Last week, three separate people I love confronted health issues. Serious ones. The kind that made their doctors give them the come to Jesus talk. All these conditions are manageable, even reversable, with diet. Bet you can guess what the diet involves -- fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, the meatless triumvirate. These people know these foods are healthy and even delicious. But that's not what they eat. They eat processed food, meat and dairy.
Oh, they've known they need to change what they eat, but in an abstract kind of way, as though it was something affecting another person. On another planet. In another galaxy. Even now, after their respective health wakeup calls, they have not fallen on their knees and embraced broccoli. They're still toggling between anger and denial.
"It's not like I eat meat every day," they tell me. "It's not I eat all that much cheese or soooo much processed food," they say.
But they do.
"You don't understand how difficult it is to change," they say.
But I do.
Suddenly, their home turf has turned hostile environment. Supermarkets and restaurants have morphed into houses of horrors. Only a fraction of food is deemed safe to consume, and it's not even the food they like. They're so crazed from reexamining and rethinking every single thing to cross their lips, eating has become a chore. They're miserable. So am I. I love them and I'm worried.
I'm a vegan. That's been fine for them as long as it doesn't interfere with their lives. I've been like a droning fly in the background. I'm okay being a fly, if you don't swat me. I don't believe in pushing my choices on anyone, be it what to eat, who to vote for or what to wear. Shouting at people doesn't work. True, deep, integrated change is only possible when we're ready for it. For the three people I care about, though, now seems like it would be a good time.
It would certainly be a good time for me. My normal attempts to be zen about these things are failing. I have to resist plying them with meatless meals they're not ready for yet. I feel for these people. I also feel for Mayor Bloomburg, who wants to impose a soda ban on New York. The thing is, I don't agree policing portion control is the role of government and I don't believe personal change can be legislated.
I do believe individual choices, actions -- and inactions -- have consequences. Say your behavior results in you getting sick -- we're not talking about a cold, we're talking about a lifestyle-curtailing condition requiring medical intervention, be it pills or surgery. It's your choice, it should be your problem. But it becomes everybody's problem. It puts stress on your workplace and it's no fun for your family and your friends, either. Taking you for medical tests or visiting you in the hospital is not our idea of quality time.
These three people I care about aren't alone in facing health issues. Over a third of Americans are clinically obese, and that number is forecast to increase.
I can't force broccoli on the people I love any more than I can force them -- or you -- to eat less meat. But consider your food choices aren't just about you. They affect the whole world. It's a better place with you in it.
Quick and Easy Singapore NoodlesThis popular Asian street food is traditionally made with broad, chewy rice noodles. Use linguine noodles, if they're easier to come by. It is also traditionally made with seafood and pork. Trade up with this vegetable-intense version. Swap or add other vegetables and plant-based foods like peas, tofu, cabbage, whatever you like.
8 ounces broad Asian rice noodles (or linguine)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons sriracha or, if you like it hot, sambal oelek **
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoons canola or peanut oil
1 large onion, sliced thin
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red pepper, chopped or cut into matchsticks
1 carrot, chopped or cut into matchsticks
1 celery stalk, chopped
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 cup broccoli, cut into florets
chopped scallions and/or cilantro to garnish (optional)Prepare pasta according to package directions until just tender. Drain in a colander or strainer.
In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, brown sugar, sriracha or sambal oelek, sesame oil and ketchup. Stir until sugar dissolves and mixture thickens a little bit. Set aside.Heat canola or peanut oil in a large pot over medium high-heat. Halve onion and slice thin. Add to oil. Stir and cook until onion softens, about 3 to 4 minutes. Mince garlic and add to onion.
Chop carrot, broccoli, celery, pepper and mushrooms, add to pot and saute, stirring frequently, for 7 to 10 minutes.
Pour soy sauce mixture over all. Toss to coat. Add noodles, stirring to heat through, about five minutes.
Garnish with scallions or cilantro if desired.
Serves 4** Asian hot sauce, available in Asian markets, most natural food stores and many supermarkets.
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David Gratzer: Why Bloomberg's War on Soda Will Fail
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Good to know.
"But heroin feels good!" "Everybody I know smokes pot!" "People have been drinking wine for centuries!" "As long as I smoke crack recreationally and in moderation, what's the problem?"
Rationalization, justification, minimization, denial and distortion of the truth - all hallmarks of a society addicted to the consumption of animal products. Omnivores could stand a good meat-tox to clear their arteries and their heads.
No one is telling omnivores what they can or cannot eat. The idea is to offer what might be a healthier, less damaging alternative to the Standard American Diet (SAD). In fact, Ellen spoke about her struggle to keep her opinions to herself where her loved ones are concerned, despite her belief that a simple shift to a plant-based diet might help save their lives.
Often, when the word "vegan" comes up, minds slam shut (and mouths open) faster than a trip through the McDonald's drive-thru and that's a shame because they just might be missing out on valuable information about a lifestyle that helps make the world a better, more peaceful, more compassionate place for human and non-human animals alike.
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You know, I never thought if it like this.
You've got me convinced. Obama is a beer head. We can't let someone like that be president. I'm voting from Romney.
Thank you so much!
Ironically, our society is inundated 24/7/365 with TV commercials, billboards, websites, print ads, coupons, trucks and every conceivable method of advertisement trying to sell products made from animal carcasses and my 250 words in the comments section of HuffPost is called a "tirade".
I couldn't possibly be louder or more offensive than all that. In fact, my two cents is likely to be lost in the morass of anti-vegan posts to this and every other article that makes a case for a vegan lifestyle.
Vegetarianism Produces Subclinical Malnutrition, Hyperhomocysteinemia and Atherogenesis:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21872435
And here is one of many studies showing that vegans have substantially higher homocysteine than omnivores, which is a major indicator of heart disease:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12011576
I have in fact never met a vegan who has analyzed their food intake for even a single day. Not one who has told me he or she gets "plenty" of protein can actually show that to be correct. Most vegans have little curiosity about nutrition, beyond the nonsense they often repeat that most Americans eat 4 times as much protein as they need. Yes, it's nonsense based on a bizarre notion that most Americans eat eggs, bacon, sausage, and ham for breakfast every morning and 24 ounce steaks for supper every night. This simply tells me how strong the belief is and how it overrides their understanding of how science works.
Also, those of you who say veganisn is unhealthy are wrong and I'd be happy to go head to head with any of you on this or any other nutrition topic you believe you know so much about from reading the Paleo diet.
A person who finds everything in the cabbage family to be indigestible does not need to pay hundreds of dollars to a doctor to get your permission to give that up, any more than someone who is allergic to tomatoes or stone fruits would need your permission.
It is totally true that "meat makes the meal" is an opinion and an opinion only, just as your opinion that "meat does not make the meal" is also an opinion.
A few months ago, for the first time in my life, I was grilled by a non Asian vegetarian. We are Chinese American, I grew up with a Buddhist vegetarian granny. She never said anything about what we eat. Some Chinese choose not eat meat due to health issues, others because they are Buddhist (not all Asian Buddhists are vegetarian). It's entirely a personal choice and they don't impose it on others.
Traditionally Chinese food consists mostly rice and veggies, meat is expansive, only eaten on special occasions. A chicken breast can be made into several stirred fried dishes with many other indigence and feed an entire family. I've heard Chinese immigrants say that can't handle eating meat daily. And you can see the obvious difference between Chinese immigrants and us Chinese Americans who grew up with plenty of red meat and diary products (Chinese don't really have diary products, soy instead ) .... we are several inches taller and at least 20 lb. bigger than the immigrants.
veganism is an elitist eating disorder and has NO precedent in our evolutionary history (because any humans that took that path in the past perished from malnutrition!).
Humans re omnivores needing good clean animal products to be healthy and vital.
Biologically we're far closer to herbivores than true omnivores. Look it up. It's true that ancient humans who relied to heavily on plants often died from malnutrition, but that wasn't because there was something particularly special about eating meat. Rather, meat provided fat and calories which are coveted in the fight for survival. Rule of thumb, if you consumed enough calories, you were far more likely to survive through periods of scarce food. But this no longer applies in a population that's sick from eating far too many calories than their fair share.
Your argument that it's a formula for disease is severely flawed. What, pray tell, are the "diseases" caused by eating too many plant based foods then? The only vital nutrient plants fail to provide is vitamin B12, which isn't even actually created by the animal themselves, but rather from bacteria.
There IS research done by DOCTORS to back my claims. If you're going to play the research card, I really would like to see some research from your side.
Biologically we are closer to carnivores than herbivores. Our ancestors millions of years ago on the African savannas ate hardly anything but meat, radiochemical analysis of their bones has shown.