veganprep

I’ve always assumed that I get all the Vitamin D I need on a daily basis just from being out in the sun. Of course too much exposure can be harmful but living in sunny California gives me the chance on most days to soak up the sun while I’m out taking a walk gardening or getting to and from my car.  Sometimes I’ll just stop what I’m doing open my arms take a deep breath and really feel the sun on my face for a few relaxing minutes.

It wasn’t until some of you Kind Lifers inquired about Vitamin D recently that I decided to dig deeper into this subject and see if what I’d always thought was actually the truth. Do those short bursts of sunlight exposure really supply enough Vitamin D to those of us who live and work indoors in large polluted urban areas? And if not what’s the deal with supplements?  Are they helpful? And if they are what’s the proper dosage?  For these and other answers I decided to seek out perspectives from Dr. Neal Barnard and Christina Pirello both of whom walked me through the whole topic with their usual brilliance and clarity. Here’s what I learned: 

For starters let’s explain what Vitamin D is. In simple terms it’s a fat-soluble vitamin that our body manufactures when it’s exposed to the sun. It has a number of purposes but Vitamin D’s main job is to maintain the right balance of calcium and phosphorus in our blood help us to absorb enough calcium in our bones and in general to work with other vitamins at keeping our bones healthy and strong.

We don’t have to roast in the sun all day long to get a healthy daily dose of Vitamin D but we do have to get a good 10-15 minutes of direct sunlight to even approach our minimum requirements. But before you go thinking that a few trips back and forth to your car will do the trick keep in mind that this minimum exposure time will generally be higher for those of us who live in cities and areas where pollution cloud cover and other obstructions can block the vast majority of the sun’s UV rays.

If you’re getting out and exercising in the sun each day you’re taking a big step towards meeting your daily Vitamin D requirement in addition to all the other health benefits that regular exercise offers. But the sad truth is that a lot of us live in situations and areas where our exposure to sun is limited. Our access to sunshine can be affected and compromised by everything from latitude to climate to pollution to even our work schedules. In some cases physical characteristics like old age darker skin tones or very young breast-feeding infants have more difficulty getting enough Vitamin D as well. Because of any combination of these and other factors some of us Kind Lifers might not get as much Vitamin D as we should. If you think this might be the case with you it’s easy to have your doctor give you a simple blood test that can screen you for any vitamin and mineral deficiencies including Vitamin D.

The point is each of us has different individual needs. For me a plant-based diet and healthy lifestyle fulfills most of the nutritional requirements that others might use vitamin supplements to meet.  Most people should get about 1000 – 2000 IU of Vitamin D per day but if you belong to one of the more potentially Vitamin D-deficient groups mentioned above you may benefit from taking supplements.

As always it’s best to figure out your personal supplemental dosage in consultation with your doctor based on your specific deficiency levels. Or you can skip the blood test and take a small dosage of Vitamin D if you think you might need it since excess Vitamin D is not likely to do much harm other than making your liver work a little harder than necessary. If you do take supplements my sources tell me that the plant-based supplement D-2 is far more preferable and just as effective as D-3 which is not vegan.

How do you guys get your vitamin D? Do you have any favorite vitamin D-rich kind foods?  Related Stories:

Nourishing NishimeVegan Bodybuilders!Water Quality and Your HealthFacts About Fluoride

These tasty scones or biscuits were perfect. We enjoyed them as a mid afternoon snack with tea. They would also make a lovely brunch. They’re slightly sweet yet, not too much so, crunchy from the walnuts and the hint of sage adds depth.

Yield: 4 scones

Ingredients:

for the scones:

• 1/2 AP flour
• 1/2 cup wholewheat flour
• 1/8 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sage, dried or minced fresh
• 4 tablespoons vegan margarine, cold
• 1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
• 1/4 cup soy milk
• 1/4 cup soy yogurt

for the maple glaze:

• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon soy milk or soy yogurt

Directions:

to make the scones:

1. Heat the oven to 425 F.
2. Chop and toast the walnuts in a dry frying pan. Be careful to stir them and not to let them burn. When they are light golden brown, remove from the frying pan.
3. Place in a large mixing bowl, the 2 flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.
4. Add the vegan margarine in small chunks.
5. Using a fork or your hands blend the margarine into the dry ingredients. The texture will resemble sand.
6. Add the walnuts and sage and mix.
7. Add the soy milk and soy yogurt and blend to a soft dough.
8. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and need or fold 2-3 times to make an even consistency.
9. Form the dough in a circle.
10. Put the dough on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
11. Using a sharp knife, cut the circle in fourths.
12. Bake the scones in the oven for 20 minutes or until lightly browned and firm to the touch.

meanwhile make the glaze:

1. Place the powdered sugar in a small bowl.
2. Add 2 tablespoons of maple syrup and stir to blend.
3. If the mixture is too thick, add a bit more maple syrup.
4. Add the 1 teaspoon of soy milk or soy yogurt to make it smoother and creamy.
5. In general it is a thick glaze.
6. When the scones are done, remove from the oven and allow to slightly cook.
7. Drizzle the glaze over the tops and serve warm.

 

Kind Lifer Diana submitted this yummy looking recipe from the Culinary Institute of America. It originally calls for fish sauce but you can veganize it by using Mam Nem Chay - Vietnamese vegetarian fish sauce - instead. If you can’t find any at your local grocer you can improvise with a mix of light soy sauce a splash of pineapple juice a bit of agave and a splash of chili sauce. I haven’t tried this but I can’t wait to hear what you think!

Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 30 minutes Total time: 45 minutes Servings: 4

Ingredients 

For Quinoa

• 2 cups of Cooked red quinoa about 1.5 cups raw
• 2-3 slices of ginger
• 1 tablespoon of chopped cilantro
• 1 tablespoon of sliced scallions
• 1 tablespoon of torn mint leaves
• 1/4 cups of winter squash diced into small pieces

For nuoccham sauce

• 3 tablespoons of vegan fish sauce
• 1/4 cups of lime juice
• 2 1/2 tablespoons of vegan brown sugar or 1 teaspoon agave nectar
• 1/2 Thai chili paper thin sliced use whole chili for some spice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of water

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Toss squash with with a bit of olive oil and pinch of curry powder and roast until just done.
3. Meanwhile bring 1 1/2 cups water to boil. Add a pinch of salt ginger slices and quinoa and cover. Simmer until done about 15 min.
4. Make nuoc cham sauce by mixing fish sauce lime juice sugar thai chili & water.
5. Toss quinoa cooked squash scallions cilantro and mint with nuoc cham sauce.
6. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

What's your favorite quinoa recipe? Share it in the comments below or upload it to your profile with a picture of the completed dish and I'll feature it in the Kind Recipe Gallery.

Tack för fotocredit @LeonelMarj SÅ "in the moment"-bild jag fick till http://t.co/Egx24nh6

Candle 79 Chefs

My friends Joy and Benay of Candle Café and Candle 79 work very closely with NYCHSF a great organization that is working hard to bring healthy veg food to schools in New York. Their advisory board includes some amazing members like China Study author T. Colin Campbell PhD and Dr. Joel Fuhrman MD among others.

NYCHSF is already in 17 schools in New York City and in all of the elementary schools in Ithaca NY hooray Ithaca! In NYC they have a waiting list of 48 more schools that would like the plant-based entrees and nutrition education NYCHSF offers but they need more resources to be able to expand.

If you'd like to help out you can donate to NYCHSF here.

What healthy school food initiatives are happening in your community?

RT @EllenPage: Stockholm! http://t.co/HKBz5d1C!

Djurens Rätt har i tre debattinlägg på SvD:s Brännpunkt diskuterat minkfarmer med Johan Dalén (måste lära mig att stava hans namn utan h...), vd för Sveriges pälsdjursuppfödares riksförbund. Det började med Daléns inlägg om olagliga aktioner, där han bl.a. skrev om att de kontroller som har gjorts av Sveriges minkfarmer inte har funnit några missförhållanden. Detta stämmer inte, vilket Djurens Rätts Lena Lindström påpekade i detta debattinlägg. Johan Dalén svarade och menar att Djurens Rätt far med osanning. Och där beslöt SvD att dra streck i debatten, Lena Lindström fick inte sin replik införd i tidningen. Så den kommer här istället. Pälsbranschens VD Johan Dalén uppmanar till saklighet och uppriktighet. Jag kunde inte instämma mer. Min replik gällde hans felaktiga påstående i det ursprungliga inlägget att inga missförhållanden framkommit vid länsstyrelsernas inspektioner. I själva verket noteras missförhållanden och brott mot djurskyddslagstiftningen i var och varannan minkfarmsinspektion från de senaste åren. Det här är offentlig information som vem som helst kan begära ut från länsstyrelserna. Men Dalén hävdar att jag ljuger Det tycks som att medvetna missförstånd ligger bakom flera av anklagelserna. Dalén skriver att jag påstår att den farm som stängt in minkar i ett svinstall har fått djurförbud. Det har den dessvärre inte, och det skriver jag inte heller. Jag skriver tydligt att två andra farmer har fått det. Däremot saknar denna farm tillstånd för sin redan pågående verksamhet, och kommer enligt länsstyrelsen sannolikt inte få något heller. Dalén tycker att jag har få exempel att anföra för min tes. Jag nämner åtta specifika farmer och hänvisar till Jordbruksverkets sammanställning av ytterligare 39 inspektioner. Problemet är att det finns så många exempel på överträdelser att det inte går att få in allihop i en kort replik. För att ge ytterligare några exempel så kan jag lägga till att i landets minkfarmstätaste län Blekinge har tio farmer inspekterats under 2011. Alla utom en kunde inte leva upp till gällande föreskrifter. Nio av tio hade inte föremål för sysselsättning till alla djur. Hälften saknade utrustning för avlivning av enstaka minkar, vilket sannolikt betyder att de slår ihjäl eller bryter nacken av sjuka djur. Och sju av tio saknade fullständiga tillstånd för sin verksamhet. Det är siffror som Johan Dalén har all anledning att vara bekymrad över. Därnäst menar Dalén att de två farmer i Halland som fått föreläggande av Länsstyrelsen för olagliga avlivningsmetoder inte alls gjort fel, utan att det hela bygger på ett missförstånd. De kontrollanter som han i sitt första inlägg benämner som professionella utpekas därmed som högst inkompetenta. Johan Dalén menar att de minkar som stoppas ner fyrtio stycken på varandra i en delvis gasfylld låda ska vara glada att denna "transport" inte varar längre än 15 minuter. Så här beskriver länsstyrelsen i Halland metoden:

”Lådan fylls ibland (inte alltid) på med CO2 (i verkstan) därefter rullas lådan ut till skugghusen där man samlar ihop mellan 30-40 minkar och går därefter tillbaks till verkstan. Ihopsamlandet tar ca 10-15 minuter. När man kommit tillbaks till verkstan kopplas CO2-slangen in i lådan och det fylls på med CO2 i ca 2 minuter. Därefter stängs CO2-tillförseln av och man låter minkarna ligga kvar i lådan i ca 5 min till. Minkarna ska efter det vara döda enligt djurhållaren. Därefter tas de upp ur lådan och läggs i "tumlaren".”

Länsstyrelsen ställer också följande fråga till Jordbruksverket, den myndighet som är ansvarig för djurskyddet och tolkningen av djurskyddslagstiftningen i Sverige:

”Är det godkänt att samla ihop 30-40 djur som inte "känner" varandra med tanke på att de i grunden är mycket territoriella solitärlevande djur? Visserligen gäller det enbart en kort stund, ca 20 minuter, och uppenbarligen skadar de inte varandra då pälsarna borde bli förstörda MEN insidan av lådans väggar innehåller många skrapmärken av minkarna”

Jordbruksverket svarar bland annat:

”Att låta djuren kvävas på det sättet under lång tid är absolut inte OK.”

och:

”Koldioxidavlivning är en omdebatterad metod och det finns både fördelar och nackdelar med den här metoden.”

Det sistnämnda hänvisar till att inandning av koldioxid (CO2) är plågsamt för alla ryggradsdjur. Det gör ont i slemhinnorna och leder till kvävningskänslor och panik. Fördelarna är att det är billigt och enkelt att använda, då djuren kan avlivas i grupp – inte exakt vad en mink drömmer om. Johan Dalén slirar ganska rejält när han skriver att koldioxid är ”en av de snabbaste och mest smärtfria avlivningsmetoder som förekommer”. Så mycket för att hålla sig till sanningen. Lena Lindström Etolog Djurens Rätt

Holy moly! Where do I begin? Because acupuncture emphasizes wellness and a holistic philosophy that is missing in so much Western medicine I’m always tempted to talk about how great it is.  But then I have an experience like the one I just had recently and it reminds me why I have very mixed feelings about it overall.

First let me start by saying that in general I don’t think acupuncture can do any harm and for some people I do believe it can be very helpful.  But the question I have been asking myself is does it do anything for me that I don’t already get through my diet?

Over the past several years I’ve tried out a bunch of different acupuncture doctors. There was a time when I was kinda loving it although I was always frustrated with how expensive it can be especially when they wanted me to come back multiple times a week and wanted me to buy herbs on top of that.  I mean it feels good when I’m actually lying there with the needles but do I really notice a big change when I walk out the door the way I do when I make a change to my diet?  Not really.  For me it’s sorta like a great soothing expensive nap.

Still when two different people raved to me about this acupuncture doctor a few weeks ago I decided to give her a try.  I’d heard that acupuncture can be helpful with some of the nausea and other symptoms during pregnancy so I thought it would be good to have someone I could call on whenever I thought it might help.  I’ve been to a bunch of different acupuncture doctors over the years some more helpful and effective than others but nothing could have prepared me for what I was in for with this one!

Right off the bat she walks in the room talking a mile a minute  with this crazy spastic unbalanced energy – not calm or relaxing at all.  Then I tell her I’m veggie which looking back maybe I should have kept to myself considering what came next.  She then checks my pulse and starts going on about how I’m super-anemic and my liver is soooo weak.

Really?  I told her “That’s weird because I just had my blood tested for prenatal and it all checked out perfectly.  A blood analyst actually took pictures of my cells as an example of what beautiful healthy blood cells look like.  No other acupuncturist has ever said anything about anemia and -- oh by the way -- I feel great. So what on earth are you talking about?”

It went downhill from there.  She goes into this whole thing about how I need to eat eggs and steak.  So this hyper spastic woman is telling me that meat and eggs are good when everything about her is telling me that this not someone I want to be like.  But then I started thinking “What if I wasn’t as educated about health?  What if I wasn’t so conscious of my own body?  What would I do with what she’s telling me?”

As if she was reading my mind she continued: “I get tons of vegetarians in here all the time. I tell them to eat meat and they feel much better.”  Great.  So now all I’m thinking about is how this woman is undoing all the good that I and so many others are trying to do. This is turning into the most un-relaxing acupuncture ever!

It went on like that more of the same and then at the end of the session she wanted me to buy three different herbal pills.  She was adamant and would not stop pushing them on me.  I guess people just nod and do whatever she says because when I started asking questions like why they had chemicals like Red 100 or Yellow 67 in them she became even more insistent and manic repeating over and over that I needed these for my blood.  It was truly amazing to me. I felt like I should be offering HER acupuncture! On top of being spastic she did not look one bit healthy.

So this is what frustrates me… I want to say “Hey go to acupuncture if it helps…”  But it can vary so much from doctor to doctor so just be aware.  The meat-pushers are bad news.  I have met some perfectly lovely acupuncture doctors but my personal experience was that the improvements for my well-being were pretty minor.  I am still convinced that trusting your food is the most noticeable and reliable source of health and feeling good – far more dramatic and lasting than what I’ve received from acupuncture. 

I wonder if there are other vegan or plant-based advocates reading who also practice Chinese medicine? Speak up if you’re out there! I’d love to hear your perspectives!

The health section is proudly sponsored by Kaeng Raeng natural detox. Make sure to check out their 3 or 6 day vegan detox programs here:  

Photo Source: 4bpBlogSpot

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@sofiadahlen kan det vara något skumt med de där klick-ciggen?

@sofiadahlen jag kan ha det också

Fred Armisen visits the world/ Stockholm: http://t.co/XovtMCH8 via @youtube

This Rustic Citrus Tofu Scramble is studded with gold and yellow carrots -roughly chopped. Citrus accents throughout. A hint of pepper. Nutritional yeast. A splash of sassy tamari. The sweetness of the cooked carrots (oozing with vitamin A) compliments the savory flavors perfectly. Crispy tater tots on the side. Fresh orange slices. Spicy salsa. Avocado slices. This would be quite a lovely plate of food served up at home.Cafe style. Sometimes I wish I had my own restaurant. Or a food truck. I'd love my very own tiny beachside cafe. Probably not actually my next career move, but who knows, maybe someday. And it is at least a fun daydream to have. What would your perfect little cafe look like?Read more » This is a summary, images and full post available on HHL website!

RT @jangradvall: Roligaste resereportaget ever. Fred Armisens guide till Stockholm (filmat igår). http://t.co/AOPcfbAl

RT @klarasvensson: Av David! “@jangradvall: Roligaste resereportaget ever. Fred Armisens guide till Stockholm (filmat igår). http://t.co ...

A friend forwarded this to me and I wanted to share it here in case any kind lifers are looking for a new best friend. If you are thinking of adopting Koa might be just what you're looking for so check out his story below: Koa is an 8-year old Pure Breed Belgian Shepherd. He is a neutered male up to date on his vaccines and in perfect health.  He is brilliant gentle athletic fast as hell loyal protective. This is the breed that the police and FBI use.   I adopted Koa at 2 months a rescue. He was fearful cowering and is now prideful and courageous. He grew up with a brother Lab Retriever and a cat but they've been separated by divorce. Koa has separation anxiety so until he is comfortable in his new home he needs to be around people. He is all about attachment which is beautiful. But he's not the kind of dog to be left alone all day and night. He will try to escape to find his guardian. He's not aggressive AT ALL. But I'd say he's perfect with children 5 and up who don't pull ears poke eyes etc. He loves people and is good with dogs and cats.  He is completely trained.   This is a prize dog. Anyone would be lucky to have him. I am broken-hearted at having to give him up.   Koa sounds like a wonderful dog and a great companion – plus it doesn't hurt that he's trained and good with kids and other animals. If you or anyone you know has a home that's right for Koa shoot an email to peterlandesmanmac.com expressing your interest.

And remember if you're thinking of bringing a pet into your home no breeders no pet stores- adopt and save lives!! Have a great story about rescuing a pet? Share your experiences in the comments below. Related Stories: A Ban on Pet Sales Action Alert: Kitten Season Action Alert: Sweet Pit Bulls Need Homes Meet My New Love Rocko - and Bring Him Home!

We found this tasty recipe that was first published in 2003 in the Eating Well Magazine on eatingwell.com.  It’s another great way to enjoy kale.

We used red and yellow bell peppers, did not use any cheese or cheese alternatives, however did chop up some sun-dried tomatoes to add to the mixture and a dash of cayenne. It was very filling and easy to make.

Recipe: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/roasted_red_peppers_stuffed_with_kale_rice.html

soundcheck http://t.co/mwQj5h6U

@pjocke detta stämmer @EbbaBjelkholm

@inselhai soja is my middle name

Just wanted to share this adorable video! Do your dogs like baths this much? Mine sure don't!
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