Tag Archives: Vegan

Veganism and Health

The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.  ~  Albert Einstein

modern wheat is as bad for you as any slow poison.

A vegan diet is one that excludes any food that comes from an animal, fish, or whatever.  This includes eggs, dairy, meat, fish, fowl, and even things like snails and honey.  A vegan diet is exclusively plant-based; vegetables, fruit, grains, soy, legumes, nuts, and seeds.  Vegan diets usually usually exclude any canned or processed foods.  Vegan diets are extreme.

There are far more vegan women than men.  In the UK 63% of people who say they are vegan are women.  Anyhow, in the UK veganism is not exactly part of the mainstream dietary culture, there are only some 542,000 self-identified vegans here, which is 1% of the population ~ and I don’t necessarily believe there’s a half-million vegans in Great Britain.  I once dated a vegan, and she cheated all the time.

Dr. Richard Twine, a senior lecturer in social sciences, interviewed a shed-load of vegans and found that 73% were women and only 27% were male.

In America, that world epicentre for weird cults, fads, and fringe movements, only 3% of the population identify as vegan.  Amazing, as more than half of Americans believe that alien abduction, alien visitation, and UFOs are real.  Aliens probably exist.

Proper scientific studies show that true veganism can be very bad for your health, especially if you consume unhealthy plant-based food such as fruit juices, refined grains, wheat, fries, and a lot of fatty, high-calorie stuff like avocado.  The recommended daily serving is just 1/3 of a medium sized avocado.

My vegan diet brought on early menopause.  ~  Virpi Mikkonen

A vegan or vegetarian who consumes no animal products can be just as unhealthy as a slob who dines on nothing but burgers and beer.

Some health problems caused by a vegan diet include; leaky gut, hormone disruption, (including oestrogen and thyroid hormones), anemia, low omega-3 leading to anxiety and depression, lack of vitamin B12, (which can lead to irreversable memory loss and impaired cognitive function), lack of zinc, (which is especially vital for pregnant women), too much carbohydrate, (which leads to fatty liver, diabetes, and obesity), and eating disorders.

Personally, I don’t care so much if someone wants to be vegan or vegetarian, but I do object when they preach to me about my own omnivorous diet.

Some say they don’t eat meat because eating animal products is unethical.  And that being vegan reduces their carbon footprint.  All I know is that I really like a good steak.

~

jack collier

jackcollier7@talktalk.net

onglet steak, a butcher’s best kept secret.

Easy Weeknight Dinners

Nothing is better than going home to good food.

For some of us, midweek dinners can be a real chore, so we resort to take-out or pre-prepared meals bought from our local supermarket.  Yet we can do better than that.  These recipes are all delicious, easy, quick and healthy.  So why not try spending a half-hour cooking something, rather than buying an

The last thing you want to do after a long day at work is spend ages standing at the stove making dinner.  So, from Averie Cooks we have this baked ham and cheese omelette, and ham and cheese are such a great pairing.

Baked Ham and Cheese Omelette

A pasta bake is such an easy and versatile dish, and Amanda Wren-Grimwood, at Chez Le Rêve Français, has this great recipe for a chicken and broccoli pasta bake.  Most of us should be able to whip this up in a half-hour.  Looks delicious to me.

Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake

If you are having friends over, or you just want something more exotic, Petra at Food Eat Love has this onglet steak with loaded fries.  This will take you 10 to 15 minutes to prepare, and you can make yourself a great salad while it’s all cooking.

Onglet Steak with Loaded Fries

Talking of great salads, Tieghan Gerad at Half Baked Harvest has just posted this utterly beautiful Tuscan summer stone fruit, tomato, and burrata panzanella salad.  I love Tuscan and this is one recipe I am certainly going to put on my own regular diet.

Tuscan Summer Stone Fruit, Tomato and Burrata Panzanella Salad

If you are vegetarian, or vegan, then maybe try this fresh tomato spinach garlic pasta from San Francisco Lady Andrea at Cooking with a Wallflower.  This dish has just a few ingredients and should be ready in 30 minutes.

Fresh Tomato Spinach Garlic Pasta 

Finally for this week, from Chungah at Damn Delicious we have 10 weeknight chicken breast recipes ~ including this fabulous chicken lazone.  Always worth keeping some chicken breasts in your freezer, all you have to do is remember to take what you need out of the freezer in the morning and put it in the refrigerator.

Chicken Lazone

If you have a slow cooker, then try using that to make a weeknight dinner, which will last you a couple of days ~ and you can also take to work for lunch.  There are some slow cooker recipes on an earlier post of mine.

jack collier

jackcollier7@talktalk.net

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