Yes, yes. The price of vegetables are much lower that the price of meat. Beans are especially cheap. On a heavy bean meal I can spend up to 3$ on beans (that is for a heavy bean dish like bean soup or chili). That is also factoring the fact that I buy the organic canned ones.

Dried beans are super cheap if you don’t mind pre-soaking them and taking the time to cook them.

I can’t believe that I used to pine about the price of fruits and vegetables when I used to spend so much on meat. But the truth is that I can buy groceries for a week as cheap at $80. If I throw in treats like soy milk it adds up much faster but the truth is that we have never eaten healthier for cheaper than we are right now.

It is more expensive eating whole foods than processed foods but we don’t mind the extra expense since we save so much not eating meat. Plus, it makes us light and energetic, ready to play sports or do whatever.

A diet full of whole foods will contain all you need to thrive. For example, my sister eats meat and she is deficient in iron. I don’t eat meat and I have good iron levels. There are always other sources of iron, calcium etc. There is no need to fret about not getting enough of something that you used to get in meat. As I said in my last couple of posts, meat is pretty nutritionally void.

So when you get tight on funds consider incorporating less meat in your diet. You won’t compromise your health any and you’ll save a pile of dough!

Turns out that two studies done in the U.S. have shown that there is mercury in 50% of HFCS samples. For people drinking lots of pop and sugary drinks as well as eating lots of processed food may be getting a daily dose of mercury. A seriously dangerous metal associated with nerve damage and ADD.
The worst part is that the FDA knew about this for three years and never bothered to reprimand the manufacturers of HFCS or inform the consumers. Pretty typical of the FDA.
See the article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leslie-hatfield/our-melamine-theres-mercu_b_161334.html

I guess Peta was in D.C. all last week handing out fur coats to bums! They are trying to prove that wearing fur doesn’t elevate you to a higher class. Take that you snooty, murderous bitches!

But seriously, what a wonderful way to do some good in the hood, make a statement and bring some kind publicity to the cause. Peta has pulled some bad tricks that have done more harm than good for their image and the image of vegans all over. Some not so great stunts include the ads about Santa not coming this year (about milk causing erectile problems) and the dumping of manure at the studio of the chef who cooked horse on his show.

Even their request that  and Robins make a breast milk ice cream was a little odd. Granted I think it was more of a statement than a serious request but still.

I think we have all come to expect crude and unusual stunts by the Peta crews so it is refreshing when they get a real winner.

In other news…

With the holidays over I am trying to focus on eating vegan again. Goshdarnit, that cheese gets me every time. But being that I can’t seem to find any free time to exercise with a new baby around I am really going to have to stick to my vegan diet if I want to lose weight.

I am not just wanting the diet for the lower calorie intake. I want it for the animals too. We are so close. It’s just the cheese and no matter what any veggies say, soy cheese is just plain ol’ awful!

I also stumbled upon two new musical artists (new to me anyways) on someone else’s blog the other day. I have been wanting some music that is funner and more relaxing. These two artists really capture the essence of summer vacation and even when I am just a few songs in to their albums I feel so much happier and relaxed.

So yesterday I went and bought Cocoby Colbie Caillat and Sunseed by Hayley Sales. Ahhh…

Oh, and by being smart at Christmas time, in respects to spending money, I managed to be able to start 2009 with a fresh start.

The newspapers always talk about how mid-January is the worst time of the year for depression because that’s when those Christmas credit card bills start coming in. Well, no sir, not me. I am in better shape financially now than I was before. We talked with my family and decided that spending time together was more important than gifts and skipped the gift buying! I wished I could do that with everyone but good luck getting my hubby’s family on board.

I started looking up some of the online stores that sell Waldorf toys a few days back. There are some great ideas that would be simple enough for us to make ourselves.

My husband is a cabinet maker and would be more than capable of doing some of the projects on these sites. Things like building castles, lace-up cheese, teethers etc.

I can sew and would be able to make dolls, dress up clothes, play scarves etc. I have even been fortunate enough to find instructions for making Bambolettas. They are so beautiful but quite pricy (which is fair considering the price of the materials (wool batting etc.) and the time required to make them.

The upside to making my own, besides saving money and personal pride in my work, is that I can make it out of cotton instead of wool and make it vegan-friendly while still staying true to the doll.

Anyways, I am having so much fun making toys and planning for the next ones. I can’t wait to make it to the wood shop soon and buy some more wood trinkets for my next project!

Who knew that making my own toys could be so much fun for me and for the kids? Not to mention how much healthier these toys are for their bodies and minds.

I know it’s nowhere near wintertime but I was doing some reading this morning about how you can buy these light machines that are supposed to make you feel better in the wintertime.

I think they are silly but to each their own! It made me think about how rough winter is. It’s cold so you don’t want to go outside. You can’t open the windows and get fresh air either. For those of us who work in Canada you barely get any sun light at all. You go to work just before it gets light and come home in the dark. How depressing!

Not getting sunlight has an impact on our energy levels and our immune systems and our mood. When we feel crumby we act like potatoes. We sit on the couch instead of exercising, make bad food choices (craving carbs and junk food) and lack the self control and motivation to do something about it. If you start looking at the mood connection to your health and weight you will be shocked to see how you react. For example, when I am tired I spend money frivolously, I eat food that is bad for my body and lounge A LOT! 

(A small side bar: If you want to lose weight and make better food choices you need to improve your mood. This link goes to an article that talks about enhancing immunity. Point number five talks about the impact that mood has on your body:  http://theworldismysoyster.wordpress.com/category/immunity/ )

Combine all of these factors and the results are not that hard to predict. We get sicker! Not because of the cold, but rather, because our immunity is suppressed from lack of sunlight and fresh air and exercise. Then there is poor food choices and depression and likely a plethora of other reasons. For example, the Canadian Medical Association says that indoor air quality is five times worse than outdoor air quality (even for those of us who live with smog). And where are we spending all our time in the wintertime? You guessed it! Indoors. That doesn’t make for a very happy or healthy existence.

What can you do? For starters, bundle up and get fresh air. If that means going for a walk at lunch or spending your Saturday snowshoeing or cross-county skiing in a walking trail in your area or skating at the neighbourhood rink.

Then take vitamins. Make sure you supplement with Vitamin D and C if you are going to be house bound for the winter. You can also take Essential Fatty Acids (Omega 3, 6, 9) to help improve mood and if you just need a little extra help you can take some St. John’s Wort (but be careful not to take that if you are on prescription drugs without the approval of your doctor as St. John’s Wort can deactivate drugs sometimes).

Try to exercise indoors if you can’t make it outdoors and make sure to get the rest you need. Shouldn’t be too hard to get rest in the wintertime. The sun goes down at 5:00! Find activities that you enjoy. Throw a ball for your dog in the snow (my dog enjoys trying to catch snowballs), go sledding, go to a festival of lights. Just do something!

I spent over an hour with a Facebook friend discussing the ability of people to shape the future. Can we change things that have been prophesied?

OK. This really comes from the idea of all these different religions and beliefs declaring that 2012 is a crucial time in our future history. A time when we enter a different age that will redefine the world we live in. I don’t know that I believe in this but I find myself a little worried about what could happen if they are right.

What does this redefinition look like for us? I have no idea. So it makes me wonder if trying so hard to oppose political corruption and stop global warming, which, even as a naturalist and environmentalist, I don’t really believe in, even matters. If we are running out of time and these outcomes have been decided ahead of time, is there anything we can do? There was an article a couple weeks back about how Mars and Jupiter are experiencing the same rates of global warming that we are without the pollution and greenhouse gases.

It’s like the idea of God giving us free will but Him knowing everything that will happen to us. How can it be free will if it’s pre-determined? How can our destruction be written in the God’s book if we have the ability to stop our governments from uniting us for the sake of profit, or, the environment from engulfing us? These are some of the spiritual questions that I am encountering in my journey.

I have decided that Que Sera, Sera. Whatever will be, will be. I will do my best to help the environment by conserving water, recycling, buying natural cleaners etc. But I won’t burden myself trying to stop the inevitable. What good can come from stressing and being angry over things I have no control over.

So should we admit defeat and surrender ourselves to everything? Should we live selfishly because there is no point in caring about the environment and animals and whatever?

I don’t think so. I still continue to try to make a difference with my time here. I try not to pollute water supplies with harsh chemicals and contaminate my kids with pesticides and I try my best not to add to our waste problems by making sure I recycle everything I can. I hate cleaning out peanut butter jars but I feel guilty if I am lazy and throw them away.

So what can we do? We can LOVE!

What is love? I don’t know. Poets and philosophers have debated this issue since the dawn of free thought I am sure, and alas, love is indescribable. It is a feeling, yes. It is also an action. I think of love as an action even more than a feeling. I am passionately in love with my husband and he with me yet it’s not his feelings that make me feel loved but rather his actions. The way that he cares for me. I love my children too but it’s the actions that leave them cared for. The hugs, playtime, meal times and even discipline.

How do we show love to others? We take care of them. We treat them as we would like to be treated. We take care of their environment. We try not to cause pain and suffering.

For vegans it is respecting all life forms. From plants, animals, children and even fetuses. We respect the living and the non-living as well. We share. We give. We love.

There will always be things that we cannot control. Things we won’t understand but love will conquer all. Love will make our circumstances tolerable. Love will make us stronger as individuals and united with others. Love will redeem us. 

Not only that but loving is good for your health. Being scared, angry and stressed will only make us sick and distracted. It will make us easier to manipulate. It has long be a political tactic to keep the masses fearful of everything. Loving and being loved will make you happy. You can change your world. You can change yourself. You can’t necessarily stop anything larger than that but that’s OK. You can be happy. You can be healthy. You can have peace. You can love!

Today I decided to please my husband by doing something I do about once or twice a year. I agreed to play a video game with him. While we were playing he noticed that I can’t help but sway my arms, as if I am willing the character to move with a higher intensity than the controller offers itself. He commented that I’d likely be more suited to a Wii.

I thought that he was probably right and that anything that would allow me to move around more would be easier on my body. I have the physical bones and tissues of an 85 year old woman (not confirmed by anyone btw) and sitting still playing video games is so hard on me. I rarely ever do it but ya know. So we went out and bought a Wii.

Wow! Was it fun!

The game Wii Sports came with our console. It’s so great. You can play tennis against each other as well as golf, boxing, baseball and bowling. It’s quite a sensitive system and you are literally controlling the intensity and angle and everything of the ball, racket, club, whatever.

You’re basically on your feet the whole time. We played for about two hours and now that I am resting I feel tired and sore. Just like I do after a work out.

A fun little feature of the Wii is that you can customize your own character (under the Mii application) choosing hair, skin tone, nose, lips, everything.  Then you can use your virtual self to play the games.

Anyways, the point of this post isn’t to brag about our new game system but rather to tell parents that if you are going to invest in a game system, not only is the Wii far less expensive than the XBOX 360 or the PS3, but this is the only game console that will not contribute to childhood (or adulthood) obesity. As far as I am aware the games all require a greater physical involvement than any other system offers. The remotes and nun-chucks are designed to be swung and thrust and used in ways that give the player a workout.

Plus, the accessories are cooler too. Light swords and steering wheels? C’mon! That’s cool even for a self-proclaimed non-gamer like myself.

OK, so these don’t really go together but I was reading a new book today and found some interesting factoids that I just had to share with you all.

I had a visit with my midwife yesterday and borrowed some books from her lending library. I felt like I had already read everything there but a couple of titles caught my eye. Your Vegetarian Pregnancy is written by an OB (obstetrician) who has been vegetarian since the age of 13. I guess she has attended over 5,000 births in over 25 years and is writing this book from those many years of experience. 

She goes through the diet of vegetarians and reassures that a well-planned vegetarian diet can be more nutritious than a non-vegetarian diet. Duh! 

But the what caught my eye was the part on genital birth defects for boys. It states that there is one birth defect that is five times more common in vegetarians than meat eaters and that is Hypospadias (relating to an English study done on 7,000 infant boys). It’s a defect where the urethra is positioned differently on the penis than where it should be. It’s not a major defect because the child can still urinate and won’t have his future sexual performance hampered by this but still. Don’t we all want our babies to come out perfect?

The cause of this phytoestrogens. If you remember one of my previous posts where I debated the pros and cons of soy milk, I talked about this. We already eat very little tofu/soy products because they are processed and we stopped drinking soy milk (which I only drank a small amount of daily) once we became pregnant. This shouldn’t increase our risk at all!

However, there was another group of women who experienced an equal increase in risk! Meat-eating, iron supplementing women! It turns out that taking iron supplements can increase your child’s risk of Hypospadias. Someone I know told me that her son was born this way and I know that she was taking iron supplements.

I really think that whole foods diets, which are well-planned to include a variety of healthy foods, is the best policy. I take a multi-vitamin but I don’t use any other supplements. But if I feel that I may be lacking in some area, like in iron, I adjust my diet to include more foods rich in iron (like broccoli or molasses).

And it is working well for me. This is my third pregnancy in four years (which could indicate depletion of key minerals) and yet ALL the results of my blood work keep coming back A-OK!

The last topic I wanted to breech today was pesticides. In the book mentioned above there is a section where someone asked whether vegetarians, because of their high intake of veggies and fruits, have a higher accumulation of pesticides in their bodies. The answer is actually NO!

When you wash your fruits and veggies you wipe off the bulk of these pesticides but meat-eaters, who characteristically eat less veggies and fruit, still have a higher concentration in their bodies. When pesticides are used, states Your Vegetarian Pregnancy author Dr. Holly Roberts, the soil in the fields remain contaminated for years. Animals ingest these pesticides in higher quantities (since they cannot wash their food prior to ingestion) and their flesh contains concentrations of pesticides which meat-eaters then ingest and accumulate. Dr. Roberts emphasizes this by saying that people who eat diets high in animals with fatty flesh (like Eskimos who eat lots of fish) have a pesticide concentration higher than any other group of people. Where the fish get all these pesticides I am not so sure but still…interesting right?

Anyways, I urge everyone to consider eating less meat. Vegetarians tend to live longer, have better hearts, weights and a multitude of other benefits. And if that isn’t enough to encourage you to cut back on animal flesh than think about what it will do for your sex life! Eating meat has been associated with erectile dysfunction disorders. Another reason why vegetarian guys are hotter!

I wanted to talk more about artificial sweeteners. I mentioned it briefly in the last post but because it’s an issue that I find particularly enraging I thought I would expand on it.

People will use artificial sweeteners for two main reasons. One: to maintain good blood sugar levels if you are diabetic etc. Two: to consume less calories. Study after study has shown that artificial sweeteners actually make you pack on the pounds despite being low calorie. These phony sugars do not give the body the energy needed to sustain itself and so the body begins to crave more food and you over eat.

Not only will artificial sweeteners not help you lose weight, there are also many unsavory side effects. The history of artificial sweeteners is one tainted with lies, cover-ups and political manipulation.

Aspartame marketed at Nutrasweet and Equal was the sweetener of choice until Splenda came along. Aspartame is still commonly used in products such as soft drink, gums, desserts, wine coolers and prescriptions.

In 1981 an FDA statistician said that the data for brain tumors was too “worrisome” to approve aspartame for use in food. Research funded by the manufacturer, G.D. Searle, proved that aspartame can in fact cause cancer. Doctors testified to this fact and stated that it is illegal (via the Delanay Amendment) for the FDA to approve carcinogenic materials for human consumption. It was later discovered that the manufacturers of aspartame falsified records by surgically removing tumors from test rats and then putting the rats back into the study. They also marked as living, some of the rats that had died due to exposure to aspartame.

The FDA commissioner who approved its use (after over-ruling the recommendations of his own scientific board of inquiry) later took a ranking position with Burson-Marstellar (the firm in charge of public relations for G.D. Searle).

Diabetic associations have records of receiving grants up to $75,000 from Nutrasweet and have confessed that their fact sheets (posted on their websites and given to diabetics) are actually written by the manufacturers of Nutrasweet.

In 1995, the FDA stated that more than 75% of the total adverse effects reported to them were due to aspartame.

Aspartame has been known to cause birth defects. This is, of course, in cases where large amounts are consumed. It can also cause brain damage anywhere from mild to severe. It increases the likelihood of developing tumors and there have been five reported deaths associated with aspartame use. Aspartame has also been reported to cause diabetes to escalate to the point of clinical diabetes. In double blind studies they also reported that mood swing were more prevalent in those who consumed aspartame. An organization called the Community Nutrition Institute commented on a survey done by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on 80 seizure sufferers and determined that aspartame was hazardous to the public’s health and that in accordance to the FDA’s own guidelines, the product should be removed from the market.

Splenda, otherwise called sucralose, has been rapidly increasing in popularity. This is mostly due to their slogan “made with sugar so it tastes like sugar.” Their claim has mislead many into thinking that Splenda is in fact natural. Splenda is made by taking sugar, removing three hydrogen oxygen groups and adding three chlorine molecules. This disrupts the entire genetics structure and it is now an entirely different structure. This is why it has no calories. It’s not technically food.

The FDA’s final report stated that between 11 to 27 per cent of the sweetener remains in the body (the makers of Splenda claim that it’s zero). Studies have shown that Splenda can cause shrinkage to the thymus gland in animals. Alive.com states that this gland is associated with the body’s ability for maintaining immunity. Splenda is too new to have had much bad press. I would be very hesitant to use it and would definitely keep it away from children. There have been bad reactions to the product recorded and it’s too soon to tell what long-term impact this could have on a developing body like those of children.

Sugar alcohol is a synthetic substance whose chemical formula resembles that of sugar and alcohol. It can be a naturally existing product but when it is manufactured it is made from carbohydrates such as glucose, sucrose and starches. Of all the sweeteners I believe this one to be the least harmful. However, these products are not completely absorbed which means that they build up in your digestive organs and can cause symptoms such as abdominal pains and diarrhea. This also explains is why it is such a low-calorie sweetener. Keep an eye out for them in products labeled as “sugar-free.”

It is a better (yet not great) alternative for diabetics as it shows a lesser insulin response than that of eating sugar. Despite what marketers try to tell you, there are no safe artificial sweeteners. There are plenty of appropriate sweeteners that are naturally occurring. Honey is a wonderful sweetener for use in cooking and baking as well as to sweeten teas etc. Remember that honey is not to be given to children under the age of one because it can cause botulism in immature digestive systems. There are also syrups such as barley malt, brown rice and pure maple syrup. Learning to use them in baking will take some trial an error but will surely be worth it. There is also Stevia. Stevia is a herb that is very low-calorie and is very sweet. You need only half a teaspoon to sweeten a batch of cookies. Stevia may only be available at your health food store.

It is also important to note that there is not much of a place for sugar in our diets. Our bodies only need to consume about a tablespoon of sugar a day for optimum health. Sadly for chocolate lovers, that amount of sugar is easily obtained simply by eating fruits and other foods. Indulging is not a bad thing. But if you are going to eat sugar try to make better food choices and leave the diet pop on the shelf.

Resources:

Sizing Up Sugar Substitutes and Splenda by Sandra Tonn, RHN (published on www.alive.com)

Kids First-Health Without Intervention by Dr. Ogi Ressel

Various articles available on www.mercola.com (Dr. Joseph Mercola)

www.medicalnewstoday.com

Other articles from www.alive.com

http://www.stevia.net/

www.wikipedia.org

 

Hmmm…milk. I have been rethinking this one. As you know, I have replaced my soy milk with cows milk thinking that on a hormonal level it will be better for baby. I am starting to rethink that decision. Here’s why:

I was reading in my cookbooks yesterday and I have one called Skinny Bitch in the Kitch. It’s a vegan coobook written from a very biased perspective. I find that I don’t carry things like soy cheese, soy bacon etc. (ew and very processed) so there are many recipes that I can’t make but there are a few gooders too. They have an amazing spaghetti squash recipe that the whole family loves.

Anyways, in the intro they (the two female authors) say that “Researchers at Harvard, Yale, Penn State and the National Institutes of Health have studied the effects of of dairy intake on bones. Not one of these studies found dairy to be a deterrent to osteoporosis. On the contrary, a study funded by the National Dairy Council itself revealed that the high protein content of milk actually leaches calcium from the body.” They go on to say that milk has been associated with other things like obesity, anemia, allergies etc.

This has been echoed in other publications all over the place. Despite their billions of dollars in advertising the real truth about meat and dairy is coming through!

I have also read that when children drink more than two cups of milk a day they are at an increased risk for childhood stroke! This came from the Healthy Kids book (by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada).

And the last bit comes from a book called On Food and Cooking. It states that the human enzyme Lactase (which digests the Lactose in milk) starts to decline as we age beyond two to five. That is why there is such an incidence of Lactose Intolerance among adults. It states that Lactose Intolerance is “the rule rather than the exception” and that 98% of Scandanavians, 90% of French and Germans, 40% of Southern Europeans and South Africans, and 30% of African Americans are Lactose Intolerant.

It also makes an effort to mention that humans are the only species that drink milk after infancy and the only species to drink the milk of another species.

It’s becoming quite clear that milk is not that beneficial and not that natural for us to be drinking. For example, knowing that honey is made from bee spit and that without this important source of food the bees cannot make it through the winter takes the appeal of eating honey away.

You know those dumb Kraft Cheese Slices or Mac ‘n’ Cheese commercials talking about how their processed cheese slices are good for bones and teeth. Well apparently they are good for neither so if you factor that out you are left with processed cheese garbage! Yumm!

So here is my dilemma. Do I go back to soy milk (which doesn’t give me tummy aches)? Or do I stick to the cows milk despite the fact that it is not necessarily all that beneficial to me or maybe even the baby?

I haven’t decided yet but I am pretty sure I will be doing half and half for a while. I don’t really eat other soy products (since we avoid processed food) and so the amount of phytoestrogens I would be taking in are very low. Maybe I can drink soy milk and still have a slice of regular cheese for my afternoon snack (for the extra protein).

Another weird thing, I have been craving animal products pretty bad. I crave chicken occasionally and I was really craving a hard boiled egg yesterday.

I won’t buy these things but I can’t stop the craving. I assume these are associated with nausea and that I just need a high protein snack. I have been having a lot of bean burritoes this last couple of weeks but I can’t live off of burritoes for the next eight months.

Blah! I hope with more sleep my cravings/nausea will regulate itself and that I can go back to feeling normal: grossed out about eating animal carcass and feeling guilty about the suffering that comes from eggs and dairy.