, and your hunger will stop ruling your debit card on lazy, tired evenings. 

May you enjoy pain-free frugality this year.  And quit smoking.  Blech.

Recessionpe!

Rainbow Red Lentil Soup

This wholesome, homey soup is based on another recipe in Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home, (UK), (CAN), that I've modified only a little, to make it rainbow-y. And better. Having unintentionally made the soup multi-coloured once, I fell in love with the pretty pastels of the purple "red" onion, yellow bell pepper, and orange carrots and lentils.  You also get red from the tomatoes, and green from the spinach.  Feel free to play around with the recipe, and add different vegetables or spices.  This soup is works for this post on different levels, because lentils are traditionally served at New Years, as their coin-like shape is seen as representative of good luck, abundance, and wealth.  See, that's what you get when you take recipe suggestions from an English grad.  Double-metaphor soup.

1.5 cups red lentils
6 cups vegetable stock (or 6 cups water and 1-2 stock cubes)
3 bay leaves
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 slices fresh ginger root, each about the size of a quarter

2 medium carrots, chopped
1 cup canned tomatoes
1 yellow bell pepper

1 large red onion
1 tbs olive oil
1.5 tsp ground cumin
1.5 tsp ground coriander
pinch of cayenne
2 tbs fresh lemon juice
1-2 cups baby spinach
salt and pepper to taste

Chuck the lentils, stock, bay leaves, garlic, and ginger in a pot, cover and heat on high.  Add the carrots, tomatoes, and bell peppers.  Bring to a boil, stir, and reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer for 15-20 minutes, covered, until the lentils are tender.  Add the spinach a few minutes before the lentils are done cooking.

In the meantime, saute the onions in the olive oil until soft, for 5 to 10 minutes.  Add the cumin, coriander, and cayenne, and cook for another minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from the heat.

Remove the ginger and bay leaves from the lentils.  Supposedly, people have choked on bay leaves before, so make sure you get all three.  Stir in the onions and lemon juice, and season to taste.

Some crusty whole grain bread and a fresh salad will make this soup a complete, wholesome lunch.

In Defense of Carbs

We have no idea what to think about carbs.  We're completely baffled by them, even terrified of them.  We know that we like things that are high in carbs, but we're pretty sure we're not supposed to like them.  They're bad for you, right?  They make you fat. We have some idea that there is a difference between starch and sugars, but we're pretty unclear about what the difference means, so just to be safe, we should probably avoid both.  Because they make you fat. 

Our confusion didn't come out of nowhere.  While the low-carb movement was not actually started by this infamous man, we can put the blame for the popularity of carbophobia squarely on his pudgy shoulders: Dr Robert C. Atkins.  Most of us know all about this diet, but just to recap, Dr Atkins looked around at the widening waistlines of contemporary America, and decided that the reason behind our plumpness, is that we weren't eating enough meat and cheese.  Genius!  He looked around at our inability to turn off the TV, the computer, and the playstation; our obsessive intake of chocolate; Mcdonald's 245 billionth sale of greasy burgers; our massively excessive intake of animal protein, grease, and fat; our continuously effed-up relationship with food and body image; and our overdependence on machines to do everything for us including walking, and decided the problem wasn't the Big Mac, the problem was the bun the Big Mac came on. Ok, I'm exaggerating a little (but only a little).  What he actually decided was that simple carbs, including white flour and sugar, were responsible for the obesity crisis.  Ok, sugar's culpability is something Bob and I can agree on; sugar is a big, fat problem in our society, which I will give a big, fat post all on it's own later on.  But I can't help feel that he was missing something, namely, the burger.  And greasy fries.  And the fatty milkshake.  And the minivan you stuck your arm out of in order to obtain the food.

Atkins proposed a diet in which the first phase restricts your carbohydrate intake to 20g a day.  To limit your carb intake to only 4% of your diet you must not only out cakes, cookies, and white bread,  you also have to do away with wholemead bread and pasta, potatoes, both white and brown rice, fruit, and most veggies.  Ah yes.  Raspberries and their infamous fattening powers. The final "life maintenance" phase of the Atkins Diet restricts you to 90g of carbs a day.  That's still only 18% of the average diet, and general medical recommendations are to consume no less than half of your calories from carbohydrates.  So what can you eat without restriction on Atkins?  Red meat, chicken, fish, cheese, eggs, mayo, cream and butter.

Let me repeat that, because you probably thought you misheard me.  To lose weight, you must replace the brown rice and apples in your diet with cream and steak.  Really?  Really?  Are we that stupid, really?

Yeah, we are.  Atkins died a millionaire.  Proof, if we ever needed it, that people will believe anything you tell them if they think there's a chance it will make them skinny. 

But carbs make you fat, so who cares, right?  The low-carb movement has a lot of followers, and there is a reason for this loyalty.  When people go on Atkins or the Zone, or any of the similar diets, they tend to lose a lot of weight very quickly, as much as 10lbs a week.  You can see how the diet made the evening news.  The problem is, this weight loss mostly comes from water loss and muscle loss.  Muscle is heavier than fat, but more compact...so if you trade in some muscle for fat, the number on your weigh scale will be lower, but you will look heavier.  And lumpier.  Do we think the lumpy look is coming back anytime soon?  What's more, muscle tissue burns calories even when you are at rest; therefore losing muscle mass means a decrease in your metabolism, which is not exactly condusive to continued and sustainable weight loss.  

Low carb diets are notorious for being unsustainable.  Know anyone who initially lost a lot of weight on one of these diets?  Maybe.  Know anyone who kept it off for more than a year or two?  Doubtful.  These diets are unsustainable because your body hates them.  Studies have found that these diets cause artery damage,  long-term damage to blood vessels, inflammation that is linked with heart and artery disease, reduce blood vessel dialation (this is a bad thing), and could more that double your risk of certain cancers.  In 2001 the American Heart Association stated that low-carb diets contribute to heart and kidney disease, and that high protein diets are missing certain essential vitamins, nutrients, minerals and fiber.

The problem isn't just what low-carb diets lack: fiber, fruits, veggies, whole grains, legumes, and the above mentioned essential vitamins.  Low-carb, high-protein diets also contain too much, well, protein, and we've already discussed the problems with that in the protein blog.  They also contain way too much saturated fat.  The American Heart Association recommends that fat intake in total comprise no more that 35% of your diet, but only 7% of your calories should come from saturated fat.  Eating less than 7% saturated fat is pretty much impossible on a low-carb high protein diet.

I ran a sample Atkins diet through an nutritional anaylisis tool, and eating this menu would involve consuming 103g of fat (64% of this hypothetical daily menu) and 24.4 grams of saturated fat (27% of the hypothetical daily menu).  I feel greasy and gross just looking at those numbers.  I'll do a seperate post about fat someday soon, but for right now I'll just say that the confusion over saturated fat is driven, not by the general medical reseach community, but by the media and a few rascally instigators.  Saturated fat is just as bad for you as we thought it was in the 90's.

I know that a lot of people are confused about the difference between good carbohydrates and bad carbohydates, so here's a quick explanation for you.  Carbs are a ideal source of energy for our bodies.  They are more readily converted into glucose than either protein or fat, and sources of complex carbs tend to be high in fiber.  They are divided into two main different kinds:  Complex (good) and Simple (usually bad).  Complex carbs are composed of starches, which are again divided into natural starches, such as some fruits and veggies, beans, legumes, wholemeal bread, potatoes, and whole grains, and refined starches, such as white bread, white pasta, and white rice.  Simple carbs are divided into natural sugars (still good), such as those found in fruits and vegetables, and refined sugars (bad), such as found in, well, sugar, as well as, cakes, cookies, and all kinds of other sugary crap.  Complex carbs are the carb heros, they provide slower, more sustained release of energy.  Refined sugars should comprise of no more than 10% of your diet; your focus should be on the fruits, veggies, beans, potoatoes, wholemeal breads and pastas, and whole grains.

It's probably no secret that the vegetarian community and the low-carb community are constantly at ends with each other.  Following a diet like Atkins and being vegetarian would be pretty darn difficult, and trying to do it vegan would be pretty darn impossible.  So, while it's true that when you attack carbs, to some extent you attack vegetarianism, I'm not promoting the consumption of carbs to trick anyone into vegetarianism.  Everyone should be eating complex carbs, whether vegan or steakatarian.  Reading stories about diabetics avoiding carbs hurts me deeply, especially when they are one group of people who so desperately need the fiber present in complex carbs.  As long as you are getting at least 10% protein and 10% healthy fat in your diet, you are very unlikely to eat too many complex carbs.  Really. You need to focus on the quality of your carbs rather than the quantity.

So what makes for high-quality carbohydrates?  Just like in drinking buddies, a lack of refinement is best.  The less stuff done to your carbs, the better.  Think about it: sugar cane is ground, juiced, clarified, evaporated, crystalized, and then refined to removed any remaining molasses and minerals, then evaporated again, and then dried.  Not health food.  The much maligned potato is...plucked from the ground.  And then washed, but even that part is optional.  Generally speaking, the closer the food that you are eating is to the state it's found in nature, the more you can pat yourself on the back for eating it.  What does this mean when it's at home?  Good, unrefined sources of carbs include fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils, potatoes, and whole grains.

Now, those of you who know me well probably assume that I'm going to spend the rest of this post talking about potatoes.  Well, I'm a little tempted.  I love potatoes.  I love them a lot.  But no, I think there is another group about the deserves more attention right now.  The mysterious whole grain.  I say mysterious because I think that a lot of people don't really know what to with whole grains, and sometimes don't even know what they are.  I'm not saying this to make anyone feel stupid; whole grains simply aren't talked about enough in the media, which is unfortunely the main source of nutritional information for most of us.  I mentioned wholegrain pasta and bread above, and while I do think these foods are nutritious sources of complex carbs, I really think that wholegrains should have a higher place in our diets than any flour product, which are always more refined than the humble grain.

Here are some grains with super-amazing nutritive powers of complex carbozation.  Most of this info is borrowed from Alex Jamieson's The Great American Detox Diet, (UK), (Can).

Barley:  Not only fun to make Brits pronounce, this high-fiber grain has been traditionally used to support the gallbladder, digestive system, and nervous system.  Barley also prevents dietary cholesterol absorption, which is something those Atkins diet followers could sure use.

Buckwheat (gluten-free):  Known around Eastern European parts as kasha, buckwheat is a complete protein, neutralizes toxic acidic wastes in the blood (I'm not really sure what this means, but it definitely sounds like a good thing), improves circulation and kidney function, and is high in calcium and vitamins B and E.

Millet (gluten-free):  If you attended Brownies or Boy Scouts, this grain might sound familiar.  Possibly you earned your bird-feeding badge by filling a bird feeder with this stuff.  Good for the birds.  Millet is high in protein, iron, lecithin and choline, and is once again good for keeping cholesterol down.

Oats (not technically gluten-free but most people with gluten sensitivity can handle them):  Oats are not only comfortably familiar, they are high in fibre, used to stabilize blood sugar levels, high in protein, lower cholesterol, and according to Jamieson, improve stress resistance.  Whatever that means.

Quinoa (gluten-free):  Quinoa is so trendy right now, you can't look at a hippie menu without running into it.  But who's complaining?  This sacred grain of the Incas is a complete protein, a good source of iron, B3 and B6 vitamins, and phosphorus.  It's also kidney supportive, and just darn cute.

Brown rice (gluten-free):  Switch from white rice to brown rice and in a few months you will see the obvious superiority of nutty, chewy brown rice, not just nutritionally, but gastronomically.  Brown rice is simply more flavourful and has a more pleasing texture.  I hear you groaning that it has to be cooked more than double the time of white rice, which is true, but it's worth the wait.  Brown rice is packed full of protein, lysine, fibre, vitamin B6, vitamin E, calcium, copper, folate, and iron.

Wild rice (gluten-free):  Wild rice not only gave it's name to the Southern Ontario lake I grew up nearby, it is also rich in protein, vitamin B3, calcium and potassium.  It does tend to be very expensive, so you may want to mix it in with other, cheaper rices.

Other grains worth getting to know are cornmeal, kamut, rye, spelt, amaranth, sorghum, and teeny-tiny teff.  Preparing these grains and fitting them into your diet is easy-peasy.  A general method is to combine one part grain with one to two parts water or vegetable stock, a dash of salt, and bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover the pot and simmer until ready.  The cooking time varies from the quick cooking quinoa, to slow cooking brown rice, so check the package.  Grains can be used in salads, pilafs, as the base for curries and stir-fries, porridge, or mixed with nuts, herbs, and dried fruit for a side dish.  Remember that grain has been at the base of many cultures for years.  Asian countries are fanatical about their rice, South American countries love their corn and quinoa, Ethiopian runners blow Westerners away fueled by teff, and Italians fight off heart disease with pasta and polenta.  And we too used to reap the benefits of barley and oats until we decided to kick our own asses and replace grain with meat and fast food. 

Dr. Atkins liked to broadcast his own good health as a promotion for his diet.  However, at the age of 72, he died after injuring his head, apparently falling after slipping on a patch of ice.  Through some morally questionable actions of a fellow doctor, his medical examiner's notes were released to the public.  Ethics of this relase aside, we now know that Atkins suffered from coronary artery disease, had suffered a previous heart attack, and was overweight.  Quite a lot of debate has occured over the last revealation.  The medical report shows that at the time of his death Atkins weighed 258lbs, which at his height (6 feet) was obese.  Both his wife and brother have claimed that this weight was due to the coma he suffered as a result of the fall, and that upon being admitted to the hospital, he was only 195lbs.  Well, his wife and brother may well be correct, but I think it's worth a passing mention that 195lbs is still overweight for a 6 foot tall man.  I'm not bringing any of this up to make a personal attack on a dead man.  He is, after all, a dead man, and we will never know how much he really believed in his own diet, and how much he was motivated by money, so we may as well give him the benefit of the doubt.  But I don't think we can ignore his medical status, any more than we can ignore the fact that in 2000, 16 year old Rachel Huskey died of cardiac arrest, after following the Atkins diet for seven weeks.  She had no pre-existing health complications.

Vital Vittles

Rice Pilaf with Dates and Almonds

This recipe is borrowed from the vegetarian/pescatarian, Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home, (UK), (CAN), a very useful cookbook that is one of my favourites.  This sweet dish seems and tastes very decadent, but is really very healthful.  The concept of this pilaf could be adapted for a variety of different grains, or even wheat products such as bulgar and cous-cous. Serve it as a main dish, or serve it as a grain side dish with some steamed greens and tahini dressing, and spiced chickpeas.


2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
1 bell pepper, finely chopped
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup dates, chopped.
3 cups cooked brown rice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup hot water
1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, and add the onions and garlic.  Saute on medium high heat until soft.  Add the bell pepper and mix in.  Stir in the turmeric and cinnamon.  Add the chopped dates, rice and parsley.  Sprinkle on the water, and heat for a few minutes.  When the rice is hot, stir in the almonds, season with salt and pepper, and serve.

YUM!

This Little Piggy went to the Market

Shopping in the overly clean produce section of chain supermarkets makes me feel a little dirty.  I have to do it every once in a while, but I feel no connection to food when I walk down the neatly packed aisles, and  pick out a shrink-wraped head of broccoli and a pre-packaged bag of spinach.  In the supermarket, only tiny fluctuations in price and availability give any indications as to the season, and the aisles are stocked with the same items year-round.  Which might not sound like a bad thing, but I can't imagine anything more boring than eating the same thing year-round, unless it's reading Anne Murray's biography.

But what else is a city-dwelling, flat-dwelling vegetarian to do?  I think my ground floor neighbours might get a little tetchy if I tore up their back garden to grow my own carrots, and I applied for an allotment with my local council, but 174 people in my area have to give up their allotments (or die) before I get one.  So in the meantime, every Saturday morning my boyfriend and I trek out to our local farmer's market to find a bounty of local, seasonal produce itching for my love and attention.

I think when you look at the reasons why I love farmer's markets, you won't find this habit excessive or unnecessary.  There are many reasons to grab a canvas bag and frequent your local market, and here are my favourite:

1. Save that Shiny Green Earth:

The overpackaging in UK supermarkets completely baffles me, but I don't see it ending anytime soon.  I routinely witness customers picking up prepackaged produce that is being sold right next to the exact same, yet less expensive, loose produce.  Baffling.  Never once have I seen a cucumber in an English supermarket NOT shrink-wrapped, nor have I even seen loose salad leaves for the picking.  I wonder if children know that peaches don't grow in cardboard trays and plastic (although if tv programs are to be believed, kids today don't even know what peaches are, let alone how they grow). My Canadian counterparts tell me that rather than becoming more conscious about waste, Canadian supermarkets are becoming more overpackaged as well.

We all know that excess packaging creates a lot of waste, and that a lot of waste is bad for the environment, and that things being bad for the environment is A Very Bad Thing.  But what you may not realise is when food is wrapped in plastic packaging, there is a risk of the toxins on the plastic leaching into your food.  Toxins in your food are also A Very Bad Thing.  But when I wander into the bustling farmer's market, my sleepy, Saturday morning eyes witness crates full of unwrapped cruciferous vegetables and bunches of leafy greens bound only by a single, reuseable rubber band.  At most, veggies and berries are placed into a recylable plastic punnet, with no wrapping around them.  So much better.

2.  You can talk to the people who grow your food:

The possibility of having a conversation with a real live farmer who grew the food I am actually going to eat shouldn't fill me with a sense of amazement, but it does.  Most of us are so far removed from the source of our food that we have no idea how it even grows.  So talking to someone who actually works at or owns the farm that produced the ingredients of my dinner, someone who not only knows what a Jerusalem artichoke is, but can tell me how to prepare it, is a weird and pleasing sensation.  Having the farm workers present at the market also means that you can talk to them about their growing methods; some of the farms aren't organic, but don't use spray pesticides.  Some of them may be in the process of obtaining certification as organic, as the process takes years and is costly.  And you can't beat that personal touch: the boyfriend and I once stared long enough at a patty pan squash, trying to figure out what the heck it was, that the seller offered it to us for free to see if we liked it.  I can only imagine the bewilderment that I would encounter if I were to ask a chain supermarket worker if I could have something for free just to try it. 

3.  Seasonal Seeds:

I love the changing of the seasons, and nowhere is this change more apparent than at the farmer's market (especially since the weather doesn't actually change from one season to the next in London).  I love not knowing what I'm going to find, and whether or not rhubarb, or strawberries, or zucchini, or butternut squashes are in season yet.  Markets make me feel connected to the earth in a hippy, crunchy granola, earth goddess, Gaia kind of way.  I feel motivated to make the most of the short seasons of asparagus and tomatoes, knowing that next week they might be gone.  Every week there seems to be something that wasn't there last week, and I leave every week happily anticipating what I'm going to find next week.

4.  Branching Out: 

In the last two weeks of market going I've purchased purple cauliflower (yes, I said purple cauliflower), ruby chard, dark and rich green cavelo nero, teeny baby yellow squash, curly kale, humble hubbard squash, courgette flowers, and orange cherry tomatoes, alongside the stock carrots, potatoes, and onions.  I've never seen six of those items in a chain supermarket.  Health experts recommend eating as many different varieties of plant foods as possible, and all of those items I listed above were not only rich in variety and nutrients, they were local produce that was in season.  Who knew that such exotic produce existed right here in England? 

5.  Being Neighbourly:

I've got nothing against New Zealand farmers, but I don't particularly want to eat their produce, unless I'm actually in New Zealand.  Farmer's markets give you the chance to support local farmers.  If you're worried about food miles (and I think we all should be conscious of the issue), the produce at your market has at most been driven, not flown, a few hours.  Cooking with local produce is better for the planet, and it's better for you; eating tropical fruit that's flown for 8 hours so you could eat it in January just makes no damn sense.

So how does one go about fitting a weekly visit to the market into their shopping?  Because you don't necessarily know what you are going to find at the market, shopping has to be done a little differently.  Experienced cooks will be able to semi-plan meals as they go along, but even if you have no idea what you are doing in the kitchen, you can simply estimate as best you can how much produce you will need to make at least 5 wholesome dinners.  Once you come home from the market, turn to your recipe books and the internet for inspiration on what to make.  You can either make a seperate trip to a regular grocery store, or simply pick things up throughout the week as you need them, whichever way fits into your schedule better.  A very easy and delicious way to utilise what you buy in the market is to make simple preperations of veggies with side dishs of legumes and grains.   Using this macrobiotic-esque method creates a nutritious, delicious and easy-to-prepare plate that will also be visually appealing.   If you would rather make more complicated dishes, or follow recipes, don't be afraid to make substitutions; you might end up spending a fortune if you follow every recipe to a T, and most recipes are quite happy to be messed around with a bit.  If you need to do all your shopping in one trip, think about bringing your most-used cookbook with you to the market with a pen and paper, and just sit down and plan your week before you go to the supermarket. 

The second way to market shop requires less time, but a little more organisation (and glorious, glorious lists).  If you are the kind of person who likes to have a constantly well-stocked pantry, you can simply make a list of every non-perishable/long-life item you want to keep stocked, and mark down when you've used something up.  That way you can visit the market every week, and always be sure of having the non-market items you need to make a recipe.  Using this method, you may only have to visit the grocery store once or twice a month, but the shopping trips will be big ones.  I don't think shopping this way really costs anymore money, but does require forking out more money at one time, so it's not going to be suitable for everyone.  But doesn't the idea of constantly having every pantry item you could ever need always on hand just make your toes wiggle?

Because you are buying local, seasonal produce to base your meals around, shopping at the market is usually completely inexpensive.  However I should warn you that if you are currently on an emergency budget, you will have to use a lot of restraint during your trip to the supermarket, because making two different shopping trips can often result in spending more.  Otherwise, farmer's markets are competely affordable, delightful options.  And yes, they are a little time consuming, but I think most of us spend our time in a lot less efficient ways that focusing on our food and our health.  Like the 45 minutes you just spent reading the moronic comments on an online article. 

So look up your local market.  If you are in the UK, a list of them can be found here, if you live in Canada, try going to this page and click on your province (not all provinces are listed), and if you live in the States, there is a national farmer's market search engine on this site. 

You can thank me after you're finished tucking into a pile of velvety squash, crispy roasted cauliflower, and lemony kale. 

Recessionpe!

Marketable Curry

Most of the time when I'm shopping, I come up with meal ideas in my head.  However, there are times when we come home, put everything away, I stare proudly into the fridge at the spectacle of vegetable, and then say, "Crap...what the blerg am I supposed to make with all of this?"  That's when I make this curry.  You can shove pretty much whatever veggies you bought into this dish, but try to come up with a similar variety of types of veggies to the ones I have listed.

3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 small green chilli, chopped (remove the seeds for a milder curry)
1 cup of cauliflower, chopped into florets
1 potato, cut into thick sticks
1 cup winter squash, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
4 largeish mushrooms, cut into quarters
1 cup leafy greens such as spinach or kale, roughly chopped
1 bunch fresh cilantro, remove the staulks from the leaves and chop (optional)
2 tins of plum tomatoes
1 tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
2-3 gloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (optional, but adds a rich zing)
2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted if you like
1 tsp coriander
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
2 tsp garam masala

Heat the oil in a large frying pan (you will likely need the biggest pan you have), and add the onions and one tsp of cumin seeds.  Saute until the onions become translucent.  Add the cilantro staulks, turmeric, salt and chili and saute for a minute or two.  Open the tins of tomatoes, and use a cheese grater to grate the tomatoes into a bowl.  Add the tomatoes to the pan and conserve the remaining tomato juice.  Add the garlic, ginger, remaining cumin seeds,coriander, and optional balsamic vinegar, and simmer together for a few minutes.  Add the potatoes, squash and cauliflower, with the tomato juice of one can.  Coat the vegetables with the tomato mixture, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and peas and chickpeas, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.  If the mixture is getting too dry, add the remaining tomato juice, or water if needed.  Add the leafy greens, cover, and simmer for another 5 minutes.  Test the potatoes and squash, and cook longer if needed, adding more water as necessary.  Once cooked through, add the garam marsala and stir it in as best as possible.  Add the chopped cilantro leaves, cover and leave off the heat for as long as possible before eating.  Serve with brown rice.

Will be toe-curlingly good the second and third day.

Protein gets too much Press

I can't think of any aspect of our diets that we receive dumber messages about than protein. There is misinformation about protein in the news every damn day. Apparently, none of us are getting enough protein, and not getting enough protein is simultaneously causing you too be too fat and too skinny and we are all just one cheeseburger away from dying of protein deficiency. And since the best sources of protein are eggs, dairy, and steak, there's no way that a vegetarian diet could possibly be healthy.

Do I sound a little cranky? Well, maybe, but after you read this blog you might be feeling a little cranky with all the protein propaganda too. I guess it's easy to see why people feel so jazzed about protein. Even the name sounds undeniably positive. We've been completely baffled by carbs for a decade, and the problems with fat are in the title, so I can see why people might assume that protein is going to save us from our malnourished obesity crisis. But I think we're forgetting that protein is just one macronutrient, and is something that we can't overdose on, any more than we can overdose on butter-drenched white garlic bread.

Let's start with the basics of what comprises protein. We all know that calories come in the form of either carbohydrates, fat, or protein, and many of us know that the standard recommendation is to get 55% of calories from carbs, 30% from fat, and 15% from protein. Protein is essential for the growth and repair of your muscles, and plays a crucial role in all biological processes in the body. Basically, I'm not saying protein is bad. You need it.

Now, you may have heard people talking about complete protein and accusing vegetarians of not consuming it. There are 20 different amino acids (proteins), 8 of which are labelled essential, which means that they are necessary to our survival, but not produced by the body, so we've gotta get them from food. I'm never going to reference the individual proteins again, and both of us are pretty likely to forget this as soon as we move to the next paragraph, but for your information, the 8 essential amino acids are leucine, isoleucine, valine, threonin, methionin, phenylalanine, tryptophan, lysine, and in children, histidine. Sources of complete protein are foods that contain sufficient amounts of all 8 amino acids. Comprendez-vous?

Meat does not have different protein, it just has complete protein. Animal sources of protein tend to be complete. Plant sources tend to be low in one or two amino acids (with some exceptions listed later on), so one can see how the myth of the protein-deficient vegetarian diet got started. Eggs are considered to be the ideal protein against which all other sources of protein are measured and milk comes in second place, so Lacto-Ovo Vegetarians really need not worry about getting proper protein. But vegans can rest easy too, because the lack of complete protein in individual plant foods does not mean that vegans lack complete protein in their actual diets.

So where did the idea that vegans need to worry about protein come from? In 1971, a woman named Frances Moore Lappe wrote Diet for a Small Planet, in which she recommended that to achieve complete protein, vegetarians combine different sources of proteins, also known as complementing proteins, or protein combining. The idea of combining, say, rice and beans, or peanut butter and wholemeal toast, became very popular in vegetarian diets. Ten years later, Lappe published an anniversary edition, retracting her position on protein combining, saying that "I gave the impression that in order to get enough protein without meat, considerable care was needed in choosing foods. Actually, it is much easier than I thought....if people are getting enough calories, they are virtually certain of getting enough protein." Today's nutritional expects back Lappe up; protein combining is just not necessary as long as you are eating a healthy diet with good variety. Despite the fact that protein combining was debunked in the eighties, I've heard tell of the myth still floating around in medical textbooks today.

So what are good sources of protein for vegans? Soy is the classic vegan protein source, which is no surprise to anyone. Soy protein is equal in quality to eggs, dairy, or meat. But if you don't like soy, you don't need to eat it just because you are a vegetarian. We won't kick you out of the club. There are several other complete sources, including amaranth, buckwheat, hempseed, quinoa, and spirulina. Other good sources of protein are nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, and grains. In fact, all plants contain protein. Unless you've ejected all forms of food other than cassava and fruit from your diet, you're getting enough protein.

And lets think about it: how many people do you know who have protein deficiency? Have you ever met one? Unless you spend your time working with starving Africans (and kudos to you if you do), you're pretty unlikely to come across it. On the other hand, have you ever met someone with cancer or heart disease? Read on.

With all the positive news around protein, I think that we can too easily forget that getting too much protein is entirely possible. In fact, statistics abound that the average American eats between 50% and 175% more protein than they need. I think we can stop feeling smug and superior to the Americans for a second and admit that in Canada and the UK, we're not doing much better. Excessive protein consumption can cause osteoporosis and kidney failure. Getting too much protein and not enough carbs can cause a state known as ketosis. Low-carbs diets "work" because the induce a constant state of ketosis, causing people to lose weight. However ketosis also increases insulin resistance, which is a major risk factor for increased blood triglyceride levels, increased blood pressure, depression, and the development of coronary artery disease. Ketosis can actually cause weight GAIN as well as weight loss. It also causes glucose intolerance, which may be a pre-curser to diabetes, and can cause hypertension, mild dehydration, dizziness, headaches, confusion, nausea, fatigue, sleep problems, and kidney problems. Awesome. Too much protein is also linked to not getting enough fiber, which can cause constipation, hemorrhoids, colon cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.

I've had athletes assure me that they NEED animal protein in order to able to compete. Complete bollocks. Not only can athletes manage just fine with plant protein, too much protein and not enough carbs can result ransack your glycogen stores, resulting in crappy athletic performance. Athletes do not necessarily require more protein in their diets. As your caloric intake increases when you take on significant extra activity (which it should), you will naturally eat more protein. Vegan athletes exist. Google it.

So how much protein do you need?

You may find slightly different numbers depending on where you look. The government standard number is 15% of your caloric intake, which for the average diet is going to be about 45 grams for women and 55 grams for men. The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness tells us that people who train for more than 12 hours a week for 5 years need 1.37 grams of protein per kilo of body weight, as opposed to sedentary people, who only require .73 grams per kilo. Does anyone actually train for 12 hours a week, and keep it up for five years? Amazing.

Truthfully, I never really worry about getting enough protein. I might think about getting enough vitamins and micronutrients, but in the developed world, we are not running out of sources of protein. People are different, so you might find you like to eat a lot of beans, lentils, and tofu, or a only a little, but the need to sit around with a calculator worrying about your protein intake has bene entirely manufactured.

By whom, you ask? Hmmm...what industries have a whole lot of control over the media, and stand to gain financially from you thinking that meat and cheese are healthy diet foods? Interesting.

Vital Vittles

Savoury Quinoa and Roasted Rooties

I thought for this blog's recipe I would feature one of the plant sources of complete protein, and what better source than the trendy, kooky, and quirky grain we call quinoa (keen-wah). This salad is my favourite way to prepare quinoa. Any combination of roasted vegetables you like would probably work fine, these are just my favourites.

1 cup quinoa
1.5 cups vegetable stock
2 carrots, sliced
1 small sweet potato, chopped into cubes
1 small turnip, chopped into cubes
2 cups mushrooms, quartered
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar (or more if you like)

1. Turn the oven to 200 degrees C. Toss the vegetables with the olive oil and vinegar, and roast in the oven for 30 minutes, or until tender, flipping half way through.

2. Put quinoa and stock into a small saucepan, and bring to boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer, and cook on a low heat until done. This will take about 15-20 minutes.

3. Once the veggies are ready, combine the quinoa and vegetables in a big bowl, and serve. Can be eaten hot or cold.

Simple as that.

Emergency Budget Food

I pretty much always eat cheaply at home, but every now and then I have a budget emergency and have to pull out the big guns of frugality. If you've lost your job and your savings are dwindling, or you're a student and your part-time coffee shop job is barely paying the rent, or you're saving up for something big, you might have to make a few panic-driven sacrifices in your budget. When you don't have enough money to indulge in, well, anything at all, it's really easy to throw healthy eating out the window, and survive on cheap, refined sugar and greasy, simple carbs. But while you're rationing out your tater tots and custard creams, consider that these foods are not only not good for you, they are actually doing damage to your health. You're paying someone to make you sick, which makes even less sense when the only thing in your wallet is a coupon for a free coffee. Also, you will feel like crap if you eat these foods, and feeling like crap makes acquiring more money a whole lot harder.

Eating healthy food in the middle of your own financial meltdown is completely possible, it just takes a little ingenuity. Below are a list of foods and secrets of the truly cheap to help you through it.

Emergency food #1: The Potato

Potatoes, potatoes, potatoes! I love them so much! They are incredibly cheap and incredibly versatile. They are also very nutritious, and the starch in them has been linked to protection against colon cancer, improved gluten tolerance, supressing appetite, and reducing fat storage. As you probably have already noticed, one medium-big potato can go along way in satisfying your hunger, and doesn't need very much to make it palatable. Potatoes can be roasted, boiled, mashed, baked, and fried, and can be the foundation for soups, stews, casseroles, bakes, croquettes, curries, patties, and...I could go on but I'm getting tired. They seem to have acquired a bad rep in terms of what they will do to your figure, but that's just nonsense. They will not make you fat, and they might even make you skinny. Ok, if you load them up with cream and cheese, they might make you fat, but people on emergency budgets don't have money for cream and cheese anyway. Search around your supermarket for the cheapest, biggest bag you can find.

Emergency food #2: Lentils

People think they don't like lentils, but they're wrong. You like them. Yum. There is so much that you can do with lentils with so very little effort. The main kinds you will come across will be red split lentils, brown lentils, and Puy lentils (also known as lentilles vertes). Lentils are a fantastic source of cheap protein, iron, fiber, folate, and B vitamins. They are also very filling and very easy to prepare. You can use them to make salads, soups, stews, dahl-type concoctions, curry-type concoctions, on their own with some seasonings as a side dish, casseroles, pasta sauces, and croquettes (why do I keep bringing up croquettes?). As I said in the Art of Shopping blog, make a note in your grocery store of where you can find them priced most cheaply; sometimes you will find them at twice the price in one aisle to the next.

Emergency food #3: Yellow Split Peas

Yellow split peas can do pretty much the same things lentils can, so I wont go on about them, except to say that they are a great source of fiber, protein, manganese, folate, vitamin B1, potassium and phosphorus. They are often even cheaper than lentils.

Emergency food #4: Pasta

Duh. Everyone knows pasta is stupidly cheap. And everyone knows what to do with it, so I won't tell you. Pasta is another food that has a bad diet rep, but only because idiots are allowed to say whatever they want in diet books. Italians have the lowest rates of obesity in Europe, and last I heard, they were kind of okay with pasta. Again, don't load it up with cream and cheese. We all know whole-wheat pasta has a better nutritional profile than white pasta, but your body still processes white pasta as a complex carb. So don't feel too badly if you really can't spend the extra few pennies, but do remember that the whole-wheat pasta also contains more fiber and other nutrients.

Emergency food #5: Barley

Barley is so cheap its just silly. And yet, I never see anyone but me buying it. But it's everyone else's loss, because not only is barley comfortingly chewy and satisfying, it's amazingly healthful. Barley is high in fiber, and has been traditionally used to support the gallbladder, digestive, and nervous systems. Barley also helps prevent dietary cholesterol absorption. Amazing! Barley might sound a little bland at first, but can be used in lots of different ways: soups, stews, casseroles, as a side dish, pilafs, and even as a substitute for rice in risotto.

Emergency food #6: Brown Rice

Yeah, white rice is a little cheaper than brown rice, but the difference in nutrition makes it hard for me to recommend buying white rice instead. And white rice may be cheaper but brown rice is still pretty dirt cheap. Brown is a source of protein, fibre, calcium, irion, B vitamins, and zinc. It can be used as a grain accompaniment for countless curries, stews, stir-fries, sautes, and can also make fried rice, pilafs, mock-risottos (real risottos require arborio rice or something similar), and...croquettes. Your best bet for getting it cheaply is to look for the biggest bag in the wholefoods section.

Emergency food #7: Beans

Kidney beans, pinto beans, haricot beans, cannellini beans, black eyed peas, chick peas, black beans, azuki beans...you're not going to run out of choices. Beans are fantastic. They are wonderful sources of protein, fiber, complex carbs, iron, and folate. Canned beans are already pretty cheap, but if you really want to tighten the purse strings, buy them dried, soak them overnight, and cook them for about an hour before you plan on using them. Beans are also very versatile, and can be used in soups, stews, casseroles, chilis, burritos, as a side dish, curries (chickpease are best for curries), sautes, simple rice and bean dishes, and, oh yes, croquettes (seriously, I almost never make croquettes). Beans, like lentils, are another thing you want to check various aisles for price.

Emergency food #8: Tinned Tomatoes

Perhaps not the most inspiring ingredient, but incredibly useful. Tomatoes contain vitamin C, vitamin A, and lycopene, an antioxident with cancer fighting abilities. Tomatoes can be used to make dishes with all of the above, plus, they're amazingly delicious! If you have the space, you can sometimes get really good deals buying cans in bulk, otherwise, stop being a snob and buy the basic value option. Many cheap, flavourful dishes will be immediately at your fingertips.

Emergency food #9: Oats

If you are on an emergency budget, you'd better learn to like porridge. There is no cheaper, healthier, more satisfying breakfast out there. If you go digging around the bottom shelf of your supermarket, you will usually find a budget brand of oats for about £0.59 per KILO. That's a lot of breakfasts for very little money. There are endless ways to dress porridge up: with berries, with bananas, with homemade fruit sauce, with a spoonful of jam, with nuts and dried fruit, or by itself with a little dairy-free milk. I'm sure you can think of even more ways yourself. My favourite budget way is a spoonful or two of St Dalfour jam (it's sweetened with fruit juice instead of sugar!).

Emergency food #10: Spices and Condiments

Essential, budget-friendly spices and condiments: salt; pepper; olive oil; any kind of cheap vinegar that you like; soy sauce; veggie stock cubes; dried herbs such as basil, thyme, sage, rosemary, parsley, and oregano; spices such as cumin, coriander, cinnamon, paprika, turmeric, and garam masala. The herbs and spices I picked out are the most commonly used and inexpensive choices, and for these, try looking in your local Asian grocery store, as they will usually have little bags that are a better deal than the little bottles you find in the standard supermarket. As with the tomatoes, the cheapest, most basic version you can find of all of the above will do just fine. Coconut milk is another fairly cheap condiment that you might use less frequently than the others, but can be added into dahl or lentil based soups to perk them up, or combined with some curry paste, veggie stock, and veggies to make a cheap Thai curry. Make sure to alternate between using different flavourings! Nothing will kill your budget faster than getting bored with your diet.

Now, if you know your nutrition, right now you should be concerned about the lack of vegetables on my list. So here's the budget veggie advice: if you have one of those cheap markets nearby you that sell bowls of veggies for £1, delve in. If you have an Aldi or a Lidl nearby you, stop turning up your nose at it, and suck it up.

We know that seasonal produce is cheaper, but things that are generally always cheap are: apples, pears, bananas (get fairtrade, they're still cheap), carrots, cabbage (please don't boil it), big bags of bell peppers, brocolli, garlic, ginger, and onions. Sleuth around a bit to find what other good deals they have at the moment. Measure carefully on the store produce weigh scale to make sure you aren't overspending. Frozen vegetables and berries are good deals, and just as nutritious. I like frozen blueberries, corn, peas, and green beans.

Bring a calculator to the grocery store and add everything down to the pence. You'll look nuts, but who cares? If you overspend, PUT SOMETHING BACK.

On eating out on an emergency budget: you kind of can't. Your best bet is to hang around your friends who have more money than you, and make big puppy-dog eyes at them. They'll take pity on you and pay. Trust me. And you can return the favour when your financial crisis is over. If your friends are as broke as you, consider inviting them over for a budget home-cooked meal.

Recessionpe!

Yellow Split Pea Stew

1 tbps olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander

1-2 carrots, chopped
1 large potato, chopped into smallish cubes
2-3 mushrooms, sliced
1 generous cup yellow split peas
1.5-2 cups vegetable stock (I make stock using the cubes)
Handful of leafy greens such as spinach, kale, or chard.
salt and pepper to taste

In a soup pot, saute the onions and garlic in the oil for a few minutes until soft. Add the carrots, mushrooms, and potato and saute for a few minutes more. Add the spices and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the split peas and stir until coated. Quickly add the stock, turn the heat up to boil, then lower the heat and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about 40 minutes, or until the split peas are cooked, they will be mushy and smushy.  You may need to check it occassionally to make sure it doesn't need more water.  About 5 minutes before the stew is done, throw in the leafy greens if using. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

This stew can be served by itself, over rice, or with some crusty brown bread.

If Eating Meat is so Necessary, Why are Vegetarians still Alive?

As I've said before, the meat industry has done a really good job of convincing us all that we need meat in order to get proper protein and iron. Many people continue to eat meat on the basis that they think they need it to survive.

But think about it...picture in your head a vegetarian that you know who has not eaten meat for years. He or she is still walking around, right? Still breathing, still functioning, still able to support the weight of their head with their neck, right? If we need meat so badly, how is that possible?

Because we don't need meat to survive. That statement is not a theory, a hypothesis, or an idealistic flight of fancy, it's a FACT. We don't need meat to survive. Fact. What's more, we don't need it to be healthy. Don't believe me? Well, you shouldn't just take my word for it.

The Dietitians of Canada website contains the following position: "It is the position of the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada that appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, nutritinally adequate, and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases." The UK's NHS website points out that, "Studies have suggested that, in general, vegetarians have a lower risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes."

Aside from these national institutions there are plenty of medical studies that emphasise the healthiness of vegetarianism. In 2008, Dan Buettner published The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest, (UK), (Can), a study of five areas of the world in which people regularly lived active lives past 100 years of age: Sardinia, Italy, Okinawa, Japan, Loma Linda California, Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica, and Icaria, Greece. What did all the areas have in common? Considerations such as family, active social lives, no smoking, and moderate physical activity featured in all five areas; as well as, a plant-based diet. Pig is not a plant, in case you were wondering. These areas were not expressly or ethically vegetarian (except Loma Linda), but any meat was occassional and supplementary.

You may have heard of Dr. T. Colin Campbell's The China Study, (UK), (CAN), a report on the China Project. The project was a survey of various studies conducting in 65 mostly rural counties in China, and the relationship between cancer, death rates, and diet (as well as lifestyle and environmental factors) conducted by Cornell University, Oxford University and Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine over the course of 20 years. Campbell and his son conclude that animal-based foods are linked to heart disease, cancer and Type 2 diabetes. They recommend the avoidance of meat, fish, eggs, and dairy, and the adoption of a whole-foods, plant based diet.

So what do you eat on a whole foods, plant based diet? Plenty! One of the most commonly asked questions of vegetarians is, "so (confused pause), what do you eat??" Here's a quick breakdown.

Veggies:
Asparagus, artichoke, avocado, arugula, beets, boy choy, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, chard, corn, carrot, eggplant, garlic, green beans, kale, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, onion, pumpkin, potatoes, peppers, peas, spinach, squash, turnip, tomatoes, zucchini.

You know you're supposed to be eating 5 servings a day. That's a MINIMUM. Meaning, eat more than that.

Fruits:
Blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit, bananas, apples, pears, rhubarb, cherries, plums, peaches, grapes, mangoes, pineapples, passion fruit, pomegrates.

Yes, I put vegetables and fruits in two seperate categories because you need lots of BOTH OF THEM.

Whole Grains:
Barley, oats, quinoa, bulgar, wheatberries, amaranth seeds, millet, whole-wheat couscous, buckwheat, brown rice, wild rice.

Dr. Atkins can suck it. And no, I don't feel mean saying that about him because he's dead, because he made large personal gains from marketing a diet that's really unhealthy, and hundreds, maybe thousands of people's health is going to suffer for it. You need carbs. You need complex carbs. Grains have been at the centre of our diets for many a year before we ever had an obesity epidemic.

Legumes:
Kidney beans, chickpeas, black-eyed peas, red lentils, brown lentils, puy lentils, black beans, white beans, pinto beans, split peas, split yellow peas, soy beans.

I love beans and lentils! And you will too once you get to know them. Beans earthy flavour and comforting texture will kill your sugar cravings, and lentils are wonderfully-versatile little flavour soakers. Chock full of protein, fiber, and complex carbs, this family are a vegetarians best friend.

Healthy fats:
Walnuts, almonds, peanuts, cashews, macadamia nuts, brazil nuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds, olives, avocado.

Yes you need healthy fats in your diet. No, you shouldn't eat the entire bag at once. All of the above foods are high in mono- and poly-unsaturated fats, and low in saturated fats. And they're delicious! None of them in their raw forms contain trans fats or dietary cholestorol. But dont go NUTS, try to stick to a handful or two a day.

Tofu and Tempeh:

Contrary to what many people think, vegetarians do not exist entirely on tofu! But tofu is a great food to include in your diet here and there. Tempeh is fermented tofu, and has an appealing, meaty texture. Tofu is high in calcium, protein, and isoflavones (believed to prevent certain kinds of cancers). Miso, another soy product, is also incredibly healthy and delicious!

Sweeteners:
Agave nectar, brown rice syrup, date sugar, maple sugar, barley malt syrup, molasses.

I'm not going to claim that I never eat sugar. Because that would be a bold-faced lie. But the above sweeteners are much gentler on your system and blood-sugar levels, and even have nutrients (gasp!) in them. I'll do another blog later on to explain the different uses for each one.

Different health experts have somewhat differing ideas about the ratios of all of the above elements in your diet. Some advocate a lot of starch, some less. If you have specific health problems, you may want to look at the research of Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Dr. John McDougall, Dr. Dean Ornish, and Dr. Neal Barnard to see if they can help you. But for most of us, I believe that as long as we are eating 90% of our diet from these foods and observing general guidelines, we will find what's best for our individual needs.

I'll be frank, I have no formal training in health and nutrition. I'm not a doctor. But I'm pretty sure I know more than many, many doctors about nutrition. Why? Because doctors aren't trained in preventative medicine. Preventative medicine would otherwise be known as your diet and lifestyle. I'm not saying this to take a shot at individual doctors. It's not their fault. They didn't design the educational systems that don't prioritize nutritional, and provide their students with fewer hours of nutritive training that high school students. Many doctors themselves have come forward to condemn the current system for its lack of attention to the importance of diet. So instead of listening to your doctor, listen to me. No, I'm joking. But don't rely on your GP's advice, because unless they have taken a special interest and done research on nutrition, they just may not be the best person to help you. Instead, do the research yourself. Read the studies above, and many other like them, and learn for yourself what you should be eating. Most of us would admit that we probably don't know a whole lot about preventative medicine, but there are informed people out there, because they taken it on THEMSELVES to learn about food. You must read the research, and you must decide for yourself what makes sense to you.

Vital Vittles

Super Duper Healty Miso Soup

3 sections soba noodles
1 block of tofu, cut into 1"x2" rectangles
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp dry sherry
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small knob ginger, minced
1 tbsp sweetener like barley malt or brown rice syrup
1/2 cup shitake mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup carrot, cut into strips
1/2 cup daikon (Japonese radish), cut into strips
2 heads bok choi, ends removed (also known as pak choy)
1-2 scallions, chopped
1-2 big spoonfulls miso paste

Bring a pot of water to boil and cook the noodles. In the meantime, combine in a flat bowl or pie plate the oil, soy sauce, sherry, vinegar, garlic, and ginger, and place the tofu in the bowl to marinade. Marinade on each side about 5 minutes. In a soup pot, cook the mushrooms, carrot, and daikon in some water, on medium-high heat. Add about 4-5 cups of water, bring to a boil, and then lower to a simmer. Add the tofu, and any remaining marinade liquid. Mix the miso in a small bowl or cup of water, and stir into soup. Add the boy choi and simmer lightly for a few minutes. Take off heat and sprinkle scallions on top.

Makes 3 big portions.

Note: You can fry the pieces of tofu in canola oil before you marinade it, but doing so obviously makes the dish less healthy. But delicious.