Nutrition
Excellent Round Up Of Super Health Benefits of Vegan Lifestyle, 7/2013.
B-12
Advice about protein, B-12 and iodine from life-long plant-based diet and vegan activist and Medical Doctor Klaper.
Dr. Klaper recommends:
  1. Eat whole foods.
  2. Chew your food. Break up the cell walls that contain the nutrients.
  3. Take B-12 and D3 supplements, also iodine from seaweed once a week and EFA in a handful of walnuts or tsp of ground flaxseed every day.


Rethinking & Clarifying the Vitamin B12 Issue, Dr Vivian V. Vetrano.
In summary, vegans and raw fooders all have sufficient amounts of coenzyme B12 in their diets, and FROM THAT produced in their bodies. The most common basic cause of a natural cobalamin deficiency is a failure to digest, absorb and utilize the various cobalamins from food and from the intestinal tract as in the case of gastritis or gastroenteritis. The cause of malabsorption is commonly a gastrointestinal disorder and this was known by pathologists way back in the l800s. In this case, one's lifestyle must be assessed and brought into unison with the needs of the living organism.

Furthermore, absorption of the natural B12 coenzymes can take place in the mouth, throat, esophagus, bronchial tubes and even in the upper small intestines, as well as all along the intestinal tract. More…



An old series from Dr. Klaper, but he covers everything you might want to know about vegan nutrition and why you don't want to eat meat or dairy products. A must watch for vegans and those considering a plant-based diet. Informative, backed up with sound science and medical videos you won't soon forget like the fat being pulled from a coronary artery that looks exactly like cheese. The whole series can be found on our "Complete Klaper Lecture From The Early '90s, "Foods That Kill"" in our YouTube channel.


"Cow's milk is for baby calves. You have no more need of cow's milk than you do for giraffe milk or horse milk or rat milk."

PROTEIN
ABC News Program on Vegan Athletes
Articles
  • Top 3 Myths About Plant-Based Protein (And Why They're Wrong), Branden Brazier, Mind Body Green, 7/2013
    A common misconception about plant-based diets is that they lack protein. That?s simply not true. I've achieved top-level athletic performance and sustained huge health gains by switching to a plant-based diet. That?s why I created Thrive Forward, a website dedicated to plant-based education for health and sports performance. It provides short educational videos, clean eating recipes and tips to support day to day life.

    Whether your goal is to lean out, build muscle mass and strength, or just improve your health, plant-based proteins play an important role. Here are the top three myths I hear about plant-based proteins: More…

  • How Can I Get Enough Protein? The Protein Myth —The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
    Protein is an important nutrient required for the building, maintenance, and repair of tissues in the body. Amino acids, the building blocks of protein, can be synthesized by the body or ingested from food. There are 20 different amino acids in the food we eat, but our body can only make 11 of them. The 9 essential amino acids, which cannot be produced by the body, must be obtained from the diet. A variety of grains, legumes, and vegetables can also provide all of the essential amino acids our bodies require. It was once thought that various plant foods had to be eaten together to get their full protein value, otherwise known as protein combining or protein complementing. We now know that intentional combining is not necessary to obtain all of the essential amino acids.1 As long as the diet contains a variety of grains, legumes, and vegetables, protein needs are easily met. More…

  • Harvard Declares Dairy NOT Part of Healthy Diet, 3/2013
    The Harvard experts also referred to the high levels of saturated fat in most dairy products and suggested that collards, bok choy, fortified soy milk, and baked beans are safer choices than dairy for obtaining calcium, as are high quality supplements.   More…
  • Dairy milk is singled out as the biggest dietary cause of osteoporosis, News Medical, 2005
    Author Russell Eaton says: 'Dairy milk does increase bone density, but this comes at a terrible price. The latest research is showing that far from protecting bones, milk actually increases the risk of osteoporosis by eroding bone-making cells. Also, people with osteoporosis have a much higher incidence of heart disease and cancer, and the evidence is pointing at milk as the common factor.' More…

  • B12 Breakthrough - Missing Nutrient Found in Plants —T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. - "Vegans - and anyone else - should be able to obtain B12 by consuming organically grown produce."

  • Five packaged foods you never need to buy again. —Grist

  • Nutritional Update for Physicians: Plant-Based Diets — The Permanente Journal of the Kaiser-Permanente Health System, 5/2013
    The goal of our diet should be to improve our health. In this section, we will review the literature for key articles that demonstrate the benefits of plant-based diets. Our review consists of existing studies that include vegan, vegetarian, and Mediterranean diets.

    A healthy, plant-based diet requires planning, reading labels, and discipline. The recommendations for patients who want to follow a plant-based diet may include eating a variety of fruits and vegetables that may include beans, legumes, seeds, nuts, and whole grains and avoiding or limiting animal products, added fats, oils, and refined, processed carbohydrates. The major benefits for patients who decide to start a plant-based diet are the possibility of reducing the number of medications they take to treat a variety of chronic conditions, lower body weight, decreased risk of cancer, and a reduction in their risk of death from ischemic heart disease. More…

    Nutritional Update for Physicians: Plant-Based Diets, 6 page PDF Abstract, Spring 2013.


Resources
  • Vegan Society: Vegan Nutrition
    Contains a range of nutrition information on maintaining a healthy, well-planned vegan diet.

    In addition to these pages, you may also find the following resources useful:

    Our Plant based Nutrition booklet - a 16-page guide to ensuring a well-planned vegan diet.

    Plant-based Nutrition and Health - our comprehensive nutrition book, written by Stephen Walsh PhD.

    Vegan nutrition wall chart listing the main nutrients and which vegan foods they are found in, available from our online shop. More…


Books See more on our Reading Resources page.
  • Eat To Live, Joel Fuhrman, MD.
    Book about losing weight through a plant-based diet has a lot of information for anyone wishing to maintain their weight as well.
  • The Engine 2 Diet, Rip Esselstyn
    Professional athlete-turned-firefighter Rip Esselstyn is used to responding to emergencies. So, when he learned that some of his fellow Engine 2 firefighters in Austin, TX, were in dire physical condition-several had dangerously high cholesterol levels (the highest was 344!)-he sprang into action and created a life-saving plan for the firehouse. By following Rip's program, everyone lost weight (some more than 20 lbs.), lowered their cholesterol (Mr. 344's dropped to 196), and improved their overall health.
  • Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition, T. Colin Campbell, 2013
    Because our current health system and practices are unsustainable, the public has more power of influence than ever before. Change is finally within our reach. We now know that most heart attacks and strokes, cancers and unnecessary deaths are preventable through nutrition, and we can choose wisely what we put into our mouths every day. Whole is an extraordinary tool that shows us how to free our bodies, minds and our planet from the economic disparity and biological logic that is making us sicker and poorer than ever before. It is a journey into cutting-edge nutrition, led by one of the masters of the science.
  • Vegan For Life, Jack Norris and Virginia Messina
    Controversial, these two recently degreed dieticians take on the China Study and systematically refute nearly everything it has to say. A lot of it sounds reasonable enough, but in the end you're left with taking either the face value of a 20 year 2,000,000 person study against that of other, perhaps less rigorous findings. This webmaster doesn't find much resonance in this book which hasn't caught on with vegan nutrition glitteratti (in fact I attended a lecture by Norris that was cut short and he was hurriedly escorted out before I could ask him some pointed questions), but it's worth taking a look-see for "another opinion." Campbell responds to some of the singular assertions elegantly in his later work, "Whole," above.
CALCIUM


Simple, fast, nutrtious. Make your own "milk" from nuts.

Articles
  • The Calcium Question —Cow's milk acidifies the body's pH, which causes the body to correct its natural balance. Since calcium is an acid neutralizer, the body pulls the calcium out of our bones, thus contributing to bone loss.
MAGNESIUM


Articles
  • 8 Foods High in Magnesium: A Mineral for Diabetes, Insomnia and More, Natural Society, 10/2013
    Magnesium allows the body to absorb calcium, but it also carries out over 300 other functions in the body. This essential mineral makes sure that our nerves can communicate properly, our body maintains a regulated temperature (homeostasis) and can carry out important tasks like detoxification, supplying us with energy, and yes, making healthy teeth and bones. Everyone should know of foods high in magnesium as well as magnesium deficiency symptoms given the importance of this mineral,

    Magnesium is not only helpful in maintaining bone strength as we age, it can also improve the symptoms of PMS (premenstrual syndrome) as well as menopause for women. Magnesium even helps the body utilize vitamin B6 and reduces migraines, lowers high blood pressure, gets rid of constipation and can even help to remove gallstones.

    What's more, magnesium has been shown to reduce an abnormal heart beat and keep the cardiovascular system in top shape. It can also help with the treatment of diabetes type 2 as well as insomnia and depression.

    1. Rice Bran—This food is hard to find since it often isn't stocked at regular grocery stores, but rice bran is worth hunting down. In just 100 grams of this healthy food you can find 781 mg of magnesium—almost twice the recommended RDA.
    2. Dried Herbs Coriander, Sage, or Basil—In terms of density, these great herbs not only supply the body with lots of micronutrients and other trace minerals, they are loaded with magnesium. You can find around 690 mg per tablespoon. Add these spices and herbs to your favorite dishes to make them magnesium-magic.
    3. Dark Chocolate—Want a reason to indulge in one of your favorite foods? Real, dark chocolate, or cacao is full of antioxidants and loads of magnesium. Just 100 grams of dark chocolate offers about 230 mg of magnesium. Check out 7 other dark chocolate health benefits here.
    4. Dark Leafy Greens—Kale, spinach, collard greens, Swiss chard, and any dark leafy vegetables, including beet greens and dandelion greens will supply high levels of magnesium. 1 cup of cooked spinach, for example will contain 157 mg.
    5. Whole Grains—Brown rice, quinoa, bulgar, barley, whole oats, and non-GMO wheat will contain high levels of magnesium. I cup of cooked brown rice, for example, contains around 86 mg.
    6. Beans and Lentils—Although there is a lot of concern about xeno-estrogens in GMO soy, non-GMO soy, chickpeas, lentils, kidney beans and other types of beans are a great source of magnesium. Some beans provide up to 150 mg per one cup serving.
    7. Avocados—Not only is this food full of healthy fats, it is also a great source of magnesium. Just one avocado of a decent size will provide more than 60 mg of magnesium.
    8. Dairy—You have to be careful with some yogurts and cheeses because food manufacturers like to load them with hormones and sugars, but plain, unsweetened yogurts, and unpasteurized cheeses will provide loads of magnesium without polluting your body with traditional dairy.

    More…

POTASSIUM - 19K




Resources

  • Good Sources - Potassium, Vegan Peace
    The percentages in this table are the percent daily values (%DV). These Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. Depending on your calorie needs, your daily values may be higher or lower. Please click here to calculate an estimate of your personal calorie needs. You can also check out the more detailed Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI's) for macronutrients, vitamins and minerals. The DRI's take age, sex, pregnancy and lactation into account. More…

  • Top 10 Food Sources of Potassium, If you think bananas have more potassium than any other food, think again, The Daily Green
    Everyone knows potassium is good for you, right? That's why we eat so many bananas (more than apples and oranges combined). Eating more potassium works in concert with a low-sodium diet to lower blood pressure, and potassium is essential not only for heart health, but for the skeletal and muscle systems as well.

    The big surprise is that bananas don't even make the top 10 list of superfoods with the most potassium! More…
  • Importance of Potassium and Why Vegans Get Lots of It, One Million Mangoes, 4/2013.
    Potassium is super important for a number of reasons. Luckily, vegans have a ridiculously high number of potassium containing foods to choose from. Better yet, these foods contain high amounts of potassium in their raw, natural state, making it very easy to exceed your needs! Let?s take a look at some foods that are high in potassium, and some reasons why high potassium intake is good for us.

    According to the National Institutes of Health, vegetables including broccoli, peas, lima beans, tomatoes, potatoes (especially their skins), sweet potatoes, and winter squashes are all good sources of potassium. And on the fruit side of things, bananas, kiwis, prunes, and freshly dried apricots are also fully loaded. So to all you fruity vegans out there, you?re in luck! More…
IRON


More…
  • 12 Top Vegan Iron Sources, Care2, 8/2011
    The World Health Organization considers iron deficiency the number one nutritional disorder in the world. As many as 80 percent of the world's population may be iron deficient, while 30 percent may have iron deficiency anemia. The human body stores some iron to replace any that is lost. However, low iron levels over a long period of time can lead to iron deficiency anemia. Symptoms include lack of energy, shortness of breath, headache, irritability, dizziness, or weight loss. So here's the 411 on iron: how much you need, where you can get it, and tips to maximize its absorption. More…
ZINC
  • Zinc, Vegan Health.org, 6/2013
    Zinc is not found in large amounts in plant foods, but as far as can be detected, vegetarians have similar zinc status to non-vegetarians (6). The best, common plant sources of zinc are legumes, nuts, seeds, and oatmeal.

    Protein increases zinc absorption. Because of this, foods high in protein and zinc, such as legumes and nuts, are good choices (2). The leavening of bread (most bread is leavened) and fermenting of soyfoods (tempeh and miso) also enhances zinc absorption (2).

    A modest zinc supplement of 50 to 100% of the RDA should be safe for those who are concerned or having symptoms of zinc deficiency. More…


  • Getting Enough Zinc on Vegan Diets, The Vegan R.D., 5/2009
    I'm in favor of a conservative and cautious approach since there is no down side to consuming a few extra milligrams of zinc. Using the 50% factor, recommended daily intakes of zinc would be 16.5 milligrams for men and 12 mg for women. While no single plant food (other than those that are fortified) is high in zinc, a diet based on a variety of whole foods can meet needs.

    1 milligram of zinc is provided by:

    • 1 tablespoon of nuts, seeds or nut/seed butters
    • ¼ to ½cup cooked beans
    • 1 tablespoon wheat germ
    • 1 cup cooked grain
    • 2 slices of bread
    • 2 cups cooked leafy green vegetables

    Check the nutrition labels on vegetarian meat analogs, since some of these are fairly high in zinc. Fortified cereals are also very high.

    Finally, by using some cooking practices that boost zinc absorption, you won't need to consume quite as much zinc.

    Here are a few ways to enhance absorption of zinc:

    • Toast nuts and seeds before using them.
    • Choose fermented foods like sourdough bread and tempeh.
    • Choose foods that are leavened with yeast—breads—over crackers and plain grains.
    • Eat some sprouted legumes and seeds.
    • Soak grains before cooking them.
    More…
CHLOROPHYLL
Looking for some high-powered nutritent-dense foods?
THE MYTH OF FISH
  • Study finds link between fish oil and higher prostate cancer risk CTV News, 7/2013
    A new study is raising questions about omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in oily fish and fish supplements, suggesting that men with high levels of the oils in their bloods might also have a higher risk of prostate cancer.

    Omega-3 fatty acids have long been hailed for their apparent ability to lower blood pressure and cholesterol and perhaps protect against heart disease. They?ve also thought to have anti-inflammatory properties that might help prevent a number of forms of cancer. But a new study has found that men with prostate cancer were more likely to have higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their blood than similar men without prostate cancer. More…

  • Fish oil's heart benefits may be overstated —CNN, 09/2012
    "Omega-3 supplementation did not statistically significantly reduce all-cause mortality, sudden and cardiac death (heart attack), or stroke," says Dr. Moses Elisaf, the senior author of the study and a professor of internal medicine at the University of Ioannina Medical School, in Greece.

    The study isn't the first to cast doubt on the benefits of fish oil. In April, a similar analysis of previous research found that the supplements did not help prevent second heart attacks or strokes in people with cardiovascular disease. More…

  • Omega-3 Not Linked to Cognitive Improvement, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, 9/2013
    Omega-3 fatty acids, often derived from fish oil, do not improve cognitive ability, according to a new study published online in Neurology. Researchers followed 2,157 women with normal cognition aged 65 and older enrolled in the Women?s Health Initiative Study of Cognitive Aging (WHISCA) for an average of 5.9 years with periodic cognitive testing. Blood samples showed no measurable difference in cognitive ability between women with high or low blood levels of omega-3. According to the authors, these findings are consistent with a growing body of research on omega-3s. More…

  • Fish is Not Health Food MacDougall Newsletter, 2009
    Fish is the muscle of a cold-blooded, animal with fins and gills. The major components of fish are fat and protein. There is no carbohydrate, no dietary fiber, or no vitamin C in fish. Because many fish are high on the food chain they are highly contaminated with environmental chemicals ? it is not unusual to read in the newspaper that certain kinds of fish, such as swordfish, tuna, or shark, contain sufficient levels to be considered a health hazard. For example, because of their high content of mercury, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has advised women who are pregnant or plan to become pregnant to not eat swordfish, king mackerel, tile fish, shark, or fish from mercury contaminated areas.

    The advantages of fish over beef, chicken or pork are largely mythical… More…
  • Are Chicken and Fish as Unhealthy as Red Meat?
    In the interest of your health, the environment and even logic, it makes more sense to leave chicken and fish off your plate. More….

  • Worrying Mercury And PCB Levels Found In Californian Coastal Fish —Medical News Today, 5/2011
    The presence of methylmercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in Californian sport fish is widespread and a concern for human health, the State Water Resources Control Board has announced. They specifically refer to sport fish caught in urban coaster waters. 19% of the coastline was found to have fish with levels of mercury much higher than the recommended limits for women of childbearing age and children.

    Methylmercury has been linked to the nervous system developmental problems in children and teenagers, the authors explained. Children with high levels of mercury have a much higher risk of having learning disabilities. This contamination in California probably comes from regional and global emissions to the atmosphere, historic mining of gold, silver and mercury, and industrial and urban wastewater and stormwater.

    The PCB recommended threshold level for human consumption is zero. High PCB levels were found in at least one specimen in 6 of the 42 locations.

    PCBs can damage the nerves, digestive tract and liver. They also raise the risk of developing certain cancers. PCBs used to be used in industrial, electrical and some other application - they are now banned. More…

  • Omega-3 not healthy enough to eat into fish stocks, claims study —Canadian Medical Association Journal report
    A new research paper on the production of fish-derived fatty acids has concluded that the continued promotion of omega-3s for their health benefits is irresponsible in the face of depleting fish stocks.
  • 9 Things Everyone Should Know About Farmed Fish, Free From Harm, 12/2013
    If you eat seafood, unless you catch it yourself or ask the right questions, the odds are pretty good it comes from a fish farm. The aquaculture industry is like a whale on steroids, growing faster than any other animal agriculture segment and now accounting for half the fish eaten in the U.S. As commercial fishing operations continue to strip the world?s oceans of life, with one-third of fishing stocks collapsed and the rest headed there by mid-century, fish farming is increasingly seen as a way to meet the world?s growing demand.

    This article looks at aquaculture and its long-term effects on people, fish, and other animals. With this industry regularly touted as a paragon of food production, whether you eat seafood or not, you should know these nine key facts about farmed fish. More…
For Information on the Over-Fishing of the Ocean, See our The Ocean page.
Researchers studied the dietary habits of 80,000 people in Britain and surveyed participants on life satisfaction, mental well-being, history or presence of mental disorders, nervousness, feelings of depression, and personal self-reported health and happiness.

As subjects' daily intake of fruits and vegetables increased, so did their sense of happiness and well-being. The dose-dependent pattern peaked at seven servings per day; eating more yielded no additional mood enhancement.
More…
A vegan doctor from Britain's national health program promotes a vegan diet.
A young mother discusses her vegan pregnancy
Known as "The Juicer," this vegan health-nut god has a lot of interesting vids on consuming healthy good stuff and lifestyle to boot.

Also, Drew's FB page.
ABOUT THAT PALEO DIET…

  • 4 Things You Should Know About the Paleo Diet HuffPost Healthy Living Blog, 4/2015
    It is well known that cutting out refined foods, sugar, and added salt can benefit your health. But the benefits of the other aspects of the Paleo Diet, in particular the large percentage of animal products consumed, are less cut-and-dry. And they have the potential to impact much more than your health. Here are four things to consider before going Paleo:

    1. Despite the hype, there's no evidence that the Paleo Diet lowers mortality or the risk of heart disease and cancer.
    2. A 2012 Harvard study followed thousands of health professionals and nurses for 20 to 26 years and found a 12 percent higher death rate among those eating a low-carb diet that was also high in animal protein, such as beef and dairy. Those eating large percentages of animal protein were 14 percent more likely to die of heart disease and 28 percent more likely to die of cancer.
    3. Greenhouse gas (GHG) production is considerably higher for most animal products than plant-based foods. Not only is raising (e.g., feeding) animals very resource intensive, but some livestock also release methane -- a potent GHG.
    4. Unless you're eating a varied, seasonal diet including tubers, sedges, fruits, animals, insects, worms, leaves, and bark, you're not eating Paleo, say anthropologists Ken Sayers and C. Owen Lovejoy.

    If really you want to eat like early humans, keep your diet local, plant-heavy, seasonal, and go for variety. More…

  • Paleo diet boosters don't understand evolution. The Paleolithic era was not a fun time to be human. Washington Post, 1/2015
    If the people who lived before agriculture were healthier than us, they rarely lived long enough to reap these benefits, says Kenneth Sayers, an anthropologist at the Language Research Center of Georgia State University. It was unusual for hunter-gatherers to live much beyond reproductive age, he says, and "it's hard to be healthy when you're dead."

    The paleo diet is built on nostalgia and erroneous notions of how evolution works, says Marlene Zuk, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul and author of "Paleofantasy: What Evolution Really Tells Us About Sex, Diet, and How We Live."

    Another problem with the paleo diet is that it makes unscientific assumptions about what our ancestors ate, Lieberman says. "There was no one single paleo diet; there were many," he says. Our Stone Age relatives lived in a diverse range of habitats, from tropical regions of Africa to rain forests, boreal forests and tundra regions, he says, and their diets varied according to what was available in these habitats. "There is no one time and place and habitat to which we're adapted," Lieberman says. More…

  • Q&A: My Problem with the Paleo Diet Dr. Michael Klaper, 2/2015.
    I do not find it "natural" at all. Instead, I think it's an invitation to serious disease and environmental destruction! Here's some of what I find problematic with the Paleo approach to eating:

    Did our cave-man ancestors really eat a mostly-meat diet? Although it's a commonly held idea with a colorful image, it's just not true. According to Nathaniel Dominy, associate professor of Anthropology at Dartmouth College, the overwhelming majority of calories that kept our ancestors alive in ancient times were from starches, in the form of roots, tubers, bulbs, corms and wild grasses ? mostly gathered by the women of the tribes (bless ?em!).

    All plants make and store starches and there is a reason that over the millions of years before humans appeared, our primate ancestors developed starch-digesting enzymes (amylases) in our saliva that begins digesting starches down to usable sugars right in our mouths. Our grinding teeth (not flesh-tearing fangs) and long digestive system are very efficient for processing starchy plant foods; our pancreas pours amylase-rich juice into the gut with every meal and amylases cascade off the walls of the small intestine into the food stream throughout its 22 foot length.

    Carbohydrates (sugars) are clean burning fuels, leaving only carbon dioxide and water as wastes, easily excreted by the lungs and kidneys. But flesh is a "dirty" fuel, leaving urea, ketones, uric acid and other metabolic burdens that can stress the liver and build up to disease-producing levels, resulting in gout, kidney stones, and other diseases.

    Burning fat-heavy fuels places one in a state of ketosis, something sought after by Paleo promoters as a "good thing." However, keeping one's metabolism in a state of ketosis ? an emergency state the body enters during times of starvation ? is NOT a good thing! It is a state of low-grade acidosis and being ketotic day after day, week after week, that forces the body to constantly dispose of an acid load which can leach calcium from the bones and precipitate kidney stones.

    Despite what the Paleo promoters push, we are not carnivorous apes. The Paleo diet would have us ghoulishly swallow chunks of flesh every five hours as part of our meat-based, "natural" diet. My goodness! Not even mountain lions eat flesh every 5 hours! No other primate eats flesh like this and the health consequences can be severe. More…

  • Even Our Ancestors Never Really Ate the "Paleo Diet," Discover Magazine, 6/2013.
    Essentially all of the great apes and their ancestors appeared to have eaten a C3-based diet, consuming fruits, leaves and other plants. Modern humans, on the other hand, rely much more on C4 plants, which include grains like wheat and corn. What researchers didn?t know was when that shift occurred. The PNAS papers show that this shift appears to have occurred in Australopithecus afarensis, which lived in and around Ethiopia 2.9 to 3.9 million years ago.

    This shift coincided with the retreat of heavily forested areas that were replaced by open savannah.

    Big brains and upright walking are two of the main factors that distinguish humans from other primates, and it appears that a shift in diet from leaves to grasses may be a significant third factor.

    So while there remains little doubt that many modern humans eat too much sugar and processed foods, these studies show that identifying a particular ?paleo? diet is impossible. Researchers are just beginning to understand what ancient humans ate, and these recent studies show that grasses and grains have been part of the human diet for millions of years. More…

  • Neandertals Ate Their Veggies, Tooth Study Shows —National Geographic
    Starch and carbohydrates in the tartar show the Neanderthals ate a variety of plants, but there were surprisingly few traces of meat-associated proteins or lipids.

    Not only did our extinct cousins prefer grilling vegetables to steaks, they were also dosing themselves with medicinal plants,

  • Cavemen Ground Flour, Prepped Veggies —Discovery News
    Since the techniques were already well established during the Mid-Upper Paleolithic Period, it's likely that modern humans, and possibly even Neanderthals, incorporated far more plant products into their diets than presently believed.

  • Human Ancestors Were Nearly All Vegetarians —Scientific American
    Right now, one half of all Americans are on a diet. The other half just gave up on their diets and are on a binge. Collectively, we are overweight, sick and struggling. Our modern choices about what and how much to eat have gone terribly wrong. The time has come to return to a more sensible way of eating and living, but which way? An entire class of self-help books recommends a return to the diets of our ancestors. Paleolithic diets, caveman diets, primal diets and the like, urge us to eat like the ancients. Taken too literally, such diets are ridiculous. After all, sometimes our ancestors starved to death and the starving to death diet, well, it ends badly. The past was no panacea; each generation we made due with the bodies and foods available, imperfect bodies and imperfect foods. Yet, the idea that we might take our ancestral diet into consideration when evaluating the foods on which our organs, cells and existence thrive, makes sense. But what did our ancestors eat?

  • The Real Paleo Diet, NutritionFacts.org, 2/2013.
    We evolved eating huge amounts of plants. It's estimated that 200,000 years ago we got 600mg of vitamin C a day. That's the amount of vitamin C found in 10 oranges. Every day we appear to have consumed the amount of vitamin E found in 2 cups of nuts, the amount of fiber found in 12 bowls of oatmeal, and the amount of calcium found in 5 cups of collard greens. They weren't milking mammoths—that came in part from all the wild greens they foraged. More…




  • "Paleo" Diet Best Left in Caves, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, 6/2013
    No matter what you call the fad of eating more meat and less grains, beans, and other agricultural products—Paleo, caveman, Stone Age, hunter-gatherer—this diet is not going to support overall, long-term health.

    On the upside, "Paleo" diets do discourage processed food products and dairy products. But a couple of steps in the right direction cannot overcome the giant pitfalls that result from eating high-fat, high-cholesterol meat products and avoiding nutrient-dense plant foods like beans and whole grains. More…

  • Vegan weight-loss surgeon rips Paleo and other high-protein diets, Examiner, 9/2013
    A vegan weight-loss surgeon says a plant-based diet is the healthiest eating plan to enhance longevity and stave off obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

    Dr. Garth Davis, who has performed gastric-bypass and lap-band surgeries on morbidly obese people for 12 years, says trendy high-protein diets such as the Paleo and Atkins diets are warped and misguided.

    "In 12 years of doing weight-loss surgery, I have never operated on a vegetarian," Davis said Sept. 19 on a podcast with vegan ultra-marathoner/triathlete Rich Roll. "No one's getting fat on broccoli. No one comes in and says, 'I'm eating too many grapes.' " More…

  • Native Americans and Vegetarianism —This article first appeared in the Vegetarian Journal, September 1994, published by The Vegetarian Resource Group. By Rita Laws, Ph.D.
    Among my own people, the Choctaw Indians of Mississippi and Oklahoma, vegetables are the traditional diet mainstay. A French manuscript of the eighteenth century describes the Choctaws' vegetarian leanings in shelter and food. The homes were constructed not of skins, but of wood, mud, bark and cane. The principal food, eaten daily from earthen pots, was a vegetarian stew containing corn, pumpkin and beans. The bread was made from corn and acorns. Other common favorites were roasted corn and corn porridge. (Meat in the form of small game was an infrequent repast.) The ancient Choctaws were, first and foremost, farmers. Even the clothing was plant based, artistically embroidered dresses for the women and cotton breeches for the men. Choctaws have never adorned their hair with feathers.
When asked about the commonly held idea that ancient people were primarily meat-eaters, the highly respected anthropologist, Nathanial Dominy, PhD, from Dartmouth College responded, "That's a myth. Hunter-gathers, the majority of their calories come from plant foods… meat is just too unpredictable." After studying the bones, teeth, and genetics of primates for his entire career as a biological anthropologist, Dr. Dominy, states, "Humans might be more appropriately described as 'starchivores.'"


More…
Former Austin Firefighter Rip Esselstyn's TED talk on reversing chronic American diseases through plant-based diets.

See more data and lots of resources and recipes at his Engine 2 Diet website.

PARENTS! A great blog on how to make your Children's Vegan Lunches.

"Look at the average American diet: ice cream, butter, cheese, whole milk, all this fat. People don't realize how much of this stuff you get by the end of the day. High blood pressure is from all this high-fat eating. Do you know how many calories are in butter and cheese and ice cream? Would you get your dog up in the morning for a cup of coffee and a donut? Probably millions of Americans got up this morning with a cup of coffee, a cigarette and a donut. No wonder they are sick and fouled up."

- Jack LaLanne, fitness guru. Thrived for 96 years.
Why cheese, sugars and meat are addictive, Neal Barnard, MD.
See our Book Section for Breaking the Food Seduction by Dr. Barnard


Solutions
  • Breaking the Cheese Addiction: Step 1 The Reality Check
    Cheese is one the most difficult products to give up when adopting a vegan diet. And it?s no wonder?with loads of salt and fat, your palette, like your health, hardly stands a chance. For the next several months, we will provide a step-by-step program to get the cheese out of your diet and your health on track. You can be free of the cheese! More…


Nationally Televised to millions
Top 10 Nutrient Dense Foods

  • Chlorella
  • Kale
  • Broccoli
  • Spirulina
  • Spinach
  • Chia
  • Berries
  • Cacao
  • Hemp Seeds
  • Collard Greens

For all the details from Brandon Brazier's VEGA, click here.
Protein

It is very easy for a vegan diet to meet the recommendations for protein as long as calorie intake is adequate. Strict protein planning or combining is not necessary. The key is to eat a varied diet.

Almost all foods except for alcohol, sugar, and fats provide some protein. Vegan sources include: lentils, chickpeas, tofu, peas, peanut butter, soy milk, almonds, spinach, rice, whole wheat bread, potatoes, broccoli, kale…

For example, if part of a day's menu included the following foods, you would meet the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein for an adult male:
  • 1 cup oatmeal, 1 cup soy milk
  • 2 slices whole wheat bread, 1 bagel
  • 2 Tablespoons peanut butter
  • 1 cup vegetarian baked beans
  • 5 ounces tofu, 2 Tablespoons of almonds
  • 1 cup broccoli, and 1 cup brown rice.
More…


This is book is absolutely necessary for anyone transitioning into a vegetarian or vegan diet and a great reference for those of us already there. It goes through all of the nutrients that vegetarians and vegans might have trouble getting enough of and explain why it's important and the best ways to incorporate that nutrient into your diet. It also gives dietary advice for prenanct women, children, and the elderly. There is so much information, I find myself constantly referring to this book as a reference guide. —Amazon Review.
A lot of delicious vegan recipes are not necessarily healthier than their non-vegan counterparts. In most cases, I try to modify recipes I find to make them as healthy as possible, i.e.
  • Reducing amount of sweeteners
  • Substituting whole wheat flour for white (need to observe whether pastry or bread flour is appropriate)
  • Replacing white sugar with cane sugar, maple, brown rice or barley syrup (where necessary)
  • Reducing the oil whenever possible, but especially when it seems excessive.
More…
know before you go
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Nutritional information contained on this site is not intended to replace medical advice from a physician or nutritionist. If you are experiencing an emergent medical situation contact a doctor, urgent care facility or hospital emergency room. Talk over any major lifestyle changes with your trusted medical professional.
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